The Millennium Capital (2)
Haze beamed brightly at his long-lost master. “It’s been a while, Master.”
“…….”
His master, Valion Dragomil, wore the expression of a man who had just witnessed something he wished he hadn’t the moment Haze stepped into the room. Haze kept his smile firmly in place and continued. “Even someone like me gets hurt when my master makes that face after so long apart.”
“If anyone’s getting hurt, it should be me. Why would you?”
“I even brought a gift. Are you really going to act like this?”
Haze shook the bottle of whiskey and sat down. Valion let out a small sigh, took the seat across from him, and stuck a cigar between his lips.
“You’re quite sensitive to trends,” Haze remarked. “Already a dedicated cigar smoker, I see.”
“Is this the part where you tell an old man to stick to relics of the past?”
“Who would dare call you a relic of the past? A legend, maybe.”
“Same difference. Legend or ghost, what’s the point?”
Huu. Valion exhaled a long plume of cigar smoke, then immediately began scolding Haze in a displeased tone. “I distinctly remember telling you not to dabble in magic.”
“Which is why I only learned it as a hobby.”
“Your swordsmanship is a complete mess and you’re calling it a hobby? One look at you and it’s obvious you got cocky thinking you could handle both. You should’ve become an apostle of the Evil God instead of a knight. You’d fit right in on the Throne of Arrogance.”
He really was an eerily perceptive master. He hadn’t even seen Haze’s sword work—just his gait—and still pinpointed his level. As expected, the Empire’s greatest living sword was on another level.
Haze spoke in a low voice. “I imagine you’re the first master in history to recommend that his disciple become an apostle of the Evil God.”
“Haze. We may practice Refinement magic, but we are not mages. You must understand this.”
Those words had been drilled into him since childhood—ever since he’d been plucked off the streets of the Empire and taken in by Valion. Normally he would have obeyed, but…
“Isn’t it unnatural to give up on something you’re perfectly capable of doing?”
“This is exactly why having half-baked talent is such a curse.”
Valion shook his head wearily, stubbed out his cigar, and asked, “So why have you come? Especially after treating your master’s words like the ramblings of a senile old fool.”
“Master. The imperial palace is stirring with unusual activity.”
“So it’s already that time.”
Valion narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance. He was looking toward the imperial capital, yet what he saw wasn’t the present. It was the past. Recalling the days he had taught swordsmanship to the current Emperor, Valion furrowed his brow and muttered, “But what does that have to do with me? I’ve already withdrawn from all front-line duties.”
“There’s always the possibility of ‘what if,’ isn’t there?”
“It’s precisely because even those possibilities don’t concern me that I call it withdrawing from the front lines.”
“Master.”
“Tsk.”
Valion clicked his tongue softly, lit a fresh cigar, and spoke. “No matter how insolent my disciple may be, if he comes all the way to my home, I can’t very well throw him out. Can I?”
“Thank you.”
“You only listen properly at times like these. You willful little brat.”
“That’s why I brought a gift, isn’t it?”
“Once you’ve said your piece, get out. You must be busy.”
“Understood.”
Haze bowed politely and left the reception room. Once outside the mansion, he ran a hand through his brown hair and let out a long sigh.
With this, his insurance against any unforeseen crises was complete. Now he could only hope it would all turn out to be unnecessary fuss. Please, let it end as nothing more than overcaution. Truly.
Previously on the story. Having been reborn as the Witch of Resurrection, I joined forces with my future self to grant the wish of the Witch of the Hot Springs by using the ultimate Refinement magic…
“That was the moment. Lady Flora whispered to Lady Ruina: ‘I entrust my will to you. In return, you must…’”
Gulp. The crowd swallowed nervously.
Chris adopted a solemn expression and delivered the final line. “Witness the end of magic.”
“Kyaaaah!”
“The site of that fierce battle! The hot spring coveted by the apostle of the Evil God! We brought every last drop without wasting a single one!”
The hot spring water sold out completely. Chris’s dazzling sales pitch played a part, but the wooden figure dancing beside her certainly helped seal the deal.
“Unfortunately, we must embark on a grand journey, so even if we wanted to continue this business, we couldn’t. We’re in no position to do so.”
“Then that means…!”
“Exactly. We’ll hand over all the equipment and know-how. In exchange, we’d like a modest additional sum…”
“I’ll buy it. I’ll buy it right now.”
They even managed to offload the extra wagons and massive quantity of wooden barrels—which would have become dead weight once the trend died down—to the latecomers.
“Lady Ruina. You’re insane.”
“You’re the insane one, Lady Chris.”
“Just how much is this…?”
There’s a word called premium. It refers to the additional amount added due to special value or quality. It fit the current situation perfectly.
A hot spring imbued with something coveted by an apostle of the Evil God. That premium had driven the price of the spring water completely mad. And after selling all the equipment at those exorbitant prices, we had…
“Ten times. Ten times over.”
“Lady Chris, your eyes have gone completely blank.”
“We earned ten times what we invested!”
We had made two thousand gold coins. Since half of that was mine, I had earned a thousand gold coins. It was an absurdly successful outcome.
Of course, when we sold the grapes we had earned more than ten times—twenty times, actually—but back then we had only invested fifteen gold coins. This time the investment had been much larger. The value of ten times was on a completely different scale.
No, actually… maybe the Chris route really was faster? We had already earned a third of the target amount. It might seem easy because Chris made it look that way, but comparing what she had just done to modern terms, it was like earning a billion won after only two trading trips. The goods she handled were that dizzyingly dangerous. But if you earned it, weren’t you the winner?
In other words, Chris was the winner.
“Normally it would be difficult to earn this much, but everything goes smoothly when you travel with the Goddess of Luck.”
“So I’ve been reduced to a lucky totem now?”
“Lady Ruina. What do you want to do next? Tell me and only me.”
“Please stop talking as if I’m the one who came up with this business plan that would make even the Demon of Money faint. You did all of this, Lady Chris.”
Chris seemed so excited that her whole body was buzzing. She exhaled a thrilled breath and shouted, “Today’s on me! Eat whatever you want, as much as you want!”
“Whoa!”
“It’s a celebration! Sir Leon, drink all the milk you like!”
“Thank you.”
“Lady Ruina. Let’s hurry back to the inn. I’m starving.”
“Just a moment.”
I stopped Chris. Drinking honey wine sounded wonderful, but there was something we needed to do first. She tilted her head in confusion at my action.
“What is it, Lady Ruina? Do you still have something left to sell?”
“Does your mind always go straight to business? It’s not that.”
“Not that? Oh.”
Only then did Chris smack her forehead. “You’re going to buy goods for the next trading trip.”
“We need to stop by the Alchemist Guild.”
What was I supposed to do with this merchant who was utterly obsessed with money? I had no idea.
“So that’s what it was.”
“You two go back to the inn first. I’ll join you after I finish my business.”
“That won’t do. My precious investor might get scammed. I’ll go with you. What about Sir Leon?”
“Then I’ll go gather information on the rumors circulating in the capital.”
“Then it’s decided.”
We split up according to our respective goals. Leon headed for a pub in the imperial capital, while Chris and I grabbed the Star Silver and made our way to the Alchemist Guild.
The Alchemist Guild in the imperial capital was incredibly lavish. Though to be fair, finding anything that wasn’t lavish in the capital was the harder task.
Creak. The moment we opened the door and stepped inside, a sharp smell greeted us. It was the scent of metal. On top of that, there was the acrid odor of a mad witch conducting all sorts of magical experiments. No matter how fancy it looked, an alchemist guild was still an alchemist guild.
“Hello?”
I called out cautiously. I wanted to finish the business quickly so I could go drink honey wine.
“…What is it?”
“You startled me.”
And I really was surprised. The voice had come from right in front of me. I blinked and opened my mouth. “Have you considered switching careers to assassin?”
The woman standing before me had the classic appearance of a gloomy, shut-in mage. In other words, an alchemist. Though it was my first time meeting her, for some reason I instinctively trusted her skill.
The would-be assassin answered, “…I tried, but my physical abilities weren’t up to par.”
“You’ve already tried it. Miss Alchemist. Are you any good at your craft?”
“…I am the chief alchemist’s disciple.”
“You’re exactly the kind of person I’ve been looking for.”
In my delight, I placed the lump of Star Silver on the table. The assassin adjusted her glasses and examined it.
“…What is this?”
“That’s what I was going to ask. Why do you wear glasses with no lenses?”
“…It makes me look more competent. Anyway, what is this?”
“It’s Star Silver.”
“…Star Silver?”
The assassin tilted her head at its marble-like color. I kindly explained.
“There’s Star Silver inside it.”
“…You’re saying a piece of Star Silver this large actually exists?”
This time the assassin was genuinely shocked. It was a familiar reaction. I had made the exact same face when I first heard about it. Anyone who saw a chunk of Star Silver this big for the first time reacted that way.
I stroked the Star Silver and said, “I want to compress this… and turn it into a lantern.”
Clink. When I set the lantern on the table, the assassin’s expression changed completely.
“…To compress this much Star Silver down to lantern size would require repeating the process multiple times. The amount of reagents needed would be enormous.”
“I have plenty of money.”
“…Then we can begin immediately. By when do you need it completed?”
“Our schedule is… Lady Chris?”
“Hmm? Shouldn’t we discuss the schedule with Sir Leon?”
“It’s not urgent for us either. We’ll leave it to your schedule, Miss Assassin.”
“…I’m not an assassin. I’m Muran.”
“I’m Ruina.”
After we finished introducing ourselves, I took out a pouch of gold coins and asked, “How much should I give you as a down payment?”
“…Ten gold coins will do.”
I glanced at Chris. She gave me a small nod. It seemed like a fair price. I counted out ten gold coins and placed them on the table.
“Here you are.”
“…Where should I send word when it’s finished?”
“We’re staying at the ‘Place Where the Wind Rests.’”
“…Understood.”
Muran gave a short reply, picked up the Star Silver, and disappeared into the back. She seemed eager to start working right away. I smiled warmly at her dependable attitude and turned to Chris.
“Shall we head back to the inn and have that meal now?”