Chapter 119
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For Ryūgūin, ruining a farmer’s land is just a piece of cake.
It’s just a matter of a loser quietly disappearing from the town. Whether to sink or swim is your own decision. You chose this, and all the responsibility lies with you.
The logic is simple. The world is made up of personal responsibility.
That’s why he doesn’t feel an ounce of remorse, let alone any sympathy.
What happens when someone acts foolishly and those around them can’t interfere? The answer is: things will go as far as they can go.
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While making fertilizer, Ryūgūin somehow ends up taking on the task of attracting customers for a mid-sized merchant house.
Well, 「taking on」 might be an exaggeration. The owner of the merchant house was just quietly sipping his drink at a bar, complaining to his friend, 「Things are getting pretty bad lately.」
Ryūgūin, being quick to notice (or rather, quick to eavesdrop), took it upon himself to accept this as a request.
The merchant house owner couldn’t bring himself to refuse the offer from the currently popular Hero.
Anyone could see that this complete amateur was confidently claiming he could handle it. Feeling an overwhelming sense of dread, the owner tearfully told the Hero, 「Please, go ahead.」
「The basics of attracting customers is to get noticed by any means necessary. So, how do you think we can catch people’s attention? It might be too advanced for you to understand, but there’s a method called ‘viral marketing’.」
He proudly proclaims that this controversial marketing strategy is the key to saving the merchant house, clearly thrilled with his idea.
As a result, for some reason, he ends up scattering a large number of coins from the roof of the merchant house.
The scattered coins are copper and silver, but the total amount that can withstand being thrown for several tens of minutes is quite substantial.
「Poor people! Here’s a gift from Auguste’s store! Come! Pick them up more desperately!! Here, here!!」
The Hero, in high spirits throughout, continues to scatter coins to the townspeople in this manner.
Of course, the coins come from the aforementioned mid-sized merchant house.
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As far as attracting attention goes, Ryūgūin’s plan can be said to have succeeded.
However, it doesn’t lead to attracting customers.
One reason is the many injuries resulting from people fighting over the scattered coins, but the biggest cause is the negative emotions stirred up among the common people – the very people who need to come as customers. Comments like 『What they’re doing is tasteless,』 『They’re looking down on the common folk,』 『I bet they’re making money through shady means as usual,』 and 『Upstarts getting ahead of themselves』 start circulating.
It’s an obvious outcome to anyone who sees it.
And naturally, it leads to the decline of the merchant house in question.
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At one point, in a restaurant known for its extensive menu:
「Too many choices can tire customers out when deciding, and as a result, you’ll lose customers.」
Ryūgūin lectures, cornering the proprietress.
To begin with, the restaurant is thriving, and no one is even worried about the situation. Both the owner and the proprietress just stare blankly. In the end, the restaurant doesn’t take Ryūgūin’s advice.
Ryūgūin takes this as an insult to the Hero, ranting and raving that they’ve ignored his opinion.
「Hmm. So you’re ignoring the advice of me, a Hero. I see. I get it, I get it. I totally get it,」 he says, applying pressure bordering on power harassment by using his fame as a Hero.
In the end, the restaurant that had proudly proclaimed, 「We’re proud of our extensive menu. You won’t regret any choice you make,」 caves to Ryūgūin’s 「advice」 (?). The menu ends up being reduced (?) to a number that can be counted on both hands.
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There are countless other episodes of Ryūgūin’s unspeakable actions.
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While these stories are tragic for the victims, in the ultimate sense, they are still recoverable situations.
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On this day too, Ryūgūin is in high spirits.
He’s at a place that could be called a high-class club, surrounded by multiple women and sleazy men who praise him in hopes of getting treated to drinks. He’s enjoying himself as a noisy customer unsuited to the establishment.
On this particular day and time, a lower-class nobleman named Annabel Machiavelli happens to be drinking next to Ryūgūin.
He wasn’t really in the mood for drinking to begin with, but a friend, also a lower-class nobleman, had dragged him out to cheer him up.
Even in the lively atmosphere, his heart remains heavy.
His worry is about his beloved daughter. The daughter he loves more than life itself is suffering from an incurable disease.
As her condition worsens day by day, she eventually becomes bedridden. He has spent countless sleepless nights searching for a cure. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that his face shows signs of impending death.
He’s a lightweight when it comes to alcohol, and his face quickly turns red after just sipping the drink he was offered. He pours out his inner anxieties and his daughter’s misfortune, crying his heart out right there.
And then, someone addresses him without any hesitation:
「Well, I’ve heard your story.」
Says a refreshing voice.
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