Dofnik
He had gotten everything he needed.
The Kerbe Merchant Guild was selling Ice Artifacts, and the Silver Ice Merchant Guild didn't care for that one bit — which was why they'd sent Alex of the Malacca Mercenary Troop to deliver a warning.
Pressing Alex any further wasn't going to produce anything useful. Better to deal with him cleanly and be done with it.
It might have sounded cruel, but Joseph had handled this kind of scum more than once. If there was nothing left to extract, you finished them off properly. That was how you kept them from becoming a problem later.
That said, these men had attacked Braham. From what Joseph had heard, he'd simply been unlucky enough to be standing there when it happened. So he figured he'd leave the decision to Braham — and putting the merchant in his debt wouldn't hurt either. It would make things easier down the road.
Braham seemed to weigh it for a moment, then looked over the other attackers still lying unconscious. Two of them couldn't even hold themselves upright — spines likely broken — but the rest still had all their limbs intact.
"The ones who can't walk are a lost cause, but the rest we can sell to a slave trader."
"A slave trader...?"
Braham nodded. From what he explained, small-scale clashes like this were common enough that the victim was expected to handle the aftermath themselves — an unspoken rule of the trade.
Well. If that's how they do things here.
Braham offered to pass the proceeds from the slave trader along to Joseph. Joseph nodded and dismissed his Mana Orb. The guild would handle the cleanup and pay him for it besides. No reason to refuse.
Alex was dragged off by the servants without another word.
Joseph and Braham returned to the parlor. This time Derik came in with them, just in case.
Joseph had originally planned to hand over the finished artifacts and leave. The situation had changed.
I'd rather wrap this up quietly if I can...
If he could help it, Joseph had no desire to escalate things here. This wasn't some noir film, and he had no interest in getting tangled up in more trouble over a mess like this. But it didn't look like things would go his way — which meant he needed to prepare thoroughly enough that there wouldn't be any further damage.
Though there's something I need to confirm first.
Joseph looked at Braham. Still rattled from what had just happened, the merchant kept dabbing sweat from his face with a handkerchief. His already plump cheeks looked even greasier than usual.
Joseph paused a beat, then spoke.
"So, what do you intend to do from here?"
"Ah — I'll need to increase the guards. I'd planned to do that before the artifacts hit the market, but... well, it can't be helped now."
"...You still intend to continue the trade?"
Joseph asked, watching him carefully. Today he'd been lucky enough to be there. There was no guarantee he would be next time. An ordinary man might well have gotten scared and walked away from the business at this point.
But Braham looked briefly puzzled at the question, then laughed.
"Didn't I tell you? When you start a new venture in Caladon, this sort of thing is common enough."
"The Silver Ice Merchant Guild doesn't seem like a small operation."
"No, it isn't. But a merchant who frightens that easily isn't much of a merchant."
Like Dofnik, Braham had started as a traveling peddler and clawed his way up from there. The Silver Ice Merchant Guild might be larger than the Kerbe Guild, but that wasn't enough to scare him. If his nerve had been that thin, he never would have made it traveling the roads outside the city in the first place.
I can't give up Ice Artifacts over something like this.
If trouble had come before the business had even gotten off the ground, Braham might have hesitated. But he'd already dealt with nobles. He'd felt the value of those artifacts firsthand — the kind of power that made even a noble's steward watch his step. Even if Joseph walked away from the deal, Braham had no intention of giving up easily.
Joseph nodded at that. Truthfully, he had no intention of folding the business over something like this either. Friction came with the territory. He'd been prepared for at least this much.
Though I didn't expect them to just kick in the door and attack.
If he left this city, he'd have to build everything from scratch all over again — find a new city, find a new guild to trade with, find a new artisan, start over. There was no greater waste of time. And there was no guarantee he wouldn't clash with some other local power wherever he ended up.
Having confirmed that much, Joseph moved on.
"Then how do you think they'll come at us from here?"
Both of them were in this for the long haul. That much was clear. The next question was how to handle what was coming.
"They'll probably try to squeeze us some other way."
Interfere with the quartz shipments that went into the artifacts — or buy up the quartz itself before anyone else could. In an age with no such thing as antitrust law, those were perfectly viable tactics.
"Buy up all the quartz? Is that even possible?"
Joseph asked, frowning. Even for a large guild, locking down every last bit of artifact material didn't sound easy. And the material in question was quartz — typically used for noble jewelry, not the kind of thing you could stockpile and resell without trouble.
Braham seemed to catch his meaning and nodded.
"It wouldn't be easy. Normally things get settled before it ever goes that far, but..."
If the conflict with the guild escalated far enough, it could come to that.
"Then we'll need to prepare."
"Yes. I'll leave for Mount Tetra at first light."
Whatever happened, he intended to get ahead of it.
"It might also be wise to increase the guards at your mansion, Mage. If you'll allow it, I'll visit the mercenary guild myself before I leave and find some men we can trust."
"Please do."
Joseph nodded. They were in the same boat now. No reason to refuse the way he might have before.
"Ah — one more favor, if I may?"
"Of course, of course. Anything."
"Could you have everything in the workshop moved to my mansion by tonight?"
"The workshop... because of Master Toban?"
Joseph nodded. It had occurred to him that he wasn't the only one who mattered in making artifacts. Toban's safety was just as critical. If anything happened to the artisan, the entire operation would grind to a halt. Toban currently commuted to the workshop every day. From now on, it would be better to keep him close.
"The mansion has plenty of empty rooms as it is. We can set up a new workshop there."
"A good idea. That way we won't have to split the guards either."
Braham nodded. Given the skill Joseph had displayed tonight, he was more reassuring than any mercenary.
"Then for the time being, we should move carefully."
"Agreed. Best to wait and see how they come at us first."
From what Braham said, a man like Dofnik wasn't likely to surrender his territory without a fight. If he'd been the compromising type, he never would have grown his guild this large.
"In the worst case, we may have to consider armed conflict."
"Yes. I'll do everything I can to keep it from coming to that."
He talked about forming alliances with smaller guilds, looking into merchants who'd had friction with the Silver Ice Guild... but honestly, that was beyond anything Joseph could usefully weigh in on. He took it as Braham's way of saying he'd prepare a secure supply chain of his own.
"Good. Then I'll use the remaining materials to produce as many artifacts as I can."
"Please do."
Joseph rose from his seat. Today had gotten far more complicated than expected, but at least they had a direction now.
All that's left is to see how they come at us.
But the next day, everything Joseph and Braham had discussed became meaningless.
Dofnik himself came calling at the mansion.
Just as the sun was rising, a carriage rolled to a stop out front — a luxurious thing, draped in cloth embroidered with piled gold coins. One look was enough to know the person inside was no ordinary man.
The first to spot it was Auk, who'd been standing gate duty since before dawn.
"Who goes there?"
Wariness ran thick through his voice. Derik had already filled him in on what had happened at the Kerbe Guild the night before. The mercenaries Braham had promised to send hadn't even arrived yet. A sudden visitor was something to be wary of.
"Dofnik, of the Silver Ice Merchant Guild."
Dofnik appeared with a thin-faced servant in tow and carefully bowed to Auk. Anyone who knew the man would have gone wide-eyed at the sight.
"Dof... what?"
Auk's face went hard. The Silver Ice Merchant Guild was the one that had attacked Braham last night. And now the guild master himself had shown up — alone, at this hour.
Auk's hand went straight to his belt. He drew his axe and settled into a stance.
"N-no! I didn't come here to fight!"
"And I'm supposed to believe that?"
"I understand why you'd find it hard to believe. But I truly did not come to fight the mage. I've come to apologize for yesterday."
Dofnik smiled, looking oddly sheepish for a man of his size.
And just then, the other private soldiers came out from inside. They saw Auk with his axe drawn and pulled theirs as well.
"......!"
Dofnik swallowed. But he shook his head a moment later. The look on his face said he couldn't back down now.
"Stand down."
A voice came from behind them. Their employer. The master of the mansion. Joseph walked out at an unhurried pace and narrowed his eyes at Dofnik.
That's a guild master?
Just as Braham had described — the man looked more like a working mercenary than a merchant. Even standing out beyond the front gate, their eyes met on a level. Standing next to him, he'd have a full head of height on Joseph.
Now what is this...
Joseph tried to guess why the man had shown up so suddenly, but nothing came to mind. He didn't seem to be carrying any particular hostility, either. If he had, he wouldn't have walked up so openly.
Last night he and Braham had agreed to wait and watch. Less than a day later, the other side had come to him in person. Without even a single guard.
"You're the master of the Silver Ice Merchant Guild, I take it?"
Dofnik bowed deeply.
"I am. I've come to offer my apologies, Mage."
Joseph's eyebrows rose. An apology? The man who'd sent last night's attack was here to apologize?
This isn't going the way I expected.
"...Come in."
Joseph led Dofnik into the parlor.