kscans

Chapter 50 - Too Little, Too Late ★

I glanced at the clock as I sat down. It pointed to two in the afternoon.

Late… The appointment was supposed to be at one.

Thinking that being an hour late was too much, I reached for the phone on my desk. Just as my hand was about to touch the receiver, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter."

I retracted my outstretched hand and gave permission to enter.

"Excuse me."

My subordinate, Yoshino, entered with a bow. Seeing her, I had a bad feeling. Because when this woman was this polite, it never meant anything good.

"What is it?"

As I asked, Yoshino approached my desk.

"Director, I am here to report that the negotiation with Eleanor Ocean has failed."

Huh?

"Hold on. I don’t understand. That witch hasn’t arrived yet."

"No, she arrived at one o’clock, as scheduled."

Huh?

"Seriously, wait! What are you talking about!? I’ve been waiting this whole time!"

"To put it simply, Nonaka intercepted her."

Nonaka…? That guy!

"What did Nonaka do!? Are you telling me he negotiated with her on his own without telling me!?"

That’s unbelievable. Nonaka is my subordinate!

"Shindo-sensei was also present."

So that’s it… Nonaka married a relative of Shindo, a Diet member. That’s the connection he used to get hired at this headquarters in the first place.

"Damn it! What exactly happened!?"

As I yelled at Yoshino, she made a look of distaste.

"S, sorry. You have nothing to do with this, and that was workplace harassment."

This is bad. I need to remain calm at times like these.

"No, I can imagine how you feel."

"So? He negotiated without authorization, is that it?"

"Yes. To be more precise, it was not a negotiation with the headquarters, but with a company that Shindo-sensei has ties to."

Calm down, calm down, me!

"And he conducted that negotiation here, at the Guild headquarters?"

"That would be correct. This is bad, isn’t it?"

"It’s anything but good. We’ll have Nonaka transferred to the Shimane branch."

Because of his connections, I can’t fire him, but I’ll make sure he never rises again. He can spend the rest of his life playing matchmaker.

"What were the terms of the negotiation, by the way?"

"It seems they tried to buy the items for one million yen through intimidation."

One million… That’s far too low, no matter how you look at it.

"That’s something else. So it fell through?"

"Yes. Diet member Shindo tried to threaten the witch with her unknown origins to force the sale, but she refused. In return, she threatened to close the Gates, and now the government is in a panic. Nonaka turned pale and collapsed. He’s at the hospital now."

…………Eh?

"Yoshino, I’m thinking of taking paid leave this afternoon."

"You can’t."

Well, of course not.

"Haaah…"

"I thought you were going to yell at me…"

"We are far beyond that point."

Close the Gates? Unbelievable. Unbelievable, but…

"Yoshino, what do you think?"

"It would have been easy to dismiss it as a lie, but our opponent is the Golden Witch. There are rumors that she is from Frontier, so it’s hard to say…"

That’s right. The painful part is that we can’t say for sure that it’s a lie.

"This is bad."

"However, even if that witch is from Frontier and has a way to close the Gates, she likely wouldn’t actually do it. That would be far too reckless. She would probably only do it if they truly tried to detain her."

"I agree, and my superiors will likely reach the same conclusion. The problem is that the witch’s influence has grown. With this, the government can no longer touch Eleanor Ocean."

If the Gates were closed, Japan would undoubtedly decline. They cannot treat a witch who holds that possibility so carelessly.

"That witch truly is a witch. I wonder if the government will try to negotiate?"

"Negotiate what? That witch evades every question and denies being from Frontier. If she is from Frontier, then I would guess she is a refugee."

"A refugee?"

"The people of Frontier have been extremely avoidant of contact for the last thirty years, and no one from Frontier has been found through any of the Gates worldwide. That is to say, they must also prohibit contact. For someone from Frontier to come here means they fled. Or, she’s a hermit who was never bound by the Frontier government to begin with."

A criminal or a hermit… Well, this is all assuming that witch is from Frontier.

"Either way, she is a witch…"

"We can’t do anything reckless, so the government will likely take a wait-and-see approach. For now, she’s the golden goose that supplies us with potions and Item Bags."

Apparently, foreign agents have infiltrated the country, but we’ll have to leave that to those two from America.

"So, are we also to observe quietly?"

"No, let’s attempt to renegotiate for the Healing Potions. It wasn’t our branch that broke off negotiations."

"I have a message. She said, ‘The man from earlier told me not to sell, so I’ve decided not to sell the Level 2 Healing Potions.’"

………………………….

"That man is not an employee of ours. Is that understood?"

"Did you not just say he was being promoted to Shimane?"

I didn't say it was a promotion.

"He’s fired after all."

"Are you sure? He does have connections to Shindo-sensei, you know."

"Shindo is finished for causing this incident. His cozy relationship with that company will be leaked to the media soon enough."

He has a lot of power, but he also has a lot of enemies. It will happen soon.

"Then, are we to proceed with the understanding that an unknown man trespassed into the Guild and conducted negotiations without permission?"

That’s preposterous.

"That’s how it will be. I will contact that vixen immediately. Can you put in a good word for me?"

She’s your cousin, isn’t she?

"That would be difficult. My cousin is a money-grubber."

You two are alike, hey. Are you really cousins? You must be sisters.

"Then it can’t be helped. I might be overcharged, but I’ll try to negotiate somehow."

"Let’s hope it goes well."

Yoshino smiled.

"…………What is that smile for?"

I have a very bad feeling.

"After the Golden Witch left here, she immediately got into a taxi."

"She must have called one."

"There was already a blonde woman in the taxi. Also, look at this."

Yoshino said, showing me her phone.

On the screen was a man with a huge smile on his face. Next to him were Claire Walker and Harry Baker, also with huge smiles. And at the edge of the photo was a blonde witch, who, despite her grumpy, scowling face, was still making a peace sign.

"What is this?"

"It was tweeted by the owner of a certain ramen shop. It says something like, ‘Come try our ramen, patronized by A-rank adventurers and the Golden Witch.’"

………………………….

"They’ve already made contact."

But why a ramen shop? It doesn’t suit them at all.

"I don’t know the details. However, don’t forget that Claire Walker owns a company in America that deals in items from Frontier."

…That’s right! This is bad! She’s going to swoop in and steal the deal!

"I’m calling immediately! Yoshino, I’m leaving the rest to you."

I immediately picked up the receiver of the phone on my desk.

Please be in time! …Though I think it’s already too late.