Slime Reincarnation

Chapter 107: Let’s Work Out Countermeasures with Krelia and the Others (1)

"Sorry to trouble you while you’re busy, thanks for cooperating with the statement."

Krelia spoke with a smile while briskly preparing to take my statement. We’d come to a nearby guard post, so it seemed Krelia wasn’t always stationed here. A simple desk and chair, nothing extra, giving off a sense of practical, no nonsense efficiency. If this was Krelia’s own doing, it already gave me a fairly good impression of her.

"Let me introduce myself properly. I am Krelia Spelcio, captain of the royal capital’s guard, tasked with protecting this city. Thank you for your help in apprehending those ruffians just now."

She bowed her head as she said it.

"I’m Yabe. I’m currently in the capital as a guest of the Coluna Frontier Count’s household. If you need to verify my identity, you can check with them."

I gave a simple greeting, deliberately establishing my credibility through my position as a guest of the Coluna Frontier Count’s household.

"My word, to think someone of such standing would cooperate with us, I can’t thank you enough."

As she said this with a smile, she seemed to signal something to a subordinate behind her with a subtle gesture of her left hand fingers. One of her subordinates gave a slight nod and left the room. Probably to go verify my claim. The fact that she wasn’t just taking my word at face value showed good judgment.

It would probably take a bit of time before my identity was confirmed. I decided to cooperate with the statement in the meantime and watch how things unfolded.

The subordinate returned and whispered something to the female knight standing behind Krelia, who then relayed it quietly to Krelia herself.

"Hmm, I believe we’ve covered what needs to be asked. Thank you very much for your cooperation. I’m terribly sorry to say this, but the capital’s guard is currently under budget cuts, so we’re unable to offer any reward money. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I hope you’ll understand."

"Ah, that’s completely fine. Fortunately, money isn’t something I’m short on."

"Ha, that’s certainly enviable. Ever since I was appointed captain of the capital’s guard, I’ve been struggling with budget constraints. I’d love to be able to say a line like that myself, just once."

I’d answered lightly, meaning it as a way of not putting her out, but it seemed to have come across as quite enviable to Krelia, who was clearly struggling with the budget.

"Well then..."

"Sir Yabe. I’ve heard about your exploits leading up to your arrival in the capital. If possible, there’s something I’d like your advice on."

Just as Krelia was about to wrap up the statement confirmation, the subordinate standing behind her cut in.

"Elincia, what is it? What exploits of Sir Yabe’s?"

"Actually, Sir Yabe has accomplished a number of things on his way to the capital that could genuinely be called heroic tales. He exterminated a massive outbreak of Dark Pythons in the village of Habana, and in Barlain he wiped out as many as fifteen hundred orcs."

"Wh, what!? Multiple Dark Pythons appearing would normally warrant deploying the kingdom’s knight order!"

"As for fifteen hundred orcs, that’s genuinely a disaster level incident. That’s a level requiring not just the knight order, but calling up the army as well."

"Wh, wh, whaaat!? How did Sir Yabe manage that?"

"Hm? With that guy over there (Logan, currently lying down resting outside) and his sixty subordinates. Oh, and there’s also the knight of love and justice, Red Kabuto, too."

"R, Red Kabuto?"

"There are sixty wolf fang tribe members!?"

Krelia and Elincia both fired off their questions in shock.

"That’s right... so, what did you want my advice on?"

I already had a pretty good idea, but I wanted them to say it themselves. If I seemed too well informed, it would only raise suspicion.

"Actually, Captain Krelia was selected as captain of the capital’s guard, but there are many who resent this, and the chain of command isn’t functioning properly. On top of that, ruffians like the ones just now have been increasing rapidly in the capital..."

Elincia sighed, looking genuinely at her wit’s end. That made sense, given that duke’s third son was apparently causing no end of trouble.

"Elincia, no matter how impressive Sir Yabe may be, consulting him about matters of the guard is..."

"Captain, this is no time to worry about such trivial matters. If this violence from ruffians keeps increasing and you can’t get your subordinates under control, public order in the capital will collapse! And you’re the one who’ll be held responsible for it."

"But..."

"Elincia is right."

"Eh?"

"I only arrived in the capital two days ago. But even so, various bits of information have already reached me. If things continue as they are, as Elincia says, public order in the capital will fall to a dangerous level, and you’ll be the one blamed for it. And the one to step into your place would be Sandric von Pleasure, the third son of the Pleasure ducal house."

"Damn it... that scumbag again!"

"But the ones who’ll suffer the most from that aren’t you two, it’s the ordinary residents of the capital who have nothing to do with any of this."

"Ugh..."

Krelia clenched her fists and looked down.

"That’s why we absolutely need your help, Sir Yabe."

Elincia looked at me with a serious expression.

"Was there any actual plan behind capturing those ruffians just now?"

I asked Krelia.

"No... we responded to a report and rushed to the scene as fast as possible..."

"That’s exactly the problem. I was watching, and you were the only one on horseback, riding straight ahead, while your subordinates were still running to catch up. If the ruffians just run the other way the moment they see you, nobody’s going to catch them."

"Ah, ah..."

Krelia’s shoulders slumped.

"These ruffians seem to be acting according to some kind of plan. So it’d be better to confirm their position first, then move in with a pincer strategy from two directions. They were already moving to duck into back alleys right away, so catching all of them at once would be difficult, but it’s better to focus all your effort on securing at least one or two of them."

"Eh... one or two is enough?"

"So in other words, Captain, the enemy really has been acting in an organized way."

"Right. This is being done systematically to damage your reputation, so from the start it’s assumed that as soon as you show up, they’ll hurl insults and run. And every time they get away, it reinforces the impression among the townspeople that the guard really is incapable of catching ruffians, making that slander seem true."

"How underhanded!"

Krelia flared up with anger. I understood the feeling, but it really was a sneaky, petty tactic. Though effective, in terms of damaging reputation.