The Guild’s Cheat Receptionist

Chapter 2.3

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Chapter 2.3
Chapter TwoExpectations(Part 3)

Several days later.

Called for by Hector, Frank headed to the Lord’s Mansion with Ilya.

A messenger had come to report the result of the meeting, so he wanted him to be present for the message.

“Aah, it’s been a while since we last met, hasn’t it.”

The person who came as the messenger was Rondéville Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Luciano Conti.

For the Prime Minister to leave the castle so often, is he a fool? Moreover, he didn’t bring guards again this time either. He’d be dying by his own foolishness, but it would be good if he thought about his responsibilities.

Receiving Ilya’s glare as she thought about that sort of thing, the Prime Minister smiled.

“Please don’t look at me like that, Ilya. I’ve properly thought about what I’m doing, after all.”

He was hard to deal with exactly because he still did things like this after thinking about them. He was something like the successor in training, but is there a policy to go by so that they’d rear another one if he didn’t work out? … Is what Ilya wondered.

She held herself in check, knowing that nothing would come about by that being brought up by a half elf, something that could easily live beyond a hundred years, so she simply held Haku in her arms and stood behind Frank, who was sitting on a sofa.

“Well then, I’ll get straight to the point and tell you the meeting’s decision.”

“” Alright. “”

Seeing the Lord and Branch Manager both nod, the Prime Minister spread out the paper he took out of a tube and read it aloud.

The country’s decision that he read aloud started first with the main piece about them giving their approval on the arena’s construction.

To summarize its contents, they were told that the arena’s construction and its management would have conditions attached.

First, they needed to relocate the residences within a fixed distance from the arena. They had permission to enlarge their walls in accordance with the relocation of the residential area. Next, they would resume the establishment of the church that had been sitting at a standstill. Along with a fixed tax, they would receive limited political a.s.sistance.

Being given such favorable conditions, the three were uncomfortable about it.

Although the guild was building friendly relationships with the surrounding countries right now, there would be costs for strengthening and repairing of deteriorating public facilities, as well as diplomatic expenses in hiring a chivalric order… including various other uncountable costs, all used in order to support the country.

As this could be seen as the country letting go of the chance to make a steady income, it wasn’t unreasonable for it to have raised some suspicions.

Seeing Hector and Frank find it so dubious, the Prime Minister smiled back at them wryly.

“We’ve been relying on the guild a lot lately. Please, don’t think too deeply about it and take it as the repayment a favor.”

It did seem as though there was something implied by it all, but just by him saying to not read into it, the truth was that he was telling them that there were expectations attached to it.

Inn towns were usually located close to tourist attractions. This was done with the intention to attract customers with events, being proved valid through the Snow Festival that they had held beforehand. This would cause a tourist facility to be built without the country having to spend anything. For the country, this was an unexpected blessing.

Whether

or not Hector and the others knew that or not, the talk continued.

First on the agenda was, as expected, how to maintain public order. If people that had lost everything through gambling started popping up, there would be crimes such as theft or burglary occurring as well.

“What about we make a vigilance committee… no, a patrol group?”

The person to suggest that was Frank.

A patrol group… Hector and the Prime Minister groaned at the thought of policing. Although the current Lunéville had something similar through the gatekeepers and the soldiers that guarded the Lord’s Mansion, as an existence that would be treated as Hector’s private forces, they would be property belonging to the country.

Even if the idea of protecting the city by giving them the same authority was good, under whose jurisdiction would they be? Problems would certainly arise concerning that.

However, as the number of guild members that held antipathy towards the country’s people weren’t few, if they were deemed to be under the country’s jurisdiction like a private armory or chivalric order, it would turn into a problem for the guild.

On the other hand, if it was deemed that the guild had jurisdiction over them, it would be synonymous with the guild being in possession of their own military, deteriorating their relationship with the country.

Either way, there would be worry over abusing the power or bribery.

Seeing the situation turn into a stalemate, Ilya decided to raise a question.

“Would it be possible to organize it between the country and guild jointly?”

Everyone looked towards her, their faces clearly hoping for her to say more.

“That’s right. The most effective way might just be have each side restraining the other. How about it?”

Having received Ilya’s explanation, the person to say that was the Prime Minister.

He rose to his current status not for the country, but to prepare a comfortable environment for him to live in. So long as the results were good, he didn’t mind what steps needed to be taken.

Contrasting him, the two people he asked looked as though they had no response.

“That’s a hard question. Our soldiers are well liked by the guild members, but if I were to say whether or not there were any talented people that were capable enough to compete head-on against those from the guild… I’m not so sure I could point anyone out.”

“It would be difficult for the guild as well. For example, the representative of [Blue Sword] is a person of great character and has remarkable capabilities, but he prefers to be free. I don’t think he would be eager to take on an official position as it would bind him in various ways.”

It looked as though their conversation had ran into a brick wall once again, but the two were overlooking something important.

“If you need representatives, why not have the both of you serve? The Lord and the Branch Manager. You two have the highest ranks in this town, the capability, and guaranteed characters.”

Hearing Ilya, Hector and Frank’s eyes both jumped open in surprise. Meanwhile, she stood there as though she hadn’t said something extraordinary.

Those two wouldn’t do anything bad to upright citizens and it was hard to believe that either of them would fall to corruption. It was the same for those who they employed, so long as they didn’t hire any dodgy individuals, it would be alright.

“… In that case, the problem will be public service. It would be meaningless if there were other obstacles doing things in places that we can’t see.”

Hearing Hector’s opinion, Frank hesitated a little as well before agreeing.

After that, Hector and the Prime Minister, who both know the command structure of chivalric orders, and Frank, who knew about how the guild’s Guild Master ran the guild, decided to begin considering the patrol group’s chain of command and its work system. Although Ilya could also provided what she knew from her previous life, as she had simply grown up in a village in this life only, she decided to just stand back and listen attentively.

As a result of their discussion, it was decided that the group would be put together as Hector being the patrol group’s Chief of Staff and Frank being its Chief of Forces.

The group would be organized using a blend of the guild’s and a human country’s styles. It was aimed at preventing conflicts within the group, removing internal strife through training.

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