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It had been several days since the Dragon-Crane Union received a request for a meeting from the president of a certain countryside company who expressed her desire to get them as their company\'s patron as they were about to start their business in the Royal Capital.

On such occasions, the standard procedure of the Dragon-Crane Union was for someone from the staff to first listen to the whole story. Then they would sort out everything, and after compiling all the details, Gin would come to have a word with them.

When it came to other underworld organizations like Continent, Divine, and, obviously, Rose, they wouldn\'t have just anyone meet their top dog.

But in Dragon-Crane Union, it didn\'t matter who the other party was, if they were heavyweight characters or some ultrarich group. Gin would, without fail, ascertain the other party’s character himself and exchange some words with them first before making a decision.

Gin had kept up with this policy even after he returned from his therapeutic visit to Ment village, personally visiting the candidates that wished to join them.

Of course, given the previous assault against him, many of his staff and subordinates urged him to temporarily halt these meetings of his, but Gin couldn\'t bring himself to stop. Obviously, the management and guards had instead intensified their scrutiny of the newcomers.

At the same time, after the recent fiasco of the lawless Rose Family where they tried to outdo a rookie explorer called Mad Hound but only got their asses handed to them which apparently ended with Mad Hound being their sole negotiator, the reputation of Crane-Dragon has been in quite a decline.

As a matter of fact, the application of newcomers had drastically lowered in recent times.

It was amidst this tension-filled situation that Dragon-Crane Union received a request for an interview from Mimosa.

Following their custom, Shuri, the intermediary and staff, confirmed that the visiting woman herself had no problem. Being young and full of ambition, it wasn\'t strange that she would want to have a piece of the pie called the ‘Royal Capital’ for herself too. She also appeared quite sharp from a glance.

However—

"And, who might this person be? He seems too young to be a guard. And the general etiquette in such a situation is to have someone with experience. It may sound old-fashioned, but this is what we firmly believe in. Now, take off that mask."

It was her company that caused Shuri to raise her brows. The accompanying young man was wearing a mask— it depicted an old man with drooping eyes and a smiling yet faintly incensed expression. He hadn\'t spoken a single word since they arrived.

He was unfazed when facing them despite being so young. However, he wasn\'t giving the haughty vibe that high-nobility typically gave off.

As Shuri felt she was unable to assess the masked person, the boy introduced himself… It was certainly quite a bombshell.

"I apologize for the belated greeting. I\'m Allen Rovenne. This lady from Serene Wind Co. has been the sponsor of our Sail Club in the Academy. I’m merely here as her attendant of sorts, though I may provide additional details if required. May this meeting be a fruitful one."

The entire Dragon-Crane Union let out a startled cry. An obvious outcome though, all things considered.

It was already a bizarre situation that a student of the Royal Academy was here in the Dragon-Crane Union, which basically stood on the opposite side of the spectrum from them, yet he didn’t hesitate in introducing himself.

But, the fact that he was the aforementioned Allen Rovenne pushed their astonishment to the max.

If Mad Hound was the hope of the Royal Capital\'s underworld, then Allen Rovenne was the supernova at the central stage.

Maybe he was a fake? Shuri thought, but she rejected the notion immediately.

He could be a fake who was here to assassinate their boss, but being a kid, and bringing out a name that no one was a stranger to in the current time would only raise doubts that were contrary to his objective.

She hadn\'t paid attention to the person called Allen Rovenne since she thought that they would never cross paths with her being a denizen of the underworld, but thinking back, she remembered hearing that the mask that Allen Rovenne had worn during the Founding Festival\'s martial arts match was—

As Shuri\'s mind was busy figuring things out, the self-proclaimed Allen Rovenne continued.

"I wouldn\'t mind removing my mask, but well… I have my own circumstances, you know...... So I was hoping to do that in front of fewer people. I haven\'t brought any weapon with me, and if you\'d like, you can do a physical search as well."

Remarking that, Allen Rovenne stood up from his seat with both his hands raised.

Shuri was silent.

If he really was that Allen Rovenne, then they might get pulled into a political strife with those sly foxes in high society. This was what his visit to an underworld organization meant. It was in contrast to the whimsical violence of the Mad Hound.

Following Gin\'s policy, Dragon-Crane Union had an impartial and neutral stance toward the power strife between the nobles of high society. But of course, trade and nobles were both the different sides of the same coin— inseparable. So they weren\'t completely unrelated to them as well.

They had no interest in what was happening on the bright side of society, but it was of utmost importance to look at the root cause and smoothen things out if an affiliated organization is embroiled in an irrational strife of the nobles.

She could only imagine how troublesome of a situation it would be if Allen Rovenne himself was stating that he has his own circumstances, and he personally came at the initial stage of negotiations.

The obvious answer was to turn them down. However, while keeping them at a distance was certainly a safe choice in some situations, failing to grasp crucial information could also lead to a crisis.

......She couldn\'t call the shots here.

Recalling the importance of information, Shuri judged so, and left the decision in Gin\'s hands.

◆◆◆

"Boss, I\'ve brought the guest."

A young man who named himself Ousa took us in front of a certain room and gave a shout to the person inside. “Bring them in,” came the immediate reply.

The headquarters — though it resembled an office — was a wooden one-story building. Lacking unnecessary gaudiness, the place gave off a faint serene vibe.

A wooden building was a rare sight in the Royal Capital that was populated with brick or stone-built buildings. But since there was abundant lumber in the capital, along with the fact that the wood here was comparatively sturdy and strong perhaps due to mana, they made for quite a cheap material and was pretty common in the downtown area.

There was also a courtyard that appeared to be in harmony with nature, and the overall setup made me recall Japan. Overall, the place was quite vast as well, so maybe the employees also lived here.

At first, we were led to the drawing room where a brown-haired woman called Shuri greeted us.

Everything went well as Mimosa expressed her reason for visiting, and unhesitatingly answered Shuri-san\'s questions. After that though, Shuri-san shifted her focus to me and urged me to take off my mask.

I mean, I knew that wearing a mask was rude, so I revealed my name, and tried to test my luck by asking if it was possible to do so in the presence of fewer people.

Shuri-san left behind a \'Please wait a while\' remark and disappeared somewhere. A bit later, she returned and asked if it would be possible to remove my mask in front of their boss at least.

"This is already generous of you. Thank you very much for your consideration."

After such an exchange, Shuri-san had Ousa-san guide us to a cozy place erected within what seemed to be a tree garden. It evoked the feel of the Azuchi-Momoyama period (approx. 1558-1600 CE).

......I wonder, just what kind of persona does their boss have?

"Please enter."

\'After you,\' Ousa urged us inside.

I had Mimosa enter first, then I followed after her. I directed my gaze inside, and— was left dumbfounded. Cold sweat drenched my back.

Inside, a man sporting grizzled gray hair and eyes of the same color was waiting. He was Gin-san, the person with whom I had exchanged words in the Tsukiya bathhouse\'s hot spring at Ment village.

The cold sweat wasn’t because I was appalled by him. In fact, I had quite the respect for him as a senior to a certain extent since we shared the same hobby.

The problem was— I named myself explorer Ren back when I met him.

He hadn\'t shown any reaction to my introduction back then, so I assumed that he was unaware of who I was. But there was no way he didn\'t know now. Not when those dumbasses from Rose had been spreading the \'Mad Hound and Dragon-Crane Union doesn\'t see eye-to-eye\' rumor.

"What\'s wrong, Allen?"

Mimosa asked with a confused expression.

I could only push forward, so I moved inside with an unhurried gait while operating my brain at full power to come up with a solution and avoid a messy situation.

Gin-san directed his clear eyes at me. His transparent eyes gave the impression as if he could right through my mask.

"I\'m Mimosa Curme. And your gaze— really quite formidable as I thought, Gin Grauster. This person here is—"

After introducing herself, Mimosa urged me to do the same.

Hey, hey, hey, the world isn\'t going to end if we take it slow! At least let me think of a countermeasure!

Argh, damn. This is basically checkmate, isn\'t it?!

"H-Hello there, I\'m Allen Rovenne."

For the time being, I greeted him with a makeshift voice with my mask still on my face.

Shuri-san and Ousa-san obviously turned to give me a reproachful gaze. Mimosa, too, was looking at me the same way.

"Pfft! Kukuku."

But then, Gin-san, who had been putting on a stern expression, suddenly burst out in laughter. His face turned red, and his shoulders were heaving heavily.

......Ah, he already figured it out, huh?

Helpless, I could only scratch my head in awkwardness.

Shuri-san and Ousa-san looked at each other with confused expressions. They couldn\'t catch what was going on.

Finally suppressing his smile, Gin-san said with a kind face.

"You\'re here, huh, Mimosa? And...... Can I call you Allen? I’m Gin of the Dragon-Crane Union. You should have some circumstances, I believe. So you can keep the mask on."

"B-Boss! But this—"

Shuri-san let out a stupefied voice as she hurriedly chimed in, but Gin-san interrupted her.

"Alright, these kids can be trusted. If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility."

Gin-san nodded my way with an austere gaze.

Seeing that look, I took off my mask.

There was no complicated reason. There was a high risk of my identity as \'Ren\' being in jeopardy already, so I might as well put it in Gin-san\'s hands.

And most of all, an honest, straightforward discussion would be more to our cause. I felt so from the vibe he was giving. Besides...... he had already figured out my identity, it seemed.