Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: 1. Starting a Business Requires Goods
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I opened my eyes.
And then, as I tried to sit up, I failed due to the muscle pain radiating through my entire body and collapsed back down. After groaning in agony for a moment, the surroundings finally came into clear view.
'Hurry up and get out of the cave...?'
What is this? Where am I? And is this a bed? Why am I lying in a bed?
I definitely threw myself into that cave to escape the avalanche, right? And then inside, with Laila...
"Di...rector..."
"...Laila?"
There was a heavy sensation at my legs, so I turned my gaze and saw Laila asleep with her head resting on them. I hurriedly checked the product's condition in detail.
And the moment I saw the bandages wrapped around my hands and body in various places, I couldn't help but grimace.
'Damn it, it's scratched up. What now?'
What was the whole point of climbing the snow mountain while taking such meticulous care of Laila in the first place? It was for the most basic of delivery services: product protection and management.
She was already a body that was supposed to become a noble's adopted daughter, so I'd gone to great lengths to avoid even the slightest scratch or blemish, and yet here we were.
I wasn't some amateur delivery guy who'd dropped the package on the way here. This was a massive blunder.
'Hang on, but where is this place...?'
"You've woken up."
"...! Ma-Margrave!?"
"Stay still. You need to rest right now."
A middle-aged man with white hair swept back and scars covering his face approached to restrain me. His movements carried an unmistakable air of dignity and authority.
I'd encountered a few quasi-nobles during my adventurer days, but they were mostly like sudden tycoons or upstarts. This man, however, exuded the natural aura of someone who stood above others.
Who else could be the master of this mansion, the Margrave himself?
"It's good that you've come around. This child was very worried about you."
"You mean... Laila?"
"Yes. And on that note, there's something I need to do for you first."
Something he needed to do first? What? No way, a complaint?
Is he saying the product's damaged during delivery, so it's not his responsibility and he'll return it? Damn it all.
My dream of noble pension...
"I'm sorry."
He bowed his head.
"...Huh?"
I'd expected some harsh words or a rejection, but the Margrave's response far exceeded my imagination.
After all, who would have thought that the head of the Beril Count Family—a Margrave and count, no less, and far my senior in age—would bow his head to me?
It was so shocking that I couldn't even speak. I should be humbly telling him not to do that, to please lift his head, but no words came out.
Meanwhile, the Margrave continued speaking with his head still bowed.
"It's not just because of your injuries or this child's. This exam was held on the Beril Count Family's snow mountain, so we naturally bore the responsibility for your safety. We stationed knights throughout the mountains accordingly, but we failed to rescue you quickly from that sudden avalanche."
"............"
"Even if it was a variable beyond our control, it's clearly our responsibility and our failure, so I'm apologizing to you. And above all... this child, Laila, cried a lot and blamed us."
"...No, please. Lift your head. You ended up saving us, so there's no need for this."
"That wasn't us, either."
"Pardon?"
"The one who dragged your unconscious self up here... it was entirely thanks to Laila's strength, effort, and determination. It was truly impressive. For a child this young to lead an adult man up the snow mountain. Really, it was utterly captivating."
The Margrave's eyes gleamed. In them shone admiration, astonishment, and unmistakable greed.
Not the negative kind of greed. It was more like a hunger for talent—the look when one finds the person they've been seeking.
...Huh? Wait, no way?
"There were a few other orphans who made it to this mansion, but most came with adult help or driven by the desire to become nobles. There's nothing wrong with that desire, but the Beril Count Family isn't the comfortable, warm, well-fed nobility they imagine. That's why we planned a second exam here at the mansion... but there's no need for that now."
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I want to adopt Laila as my daughter. Quite desperately, in fact."
Yes! No more retirement worries! Noble pension jackpot!!
In the world, sending her from beast hunting to noble adoption! As the head's officially recognized adopted daughter, no less! And from a powerful house like the Beril Count Family!
That meant Laila was now qualified to inherit the Beril Count Family, which naturally implied massive donations to the orphanage. It was common sense for nobles who adopted children to send substantial annual donations to the orphanage. That's why I called it a noble pension.
Not to mention, even excluding that pension, we'd get an enormous adoption fee. At least dozens, hundreds of times the sunk costs I'd invested in Laila!
It was truly moving. I'd poured my adventurer retirement savings into the orphanage business, and it was worth it...!!
"Well, she refused."
"That's right! She refused... Pardon?"
"Di...rector?"
"Ah, Laila's awake too. The intruder will step out, so you two can reunite."
"W-wait a minute? Margrave? Pardon?"
"Director!!"
Setting aside the malfunctioning product that was shedding tears and clinging to me for now.
I flashed a warm yet regretful smile and desperately reached out toward the Margrave as he left the room.
"Director..."
By coincidence, my hand brushed Laila's head since she was in a similar direction, and she pulled it down onto her head with an ecstatic expression, as if begging to be petted.
But I ignored that and recalled what the Margrave had just said.
'Refused? She refused? Then who...?'
I'd been passed out until just now, so he must have heard it directly from Laila herself.
No way, the product requested a return on its own?
Is this for real?
*
Richard, the head of the Beril Count Family, recalled what had happened just before. The conversation he'd had with the small child brought by that orphanage director youth, before the young man woke up.
The child had collapsed from exhaustion right after bringing the director. Richard immediately ordered the family's top mage and healer to attend to them both, and fortunately, he heard that neither had life-threatening injuries.
The child woke up before the director. And then.
"Di-Director! Director!!!"
"Little one, calm down! Your director needs to rest right now...!"
"Director! You can't die! Don't die!!"
After somehow prying off the child who desperately kept crying "Director!" upon seeing him collapse right after waking...
Richard had spoken to the child alone.
"What's your name?"
"...Laila."
"Yes, Laila. I am Richard, head of the Beril Count Family."
"...So?"
The child, Laila, gave Richard a cold glare. If Richard were an authority-drunk noble, he might have scolded her for rudeness and punished her, but he understood why she was hostile and said nothing.
Instead, he showed it through his actions.
"I'm sorry."
"........."
"For injuring you and your director... I'm truly sorry. It was the Beril Count Family's failing."
Bowing his head in apology to a child far younger than him—and an orphan, at that. An apology from a high noble like a Margrave was rare. If Richard went this far, anyone would accept it as sufficient.
But the recipient was a child. An orphan who didn't know what a noble was, what a Margrave was, or what the Beril Count Family was.
So Laila simply screamed through her tears, as if such an apology were worthless.
"You! Because of you...! Director almost died because of you!!"
"...I'm sorry."
"What nobility! What Beril Count Family! If Director had died, a family like this...!!"
It was such an outrageous insult that it made the knights standing behind Richard stiffen, but he calmly endured Laila's rage.
At the same time, he felt relieved. Because he had something to say to this child.
"Your director is safe. He lost a lot of blood from his head, but there's no danger to his life."
"........."
"It's all because you quickly brought him here. It's thanks to you that the young man survived."
Laila, who had been pouring out rage and hostility until she was breathless, gritted her teeth and glared at Richard upon his words.
Did hearing that the director was safe calm her? Laila took a small deep breath to compose herself.
"...You have something to say to me, right?"
"........."
"I'll... listen. I'm sorry for just now. And thank you."
"Thank you?"
"For treating Director... thank you."
The sudden switch from informal to polite speech caught Richard off guard with admiration.
She was still just a child. Honest with her emotions, speaking without thinking, acting on impulse. That was a child's privilege and limitation.
But despite unleashing her rage and hostility, Laila recognized that Richard wanted something from her, that he was clearly of higher status and held absolute power over her. She held back her emotions and even thanked him.
That wasn't the patience or judgment of a mere child. Admiration and greed flickered in Richard's eyes.
As expected, this was the one.
"I'll be direct. Become my adopted daughter."
"...Adopted... daughter?"
"You know why you came here with your director, right? We originally planned a second exam combining you with the other orphans who arrived, but there's no need now."
"Why?"
"Because the determination and ferocity you showed truly pleased me."
Richard looked out the window. The snow mountain sparkling in the sunlight was breathtakingly beautiful, but he knew well the cruelty hidden within that beauty.
"This isn't an ordinary noble house. You can't just swing your authority around thoughtlessly, order underlings about, or pursue selfish desires. Because this place is the kingdom's shield, the north's bulwark—and the front lines."
"........."
"It's hard for a child to understand. But I don't see you as just any child."
"Then what does a member of the Beril Count Family, who guards this place, need?"
"...Strength, right?"
"Correct. A fine answer. Our predecessors likely thought the same. But I see it differently."
"Differently?"
"What I value most is mindset. The ferocity to rule and endure in this beautiful yet brutal place. That's what's needed."
"...Why?"
"Strength is of course good. But the Beril Count Family's power isn't made by the head alone—it's forged by the knights and soldiers. Bluntly put, even if the head is a powerless fool who can't sense mana, that's fine. Even if they lack the strength to fight alongside the knights, that's fine. But the head must be the fiercest of all."
"Fiercest..."
"Because they must spend their entire life in this frozen hellscape. Because they must forsake warmth and plenty to chase blood and blades. Thus, the head must always stand tall. No matter how hard or painful it is inside, they must never show it. Because everyone in the Beril Count Family—the knights and soldiers—looks only to such a head."
The knights watching Richard speak shone with clear respect and pride in their eyes.
Only then did Laila seem to realize, with surprised eyes, that despite his appearance, Richard's own strength wasn't exceptional.
"That's why I said I wouldn't look at talent. Only mindset. And I saw yours clearly—and in crude terms, I fell for it."
"........."
"So I beg you. Become my adopted daughter."
Not a command, but a request.
Ordering a child with such ferocity would be pointless if her heart wasn't moved. Richard knew that well, so he bowed his head to this much younger child and made his plea.
And unexpectedly, Laila answered without much deliberation.
"I'm sorry."
...Bowing her head to him, just like he had.
"May I... hear the reason?"
"Because this isn't where I belong."
"If it's about the orphanage, it would be even better for you to become my daughter. Galen mentioned you have younger siblings you care for. As my daughter, you could secure their future."
"My siblings are a concern, yes. But that's not the only reason."
"Then why on earth?"
"Because I've found my dream."
Ah.
The moment he saw Laila's eyes as she spoke of her dream, Richard sighed.
He realized no words would sway her heart.
"My dream is to help Director, support him, and live together with him."
"That can be arranged too if you become my daughter. Donations to the orphanage..."
"That might be true. But it's different."
"Could you explain?"
Despite himself, unable to let her go, Richard asked with a sliver of hope.
And right after, Laila smiled.
A smile free of the rage, hostility, or wariness she'd directed at him.
"It's because... Director is such a pathetic adult. He's someone who relies on me, and someone I want to rely on too."
It was a smile far more beautiful than this snow mountain.
And so Richard gave up on the adoption proposal and returned to the director's sickroom. Laila was now directing that same smile at the director.
'Truly remarkable.'
A child with such mindset and ferocity. She surely hadn't opened her heart to the director from the start. How had this young man earned her respect and love?
Whether thrilled to reunite with Laila alive or simply trembling at the sight of her, Richard smiled as he watched the director's shaking hand and left the room.
After all, it was the intruder's duty to step out at a time like this.