My name was Miyo Fougma.
I was a member of the Mercury Race, created specifically to serve within the Sun Castle.
Of course, the Sun Castle eventually had its name changed to Village Four, which meant I was forced to seek employment elsewhere. Initially, the plan was for me to manage the teleportation gates, but since those gates were removed, I ended up assigned to the duties of a civil official instead.
That, I realized later, was my first mistake.
I was dispatched to Big Roof Shashato in Shashato City to assist with the accounting, and before I knew it, I had been promoted to the position of manager. From there, the paperwork never seemed to end.
Do you know what it truly means to sleep? It is the act of lying horizontally upon a bed; it is most certainly not the act of losing consciousness face-down at one's desk.
Ah, my apologies. A bit of a grievance slipped out.
Perhaps it was a result of my persistent demands for a better working environment, but we finally managed to gather enough civil officials to keep the operations running. It was an ordeal, truly. When the subordinates I had personally trained were headhunted midway through the process, my spirit nearly descended into total darkness. I still hold that grudge. Even now, they have not returned those subordinates to me.
Currently, I served as a secretary at the Magistrate’s Mansion in Shashato City.
As for how that happened? I had been enjoying a meal at Big Roof Shashato when I happened to encounter Magistrate Ifuls. We shared a meal, I sang a bit on the stage, and before I realized what was happening, I had been escorted to his office.
"I hear you're talented with numbers," he told me as he handed over a stack of documents. "Tell me, what do you make of these?"
I privately wondered if those were the sorts of documents I was actually permitted to see. The work itself was not particularly difficult, though I felt the need to begin by standardizing the formatting. When I asked if I could proceed with that, he gave me his blessing.
I suppose I accepted the task simply because my schedule had finally opened up. It was not without its benefits, however, as I was able to obtain an almost excessive amount of top-secret information regarding Shashato City. I decided to give it my best effort.
One day, during my tenure there, a meeting between the Goroun Company and the Dalfon Company was convened at the Magistrate’s Mansion. As a neutral party, I did not offer any unnecessary input. I simply listened, fulfilling my role as a member of the Magistrate’s staff.
The discussions were held repeatedly over several days, but they made absolutely no progress.
I knew exactly why.
First, there was the Goroun Company. They were being pressured by the Dalfon Company to lower the purchase price of their crops, but there was no way they could comply. The purchase prices for crops in this entire region had already been established, and all other transactions were based on those standards. If that foundation were shaken, the impact would be felt everywhere. Lowering the price was simply not a viable option.
On the other hand, there was the Dalfon Company. They brandished the grand justification of acting "for the sake of the Demon Kingdom" to force their desired pricing. Who would ever agree to that? Well, considering the consequences of making an enemy of the Dalfon Company, most people likely would have folded.
However, the Goroun Company could not back down. There was no way they would. This was because the person who stood to lose the most from a price reduction was the Village Head of the Village of the Great Tree, who held the rights to the crops.
The Goroun Company had originally proposed paying off their debts with crop rights instead of gold or silver coins—a proposal that had been accepted—so they could not allow the Village Head to suffer a financial loss. While the Village Head himself likely wouldn't have cared, there was no telling how those around him might react. I assumed the Village Head would keep them in check, but for the Goroun Company, it was far too dangerous a gamble.
Consequently, the Goroun Company refused to budge on the purchase price. Since the Village Head’s involvement was a state secret, they could not explain the situation to the Dalfon Company. Michael-san of the Goroun Company tried various indirect ways to signal that his hands were tied by undisclosed circumstances, but Delinted-san, the representative of the Dalfon Company, completely failed to take the hint.
Instead, he began to suspect that the Goroun Company harbored some form of malice toward the Demon Kingdom. Just as I was beginning to worry about how this would end, Beezel-san arrived.
Beezel-san’s objectives were Michael-san and Delinted-san. Apparently, the issue regarding the Goroun Company’s pricing had reached the ears of the Demon King. It was a bit heavy-handed to drag the involved parties away so abruptly, but it was perhaps the fastest way to resolve the matter.
Then he turned to me. "You as well."
My role was to report the outcome back to Magistrate Ifuls. I understood.
Beezel-san led us to the grounds of the Galgard Noble Academy in the Royal Capital. Specifically, we were brought to the mansion where Lord Alfred and the others resided.
It felt a bit small for people of their stature to be living in. Inside the mansion, I saw Lord Alfred, Lady Urza, Lady Tiselle, Asa, and Earth. Along with them were the Demon King, Lord Randan, Lady Hou... and several individuals I did not recognize.
Asa whispered their identities to me. There was the Demon King’s wife, Ridley-san of the Dalfon Company, and Mettora-san of the Post-Age of Gods Dragon Race. I made sure to memorize them.
The others... seemed to be attendants brought by the Demon King’s party. Two of them looked more like assassins than servants; I assumed they were the Demon King’s guards.
Then, Lady Tiselle approached me. "High-five?"
"Yay," I replied, matching her gesture.
At the exact moment our hands met, she pressed a note into mine. I glanced at it. It detailed the flow of the problem and a proposed solution.
Was I supposed to guide the conversation toward this conclusion? No, that wasn't it. The situation was simply going to unfold exactly as written.
Throughout the meeting, Lady Tiselle secretly distributed notes to the Demon King, Lord Alfred, Lady Urza, Lady Hou, and Lord Randan. She even gave one to Michael-san.
She did not give one to the people from the Dalfon Company, I noticed. But then, since the final agreement was going to align with the Dalfon Company’s demands, there was no need to coordinate their interests.
I understood my part. I was to take the credit for the final stroke of the negotiations.
However, I couldn't help but notice that this would use up one of the "trump cards" I held against the Village Head.
Lady Tiselle... I began to wonder if reducing my leverage over her father was one of her hidden objectives as well.