The alchemist looked at me, drenched in cold sweat.
Trembling legs, pupils shaking wildly. For some reason, she spoke in a highly anxious state.
"......Our branch chief is strong."
An exceedingly serious voice.
"He may be getting on in years, but he is a genius so gifted it would not be surprising if he transcended to a higher plane at any moment. A great mage who rose to the position of Tower Master before his retirement -- that is our boss."
And yet what she was actually saying was just bragging about her superior.
"Is that so?"
"......And you're unfazed by that? Your opponent is a former Tower Master, and you feel nothing?"
I wasn't exactly unfazed.
I was thinking "what an impressive person" -- but I was more baffled about why she was suddenly rattling off her boss's resume at a time like this.
I didn't know how to react, so I just smiled politely.
And the alchemist was even more horrified by that smile.
It was the alchemist who broke the strange silence.
"Branch Chief? Yes? L-let him in, you say? That man?"
Suddenly muttering to herself out of nowhere.
She appeared to be conversing with the branch chief, but no matter how I looked around, there was no one who resembled one.
I was wondering how they were communicating when.
'......That thing on her ear must be a communication device. That can't have been cheap.'
Perhaps she was a personal aide or secretary of sorts?
A magical communication device. The woman was wearing a walkie-talkie-like device that plugged into the ear.
"Even so, it's dangerous...... Yes, I know the branch chief wouldn't lose, but still...... You want to see what kind of person he is? ......Very well. I'll send him up."
The woman ended the call on her device.
The alchemist looked at me and spoke.
"Follow me. The branch chief wishes to see you. Your thugs stay behind, of course."
I glanced over to check whether Mr. Rockwood might fly into a rage at the word "thugs." But the man was perfectly fine.
Throwing saliva-covered bread at the Saint was a capital offense.
Because it dirtied the Saint. But calling him a thug and looking down on him was perfectly acceptable. That was just the truth, after all!
......Was that how his logic worked?
"I'll be back before you know it. Don't worry."
I followed the alchemist into the guild.
***
The woman who introduced herself as the branch chief's secretary.
I walked through the guild interior following her lead.
A building lavishly decorated in gold. The most opulent-looking room amid all that splendor.
CREEEEAK.
The door to the room labeled "Branch Chief's Office" opened.
"......Good work. You may leave."
"Yes, Branch Chief."
The secretary who'd brought me closed the door and withdrew.
Only two people remained in this room: me and the branch chief.
The branch chief gave me a quick look from top to bottom, then laughed heartily, raised his staff, and spoke.
"......Indeed. You've more than earned the right to challenge me. To think your kind still existed in this era."
And then he started spouting utter nonsense.
I asked the branch chief in bewilderment.
"Fight? Why would we suddenly fight?"
Pointing a staff at me out of nowhere. What kind of lunatic did this to a customer who'd come for business?
But the branch chief seemed equally bewildered.
"You're not here to fight?"
"No. I said it myself, didn't I? I just wanted to talk. I have information that could be profitable. I came to propose a deal based on that."
The branch chief studied me with a hard look.
His eyes glowed blue for a moment...... and then he spoke in a surprised voice.
"......It's not a lie."
Only then did the mage lower his staff.
The branch chief settled into his office chair.
Finally prepared to have a proper conversation.
"Good grief. You should learn to behave in ways that invite fewer misunderstandings. If you show up with a mob like that and start a brawl with the guards, of course people will assume it's an attack."
"Your guards attacked first. Our side may have overreacted, but both parties share the blame."
Don't even think about trying to fleece me.
Your side started the trouble. If you try to shake us down for damages, you won't enjoy what comes next.
That was the meaning carried in my words.
"Fair enough. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to hear what you have to say. So, what's this profitable information?"
The branch chief picked up on the implication and spoke with a smile.
"It had better be worth all the commotion and my time. I'll be expecting great things."
He was smiling as he spoke...... then his expression soured.
His complexion took a slight turn for the worse.
"I suppose you can't cheat age. My chest feels like it's being wrung out, and my stomach's churning -- must have eaten something that disagreed with me. Make it quick, if you can. I need to rest."
"Are you all right?"
"Not so bad that I need your concern. My heart's throbbing a bit, but at my age, having a body that works properly would be the stranger thing. I should call for a healing priest."
The branch chief grumbled about age being the enemy.
Well, his magic was formidable, but his body looked well past ninety. Strength aside, his health was clearly poor.
Considering the times, it was a miracle he was alive at all.
He'd essentially lived three times the medieval average lifespan.
Still, despite his poor complexion, the eyes that watched me had lost none of their sharpness.
He tapped his chest with a fist and looked at me.
Don't think you can pull any tricks on me.
His gaze said as much.
I explained my business proposal to the branch chief.
"Are you familiar with something called antibiotics? An item that can produce effects similar to expensive potions or holy water, but with cheaper ingredients. I know the materials needed, and through research we could experiment with manufacturing......"
The various bits of modern knowledge I possessed.
I recited them briefly before the branch chief.
From the rough information I had, to the business plans I'd loosely drawn up for turning it into money.
"......That's all. What do you think?"
And the branch chief, having heard it all, said.
"If it's genuine, it's not bad information. Except for the antibiotics part. The jurisdiction overlaps with the Holy Bureau, so that's risky."
The venture I'd emphasized most because it saved lives, despite having the lowest profitability and the least information to work with.
Apart from that, the branch chief called it a passing grade.
He looked at me and spoke.
"Sell me those ideas. At a fair price."
"......I didn't come here to sell ideas. I have a facility that needs renovation, so I brought these in lieu of a commission fee. I need around ten people skilled in alchemical construction. Right now."
The Sword Emperor, who could come knocking at any time.
And Rang, who kept fidgeting and saying.
That something felt off. That it felt like they were being watched, and Astraea could show up as early as tomorrow.
So I'd like to act fast, if possible.
"......You have a remarkably poor sense of your own position."
The old man's voice shifted in an instant.
"To put it bluntly, I could kill you right here and take all the ideas for myself. Would there be any consequences?"
"......"
"There wouldn't. There couldn't be. Unfortunately for you, the current Emperor is rather fond of saying that commoners are livestock. I could probably kill you in broad daylight without repercussion."
He spoke with a faintly mocking smile.
Calling me livestock to my face. The caste system of this world was truly unbearable.
"You should be grateful I'm a decent person. I could kill you and take everything, yet I'm offering to at least throw you some pocket change."
"You do realize I deliberately kept the crucial details vague? The information you heard so far wouldn't let you do anything meaningful. If I'd told you everything, you'd have killed me without a second thought."
"What do you take me for? I'm hurt."
The old man looked at me with an unpleasant grin.
'I felt a bit sorry for him when he was talking about his heart hurting. Crazy old man. Is everyone in this Empire like this?'
There had to be a limit to how rotten the upper echelons could be.
I genuinely wanted someone to stage a revolution and tear it all down.
"So...... what will it be?"
The branch chief looked at me and smiled.
His hand rested on his staff, as if trying to be subtle about it.
After a moment's deliberation, I...... spoke.
"At least give me some time to think."
I kept the hostility off my face.
Words spoken with emotions reined in as much as possible.
"Very well, suit yourself."
The branch chief smiled magnanimously.
But his voice said he had no intention of giving me a real choice. The mocking tone asking if I still didn't know my place.
Was this the average for Empire nobles? And the Emperor was supposedly even worse?
The White Cloud Society really needed to kill the Emperor and seize power to restore this country to sanity.
"These ideas weren't all mine, you see. Making that kind of decision by myself would be a bit much. I should really meet with my colleagues and discuss it."
In any case, what mattered now was rejoining my combat personnel.
Old as he was, it was only his body that had weakened, not his magic. Taking him on alone would be tough.
I needed a way to defend myself.
"I'm afraid that won't do. I'm a bit impatient, you see. If you could deliberate here on the spot and give me your answer as quickly as possible, I'd appreciate it. Consider it courtesy for an old man."
Naturally, he wasn't going to allow that.
What he really meant was: leave this room and you die.
How in the world was I supposed to handle this?
I racked my brain desperately for a solution. I was desperately racking my brain when.
......A strange groan reached my ears.
"......Wha? What's...... why is my breathing suddenly......"
The branch chief of the Alchemy Guild.
The aged old man had started clutching his heart.
***
A man's scream came from the office.
But the branch chief's secretary was not alarmed in the slightest.
What was bound to happen had simply happened, so what was there to be surprised about? The outcome had been predetermined from the start.
The opponent was merely some thug with a gang.
The guild's branch chief, on the other hand, was a former Tower Master.
'No matter how old his body may be at ninety-seven, his magical abilities have not dulled one bit. From the very start, it was a gap too vast for a fight to even be possible.'
Someone who'd been too confident in their own strength had picked a fight with the branch chief and died. That was all.
'Poor man. That aside, do I have to handle the corpse cleanup again today? They always dump these things on me.'
She walked toward the office to take care of the aftermath.
CREEEEAK.
She opened the office door without a second thought.
And what her eyes beheld was......
A man standing perfectly unscathed and composed.
And before him, the former Tower Master, on his knees, screaming.