Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Gray Bellatrix (2)
One day before the 3rd Prince visited the Duke Delphione's house.
"To think that Sitri Belstad was actually a demon...!"
Naturally, the first to learn about the alliance between Rudian and Sitri were Duke Delphione's family and the Psychic Luminous, who were in the same boat as Rudian.
"How dare, how dare she crawl in here and try to take everything from me...!"
Luciella seemed unable to contain her anger, looking as if she would go find Sitri and kill her right now.
"Calm down, Princess."
Maria had to personally soothe her as Luciella's momentum was so fierce.
Only after Maria's ‘THERE, THERE’ for a while did Luciella finally suppress her killing intent and sigh.
"PHEW, did you say alliance?"
"Yes, on the surface."
Rather than an alliance, it was more like a non-aggression treaty that could shatter like glass at any moment.
"This buys us time. They won't extend their hands into Delphione's territory carelessly now."
"What exactly did you offer for them to agree to such an arrangement?"
"I bluffed a bit. Fortunately, they bought it."
Rudian said with a slight smile, but none of those present believed his words at face value.
Luciella pressed her forehead as if getting a headache and said:
"SIGH, let's assume that's true, given how many things you keep hidden."
Luciella shifted her gaze to Yev, who was beside Rudian.
For some reason, since Yev started following Rudian around, Luciella felt a strange reluctance to pry into what Rudian had been concealing.
'...It's somewhat uncomfortable.'
On the surface, she just seemed to follow him around obediently like a well-behaved cat.
But she wouldn't listen to anyone except Rudian, and sometimes she looked at people with eyes that didn't seem human, giving off an eerie feeling.
"Now that we've gained time, we can slowly reclaim the chairman position of the Seoris Union Trading Company with the power of the Belstad Viscounty. That will accomplish our primary goal."
"Um, Lord Rudian."
"Yes, Princess."
Luciella poured ice-cold water on Rudian who was dreaming of a rosy future with a pleased expression.
"Actually, there's a problem."
"...A problem?"
"About the Belstad Viscounty...."
Luciella hesitantly handed Rudian a report that had come up from the information guild.
With an anxious heart and pounding chest, Rudian received the report and began to read.
And then.
"...What is this?"
With an expression that suggested he might lose his mind, he recited the contents written in a corner of the report.
"Are you saying the Belstad Viscounty doesn't have much property left?"
"That's... Exactly right."
"W-why is that?"
The Belstad Viscounty led by Gude Belstad had numerous businesses, including the subordinate Seoris Union Trading Company.
Their accumulated wealth was enormous, and with proper use, it would be very easy to bring Seoris under their control.
But to hear that there wasn't much property left!
"Viscount Belstad managed all the family affairs himself after massacring his entire family."
"Yes, that's why we can pull off this scam now."
Luciella's expression twisted slightly at the blatant use of the word "scam," but she cleared her throat and continued.
"AHEM! As such, after Viscount Belstad officially died, his subordinate vassals turned their backs and began arbitrarily plundering his property."
"...Oh my, shit?"
"It hasn't been long since the Viscount died, and Sitri Belstad seems to have managed some damage control... But according to the information guild's estimate, the remaining property doesn't even reach 30%."
"......"
"Of course, if Lord Rudian formally ascends as the head of the family and tracks them down with the power of the Delphione family, it wouldn't be difficult to recover...."
But recovering not just material possessions but various rights and interests scattered on the books wasn't something that could be resolved in a day or two.
"It will take at least... Several months."
"T-then...?"
"Yes, by that time, a new head of the Seoris Union Trading Company would already be elected."
Even though the demonic forces had supposedly withdrawn from the affairs of the Seoris Union Trading Company, that didn't mean Seoris had fully come to their side.
By now, the elders who constituted the association would have been freed from the demons' grasp, and if they had any sense, they would have realized that the owner of Seoris had changed.
But assuming they wouldn't harbor other thoughts was a dangerous notion.
Merchants often valued money more than their lives.
"In particular, the disappearance of the shares in the Belstad Trading Company is a big problem. We need those to properly aim for the position of association chairman."
"Can't we manage with the remaining property?"
"Most of it is fixed assets that take time to dispose of. Even if Delphione temporarily invests funds, it's far from enough."
Moreover, as a knightly family, Delphione didn't have that much wealth compared to their status.
Of course, they possessed a vast territory and had wealth equivalent to a Viscount or higher, but they weren't much different in terms of financial power compared to the Belstad family, which was just a fraction of Seoris.
"UGHH...!"
Rudian pondered the sudden obstacle.
The issue was a lack of money.
And even with assets, there wasn't enough time to convert them into cash immediately.
'There is a way though....'
There was a way to secure funds.
But there was a very, very high possibility of drawing in outside forces that were trying to get involved in the current situation.
'No, should I bring in more instead?'
Rudian flinched and briefly revisited the current situation.
"Princess."
"Speak."
"In the current situation, if we go against the imperial family's wishes and take in Seoris, what kind of risk would the Delphione family face?"
"......"
Luciella pondered Rudian's question carefully and answered:
"Honestly, there's nothing good about offending the imperial family. After the matter is settled, we'll have to coax and appease His Highness the 3rd Prince to restore relations."
"Then, how about bringing in another family?"
"Another family?"
"Didn't you previously tell me about a route to convert the dungeon spoils I acquired into cash?"
A wealthy, high-status, and trustworthy magician in the Fire Tower.
Typically, one would think of the tower master or one of the tower's elders, but Rudian knew that wasn't who Luciella had in mind.
"Don't tell me... You!"
"Let's bring in a trustworthy family, give them some shares, and share the hostility with the imperial family. If they're who I'm thinking of, they'll have plenty of money too, so it's a win-win."
"Are you suggesting bringing in the Bellatrix family?"
"Yes."
Magic Noble House Bellatrix.
A family at the opposite end of Delphione, which is famous for its swordsmanship, and home to Gray Bellatrix, a member of the protagonist's party and renowned as the mythical archmage.
***
Gray Bellatrix.
This boy, with his characteristic gray hair unique to the Bellatrix family....
"What is it, beanpole? Why did you come all the way here?"
From the first impression, he had a very rude attitude.
"B-beanpole...?"
Luciella seemed to have received a great shock from Gray's words, trembling and unable to open her mouth.
"Why are you so shocked? I just called a beanpole a beanpole."
"......"
In fact, Luciella's height was 170cm, about 10cm taller than other ladies of her age.
But that tall stature seemed to be a complex for her, as she showed an excessively sensitive reaction to Gray's ‘beanpole’ comment.
"G-Gray Bellatrix Young Master, i-it's been a while."
"Yeah."
Rudian looked over Gray's appearance, whom he was meeting for the first time, with a quite curious expression.
'The greatest narcissist in history.'
According to his character description, Gray Bellatrix was actually a character who couldn't be hated despite his excessive self-love because he had the skills to match it.
'When he met Abel, he was definitely twenty-one. At that time, he was in the late 7-class.'
Right now, he had barely broken through 5-class and was reaching the beginning of 6-class, but considering his age of just fifteen, he was an absurd 'talented prodigy'.
"Still that rude mouth of yours, I see."
Luciella, who was usually polite to everyone she met, had thorns in her tone only in front of Gray.
"Hmph, did you expect someone from Bellatrix to speak kindly to a person from Delphione?"
Gray retorted grumpily and continued.
"So, what did you come to find me for?"
Rather than immediately getting to the main point, Luciella brought up a different story to break the ice.
"First, I'd like to hear about the results of the handling of the catacomb from last time."
"Ugh, the catacomb...?"
As soon as the word catacomb was mentioned, Gray shrunk his previously arrogant attitude and trailed off.
"I haven't reported that to the master of the Fire Tower yet. In a situation where we don't know how far the demonic forces have infiltrated, the only one I can trust in the tower is you, the heir to the Bellatrix family."
"UGHH...!"
Gray let out a groan.
The Fire Tower was one of the four great towers where the Bellatrix family had significant influence.
That was natural, given that Gray, the heir, was studying there.
Gray spoke as if making an excuse:
"I spoke directly to my mother and borrowed the family's power to handle it. My uncle, the tower master, found out later and was furious about the overreach, but when he heard about demons, he quickly backed down."
"Who was involved?"
"First, Elder Pel Kluge. After investigating with the family's secret artifacts, it was determined he was a black magician, so we quietly retired him."
Although he said "retired," there was probably no chance he was still alive.
The Bellatrix, being a famous family known for magic, were more merciless than anyone else towards 'black magicians'.
"We're currently searching the entire Fire Tower for additional suspects. Some have already been caught and are on the list for disposal... But it seems the scale is quite significant."
"Hmph, acting so proud of being a magic noble house, but this is quite a sight."
"GRRRR...!"
Despite Luciella's sarcasm, Gray could only tremble without saying anything.
On this matter, he had nothing to say even if he had a hundred mouths.
'If the Fire Tower is like this, the other four major towers must be in an even more serious state....'
Rudian frowned.
Moreover, while they could handle the Fire Tower this time because they had justification, touching other towers might provoke unpredictable reactions from the demons, even with a non-aggression treaty.
"Fine, that's something for Bellatrix to handle on their own."
Luciella brought up the real main point while Gray was slightly cowering.
"Share the Seoris Union Trading Company...?"
"More precisely, the shares held by the Belstad family, which is part of the Union Association."
The two families would jointly invest under the name of Belstad to increase shares within the Union Association.
And then they would jointly occupy the chairman's position to exercise influence.
Gray asked incredulously:
"Isn't your fiancé, the 3rd Prince, already working on that on your side?"
"Circumstances... Have arisen."
Despite being only fifteen, Gray fully understood what situation had occurred.
"That crazy 3rd Prince is digging his own grave."
"......"
"I understand hating a beanpole like you, but for a prince to..."
Gray pondered Luciella's proposal, groaning.
He thought about it for almost ten minutes before giving an answer.
But the answer that came out was negative.
"No. It's clear that the benefits we would gain by getting involved would be enormous, but we can't go against the imperial family."
Luciella urgently countered.
"If the two families work together, even the imperial family won't be able to interfere easily. And we're not suggesting excluding the imperial family. We'll also offer some shares to them."
"Even so, there's no need to accumulate grievances just to gain some benefit."
Gray let out a sound, ‘UGH,’ and continued.
"If I had to set a ratio of benefit to risk, it would be 5:5. It's tempting, but not necessary. If you want to persuade us, offer greater benefits."
"......"
Luciella was at a loss for words.
Giving Bellatrix more shares than this would be worse than not making the proposal at all.
But without Bellatrix's cooperation, there would be major difficulties in taking over Seoris immediately.
It was then that Rudian stepped forward.
"You are...?"
As Rudian, who had been silent until now, stepped forward, Gray looked directly at him with a blank expression.
"I am Rudian Belstad."
"Ah, you're that scammer?"
"COUGH!"
Well, it's not entirely wrong to call him a scammer, given that it's just a case of covering one's eyes and saying nothing is there.
Rudian took out an item from Adi's subspace and handed it to Gray.
"There's something I'd like you to see."
"Huh? What's that?"
Gray tilted his head with a question mark.
Want me to offer greater benefits?
Then I'll present something you absolutely cannot refuse.