Preparation was complete, so execution proceeded swiftly.
“Move quickly!”
“There! Make sure the covering doesn’t fall off; secure it well!”
Baron Bjor’s soldiers, stationed near the Evergarden territory in advance, cautiously led numerous carriages into the territory late at night.
Afterward, it took less than four hours to move the magically-beasted that had been drugged and put to sleep in advance in the underground space that the criminal group used to occupy in the Evergarden territory.
Baron Bjor succeeded in bringing the captured magical beasts into the Evergarden territory before the morning sun rose.
“Are those magical beasts? They look incredibly ferocious…”
“Hmph, so what? In the end, beasts are just beast cubs, right?”
“Your words are wise, Count. In the end, those beasts aren’t much of a threat to you, haha!”
“Of course! You speak the obvious!”
Dariann watched the entire process with a conceited air, Freya giggled cheerfully, and Baron Bjor wrung his hands beside them.
The magical beasts caged were mostly cubs.
Adult magical beasts had superior violence and destructive power, and were also resistant to drugs, making it difficult to transport or detain them for long periods.
Therefore, Bjor captured the relatively easy-to-handle cubs and drugged them, while hunting the adults and selling off their byproducts (trading and capturing live magical beasts was prohibited, but hunting them and selling their byproducts was legal).
“So, this really makes that much money?”
“Of course! Nobles from all over are already clamoring to buy these magical beasts!”
“And of course, Count Dariann, who provided the location for the safe transaction of these magical beasts, will also make even more money!”
“Really? Then I want to buy a new pony this time! Big horses are scary~”
“Haha! Sure, sure! Buy as many as you want!”
“Oh my! You’re the best, honey! Hehe!”
“Right? Hahaha!”
“…Y-Yes! Of course!”
‘I can’t stand to watch this; I want to kick this guy out right now… but I have no choice but to endure it for now.’
‘Ugh…! My thigh hurts…!’
Meanwhile, Bjor, watching the lovey-dovey couple right in front of him, pinched his thigh until it was bruised, maintaining a poker face.
“But, is it okay to just leave them here like this? Don’t we need to give them food or anything?”
“You don’t have to worry about that. My men will be stationed here until the scheduled transaction date and will take care of everything.”
When Dariann asked about the management of the magical beasts, Bjor told him not to worry and showed him his men.
They seemed somewhat exhausted, but they were quick and efficient, without any signs of looseness.
“Hoo… is that so?”
Dariann muttered, glancing at the soldiers.
“Well- now that the major work is done, the underlings will take care of the rest. If you’re amenable, how about we return to the mansion for a drink?”
“That sounds good! Let’s go quickly!”
“Hehe, I’m looking forward to it~”
Having finished bringing the magical beasts into the territory, Dariann and Freya returned to the mansion with Bjor.
“Haa, tsk…”
Dariann, his face slightly flushed, scratched his head as if tired and returned to his office.
“I’m back.”
“You’ve worked hard. How did he go?”
“He’s passed out drunk. Tsk, I didn’t enjoy the drinks at all, so it was really annoying to keep him company.”
Dariann grumbled, exhausted from acting and socializing with Bjor while drinking at the mansion.
“You seemed to drink for a long time; are you okay with the alcohol?”
“Ah, that? I can solve it like this.”
When Freya, looking worriedly at Dariann with half-closed eyes and a flushed face, asked, Dariann replied as if it were nothing and closed his eyes for a moment.
And.
“…Hmph!”
-Fwoosh
With a resounding shout, vaporized alcohol rose from his nose and ears in a white cloud.
“…Hoo! I can do things like this after learning mana.”
Dariann, who had fully awakened to mana, had completely removed the alcohol from his system through a technique that expelled it through mana.
This technique was so unique that even his mentor, Gordon, hadn’t thought of it, so it could be said to be his own original skill.
“Anyway, this means I can drink as much as I want without worrying about getting drunk—”
“Still, drink in moderation. I’ll be checking.”
“………Tch.”
Dariann’s plan to avoid Freya’s nagging when drinking in the future, using this technique as an excuse, was immediately thwarted, causing him to make a slightly gloomy expression.
“So, what should we do now?”
“Now that the magical beasts have gathered in my territory, it’s time to weed out the people who will buy them.”
“When an opportunity like this comes, shouldn’t we clean things up a bit?”
“That sounds good. But how?”
“Here, this is the list of magical beast traders I got from Baron Bjor.”
In response to Dariann’s question, Freya nonchalantly took out a document and handed it to him.
“Are these the guys who want to buy magical beasts?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Hmm… Baron Krehan… Count Rege… Vice President of the Arsen Merchant Guild… Huh? It’s not just nobles?”
“To be precise… should I say it’s the low-quality hobby of wealthy people…?”
“…Aha? So, it’s for the purpose of saying, ‘I have a lot of money. Are you jealous?””
“Exactly.”
The buyers of magical beasts were not just nobles.
Buying a magical beast was not only because they were fascinated by its wildness and charm, but mostly to satisfy their vanity.
Therefore, it was not strange for someone who was not a noble, but had some capital and connections, to covet a magical beast.
“The New Year’s ball in the capital is on the 29th of the 13th month. The buyers on this list have made reservations in our territory before that, and after heading to the capital, they will come back to our territory to pick up their respective magical beasts.”
“Huh, they think our land is their own living room.”
“According to our plan, this method is much better.”
“Those detestable things.”
“Still, the plan is going smoothly. We just have to wait for a while. That’s all.”
“I want to beat up that guy passed out over there right now, but I have to endure it.”
Dariann muttered, clenching his fists as if they were itching.
“For now, let’s wait for those children. Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Ah… tea? That sounds good… yeah…”
“….”
“U-Um… I…”
“No.”
“Ah, whyyyyyy…. Just one cup. Huh? Just one cup~”
“You’ve had a lot to drink today. Here, the milk tea is brewed deliciously?”
“….Sigh”
At that same time, while Dariann and Freya were having a cup of tea in the office.
“Haaam… tsk…”
In the hidden underground space of the Evergarden territory.
A soldier guarding the temporary storage of the magical beasts yawned widely.
“When is the next shift change?”
“Two hours left.”
“Aish… time doesn’t pass at all.”
The soldier, who couldn’t expose the entrance to the underground space, hid it in a roughly suitable warehouse building, and blinked as if bored, holding a long spear in front of it, muttered.
“It’s really boring as hell.”
“Still, guarding the entrance is relatively better. The guys guarding in front of the magical beast cages must be dying.”
During the storage of the magical beasts, the soldiers were taking turns guarding them 24 hours a day according to the instructions, but they were not convinced by the instructions.
There was only one entrance to the underground.
The magical beasts were heavily drugged and would remain drowsy for at least a few weeks.
All they had to do was throw some meat at them on schedule and stand guard blankly.
Moreover, even after finishing their guard duty and changing shifts, they still had to stay underground.
Because the transport of the magical beasts was carried out very secretly, officially they were people who were not currently in the Evergarden territory.
Therefore, they had to solve all their eating, sleeping, and washing in this underground space.
Although there were people who delivered food at regular intervals, it was very painful to be stuck in an underground space where the sun didn’t shine for days and chew on tasteless jerky.
Therefore, the only time they could breathe the outside air was when they were guarding the entrance.
“Ha… I wish I could just have a cold beer…”
“Me too… and a woman. I need a woman.”
“…Should we go for a while, even now?”
“Don’t even think about it. If we get caught, it’s over. Don’t you know that guy’s personality? He’ll just throw us to the magical beasts as food.”
“Sigh…”
In a situation where the streets full of alcohol and food were just a short walk away, they were only swallowing their saliva at the cheerful sounds coming from afar in this dark alley, which was so boring and difficult for them.
At that time.
-Thud thud
“…?!” Who is it!”
“What?!”
Far away, as a dark shadow of a figure approaching with footsteps filled the inside of the alley, they immediately pointed their sharp spear tips and shouted.
“U-Um… Ah. Hello…?”
Nevertheless, the steps did not stop, and soon the figure stopped at the tip of the spear.
From beyond the cloth covering the face, a beautiful woman’s voice flowed out.
Swish-
Subsequently, the cloth covering the entire face was untied, revealing the identity of the suspicious figure.
“I, I brought something to eat…? Hehe…”
Black hair sparkling in the bright moonlight.
A tottering gait and an awkwardly raised smile.
There, a girl in a maid outfit held a basket in her hand, looking up at them with an awkward smile.