Chapter 207: The Special Affairs Officer Proceeds with Negotiations

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"So, John-san, regarding the land rent next......"

"Hmm, if you agree to the previous conditions......"

"I see, then we......"

"No, if that's the case......"

In front of Yuju's eyes, her escort target, Special Affairs Officer Taiche, and the man with the villain's face, John, were continuing some kind of difficult negotiation.

Yuju was leisurely watching that while standing behind Taiche.

Her job this time was to escort Special Affairs Officer Taiche.

And currently, the escort target was in the conference room inside the base where there was no danger of monsters.

The person she was negotiating with also looked villainous but didn't seem very strong, just an ordinary person.

Therefore, Yuju was ordinarily letting her guard down and taking a break while pretending to escort.

"Accordingly......"

"Oh my, what a surprise! Taiche-dono, you're quite the joker."

"No, no, not as much as you, John-san! Hahahahaha!"

""Hahahahaha!""

Ah, they're laughing about something.

(Wow, I'm glad they seem to be having fun!)

Letting the difficult words pass through her right ear and out her left ear, Yuju had a leisurely smile on her face.

She casually glanced out the window.

Was it a field burn?

Several thin trails of smoke were rising from the fields inside the base.

The peaceful scenery soothed her heart......

This brief moment of rest amidst the daily harsh adventurer work.

Yuju was ordinarily enjoying it to the fullest.

However, on the other hand, the two office workers, Taiche and Giovanno, were giving their all to the negotiation, wearing down their nerves and eroding their minds, putting Yuju's leisurely attitude behind them!

The words they threw at each other with smiles on their faces were like fastballs with blades hidden inside.

Each word contained double or triple meanings, and if you carelessly caught them, you would definitely suffer a major injury!

They weren't having a pleasant conversation at all!

However, since the goals the two were aiming for weren't that far apart, although they had some disagreements over the details, it could be said that this negotiation landed at a point where both sides were satisfied.

First, the Adventurer's Guild recognized the villainous-looking man John's rights to the land and promised to protect him.

In the first place, the Adventurer's Guild wasn't the kind of organization that would do something ungrateful like driving out the pioneer of the land, and they valued this man's extraordinary talent in demon realm plant cultivation and his leadership in this land.

Huh? A great sinner exiled to this forest?

There's no way such a person would still be alive, right?

Use common sense to think about it.

Well, that's how it turned out.

Next, it was decided that Patchino and the members of the "Tea Dragon's Heel" would work as adventurers based at this Zamago Forest branch office in the future and continue to compensate the victims of their hero fraud.

Also, they would finally receive wages for their labor in road construction and other base development work.

And as for Earthcell, as he had hoped, he would continue working at this place as the branch manager.

Giovanno had negotiated not only for the treatment of the "Tea Dragon's Heel" but also for Earthcell, who was originally on the Adventurer's Guild side.

It was the result of considering the ease of living at the base for him and Emi in the future, the affection he had developed for Earthcell and the others as comrades, and the fact that Giovanno simply enjoyed negotiating this and that in the first place.

"...... Then, I look forward to working with you in the future."

"Likewise."

Both parties signed the documents, and the masks of smiles pasted on their faces until the end never came off, ending the discussion amicably.

"Foooh~~~...... I'm tired, hohoho!"

"No, no, Giova...... John-san was the one talking most of the time. Where was there any element for the perverted old geezer to get tired......"

"Patchino, you're tired too, aren't you! Just listening to this kind of talk is tiring!"

Next to Taiche and Giovanno, who were shaking hands, Earthcell and Patchino were slumped in their chairs, stretching out sloppily.

Patchino called Giovanno "John", but it wasn't because he understood the reason he had to call him that.

He just somehow read the atmosphere.

"Wow, Taiche-san, good work!"

Yuju casually and ordinarily called out to Taiche, who sat back in her chair after the handshake and was sipping the remaining sour vine water, which was now truly little.

Although they were words of consideration, upon hearing that remark that probably didn't understand her mental fatigue at all, Taiche involuntarily furrowed her brow and glared at Yuju with narrowed eyes.

However, it was true that this job was "almost" finished without any problems.

Taiche decided to let her irritation towards Yuju flow away with a single sigh.

"...... Thank you. But my work isn't over yet, you know."

And she ended up muttering that one line.

"Ah, there were some minor inspections left, right?"

"That's not all. There's one more thing...... a heavy task."

"A heavy task? What is that?"

The one who spoke up wasn't Yuju, but the man with the villain's face sitting across the table.

Yuju ordinarily missed that one line muttered in a small, whispering voice, but this man caught it with sharp ears.

Taiche furrowed her brow again and let out another sigh.

"...... I'm very sorry, what I just said was truly a slip of the tongue. I would appreciate it if you could forget about it."

"What is ittt! What is ittt! Taiche, are you having some trouble! You can talk to grandpa about anything ohohoho!"

The one who approached Taiche, who had dropped her shoulders with a tired look, was Earthcell, in high spirits.

He was walking while humming a tune and swaying his hips left and right to the rhythm.

This old geezer is full of energy now that the difficult talk is over!

"Yes, of course."

"Foh!!?"

Then Taiche suddenly put on a beaming smile, but with veins bulging on her forehead, and grabbed the old geezer's mustache!

"Of course, you'll be handling this with me, Earthcell! I mean, old geezer! You should have noticed first! When you were the branch manager, the information should have been circulating! The person the Adventurer's Guild has been searching for all this time is here! Right here!"

"Foooh~~~!! It hurts, it hurts, it's gonna come off, it's gonna come off!! My mustache is gonna come off~~~!!!"

Taiche was pulling the old geezer's mustache with a demonic look on her face!

But the old geezer was a former special-rank adventurer!

His body, which had undergone mana transformation many times, was tough, and his mustache wouldn't come off easily!

It just hurt more!

"...... What do you mean?"

The man with the villain's face asked suspiciously, seeing the suddenly started violent playful interaction between the grandfather and granddaughter across the table.

This special affairs officer seemed to have some other business with this base.

She was the one he had just negotiated with so fiercely.

Naturally, his guard was up.

"Excuse me, I got carried away...... It's not like I have anything to hide, no. It will come to light soon anyway, so I'll explain the situation now. John-san, you can now be considered a related party as well, yes."

Taiche cleared her throat and opened her mouth.

"Before that, let me confirm one thing. The girl named Emi, whose name came up during the previous negotiation...... she has black hair and black eyes. Is that correct?"

"What about it?"

...... Realizing that his voice came out colder than he expected, Giovanno felt a chill of panic in his mind.

During a negotiation, it's not good to let the other party sense your emotions.

However, it couldn't be helped.

After all, it seemed that the woman in front of him had business with Emi.

Emi is strong.

Sometimes so strong that he couldn't believe she was human like him.

However, that's only when looking at her combat ability in isolation.

To put it in a strange way, Emi is monstrously strong as a creature but very weak as a human.

It's not a matter of mental issues, but a matter of social standing.

After all, until she came here, she was a homeless wanderer without a place to live, and above all, she is a cursed child with black hair and black eyes.

In the "normal society" of this world, she is a being who is despised and treated with malice for no particular reason and yet is never saved.

Emi's occasional rough behavior.

Her violent, cruel, and beastly nature.

But that's just one aspect of her.

Emi is certainly crude, rough, and ignorant of common sense, but she seems to cherish her comrades at the base in her own way, and she's happy when her birthday is celebrated.

Her heart is a human heart.

And unconsciously, she seeks connections between people.

She is not a monster slumbering on top of corpses.

At least, not now.

Absolutely not.

If that's the case.

As an adult, he protects her.

That's his job, Giovanno selfishly thought.

Because for Giovanno, Emi is now a life-saver, a comrade who has shared joys and sorrows, and as if she were his own......

"...... Please don't be so wary."

Sensing a different kind of fighting spirit from the villainous-looking man compared to the previous negotiation, Taiche hastily spoke up.

"That just now was not a question meant to disparage that girl. I was simply cross-checking her physical characteristics. And there's probably no mistake. We at the Adventurer's Guild, to that girl......"

"Hey, perverted old geezer! I brought her."

That's when it happened.

Without knocking, the door to the conference room opened, and a man with a shabby appearance entered from outside.

No, it wasn't just that man who entered.

That man had brought a child with a hood pulled deep over their eyes.

That child had erased their presence and walked without making a sound, so at first, Taiche couldn't notice their existence.

By the time Taiche was able to notice that child.

That child had already.

Towards the two unfamiliar women in the conference room, Taiche and Yuju.

...... Started emitting a powerful [Intimidation]!

Ah! Emi-chan, you're doing the "Opening Move [Intimidation]" again!

Is she shy around strangers?

I apologize for the long conversation, but the negotiation part is definitely an important opportunity for the brainy old man-type character to shine, so please forgive me.

Despite that, since the author is an idiot who can't write smart-sounding conversations, the crucial negotiation depiction ended up being completely cut!

Sorry, old man!