June 28, 2022 – 3 minutes read – 550 words

When my gatekeeper told me that a certain intelligence agent has been captured, I doubted my ears.

That agent has served me for years; he’s a man that doesn’t make mistakes. Not only was he caught, he even let out who his employer was. Unbelievable.

Even so, that subordinate was soon led into my mansion.

When he saw my astonished face, he immediately started to apologize and then fainted. He must have been exhausted in both mind and body.

A doctor was called to take care of him and I went to meet Count Snake. I have heard rumors about him from my subordinates. At the Crown Prince’s wedding, I made sure to get a look at him. He seems like the most average person, if you ignore his black hair and eyes. His military exploits are unprecedented, he was made Lieutenant Colonel after only two years in the Army. I haven’t heard of such a feat in my lifetime.

Favored by His Majesty…

He is clearly favored, but the favor came after he delivered results. His Majesty is enamored with competent subjects, and the Count brings in some of the best results.

A big one was the Westin Rebellion, he returned with a tremendous set of achievements. He proved himself to be more loyal to the Kingdom than to his family, to the point that he executed some of them himself.

He also managed to recover the prosperity of a territory in the blink of an eye. I had to investigate the matter. My house has cunningly survived over the years to the degree that we are called the Foxes. We always make sure to investigate matters, and I am proud of using information we procured or purchased.

Yet, this time I was apologizing to Count Snake. I was surprised that he chose to invite me to his mansion and even more amazed when I saw the entrance hall.

“Don’t be surprised, there’s a large snake in the entrance hall.” Pat

However, I feel his claim of large is underselling the snake. Also, it was not just any snake. It is clearly a Gigantree Viper, a ferocious snake monster with a deadly venom. Who would keep such a dangerous monster in your house?

I question his sanity.

When the Count went over to the snake and rubbed the scales and stroked its head, the snake shook its tail. I’m impressed that such a powerful monster has been domesticated by the so-called demonologist.

Our negotiations were swiftly completed on equal terms. With the number of dwarves in my territory, getting a consistent allocation of his alcohol is my highest priority. If I can distribute his new alcohols in my territory, the dwarves will be happy, and happy dwarves make good products.

I tried the alcohols I was served, and they were quite good. I especially liked Inesh, which was served warm. There’s no doubt it will be popular in my cold Northern territory during the winter.

I started out on the wrong foot with Count Snake, but now we have a good relationship. I was even given a luxury chess set. Only the mass-produced variety was available to me until now.

I may have leaked a drop or two in the entrance hall, I hope nobody noticed…

Editor Note: Right now, I’m heads down on wrapping up the last chapters for Volume 1 (translation and images). Then I’ve got to tweak the combined chapters to make them cohesive and so on. I’ve never tried to edit a book-length text before, it’s… interesting.