Dream Life

Tria Calendar, July 20, 2017, around 7 p.m.

The celebration of the marriage of Lord Rodrick Lockhart and Lady Rosalind will be over without delay in the Great Hall, where the gorgeous ball is about to begin.

There was already light music played by the musicians, and it had reached comfortably in the ears of me - Ferdinand Oldham - in the office of the Hall - His Excellency Uncle Hubert Raswell Borderline. In the great halls and courtyards, young people should be waiting to be opened in a softly restless manner. Thirty years ago I would have been equally heartening.

But it was a long time ago for me.

Because older people like us learn to shy away for the young people.

Now the young people will be able to fully stretch their wings. I never used to think about that, but I can see you saying this when I'm older.

We have fun, too. Listen to distant music, drink in another room, and miss your youth.

But I'm meeting someone with the hotel today. Nor is that to tell a pleasant story, but a discussion that takes place as part of the aftermath of a series of incidents. It's nothing short of a gorgeous ball in the Great Hall.

I guess that's why, the pavilion has changed since the time of the feast, and it hasn't broken its harsh look.

The man in front of us is the same forty-five years old as me, but he looks pretty young. He looks tall and beautiful, more like a veteran actor than a merchant who has represented a commercial guild.

But behind the grin he was floating, his hands trembled small, and he was sweating on his forehead. Yes, I can't hide being nervous.

"... that's Aurelia's view of a commercial guild..."

The museum's voice will be kept to a minimum and hard to hear, but it will sound like thunder to the man in front of it, the managing director of foreign affairs for the commercial guild, Donald Hutchings.

"We are flying a decree to the country, but the sun is still shallow, in the official answer…, but, as I said earlier, the Municipality of Aurelia and the commercial guild are not involved in any way in relation to this series of disturbances. We therefore believe that there is no reason why we should be held responsible. Of course, we offer our condolences to the deceased knights, but compensation, etc…"

"So the Oulett Chamber of Commerce doesn't belong to a commercial guild. Then you insist..."

The hall was blocked from the words of Hutchings, who was becoming rap.

Hutchings began to open his name again as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief.

"No, that's not true. But the Oulett Chamber of Commerce is certainly a chamber of commerce belonging to the Alliance, but we were currently investigating the entity…"

The pavilion slammed the table with Don and said, "Excellent excuse!" and was intimidated.

"Again, I'll check. The Oulett Chamber of Commerce is definitely the Chamber of Commerce to which Aurelia (...) belongs, the commercial guild (...)."

The words "Aurelia” and “Commercial Alliance” were highlighted.

In contrast, Hutchings just snorts weakly and can't get the word out.

"Then there is no doubt that the Chamber of Commerce of Aurelia (...) has targeted the life of Nan."

"Yes......"

"We also have a witness named Harrison Gunnell, the executor. Luke's“ Lucidus blood "drug is also seized. The drug is flowing through Aurelia. Even with all the evidence we've got so far, Aurelia insists she's not conspiring with Luke."

Hutchings just says groaning, "Oh no..." I can't argue with that.

The hall stared at Hutchings,

"Well, let's give it a chance. If Aurelia says she's not conspiring with Luke, bring her proof."

"But... even if you say evidence..."

Hutchings was choosing words on how to cut through with a troubled look. But the innkeeper would never allow it.

"Bring me the merchant who will be Auraf Oulett! If Aurelia is not involved, just let Oulett testify that he is Luke's man!

The hall was forced to speak, sent a sharp gaze and intimidated.

"Oh, that's..."

"If you can't do it, I must report to Your Majesty that Aurelia and Luke have joined hands and pulled a bow on the Empire..."

So they cut off the words,

"No, I'll get paid for leaving my son, Patrick, dead before that."

I was told and had a fierce grin that seemed miserable.

Hutchings manages to spin his words after wandering his gaze.

"Mm, reward is… what the hell do you think…"

In response to the words, the hall was silenced without changing its grumpy expression.

And after about a minute,

"I intend to play His Majesty's invasion of Aurelia."

Hutchings seemed surprised but within his assumptions, giving a glimpse of a slight but reassuring look.

"Forgive me for that..."

Did the hall confirm the look on Hutchings's face, and he went on in a lower voice to poke at his intentions.

"Then I know you're going to do something about it in the time before Your Majesty's judgment comes down, but I won't give you that time"

Hutchings realizes that he has been spotted and hastily denies it.

"Never such a thing..."

"I'm just saying that there are things you can do... what is Aurelia's wealth brought about by?

Suddenly the story changes, Hutchings can't read the intentions of the Hall and can't answer anything.

"Aurelia is not the only one with a ship... the territory of Non faces the sea. When it comes to lending the harbor, a lot of people are going to be happy..."

"Duh, what does that mean... ah! No......"

Hutchings seemed to understand what you were trying to say. We realized that Aurelia's wealth was brought about by exclusive shipping and that it was a threat to it. Even his head seemed to understand how dangerous it would be for his country to lend the port of the Raswell Borderline Belgian to Periplus, an Aurelia rival.

After I realized it, it was so unusual that I laughed. He showed so much agitation that he couldn't even fix it, and seriously, as a diplomat, he couldn't just open and close his mouth to utter words.

"Let me tell you another thing. Harrison Gannell will be executed five days later on the 25th. We intend to officially announce the involvement of Aurelia's Chamber of Commerce from the mouth of..."

The hall was cut off from words there and his sharp eyes were turned to Hutchings.

"… if Aurelia is not involved, bring proof by then. Bring whoever owlets here by the deadline!

Hutchings has fallen behind unexpectedly in the power of the hall. But I managed to open my mouth,

"It is impossible to do that. Please give us a little respite now…"

The hall was slapped on the table with Don,

"Don't think time will take your side! I'll only give you five days! If you also represent the Alliance, it is your responsibility to bring the answers!

Hutchings couldn't say anything just to move his mouth painfully again, and, as it were, left the office to escape.

The pavilion was relaxed, and he shook his head, "Don't talk to me about that man," he said.

"Sure. That man is only the Golden Crown of the Alliance."

Donald Hutchings was known as an incompetent man, albeit at the head of a major chamber of commerce Hutchings & Sons. When the sudden death of his predecessors forced him to take over the Chamber of Commerce, the ancient Ginseng employees raised a sense of crisis that he might crush the Chamber of Commerce. And after thinking about it, I came up with the idea of pushing it into the board of the commercial guild.

Of course, commercial guilds don't need incompetent officers, etc., but someone in need of them made a suggestion.

The person was called Farnaby, the owner of a quasi-large chamber of commerce. Instead of taking Hutchings as an officer of the Alliance, he held Hutchings & Sons, who had a lot of influence over the Alliance, to become his own backseat (sponsor). The ancient ginseng employees feared the ambitious Farnaby, but more than that, they felt a sense of crisis about letting Hutchings carry them into management. And promised to seat Farnaby at the top of the guild.

Farnaby, with the support of Hutchings & Sons, took the seat of Commercial Guild Manager, but the emerging Chairman of Commerce prevented him from cutting his relationship with Hutchings & Sons. Having had trouble using Hutchings, Farnaby decided to use him as a representative of the Goodwill Envoy with incompetent but soft material hips, giving him the position of Managing Director for Foreign Affairs. Of course, I didn't mean to get you involved in actual diplomacy, I was just a person to attend ceremonies and signing ceremonies like this one.

If this ceremony was also to be initially planned, it would have been just a job to give away items of celebration from the commercial guild and the Aurelia. Of course, it is accompanied by competent officials, who are practitioners, in order to use it as a diplomatic venue, but they would not have been given any authority whatsoever by Hutchings himself.

"But no matter how incompetent, he's the head of the Aurelia mission. I don't have a hand in not using this machine."

I nodded loudly and replied, "You are absolutely right."

"Now, to what extent does that man bring the answer..."

"I suppose it depends on the power of the entourage, but won't it show up once and for all in the negotiation of the stretch now"

The pavilion also endorsed my expectations, but it came earlier than expected.

Only an hour after Hutchings left the office to escape, he returned again.

The accompanying practitioner asked to enter the room, but the hall was refused, and again Hutchings was to be alone in the negotiations.

As expected, he has asked for an extension of his answer.

The distance from Aurelia to here in Wellburn is about two hundred and fifty km. It takes three days to fly an early horse, so I've been saying it takes at least six days to get the instructions.

"I have already told the Alliance branch more than six days ago that whoever owlets was involved. Then HQ should already know what we think Aurelia pulled a bow on the Empire. Unless you're angry."

"But... in my presence... three more days of respite."

Perhaps the accompanying rep has stabbed me with a nail. Hutchings tries to cloud and stretch his words, but the hall is deafened to hear,

"If so, but you don't answer, we can only assume that Aurelia didn't deny conspiring with Luke..."

And they made a fierce smile and kept the word going.

"... Non can either. Patrick's revenge would be Luke's, but it would be Aurelia. Either way, all you have to do is gamble and smash..."

Even I know the circumstances, the more my spine felt frozen, the more horrible your words felt. That was exactly your face before Sir Zacharias praised you.

Little hutchings of the liver are all trembling and pale in the face.

"Don't think it's just 10,000 Northern Governor's Office troops. I've already checked with Fortis. If I may add further, I intend to recruit soldiers from the people as soon as His Majesty's permission is available."

The words of the hall, the mercenary's assault on Fortis, are true.

Retaliation against Lukes is already inevitable and there is no doubt that the Northern Governor's Office forces will join the fight. I would only hire them as a force during that troop outpost, but there would be no denying the possibility that those mercenaries would head to Aurelia. Talking about recruiting soldiers from one side of the population is nothing but a threat close to child deception. Even if you recruit soldiers, they can only be used to the extent that they are used to maintain law and order after the Knights fall out, and those who are bright in the military should not be a threat.

But Hutchings seems to have taken that threat seriously.

"So, what should we do? May I ask you to teach us what we can do to make you angry?"

I rejoice that Hutchings has fallen. Of course, not on the look.

Take the signal from the hall and I'll start explaining.

"What does Aurelia think of Luke's deeds? You just have to show it in action."

"What exactly would that be?"

Has Hutchings seen the light on me, with a glaring eye?

"I guess we'll need a full deal shutdown against Luke first. It will also require the closure of branches of commercial guilds"

"But such things..."

"Isn't there a precedent? Didn't Aurelia blame Lukes when the Blacksmith Guild tried to protect the Lockhart family? If we don't do it this time, we can't help it if it's seen as evidence that Aurelia is conspiring with Luke."

Hutchings shuts up.

It is effective to show that such a man has a precedent. And you can make me think that this case is very similar to the precedent.

"The Raswell family is not the only target this time. Includes the Lockhart family. As your lord knows, the Blacksmith Guild is in a very friendly relationship with the Lockhart family. I can assure you that all the Dwarf blacksmiths here in Welburn took part in the recent Rockhart-sponsored feast"

Hutchings stares at me as he eats in and listens to me.

"To add, the Raswell family has also succeeded in establishing good relations with the Blacksmith Guild on the spot. Whatever, they threw everything at me and gave me the“ scotch ”I wanted..."

I'll cut the word here once and see how Hutchings is doing. He was totally flirting with the shaking by the Hall and my words.

"So far, you'll know? They will surely return the favor they have received. Which means not only the Lockhart family, but also those hostile to the Raswell family, turn to the Dwarves' enemies."

Hutchings didn't realize the rambling nature of my explanation.

The Lockhart family is “special” to the Dwarves. It's unlikely that the Raswells would qualify as such, but his simple head didn't seem to tell the difference.

Hutchings never opened his mouth to his will.

"... ok. The Commercial Guild, and the City of Aurelia, will issue a statement of condemnation to the Holy King Luke. On top of that, I promise to impose economic sanctions on the Holy King."

The hall nodded satisfactorily,

"Uhm. Now, when we execute Gannell, let's make it public that the commercial guild is also a victim embedded in Lukes"

Hutchings bows his head respectfully.

The pavilion could not forget to stab the nail at the end.

"If we break our promises, not only our country, but the blacksmith's guild will turn to the enemy as well. It's like remembering the liver."

Hutchings had a sunny grin,

"Of course it is. There's nothing like being your enemy."

When I said that, I followed the office with a sense of frustration.

"After this, he will complain to those who accompany him. They'll tell you not to make promises."

The pavilion can also smile at my words.

"This could have been a good time, with that guy. I was confident that others would push it off, but it wouldn't have been easier."

I agreed. And the face of one person comes to mind.

"You know very well how Lord Zacharias is a negotiator."

Did the innkeeper think the same thing, or he said, "Not at all"?

I came here and realized what Sir Zacharias meant by the feast planned.

"I guess Sir Zacharias was planned for a feast with the blacksmiths in view of this happening. If it weren't for that feast, even Hutchings wouldn't have been as easy to convince."

"Right. I just realized that, too. He said it was a way to make people think he had a blacksmith's guild on his side. I didn't know you could look so far ahead with that young man... but it was a mistake to think of adding him to the distribution."

I didn't know what that meant.

"Why not? I don't think that much delicacy is available anywhere in the world?

The master shook his head in a small way.

"To Francis, no, not even to Non."

I had no words to give back. Surely I don't think there is anyone who can see that genius. Excuse me, but even the innkeeper won't be able to. Well, young Francis - Hubert's grandson - then...

I decided to change the subject.

"You were right to decide to help brew a blacksmith guild. Now not only the Blacksmith Guild, but Sir Zacharias will not turn to the enemy."

The hall suddenly started laughing because the words were strange.

"Ha! You're right. If you want Sir Zacharias on your side, you just need to keep the liquor on your side. That's Ferdinand. Um, maybe we could consider abolishing taxes on liquor in our territory."

The innkeeper said something that was neither joking nor serious.

I didn't know how to answer, I just nodded vaguely.

The pavilion can turn its ears to those in the large hall.

"I guess that Sir Zacharias will be dancing gracefully with the beauties by now. I didn't even know we were talking about this."

Having said that, he laughed happily.

I thought that was it, and we also tried to go to some salon.

But that didn't happen.

Because the First Knights chief, Baron Manfred Braceford, visited the office with the look of a bitter bug chewed up.

When the Knights Commander was knelt in front of the Hall, he began to say words of apology.

"My subordinate, Philip Inglis' squire, is about to be slashed by Sir Zacharias. We would like to report on the disposition of his man and superior platoon leader, Kenneth Diaz…"

The Knights Commander resented Ingris' murder of his brother, who was a Knight of the Fourth Battalion, reported that he had tried to be slaughtered by Sir Zacharias, an invitee to defend, and began explaining the policy of disposition.

"... Philip Inglis banishes from the Knights and makes them cut off from the Inglis family. Kenneth Diaz will be demoted to the Knight of the Peace and moved left to the border fort. I feel a little sweet, but his people have done enough, young as ever. Therefore, I would like to ask you to forgive me for this… of course, the responsibility lies with the small office of the head of the delegation. We intend to take this responsibility and resign from the position of Commander of the Knights"

The hall's eyes were meditated, and he was temporarily silenced.

I panicked slightly at the words. How attempted assault on an invitee is not enough of a case for a Knights Commander to quit his position. I don't know how to put it, but it's too much for the Knights Chief, who is a senior minister to the second son of a knight, to resign from his post, regardless of who he is in a nasty capacity to join the Imperial Palace. I suppose the pavilion will be thinking about the area and disturbing your mind.

I decided to change the course of the conversation.

"Has Sir Zacharias confirmed your intention? If he is, he will not want it."

The Knight Commander nodded,

"Yes, Lord Zacharias said," There was nothing, therefore no disposition is necessary ”... but this is inside the Knights. I fool you that you cannot bend the discipline of the regiment, not to mention the victims."

That's where the hall can open its eyes.

"Wait a moment for the announcement of the disposition."

The Knights chief tries to argue, "But..." but the Hall doesn't mind that, and they keep saying it.

"While the Lockhart family is in Wellburn (here), let them behave. Make sure they're prepared to live, only with their eyes, Manako."

The Knights Commander is not convinced yet.

"Then Sir may also take part in the Lockhart family workout. Non looked at it once, but if he saw it, he would change their mind. If you look at that rigorous training and still only see Sir Zacharias weak enough to serve a beautiful woman, then you will be punished severely."

I was also in agreement with the idea of the Hall.

If you can't change your mind about how prepared those young people are to live, and if you put it in the eye, it's not the kind of talent the Raswell family needs.

That is what I thought, but on the other hand the face of Sir Zacharias smiling bitterly came to mind.

Wouldn't he think he was "pushed into trouble”? Because it seemed so.