Chapter 15
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: The Abacus Shatters
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Goldwin Merchant Guild headquarters.
A lavish office.
Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, sparkling across the pure gold abacus.
Lirian de Goldwin sipped her black tea elegantly, a smile playing on her lips.
Click-clack.
Click-clack.
Abacus beads danced briskly in her mind.
Young Master Kasian.
He's bound to reach out any day now.
Ten thousand gold pieces for an 8:2 split?
No trading company in the empire could stomach those terms except us.
He has no choice anyway.
No distribution network.
No capital.
No connections.
What could a northern young master like him possibly do alone?
Lirian set down her teacup and gazed out the window.
A handsome face just starting to get a taste for money. A cute young master.
It was only a matter of time before he bowed his head to me.
Click-clack.
Click-clack.
The sound of victory echoed in her head.
Then.
Bam!
The door flew open.
"M-Miss!"
The secretary rushed in, breathless.
Lirian's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"What is it? Catch your breath first."
"It's... it's that..."
The secretary held out a crystal orb.
"Young Master Kasian... he's set up his own operation."
"............"
Lirian's hand froze.
"What did you say?"
"He created an account on Instar. And he's launching the sunglasses business himself..."
"............"
Lirian took the crystal orb.
Instar?
That new platform?
Kasian's account appeared on the screen.
[@Sunshine_Idler_Wolf]
Followers: 41,283
"............"
What kind of nickname is that?
Sunshine Idler?
Lirian snorted.
"He must think business is child's play."
She scrolled down.
"Setting up a trading company all by himself? A northern idler with no distribution network or capital?"
A scoff escaped her lips.
"What about raw materials? Processing? Delivery?"
Click-clack.
"In the end, he'll have to come crawling to us..."
"Um, that's..."
The secretary spoke in a trembling voice.
"Everything's listed as 'free'."
"............"
Lirian's hand stopped.
"What?"
"The mine lady's providing raw gems for free... the workshop lady's doing processing gratis... the logistics lady's covering delivery too..."
"............"
Lirian peered back into the crystal orb.
She opened the comments.
Me!!!! I own 70% stake in my family's crystal mine! Raw gems provided free!
Click!
An abacus bead popped loose in her mind.
You know our territory's jewelers are the empire's best, right? Got 100 gold-rimmed designs ready just for Gallery Lord!
Click!
A crack formed in the bead.
Goldwin Merchant Guild, scram! Our family's carriages are the fastest in the empire! No distribution fees!
Crack!
The abacus shattered.
"............"
Lirian's face paled.
"No, are they insane?!"
Her hand trembled.
"Strip out raw costs, labor, and distribution fees... this isn't business!"
Her voice rose.
"This is terrorism! Shameless, unethical terrorism!!"
The secretary flinched.
Lirian panted, scrolling further.
A gallery best post caught her eye.
[Question] But honestly, isn't it a loss?
Sure, but we'll marry anyway, so it'll all be my money lol
Hey, that's my line!
lololol, same thought here
Wait, was everyone thinking the same?
Isn't that obvious?
"............"
Lirian's eyes widened.
"Marriage... makes it all my money?"
Her hand gripping the crystal orb shook violently.
"These girls aren't investing, they're..."
Her voice quivered.
"sending their dowries in advance?!"
Ugh.
Lirian clutched the back of her neck.
It was the moment her lifelong concepts of 'opportunity cost' and 'return on investment' were utterly shattered.
In the world of business, 'profit' was the goal.
But in this game, a single 'wink from Gallery Lord' crushed all cash flows.
"This doesn't add up..."
Lirian staggered back to her chair.
"The abacus won't turn..."
She cradled her head.
"How... how does one wink mobilize infrastructure worth tens of thousands of gold for free?!"
A long while later.
Lirian stared down at the massive imperial map hanging on her office wall.
The map where Goldwin's distribution lines sprawled like veins.
And on it.
Kasian was whipping up a storm without a single foothold.
"............"
Contract deposit: ten thousand gold.
Profit split: 8:2.
That was the maximum I could offer—the market standard.
Yet he.
Moved the mines for 'zero'.
Seized logistics for 'zero'.
Lirian gazed at the crystal orb in her hand.
Kasian's selfie in work clothes.
[Hard at work prepping... Looking forward to it! Thanks, partner ladies! ^^]
Below it, tens of thousands of comments.
[Jackpot lol]
[Look at Gallery Lord's sweat drops ㅠㅠㅠ]
[I wanna be a partner too]
"............"
Lirian walked slowly to the table.
The pure gold abacus.
The one she'd never let go of in her life.
Click-clack.
She set it down on the table.
The sound rang out unusually heavy.
"............"
Was I wrong?
Lirian walked to the window and studied her reflection in the glass.
The empire's most beautiful and shrewd merchant, or so she prided herself.
Yet now.
I can't comprehend the 'invisible market' Kasian created.
"............"
I calculated the value of gold coins.
But he.
Calculated the value of 'admiration'.
No.
He might not have calculated at all.
His mere existence is the market.
"............"
Lirian's eyes wavered.
Not anger.
Fear.
And curiosity.
A tangle of emotions.
"Is Goldwin's way... outdated?"
She murmured.
"No."
She shook her head.
"Am I the outdated one?"
"............"
The world now.
Pays for heartbeats, not abacus clicks.
I hid behind numbers.
He stands before the people.
"............"
Lirian returned to the table.
Picked up the abacus.
But not to calculate.
To devise a new strategy.
"Admit it."
Click-clack.
"Trying to analyze the current Kasian with logic is the mistake itself."
Click-clack.
"This isn't business. It's closer to the realm of 'religion'."
And in the end, human history was the history of madness.
It always had been.
"............"
The corner of Lirian's mouth curved up slightly.
Now she was starting to see Kasian not as a 'young master,' but as 'the market itself.'
"Good."
Her grip tightened on the abacus.
Her lips quirked higher.
"Time to confirm it myself."
She rose from her seat.
A short while later.
Lirian summoned her secretary.
"You called, Miss?"
"............"
Lirian hesitated a moment before speaking.
"Listen carefully to everything I say from now on."
The secretary began jotting it down.
The North.
Valentine Grand Duchy.
A blizzard raged through the night.
Thud.
The castle gates opened.
A man strode in, carrying the scent of blood and icy wind.
Raon de Valentine.
Eldest son of the Northern Grand Duke.
Frost still clung to the cloak of the man returning from clearing border monsters.
"............"
Raon headed silently to the Grand Duke's office.
He opened the door.
"I'm back, Father."
The Grand Duke didn't even glance up.
He simply polished his sword.
Shing.
Shing.
"............"
"Good."
The Grand Duke replied curtly.
"Well done. Rest."
"Yes."
Raon bowed and withdrew.
Northern Grand Duchy.
Small talk was a luxury.
Only necessary words.
That was the way of this house.
Raon's room.
He tended to his sword.
Shing.
Shing.
Candlelight flickered along the blade.
"Young Master."
The butler approached cautiously.
He held an invitation embossed in gold leaf.
"The final invitation to the Empire's Sacred Tournament, to be held at the capital at month's end."
"............"
"Where the empire's vaunted next-gen prodigies gather to cross swords..."
Ting.
Raon flicked the blade with his finger.
A sharp ring filled the room.
"The Sacred Tournament."
Raon didn't even glance at the invitation.
"Capital dandies."
He held his sword to the light.
"Aren't they all more obsessed with their tailoring and cloak lengths than actual skill?"
"............"
"I see no reason to go there."
Raon said lowly.
"Not even if Dragon Slayer Sir Wilhelm is competing this time?"
"............"
The butler broke into a cold sweat.
"N-no, sir... but this time, a large contingent of imperial elite knights will be participating..."
"Hmph."
Raon snorted.
"Pathetic."
He set down his sword.
"Trudge all that way to watch puppies who don't know the smell of blood nipping at each other's tails."
"............"
"My sword weeps in shame."
Raon picked up the invitation.
Held it over the candle.
As if to burn it.
Then.
His gaze drifted outside.
"............"
The corridor.
In front of Kasian's room.
A mountain of envelopes and gift boxes in every color.
Pink.
Sky blue.
Pale purple.
Perfumed letters spilling into the hall.
"............"
Raon's hand paused.
"Those are..."
"Ah, those are for Young Master Kasian..."
"I know."
Raon cut him off.
"............"
His eyes lingered somewhere amid the pile.
Among countless pink and sky-blue envelopes.
One that stood out starkly.
Not flashy, but weighty and noble.
A golden lion seal.
"Including that arrogant letter stamped with Goldwin's crest."
"............"
The butler flinched.
Raon stared at Kasian's letter mountain.
The boredom in his eyes shifted.
A spark of interest ignited.
"............"
The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
"Fine."
Raon pulled the invitation from the flame.
"I'll go."
"Pardon?"
The butler looked up in shock.
"You're... going? To the Sacred Tournament?"
"............"
Raon gazed out the window.
The blizzard howled.