Isekai Tensei no Boukensha Volume 2 Chapter 9

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Chapter 2 – 9

The Negotiator

I went to the Knight’s Headquarters. Today was the day the negotiator from the Duke of Sanga would finally arrive. We would meet in the same room as before, where I had signed the contracts with Primera.

“Tenma-san, please have some tea. Oh, and here are some tea cakes as well.”

“Thank you very much.”

Primera set the tea and sweets down in front of me. She took a seat opposite me, but for some reason didn’t seem to be very calm.

If someone who didn’t know any better saw us, wouldn’t they be confused as to which one of us was the knight here? I was so relaxed I could easily think of trivial things like that.

“Primera-san. Is there something… that you’re not telling me?”

The moment I asked her she jumped a bit and her posture stiffened.

“No-nothing! What’s there to hide!”

No matter how you looked at her reaction, it was suspicious. When I looked at her straight in the eyes, she suddenly looked away. Beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

I continued to stare, not looking away for a second. It went on like this for 2 or 3 more minutes when abruptly, a knock came from the door.

“C-come in.”

“Excuse me. Captain, the envoy from the Duke of Sanga has arrived.”

A young woman had come in.

“A-ah, I see. I’ll greet them and show them in.”

She answered the woman, and as if she was trying to escape my gaze, Primera left the room.

It must’ve been nice to get away with just a trifling trask.

4 or 5 minutes later there was another knock at the door, and I heard Primera’s say ‘We’re coming in’.

Primera entered the room together with a man in his thirties, who had a kind looking face.

I immediately used Appraisal, then stood up and greeted him.

“It’s an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Tenma, a humble adventurer. It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance, Duke Sanga-sama.”

I said, maybe going a little too far. To make sure my greeting was not rude in the slightest, I bowed my head to him.

“Ho-How the heck did he?!”

Primera suddenly spoke out in a voice filled with shock. The duke’s face also looked shock for a mere split second, then he immediately returned to a smile.

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“Primera, you shouldn’t speak in such an improper manner. So you’re Tenma-kun, then? Nice to meet you, I am Primera’s father, Alsus Von Sanga. I am a Duke, as well.”

After the Duke scolded Primera, he gave a polite introduction.

Name: Alsus Von Sanga

Age: 48

Race: Human

Title: Head of Family Sanga, Duke

He’s 48, with a face like that! When he’s beside Primera, you could foolishly mistake her for his girlfriend! I thought to myself, but replied,

“……You’re quite young, are you not?”

The duke smirked and said,

“Despite my looks, I will soon turn 50. Some friends have suspected me of actually being an elf.”

It seemed that he had had some misunderstandings due to his looks before. Those friends might in truth just be jealous.

“But, let’s cut to the chase. Please take a seat.” he said, and I sat down.

He sat directly in front of me, with Primera to his side.

“First of all, thank you very much for getting the gems back. I can’t go into too much detail about them, but they were the property of a certain noble’s wife, and had been stolen by another bandit. I was told that they were all gifts from her husband, and she was terribly upset. It was bad of me to offer that amount for them.”

He seemed to be saying, ‘As my thanks I could offer more, since I can pay easily.’ It might not have been an attempt to coerce me before, but an honest request.

But this is the same fishy smell I picked up from Primera…… something smells off!

“No, no additional payments are needed. For us, this amount is more than enough.”

I refused. We had decided on the sum in the contract beforehand, and changing that sum now would complicate things.

“Is that so?” he said.

The Duke took out 22 platinum coins from his Magic Bag, and handed them to me. Without inspecting them too closely, I put them into my bag as they were.

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“Now then, about transferring the ownership rights of Geese. What kind of conditions did you have in mind?”

I said, and the Duke reacted with a sullen expression.

“What to do about that hm? His father, the semi-Baron, has raised some objections about it…”

It seemed difficult for him to talk about.

“Basically, he’s saying that his son (Geese) was innocent, and that I’m the one to be judged?

The duke sighed.

“That’s right. It’s a cowardly move, but for him if it’s his son, there is no way he could lose, and so complained about it.”

“Cowardly move on his part or not, Geese’s crime has nothing to do with it, though.”

I asked.

“You’re not wrong. His words were ‘There’s no way someone who uses such dirty tricks can be trusted ‘.”

“If it’s about dirty tricks, then Geese was far worse than me too.”

I said while laughing. He then gave me a strange look,

“Are you not intimidated by nobles?”

He asked. I was already acquainted with the country’s King (the highest noble around), but I couldn’t say that.

“Oh no, I don’t mean to make fun of any nobles. Is this semi-baron more frightening than you, Duke-sama?”

The Duke was not the same as this small man who acted arrogantly through borrowed authority, so I joked about it a little. The Duke here was most likely my ally. Besides, even if something were to happen, I was confident I could at least get away unscathed.

“Don’t say that kind of thing to anyone else, please.” The Duke said with a laugh. He understood my light joking.

“Sorry, I went a bit too far. However, if it’s come this far, then you’ve also refused to give your own judgment on the matter?”

“Yes, that’s right. He is still a noble, even if only temporarily. Deliberating like this without their permission would reflect badly on me. And the baron himself, if you exclude the matter of his son, is in some ways an excellent man.”

“But if you call him a criminal, you can’t just force that kind of judgement through, then?”

As I asked, the Duke shook his head.

“If I were to do that, he could start a revolt. And as his faction does have some power, making such a clumsy strike at him would probably cause us a great deal of harm.”

What should we do then… I tilted my head as I thought.

“What about a duel?” I said offhandedly.

“Oh, that’s it!” He responded.

“That’s right, if it’s a duel then his side will have nothing to complain about. He seemed to want to do things the noble way. If we agitate him a bit, he’ll probably jump right on it.”

The Duke seemed to be in quite high spirits. And I wouldn’t be against a trick like that either.

“Should we throw down the gauntlet?” I asked.

It was nice that the two of us were coming up with a plan, but it felt like Primera was being left out.

“Is it really okay to do that? He has a number of very capable adventurers available to him, you know.” The Duke said, showing a worried expression for the first time.

“As long as multiple first rate adventurers don’t show up all in a bunch, I’ll somehow make it through. I have my own trump card.”

The Duke responded to my words with,

“(Now that you mention it, I heard that you can use an A rank monster) That’s right, if you can win against Banza, you’ll probably be fine.”

He was convinced. I decided to leave it up to him, the task of persuading(provoking) the baron into a duel.

We then started to discuss the amount of money for the rights to Geese’s group.

“How about 200,000G per person, and then 1/20th of the semi-Baron’s assets?” He proposed.

“That sounds fine. However, the compensation should be made of cash alone.”

I specified it as money beforehand, in order to prevent the situation that if that if any rights were awarded, they would just go to the Duke.

“……You saw through me, hm? That’s too bad.”

It was just as I had thought. Primera was the only one who had a confused expression on her face.

“Please, don’t try to pull the wool over my eyes like that.”

I answered with a smile. The Duke laughed, and was probably thinking this guy is ridiculously lucky.

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“Well then, let us draft the contract.”

He said, and then smoothly wrote the terms of the contract out on some paper.

“Read all that’s there carefully, and then sign here.”

He said, and passed me 3 sheets with the contract on them. I looked over all of them, then gave my signature.

“Now then, both of us will have a copy for safe keeping, and I’ll ask the guild to keep one as well.”

After he said that, we completed the contract with a handshake.

—At Duke Sanga’s Residence—

“Duke-sama. What do you intend to do with this scoundrel of a child?”

It was the day after Alsus (the Duke of Sanga) had made the contract (in this case, a secret agreement) with Tenma. At the Duke’s residence, it was apparent that one of the men was impatient with waiting. The man’s name was Regil Vend, the honorary semi-Baron and father to Geese.

In this country, people with honorary nobility could not hold middle names. Even the common people had family names as well. Because of this, some nobles thought that those with only honorary nobility were not true nobles.

Regil had been told that if he stayed in the same condition, then sometime before he died he would be allowed to give himself a middle name. It seems that his two sons didn’t inherit any of his talents at all.

“Duke-sama. So then about Geese… my son, what happened to him?”

Regil had recently not been as clearheaded as he had been in the past. Alsus thought that his levelheadedness could come and go sometimes… Except when it came to his son, that is.

Alsus put on a disappointed face.

“Semi-Baron Regil. Unfortunately, the negotiations have broken down. The opponent would not surrender the point that your son did wrong.”

Regil became indignant at these words.

“Excuse me, did I hear that right! That is not the case at all! And for that matter, why didn’t Duke-sama tell the youngster off?!”

‘Even though he’s the Duke, he’s quite disappointing’ was clearly written all over the man’s face.

“Don’t put it like that, it’s clear that the Guild is supporting him. Even as Duke, it would be reckless to turn the Guild into an enemy.”

“So, you have a plan, then!”

He took it hook, line and sinker! Inwardly, Alsus laughed.

“Yes, the plan is to hold a duel! In ten days, a representative from each side will fight, and then the winning side will set the terms to be obeyed! Naturally, on his side will be none other than the little boy himself. He swore to me he would come. This is my proof!”

Alsus handed the contract over to Regil. The rules of the duel were written out and Tenma had signed at the bottom.

After understanding the contract and reading it over once, Regil smirked and chuckled.

“Of course, you’ll allow me to decide my own representative. That’s not a problem?” he said.

“I don’t mind. This is your son after all, I won’t interfere.”

The Duke mentioned that he wouldn’t interfere to Regil, who seemed to have no idea of his true intentions.

“Very well then, I will return home and start to prepare.”

Saying so, Regil took his leave, while Alsus stared at his back as he left.

“If it’s an amazingly talented person so be it. Because, there might not even be a substitute.” the Duke muttered.

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The Written Contract

On the ××th day of ○○ month, a duel will take place, to determine which side is legitimate in the eyes of the law. No matter the result, the loser of the duel is forbidden from formally objecting to the winner.

Both sides of the duel will have representatives fight, and whichever faints will be declared loser, or in the event one otherwise becomes unable to fight, a conclusion will be reached.

There will be no restrictions on magic or weaponry. Intentionally attacking an already defeated opponent, or attacks outside the battle area are strictly prohibited. Violators will be immediately declared the loser.

Furthermore, within the scope of this duel’s rules, the death of an opponent will not be declared a crime.

I am in no way discontent with the terms above, and swear to obey by these rules.

Duelist … Tenma

Duelist … Regil Vend

Regil had signed the duelist portion of the contract after looking it over for a moment, while smirking and chuckling to himself.

“A representative, huh…”

[Author’s Note]

You’d expect the Duke would be an airhead too, but I tried to show the black bellied(black hearted) things he does too. He is essentially 6:4 ratio of airhead:black bellied.

Hi, Refulgent, your translator here, if you like my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or constructive feedback at Four slimes . com I’d love to hear from you directly~

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