603 Monopoly and Competition
"Please wait. I got it. You win, I lose. I'll get straight to the point. I want your help to hunt a certain magic beast."
I returned her word with silence. Because that still explains nothing.
"I'll start from the beginning, okay. Also, as a merchant there is no lie in my word. That's the one thing I won't betray. Please believe in me."
Apparently this magic beast lives in a mountain region quite far from here.
Only a select few know about the beast presently, so she's being careful to make sure she could monopolize it.
"I wanted to form a party to subdue that beast but anything grand would draw attentions from untoward people sure to get in our way. We can't make it too obvious."
Must be her business rivals. The whole thing will turn into a 'competition' if this intel becomes known. No monopoly possible anymore.
Yep, this beast must be a big deal enough to warrant all this secrecy.
"You see, I did ask for Balga's help in this matter. But he dislikes being under my command. Of course I offered him with more than enough reward as his compensation. I do not 'use' other people if they don't get something equal in return. But he wouldn't give me the time of the day despite knowing that."
I got it now. Having Balga recommend me. And that mock battle with Kyaro.
She had her eyes on me.
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"And there's no telling if the beast materials would be intact even if Balga complied. I deem him capable of taking that beast down on his own. We can't make big moves so it has to be done solo and stealthily."
In short, there's a chance of the magic beast ending up in such a sorry state even after his victory, which means there's nothing left to sell.
They can't mobilize too many people so they can't provide proper back up for him.
"That's where you come in, Saito. I'm convinced of it after witnessing your strength. Your name is still unknown in this city too so nobody else should be aware of our plan either, I'm sure of it."
"Did you lie to Kyaro?"
I pressed on this point. Even I think that question is a bit nasty.
"I'm not lying. The Great Rally is opening soon. And Kyaro will participate in it. But she wasn't too eager about it. Even though I'm absolutely sure of her victory. She's just that strong. It's just that she's hit a bit of a roadblock lately. I thought a match with you could be a good stimulation for her. Turned out it wasn't enough."
She had it all figured out already. I was surprised by this.
"But ultimately, the fact that you were the one who hunted those Bearud is the biggest factor. You beat four Bearud on your own right? Nobody has ever killed those beasts in such an exquisite manner. You crushed their head and killed them in one blow, right? How did you do it? I personally heard the story from the mercs you saved, see."
Looks like this all started from the moment Selram bought those Bearud pelts.
I'm also sure she's got someone monitoring Balga considering she went for him first.
The matter with magic beast was a longstanding thing.
My meeting with Selram was inevitable the moment she asked those two mercs. Everything else up to this point was her skill at work.
She must have known about my unique feature right from the start. All the intense skin contacts and flirtatious behaviors were for the sake of lubing the OK word out of my mouth.
"I see zero fault on her plan... I'm absolutely no match to her~ This pattern, nothing good's gonna come out even if I refuse here, I just know..."
The only thing I could do was grumbling in whisper.
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