Chapter 35 - Episode 6: "I've Reported Them"
Gokigenyou. I am Violia Nico Fortesia!
I finally did it!
I have reported them!
...However, unfortunately, the one who made the report was Keeb, not me. Yes.
That is only natural. If I went to make the report, I would be arrested on the spot.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back! How was it!?"
I catch Keeb as he returns to the hideout and immediately ask him what happened!
After all, this report that can deal a blow to that hateful House Fruitier, who made me suffer! There is no way I would not be looking forward to it!
"Come now, hurry up and explain the flow after the report and the blow House Fruitier received!"
While making Keeb sit on the sofa, I wait in the opposite seat with a beaming smile of anticipation!
"As planned, I made the report to the Guild. Saying I found a field of something that looked like drugs. I left documents with the Fruitier family name in the shack, so even if they suspect those are forgeries, I think they'll investigate the mansion in Elsemarin and the main house in the Royal Capital anyway."
Oh, so that is how it turned out.
...No, I was a little concerned. Even if a drug plantation is just sitting there, there is no means to prove which house it belongs to...
But this should be fine. It is a win just to have the eyes of suspicion fall on the main house, and if they search the mansion in Elsemarin, drugs will surely come out anyway. Or rather, they will definitely come out. I left leaves there during the looting. They will definitely come out!
"In that case, I am curious about the situation in the Royal Capital..."
I could not help but let out a melting sigh.
When I think that those bastards who made me suffer are now being raided by the Royal Capital's Guild via the Elsemarin Guild, it is just so delightful I cannot stand it!
...Ah, incidentally, the reason we specifically made the report to the Guild is that the Guild is an organization independent of the Royal Family. Even if we reported to an organization under the Royal Family's influence, it would just be suppressed anyway! It is truly infuriating!
But, it is fine now! Those people are finished too!
Because... House Fruitier is now facing the crisis of 'bankruptcy.'
My reporting that a branch of House Fruitier was cultivating drugs was not simply to have them raided and harassed.
This was based on the assumption that 'the Fruitier main house is also selling drugs.'
House Fruitier, along with other so-called distinguished families, are all in a state where they are daily whittling away and melting their fortunes. That is simply the flow of the times. The era when nobles could leisurely sit back and indulge in luxury is already over. From now on, even nobles will not be able to live in luxury unless they use their heads to earn money.
...Therefore, House Fruitier is, well, at least trying to earn money.
It is a common method for nobles, but they should have owned a winery. And the Fruitier wine has seen a price collapse because it lost to the winery owned by House Fortesia in both taste and price. Ohohoho.
However, naturally, they do not live a frugal enough life to survive on such sloppy winery management alone. ...In that case, naturally, it means they have a source of income somewhere else, doesn't it?
No, there is a possibility that they actually just had an incredibly vast fortune to begin with and are just continuing to melt it away... but I would like to believe that even those fools are not that foolish.
Now then. That leads to the question of what exactly House Fruitier was using as a source of wealth.
...The answer has already been provided by the branch family in Elsemarin.
Yes. 'Drug trafficking.'
Drugs... especially leaves, have almost no cost price. However, the retail price can be 100 or 200 times that.
For unscrupulous, rotten nobles who want to earn money through 'money taken without using brains or effort' such as brokerage fees or commissions, drug trafficking, where they can put most of the profit in their own pockets, is not a bad move. As for the fact that it is illegal, as long as it does not come to light, the Royal Family will likely cover it up for them.
...Therefore. I suspect that House Fruitier is engaged in drug trafficking as a whole clan! It is easier to understand if you think the main house is also doing it together rather than thinking only the branch family is doing it!
Well, the staff and adventurers of the Royal Capital's Guild should look into that. And for us, we have gained powerful allies in the dealers. If we ask them, perhaps they will tell us stories about that area.
And... if.
If House Fruitier was trafficking drugs and that was discovered, and they had to refrain from trafficking for a while. And furthermore, if all the drug trafficking routes and sales were snatched away by me.
...The people of House Fruitier will be facing imminent bankruptcy.
Ah, that is right. Also, it has no particular relation to House Fruitier, but I am a little curious, so I shall ask.
"Ah, by the way, Keeb. There is one thing I would like to ask."
"What?"
"There are about three reception desks at the Guild, aren't there? Among those receptionists, was there not a woman who spoke in an incredibly infuriating way? Specifically, the kind who would skim off a person's Guild rewards..."
I am a little curious about what happened to that rotten Pin-Hane Girl who reported me.
"Skimming...? No, I didn't see anyone like that."
"Oh, is that so. Then it cannot be helped."
Well, he likely wouldn't be looking at each Guild receptionist individually, so it cannot be helped.
...Or so I thought.
"In the first place, there weren't any women at the reception."
...Oh?
"All the receptionists were men...?"
There were men at the reception too, you know? The Guild reception should have been run by about three women and two men. But well, since there are two men for three desks, it is a bit strange for all three desks to be manned by men, isn't it?
"The guy who handled mine seemed like a rookie because he didn't know how to process a report."
"A rookie... is it. Which means, they increased the number of receptionists by one...?"
Hmm, does that mean... could it be that the Pin-Hane Girl was fired...?
The Pin-Hane Girl, suspected of being fired.
...How delightful!
Thinking that the Pin-Hane Girl might have been fired makes me feel exceedingly good!
Therefore, today as well, I shall do my best for revenge, revenge!
"Therefore, today we shall attack the winery owned by House Fruitier."
"Demon."
I have decided to take that as a compliment now.
"Since we can now put living things into Spatial Bags, I shall make effective use of that again. We shall pack the Spatial Bag with plenty of vermin or harmful insects and scatter them in the vineyard!"
It rained last night, and it is clear this morning. On days like this... there are many of them in the meadows.
Slimes.
"Slimes again?"
"Yes. Slimes."
...I thought about various things.
When I considered what kind of vermin or harmful insects would easily cause damage to grapevines, slimes are the easiest to handle after all.
Harmful beasts that knock down trees are good, but for a certain level of beast or monster, extermination is not that difficult. Also, there is a high possibility they will not move as intended.
Conversely, I also considered harmful insects that are incredibly tedious to exterminate, but those are difficult to handle. I do not know how to multiply insects!
...Therefore, slimes. Slimes are easy to multiply and easy to handle.
Moreover, more than anything... it is after a mass outbreak of Green Slimes occurred in Poaris. If we make them think, 'It seems slimes are breaking out in massive numbers in various places this year,' it will be perfect as no strange associations will be made.
What we are using this time are ordinary Blue Slimes that live in the meadows.
Blue Slimes are a very docile type of slime that lives on water and grass. They are only harmful enough to spit mucus as a threat if a human touches them. In short, they are almost entirely harmless.
Since they are so weak, even novice adventurers do not even look at them. However, since they are often hidden in the meadows, they do cause accidents by making people slip and fall. In that sense, they are a nuisance monster.
Since Blue Slimes are herbivores, if we release them into a vineyard, they should eat only the grapevines. And surely, they will prioritize eating the soft and easy-to-eat young buds and flowers.
Right now is just about the time the grapes are flowering. It is the time when unnecessary flowers are removed, leaving only the flowers that seem likely to produce good fruit.
...Which means, if those remaining flowers are eaten, the grape harvest for that year will be zero.
This is a perfect target!
"The only person who would collect this many slimes would be a researcher."
Doran picked up a slime with a flick and tossed it into the Spatial Bag. The poor slime flew through the air and went 'plop' into the Spatial Bag. Since Blue Slimes often have small bodies, it is easy to pick them up and throw them.
"If one has a Spatial Bag that can hold living things, there is no monster more suitable for handling in large quantities than the slime."
"Wouldn't it be fine to just burn it normally?"
"Slash-and-burn is fine, but if we do that, it will clearly be seen as an artificial incident. If a large number of slimes simply broke out, it is more reasonable to think that slimes broke out nearby and flooded in, rather than thinking someone collected slimes and brought them."
After all, slimes do not talk. No matter how much they are questioned, there is no way to know if there was someone behind the slimes manipulating them!
Slimes are the best means of attack, aren't they!
...And so, once a certain amount of slimes were in the bag, we just had to put in some random grass and water for food and wait for them to multiply while charging toward House Fruitier's winery.
The largest winery is likely the one in the suburbs of the Royal Capital. Since it is a bit past the Royal Capital toward Poaris, it would not be strange for a mass outbreak of slimes to occur there. Ah, I am looking forward to it!
On the way back, while I was walking and squishing a slime I had kept out of the bag to bully it as a pastime, Doran suddenly asked me.
"If the winery is crushed, won't House Fruitier finally be on the brink?"
"Yes. If that happens, the next step is finally bankruptcy."
I believe I mentioned that beforehand.
As I wondered at his re-confirmation... Doran said.
"...Is there a possibility they'll lay their hands on something even more dangerous before they go bankrupt?"
Something even more dangerous... meaning...?
"I think it wouldn't be strange for a war to break out for the sake of money soon."