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While Garsche and Petore were busy arguing, I polished off five bowls of pasta and finished off the rest of the dishes as well.
Once I was full and sipping after-meal tea, Petore—apparently tired of the fight—spoke to me.

“Veit, if you don’t mind, could you let me meet the mermaids? I’d like to hear what became of the mermaid who saved me back then.”
“Yeah, sure.”

Looks like a perfect chance to cash in a favor right away.

When we returned to the harbor pier, several mermaids were listening to Parker tell some stupid joke.

“So anyway, this one time when Veit messed up the dosage on a secret potion—”

Okay, that’s something worse than a joke.

I rushed over, picked Parker up, and tossed him straight at the Garne brothers.

“Take care of him.”
“S-sure.”
“Ah, wait! And then the one who happened to see Veit at that moment was Merene—”

I had them haul Parker away while he was still talking and remove him from the scene.

When Petore saw the mermaids, he stopped in surprise.
Then he walked slowly along the pier and greeted them.

“Hello there, young ladies. Is there anyone who remembers me?”

The mermaids looked at one another, then shook their heads.

“No, we don’t.”
“I see… no surprise there. It was fifty years ago.”

Given their lifespans, that was probably asking too much.
Still unwilling to give up, Petore pressed on.

“My name is Petore, a sailor. Do you know a mermaid named Rina?”

One of the mermaids raised her hand.

“Rina is my great-aunt.”
“Oh!”

Petore stepped closer and spoke to her.

“Is Rina well?”

The mermaid lowered her head and shook it slightly.

“My great-aunt passed away from illness when I was very young. About twenty years ago.”
“What…?”

Seeing Petore deflate, the mermaid continued.

“But she often told me stories about a young sailor named Petore. She said he was a very brave human she met on a stormy sea.”

Petore stared at her face in astonishment, then nodded again and again.

“I see… yeah. I see.”

Seems there was some hidden story there.
Watching this, Garsche spoke up suspiciously.

“Hey, old man, what kind of relationship did you have with that mermaid? Something you don’t want the old lady to hear?”
“You idiot! That was back when I was still single and a hot-blooded brat! And you’d better never tell Tanya!”

So it really was something he didn’t want getting out.

It looked like there was a lot to talk about, so we decided not to interfere.
Petore spoke animatedly with the mermaids. His smile was mixed, now and then, with a hint of loneliness and relief.
After a while, he returned and smiled at me.

“Whew… looks like one of my old heroic tales has finally come to an end. I owe you one.”
“Heroic tale, huh.”

As I stared at him in disbelief, Petore puffed out his chest proudly.

“When I was young, as the heir to Lotzo and a noble of the Fikarsch family, I made quite a name for myself all over the place.”
“A heroic tale you can’t tell your wife, I take it.”
“Indeed. Make sure you keep it from her. Though I reckon about half of it’s already been out.”

He admitted it without hesitation.

Petore waved to the mermaids beyond the pier, his eyes narrowing.

“To think they still remembered a foolish man who only met them once fifty years ago—and only caused trouble at that. Compared to those senate b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲, demons have far warmer hearts.”

Then he looked straight at me.

“Please take good care of the mermaids. If you lot are on friendly terms with them, you can’t be all that bad. Lotzo will form an alliance with the Demon Lord’s Army.”
“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

I firmly shook Petore’s wrinkled yet powerful hand.

Petore and I returned to the mansion and exchanged information about what lay ahead.
After we’d talked for a while, Petore asked me something.

“By the way, Veit, what are you planning to do next? Heading back to Belrüsa?”

All the Demon Lord’s Army personnel we’d left in Belrüsa should already be on their way back. Maybe a few centaur soldiers still remained as messengers, but that was it.

“We’ll return to Lüenheit for now. I can’t be away too long. And we still need to negotiate with the other southern cities.”
“I see. Then yeah, best not to dawdle.”

As he said that, Petore took out a letter from his desk.

“According to reports from my spies, things are still messy up north. Something about that hero called Lanhardt.”
“Ah, the fake hero.”

A nostalgic name.

Petore went on.

“Seems people connected to Lanhardt were from the mining city of Klauchen, famous for rock salt. I don’t know all the details, but that place is apparently in a bit of turmoil now.”

My gaze naturally shifted to Rasie.
She looked uncomfortable, but when I signaled her with my eyes to say nothing, she nodded repeatedly.

Petore watched us for a moment, then let out a small sigh.

“You set something in motion, didn’t you? Klauchen’s in a delicate position even within the north right now.”

I only respected Rasie’s wishes—it wasn’t intentional.
Well, okay, it’s also true I spread things around hoping they’d stir up trouble.

“On top of that, three cities—including Bachen, which the Demon Lord’s Army attacked—are dissatisfied due to delayed reconstruction. Seems cracks are starting to form within the north.”

Looks like the north doesn’t have the leeway to invade us just yet.

Still, Petore added;

“Don’t underestimate them, though. Even that senate full of idiots isn’t incompetent enough to stay idle forever. They’ll panic and pull something sooner or later.”

He sighed, saying the senate always rushed into reckless actions, which made them a pain to deal with.
Nearby, Rasie was nodding vigorously, so I shut her up with a look.
In that case, we really can’t afford to take it easy.

“Lord Petore, thank you for the information. Let’s move ahead with negotiations with the remaining two cities as quickly as possible.”
“Yeah, that’d be wise. Cities closer to the north don’t have much breathing room—if we’re going to bring them to our side, now’s the time.”

All right. Time to hurry back to Lüenheit.

At the pier, I shook hands with Garsche, who had accompanied us this far.

“Garsche, you really helped us out.”
“No problem. Helping an ally’s only natural. Come visit anytime.”

Smiling back at the now-friendly Garsche, I asked what I’d been meaning to.

“What are those guys?”

Behind me stood a lineup of burly men in full end-of-the-century style—mohawks and all.

The Belrüsa Landing Forces.

Garsche answered with a grin.

“They’re immigrants from Lüenheit, and their descendants. Sending reinforcements takes time if something happens, so take them with you. A token of friendship.”

Take them… like they’re vegetables from a field.

“I’ve heard rumors that Lüenheit’s expanding its walls and making the city bigger. This number shouldn’t be a problem, right? I’ll cover their pay properly.”
“No, that’s not really the issue…”

The city’s still under construction.
And having these guys around completely wrecks the image of demon metropolis Lüenheit I have in mind.

“Don’t worry. I’ll personally guarantee their discipline.”
“Your guarantee doesn’t mean much.”
“Hahaha! You’re not wrong!”

I’m so done with this guy.

While I was thinking how to refuse, one particularly huge mohawked man stepped forward. He was over two meters tall.

“No worries, boss Veit! We’re loyal underlings of Boss Garsche! We wouldn’t do anything to embarrass him!”

He said this while sporting a mohawk and carrying a spiked mace. Why would I trust that.
But Garsche nodded deeply.

“Just as I’d expect from one of my officers. Go on, introduce yourself to the Demon Lord’s vice-command.”
“Yes, sir!”

The officer swung his massive mace with ease and planted his feet with a thunderous stomp.

“I’m Griz, captain of the Belrüsa Landing Forces! If you ask who’s the ruler of Belrusa’s harbor—that’s me!”

Never heard of you.
But when I ignored him, the other mohawks started introducing themselves one after another.

“I’m Gonzath, the wild waves of Belrüsa! Net-throwing’s my specialty!”
“I’m Belossa the Mast-Breaker! One of the strongest in the Landing Forces!”
“Sea Serpent Bashka! Knives are my thing!”
“Hey, Sea Serpent’s me! Sea Serpent Ispeo!”
“No, I’m the Sea Serpent! Sea Serpent Charüsa!”

Too many Sea Serpents.
Don’t tell me I’m going to have to hear all five hundred of these.

“Okay, enough. Got it. You’re all Sea Serpents. I’ll take you.”
“Yes, boss Veit!”

In the end, I got saddled with five hundred of these sweaty mohawked brutes.

I mean, they are disciplined, well-trained, and look strong, sure.

“Boss Veit! We headin’ out to crack some skulls now?!”
“If we’re storming the north, better get some furs ready!”
“Yeah! Just shoulder pads ain’t enough to keep warm!”

Put on some clothes, you lot. Clothes.
Muscle-brained idiots like this—I’ve already got more than enough with just the Garne brothers…