"So, who will we be interviewing today?" Issei asked as we continued strolling about in the city.

"Oh, right. Then, uhh... Ugh." Adam scoffed, "No matter how we slice it, we really only have one option - Glenn."

"Eh? That guy?" I asked, my Eyes wide open from the surprise, "Like the mayor Glenn? He's literally the shittiest person in this place, so why him of all people?"

"I dislike that man." Bamb scrunched her face up a bit as she recalled, "His prejudice against me was unfounded, and his remedies were too rash."

"Yeah, but no one else knows about the situation more than the leader of the pack." Aru shrugged, "No one living in Bosorog takes the guy seriously, almost to the point of purposefully denying his warnings and rules just to oppose him. Truthfully, he's so unlikeable that if he reminded his people the sky was Blue, everyone would switch to thinking it's Red."

"Wow, he's that hated?" Issei chuckled, "Well then, I guess if both Aru and Adam agree that we should see him we have no other choice, but what'll we do about Bamb?"

"Right, it took a lot for us to convince him to let us through the city gate, so going into his office with Bamb, even if she's safe and well-mannered is a bit..."

"Don't worry." Adam flashed me a hearty thumbs up, "I got a plan."

And so, we followed him to the mayor's office since only him and Aru actually knew where it was in the giant city. Despite being in a flatlands region on the map, Bosorog actually has a pretty fair amount of ups and downs, making roads difficult to traverse and the busy streets even more difficult to see from the tall buildings. As we walked, I just couldn't help but wonder how such a city thrived so much in spite of the people hating on their mayor so much.

"I just don't get it at all." I shook my head, "If they hate him so much, why don't they just replace Glenn for a new mayor? One that'll actually benefit the city?"

"How would such a person even begin to do that?" Adam answered the question with another question, "As you have probably already seen, the city of Bosorog is thriving and bustling. This is because originally, it was just a place for successful merchants from around the world to gather. These people then settled down here and passed on their business philosophies onto their children. Basically, the people here don't need someone to lead them, they can perfectly live a normal, symbiotic life where they help each other out without anyone even having to ask for assistance."

"So they're hardworking and respectful by default?" Issei tilted his head, "Kinda reminds me of my own people. Though for us the suicide rate from overwork is super high because of that. The amount of Isekai stories coming out about people that died from overwork and reincarnating in another world was way too big for the most recent season..."

"Just what were they making you do? To die or otherwise off yourself from overworking must mean that your conditions were quite harsh." Aru sympathised, "So, what was it? Work on a plantation? Building huge towers and structures by hand? A gladiator style fight to the death, where the loser dies and the victor lives to fight another day?"

"Well, those are all certainly professions that happened, at least long ago, but not right now." Issei chuckled, "This is way worse - You have to provide for your family, so the moment you leave education, you gotta go on a job hunt. If you get accepted, you sit at your desk to waste your life away writing emails and printing random pieces of paper to give to your ungrateful boss as he heartlessly takes all the credit for your hard work. Even then, you'd often have to work unpaid overtime, and I even heard people would be gone for up to a couple of days just slaving away like that. At the end of the month, you get left with just a large enough paycheck to pay the bills, but then you're left wondering how you're gonna pay for that month's food-!"

"Isn't that just a normal desk job, though?" We all looked at him weirdly, "We have those too, except we call them black companies."

"Ah! Black companies! We call them that as well!" He snapped his fingers at us, "But then, if you have that, how come I've never met anyone commuting about with a suit and tie like I did back in Japan?"

"Of course you did." Aru chuckled, "You're their top client, don't you know?"

"Ahh, the ITA!" Issei recalled, "Right, I guess you could say the agents working there are this world's equivalent of office workers."

"I hate the actual Association because of all they've wronged us for, and it's annoying to still have to regularly go there every month to check in due to the contract Grim and I signed all those years ago, but I can't help but respect the actual agents there." I recalled with a grimace, "They have to juggle all that heavy paperwork in quick succession, regularly print and send out mail for all the travelers, and even then they have to constantly sit around in that booth smiling away as they give away the reward money for the commissions. They're a bad organization, but they're at least very well organized."

"Ah, hold that thought." Adam stopped us in front of a giant well decorated white building styled to look like a true king's abode, "Glenn, get out here, we got some questions for you."

"Fuck you, Adam. I hate you." Glenn's voice could be heard shouting from the top floor's window above us.

"Glenn, I'm gonna break this door open if you don't come out." Adam continued ruthlessly banging on the door, each time denting it more and more, "Come on, man! We just need you to give us some info on the animals and we'll leave! Promise!"

"Fine! Stop banging on the damned door, then!" He finally poked his head out of the window before running downstairs, "Get in. The sooner I get this done, the sooner I feel at ease in my own territory again."

"It was never your territory to begin with." Aru snarkily replied, "Hm? Come on Bamb, what're you afraid of?"

Bamb was very much against coming into that man's office, but we weren't just gonna leave her all alone out here. Leashed or not, someone might take her, and that'd cause a whole slew of problems for us, so we insisted she be let inside with us.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Like I said, do whatever you want." Glenn groaned as he gestured angrily for her to get inside, "I'm not gonna argue with you about this anymore, you guys are way too stubborn. Instead, I'll just tell you everything you wanna know so you can get the fuck out as soon as possible."

"See? This is how you deal with difficult people, everyone." Adam winked at us, "Annoy them until they don't wanna see your handsome face. It's that simple!"

"Shut up and get inside!" Glenn yelled.

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***

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"May I sit here?" Bamb turned to ask me.

"Sure, make yourself at home." I replied.

"Quit talking to your damned deer, it's creepy." Glenn got angry at me, "And I did not grant you permission to make a mess of my office! Sit down, ask me whatever you wanna know and get the fuck out!"

"Right, right, we heard you the first time." Adam looked around to inspect the room before asking, "I'll keep it short then - I want a list of all the petting zoos, farms and caretakers that keep deer."

"Huh?" We all turned to him, "Wait, didn't we come here to ask about the situation at hand?"

"Yeah, what the hell? Are you mocking me, Adam!?" Glenn's fury worsened, "You clearly stated your only business here was to inquire about the animals, so what is this?"

"Now now, we have all the info we need for now regarding the animal attacks." Adam smiled over to Bamb as he gently patted her on the head, "Besides, I wouldn't trust a single word you said. From you, I'll only accept written lists, and I promised Bamb I'd help her find her home anyways, so it's two birds with one stone."

Right, he did promise her that, but is he really gonna ask this guy of all people? Surely he has better connections than Glenn. Bamb seems happy to hear that he's already started fulfilling his end of the bargain though, so I'll let this play out a bit more before asking any unnecessary questions.

"Promised to find the deer's home?" Glenn snorted, "Phah! The fuck kinda fairy tale shit are you spouting, Adam? I'm a busy man, so stop wasting my time with your mockery."

"Oh please, like you've got anything else going on apart from your gambling addiction." Adam rolled his Eyes, "Just give me the list and we'll be out of your hair before you know it. Trust me, I'd rather ask literally any other mayor or president on this continent, but you just so happened to be the nearest one. Sabljevo is a tourist town, so the people there don't have particularly long lasting and frequently updated records of external affairs. But you do, so come on - call someone over from downstairs to hand us the list."

"I'm getting sick of your incessant pretentious nature, you know?" Glenn wasn't having it, "You think you can just waltz in, casually break the law I put in place for the safety of my people and then come to my office just to mock me with your stupid fake ass pleas? Well not anymore, jacka...huh?"

As everyone looked on in horror as Adam calmly got up, we were worried he was about to snap this loud and annoying mayor's neck or something, but such was not the case, sadly. No, instead something much more disturbing happened. Gently going down on his knees, putting his hands on the ground in front of him in an "all fours" position, Adam had appeared to literally be begging Glenn on his hands and knees to hear him out.

"A-Adam! What the hell are you doing!?" Issei asked, "A dogeza for this guy? Come on man, that's filthy!"

"Yeah, what the foreigner said." Aru sighed, "Trust my prediction - you can just ask the mayor in our next town and everything will be fine either way. No need to rush, right?"

"Adam..." Bamb looked super guilty because of Adam doing all this.

"No, this is fine." Adam still kept his head down as he once again asked Glenn for his assistance, "Mayor Glenn, this is no joke. I, king Adam Grys, am begging you to give us a list of all the petting zoos, farms and caretakers that keep deer. Please, this is for Bamb's sake, I promised not to keep her waiting."

"Adam, please get up!" Bamb rushed to pull him up by his clothes, "I can wait, please!"

"Bamb..." Adam remained adamant, not even raising his head to speak to her, "Please let go."

"What the hell..." Even Glenn was more bewildered than anything, "Adam, get up. If someone comes in and sees this shit they're gonna think I'm blackmailing you or something. Fine, fuck, I'll get you the list, but wait until tomorrow, I'm not all powerful, you know?"

"Thanks, Glenn!" Adam immediately jumped up to vigorously shake his hand, "Alright, we'll be here tomorrow when the clock strikes noon! See ya' then, mayor!"

"What the...!? Noon is way too little time!" Glenn shouted back as Adam made us book it out of the place, "Hey, get the fuck back here! Adaaaaaam...!"

"Heh, there we go." Adam brushed his palms off, "Now we gotta find an inn though."

"Dude, what the hell?" I asked in between breaths, "None of this makes sense? You appealed to him by begging him on your hands and knees? You're the more powerful one here, so why not just threaten him or something?"

"Cause this is more fun." Adam smiled, "I like annoying Glenn. Doing it your way would've led to the same result, so why not just make the most of it and see him genuinely fear getting respected by someone like me?"

"In the end, I can't help but think you're not really taking your job as king of this place seriously, even after all these years..." Aru smirked.

"No, this isn't how I am back home." Adam smiled back at me, "Lune once told me the reason he enjoys traveling so much is because you can act however you want and no one will judge you. You'll be gone by tomorrow anyways, so what's the harm in causing a bit of mayhem?"

"Did he say that?" I replied nostalgically, "I also remember him getting into a ton of trouble with the local law enforcement because of that behavior."

"Gotta break a few eggs to make an omelette, I guess." Issei laughed out loud as we got lost looking for an inn.