Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Gray Bellatrix (3)
What Rudian held out was an ordinary gold bar emitting a yellowish light.
"...Oh?"
Gray took the gold bar and examined it from various angles, his eyes gleaming.
"Gold with magical power embedded in it, very nice."
"I'd like to liquidate it, but how much value would you place on it?"
"You've come to the right place. Only we Bellatrix can accurately measure the value of this."
Metal embedded with magical power can be used as powerful artifacts, weapons, or catalysts for various magical rituals.
Naturally, processing it was tremendously difficult, and only arch-mages or high-level wizards specialized in alchemy could handle it.
"Let's see, with just this one..."
Gray assessed the price of the gold bar, which was about the size of two segments of his finger.
"I could pay around 200 gold for it."
With 200 gold, one could buy a mansion with a garden in the capital city of Nevan, where prices were going crazy, and still have money left over.
Luciella was very surprised by Gray's assessment.
"For that small thing alone?"
"The purity of its magical power is very high. Even I or the elders of the magic tower can't process it to this degree. It seems like stolen goods though... Where did you get this?"
"I raided a dungeon."
"Which dungeon?"
"That I cannot tell you."
If he mentioned Caslay's dungeon, Count Iskar would immediately lead the Lion Hearts to attack.
Gray made a pained sound at Rudian's iron-wall attitude.
"Argh... Fine, I won't ask about the source. So, are you going to sell this to me? I can pay you 200 gold right away."
"No."
"...Huh?"
"What I want to sell isn't just that one."
Rudian opened a spatial pocket and poured gold bars onto the table.
"...Wow!"
There were at least hundreds of gold bars piled up on the desk.
Setting aside the amount, even for the Bellatrix duchy, it would take a considerable amount of time to prepare cash to purchase such a quantity of magical gold bars.
In other words, even if you had the money, you couldn't acquire it.
"A-all of this...?"
"Can you pay for it immediately?"
"W-wait a minute!"
Gray felt that even at a glance, this amount would require at least 100,000 gold.
Though the Bellatrix duchy had more money than Delphione, 100,000 gold wasn't a trivial amount that he could decide on alone, even as the head of a branch family.
Of course, purchasing such a large quantity of magical metal, which was in short supply compared to demand, would be a great achievement in itself, but...
"Still, with this amount, I need to contact the main family..."
"Lady, shall we go to the Water Magic Tower? I think they could pay the lump sum there."
"H-hey! Why are you being like this, bro?"
"......"
A single sentence was enough to make the cheeky kid behave.
"Even though I'm the branch family head, there are limits to my authority! Two hours! Just give me two hours! I'll offer a better price than the market rate!"
Gray practically begged Rudian, forgetting his dignity.
It was understandable.
Even for Gray, the head of the Bellatrix branch, this was the first time in his life he had seen such a quantity of magical gold bars at once.
After seeing Gray's attitude, which had become like an obedient puppy, Rudian remained silent for a moment before speaking.
"If I promise to sell this to the Bellatrix duchy at a reasonable price, would you be willing to cooperate with the Delphione family?"
"......!"
Gray's expression immediately distorted.
He had realized why Rudian had made such a performance showing the magical gold bars.
"T-that... That... Nnngh!"
Honestly, it was difficult.
Though the quantity was certainly enormous, the risk of antagonizing the imperial family was too great.
But it was inconceivable to hand over such a quantity of magical gold bars to the Water Magic Tower, which opposed Bellatrix.
After pondering for a long time, Gray shook his head with a troubled expression.
"I-I still can't. Even though we say we could trample on the imperial family for the sake of magic... Just for the right to sell, considering the risk, it's far from enough."
"......"
Rudian slightly furrowed his brow when things didn't go as expected.
"Then how much more would make it possible? Please answer honestly."
"This isn't simply a matter of money. The only thing that can persuade magicians is related to magic. If I must say... It would need to be at least 5 times this amount to even attempt persuasion."
"Five times?"
Rudian looked at Adi on his shoulder, silently questioning.
-It's sufficient.
'Take it out.'
-Sir.
As soon as Rudian finished speaking, Adi opened a spatial pocket and poured out all sorts of metals.
RATTLE RATTLE!
Immediately, about 1/3 of the laboratory was filled with shining metals.
"......"
When the gold bars first started piling up, Gray watched with an expression that said, 'There's more?' But as his vision gradually became obscured by the golden light, he blankly opened his mouth.
And after confirming the final amount, he lost her composure, his hands trembling.
"W-wait...!"
"W-what is all this?"
Luciella too could find nothing else to say.
To their eyes, which could handle magic at an exceptional level, the high-purity refined magic contained in those metals was clearly perceptible.
"I-is this really all...?"
"Magical metals?"
It wasn't just 5 times the amount.
Not just gold bars, but silver bars, platinum bars, elementalium, cobalt mithril, cold eternium (called ten-thousand-year cold iron in the East), and various other rare metals were abundant.
The gold bars from earlier now looked like trash lying on the street!
Even Rudian, who had given the order to take them out, couldn't hide his discomfort.
'That bastard Caslay, he really hoarded a lot.'
Not just for a year or two, but for hundreds of years he had collected and even created these himself, so how vast would the amount be?
When he first gathered these, he had only gotten a rough impression because he was conscious of Derrick and the Lion Hearts.
But now that he had taken them out so openly, their value was truly terrifying.
Gray looked at Rudian with trembling eyes.
"You... What exactly are you?"
"Just a passing scholar... No, an adventurer."
"A passing... What?"
"I'm joking. You agreed not to ask about the source, right?"
"That's true, but..."
Even if one raided dungeons, Gray had never heard of this much wealth flowing out in his lifetime.
"W-with this much... It seems like you could easily buy a baronetcy with territory...?"
That was assuming that maximum value was placed on obtaining a title.
"Is this enough for you?"
"......"
Gray sighed.
No matter how huge the profit before his eyes, if things went wrong with the imperial family, it wouldn't end with just the revocation of his position as branch head.
But if the other party had presented such cards, he had to keep his word.
"Fine, I'll try to persuade my mother somehow. But the payment will take some time. With this amount, even our Bellatrix duchy will probably have to scrape the bottom of our funds."
Especially for those rare metals, he couldn't even imagine how much they would cost.
'...Hmm.'
Rudian detected a slight lack of confidence from Gray.
Although rare metals were important elements in magicians research, they tended to be undervalued because they could be converted into monetary terms.
"I'll need to drive the point home."
"What...?"
"How about this?"
Rudian took out something else from his spatial pocket.
But this time, it wasn't like metals, but one old, thick book.
Gray received the book from Rudian and read the title.
Then, unable to maintain his composure, he let out a shriek.
"T-the Lichmond School's magic book?"
"......"
"A-and it was personally authored by the legendary Great Magician Caslay Lichmond?"
Gray hurriedly opened the book and began reading its contents.
What Rudian had handed over wasn't Caslay's personal research on higher-dimensional theories, but a kind of comprehensive book containing the basic magical doctrines of the Lichmond School.
But even so, its value was by no means light, and Rudian had prepared it as a sort of trump card.
"I-it's real. This is real!"
Though he had only skimmed a few pages, Gray could fully realize that this wasn't a forgery.
"Y-you're going to sell this?"
"Is it possible now?"
At Rudian's words, Gray finally brightened up and showed his confident expression from when they first met.
"Of course! This is 100%! With this alone, I think I can solve the parts I was stuck on before! Heeheeheee!"
Gray grinned broadly and began reading the contents of the magic book as if he was about to bury his face in it.
"Mr. Rudian, how in the world did you...?"
Luciella looked at Rudian with disbelief in her voice.
Although he was receiving fair compensation, selling something of this value was a powerful weapon in itself just for the selling rights.
Rudian put his index finger to his lips and recited the line of a certain senior from the future.
"That's classified."
***
Needless to say, Sonya Bluephil Bellatrix, the head of the Bellatrix family, accepted Rudian's proposal with both hands.
Though she initially showed an unwelcoming attitude, once she saw not only the mountain of gold bars but also the rare metals and Caslay Lichmond's magic book that Gray brought, she reportedly shouted "Fuck the Emperor!" and gave her approval.
"T-this...!"
When Gray Bellatrix appeared in the hall, the Third Prince gritted his teeth and trembled.
"N-no matter how you all unite, you cannot surpass the authority of the imperial family...!"
"Ah, sorry to interrupt you, Your Highness."
Gray cut off the Third Prince's words and smiled sarcastically.
"Let's be clear. Our opponent isn't the imperial family, but you, Your Highness the Third Prince."
"W-what?"
"You're not unaware that our Bellatrix duchy supports His Highness the Second Prince, are you? We're transferring some of our shares in the united guild to His Highness the Second Prince, and he said he would help us with a very satisfied face."
"...!"
If the Second Prince got involved here, it would no longer be a confrontation between the imperial family and the duchy.
It would be transformed into a power struggle between the princes.
With the Delphione duchy having turned its back, if the Second Prince got involved in this matter, there would be no way for the Third Prince to stop it.
"So please get rid of that pole and quietly spend time with your newly found lover. If you continue to be a nuisance, we really won't let it slide."
'WHEW!'
Even in the original work, Gray had the trait of being not only a narcissist but also having a bull-like temperament that confronted enemies head-on without thinking twice.
Rudian inwardly whistled at Gray's attitude of fiercely charging at anyone, be they princes or whatever.
"Grrrr!"
The Third Prince seemed overwhelmed by Gray's sharp threat and trembled without being able to say anything.
Finally, he declared his surrender and stood up from his seat.
"You'll see, you bastards...! This won't end like this!"
"Geez... A prince speaking lines like a third-rate villain."
Gray didn't stop mocking him until the end.
As soon as the Third Prince, whose blood had rushed to the top of his head, stormed out of the reception room, Gray turned to Rudian with a refreshing smile and said:
"How about that, bro? Aren't I efficient at handling things?"
Whether it was efficient or had left a huge aftermath was uncertain.
"Yes, it was quite efficient."
Still, since he was a duke's son, Rudian nodded reluctantly in agreement.
"Right?"
At Rudian's lip service, Gray brightened and moved slightly closer to him.
Then, almost whispering, he said:
"So, do you have anything else stashed away?"
"......"
What's with this guy?