Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 338: The true identity of the mastermind
Salt Lake Pavilion, where salt producers gather…
Tauro’s group was sitting at the counter, eating and listening, in order to gather information.
“The mayor is still not trying to do anything!”
“He really doesn’t want to do anything!”
“And what about the adventurers?”
“No, a team of adventurers was recently seen near the salt lakes taking down those pesky crabs, you know?”
“Is that so?”
“Ah, I’ve only been checking from a distance, but it looks like the Adventurers’ Guild is finally taking action. But it’s only one team.”
Tauro, who was listening, reacted a little.
It was about us.
We must be a little helpful.
“The other one is the mayor, but unlike his predecessor, the current young mayor is a piece of shit! He doesn’t do anything, but he’s got big fat pockets.”
“Hey, hey, it’s bad to call someone out too loudly, okay?…But then again, are the rumors true?”
“…Yeah. I know an official who does the accounting at the mayor’s office, and he told me about it when he complained to me while he was drunk.”
“…… Seriously. Well then, he’s embezzling and incompetent, this town of Caxart is finished. Shouldn’t we appeal to the Lord?”
“Who’s going to go to Graunewald and sue them, we don’t even have any proof? They’re not going to take you seriously and will just dismiss you at the door.”
“But that’s not our problem right now, it’s our lives. Unless the monsters around the salt lake are subdued, we won’t be able to restart salt production.”
“I know. …… Well, ……, it wasn’t until I heard about the embezzlement from the government officials that the outbreak of the monsters began.”
“No, no, no! They say bad things happen in rapid succession, but when you combine the discovery of embezzlement by an incompetent and greedy mayor with a massive outbreak of monsters, it will be nothing short of a disaster for this city!”
The salt producers agree with these words and gulp down their liquor.
Today’s alcohol was likely to linger into tomorrow.
“…The mayor here is incompetent and greedy? That’s terrible. We have to let Count Graunewald know about this, Leader.”
Ankh, who was drinking while listening, told Tauro.
“…The mayor’s embezzlement was discovered and the monsters appeared at the same time…?”
Tauro didn’t hear Ankh’s words and thought about it.
“Hey Tauro. I was wondering, are the monsters that have been mass producing in the salt lakes native to the area? If they are from here originally, I would think that there would be a lot of adventurers in the D rank band to defeat them. ……”
Ragune asked Tauro, who was lost in thought, a surprising question.
“──! …… indeed ……. I completely overlooked that. The presence of those flaming crabs in this safe city is bizarre …… if they were intentionally introduced and bred in the salt lakes …….”
“What the hell? The city has suffered a huge loss, right? Who would be happy about that, at least not in this town? Maybe… an outsider?”
After doing some reasoning, Ankh predicted that the culprit was probably an outsider.
“That’s what I would normally think, but ……. That wouldn’t explain why the mayor of this city doesn’t move his territorial troops, would it?”
Tauro spoke to Ankh while organizing his thoughts.
“…… well, yes. Normally, if it was the work of an outsider, you would respond to the damage and move the territorial soldiers to try to prevent it…”
Ankh was confused when Tauro’s question returned his predictions to square one.
“But what if they were so afraid that their embezzlement would be discovered that they released monsters into the salt lake to cover it up?”
“For fear of being found embezzling?”
“Yes. The major tax revenue of this city is salt. What if they were to report that they can’t collect the taxes on that salt because of the monsters outbreak, and they make excuses saying that the low tax payment to the lord is due to monsters, not embezzlement?”
“That would be terrible. If that is the case, you will really suffer a great deal of damage and no money will come into your own pocket. Wouldn’t that be too stupid?”
Ankh denied Tauro’s theory.
“But from what I hear about the mayor, he doesn’t sound very smart.”
“…… indeed. If the leader is right, then the mastermind behind the current disturbance is the town mayor’s own doing, which might explain it,…….”
“Furthermore, the veteran team of the adventurer’s guild here is the mayor’s protégé. They must have a great deal of influence over the other local adventurers as well. It wouldn’t be impossible to get them to leave the flaming crabs alone.”
“I see what you’re talking about! If someone was also stopping the requests to other branches at the behest of the mayor, that would explain everything.”
Ragune, who had been silent, understood Tauro’s explanation and rejoined the conversation.
“Then we came along and began to take down the enemy in earnest, and now that we have discovered the cause of the mass outbreak, their efforts to deceive the lord has reached its limit. The town Mayor tried to have the territorial soldiers sent to monitor us, strangers who seemed to be in the way. ……Yeah, it’s all coming together.”
“Then …… it looks like it’s about time a team of C+ ranked adventurers, who have been coddled by the town Mayor, showed up to nail us.”
A grinning Ankh chuckled.
“Yes, I suppose so. There might be some mild threats.”
Tauro nodded at Ankh’s speculation.
“I see. So all we have to do is to defeat them?”
Ragune proposed the use of force.
“Hey, hey, hey, Ragune. Personal fights between adventurers are forbidden. They’ll probably threaten us to leave the city, and if we don’t listen, they’ll use some of the town’s thugs to attack us. And if that fails, they’ll have the territorial soldiers arrest us for injuring the townspeople (thugs). This may be the default course.’’
“But that would mean we would be captured!”
Ragune complained that they were doomed to be caught.
“Yes. But we don’t have to play into their hands, do we? Oh, and before that, we need to get the evidence of embezzlement before he suppresses it.”*
Tauro smiled as he replied, as if he had an idea.