Edea: Hero Summoning Conspiracy

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Kazuya was not the only person who found the recent developments tiring. Gazardiel, who had been cooperating with his Jorelle with recently did not have much time to stalk Kazuya whenever he wished. Adding the fact that he would sometimes lose track of the slippery young man because he had to maintain quite a distance away, the old necromancer couldn't figure out much about the mysterious identity of the young man that stumbled onto his identity.

"(There you are! I'll find out something today if it's the last thing I do!)" Gazardiel swore as he was finally able to catch Kazuya walking around town early in the afternoon.

Though he was able to follow Kazuya all the way to one of the inns in town at night, he was never actually able to catch him during the morning. This was why he had a good feeling today. It was rare for him to have caught a glimpse of the boy this early.

"(Huh? Why is he…)" After following for a while, the familiar place caught him off guard.

He had followed Kazuya all the way to a place he visits often. A large sign that said 'Merchant Association' was placed above the entrance of the structure that the boy just entered.

Gazardiel pondered for a bit before shaking his head and entering the building. He thought that the boy was finally gathering information about him. There hadn't been any signs despite him reaching out to some of the contacts he made in the capital so he thought that either the boy was really not interested or he was being extra careful since he was dealing with a dark magic practitioner whose reputations were usually very sinister.

"(There wouldn't be any problem if he were able to find me in this place since he knows that I am a merchant…)" he thought to himself as he followed shortly after Kazuya had entered the building.

He didn't have any problems finding Kazuya as the boy appeared to have been reading different listings in the various boards in the hall as he queued in one of the lines towards one of the receptionists.

With the numerous people inside the building, Gazardiel blended right in as he started a conversation with a person he noticed while paying attention to the boy.

"Hello! Welcome to the Merchant Association! How may I be of service?" A young receptionist greeted Kazuya with a smile.

The association was always full of stingy merchants who weren't easy to talk to so she was happy to see someone young come up to her.

"I would like to obtain a permit to peddle some wares around this country. I'm a traveler from a different country and have encountered a few unexpected turns during my travels so I need to procure a way to make money to continue and reach my destination." Kazuya explained and made sure that he was heard by Gazardiel who was nearby.

"Ah, that does indeed sound like a problem." She took another look at Kazuya and judged that he was not a person that would be fit to be an adventurer. Though he was on the good-looking side, he looked rather frail and did not carry any weapons with him other than a short sword that looked to be the ones that trainees use.

"I thought of various other means to make some money but I think peddling would be much easier for someone like me." Kazuya continued and was glad that he had found someone who was not suspicious of him.

The receptionist's reaction was the complete opposite of the expression that Gazardiel currently had on his face.

"(For someone like you? That's nothing but a big fat lie you stinky kid! You immediately threatened me when I was thinking of making a move on you when we first met!)" Gazardiel retorted in his head as he continued to converse with another merchant.

"What are you planning on peddling in your travels?" though she was concerned, the association still had their rules. "I would also need you to take a short test to see if you are capable of being one of the association's merchants."

She handed him a sheet of paper along with some ink and a quill. They were simple arithmetic questions to gauge the minimum requirements of becoming a merchant. Before she could ask Kazuya to move to the side so she could entertain the next person while he answered the question, Kazuya picked up the quill and answered the questions on the parchment without any hesitation.

"I plan on selling some figurines like these." Kazuya took out two items and put it on the table.

The receptionist, as well as the others who saw the items, couldn't help but stare at the figurines that were placed on the counter. It was a carved figure of Elrich Eberbach riding his warhorse wearing the same armor that he had equipped when he left the capital recently. The second figure was, of course, Sodina Eberbach holding her rapier.

The sheer amount of detail that went into these had surprised all those who were looking at the two items on the table. Many of them looked at the innocent-looking boy who presented them without hesitation and greed instantly filled their eyes.

"Hey kid, I have a proposition for you!"

"Get in line old man! You're lacking money right, young man?"

"Don't believe anything you hear from these people kid. How about I take those figures off your hands for 50 silvers right now?"

Kazuya was rather surprised at the merchants who suddenly approached him. He did not expect such a reaction from them since he only thought that these carvings would be sold cheaply because they were made from normal wood.

"(I made a mistake…)" he criticized himself as he failed to predict such an outcome.

As a person who did not pay much attention to things such as the art level of arts in this world in his first life, Kazuya had neglected to consider that his casual creations were too detailed to be labeled as normal sculptures. He merely thought that if he made sculptures of famous people in the capital, he would immediately pass the qualifications since he had wares that were quite unique.

Fortunately for Kazuya, his mistake was seen as a weakness and the suspicions that Gazardiel had were lessened. Though he was not able to notice this because of the numerous merchants greedily approaching him, he still had something that he had not revealed yet and turned towards the receptionist who was also shocked at the shameless merchants who tried to take advantage of Kazuya.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?" a loud voice instantly startled the merchants in the hall.

Any merchant in the capital should recognize this voice as it was from the manager of the association in Maynira. Anyone who wanted to make it as a merchant in the capital had to be approved by this person so if they got on his bad side, they could forget about making suitable profits in the Zweifel territory.

"(This guy…)" Kazuya didn't expect to meet this person here but he was glad that his mistake had given him a chance to appear in front of him.

Raiser Kerr, the manager of the Zweifel kingdom's merchant association. He was a respected branch head to the public but to other merchants, he was known as the [Soul Seller]. The reason was simple, he was someone who would do anything to make money.

One example would be how he reached his current position. After standing in the sidelines as one of the Kerr family's trustees, he had decisively stabbed them in the back after gaining control of a large number of their profits and threw them aside. This was even after he was rescued multiple times by the family despite his gambling addiction.

"Boss…" the receptionist timidly approached Raiser and explained what had just happened.

Kazuya listened observed and did not miss the slight look of greed that flickered in the eyes of the middle-aged man after looking at the figurines on the table that he had only noticed after hearing about the situation.

This was the man that introduced him to one of his former companions; Dwayne Mybber. The two got along quite well as they both were money-grubbing heathens who had no qualms about selling their own kin for the sake of profit.

"I see. Now I understand the situation." Raizer turned his gaze towards the merchants who immediately tried to avoid making eye contact with him.

"(This guy isn't still satisfied with his position and wants to take away such an opportunity from us!)"

"(What a greedy bastard!)"

"(Now I feel bad for that young man.)"

Many of the merchants thought of the same thing as they waited to see what kind of method this greedy manager would use to have the young man under his palm. Though many of them hated Raizer, none of them had the courage to stand up to him as they were too afraid of what might happen to themselves.

"I understand your current situation but… unlike the adventurer's guild, the merchant association has to have some kind of record of your identity. This is to prevent just anyone from joining our association to make fools out of innocent customers. Do you have any proof of your identity?" Raizer's words made Gazardiel want to give him a pat on the back.

This is what exactly what the old necromancer was looking for. Though Kazuya had introduced himself in the same manner as he did towards Gazardiel, there was still no guarantee that he was actually telling the truth.

"I guess it really came down to this huh…" Kazuya gave a hesitant look as he put his right inside his bag ones more and rummaged through the pockets.

"Is there something the matter with your identity? Id so, why did you not go to the artist's guild instead. They are better suited to cater to creations such as these magnificently carved figures." Raizer was, of course, able to notice the hesitation Kazuya showed and asked him about it.

He was by no means close to Gazardiel's paranoia but he was still a careful person. As someone who used and betrayed others to get to where he was, he needed to be cautious especially when he dealt with people that he was not familiar with.

"I know a lot of these artistic types back home. I don't want to deal with such temperamental people and would rather deal with merchants since they are more convenient and easier to talk to." Kazuya explained as his arm continued to search inside his bag.

"Convenience?"

"I am a traveler. The merchant guild can also be a source of information as merchants are even far more widespread than adventurers. They are also more knowledgeable when it comes to which routes should be safer or more dangerous." He casually replied as his arm finally seems to have found what it was looking for.

When Kazuya placed the item, he was looking for on the counter, Raizer had planned on ignoring it. He had already thought of various reasons on how to reject Kazuya's application to be a merchant so that he could earn his favor later on but, as soon as his eyes saw what was in front of him, Raizer could not look away.

"This…" His face paled after he saw the small token that was placed on the table.

"(That kid is a member of the Scarlet Mansion!?)" Gazardiel couldn't hide the shock he felt after seeing the familiar token that belonged to one of the most influential groups in the eastern countries.

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