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"I've already explained that I have no intention of continuing to play these kinds of games. 150 gold is the price of a mansion in the city's noble sector..." I say, banging on the desk in the office of Alfonso, the real estate broker from whom I rented Delia's clinic.
The slim, short man turns pale as he watches the wood creak under my blow and swallows nervously.
"... Are you really not going to accept that amount of gold for the property? If you don't, I'm going to start thinking that the problem isn't the amount of money... Hmm... What could the problem be?"
"No, no. You're right, of course... 150 gold will be more than enough... I... I'll bring the deeds to your office in a few days," says Alfonso, sweating visibly under my irritated gaze.
"Good. I'm glad we've been able to reach an agreement," I say with a tense smile.
'Shit...
I was hoping to get some information before taking the deeds to the clinic away from him...
I'm sure there's someone else behind Alfonso's sudden wave of greed...
Someone who is pressuring him to make things difficult for us...
It has to be the Solus Temple...
But I have no proof...
Haa...
I could try interrogating him with a Hypnosis scroll...
But he probably has some way of protecting himself from that kind of thing, given his job...
And I'd rather not have to attack one of Erick's friends...
Even if that friend has blatantly tried to take advantage of me.'
For the past few weeks, Alfonso has been increasing the rent on the clinic.
The excuses for the rent increase are that many people are constantly coming and going, and that wears down the building.
For that reason, he told me that from now on, the clinic rent would cost me 3 gold coins a month.
Three times more than before.
I thought it was a pretty weak argument, but since money isn't a problem for me and Delia is very happy with the clinic, I didn't give it much thought at first.
However, yesterday he sent a messenger to the clinic to let us know that he was planning to raise the rent again, just one month after his previous increase.
And, even crazier, he intended to triple the amount again.
According to him, because the clinic is becoming so famous in the city, he should earn more for renting the place, considering that from now on it will always be linked to Delia's clinic, even if we decide to stop renting it.
This last time, his demands really bothered me.
Not because of the money he is asking for, because Delia's happiness is priceless to me, but because for some time now I have been mulling over the hypothesis that the reasons for the rent increase for the clinic have little to do with Alfonso's financial ambition.
I have no proof, but I also have few doubts.
The notification of the first rent increase came just a few days after the attempted attack on Delia.
And the Solus Temple has already tried to get rid of the competition that Delia represents in various ways.
I'm not sure they were responsible for the attack.
However, the attack occurred only because Delia was forced to expose herself as a result of their unfounded allegations.
And I can't forget about the kidnapping, even though Delia remains adamant in her belief that it was simply due to the evil of a few corrupt people.
So this time I also decided to make a clean break and offer Alfonso a ridiculous amount of money for the clinic.
A few days earlier, I had been buying up the available buildings near the clinic to get an idea of the price of a small place like Delia's clinic.
Those places could serve to give my parents or the three annoying beauties a place to live nearby, assuming they wanted to take advantage of it.
But for now, we have started using them as a shelter for a small number of low-level Believers and Priestesses who are keen to learn from Delia and help her with her tasks.
These people began to appear more and more often due to Delia's growing fame, and she thought it would be a good idea to teach them and let them help her.
I don't particularly like the idea of Delia working surrounded by so many strangers at the clinic, but the people in question are so low-level that they don't pose a real threat to my girls.
In any case, thanks to my new real estate acquisitions, I've learned that paying 150 gold for a property the size of Delia's clinic is something no one in their right mind would do.
If Alfonso's irritating new attitude was really due to his ambition, he should instantly agree to sell me the clinic.
But I've already seen that this is not the case.
The disappointing thing is that, despite this, I haven't been able to get any useful information.
...
'You should have forced him to talk, kiddo... You're too soft,' Zariche says to me mentally as I leave Alfonso's office and start walking towards Delia's clinic to give my girls the good news.
'Aha... And how do you think I should have done that? By hitting him or hypnotizing him? I already told you that people don't normally attack others for no reason. But even without taking that into account, I don't want to risk making an enemy of someone who knows where I live.'
'Of course... It's better to remain ignorant of who or what is causing the whole problem. It's okay to bark at people to get what you want, but you should also bite from time to time.'
'Be careful with that comparison... If you keep going down that road, I might start to think that Alessia and Delia are right when they tell me I shouldn't trust you so much.'
My girls are not at all happy that I've started using Zariche to fight, but in the end they reluctantly accepted my opinion.
'Right… Because you trust me a lot, don't you?...' Zariche asks sarcastically.
'...Don't insult my intelligence, kiddo. Neither of us trusts the other. We're just using each other.'
'Besides, Alfonso probably doesn't even know who was really pressuring him to make things difficult for us…' I say, refusing to drop the subject.
'...I doubt the Solus Temple would make such a stupid mistake as to get their own hands dirty.'
'If you say so, it must be true. You're never wrong,' Zariche says mockingly.
'Don't be condescending! They probably used a scapegoat. Someone from the nobility or similar, so that I couldn't do anything even if I discovered their identity…' I say mentally, cursing the injustice that there are people who, by birthright, have a privileged position over the rest.
'...But if the option of getting information directly from Alfonso is ruled out... I don't know how I could find out the identity of the people behind it all without risking it affecting me negatively later on.'
'Hmt... 'I can't. I don't want to. I don't know.' It seems that's all you know how to say lately... So much wasted potential... I expected more from the product of two children of Chaos.'
'This isn't the first time you've referred to my parents that way... Is it some kind of nickname you gave them because of their stupid Luck, or are you referring to something else?' I say mentally, turning a deaf ear to the sword's criticism.
Part of me agrees with him, but my more rational side prevents me from acting directly against Alfonso to get the information I'm looking for, as I'm sure it's something I'd regret sooner rather than later.
'It's not a nickname. It's what we talking weapons used to call people like your parents and that fox girl you like so much.'
'Is Delia also a 'daughter of chaos'? What is that term supposed to mean anyway?'
'No, she is not a daughter of Chaos. She is surely a daughter of Order, or of the Sacred, which is another name for the primordial force of Life... But I'm not sure which of the two.'
'Primordial force? I get the impression you're just saying a bunch of strange names to make yourself sound interesting,' I say mentally, with a smile on my face, as it's not the first time I've gotten the impression that Zariche is trying to get my attention that way.
'Don't be stupid, kiddo. I have no need to make myself interesting. And it's not my fault that you guys have forgotten all those things. Before, everyone knew what a child of a primordial force was... But I guess that knowledge was lost when we talking weapons were eradicated by the damn golden pig.'
'Well... Start explaining yourself if you expect me to understand what you mean…' I say, a little annoyed that he won't let me continue mentally analyzing my options against the Solus Temple.
'... Or stop distracting me. Either option is fine with me.'
'Haa... You're the most boring and annoying bearer I've ever had... But okay, I'll explain what I mean by primordial forces and children of the primordial forces... It's something you should know precisely.'
'Well, I'm all ears… even though I don't really need them to hear you,' I say as I walk past a store that sells different types of food.
'Haa... Really the most boring and annoying... Hmm... Let's start with the basics... This world you know is simply the result of a constant tug-of-war between the primordial forces that exist: Chaos and Order. Life and Death, which could also be called Sacred and Demonic. Those four are the main ones, but there are more.'
'So there really are 'primordial forces' that affect the world, and it's not just a name for a God or something similar?' I ask with some disbelief.
'The gods you refer to are simply a human invention... The primordial forces have existed since long before those things and affect, to a greater or lesser extent, everything that exists in the world…' says Zariche with some irritation, because he can surely sense that I am not taking his words completely seriously.
But anyone in my situation would doubt something like that, especially when the information comes from something like a cursed sword.
'...And when, in very rare and special cases, a person is born closely linked to a primordial force, they are called a child of that primordial force. Your parents are children of Chaos. That's why chance and randomness always work in their favor.'
'So that's why the Luck stat works differently for them than it does for me... I knew their luck wasn't natural... But... How can you be so sure they are children of chaos?'
'Talking weapons can instinctively sense the influence of primordial forces in people... I don't know why that is, but it is... It's like a superficial feeling about each person.'
'Something like a first impression of the person?' I ask, as I begin to find that this information could explain a lot more than I initially thought.
'More or less... Sacred weapons will feel aversion towards people associated with the Demonic primordial force, and at the same time, they will feel more comfortable with people associated with the Sacred one. The same can be said of weapons of Chaos or Order,' he says smugly, realizing that I am beginning to take his words seriously.
'I see... I guess that's why Blue Wind has such a grudge against me... I don't know what primordial force is linked to that spear, but it clearly predisposes her against me... From the beginning, she has always had a very bad opinion of me.'
'That's not necessarily the reason... You're a weirdo... Very occasionally, someone like you is born... Someone who is greatly influenced by multiple primordial forces that under normal circumstances should oppose each other... However, such people have never managed to live very long.'
'And why is that?' I ask with some concern, even though I can't take anything Zariche says completely seriously unless I have some proof that he's telling the truth.
'I imagine it's because the world always seeks balance... But your parents are two living constant insults to that balance.'
'Ha ha ha. Yes, I've witnessed that several times,' I say, as I recall the time when their stupid Luck made it rain penguins just to mock me.
'Apart from your parents, I've never known of a case where two children of Chaos met and decided to be a couple, because their free and carefree spirit usually leads them to live brief lives, trusting too much in chance... However, if two people like that have a child and care about raising it... Well, it results in something like you, I guess... An abomination that would normally be impossible.'
'Hey! Watch your words. If it weren't for this abomination, you'd still be stuck on that rock.'
'That's precisely what I mean... Normally, it shouldn't have been possible for me to get out of that place... The zombie dragon wasn't the only thing preventing anyone from getting close to where I was... It took someone as excessively abnormal as you to appear for me to be free.'
'If you keep this up, you're going to end up in the inventory,' I say, increasingly irritated by the sword's sudden insults.
'Okay. Okay... I don't mean to bother you.'
'Well, it doesn't seem that way.'
'Bah... I'm tired of talking to you... You're too immature and short-sighted,' says Zariche wearily.
'Ha! Look who's talking.'
'Brat, I have memories of a time when none of the kingdoms that exist today existed.'
'And yet you still ended up sealed in a stone for who knows how long,' I say mockingly.
After my words, Zariche completely cuts off communication, although I can feel a cold and bitter hatred coming from the weapon that I haven't felt in a while.
But right now I prefer it that way, because from where I am I can see the door to Delia's clinic and I wouldn't be able to talk calmly with my girls if the sword kept constantly trying to get my attention with his annoying opinions.
'Whatever... I wasn't the one who started the insults contest,' I think, knowing that he is listening to me, as I continue walking as if nothing had happened.