How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 88

Extra’s Honey-Sucking Method – Episode 88 (88/344)

Episode 88

97. Let’s Learn Magic (11)

15 days ago.

The Forellos Empire, Selrond Marquisate.

The lord of that land, Marquis Selrond, cheered with great joy as soon as he saw his merchant ship entering the harbor.

Like a child receiving a large gift.

“Oooooooooh! It made it back safely this time too!”

The workers unloading goods from the ship noticed the lord’s behavior, a lord himself, and quickly bowed.

“It doesn’t matter. Continue.”

He nodded, telling them to continue their work.

While they were unloading the ‘goods’ that had been loaded onto the ship, men with a different air about them than the workers disembarked.

These were the men in charge of this mission: transporting the ‘goods’ obtained from Pelpuke in the Selvas Kingdom to this place.

Knights who had sworn allegiance directly to Marquis Selrond.

They silently approached the Marquis and bowed in unison.

“You’ve worked hard again this time.”

“…It is our duty.”

The man who seemed to be the leader of the knights answered quietly.

“Yes, Sir Krold. That goes for you too.”

“Everything is for the glory of Lord Selrond. It is only natural that we contribute to that will.”

“Even so, sometimes show a little joy at praise. Too much humility isn’t fun.”

“…I will keep that in mind.”

Faced with his still-stiff reply, Marquis Selrond grimaced and turned his eyes back to the cargo being unloaded from the ship.

There was no need to disguise it any longer; when the wooden boxes were removed, monsters growling roughly inside were revealed.

There was no doubt that they were the ‘goods’ imported from the Selvas Kingdom.

“The trade seems to be going smoothly.”

It had been several times since he had traded with them to smuggle these ‘goods’.

“It is thanks to your Excellency.”

“Hoo-hoo-hoo. Isn’t this also what the world wants – our victory?”

The smuggled monsters were necessary for the upcoming war with the duchy.

“The Third Prince is quite the prankster. Who would have thought he would suggest using monsters as a military force?”

This war is also a place to test the Empire’s next tactics.

Manpower is precious.

And it tends to be limited.

Then, what if something other than manpower is used as military force?

What was proposed with that idea was to organize a corps using monsters.

In addition to the fall of the duchy, the success of the next tactic is also required.

This war is important to the Marquis in many ways.

If he succeeds, his position will rise significantly.

“Krold, thanks to you, we were able to bring in so many monsters safely enough.”

To transport the monsters to be used in the war carefully and safely to this place, he secretly sent his most cherished subordinate, Krold, to a foreign country to take on this mission.

Krold remained calm, merely listening to his master’s praise.

He just quietly changed the subject.

“Your Excellency, this place is a bit busy, so wouldn’t it be better to return to the castle soon?”

“Yes. That would be good. My watching here would only hinder their work. Wouldn’t it?”

“…That is not what I meant at all.”

That’s not what I meant.

“Huh, it’s a joke. Yes, it’s a joke.”

When Krold showed a troubled reaction to his joke this time, the Marquis finally turned around with a satisfied chuckle.

“Good. I’ll receive the rest of the report inside. …And we can’t keep our guest waiting for too long.”

“Guest? Who is it?”

“It’s a face you’ve seen before. …Duke Rupel’s friend.”

Hearing the name mentioned by his lord, his lips twitched.

“…Is he his henchman?”

“Yes, you remember him, right?”

“Yes. I remember him.”

That’s why Krold couldn’t help but show a slightly reluctant reaction.

He doesn’t have a very good impression of that henchman.

To be precise, he loathes him.

“But why is that guy visiting again now?”

“Well, it’s nothing much. Um… you’ll know the details if you listen. It’s about a deal. I’m sorry to ask you to come along right after returning from a long journey.”

“I understand.”

He doesn’t say anything else.

Even if his lord hadn’t told him to come, he would have found another reason to follow him anyway.

The Marquis was not unaware of that reason.

“…You still don’t like that friend, do you?”

“Yes. Frankly, I don’t even want to let him into the territory.”

He answered without hesitation.

“If he weren’t a guest, I would have killed him on sight.”

It was sincere, and it was also true.

It’s a feeling that applies to both the guest and the background that is the root of the guest.

Marquis Selrond, realizing that it was genuine, smiled bitterly and urged him for the time being.

“Don’t cut him down now. We have a war to fight right now. That’s why the Prince also knew and brought him in.”

“Of course. I will not act rashly.”

“Above all, we can make the current ‘goods’ deal because we used them.”

It was impossible to airlift the required number of monsters within the Empire.

Furthermore, it is even more difficult because of the checks from other imperial family members.

In the first place, this work itself is a plan that the Third Prince is independently devising.

To carry it out, you have to use even somewhat suspicious people.

“I know. I will never lay a hand on him.”

“Of course, if you, one of the Empire’s Eight Swords [elite knights], glare at him with displeasure, how would he even speak!”

One of the reasons why Marquis Selrond can confidently treat that guest is that this man who follows him is the most valuable knight in the Empire.

With one of the eight remaining Aura Masters [knights who can use mana to enhance their abilities] under his command, what is there to fear?

“I’m not worried, but please keep an eye on him.”

“…Of course.”

Krold answered once again to his master’s request.

* * *

As soon as they returned to Marquis Selrond’s castle, they headed straight to the reception room where the guest was waiting.

The Marquis subtly asked the servant in the castle about the guest’s behavior.

“The guest?”

“He is still waiting inside.”

He had told the servants to keep an eye on the guest’s behavior, but there seemed to be nothing strange about it from their point of view.

“The guest has never come out even once. He hasn’t said anything to us either.”

“I see. I’ll go up right away.”

He made him wait quite a long time, but it didn’t matter.

Above all, being a little late would also firmly establish the upper and lower relationship of the position to the other party.

Marquis Selrond took Krold and entered the reception room as it was.

The guest got up just in time, as if he knew they were coming.

The young man with neat black hair bowed politely.

His name is Sol, a henchman sent by the trading partner who manages this monster smuggling.

“Marquis Selrond, it is an honor to see you again like this.”

“I made you wait.”

“How could that be? It is a well-known fact that the Marquis is busy with official and private affairs. Rather, I am very sorry to take up your precious time like this.”

Anyone can tell it’s just a formality.

No one would sincerely believe those words.

However, even knowing that, the young man’s expression and words are strangely free of any sense of incongruity, to the point where one might inadvertently believe them.

‘…A guest whose true intentions cannot be seen through.’

The Marquis casually brushed off the earlier formality.

He won’t be fooled by mistake.

“It doesn’t matter. I would have had to talk to you again even if it wasn’t this time, so it’s good that you came.”

“I am truly grateful. My master will surely be pleased as well.”

“…Duke Rupel, he seems to be doing well.”

The one who sent this henchman Sol, and the Marquis’s real trading partner, is none other than Duke Rupel, a powerful figure in the Selvas Kingdom.

The Kalluon Trading Company, which handed over the goods to them in Pelpuke, is just one of the secret channels operated by Duke Rupel.

I heard that the branch manager of the Kalluon Trading Company doesn’t even know that Duke Rupel is above them.

Like a cunning old man.

While swallowing those words in his heart, the Marquis also replied with formality.

“Please give my regards to Duke Rupel. Thanks to him, I was able to get good things.”

“I will definitely convey it. He will surely be pleased that you are satisfied. There is nothing more pleasing than our skills being helpful.”

Sol said without changing his expression.

While pretending to be humble, he subtly emphasizes that they were able to obtain those things because of their skills.

‘Like a suspicious guy.’

The Marquis snorted.

Once the deal is over, he won’t have to see this guy anymore.

After the fall of the duchy, it’s their turn.

While secretly plotting that, the Marquis asked slyly.

“By the way, how much more of those ‘goods’ can you provide in the future?”

What is needed now is how much more they can trade with these people in the future.

He has already secured a considerable number of monsters, but he needs to get as many as possible.

To ensure a complete victory in the war with the duchy, no matter how much he secures, it will not be enough.

“…Hmm.”

At those words, Sol pretended to groan as if he was worried.

“Don’t worry about the price.”

“You have already paid a considerable amount.”

“It’s worth getting things that are worth the price, so why would I begrudge it?”

His true intention is that he has no reason to be stingy with expenses.

He is the face leading the war with the duchy, but the Empire’s Third Prince is supporting him behind the scenes.

Of course, the support is not unlimited, and if it goes too far, the Prince will withdraw his hand.

However, this deal is a deal that the Prince himself showed interest in and introduced.

He wouldn’t mind even if the expenses were a bit high now.

“Then I think I can get you one more shipment in the future. I apologize, but beyond that…”

“It doesn’t matter. That’s about the limit in terms of timing.”

War preparations are not unlimited either.

Although a declaration of war has not yet been made, the duchy is also noticing.

It would be foolish to wait until they have fully locked their doors.

“Then I will contact you immediately and prepare for the transaction. …The method is the same as before. Is Sir Krold coming to manage it directly this time as well?”

“Of course.”

It was Krold who had been listening to the conversation quietly until now who answered.

“…That’s a lot of trouble. The knight that Marquis boasts about has to travel back and forth to distant lands so many times.”

“It’s none of your business. The transaction must be done reliably, so we have to show that much sincerity, right?”

“Hoo-hoo-hoo. That’s right. As expected of the one who holds the last seat among the Empire’s Eight Swords. He doesn’t hesitate to come to distant places with his subordinates.”

“How can I compare myself to you, who doesn’t hesitate to come here alone?”

“Huum… Is that so?”

Normal conversation, but somehow an eerie atmosphere flows between the two.

They hate each other.

The Marquis is not foolish enough not to notice that atmosphere.

‘Krold, I told you to say something friendly, even if it’s just on the surface….’

Well, it didn’t seem like the other side had any intention of doing that either, so he couldn’t just blame his subordinate.

“Ahem! Hmm! More than that.”

The Marquis coughed appropriately and cut off the conversation between the two.

“More than that, there’s something I want to confirm with you, Sol.”

“Hmm? Is it about the deal?”

“No, it’s not that. Um, there’s something I want to hear in this place.”