My Glasses Will Be Able to Conquer the Whole World, I Suppose

apter 142 – Glasses boy works as a bodyguard

It was the evening of the day I gathered some information from Dynawood.

I was in my room, thinking about all that he told me, when…

“Lord Elle, a light meal for you.” Asch, my maid, brought me some sandwiches.

Oh? There’s ham and bacon in the sandwich? This is gorgeous.

And the drink is tea? I’m not very used to it, but it smells good.

“Thank you.” I told him.

At the restaurant we’re going to tonight, only old lady Adyll will eat.

I’m her bodyguard, so I’ll just wait while she eats.

Which is why Adyll told me to fill my stomach with something light before we left.

“Today is the day of your first job, isn’t it?” Asch asked me.

“It is. Is there anything I should be aware of?” I asked.

“Well… I’ve never accompanied the manager on her outings, so I don’t even know what they’re going to do there…” Asch replied.

Ah, right. This makes sense.

“Although…” Asch muttered.

Oh…?

“I’ve heard that the number of people that the manager meets in person is actually quite small.

“The young lady is the one in charge of the majority of the business talks and she’s the one that mostly handles things that happen within the brothel district.” Asch told me.

I see…

Then, we’re probably meeting up with one of the rulers.

Beckenberg, the one in charge of the glory district, or Tatsunami of the Ouriz company, the one in charge of the craftsmen district.

I don’t think she’ll meet up with Zet, the leader of the criminal gang, nor the leader of the Tower of Bryne, so… It’s probably either Beckenberg or Tatsunami.

Though well, while those are all the powerful people that I know about in Krozheit, it’s possible that she is meeting with somebody else.

Therefore, I should ask old lady Adyll about who we’re going to meet today.

“… Would you like to eat one?” I asked Asch while offering him one of the sandwiches.

“Eh? Is that okay!?” He asked me.

Ah, yeah, I mean… He was looking at the sandwiches with such greedy eyes… It was hard to ignore it.

And well, he was also a bit lucky.

I ate a lot of meat at lunch today, so my craving for meat has been satisfied to some extent.

Normally speaking, I would never share my meat, since I’m a true meat lover, but… Today, it’s fine.

“This bacon is quite thick, isn’t it?” I commented.

“It is! I had my eyes on it!” Asch exclaimed.

Had his eyes on it already? I see… He too is a meat lover, isn’t he?

I’m not sure if I’m happy or unhappy right now… I mean, I’m a bit happy to meet another meat lover, but…

This bacon really is thick. It looks delicious…

“Then, go ahead.” I offered him one of the sandwiches.

“I won’t hold back!” Asch happily grabbed it.

… Well, I did say I was going to give him one, so I gave it.

******

When the sun was about to set, I met up with old lady Adyll at the front door, who seemed to be ready to leave.

Even when going out to meet someone, she was still wearing fully black clothes that made it look like she was mourning something.

Also, she was bringing a cane with her.

But as far as I can see, her legs don’t seem to be in a bad state.

“Are you okay going like that?” Adyll asked me.

“If it’s a problem, I can change my clothes.” I replied.

“No. If you’re fine with it, then it’s all good, Elle.” Adyll replied.

Although those have become my casual clothes these days, the maid clothes are a disguise that I have prepared specifically for this kind of occasion.

If I’m not going to wear it now, then why would I be wearing it in the first place?

“Hag, be careful.

“Elle, please take care of the hag.” Seviarow told us.

Both she and Tyran had come to see us off.

“We have a carriage waiting for us on the main street. Let’s go.” Adyll told me.

Dynawood was waiting for us outside the mansion.

He was wearing a cloak, and he started guiding us along the road, moving away from the brothel district.

The roads in this area are quite narrow, so carriages can’t pass through here.

Oh, right. I should ask about it now.

“Who are you going to meet?” I asked.

“We’ll talk about that later, not now. I don’t know who is listening.” Adyll replied.

She’s cautious.

We’re still within the brothel district, so there are quite a few people around us.

None seems to be paying any attention to us though… But well, I guess it’s better to be cautious.

After that, we didn’t speak at all until we reached the carriage.

Even if we were no longer within the brothel district, the roads were still fairly narrow, so the carriage was fairly small.

It was barely large enough to fit the tiny me sitting side by side with old lady Adyll.

“Alright, let’s go.” Adyll said.

Dynawood sat in the driver’s seat, then the carriage started shaking.

******

“We’re going to meet an upstart creepy rich guy.” Adyll stated as soon as the carriage started moving.

A rich guy…

“Someone from the glory district?” I asked.

“Yeah. A bald old man named Beckenberg.” She replied.

Oh, so we are meeting a ruler, after all.

“He’s seriously disgusting. My daughter’s obsession with her pets may be annoying, but she is cute when compared to that greedy old man.” Adyll told me.

Ah, so he is this kind of person?

Probably someone that is impatient and overbearing… I’m not good with this kind of guy.

Though speaking of money…

“Can I ask you something basic?” I said.

“What is it?” She asked.

“This country is built on money, isn’t it?” I asked back.

She looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, ‘Isn’t that natural?’ but then she grinned.

“Did you come to this city with the idea it was a place for the garbage that lost their place and had nowhere else to go?” Adyll asked me.

No, I mean… My thoughts weren’t that bad.

… Okay, they were a bit along those lines, but I didn’t go that far.

“Well, this is the lawless country, Krozheit, right?” I said.

“For how long do you think this city has been around? Hundreds of years?

“Nobody knows for sure. But even this cesspool has accumulated a daunting amount of history.

“You’ve seen the outer wall, haven’t you? It once functioned as a proper wall.

“At one point, this was a proper city.” Adyll replied.

I see… In other words…

“This place is recognized by the surrounding countries and cities as a proper country?” I asked.

“Just barely.

“This is an undeveloped land. There are many Demon Beasts in the surroundings, and there are no veins where gold, silver, jewels or magical stones can be mined.

“We have no real specialties. There is no point in trying to conquer us.

“But we have people. And as such, we have logistics.” Adyll explained.

I knew there would be logistics.

Because money was being exchanged here.

If you live in a place that is closed off from the outside, then money starts losing its purpose.

Bartering becomes a more practical way of handling transactions at that point.

That’s how it was in my village, at least.

“This place is located right next to the Great Empire.

“Money comes from it, and wagons also come in regularly, so foreign currency is often traded.

“Compared to how it was in the old days, we’re communicating with them quite frequently.

“However, the essence of this city has not changed.

“After all, this is a place where the scum who have lost their place to belong to go to.

“But there is a meaning in the existence of a city like this one. That’s probably why this city has survived thus far, and why it will continue to survive.” Adyll told me.

“… What is the meaning of the existence of a place like this?” I couldn’t help asking.

“For some people, it’s a place where they can forget all their positions and just be people.

“Status. Authority. Those things are useless here.

“Or rather, if you try relying on that, you’ll just be easy prey for the others.

“No one cares if someone with a high rank comes here. Everyone who comes to this city has a scar that they’re bringing with them.” Adyll replied.

I see…

“Things seem to be going pretty well over here, then?” I commented.

“Hah! If this was a proper city, then I wouldn’t need a bodyguard. And I’d definitely not need to choose an unknown kid as my bodyguard.” Adyll stated.

Oh… She’s right on that.

******

While we were talking, the carriage suddenly stopped.

“We’ve arrived.” Adyll commented.

Dynawood got off the driver’s seat and opened the carriage door.

I got off first and lent a hand to old lady Adyll.

“Out of the way. That’s my job.” Dynawood intercepted me.

I suppose that can’t be helped.

So, I only held Adyll’s cane for her while she Dynawood helped her leave the carriage and…

Huh? This cane…

Adyll let out a tired breath, “I’m now old enough to be afraid of steps…”

She is an old lady alright.

“Well, shall we go?” She said as I handed her the cane.

Then, we started walking.

In front of us was a large restaurant.

Two strong adventurer-like men were blocking the entrance, but once they saw us, they stepped aside, “Please go ahead. Lord Beckenberg is waiting for you.”

Seems like the person waiting for her has come first.

It was still early in the evening.

This restaurant was quite luxurious and didn’t seem to fit the lawless country at all.

However, it had no other customers. Even though this restaurant was big enough to hold multiple groups inside it.

The interior was also quite splendid and emanated luxury.

I wonder… Is there a chef here that has good enough cooking skills to represent this kind of restaurant?

I’m curious to why someone that has this kind of skill would end up in Krozheit, but… I’m sure asking people about their past is frowned upon in this country.

Well, it still bothers me anyways.

Did the chef come from somewhere else? Or were they born here?

… Well, let’s not mind this and focus on the matters at hand.

“Yo, old lady! You’re here!” A man said.

Sitting right at the center of the multiple empty tables, there was a man drinking wine alone.

A fat, bad, well-dressed old man. He certainly gave off the impression of an upstart rich.

He reminded me of evil nobles and ministers from fairy tales.

“I never wanted to see your face again.” Adyll stated.

“I can’t stand your face either, hag! Yet here we are!” Beckenberg replied.

A verbal war seemed to be about to begin, but I had something more important to worry about.

Namely… Lisse. She was standing right behind the old man, glaring hard at him.

Just like how I got connected to old lady Adyll, Lisse seems to have secured a connection with Beckenberg.