MV – Chapter 57: Sly Minor Villains

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Lanpeach was in a good mood from early in the morning by drinking booze. 

A number of people were surrounding the table as followers. 

That appearance of him laughing with a ‘wahaha’ while drinking beer was the very picture of a wealthy minor villain. The type that would have his crimes discovered by the protagonist and be hit with karmic retribution. 

This man whose face would fit perfectly with a crooked smile was not doing anything horrible, which is different from the original route of Lanpeach though.

“Aah, it really is nice that it is not synthetic food.” (Lanpeach)

He tilted his beer glass, drank heartily, and let out a ‘puha!’ in satisfaction at the bitterness that was going down his throat. 

He left a pointless amount of stoves in the bar even for winter, so they are enjoying the luxury of the place being hot instead.

This is what’s called extravagant. Hot pot udon in summer, ice cream in winter; there’s no bigger luxury than that. Lanpeach’s definition of luxury is very mundane. 

The vultures sticking onto this happy minor villain to sip on the sweet nectar placed dishes onto the table. 

“Bro, the grilled chicken is ready-usa.” 

One of those vultures…was a rabbit with fluffy fur. 

“Boss, eat carrots too-usa.” 

Vulture number 2 was a rabbit whose nose twitches constantly. 

“Unyu~. Nap time~.” 

The vulture number 3 was a rabbit that yawned and curled up on a chair to sleep. 

“Papa-shan, Koume hash brought you more beer!” 

Vulture number 4 was a little girl that waddled her way to Lanpeach with dangerous steps, carrying a beer glass. 

Lanpeach obviously told her that’s dangerous, grabbed the beer quickly, and pet her head. 

In other words, the only people surrounding Lanpeach were rabbits and a little girl. A pitiful man. 

The justification is that he for some reason can’t make human followers. He doesn’t know why, but he thinks it is most likely because he has the charisma of a demon lord and people fall on their butts out of fear. 

The real reason is because he looks weak but is actually strong, is connected with influential people of the Underground District, and is a way too suspicious guy that you can’t get a clear grasp of, so they can’t tell whether it is okay to get involved with him. 

And so, the people around have decided to just keep an eye. 

They would get involved with him like normal when it relates to work, but he is kind of like a boss they respect when it comes to their private life. It might be a bit different though.

Well, Lanpeach doesn’t care as long as he can drink booze and have snacks. He is used to drinking alone.

He is happy even if the people around him are rabbits and a little girl, but this minor villain is getting a sad treatment. 

And so, Lanpeach was chugging down beer in a good mood. 

There’s no need to worry about money. This bar is Lanpeach’s after all. He is getting the boss discount. 

The workers might be troubled about the boss coming to drink though. 

“I will be grilling chicken now-usa. Come on, bring the cooking stove-usa.” 

“Eeh, what a drag.” 

They pushed the cooking stove to the sleepy rabbit, turned the cooking stove upside down -disregarding all safety concerns- and a rabbit brought a chicken and began cooking it on that fire. 

This is a way of cooking that good children should definitely not imitate.

“Mufufu, grilling on charcoal fire is outdated. You need to cook it with the fire above if you want to eat it deliciously-usa yo. By cooking it with the stove turned downwards, it will make it harder for the smoke to cling, and the bitterness—.” 

“I am tired.” 

“Ayaaa!” 

The rabbit tried to cook the chicken under the fire, but the sleepy rabbit that was holding the cooking stove was tired from carrying it and let go, the cooking stove falling on top of its head and making it roll around on the floor from how hot it was. 

Well, the fur of the rabbits is sturdy despite appearances, so not a single strand of its fur would burn from a mere cooking stove, but it seems to be treasuring the common tropes. 

“That was a pretty good skit. Good good, I will give you a carrot.” (Lanpeach)

“”Itadakima~ph. Good night~.” 

“It wasn’t a skit-usa yo! But I also want one.” 

“I didn’t do anything, but give me one~.”

Lanpeach leaned on his chair like a boss, warped his lips, and gave carrots. 

His charisma as a boss could be felt even in the bar, and Koume clapped while going ‘kyahaha’.

The sleepy rabbit curled up on the chair with a carrot in its mouth, and fell asleep.

The rabbit that had thought of a new way to cook chicken munched on the carrot with the cooking stove still on its head. 

Lanpeach watched this while eating grilled chicken, going for the onion miso soup next, then enjoying the skin. He smacked his lips while praising himself about how his choice of the Home Farm was a big success. 

This is good chicken. Just a bite of the chicken meat was enough for the softness of the meat and the juices to spread inside his whole mouth. 

If real onion were to be accompanied with this, it would harmonize to a perfect degree. It is a big difference from synthetic food. 

[The chickens are selling and the Production Power of the base has increased after all. It is perfect to earn some pocket change.] (Lanpeach)

[Leave some grilled chicken for me, okay? I will try giving a better gourmet report than Soldier.] (Libra)

Libra winked cutely with one word too many. 

Well, she is cute so he forgave her. This man is weak to women as always. 

“You seem to be doing well.” 

A beer glass was placed right in front of Lanpeach.

He looked in that direction while munching on the chicken, and the one there was Krita with a grin on his face.

“Hm? If I remember correctly, you are Krita, aren’t you? This is not your shop zone. Leave already.” (Lanpeach)

“So cold. Didn’t I buy your Ice Candies?” (Krita)

“Right. That’s exactly right. That’s why I am telling you this as repayment: Leave.” (Lanpeach)

He waved his hand as if chasing away an insect, and said this coldly and directly. 

Krita probably didn’t expect this attitude, he was daunted by this, but still sat on the chair opposite to his, and offered him a beer glass.

“I will treat you, so I would like you to tell me about this base. I heard you are selling electric appliances for cheap, and yet, why are you selling chickens? Who is the boss of this place?” (Krita)

“…You didn’t investigate at least that much? It is true that we sell electric appliances for cheap, and we are raising chickens here, so we are selling them. Also, the boss here is Lanpeach-sama. In other words, me.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach pointed his thumb at himself and grinned. 

That smug face mysteriously looked like a crook borrowing the authority of a tiger. 

But that answer was unexpected for Krita.

The surroundings didn’t say anything even after seeing the face of Lanpeach, and were still noisy, so it must be true. He was internally shocked. 

(I normally could have investigated the boss of this place at least, but…information brokers weren’t that useful since it is winter. I messed up. To think it would be the crook that stole the Ice Candies… No, that means he didn’t steal those Ice Candies? Anyways, this is an opportunity.) (Krita)

There are less people walking around because of winter, making it harder to gather information. 

The information brokers that Krita uses on his level didn’t have any proper info. The only thing he got was rumors backing the story of Sage.

Krita clicked his tongue but still thought of it as an opportunity. He did buy the Ice Candies at a far higher price than Lanpeach asked for. 

He was thinking of using that debt and ordered one more glass of beer. 

“Selling chickens is impressive, Lanpeach. You have climbed so much compared to the time when I bought the Ice Candies from you. You already don’t know what to do with so much money in your pockets, right?” (Krita)

“Well, let’s just say my talent bloomed. Hmph, I am getting 3.9 million a month after all! Fuhaha! I am getting this much without even working. Impressive, right?” (Lanpeach)

The lips of Lanpeach were loose when he was tipsy, and made him want to brag. 

He truly felt like it is impressive to get so much money without having to work. It is unearned income after all. 

He can not go to the company, laze about in his house, and turn into trash, and he would still get money. 

What a wonderful thing. 

But Krita opened his mouth wide and spilled the beer he was drinking. 

“Huh? 3.9 million Ele a month?” (Krita)

Krita doubted his ears since that number was unbelievably low, and ended up parroting his words. 

“That’s right. I am the boss that rules this base after all. I might end up becoming a rich guy by this winter.” (Lanpeach)

“I-I see. That’s indeed a lot of money… Hey, who is the one managing this place? It is not you, right?” (Krita)

“Obviously. I am the boss. I just come quarterly to hear about the income and expenses, and sign stuff. I am leaving the management to Chihiro and Sage. Well, it is mostly Sage though.” (Lanpeach)

In the game, the secretary would come with a report at every change of the season, so all the work was left to others. 

Sage is currently moving energetically even in the cold winter. He is buying a large amount of goods, scouting talents that are good with numbers to manage the stores, calling other merchants, and a lot of other stuff. He is super busy. 

He is working with the objective to incorporate the Lanpeach Complex into the Surface District along with the area around, but Lanpeach doesn’t want anything to do with such heavy work. 

‘I am an explorer, so I won’t get in the way of management’ -is the excuse he would give and wouldn’t do any managing. 

But explaining that much would make him look like he doesn’t work, so he didn’t say it. He explained with omitted information. 

“Chihiro is your lover, right? In that case, the one calculating the money is Sage as well, huh.” (Krita)

And so, Krita misunderstood beautifully. He began to draw conclusions with himself as the standard. 

(That Sage. This is beyond a rip-off. There’s no doubt he is pocketing around 90% of the money. This idiot is a crook in the slums. He thinks 3.9 million Ele is a lot of money after all. But the reality is that he is most likely profiting in the hundreds of millions, or maybe even billions!) (Krita)

Krita wouldn’t even think about how Sage is going as far as using his own funds to gamble on this base. He is the type of person that considers dreams as something you can only see when asleep. 

And so, he thought that he was taking advantage of this stupid crook and playing him like a fiddle to strike big with this base.

The fire of jealousy began to burn ferociously, and grinded his teeth thinking he is the only one profiting here. 

“How is this base obtaining chickens and electric appliances?” (Krita)

“We are raising chickens on a farm, and I am getting electric appliances from the Spirit Ward. Isn’t that obvious?” (Lanpeach)

“Gahaha, that certainly was obvious. So, is Sage taking over in the management of this place?” (Krita)

Krita judged that this guy is an idiot and there’s no point in talking to him. 

“…Stop that. Don’t think anything stupid. Leave, Krita.” (Lanpeach)

But his body trembled at the ice cold voice that felt as if his heart was grabbed. 

When he looked, Lanpeach, who had a smile from being tipsy, changed his face into an emotionless one, and directed empty eyes as if he were not a human. 

“W-What are you talking about? I don’t get it.” (Krita)

“…It is better if you don’t get it. Leave, Krita. This is for your sake as well.” (Lanpeach)

“I don’t get what you are trying to say here, but…I will go check the stores around for now. I am running a business here, so I have to earn cash.” (Krita)

Krita began to feel uncomfortable around Lanpeach, gave him an empty laugh, and stood up from his seat. 

He was planning on checking just how big of a scale this base is. 

Lanpeach watched Krita leave with hurried steps, sighed, and sipped on his beer. 

“I did warn him. Well, I think it was pointless though.” (Lanpeach)

Krita didn’t hear this mutter…and would eventually learn just how much of a gold mine the Lanpeach Complex was. 

Therefore…

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