Chapter 50 - The Anxious Baron
Chapter 50 - The Anxious Baron
"A little more! Camilla, the temperature is 0.5 degrees too low! Can't you see the mana is clumping up?"
"Master! It's been 6 hours already! My mana is bottomed out! And this smell... are you sure we're really supposed to be making a potion with this 'ingredient'? I feel like the smell is soaked into my hands!"
As Camilla shouted with a tearful face,
The Tower Master peered into the cauldron and smiled ecstatically.
"Nonsense! Look, as Edric said, the microorganisms are filtering and settling the mana. This isn't poop, it's the 'Golden Mud' that will save the Empire!"
I shouldn't say this, but from my perspective watching from the side... honestly, it looked like poop.
Anyway, after a week of desperate struggle, a thick, dark green liquid that seemed to have condensed the mana of thousands of Laurel leaves was completed in the cauldron. Using that liquid, we manufactured the Mahat Potion and checked the reagent reaction.
Bu-ung-
"Oh! Look, my disciple!"
"Th-this is impossible! It's the exact same reaction as the Mahat Potion!"
At the crimson reaction visible in the reagent, the eyes of the Tower Master and the Princess began to shine.
I smiled as I confirmed the result.
Now, the preparations to flip the table were complete.
That day, upon entering my lodging, I immediately secretly summoned Tom, the contact person for the Golden Apple Merchant Guild.
"Tom, send a messenger to the Capital right now. This is top-secret."
"Yes, Edric-nim. What are your orders?"
"Stop all purchases of Laurel leaves held by the Golden Apple Merchant Guild. And quickly turn the current stockpiles into Mahat Potion and release them to the market. In a month, the value of Laurel leaves will be worth less than toilet paper."
At my words, Tom's expression twisted from surprise to shock.
It was only natural, as the Mahat Potion was one of the Golden Apple's core products.
He couldn't help but be shocked by my statement to effectively give that up.
"What are you talking about! Edric-nim! If we stop purchasing, we can't make the Mahat Potion! That's cutting off the Golden Apple's main source of income!"
It wasn't that I didn't understand Tom's shock.
From his perspective, I was doing something that would abandon a core business item overnight.
But in the world of management, there were sometimes secrets that couldn't be told.
I said to him firmly.
"Don't worry, I'm giving this order because I have something to rely on."
"Something... to rely on?"
"Tell me who you are, Tom."
At my words, Tom looked at me.
And he said slowly.
"You are the head of the Noel family, the aide to the Imperial Prince, and the Imperial Special Advisor, Edric-nim."
"Right, do you think someone like me would give an order that loses money?"
At my words telling him to trust my position if he couldn't trust me, Tom finally wore an expression that suggested he understood something.
He knelt and said.
"I will deliver the order to the Capital immediately."
"Right, and with the remaining funds, build large 'fermentation rooms' and aging warehouses on the outskirts. Because the potion of the new era will come from the ground, not the forest."
"Yes! Understood."
At my firm gaze, Tom swallowed dryly and bowed his head.
Suddenly, stock manipulation scams from my past life came to mind.
Using high-level information in advance to create profit—my actions could be similar to that.
The difference was that this was the Empire, and things like manipulated stocks weren't illegal yet.
I watched with a satisfied smile as Tom went to deliver the message.
At that time, Baron Austin of the Helfen territory was going out of his mind.
Baron Austin thought he knew what the Princess would do to him.
And he intended to handle that quickly and proceed with the Mahat Potion business as usual.
But Aide Edric, who came with the Princess... did. Ab.so.lute.ly. nothing.
For the two weeks since they arrived here, the Princess and the Aide only moved back and forth between the Magic Tower and their lodging.
They did nothing else, and that unpleasant silence made Baron Austin even more anxious.
On top of that...
"Baron Austin-nim, the merchant guilds are clamoring. They are in an uproar because the Laurel leaves needed for Mahat Potion manufacturing are insufficient."
As the herb gatherers were collecting the standard amount, it was becoming difficult to meet the supply volume.
With the situation like this, Baron Austin even began to think things like this.
"...... Did the Princess really just come to study magic? Or is this a scheme to use that to dry me out and kill me?"
Watching the Princess, Baron Austin took measures to have the herb gatherers collect the standard amount.
Then, the elves' complaints were somewhat resolved, and the protests weakened.
If the goal was for the Princess to stay for a long period and normalize the Elf forest, it was a crude but not bad method as a scheme.
But for Baron Austin, it was an anxious situation.
If a person who earned 10 million won suddenly earned 5 million won overnight, they wouldn't think they earned 5 million won, but that they lost 5 million won.
He was the same.
As time passed, every Laurel leaf that wasn't collected looked like money he had lost.
Austin paced his office anxiously and eventually decided to make a bad move.
"Tell the herb gatherers. From today, go back to how it was before, no, collect twice as much! If the Princess really has no interest, she will stay quiet, and if not, she will reveal her true colors."
"Yes! Understood."
As the Baron's order fell, the order was quickly delivered to the herb gatherers.
To those who had been working lazily, that order was like refreshing rain.
"An order has come down?"
"Then shall we sweep up the leaves once again!"
The herb gatherers began to collect leaves again, just like before, or even more.
And the forest was engulfed in screams once again.
"These damn humans!!"
"Humans are the problem after all! Let's settle this with the Empire!"
And two days later, Camilla, who received the report from the angry elves, came down from the Magic Tower.
Her eyes were burning with rage.
"Baron Austin, this human...!"
"Camilla-nim, please calm down."
"Is this something to be calm about!? I was going to let it slide because he seemed to be reading the room, but what? Double? Is he determined to ruin the Empire!?"
Seeing the situation from the perspective of what the Tower Master told her would happen if the forest died, the action Austin took was close to treason.
Edric calmed Camilla and said.
"Baron Austin threw bait to test us. I will go and have a very 'gentle' conversation with him."
"Haa... okay. I'll trust you, Edric."
That night, I told Baron Austin that I wanted to talk, and he accepted.
I went to Austin's mansion and sat across from him in a flashy banquet hall.
My goodness, just how much did he earn from Laurel leaves?
His house looked much flashier than my house in the Capital.
Austin opened his mouth, offering wine while pretending to be relaxed.
"Welcome, Sir Edric. Please excuse the lack of hospitality in this frontier territory compared to the Capital."
"Not at all. Baron Austin, I think I'm receiving hospitality just as flashy as in the Capital. Haha."
The conversation that started lightly quickly flowed to the main point.
"But, Baron, the herb gatherers in the forest have become busy again?"
"Ah... yes, that is the case."
"May I know the reason?"
"Haa..."
At my words, Baron Austin suddenly began to make a pitiful expression.
He said as if he had no choice.
"It's because the demand for potions in the Capital has suddenly increased."
"The demand for Mahat Potion in the Capital, you mean?"
"Yes, perhaps because there are more people with internal diseases recently, more people are relying on Mahat to survive. To save them, I had no choice but to increase the collection amount."
Is that really how he's playing it?
He wanted to keep the collection amount, but because there were many sick people, he had no choice but to increase the collection amount.
Therefore, telling me to keep the collection amount is abandoning the Imperial citizens.
Right now, the Baron was saying this to me.
"I see... indeed."
"Yes, the elves' complaints are important, but can I ignore the Imperial citizens dying without medicine? I trust you will understand my deep patriotism."
Perhaps because the merchant guild I own is also making good money from Mahat Potion, he must be saying this.
However, he chose the wrong opponent.
I put down the wine glass and smiled coldly like a snake.
"Indeed, the Baron's patriotism is a model for the Imperial nobility."
"Thank you, Sir Edric."
"But tell me. If you love the citizens that much... you would gladly cooperate if a potion appears that has the same effect as the current Mahat Potion without using Laurel leaves."
At my words, Austin's glass stopped.
His voice began to tremble.
"I... I don't know what you mean, Sir Edric."
"Exactly what I said. Baron Austin, if a potion that has the same effect as the Mahat Potion can be made with cheaper ingredients, I assume you, who love the Imperial citizens, will gladly cooperate."
Austin's expression became complicated.
It seemed he felt that something he hadn't even thought of was happening.
Humans feel fear of the unknown.
If it was something that affected his livelihood like now, it was felt even more greatly.
Austin denied it first.
"... A substitute, you say. There is no such thing. It's been that way for decades."
I heard that the Mahat Potion appeared 40 years ago.
Foolish thought. To think his power would be eternal with a history of only 40 years...
"Do you really think so?"
"..............."
"Living in a territory where the pinnacle of magic lives right next door, did you truly think your common sense would never be broken?"
The blood drained from Austin's face in an instant.
It seemed he finally felt a little bit that I wasn't saying this without any chance of winning.
"I have Chancellor Baroque behind me."
As the name of the villain, who is the current Empire's second-in-command and, in a way, contributed to the Empire's destruction as much as the reckless Prince in the original work, finally came out, I felt a new sensation.
In fact, because he was involved, neither the Emperor nor the Princess could move recklessly.
Being at odds with the Chancellor while in a state of being on the superior side in terms of justification could complicate the situation in many ways.
But now the situation had changed.
"Are you saying the Chancellor is above the Imperial citizens right now?"
"Th-that is..."
Austin became speechless.
I wiped my mouth with a napkin and said.
"Don't think weird thoughts, and just stay quiet while being loyal to the Empire. Then at least your precious life will be preserved. Thank you for the meal."
After Edric left the room.
The butler who was waiting behind the door ran in, looking pale.
"Baron! What on earth did Sir Edric say to make you look so pale!"
Austin's expression was the palest the butler had ever seen.
He muttered with a dazed expression.
"... I was forced to choose."
"Choose?"
"Yes... whether to crawl under Edric and beg for my life like a dog, or to fall together with the Chancellor's faction."
In Austin's eyes, Edric looked like a red snake.
The sight of him holding his leash and pressuring him to become his subordinate in the name of the Empire looked just like the Chancellor who had said the same thing to him in the past.
That night, Baron Austin stayed up all night, agonizing at the crossroads of choice.