We arrive at a town I’m told is called Rent.
We are taken to the town’s merchant guild, where we are yelled at by the guild master, Stetho. We are accused of unfair treatment towards members of the guild, but I don’t remember doing anything like that. I ask about Locke and his party, since they came here to report before, and they are brought to us in handcuffs.
“What happened?”
I ask quietly as we stand side to side, but looking in opposite directions. He says this happened after they received a report from those merchants, and since the accuser was surrounded by the guild’s guards, all they could do was wait for us.
“What is the meaning of this? Why are we, and Mister Locke and the others being falsely accused!?”
Asks Leila, sounding not at all happy about this.
“What are you talking about young girl? It’s very clear that you treated members of our guild unfairly. You will have to pay reparations, and a protest has been made to the adventurer guild. And you, you’re part of the merchant guild. You will be fined and expelled!”
I’m glad I’m holding Hikari’s hand. She’s furious. Her bloodlust is leaking.
Stetho doesn’t seem to notice this, and reads the false charges.
“Why would we act as the merchant guild’s people’s guards anyway? We didn’t accept a quest.”
“In fact, they’re the ones who took the caravan and abandoned the omnibus.”
“They ran away without any regard for us, and then came back acting like they owned the place. Aren’t they the ones who bothered us?”
I don’t think anyone cares to listen to our protests.
And then, the merchants arrive, some with nasty grins on their faces.
“You haven’t reflected at all, have you? We should just hand you over to the guards.”
Stetho is about to give the order, when Yor steps forward.
Is it just my imagination, or is she angrier than Hikari?
“Can you stop talking to my master like that already?”
I’m looking at her face from the side, and she’s glaring.
“What, little girl? Do you have something to say?”
Stetho says with an intimidating tone. The merchants watching all laugh.
“You over there.”
Yor ignores all of this, and calls out to an employee behind the counter.
“Go to the church, and ask for an officer of veracity.”
Stetho and the others twitch as they hear this.
“Who are you to give that order!? We don’t have to listen to you.”
The employee shrinks back with a stiff expression.
“Can you be quiet for a second?”
She’s quiet, but clearly angry. I sense a dangerous spark in her eyes.
“Yor Apostel is calling for an officer of veracity. Contact the church post haste.”
I feel the air around us freeze after she says this.
This mood comes from Stetho, the merchants, and the employees. Leila and her party don’t seem to care, and myself, Locke, and his party don’t know what brought on this sudden mood shift.
“What’s wrong? Go.”
There’s an indescribable pressure behind those words.
The employee that received the order rushes to jump out of the guild.
“H-hum…”
Stetho starts speaking, but is glared down and stays quiet.
“Hey, what is going on here?”
“Ah… Our Yor is actually a young lady from a nice family.”
Leila whispers the response to my question.
I just thought of Yor as, frankly, a magic otaku. The kind of girl that impressively swings from joy to sorrow upon discovering something new. Would it be an exaggeration to say I saw her as someone who devotes her life to magic?
Is the person standing in front of me right now a split personality? Is she the same person? I can’t help but feel like this.
I look over at Hikari, and she looks surprised too.
After a while, the employee comes back covered in sweat and out of breath.
Is the other person coming in a priest? He has a clear expression and perfectly composed breathing. There are several guards behind him too.
“This is troubling. If you wish to call for me, you need to go through the proper channels…”
The officer of veracity’s eyes catch Yor.
“Are you the young lady from the Apostel family? Did you call for me?”
He asks with a sigh.
He can tell just by looking? Does the officer of veracity have the People Appraisal skill?”
“I apologize, but I can’t let these people get away with their injustice.”
Yes, that’s true I guess, but the real reason is a bit different, isn’t it? She’s less upset about injustice, and more about the way they talked to me.
“And what should I assess?”
“Veracity.”
Yor explains why she called the officer of veracity.
The merchants’ faces are blue as they hear it from the side.
“Officer of veracity Rent will ask questions. Respond to all of them with yes.”
“You are Stetho, the master of the merchant guild?”
“You are Enrique, of the Aurora company?”
“You looked into Enrique from Aurora’s report and saw no falsehoods?”
“You always behaved in a righteous way as leader of the caravan?”
“You…”
“You……”
“You………”
He asks a lot and seems to be checking their answers, but does he learn anything through this?
I’m sure he does.
About ten minutes later, the questions end, and Rent simply gives the guards an order.
“Detain them.”
Is all he says.
“What happens now?”
“I don’t know either.”
I ask Leila, but apparently the officer of veracity is something that only exists in the Holy Kingdom of Frieren, so she doesn’t know.
“Adventurer Locke, your honor has been restored, and so has that of your party. These people will receive a suitable punishment.”
“W-wait. I just went along with what they said.”
Stetho tries to make excuses, but Rent won’t listen.
“You might be contacted again later. What should we do?”
“Contact the adventurer guild. But we are planning to go to the advent festival, so depending on when wagons leave, we might not be in this town anymore.”
“I understand. Then please wait two days. A wagon will be provided for you to go to the holy city.”
Says Rent as he looks at an employee.
It seems he’s pressuring the guild to get us a wagon and make arrangements for us to stay at an inn.
“Big sister, what are we going to do now?”
“We will stop by the adventurer guild. We have things to report. Mister Locke, is that all right with you as well?”
I’m carrying the orc corpses, so I guess I have to go with them.
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Haha, those merchants dig their own graves!
Thanks for the treat.
Ah truth seekers looks like they screwed up
Magic lie detector test. Dang they have no escape 😁
It’s always a question why this doesn’t happen in fantasy stories where detect truth and such are available. Then the dude who can cast it shows up to a trial where people claim to be falsely accused. First thing he does is complain that he was called suddenly by a noble and fusses that they didn’t go through the red tape. In a rational world like this one, people like this would be involved in all trials. Guess they needed to explain why that wasn’t the case.
Justice against the slimy and cowardly merchants and adventurers