112 第百十一話『組織の長』




I have to admit, I was surprised. . to the point of losing my voice.

 Mattia whispered to me in his office, just as the sun was about to open its eyes again. I blink my eyes sleepily as I look at the documents, or rather the map of the area around Garou Amalia.

 The slight bitterness from my chewing tobacco helps to clear my drowsiness, and I move my lips, "What is it? I felt like I couldn't speak properly because of sleepiness.

I've always understood that you're the kind of person who, if something goes wrong, will always go out on a limb.

 That's a terrible thing to say.

 I'm not that belligerent, and I don't recall ever wanting to fight a battle that wasn't necessary. The only thing I remember is that I stepped onto the battlefield for a very selfish purpose.

I don't know what you mean, though. There's not much to deny.

 So it was easy to see how he would respond to the invitation to join the alliance. The answer came easily enough.

 Mattia kept his eyes on the parchment in front of him, and his voice trailed off. In the meantime, the pen continues to run with ink.

 What a dexterous thing to do. Why not just talk or work? I puffed and exhaled into the office, inhaling the smell of tobacco. My lips are cold.

Yes, I thought you'd say that when you accepted the alliance.

 It's not that Garouamalia and the Monstrance religion's response to Belfain has been confirmed. I'm just saying that I personally think it's a done deal.

 Of course I reject alliances.

 It's a trap, that's what it is. It's a trap, no matter the magic mark. The only time people bow down to someone is when they have nothing left, when they have nothing else to cling to.

 If you are still in a position where you have enough strength and dominance to reach out to someone, you are either a person of great faith or at best a demon.

 And as for the mastermind of that city, Belle Fane, it can't be the former. That's for sure.

 Cowering his shoulders, he blinked his eyelids once at the ceiling and rested his eyes, which seemed to be exhausted and out of breath. Not only your eyes, but also your cerebral spinal cord has been overworked for a long time, and the heat has built up to the point where it seems to be tearing your skull and scalp apart.

 I can't help but feel that I don't like the idea of quietly learning something from these books.

 Whenever a piece of knowledge enters my mind, it takes a long time for my brain to swallow it down. It has to be chewed and seasoned many times before it can be thrown down, and it refuses to even touch my throat. He is very inflexible when it comes to his own head.

 Another factor is that the charts and maps you have opened are too accurate and contain too much information.

 As expected, it was the central city of the surrounding area, and a collection point for goods from East and West. The maps stored in the Garou Amalia show the streets from large to small, and even the undulations of the horizon in detail.

 Ordinary maps that are sold in the market are good if they depict even a single large road.

 It is easy to understand why Garou Amalia is a holy place for heraldry. This is a place where culture and goods are gathered, and it is also a place where knowledge is accumulated. But to make it truly useful, you probably need a brain the size of Mattia or Fialat.

 I close the map table. I don't think I can go on any longer.

 Mattia's lips pursed in disapproval.

"Oh, you're done already? That's not good. I thought that you had finally understood the value of learning and had begun to take part in the teachings of heraldry.

 I'm not sure what to make of this. What a disgusting person.

 It's true that I'm the one who offered permission to read the books in the office, hoping to borrow some knowledge. But still, there are some qualities that come from within. I guess you could call it the groundwork for learning things.

 I spent my childhood in the back streets under the thumb of the Great Saints. There is no way that such a lowly commoner would have the opportunity to even touch a book, let alone learn about things.

 The only thing I learned was how to read and write, which was taught to me by Mr. Nines at the orphanage. In fact, I would say that I am lucky.

 But more than that, I had to learn where people hide their purse bags and what people look like when they are not careful. Well, what, that's a slightly different story.

I leave the learning to the saints. I've got the bare minimum. What do you think of my response to Belfain?

 As if to return the favor, she cracked her lips lightly and spat out her voice.

 I was expecting the saint to be a little stumped when it came to answering the alliance, but as if to mock my shallowness, Mattia simply opened her mouth.

It's obvious, there's no such thing as an alliance. Isn't this a false plan that is too transparent in its intentions? If I could have, I would have cut the messenger loose right then and there.

 Mattia's fingertips scrawled words on the parchment with a pen. It's been like that since a while ago. But there was no sign of weakening, and she said in a firm voice. It was as if he had really decided to do this all along.

 Mattia's eyes narrowed as he continued.

But as the head of the organization, I can't do that. But as the head of the organization, I cannot do that. The best thing to do would be to treat them as enemies in your heart.

 That would be undeniably true.

 In the event you're not sure what to do, you can always ask your doctor. That's not good. You can't be sure that there will not be someone who will truly come down to the heraldry in the future.

 Therefore, you should be happy with the alliance, accept it with open arms, and dismiss it as an enemy in your heart.



 Well, I suppose that's quite reasonable. Provided that we're a solid, monolithic force that can't be seen to crumble, and that we have the strength to show them off.

 Unfortunately, that's not going to happen.

 I'm not sure what to do, but I'm not sure what to do.

 What if Belfain bites into that force, not as an enemy, but as an ally? There will always be those who have unnecessary ambition and double-mindedness.

 If there was a sufficient difference in strength between the two sides, such a thing could be prevented, but there was almost no difference in strength between Galuamaria and Belle Fain, which made me think that the other side, which is known as a mercenary nation, had a significant advantage.

 It's no use, after all, we have to take them as enemies. It is too dangerous to pretend to be trapped and bite the enemy's throat. It's not an approach we should take as an organization, let alone as individuals.

But, Lugis. But, Lugis. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. There are still some in the heraldry community who think that we should form an alliance.

 Not everyone can come to conclusions based solely on calculations and calculations, as Mattia did. Naturally, there will be those who think that maybe, just maybe, this is a great opportunity.

 Well, if you ignore them and force them to reject the alliance plan, you will have a problem with that. The head of an organization is a troublesome person.

I'm asking Ann to guide our opinions so that we don't get sick as an organization. She's a very good coordinator, and I'm sure she'll be able to adjust some, if not all, of the issues without causing too much discontent.

 So don't say anything strange, either. Mattia seemed to have written up a piece of parchment.

 What a terrible thing to say. I think Fialaat and Mattia both think I'm an incompetent brat.

 I know exactly what you mean. If I'm alone, but if we as an organization let our emotions get the better of us, we'll find ourselves in a deep pit of hell.

 So, yes, it's that simple. I let out a slow exhale as I pulled the cigarette from my mouth.