Chapter 83

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Recently, in the capital, sweets made with something called "chocolat" have become popular.

This "chocolat" is apparently extracted from a plant called "cacao" that is harvested in southern countries.

Romeo, Tybalt, and Mercutio are childhood friends, each the second or third son of poor farming families who cannot inherit their family businesses.

They left their hometown a year ago, gathering together to make a name for themselves as adventurers.

While the requests available to poorly equipped adventurers are limited, they still diligently took on what they could.

One day, a job came up where they were to work with a party of adventurers who were of a higher rank than the three of them in the neighboring barony.

The adventurers they were to work with looked well-armed and well-armored, and they thought this job must have been arranged by the guild to have them assist in hunting a target monster, which indeed turned out to be the case.

As soon as the job was over, the adventurers made a deal.

They said, "We don't have much cash on hand, so give us all the reward. In return, we'll give you the 'cacao' that's currently popular in the capital. If you sell it to the guild, it should fetch about the same amount as the reward, or a little more."

The three had some cash on hand, so they agreed to the deal.

The leader, a seemingly kind man, whispered, "It's worth about the same in the capital, but in the countryside, they say they'll pay double. Since we caused you trouble, I'll tell you this as a thank you."

However.

"It turned out they had been given giant cockroach eggs instead of cacao."

In the guild's reception room, Roland, sitting on a sofa facing the trio, scratched his head vigorously.

After hearing the story from the trio—Romeo, the black-haired, weary-looking man; Tybalt, the brown-haired man; and Mercutio, the man with a scar on his cheek, who, despite looking like middle-aged men, were actually young men in their twenties, their aged appearance due to fatigue and malnutrition, as Lara had said—while they ate, they hurried back to the city, and now they were here.

The guild master looked up at the sky, and the trio looked down. Both expressions were bitter.

It was no wonder, as the trio were victims of fraud, but they were also on the verge of becoming perpetrators.

Cockroaches have a strong reproductive ability, and the rule of thumb is that if you see one, there are probably thirty more.

Fortunately, our overpowered group happened to pass by and exterminated them shortly after they hatched, but if no one had passed by and they had been eaten, a large number of monsters that the beginners in the area could not handle might have appeared.

In the gloomy atmosphere, Kousuke suddenly raised his hand and said, "Hey, question."

"Why did the guys bring something that was supposed to be sold for money into the dungeon?"

"That, that's..."

Now that he mentioned it, it did seem strange.

There must be something they were hiding.

All eyes in the room turned to the trio.

Unable to withstand the pressure, Tybalt spoke up.

"They said that sometimes weak insect-type monsters attach to the 'cacao' and drop magic stones as rare drops, and if you don't preprocess it and hand it over to the guild, you might lose money equivalent to the magic stones..."

"So you almost died because of that greed."

Roland's blunt remark made the trio look down.

Sniffing, they all had a slightly awkward expression, perhaps because they couldn't fully sympathize with the trio's situation.

I feel sorry for them being deceived, but it's also true that their unnecessary greed almost led to a pandemic or a stampede.

Well, the ones who deceived them are also to blame.

As I stood there with a conflicted expression, Roland stroked his chin and looked at me.

"What do you think?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Well, you see. These guys, even unintentionally, almost triggered a large-scale monster outbreak. If a monster outbreak had occurred, even if they had died, it would have also affected others, and in the worst case, caused significant damage to the entire Kikunoi. It was just luck that it was prevented. What they did is a serious matter. As the lord, I think it would be within my rights to punish them..."

"Punish them... like writing a letter of apology?"

"No, no, in the worst case, it could come to this."

Roland made a gesture as if to cut his neck with his hand, and my eyes widened.

"No, no, no, no! Not that far!?"

"But that's what they did. They almost caused a monster outbreak without any malice or intent."

"That's right. If we hadn't passed by today, how many lives would have been lost? It's not a light crime."

I jumped at the thought, and Roland and Professor Romanov gave me a stern look.

Indeed, if a monster outbreak had occurred, many people might have been hurt or lost their lives. As the lord, it would be unforgivable. But it didn't happen. Is it right to take someone's life because something didn't happen?

Originally, they were just struggling citizens from somewhere.

This also suggests the possibility that the citizens of Kikunoi might have done the same thing somewhere.

What should I do?

I don't know what the best solution is. But I don't want to kill them.

As I was hesitating, the sound of the trio crying reached my ears.

"Of course, poor people like us are just going to be treated like this..."

"Why only us..."

"Damn... are we just bugs..."

I understand their frustration at being deceived.

After all, they were just doing their jobs and had a little greed.

"Damn it! If you're going to kill us, just do it!"

"What's the point of us living anyway? Nothing good will come of it!"

"You must think it's our fault for being stupid, right!?"

...I understand, but don't you have any regrets for the trouble you caused to strangers?

Snap, something inside me broke.

"Shut up! I'm trying to figure out how to avoid killing you! If you want to die so badly, should I make you face a situation where you might die!?"

Angry, I cast an illusion on the tablecloth between the three and me.

The image projected was the fate of the trio if they had been attacked by giant cockroaches and no one had come to their rescue.

Their flesh would be torn by the insects' mandibles, their bones crushed, their eye sockets sucked out, and they would be torn apart while still alive. Then the cockroaches would start to multiply, and the swarm would attack Kikunoi, tearing apart innocent people—

"Ahhh!? Stop it, please!?"

"Stop it, please! We're sorry! We're sorry!"

"Please forgive us! We didn't mean for this to happen!"

Not only the trio but also Regulus and Kousuke, who saw the same scene, were trembling and teary-eyed.

The adults were slightly pale, but even Victor and Lara covered their mouths and looked away.

Only Genzo, Professor Romanov, and Roland remained composed, their faces stern.

"...That's gruesome."

"Fujitaka, you can be quite ruthless sometimes... Is this a glimpse of a tyrant?"

"Your grandmother, the rare Lady, was like this too. It's in the blood, I suppose."

They're saying something I can't ignore, but that's not the issue right now.

Regardless, the trio's punishment.

I told the trio, who were holding their heads, "Now, about your punishment," and their faces naturally lifted.

Their eyes seemed to be filled with a clear sense of guilt, so I decided to use that.

I opened my mouth solemnly.

"Do you understand your position?"

"Yes..."

"You really did something wrong..."

"We are very sorry."

"Then, once a life is lost, losing it again is the same, isn't it?"

I nodded at the solemn trio, cleared my throat, and addressed the three elves.

"Victor, Lara, Professor Romanov, do you think these three have any potential?"

"Hmm... If they eat properly and train in martial arts from the basics, they might not be bad, I guess?"

"Yes, they probably won't become mages, but they can definitely learn basic magic."

"In summary, they could become competent in three months."

"I see, thank you."

It seemed they understood my intention, as the three elves shrugged, and the trio of adventurers looked confused.

"You will train under the teachers for three months. Yes, since you've died once, you can do anything, right?"

I smiled, and the trio seemed to be frightened, but I didn't notice anything.

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