"Hey Toshiki. Actually, it's not Arioshuong, it's me who needs to fold in."
"Fine, Arioshung's escort.... No, here's the thing, Captain Howard."
It was Howard, the guard captain of this city, who gave back a bitter laugh at my words: "What, did you know about me?"
By the way, it's not the first time we've met. When Arioshon came to Marc's shop, he had two escorts with him, but each named Miloir (occupier) and Howard (guard chief). No, I didn't say it, but I remember it being that name when I peeked at it with my appraisal skills.
"Anyway, it's Howard I work for this Oasis Street guard chief. Thanks again."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Howard."
Shake hands with each other.
From the hard palm of his hand, it was seen how much Howard has fought with a spear in his hand, so much so that it seems that this man platter of magnificent men is stronger than any of our slaves.
"Hmm, have you said hello yet?
"Yes, Arioshung. Thank you very much for inviting me to this story."
Right now, the three of us, including me, are gathered in the Adventurer Alliance conference room. The couch here is so soft that once I sit down I don't want to get up inside.
I thought we'd need to literally sit back and discuss it.
Whatever you're doing here are the big Oasis Street guys, Adventurer Guild Branch Manager (Arioshon) and Guard Chief (Howard).
Well, there's a grade in the conference room, but I thought we'd use the highest-grade conference room on the street.
"Yeah, yeah. Ning Ro and the others are in a position to make a favor of themselves. Raise your face."
Yes, Arioshuong says, but let me tell you from my standpoint that I owe you a great deal, this one is enough to keep my head down no matter how much.
In retrospect, it was also arranged by Arioshuong to purchase Ili. "You need a sound magic slave to record a decisive statement?," he prepared a sound magic usable slave for the slave trader Miloir's shop (who may persist in writing it over and over again, but Miloir is a convenient store called Slaver, Engraver,).
I wondered when I would be able to pay off my loan.
"Sounds like you've been doing something interesting lately. Let the slaves do their spear auditions."
"Yes, our proud slaves"
"Do you have two favors for the Lord?"
Arioshuong, who slaps his desk with a knack, hands me the material and instructs him, "Look, look through it".
There was the letter 'Crusade of Sabakudiougmo', and the letter 'The End of the Demon Man'.
As he glanced through the details that followed, Arioshuong gently coughed.
"You know this Oasis neighborhood is spreading around a safe oasis with no one demon?
"Yes, there's also a big oasis away from Oasis Street, but the only oasis that doesn't have demons on the same scale was the one in this city."
"Bye. There are oases outside this city, but they are mostly demonic habitats."
"We regularly investigate them in the Adventurer Alliance," Arioshuong prefaced as he touched his mustache.
"Investigators have recently reported a disturbing movement in the demons in an oasis."
"Really?
"It's time for Sabaku Diogumo's kids to hatch... but the annual" Big Occurrence "hasn't happened yet"
Arioshuong's words of 'great outbreak' are like a disaster in which demons push in masses.
If you're going to say something about Sabaku Diougumo, it's certainly time for a big outbreak, so the Adventurer Guild is going to bump "Adventurer Ask!" and may have made a request.
"Furthermore, the suspicion arose that a certain demon named Jazeera was involved"
"Jazeera, is it?
"You don't seem to know that name. I'm not part of the Demonic racist terrorist Fan."
Drop your eyes on the material.
Jazeera the Demon. A man who has been nominated throughout the country of grace (Bakaristan) for numerous acts of terrorism, with a prize neck.
He is part of the 'fanatics' and a very distinguished magician of demons.
But he seems to be in the position of being only a freelance worker, not a terrorist, and now the 'fanatics' are hiring him, the situation seems.
Jazeera the Demon Man says her job is to "kill people in disguise as if they were attacked by demons" and "fan demons to make noise".
"The eagles assume the worst case scenario. That's because this Sabaku Diowgumo 'Big Occurrence' is delayed because no other demon Jazeera is up to something, and it's not like a bunch of demons beyond the scale of 'Big Occurrence' will hit this Oasis Street in the future."
"Well, you can think about it enough."
"We have to do something about the masses of Sabakudi Ougumo and Jazeera the Demon."
So the Lord told me.
"You want to start by hitting the lead and send a crusader to Sabaku Dio Ugmo's nest to reduce the number of spiders. To that end, I would definitely like to recruit the battle slaves your Lord has as a force of war, okay?
"... I would like to ask for something in return."
Arioshung owes a great deal when it comes to independence from Marc. Demanding in return on top of that would otherwise be a thick story.
But once I pinch a word like a restraint, I'll take a peek at the other complexion. Because appraisal skills have a handy feature called psychography, it's a shame not to use it.
"Hmm, I see. Yes, you should be with an oasis merchant."
"... Arioshung. What is it that I, the Guard Chief, pinch my mouth, but this crusade for Sabakudiougmo is a lord's order imposed on the citizens. A man of war is obliged to provide it. So… well, what he asks for in return"
"... I don't even know what Howard is saying. I can't expect much of what the Lord says in return. … what to do, Toshiki or"
and well the water was pointed, but from the flow of this story, apparently I am being tried.
I don't have a choice, I'll be glad to try the bargaining thing just a little bit.
It is also a good opportunity to acquire and grow negotiating skills.
"Right. No, I'm not asking for a lot of gold coins or letting my store open in Oasis Street, and I'm not making an offer that would be a burden to the lord"
"Hmm? And what is your Lord's demand?
"Tax-free. If you could spare me a glass of tax this year, I'd be happy to lend you my slaves."
"... it's a reasonable place."
I thought it was going to be over without having to acquire and grow negotiation skills.
Of course my offer makes sense.
The replacement of Marc, and the fact that Marc was evading taxes, makes it very difficult to calculate income and expenditure for the year. It was therefore expected that the calculation of how much tax should be paid would also be quite cumbersome.
Perhaps we need to hire more than one auditor to scrutinize it closely, but doing so would be costly and time-consuming. From their point of view, it is also possible that 'where we have pursued Marc's tax evasion at a cost, there are only a few gold coins to be obtained by deduction'.
Making that a charade by way of tax exemption for one year this year would also be helpful when it comes to helping, well, because the Lords don't have to spend or hassle tax audits.
As far as I'm concerned, it's very helpful.
Whatever, there is no indication that income will be stable in the first place this year, so the availability of tax exemptions is significant.
I did not intend to make a suggestion to get closer to win-win for once.
"Well, do I feel like I'm keeping quite a build-up since I'm talking about Marc? Perhaps there are immeasurable benefits to being spared that portion of the tax.... Well, it's just a hypothetical story."
"... Ha, right"
It was broken. "I just spent it to track down a tax on Marc's tax evasion, minus a few gold coins," he said, but the truth is, if they really did investigate it, they're going to be pretty much pursued.
Actually, he's been piling up quite a bit. Maybe it was funds in case I opened a store in Oasis Street.
If I take it over with tax exemption, it's a pretty delicious story.
"Well, I'll close your eyes. I'm not a lord, I'm not an auditor. And when I report that, it doesn't make me any money."
"Thank you"
"Besides, it's going to be a pretty big loan. I thought I'd tell my lord, 'Slaver Marc hasn't accumulated much money, and the prospect of a pursuit doesn't seem to be that big, so give him a tax exemption for Slaver Toshiki, who is the cauldron'."
"... overlapping, thank you"
Now I feel like I'm losing my mind more and more to Arioshuong, but I'm sure it's a thankful story.
I thought I was somehow too thankful to have lost my escape route at some point, but on the contrary, it is conceivable that that is all they have bought my abilities.
Let's be positive, I thought.
"By the way, Arioche Ong said he wanted to do another favor, but depending on its content, it will also change his response, so please note."
"Oh, that's right. I had another favor to ask of you. Howard?
"... At some point we're going on with the premise of paying off the slave trader Toshiki, but okay. I've always known that Arioshuong is sweet for my favorite person."
Howard, who mouths his bitter words with a cynical bitter smile, may be rude to say this, but that hard-working gesture was on the board.
Maybe Howard is someone who swings by all sorts of human selfishness on a daily basis. Maybe this time he'll do the same.
When I thought so, my intimacy suddenly boiled over with Howard.
Howard, who didn't even know that, turned to us and cut the story out.
"Well, it's the slave trader Toshiki. Shall I explain another favor to you? This time I'm asking you to find Jazeera the Demon."
"Find out, is it?
"Do you have a convenient ability to find certain people out of the crowd? I want you to take advantage of that."
Moment after moment, I stared at both of them with so much vigilance that I had never been more vigilant in my life.
"You can't be so vigilant," laughed Arioshung, "but Howard snorted," Apparently, as far as that reaction is concerned, it's true ".
I wonder why the appraisal skills are so different. I don't remember saying anything else.
Yes, I thought only for a moment, but I thought maybe it was because of the fortune teller (Miloir). I don't think that fortune tells me I can reveal that much, but I may have lost my special abilities.
"I wish I had that convenient ability"
"We don't know if there is. But assuming there is (...), if you could help me then?
It is an extremely adult assumption. In case something happened, it was convenient enough to say, 'We didn't know he had appraisal skills,' and it leaves room for me to say, 'I don't have any appraisal skills,' either.
These people are people who know every negotiation. Howard, in that sense, was supposedly a pretty good man.
"... let's work together as best we can"
I also decide to take this one. I know it's possible to say no, but it doesn't take much work for me. I suppose it would be a good condition if I could sell you a big favor.
"Thank you. Your abilities are essential."
"I can't accept not knowing what to do though. May I ask you more?
"Oh, speaking of which, you did.... I want you to see every member of the Sabaku Dio Ugmo Crusade."
Howard said that demon Jazeera has a limited number of places to hide.
Patterns include: Away from Oasis Street | Patterns lurking in the Oasis "Sabakudi Ougmo's Nest, or being distracted by members of the Crusades.
It is the expectation of the Adventurer Alliance's Secret Service investigators that only in these two cases can Sabakudiougmo be used effectively to cause significant damage.
The most damaging of these, he said, is the pattern of demon Jazeera lurking in members of the crusade.
While always obtaining information from within on Crusader trends, if there is a gap in the Crusader, you can gather demons there at once to deal devastating damage to the Crusader.
If that breaks the crusader's front and Sabakudi Ougmo creeps into Oasis Street, it will be then that the damage cannot be counted.
Or, frightened of whether the demon Jazeera is not distracted inside, making the crusaders proceed with caution and caution is time-consuming and puts a great deal of mental and physical strain on the members of the crusaders. Worst of all, it could destroy itself with that.
"That's where you are. I want you to check each and every member first to make sure there's no demon Jazeera. If they find us, it's a big chance then. But even if we don't find it, that's a plus. There's no need to be frightened of the fantasy that Jazeera the Demon might be lurking inside, so we can march on."
"... I see that's an important job"
"That's right. You have no right to offer tax exemptions, but you have a duty to lend us combat slaves, and if you take this on, let us install a tax exemption."
From Howard's mouth, I seemed to occupy a fairly important factor.
Well, I guess so. Depending on my activity, I'll be able to reduce the cost of wasted food, and psychologically reduce the burden on the crusaders.
It's not that much of a burden because if you take it from me, you can just look at everyone, but the profits Howard and the others will make will be considerable.
Once again, experience the cheats of appraisal skills.
"... ok. If you can keep two or so promises in lending a slave, we'll be happy to take them on."
So I decided to step into further negotiations. Failure doesn't matter. Well, you just have to break it off as acquiring negotiation skills, something that will grow.
"Two? Oh, my God, just say it."
"Then don't hesitate. In a demonic crusade, one thing is that the equipment and rations that we turn to the slaves are of good quality in average order. It is also one thing that the slaves are not entrusted with a dangerous task without darkness, and if they die in battle as part of their mission, they are responsible for buying it away."
"... I see that's what happened"
This should not be an unscrupulous offer. But this is an important promise from me.
If it is, I don't think so, but the Crusaders want to "save money," "as much as possible don't want to get adventurer casualties," "then reduce the distribution of water and food to slaves, and turn gear to poor quality to save money. And if we send the slaves to dangerous places, we'll contain the war dead of the adventurers, too, 'then it's not good.
From the standpoint of Howard and Ariosh Ong on the boulder, you're supposed to think, 'I want to continue a good relationship with Toshiki, who has appraisal skills in the future', so I don't think so, just in case.
"Okay, if that's the condition, let's drink.... you're a young man."
Howard was shrugging his shoulders with a bitter smile that he was enjoying anyway.
"No, Mr. Howard is the one inside. How can you not be alarmed? I'm a businessman, but I'm studying for Mr. Howard in one day."
"I see, please continue to give me your best regards forever"
"Yeah, welcome."
"Let me ask you a favor for one from the eagle. Hey, Toshiki."
"It's an honor to meet you. Thank you very much."
After winning the tax exemption, I left the Adventurer's Guild with a sense of inner fulfillment.
Incidentally, it was also rewarding to have a facial connection with guard chief Howard, but personally, it was most rewarding to have been able to acquire negotiating skills Lv.0.