Normally, such a bottle would contain a Potion of some sort, but the contents of the bottle were no Potion.
"Oh, this, this is it!" Unable to hold himself back any longer, Cuoco reached out for the small bottle like a starving beast, pulled out the cork stopper and poured the contents onto his palm.
He let out a noise of wonderment as an amber-colored liquid with a phlegm-like viscosity dripped from the bottle.
"Oh, this color, this fragrance, I cannot have enough of this!"
And then he licked the fluid with his tongue! Normally, the head of a noble family would have someone test it for poison, but Cuoco possessed the Poison Resistance skill at a high level, so he had no hesitation.
And Cuoco was displaying his intoxication at the sweetness that melted his tongue and the rich fragrance that filled his nose. He even took no notice of the saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth.
"Wonderful... I have sampled Ent Syrup refined from Ent sap on numerous occasions, but this is truly extraordinary. The rich sweetness, the smooth texture and the full-bodied fragrance. This is truly the nectar of the heavens!"
"... It seems that you have taken a liking to it," Iris said in a slightly exasperated tone as she stared at the head of the Ragdew family of barons, which was known for its gluttony that had ruined the family in the Empire.
Cuoco's grandfather's motive for becoming an adventurer had been the truly simple one of "I want to eat delicious things!" Even after he became an honorary baron, his appetite and passion for delicious food hadn't grown any weaker in his son or grandson, and now in, Cuoco's generation, the family had repeatedly fallen into debt.
Normally, a small, weak family like the Ragdew family of barons falling deep into debt would mean the end of the house. However, Cuoco did have exceptional military prowess, though not as much as his grandfather, and he possessed a capable private armed force as well as close relationships with adventurers.
Cuoco might have appeared on first glance to be a stubborn bureaucratic nobleman, but because he was actually friendly, wasn't concerned with the relative social positions of others, had no interest whatsoever in power struggles and was only interested in delicious food, he was an individual who was completely free of conspiracy.
Thus, the work that his private armed force did was gathering delicious monsters and produce from Devil's Nests and Dungeons, and buying ingredients from distant places. His requests for adventurers was gathering food ingredients as well.
An employer that would be difficult to offer your whole life to, but was friendly when working for him for a short period of time. That was Cuoco.
Thus, in exchange for erasing his debt, his whole family and his private armed force had been moved to the Sauron Duchy.
It was certainly fortunate that a baron who would discard his own nation for the sake of delicious food had been successfully tempted by the support goods provided by Vandalieu.
Every time we have this conversation, we acquire quite a lot of information. It is a little tiring, however.
"My subordinates are in possession of bottles containing this syrup," Iris said. "This is a symbol of our gratitude to you, Baron."
"Ah, Iris-dono, the food that you provide is wonderful as usual. But where in the world do you acquire such products?" Cuoco asked. "This syrup is even finer in quality than what can be obtained by Treants, the superior race of Ents. Has the Sauron Liberation Front tamed a new mutation of Ent-type monster?"
He was no mere food maniac. It seemed that he questioned how the Sauron Liberation Front could supply this Ent Syrup... the purified sap (blood) of Eisen, the Skogsrå.
"My apologies, Baron, but I do not believe our bonds are yet deep enough to share that secret," Iris said.
This Baron seems like he would gladly rebel against the Empire if it meant that he could immigrate to Talosheim, but... this is not something that I can decide on my own.
Cuoco gave a bitter smile at Iris's reply and took out a piece of paper from his breast pocket, showing her the cryptogram written on it. "I suppose it was ill-mannered of me to try to force a lady to divulge her secrets. This is the route of the army's transportation troops. As usual, please memorize it right here."
And so, information regarding the Amid Empire's army was sold for the price of some syrup.
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"That baron named Cuoco has some things in common with Luciliano, doesn't he? He simply prioritizes different things," said Vandalieu, the sponsor of the Sauron Liberation Front, as he carefully stirred a bubbling, simmering curry.
"Your personal disciple, Your Majesty? I do not know him very well, so I cannot say anything, but... is he really so strange... is he really so incredible?" Iris asked, looking a little perplexed, as she chopped some leafed vegetables to be used in a salad.
Having finished her dealings with the traitor, she had regrouped with Vandalieu and his companions who had brought support supplies to her base, and they were exchanging information. They roughly discussed future plans, and then Vandalieu had suggested that they have a somewhat late lunch.
Lunch was important. A single bowl of curry would preserve the morale of Haj and his Armor Tamer squad.
"Rather than incredible... he is already within the realms of eccentricity," Vandalieu said.
"Then he may indeed get along well with the baron," Iris remarked.
"That's true; he does seem to have a certain amount of interest in eating as well. Now then, I suppose it's time to serve the food."
Right before the eyes of Iris and the others, Vandalieu's spirit form slipped out of his body and split up to produce more Vandalieus, one after another. The sight of the countless Vandalieus heaping the curry and rice onto wooden plates and setting the tables was quite spectacular... though it wasn't a sight that one would want to see late at night.
"If Brownies really existed, I'm sure they would be spirits like the boss," said Miles, who was helping serve the salad.
That was how skilled Vandalieu was.
Brownie spirits, that helped with housework while families were asleep. They were generally beings that were considered to be creatures of superstition and fairy tales, but they were unlikely to resemble Vandalieu.
TLN: This is a reference to Brownies, household spirits in English and Scottish folklore.
"I wouldn't work for a glass of milk," said Vandalieu, meaning that he wouldn't want to work under such conditions.
But Iris took it in the opposite meaning. "Indeed, you would not even take a glass of milk in payment Your Majesty," she said.
"It's true, you lack desires," said Debis, nodding.
"Yeah, why aren't you conquering the Sauron Duchy?" said Haj.
"Eh? Is that how you take it? Also, Iris and the rest of you are not my subordinates, so you don't have to call me 'Your Majesty.' Please call me Vandalieu-san," said Vandalieu.
He would be hurt if they suddenly started calling him by his name with no honorific, so he wanted them to add -san. But all of the resistance members under Iris's command denied his request, shouting, "We can't do that!"
"... Then calling me by my name is fine."
"Why would you say that?! Are you aware of just how incredible the things you're doing are?!"
"Providing funds, supplies and military strength, and making delicious curry."
The curry had been almost completely prepared in Talosheim and then preserved using Preservation, so Vandalieu had simmered it overnight. Iris and her companions were the only ones in the Sauron Duchy who could eat this.
"Thank you very much for that. But please, I want you to reconsider the value of the funds, supplies and military strength that you have provided, Your Majesty!" said Iris.
"I mean, it's not that I don't understand," Vandalieu said.
Vandalieu was over-supplying the Sauron Liberation Front. He didn't have Amids that were the currency currently circulating in the Sauron Duchy, but he provided funds in the form of gold, silver and jewels. He had trained Haj and the other former fake resistance members in Dungeons, given them several disguised Dark Copper Living Armors and even dispatched Miles, a Rank 9 Abyssal Vampire.
He was even providing high-quality arms, even if they were made of regular iron and Obsidian, as well as food like curry and other daily necessities. It was thanks to this that Cuoco had been successfully enticed.
Just how much would the total value of these items be worth if converted at market value...? It was far in excess for supplying to a resistance organization. If the Amid Empire's army were to learn of this, they would be certain that the Sauron Liberation Front was Vandalieu's private army.
It was Vandalieu's idea of maintaining a relationship as equals after having provided so much support that was strange.
If Iris were one of the late Duke Sauron's orphans or a relative of the duke's family, then considering that the Sauron Duchy might return to the Orbaume Kingdom's possession in the future, this could be considered. However, unfortunately, although the Bearheart family was well-known for its military prowess, it was a mere house of knights. It was of the lowest rank of noble heritage in the Orbaume Kingdom.
No matter how much action the Sauron Liberation Front took, no matter how much Iris was praised, she would never become the new Duke Sauron.
Because the real sons and daughters of the Sauron family who had the rights to succeed it had already fled to other duchies.
"Your Majesty, if you are holding any expectations of my future, it is unfortunate, but I cannot answer those expectations," Iris said. "Even if I were to raise the decapitated head of the Amid Empire's general, even if a nobleman is adopted into my family, the Bearheart house would become a family of barons at most."
"No, Ojou, if you achieve something like that and that nobleman is a distant relative of the Sauron family or something, I think your family will become a family of earls at least, you know?" said Debis.
It seemed that Iris's self-value was so low that even Debis had felt the need to slip in a word.
"But I think it's strange, too. Why isn't His Majesty gaining control over the Sauron Duchy with military force? We've found out that the Thunderclap Schneider that you were worried about isn't an enemy, right?" said Haj.
Merrebeveil, the goddess of the Scylla, had informed Vandalieu that the Thunderclap Schneider, the S-class adventurer of the Amid Empire, was actually an ally of Vida's races.
Vandalieu knew this but hadn't changed his decisions.
"First of all, even if the Thunderclap Schneider is an ally of Vida's races, that doesn't mean he's my ally. Next is the fact that I find it difficult that I would be supported by the people. And for geostrategic reasons, it will be difficult for me to occupy the Sauron Duchy and maintain rule over it," explained Vandalieu, who had returned to his physical body. He was expressing that it would be dangerous to assume that the Thunderclap Schneider was not an enemy until meeting him and talking to him directly.
Vandalieu had learned from Merrebeveil that Schneider was actually a believer of Vida, and had saved many tribes of Vida's races, including Scylla living in the Amid Empire. However, if he were to decide that Vandalieu's actions would have negative consequences for the members of Vida's races that he had saved, it was possible that he would still become an enemy.
Vandalieu couldn't be sure that Schneider would be an ally.
Next, as for the question of whether Vandalieu would be supported by the people, it didn't even need to be discussed. As someone who wasn't known in the region at all and commanded large numbers of Undead, creatures that were considered to be taboo, Vandalieu was more likely to be thought of as a villain that needed to be exterminated than a hero.
And Vandalieu intended to introduce the rich eating habits of Talosheim and the light income taxes, but that would be equivalent to picking a fight with influential people with vested interests.
Last was the geostrategic reasons... If Talosheim, a third nation, were to occupy the Sauron Duchy that was sandwiched between the Orbaume Kingdom and the Amid Empire, it would have a great nation adjacent both to the east and to the west.
Even going back and forth from Talosheim would be difficult because of the Boundary Mountain Range. Even if Vandalieu teleported from Dungeon to Dungeon using his Labyrinth Construction skill and the flying Knochen and Sam were to travel through the skies, it was difficult to imagine that they would be able to transport enough personnel and goods.
"It won't go so well, huh. Then how about turning an entire portion of the Boundary Mountain Range into Golems and changing the terrain?" Miles suggested as a joke.
Vandalieu blinked and looked towards the Boundary Mountain Range.
Can he actually do it?! everyone thought as they looked at Vandalieu, holding their breaths.
But Vandalieu quietly replied, "No, that's impossible. For now."
"R-right?"
As Haj and Debis exhaled, Iris and Miles shuddered, forgetting the hunger-stimulating scent of curry.
"For now, he says... so he'll become able to do it one day?" Iris muttered.
"It's something that I suggested myself, but the fact that he doesn't deny it is terrifying," Miles whispered.
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