The next day, Lacia withdrew on Marius's orders after negotiating the release of the soldiers being held in Orario.
From what I heard, Ares had strongly objected and wanted to keep fighting, but...
'Haah... we secured the magic swords.'
'What did you say!?'
Apparently, Marius had offered up three magic swords and somehow forced him to back down.
Once Lacia retreated, the merchants who had earned less valis than expected grumbled in disappointment, while the ones who had earned more than expected grinned so hard it looked like their mouths would split open.
And then, about three days later, a letter was delivered to me.
'That must have been a pain...'
The message written on the fine paper was simple.
'Since the negotiations succeeded, bring back a gift.'
'Then...'
Should I try negotiating with the Guild?
When I entered the Guild, I saw the staff busily working away.
'W-what brings you here...'
As I stood at the reception desk with my paperwork, the Guild employee immediately broke into a cold sweat and started trembling.
Judging by the unfamiliar face, he seemed to be a new recruit.
'I just wanted to go out for a bit.'
'Y-yes!?'
The employee's hands shook as he began checking the documents.
Apparently the others had heard, because the Guild staff around him all started looking this way.
'I-I've confirmed it. Please wait a moment.'
The new employee hurried off with the papers, while the rest of the staff began sweating even harder.
'I hope this doesn't take too long...'
What should I get as a gift...?
Magic swords... no, that's not it. Maybe alcohol or something?
'Hmm...'
After waiting a while, Royman, a senior Guild official, came running over with the new employee.
'Haa, haa... w-why are you leaving Orario?'
'A friend called for me.'
'A f-friend?'
'Marius.'
'!?'
'Since that guy called me, I have to leave today or tomorrow.'
'U-um... perhaps you're thinking of defecting to Lacia...'
'Absolutely not.'
If I were going to work for a stubborn country like that, I wouldn't have come here in the first place.
'Phew... would you perhaps be willing to sign one contract for us?'
'A contract?'
'Yes. There's always the possibility that one of Orario's key combat assets could end up moving to another nation...'
...Could they really stop that with just a contract?
'Give me the contract.'
'I'll prepare it right away!'
Royman took out a sheet of parchment and spread it open.
'Please sign here and here.'
'...'
I skimmed the contract two or three times, but there didn't seem to be anything strange in it, so I signed right away.
'So I can leave Orario now, right?'
'Yes! Please return as soon as possible!'
'Sure.'
Fortunately, they didn't grab my ankle and try to stop me this time.
'By the way, why did you grab my ankle and stop me last time?'
'Ah, well, that was...'
'I'm going to Lacia, so can you give me some documents?'
'You said it like that without any warning, so we grabbed you first.'
'...'
So it was my fault.
The next day at dawn,
'You're all ready, right?'
'Yeah.'
Aiz came to the smithy with a suitable bag slung over her shoulder.
'The others in the Familia didn't object?'
'Riveria talked them into it.'
'Talked them into it?'
'Yeah... talked them into it.'
Hmm... if she talked them into it, then I guess there shouldn't be a problem.
'Let's go.'
'Yeah.'
I slung the bag I'd prepared in advance over my shoulder, and together with Aiz, I left Orario for a while.
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