Awkward Diplomacy

Chapter 51

「Beside the caravan, can you deliver this?」

I held out a letter to the trade dealer Mao. Recently, whenever he had a free time, he always hang out at my office.

Mao tilted his head when he looked at the lovely sealed letter with red light on it.

「Where do you want to deliver this?」

「At the Clarkhem in northern part. The address and the recipient’s is as written here」

「This is quite far isn’t it……. Accidentally, I had something to do over there, so it’s okay」

He received that letter, but his face still had curiosity on it.

「Do you have an acquaintance at Clarkhem?」

「It seems it was the hometown of the fake saint-sama. I already checked the content, so it’s no problem」  

Mao still made a weird face, but he nodded and put it in his pocket.

「I will carry this duty carefully. Do you need the delivery proof?」

「Yes please. it’s okay with a reply letter」  

「I understand」

But the Clarkhem is a remote region.

What is he doing there?

「What business do you had in Clarkhem?」

「It is this, here」

What he take out was a lump of white stone.

At first, I didn’t know what it is, but the sense of smell of the werewolf helped me. It was a rock salt.

「If it’s about the salt, then you can take as much as you want from the sea in the south right? Why do you need to go to Clarkhem?」

Then Mao shrugged his shoulders.

「The flavor of the rock salt and sea salt is different after all. From here we will take a salt that has been purified from the salt field, and we will buy the rock salt from there.  Because we carry both salt on the way back, it makes the management of commodity easier」

「Well, the taste is different but……」

There was a smell of sulfur from the rock salt that Mao brought. With the werewolf sense of smell, it can’t be helped if it’s smelly even before transforming.

「Rub the meat and tallow with it, and warm it lightly, it’s good you know? The bad smell will fly with fire, and it will make a good taste. It can be sell to high-cla.s.s restaurants and rich people at a good price」

Really?

「By the way, do you have a connection in Shaldir?」

「No, I am mainly at the north and south…… even if I bring the purification salt to Shaldir, it will only bought with a cheap prize. But sometimes I coming there to sell the rock salt.」

what a useless guy.

「The viceroy Alam-sama is a gourmet, so sometime he order a rock salt from us. We able to managed somehow if it just to met him」

「You…」

That would be enough.

If it has been decided, then I didn’t need to talk with this scoundrel anymore.

「Then arranged it immediately」

「Understood. specifically, how do you want it to be arranged?」

I made a thin smile.

「Just tell them I will go for a greeting」

「I understand」

I immediately pushed all of the public affair to Aria and made a preparation to go to Shaldir.

I made a detour to a small desert in the east, it just a small petty trip.

Actually I wanted to go alone, but If I made a solo action, the guys in werewolf corps will be noisy.

It’s a good time, let’s take Hamam’s corps.  Since they are originally a nomads from desert, so they should be used to traveling in the desert.

「I’m depend on you, Hamam」

「Understood, aide」

Trade city Shaldir is located beside the beautiful lake. It’s the oasis of the trade route.

Even though it’s the same trade city, the emphasis seems to be put on the comfort and replenishment of the caravan. The gist in here is a little bit different than Rune height who focus on the trade of s.h.i.+pment.

There seems to be a red light district as well, that place made me a little anxious.

Since I reincarnated, I lived a life without a net and television. it can’t be helped to anxious about showy thing like that.

I will not going there because it was an enemy ground but……

When I made a request to met on front of the castle gate of Shaldir, the guards were blatantly shaken.

We are just 5 people, furthermore, we are all unarmed, but we are still an envoy from demon king army.

However the commotion settled immediately when the viceroy Alam himself appeared.

There’s no soldier like atmosphere, but he has the power of leaders.h.i.+p.  maybe it’s almost the same like Aria.

But this guy had an appearance like a young nerd.

「It is nice to meet you. I am the viceroy of the Shaldir, baron Alam Souk Shazaf. I thought to met you one day」

「The aide of the demon king army first division, Vaito. I apologize for a sudden visit」

Well then, show me your true personality.

I made a way to a gorgeous room with a nice view. It seems it was a viceroy’s parlor.

「For those attendant, please come over here to relax」

「No, we are……」

Hamam waved his head horizontally, then I made a command.

「If it’s about me then don’t worry.  Just take a rest」

when I said that, Hamam knitted his eyebrow, but looks like he guessed that it was bad to protest in front of the viceroy.

「Well then, as you wish」

Hamam party was guided to a separate room, and I will faced each other with viceroy and 2 more people.

Alam made a ridicule smile, then offered me a cup of jasmine tea.

「it’s quite a surprise, I never thought that the highest top bra.s.s in demon king army Vaito-dono will coming here」

「I am just an aide」

Without being cautious, I sipped the tea.

It will be a serious affair if he served me a poison, but for me who is a coward, I had prepared a magic to counter it in advance.

Also, I drunk it magnificently to appeal that any trickiness is pointless.

I don’t know the tea leaves that he used, but this is delicious.

I put the gla.s.s teacup and begin the chat leisurely.

Very recently, it seems my bad reputation is spreading, so let’s try to talk with a little bit gentle.

「The aroma of the tea is very good.  is it due to the trade?」

「Yes」

The unusual tea and a high priced gla.s.s utensil.

So he appealed the economic power and the influenced power of the trade.

So his character is schemer type.

But this tea is really delicious. Even in my precious life, I never drunk this something with this flavor before, let’s try to request it casually.

「If there’s a chance, I would like to cool it down and drink it」

「Well then, I will prepare something cooler later」

「Yup, with a lot of ice floating on it」

「Ice?」

The facial expression of Alam became stiff.

「ice…… is it…… I, I see……」

Oops, the one just now was a verbal slip.

Of course there is no freezer in this world. It seems there is a ice house in the northern part, but since it’s in the south, the snow will not falling. (Tn: ice house is a storage room to store an ice)

It was doubtful whether Alam has seen ice before or not. Maybe he didn’t have information about it.

it was thoughtless of me because at the master’s place, I often made an ice.

When summer came, master always made a huge ice then divide and give it to everybody to drink it with tea and fruit juice.

It was fun…… No, It’s not a case of escaping from reality.

「It would be great to relax with an ice floating on a tea while looking at the lake of Shaldir……」

As Alam suppress the trembling, he laughed and said it. The smile is awkward.

It seems I hurt his pride. Sorry.

Or rather, you are surprisingly troublesome.

It’s not like I came to said the culture in Shaldir is bad. I came with the intention to build a good friends.h.i.+p from now on.

It’s a great hospitality, so I need to praised it somehow.

Ah right, this tea utensil is wonderful.

「This gla.s.s tea utensil, it’s really takes out a nice air and flavor. This strain is not artificial, also the thickness make a calm effect instead」

「Eh?」

The expression of Alam change once again.

Now what?

「The hot water, the thickness and strained is it…… That was, umm……」

Ah right, I forgot.

Long time ago, when I split the window gla.s.s in Rune Height, it was such unpolished gla.s.s.  Even after repaired it.

Even though I thought the shade off inside the room is enough for preservation of high cla.s.sified information, it’s not like I warped it on purpose, it seems the thickness is not good.

「It-Its a crude product but…… It seems you liked it the most desu……」(Tn: really awkward….)

The voice is blatantly sunk. I have done a bad things.

But, I thought this is a good design though. If you buy it at antique store in the previous life, it should cost around one thousands yen. It maybe 10 thousands.

However, in this way, I don’t know what to compliment and how i should compliment it.

I abandoned talking about the cultural difference, then decide to stab his nail for the time being.

「By the way, there seems to be someone inside this room」

At a first glance, they are nowhere to be found inside this room.

but my sense of hearing and smell told me that there’s someone in this room, hiding behind Alam. It’s for the sake to run away, maybe this is what they called 「Hidden warrior」. the soldier for escort is hidden. (Tn: it say 「武者隠し」 or musha kakus.h.i.+ and translated it to「hidden warrior」. But I am open for a suggestion)

A damp of cold sweat floating from Alam, the he responded with an awkward smile.

「Tha-That is…… umm, t-the maid is cleaning in the back…… I am deeply apologize about that」

Well, I thought it’s fine to hide the soldier in different room.  It’s an interview with the enemy of the viceroy so it’s normal to do it.

But, if he feels like to attack me with that soldier, a useless sacrifice will come out.

Let me advise him properly.

even so, it’s difficult if he said they are a maid.

「They really stink like a man for a maid. And they seems to come along with a clothes made from iron」

My sense of hearing captured a faint sound of metal armor. it seems they pay attention to soundproofing, but it’s totally useless.

A vague smile is floating from Alam’s cramped face.

「No, umm… that was… uuuuh」

From a little while ago, every time I speak the air gets more awkward, so i will tell him straight to the point.

「What to say, if the maid who wear an iron armor is only 6 people, then it’s unreliable. Also, the distance is too far」

「Wha!?」

Since it was possible to cla.s.sified the smell and the sound of footstep, I able to understood the number of people.

It is also a fact that the distance is too far. The wall where the soldiers are hiding and the seat of Alam are more than 2 meters apart.

Even if Alam suddenly dashed towards the wall and the soldier jumped out at the same time, it will be faster for me to transform and break Alam’s neck.

Of course I will not do such a thing, but if i try to do it, I think it will be easy.

In other words, Alam is confronted me equally without any escort.

That’s why, I wanted to not raised any weird felling.

It’s not easy to going easy on someone in order not to kill.

Even so, my poor conversation is troublesome…… With this I can’t laughed at what master and Lash said.