I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (Web Novel)

When Fran told him that she wanted to hire a hundred adventurers, the submaster denied her.

He said not that it would be difficult, but “impossible”.

「Very few adventurers would want to take a request with such a high probability of death.」

Well, that’s fair.

They would be fighting a horde of antidemons in Castel, a location without any defensive fortifications. Moreover, it was an abandoned village with little strategic value.

The risk was too high, and it would be hard to motivate people to go.

Few adventurers would be willing to accept our request. Even if the payment was very high, that only matters if they could survive it.

In fact, a high reward further proved the danger of the request, and may make them more reluctant to accept it.

「……Even so, I want to make the request.」

「Very well. But…… Please don’t get your hopes up. I’m terribly sorry.」

「……」

Fran lowered her head in frustration.

However, this turn of events was exactly what Nadia wanted. She made sure that Fran would be stalled in Nocta by opening a request without any takers.

She must have known that we would never be able to attract adventurers.

All of this because she wanted Fran to live.

『Fran. There’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s go deliver the letter.』

「Nn…… I’ll be back.」

「Give me three days. It will take that long to get the word out.」

「Okay.」

He said it was impossible, but it looks like he’s still willing to give it a shot. It’s a good thing they owe us a favor for the meat.

After asking them to post our request, we left the guild.

Fran looked depressed and her steps were heavy.

I wanted to comfort her, but no words came out. Besides, I wasn’t qualified to say anything.

That’s because I too had hoped that the adventurers would not join us.

We continued on our way without a word.

After about ten minutes of walking, our destination came into view.

「Ladirua Trading Company. Is this it?」

『Yeah, this is the place.』

After the short walk, Fran had calmed down a bit. She finally opened her mouth, and her face looked a little better than before.

As we had learned at the Adventurers Guild, this was a rather large building, apparently among the top-ranking merchant businesses in Nocta.

The chairman of this company was said to be one of Nadia’s friends too…… Meaning Nadia’s circle of friends was much wider than we imagined.

Come to think of it, she was a Rank B adventurer that had been on this continent for many years. It shouldn’t be surprising if she knew some important people.

She had mentioned before that an influential person in Nocta designated her for an escort request too.

「Excuse me.」

「Welcome.」

「Welcome to the Ladirua Trading Company.」

I was surprised to see that the ladies at the reception desk were no ordinary civilians. I guess even the receptionists of a big trading company needed both beauty and strength. Maybe that was common sense on the ruined continent of Gordicia.

「Here’s a letter for the chairman.」

「May I see it?」

「Nn.」

The receptionist glanced over the letter Fran handed her. The envelope of the letter has only Nadia’s name written on it. Is this gonna work?

Nadia said we just had to give it to the receptionist, but……

Now the receptionist dashed off into the back after looking at the letter. Should I be getting worried?

Despite my concerns, it seemed they accepted it. The receptionist returned and invited Fran to the back with a smile.

「The chairman will see you now. Please come this way.」

「Okay.」

Well, I don’t sense any malice. I guess the guy just wanted to hear more details about Nadia directly.

I don’t know what the contents of the letter were. But even I, who barely knew Nadia for a day, could tell that she was not the type to give detailed explanations.

The room we were shown was rather modest. Not to say it was shabby, but rather that it had a calm atmosphere.

Illuminated by a warm lamp with a rather low intensity, there was a heavy table made of a material similar to ebony, and an austere leather sofa.

A man was sitting there.

He had dark brown skin and short, permed hair, looking like a man of African descent from Earth. I’d say he was about forty years old.

「Thank you for visiting me today… Fran-chan.」

「……?」

「Haha. You don’t remember me? I’ve played with you a few times.」

「……Oh! You’re the merchant guy?」

「Yes. It’s been a long time, so let me reintroduce myself. I am Mulsani of the Ladirua Trading Company.」

Wasn’t Mulsani the traveling merchant in Nadia’s story? And now he is the head of a big trading company? What happened?

But before we could ask that, Mulsani got up from the sofa and approached Fran. He dropped to one knee and made eye contact with her.

「You, you really are Fran-chan……」

He muttered in a voice filled with emotion. Tears were in the corners of his eyes.

「At that time, I……」

Just as Nadia had said, he felt a deep regret about being unable to save Fran. Mulsani choked on his words, his strong feelings of guilt clearly visible on his face.

「I…… I……」

Fran put her hand on Mulsani’s shoulder and spoke in her usual tone.

「It’s not your fault. You couldn’t help it. So you don’t have to apologize.」

「U-Urgh………」

Upon hearing Fran’s words, Mulsani covered his face with his hands and sobbed deeply and quietly.