Prologue – Report

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Independent Calendar Year 431, Beginning of March

Elaine looked up at the door. It was a piece of fine workmanship, decorated with delicate and elaborate designs. She guessed that the door had served its duty for many years since it was initially created. Not only was its design delicate, but it also made one feel a personality.

Just when she wondered how long she’d been staring at the door, she suddenly heard a small noise. Something was creaking.

The door slowly opened. And beyond were eleven men. The leaders of the Free Cities Union. Sitting at a hoof-shaped table, they looked at Elaine. That’s all they did. Looking at her. Not one of them tried to speak up.

After a while, the man sitting in the middle――the leader of Imei, Sauk――spoke up.

“…Enter.”

“Pardon the intrusion.”

Passing through the door, she stopped at a suitable distance from the table. This was the assembly hall where the leaders of the Free Cities Union would convene.

Elaine――the guild master of the prostitute guild――had no place in here. Although the position was called guild master, its only duty was to unify a specific occupation.

In that case, she looked at the lowest seats. A man with a tattoo on his cheek and a fat guy were sitting there. Schiff, the guild master of the mercenary guild, and Arjain, the boss of the slave dealers.

One could say the same about these two as about her, but she suspected that they didn’t want to grant a woman, who worked her way up from being a prostitute, even the lowest seat in this place.

“What sort of business do you have with me to expressly call me all the way out here?”

“It’s about Marquis Erakis,” Sauk said with a sigh, causing Schiff and Arjain to stir slightly.

“I’ve sent you my report… Did you possibly not read it?”

“I read it, but I wanted to hear the story directly from you. What sort of person is Marquis Erakis?”

I knew it’d come to this, Elaine smiled bitterly in her mind.

Currently, the paper produced in the Erakis March was circulating in the Cepheus Empire. If you looked at the market scale, it was vanishingly low, but the amount wasn’t the issue. The problem was them losing their monopoly on paper.

Sooner or later, the Free Cities Union would lose its market dominance. So it was only natural for them to be cautious of Chrono, the reason behind this.

As she pondered how to answer this, Sauk spoke up once again.

“What sort of person is Marquis Erakis?”

“A perverted brat.”

The leaders of the Free City States snickered at Elaine’s comment. But, Sauk didn’t. Probably noticing that, the other leaders erased their smiles.

“He stared at the chests and genitals of the slaves during slave markets. And during business entertainment events――”

“Enough.”

She went on, but Sauk interrupted Elaine. He had probably judged this to be a waste of time.

“Good work. You may go now.”

“Okay, then I shall take my leave.”

Elaine turned on her heels and left the room. She heard a heavy sound behind her. It was the door’s closing.

Wondering whether it was somewhat disappointing for them, she brushed up her hair. Sauk wanted information about Chrono. As long as she could provide some information, even if not perfect one, his view of her should improve somewhat.

Thinking about such things, she laughed.

My head’s full of the bait I might or might not be able to obtain. I’ve completely become accustomed to playing the gofer.

Of course she didn’t plan to be a gofer forever. But, right now was the time to wait for a chance. She’d sieve through the information and make her move, if the time was ripe. Otherwise, she’d be crushed. Apart from that――

“…Going back to the Erakis March is going to be quite a chore,” Elaine sighed lightly.