Chapter 56

From the stone fountain at the center of the research centers garden, clean water was flowing smoothly into a basin.

Without sparing a glance at that flow of water or the gardens blooming flowers, Harold was sitting on a bench with his hands resting on his knees, contemplating the distant sky. But the reflection of that sky was nowhere to be seen in Harolds eyes. All he could see was the word Regret, with all the heavy feelings that came with it.

(I got way too carried away...)

He couldnt deny that he jumped the gun at getting a reliable friend in Elu, one of the original storys characters.

But his opponent was Justus. The last boss.

He should have been more cautious, however, as soon as things took a turn for the better, he acted rashly.

Ive been way too bold

, he thought bitterly.

The worst part was that Elu could have become his trump card but had now been marked. With Elu under suspicion, the actions he could accomplish without help had become limited.

Like this, the pace of securing people to strengthen Liners group was back to its starting point. It could even become worse than what Harold had initially planned if Justus surveillance tightened due to his suspicions. Harold was drowning in raging streams of self-loathing.

As he was stricken with that feeling, a persons shadow approached behind him. Harolds eyes were still pointed at the sky, but he was somehow able to sense whose presence it was.

May I sit here?

...Why bother asking when you already know the answer?

But you didnt reserve this seat, right?

Meeting Harolds sarcasm head on, Elu sat down next to him. However, there was so much distance between the two that another person could fit in the middle.

As they both kept silent, time quietly ran by.

Isnt it suspicious for the two of us to be alone in such a deserted place? Although Harold had such a reflection, he immediately thought again its too late for that already. It was clear as day that Justus words were a threat along the lines of I have my eyes on you.

So Justus probably wouldnt question Harold if he insisted that he was having a more in depth chat with Elu. Even if someone approached them, they would notice since their field of view was wide open. They didnt need to worry about anyone eavesdropping.

As Harold thought about these things, Elu finally opened his mouth. And his first words were an apology.

Im very sorry. Not only did I fail to get the results you hoped for, but I even gave him a chance to press us.

Harold couldnt answer right away.

Elu did not need to apologize. Rather, at that time, it was thanks to Elus followup that there was no fatal error. In the first place, Elus job was to handle information, that didnt prepare him for the role he was assigned.

The problem was Elu mistakenly blamed himself. He couldnt get that feeling out of his mind and he was currently in a state of self-loathing.

Dont think too highly of yourself. I told you I didnt expect much from you.

...Right, you did say that.

Look, Its your problem if you want to feel responsible for my mistakes, but dont drag it behind you and let it come back to bite us later. If youre going to get stuck in that kind of state of mind, you better get rid of that shitty guilt of yours right now.

Are you trying to cheer me up?

Do you really think thats possible?

Guess not. Oh well, If thats how it is, then I suppose Ill just switch my mood.

Elu raised both of his arms to the sky and stretched himself. Perhaps it was Harolds imagination, but Elus voice and countenance seemed to become lighter.

He took a deep breath, and then, he continued talking with a somewhat worried face.

The issue is that, while I can recover like this, Lifa cannot.

What?

It seems like she regrets reflexively taking Justus invitation.

Lifa had misunderstood. The one who allowed her to follow him and convinced her to come along to the research center later on was Harold himself, Lifa was just used and dragged into this.

Normally, from Lifas point of view, she would stand to gain more from associating with Justus than Harold. Well, that eventuality would be troublesome so Harold wasnt going to prevent her from siding with himself.

Unable to comprehend Harolds facial expressions, Elu seemed confused.

Is it that surprising? Anyone would be worried when getting in their friends way.

...I dont recall making friends with that girl.

Maybe, but you sure dont have many friends.

Said Elu while looking at Harold with a surprised look. And Harold couldnt really argue with that.

When speaking of friends, the first person to come to his mind was Itsuki. Though Harold hadnt seen much of him lately, their friendship was still going. They had been friends for nearly eight years.

(TLN: Itsuki = Ericas big brother)

However, Harold couldnt come up with anyone else.

Strictly speaking, Liner, who he fought in the competition five years ago, wasnt really his friend. The same went for Robinson, Sid, and Aileen, who were Harolds classmates in the Knight Order. He hadnt seen them since his destitution.

And although Harold was mentally older than Zen, the servant at the Stokes residence, their physical ages were too disparate, so they never achieved a great sense of comradeship. As for Erica, she and Harold were like cat-and-dog.

In conclusion, Harolds only friend was Itsuki. Thinking back upon his situation again, his interpersonal relationships were frail, and his friends few. But that was only natural since Harolds mouth would spit insults whenever he initiated contact with someone or anyone else approached him.

As Harold was finding excuses for himself, his mouth let out the words of a sore loser.

Things like friends are a waste of time.

But that depends from one person to another, doesnt it? And in Lifas case, friendship seems to be important.

Harold was no stranger to that feeling, even though it was a mystery why she would recognize him as a friend after the ridicule he put her through on their journey here. Nevertheless, if Harold casually went to comfort her, his unrestrained words would only add fuel to the fire.

But from Elus words, Lifa was feeling considerably down, so Harold wanted to at least indirectly tell her not to worry.

However, now was not the time.

Hmph, who cares?

The truth was that he did care, but there was something he wanted to speak of with Elu so he forcibly changed the topic. He had better tell Elu now while there was still little worry of someone eavesdropping.

Leaving that aside, bastard, Ill tell you about the job Ive granted you.

Im listening.

Sensing the change in atmosphere, Elu adjusted himself.

There were two things that Harold wanted Elu to do. But before that, he had to explain to Elu about the group that he made, under the radar, by recruiting people throughout his missions.

Youll get the power to make use of the organization that Ive started.

Your organization?

Its a mercenary group called[Frieri].

In the game, Frieri was a mercenary group started by Cody, after he resigned from the knight order, by recruiting fallen mercenaries. That organization did basically everything, be it escort missions, war, monster subjugation or even looking for various things.

However, due to Harolds many actions, Cody didnt leave the knight order. On the contrary, he got promoted further than he ever was in the original story.

Based on the game, there were events that were supposed to be cleared by cooperating with Frieri, but a major premise of that happening was Codys resignation from the knight order. Without that, Frieri wouldnt come to exist. In short, Harold was afraid that this would interfere with the progress of the original story.

Fortunately, Tasuku left a portion of the revenue generated by LP farming in Harolds name, so there were no financial troubles with the early expenses.

Ill get to make use of them? Ive never commanded a battle before.

That will be handled by the men on site. Im giving you the authority to decide whether Frieri should take action or not. And you may also mobilize them.

...Are you seriously going to give that kind of authority to a newcomer like me?

Harold wanted to tell him that he knew where he was coming from. This position was Hardly fitting for Elu.

However, Harold could see that Elu had it in him to eventually make it. He was someone who could use a plethora of information to get a correct, extensive, and profound understanding of a situation. Even though it would be difficult for him to handle battle command and tactics, he could demonstrate his abilities when it came to managing an organization.

Above all, Harolds group was short-handed and just didnt have anyone better than Elu to take command of Frieri. And if Harold couldnt make friends with Elu then he would have to leave the role to one of the other mercenaries he had gathered. But he suspected that bunch would overdo it either way.

Ill establish the organizations course of action and give out the essential instructions. Your role will be to handle the other, smaller instructions, and to mobilize Frieri when Im in a position where I cant make a move myself.

Thats quite easy to say, but really, its a big responsibility, isnt it?

Good grief, said Elu as he let out a sigh.

Thats the only reaction he showed while speaking of a big responsibility. And yet, he murmured to himselfCould this be a show of trust...?, but the truth was that he made this mutter audible on purpose.

Since it didnt seem necessary for Harold to give any importance to this, he naturally just disregarded Elu.

By the way, how many people are there in Frieri?

There are 14 people, but thats not enough. You gotta make use of your clans information network and scout some capable people.

Thats fine, but what about the money? Without a reasonable amount, Its going to be hard to entice mercenaries.

If youre talking about the small change youll need to hire mercenaries, just name the price and Ill pay.

Harold was being serious, his capital had increased to a significant sum. If Harold didnt have to worry about death flags and the future collapse of the world, he could retire right away and live a full, comfortable life.

Well, if he hadnt possessed Harolds body in the first place, then it would have been complicated for him to develop the LP farming method and rebuild the Sumeragi family.

How generous. Where on earth did you get that kind of money?

You dont need to know.

Too bad. Well, I get the gist of the situation, now Id like to see that Frieri group with my own eyes to get a sense of it but...

Elu cut himself off with a worried groan. His line of sight was turned towards the research centers buildings.

To be more precise, he was probably looking at the reception room where he had been with Justus just before. That alone was enough for Harold to understand that Elu felt badly about his slip of the tongue.

There was no doubt Justus had marked Elu as a suspicious individual in the earlier meeting. And was it really possible for someone as careful as Justus to let a person of interest like Elu roam around freely?

This was no place for optimism. Getting carried away could only end badly. From here, Elu had to assume Justus was always watching his every action.

If you have a method to slip through that guys surveillance, we can go right now.Who ?

Lets hold off on that. Well, I mean, I did think of a method, but considering the current conditions, I have a request.

...Speak.

Id like to get in touch with Frieri by myself. So I want you to give me something to prove that I was sent by you.

Whats your motive?

Its to deceive Justus eyes.

Harold figured Elu was saying that moving alone would be less conspicuous.

Certainly, Elu would stand out if he was seen together with Harold, and it would make it seem like Harold was plotting something. Especially now.

So please inform the people from Frieri that I will be arriving by myself. I will keep my appearance, age, and gender completely hidden, since I dont want to give out too much information in the interest of concealing Giffelts nature.

Dont you want to spread the name of Giffelt?

Thats just useful for gathering information and gaining some prestige. Being recognized as Giffelt on personal business carries a high risk.

Well, thats fine with me, as long as things go smoothly.

Harold understood Elus concern and had no reason to refuse. So long as they werent unreasonable, Harold wanted to avoid refusing Elus requests as much as possible, since he would be troubled if their arrangement broke down. Elu seemed to think he had become a subordinate, but the fact of the matter was that Harold thought of him as a comrade

However, in the games story, Elu had introduced himself as Giffelt to Liner and the others; perhaps it was somehow beneficial to his family. Maybe he knew that he could reach the star memory with Liners help.

Though Harold believed that was due to the stretched, distorted logic of the games system.

Thanks. Also, one more thing.

Elus words roused Harold from his deep thoughts.

Now was not the time to think about this.

Youre not done yet? Dont you have any shame?

Im not going to ask for anything big. Id like you to give me a few hours of your time tomorrow.

It certainly wasnt anything big.

Harold didnt have any missions scheduled for the next day, or even for a while after that, so he basically had too much free time and didnt mind giving it away. Harold believed that relaxing in his time off would drastically increase his risk of dying.

It better not be for something stupid.

Of course not, its for something very important. For our future.

Elu showed a smile of deep significance. But Harold failed to notice the meaning behind it.