Free City Poznyu (3)
Sometime before he knew it, Yurin had changed into a red dress.
Just moments ago, she had looked like a boy attending elementary school, but with light makeup and the dress, she was the picture of a poised young lady.
Her demeanor had suddenly matured as well.
She grasped the hem of her skirt and bowed politely.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Celestina Yurin, 'formerly' a princess of the Agrapartna royal family from the Jaipur Union Kingdom. Of course, I'm just an exile now, so please feel free to call me Yurin."
"Princess!"
Madam Hari's eyes grew misty, her emotions welling up.
Meanwhile, Calix realized she had been playing the part of a child all this time.
Come to think of it, she was only a year older than his current physical age.
He had apparently underestimated her due to preconceptions about her appearance.
Huhu, no need to go easy on her then?
From that moment, sparks began to fly between the two in their conversation.
"Being a 'former' princess doesn't guarantee you can make money. If you want my investment, you'll have to convince me properly."
"For starters, I have a network of exiles as my sources of information. That means I'm quick on intel. The basics of business are buying low and selling high, after all."
"It sounds like you plan to make money through distribution within the kingdom, but isn't the competition too fierce? You can't seriously expect your rivals to play by the rules. They're merchant guilds backed by powerful nobles. They could delay customs clearance indefinitely at territory borders, or worse, find excuses to seize your goods."
"Every business comes with risks. And don't underestimate our organization. We're good at smuggling, too."
Calix held up a finger and wagged it side to side.
"No good. All business must be conducted legally. Why? Because... the money I have is, shall we say, hard to prove the origins of. The purpose of this venture is to bring it into the light."
Yurin's eyes narrowed.
"Stolen goods?"
"Well, not exactly stolen... more like compensation seized for emotional distress?"
"Stolen goods, then."
"Quiet. Just tell me how you'll guarantee it. A promise not to run off with my money."
"Simple. I'll be your hostage."
"Yurin!"
Madam Hari looked ready to block her desperately. Yurin gazed at her with a poignant expression.
"Godmother, our brothers have been wandering foreign lands for over ten years now. If we keep going like this, the organization itself will collapse or devolve into a mere criminal syndicate. You know that."
"Still..."
"It's a whopping 100,000 gold. I'd rather feed and care for my brothers properly than reclaim my status. These are people who followed me all the way to this distant foreign land, eyes only on me."
"Our poor princess... sob sob sob!"
Calix shook his head as if fed up.
"Isn't that enough melodrama?"
"Have you ever seen such a rogue!"
"Look, I don't care about your past. If you want princess treatment from me, go back to the Jaipur Union Kingdom right now."
Yurin quickly restrained Madam Hari, who was on the verge of exploding.
"He's right. I'm discarding the name Agrapartna from now on."
With those words, she drew a dagger and sliced off her long hair in one stroke.
She shook out her newly bobbed locks a few times, then stared straight at Calix.
"You've already got an idea for what business to start, don't you?"
"Huhu, right. I was going to leave it to you, but you're too young to trust fully. I'll have to oversee things until trust builds up."
"Doesn't seem like much age difference between us? How old are you?"
She bristled and probed his age.
Calix knew she was more precocious than expected, but he had no intention of treating her as an adult—not even a speck.
After all, compared to his age back on Earth, she was still a kid.
"I just provide the money, but you have to run the business with someone else's funds. Our age gap doesn't seem all that important."
She gritted her teeth slightly.
"F-Fine. Let's see how good your plan is."
"First, we need to handle the original purpose. Information."
"Godmother. Provide the young master with all the intel. Especially on the three factions ruling Poznyu and the current situation."
"...As you command, Princess."
At Celestina Yurin's firm, commanding tone, Madam Hari bit her lip and nodded.
The hierarchy was stricter than expected.
Just moments ago, they were like a relaxed mother and daughter... surprising. She clearly separates public and private matters...
Still, Madam Hari tacked on "Princess" as if refusing to fully yield.
Then she dumped a massive stack of documents on Calix.
"Everything you need is in there. Find it yourself. Hmph!"
Calix faced a pile of papers that nearly filled the room.
"Tch!"
Unexpectedly, he had achieved one of the trip's two goals early on.
Thanks to that, Calix stayed a few days at Yurin's salon, leisurely gathering information.
He hadn't worried much about convincing Yurin.
With 100,000 gold in investment, as long as it didn't demand betraying her trust, she'd accept gladly.
But conquering the dungeon was no easy feat.
He racked his brains every way, but his current forces were too lacking.
There were two solutions.
First: Sneak into the dungeon with only elites.
Second: Hire mercenaries.
The second had the drawback of making secrecy nearly impossible with so many outsiders.
Calix preferred the first if possible.
The issue was recruiting a mage.
In a party of nothing but knights, one mage wasn't just extra manpower—it changed the entire strategy, multiplying their power several times over.
But mages were exceedingly rare.
They were usable from Class 4 onward, but most at that level were bound to magic towers.
In the Lock Kingdom, dubbed the land of knights, they were especially scarce—only a handful of top nobles could afford territory-exclusive mages.
Yet amid the massive intel reports Madam Hari had dumped on him out of spite, Calix found a gem.
Edirn Bertua, the hermit of life.
A Class 6 magus lived in Poznyu.
Calix rose from the sofa and headed to Yurin's room for more details.
"Sorry, but the young lady is in class right now."
Coincidentally, she was receiving lessons from Madam Hari.
The maid led him to the beautifully manicured garden behind the mansion.
"I'll bring the young lady once class ends. Please enjoy some tea and refreshments in the meantime."
"Thanks."
Calix admired the garden while coolly assessing his position.
Szczecin County had been a barony until his father's generation.
When Collin Count rose as a prodigy eyeing Class 7 at a young age, the current king merged vast undeveloped lands nearby and promoted it to a county.
A showy gesture.
Too valuable to give prime land, but not giving risked Collin aligning with the royals—so a clever workaround.
Collin accepted gladly for some reason and served the crown faithfully, by all appearances.
This made the noble faction sense crisis instead.
If Collin hit Class 7 and lent his power to the king, their hard-won balance would shatter.
To prevent that, they needed to drive a wedge between him and the royals.
The result: Collin's political marriage to both Calix's birth mother and Countess Stera simultaneously.
But misfortune struck the county before it could stabilize—the lord died prematurely.
Thus, Szczecin County's actual forces and influence barely exceeded a barony's.
That was why it lagged far behind Servio Viscounty, steadily growing under Marquis Antonio's patronage.
"And I'm not even the official heir there..."
Even Calix lacked royal endorsement, leaving his position precarious.
In short, he lacked appeal to draw a Class 6 magus like Edirn Bertua under him.
But he couldn't give up without trying.
"Something will come up once I meet him."
"Bump into what, exactly?"
He turned to see bobbed-haired Yurin standing there in simple casual clothes.
"You're here."
"What brings you suddenly? You vanished for days. When do we start the business? Where's the investment gold?"
"Calm down. Starting the business I have in mind requires some prep work. Shortest estimate: six months. Longest: a year."
"No way..."
Yurin's eyes narrowed.
Calix raised both palms.
"Don't jump ahead. First, this is a balance certificate from the magic tower. Holds 30,000 gold coins. Deposited there the other day."
No one lugged around 30,000 gold coins clinking.
Calix was the odd one, stuffing them in his inventory. Such large subspatial artifacts were ultra-rare.
Fortunately, unlike awkward ingots with unique markings, gold coins were official royal currency.
Thus, depositable at the magic tower for a certificate.
"Hmm..."
Yurin scrutinized the document.
"Doesn't look forged. But only 30,000 gold..."
"You're not expecting me to verify all 100,000 right now, are you?"
"Fine. Considering Szczecin County's value, this suffices for now. Big brother."
"Big brother out of nowhere? You eat something bad?"
"Big investors get 'big brother.' Got a problem?"
"You call everyone else that too?"
"Nope. First time getting this much investment. Can't sell my pride for pocket change. Only for amounts exceeding what I value myself at."
"Sounds like another word for sucker..."
"Judge that yourself. Now, why'd you come find me?"
"Quick on the draw. Ever hear of 'Edirn Bertua'?"
The moment he named Edirn, Yurin subtly backed away.
"Old man Edirn? H-He... why bring him up suddenly?"
Madam Hari, entering belatedly, spoke up.
"He's suspected of being a black mage."
"Not a black mage!"
"Yes, I don't believe he's a black mage either, Princess. But warning you avoids suspicions of hiding things. Remember: plenty drown a man pulled from water, demanding even his bundle."
Her bluntness before Calix was obvious.
If things went south, it wasn't her or Yurin's fault.
But Madam Hari's worry was unfounded.
Calix knew more about Edirn Bertua than she did.
Eccentric, yes—but no evil man.
"I'll handle my own affairs. Just tell me where he is."
"I hope you remember those words."
Sparks flew briefly in a staring contest.
Madam Hari dropped her shoulders first.
She'd made her disclaimer; no need to waste more energy.
"Exit Poznyu's north gate, and where the wild hills meet, there's a cemetery. A small hut beside it—that's where Edirn Bertua doubles as undertaker."
"You know much about him?"
She shook her head at Calix's question.
"Just what's in the report. Drifted here a few years back, obsessed with experiments. Barely goes out."
"Hm. Any recent experiment intel...?"
"You know mages hate leaks about their research pathologically, right?"
"Fair enough."
Then Yurin peeked from behind a pillar.
"You really going to the old man?"
"Yurin, why the reaction? He's never harmed you. You hate gossip about him, so not hatred either."
She hesitated, then spoke.
"Being near that old man makes me feel like I'll end up broke too. Be careful, big brother. Don't fall for whatever tempting offer he makes. Promise? Especially not the money for my investment. That's mine. Ah... did I say too much?"
Calix shook his head at her chewing her finger.
Some backstory there, apparently.
He wanted to probe more, but Madam Hari intervened.
"Princess, break time's over. Back to the room."
"Eek!"
Yurin was dragged off by Madam Hari.
She clearly didn't want Yurin showing her money obsession to outsiders.
With no one left to ask, Calix smacked his lips in regret.
He decided to meet Edirn first and ponder persuasion later.