Sebas lowered the cover of the peephole and turned towards Solution's room. Before that, however, he had to tell Tsuare to hide inside the house—
***
He had the soldiers wait outside, while he brought Stefan and Succulent inside. Both of them were visibly shocked when they saw Solution.
Their faces said that they had not expected to see such a beautiful woman. Stefan's expression slowly turned lewd, his eyes roving between her face and her ample bosom. There was a dark look of lust in his eyes. In contrast, Succulent's face gradually tightened up, unwilling to relax.
It was clear which of them was more worthy of caution. Sebas bade them take a seat on the sofa opposite Solution.
Solution, who was already seated, exchanged names with Stefan and Succulent, who were just settling in.
"Then, what is the matter?"
Solution's question brought an exaggerated cough from Stefan, and he said:
"A certain establishment reported that someone had taken away one of their workers. At the same time, I heard that the person responsible had paid a great deal of dirty money to another worker. Our country prohibits the trafficking of slaves... doesn't that sound like breaking the law to you?"
Stefan's voice grew steadily more excited and harsher, but Solution's response was a thoroughly disinterested:
"Oh, really?."
Her tone nearly made the two of them roll their eyes. They were clearly trying to intimidate her, but they had not expected a response like that from her.
"Sebas will handle all the troublesome bits. Sebas, I'll leave the rest to you."
"Is, is that alright? If things go poorly, you might become a criminal."
"Ooooh, I'm soooo scared. Inform me when I'm about to become a criminal, Sebas."
Solution smiled widely to them as she rose.
"Have fun, everyone."
Nobody could stop her as she left. In that instant, they realised exactly how powerful a beautiful woman's smile could be.
Before the door's latch could slide home, they could hear gasps of surprise as the soldiers outside were startled by Solution's good looks.
"—Then I shall hear you two gentlemen out on the Young Mistress' behalf."
Sebas took a seat before them with a smile. Stefan shrank back as he saw his smile, but Succulent decided to speak up on his behalf to help retain control of the situation.
"Just as well. I'll tell you then, Sebas-san. As Havish-san told you at the door, one of the people at our... establishment has gone missing. We questioned a man, and he said that he had handed her over for money. I thought; was this not slave trafficking, which is forbidden in the Kingdom? I was unwilling to believe that one of our employees could actually do such a thing, but I had no choice but to report it."
"Indeed. We cannot condone the filthy slave trade!"
Stefan slammed the table.
"For that reason, dear Succulent here has reported this case even at the risk of staining his business' reputation! What a model citizen he is!"
Succulent nodded in thanks as Stefan spluttered his lines.
"Thank you, Havish-sama."
What kind of farce is this, Sebas thought. Meanwhile, his mind worked. The two of them were clearly in cahoots. That being the case, it was almost certain that they had taken ample precautions before launching their campaign. That being the case, his defeat was certain. Still, he had to minimize his losses, but how?
Turning that around, what were the conditions for Sebas' victory?
As a butler of Nazarick, Sebas' win condition was eliminating the problem and not letting things pile up. Protecting Tsuare was definitely not part of that.
However—
"I believe the man who claims to have taken the money may have borne false witness. Where is he now?"
"He was arrested on suspicion of slave-trading and is in custody now. After questioning him, we managed to learn—"
"—The identity of the person who bought our employee, who would be you, Sebas-san."
The man had probably sung like a canary when he was captured. He had most likely bheen squeezed for information useful to them under questioning.
Sebas pondered whether he should act dumb, lie, or deliver a stern and upright rebuttal.
What if he said she was not in the house? What if he said she were dead?
Numerous lines popped into his head, but none of them sounded like they would work, and the opposition would probably not give up easily. It would be better for him to ask what he needed to know.
"Still, what led the two of you to me? What proof do you have?"
That was what baffled Sebas. He had not left any trace of his name or identity. They should not have been able to find any evidence pointing to him. However, the two of them were here. How had they found him? He was always very careful during his excursions and wary of being followed. He did not think anyone in this city could follow him without being spotted.
"It was the scroll."
A stroke of light flashed across Sebas' mind.
—The scroll he had bought in the Magician's Guild.
The workmanship of that scroll was exquisite, and it was certainly no ordinary scrap of parchment. Anyone who could recognize a scroll like that would be able to tell that it was purchased from the Magician's Guild. After asking around, they would find clues, and a man in a butler's uniform carrying a scroll would be quite prominent.
Still, that alone would not prove that Tsuare was here. He could also insist that there was someone else who happened to look like him.
However, he would be in trouble if they said they were going to search the house. Indeed, they would discover that only three people lived in this home, including Tsuare.
That being the case all he could do was come clean. Sebas decided to leave his fate to the gods.
"...I did take her away. That is a fact. However, she was heavily wounded at that time, and I was forced to do so because I feared her life would be in danger."
"In other words, you admit to buying her."
"May I speak to that man you mentioned?"
"Unfortunately, we cannot allow that. Things would be bad if you were allowed to match up your stories."
"You could always—"
Listen in while we were talking. Sebas wanted to say that, but he shut his mouth.
In the end, they had planned the whole thing out. Even if he did find that man, it was not likely that the situation could be made to favor him. Continuing with this approach was only a waste of time.
"...Before we go into that, do you not that think that allowing her to sustain such severe injuries while working is more problematic in the eyes of the nation? Are there not laws against that too?"
"Conditions in our establishment are harsher than most. Injury is unavoidable. Consider that working in mines and the like also includes the risk of occupational hazards. It's the same thing."
"...I doubt they are the same thing."
"Hahaha. We're in the service industry. You meet all sorts of clients there. We do pay attention, you know. Alright, I get your point. We'll be more careful next time... yes, a little more careful."
"...Just a little?"
"Ah, yes. Worrying too much about details costs money, you know. Causes problems too."
Succulent sneered at Sebas' question.
In turn, Sebas smiled.
"—Alright, that's enough."
Stefan sighed. His attitude was one that he used when dealing with fools.
"My duty is to verify that slave trafficking was going on. Employee welfare is another matter entirely. All I can say is that it has no bearing on the case."
"...Then, can you tell me who are the people who specialize in problems like these?"
"...Hm, I'd like to tell you, but there are some difficulties in doing so. Regretfully, sticking one's nose into others' business will only earn you resentment."
"...Then, please wait until I find the relevant people first."
Stefan grinned evilly, as though to say, "I was waiting for you to say that."
Succulent had the same sort of look as him.
"...Ah, I would like to wait for that, but the business has already filed a case, so I must arrest you and begin investigations. It's out of my hands."
In other words, he was out of time.
"Given the situation and the circumstantial evidence, you're clearly guilty, but the plaintiff has said that they're willing to go easy on you. Compensation will be needed to smooth things over, of course, and destroying the documentation related to the slave-trading offense will also require a bit of money."
"What exactly do you mean by smoothing things over?"
"Well now. We'd like you to return our employee, and make up for the loss of income incurred while you were holding on to her."
"I see. And how much is that?"
"In gold coins... well. Ah, I'll give you a discount. 100 gold coins. Compensation will run you another 300 gold coins, so a total of 400 seems fair, don't you think?"
"...That is quite a sum. How did you arrive at that figure? How much does she make a day and how exactly is it tallied up?"
"Hang, hang on a bit," Stefan interrupted. "That's not all, Succulent-san."
"Ah, I almost forgot. Since I've already made a report, you'll need to pay to destroy that as well, even if you settle the matter with us under the table."
"That's right. How could I have forgotten, friend Succulent?"
Stefan smiled wickedly once more.
"...yet?"
"Hm?"
"No, it's nothing," Sebas quietly said as he smiled.
"Hm, forgive me, Havish-sama," Succulent bowed to Stefan.
"Destroying the documents costs a third of the compensation fees, so that'll be 100 gold coins. That's a total of 500 gold coins, I believe."
"Does the money I paid when bringing her here count against that?"
"How could that be? Listen, mister. When you reach an accord with the other side, that means you didn't buy a slave. In other words, the expenses of buying that slave are written off. Just imagine that you lost the money somewhere."
To think they would actually expect Sebas to assume he had lost 100 gold coins. In all likelihood, most of it had already found its way into their pockets.
"...However, her injuries are not yet fully recovered. If the two of you take her away now, her wounds might reopen. And if she does not receive the proper treatment, she might well lose her life. I believe it would be better for her to stay with me and receive care here. What do you think?"
Succulent's eyes gleamed in a bizarre way.
When he noticed this, Sebas realised the depths of his mistake. He had allowed them to realise how much Tsuare meant to him.
"I see, I see. You do have a point. Her death notwithstanding, we'll need you to pay for the money which would have been spent on her. While she's recovering, how about letting us have some fun with the lady of the house?"
"Ohhh! That makes a lot of sense. If you make a hole, you have to fill it!"
There was visible lust in Stefan's full-faced smile. He was surely imagining the act of stripping Solution naked.
The smile faded off Sebas' face, and it turned impassive.
Succulent was probably not serious, but he would probably press the attack if he showed any weakness. Thanks to his exposing his attachment to Tsuare, the possibility still existed that the situation might deteriorate further.
"...Aren't you afraid of your desires getting you in trouble?"
"How dare you talk to me like that?!"
Stefan's face was bright red as he shouted.
Sounds like slaughtering a pig, Sebas thought. He stared at Stefan without a single word.
"What do you mean by my desires? All this is to uphold the law passed by the glorious will of Princess Renner! How dare you call it base desire! Show some respect!"
"Yes, yes, don't get worked up, Havish-sama."
Once Succulent cut in, Stefan calmed down immediately. His anger had faded too soon, a sign that this was merely a scare tactic and not genuine anger.
What terrible acting, Sebas mused.
"But I say, Succulent-san..."
"Havish-sama, we've said everything we came here to say. I was thinking about coming back the day after to see what he thinks. Is that alright with you, Sebas-san?"
"Very well."
With that, Sebas brought everyone to the main door. As he sent them off, Succulent — who had stayed until the end — smiled to Sebas, and left him with these words.
"Still, I have to thank that slut. To think a piece of trash could actually turn out to be a goose that lays golden eggs."
With that, the door closed with a thud.
Sebas glared at them, as though the door were transparent. There was no particular expression on Sebas' face. He looked as calm as always. However, there was a distinct emotion in his eyes.
That emotion was anger.
—No, the word "anger" was far too mild to describe how he felt.
"Furious" and "wrathful"; those words would be more suitable.
Succulent's parting shot was honest, flung at him because he was certain that Sebas was at his wits' end and had nowhere to turn — that his victory was assured.
"Solution, you can come out now, no?"
Solution oozed out of the shadows in response to Sebas' voice. She had melded into the shadows with abilities from the assassin-type classes she had taken.
"Did you hear all that?"
Sebas had only asked as a formality. Naturally, Solution nodded to say, "of course."
"What do you plan to do now, Sebas-sama?"
Sebas could not answer that question immediately. As she saw that, Solution glared coldly at him.
"...What about handing that human over to them?"
"I do not feel that will solve the problem."
"...Is that so?"
"If I expose a weakness, they will seek to capitalize on it until they suck us dry. That's the kind of people they are. I do not think handing Tsuare to them will solve the problem. More to the point, the real problem is how much they learned while investigating us. We entered the Royal Capital as traders, but if they look too closely, they'll see through it — through our disguise.
"Then, what do you intend to do?"
"I do not know. I wish to take a walk outside and think."
Sebas opened the door and headed outside.
***
Solution watched in silence, looking at Sebas' back as it shrank into the distance.
This was all meaningless.
None of this would have happened if he had not picked up that human. That said, it was too late for that now. The question was what they would do next.
As Sebas' subordinate, she could not simply ignore his instructions, but she felt that leaving things be would only lead to a worse outcome.
If our little sister could move out... if I could take action as one of the Pleiades, we wouldn't have this problem now.
She was hesitating.
She was waffling. She had never been so hesitant in her life.
In the end, she made up her mind. She raised her left hand and opened it.
Something protruded from it, like it was floating on water. It was a scroll which she had stored inside her body. It had originally been given to her for communication in an emergency — although, thanks to Demiurge's hard work, there was now a way to manufacture low-level spell scrolls. . Still, Solution did not know of this before she set out, and so she believed that this scroll was only to be used in a dire situation — and Solution believed that this qualified.
She opened the scroll and activated the spell bound within. Once used, the scroll crumbled and fell to the ground as dust, and then even the dust vanished.
As the spell took effect, Solution was connected to the other party. She asked:
"Is that you, Ainz-sama?"
"Solution — hm? What happened? Since you're contacting me, does that mean there's been an emergency?"
"Yes."
Solution paused at this point. She had stopped because of her loyalty to Sebas and because she had considered the possibility that she might have been wrong. However, her loyalty to Ainz overrode all that.
In addition, they should have considered the greatest benefits for the 41 Supreme Beings in every move they made. However, everything Sebas had done until now could have been said to have violated that precept.
Therefore, she decided to commend the decision into her master's hands and said:
"Sebas-sama may have betrayed us."
"Wha! ...Ah? ... No, how could that be... mhm... Do not joke with me, Solution. I forbid you to accuse others without evidence... do you have proof?"
"Yes. Although, it might not quite count as proof..."
-x-X-x-