Slime Reincarnation

"By the way... care to try playing with this?"

I pulled out what was essentially a Reversi board. I’d asked Sarina to use alchemy to shape gold and silver into thin round coin like discs, joined together to form single pieces.

"What’s this... how do we play?"

"This is a game where two sides face off, gold versus silver. You start with two pieces gold side up and two silver side up, and the game is about sandwiching your opponent’s pieces to flip them to your own color."

I explained while setting up the pieces.

"How exactly do we play?"

"Whoever goes first places a piece of their color next to the opponent’s, sandwiching the pieces between them to flip the ones caught in between to their own color, gradually increasing their pieces. Let me show you."

I demonstrated.

Click, click.

I placed pieces, flipping the ones sandwiched in the middle, gradually turning them to my color.

"As you can see, any of the opponent’s pieces caught between the piece you just placed and your existing pieces on the board all flip to your color. Whoever has more pieces of their color at the end wins."

"Let’s give it a try, then."

"Sounds good."

We played the game for a while.

"One more! Sir Yabe, one more round!"

I’d lost count of how long I’d been listening to Fenberg’s pleading for another match.

"Father! It’s our turn to play next! Irina chan, let’s have a match."

"Indeed, that’s exactly what I want."

Luciana snatched the game board away from her father, Fenberg, and set it down in front of Irina.

"Ah! But my match with Sir Yabe still hasn’t been settled...!"

"Dear, that’s quite enough of that!"

Flora san tugged on Fenberg’s ear as he whined like a child.

"Even so, this is wonderful! Simple yet fascinating. Are you planning to sell it in the capital?"

"It’d be nice if I had a merchant connection, but I don’t really have any ties to merchants."

If the Reeman Trading Company had seemed like decent people, I might have shared some ideas from Earth and partnered up to turn a profit.

"In that case, why not just start your own trading company? If you bring the product to the royal family for registration and it gets approved, you’ll receive a three year exclusive sales license. And you’d get the royal seal of endorsement on top of it."

"That’s quite something... though, a trading company, huh. I suppose we’d need a name..."

A name for the company, huh... In famous light novels, there was always that pattern of naming a shop or company cleverly off a Japanese surname, something like turning a certain name into a fancy foreign sounding word. I’d always admired that kind of naming convention.

Yabe, though? What am I supposed to do with that!? The "Ya" part could maybe work as "arrow," but what do I do with the "be" part!? "Be"!

"Wh, what’s wrong, Sir Yabe?"

"I’m stuck on the "be" part! The "be"! Should I just go with it as is!? What kind of name is "Arrowbe"!? "Arrowbe"!"

"I see, then your trading company can just be the Arrowbe Trading Company, Sir Yabe. Let’s go register it at the Commercial Guild tomorrow, along with this game. Do you have a name for the game already?"

"The competitive battle game, Gold or Silver."

I’d slapped a needlessly grandiose name onto what was really just plain old Reversi.

"Then let’s go register it tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it! I have a feeling this is going to make a fortune."

...Somehow, without quite meaning to, I’d ended up starting a trading company.

"While we’re at it, let’s register the sasumata too. We’ll waive the registration fee for Goldin the blacksmith."

Fenberg really did have quite a knack for business.

The next day, I met with Viscount Korzea from the morning, on the Coluna Frontier Count’s introduction.

"I’m Yabe. Currently under Lord Coluna’s care."

"I’m Rheinbach von Korzea. You wanted to arrange a meeting with Baron Harknar’s former wife, is that right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"I only knew Baron Harknar well enough to exchange greetings whenever we crossed paths at court. He passed away in an accident about a month ago... Baron Harknar had no children with his wife, so opinions are divided within the court over what to do about the barony. What exactly is your purpose in meeting with her?"

"First, Baron Harknar wasn’t killed in an accident. He was murdered, by people working for Viscount Teraelo."

"Wh, what did you say!?"

"Second, there’s a trading company demanding that Baron Harknar’s former wife hand over the land and estate, based on a forged document claiming the baron owed a large debt. That company also has ties to Viscount Teraelo, and they’re attempting fraud using that fabricated document."

"What!?"

"Third, Viscount Teraelo orchestrated all of these crimes himself, and is now stepping forward pretending to help Baron Harknar’s former wife, all in order to claim her for himself."

"What an utterly rotten scoundrel! Do you have proof?"

"Right here. A list of the trading company’s personnel. Several of them are clearly connected to Viscount Teraelo. And the debt document itself is written in handwriting nothing like Baron Harknar’s actual signature. There’s also a set of instructions given to the person who carried out the killing disguised as an accident."

"Shouldn’t this be submitted to the guards!?"

"There’s very little that qualifies as decisive proof, and we’re dealing with a noble at the rank of viscount. Unfortunately, as evidence goes, it’s still fairly weak."

"Ngh."

"That’s why I thought it best to first meet with Baron Harknar’s former wife and ask her how she’d like to proceed."

"...I see. So Viscount Teraelo did that to him..."

Baron Harknar’s former wife murmured this slowly, as if letting the words sink in. Having come to meet with her alongside Viscount Korzea, I’d laid out the situation and the facts without holding anything back.

"There isn’t enough solid proof to bring your enemy to justice through official means, but if you wish it, shall I give you the chance to strike back at that enemy yourself?"

"Strike back at the enemy..."

Baron Harknar’s former wife murmured this, staring into empty space.

"Or, would you rather give up everything and go live out the rest of your life somewhere in the countryside, where no one knows you?"

"Somewhere no one knows me..."

She murmured this, looking down.

"I’m... tired. Could you make it all disappear, cleanly, without a trace? And then take me somewhere no one knows me..."

She said this, her eyes shimmering with sorrow.

"Understood. This Yabe will take on that request."

"Wh, what are you planning to do...?"

At Viscount Korzea’s uneasy question, I answered with nothing but a sly grin.