The Weight of a Full Plate
The protagonist is always busy. Once the business discussion reached a lull, the Merchant Guild leader smoothly shifted the topic. "Where shall we have our meal?"
I checked my watch. It was already lunchtime. "I see. It is indeed time for a meal."
"How about that place you mentioned was quite good last time, young master?"
"Hmm..." A restaurant, that sounded nice. The music was pleasant, and the food was excellent. If even those picky nobles from Sanctum Hill came down to eat there, that said it all. But there was a part that bothered me. I glanced at Eri for a moment.
A restaurant visited by Sanctum Hill nobles. I didn't think this child would know the table manners for such a high-end establishment. If I handed her a knife to cut her meat, she might even hold it with an underhand grip. The nobles would point fingers at Eri, and she would realize something was wrong, leaving with nothing but bad memories. I didn't want her to have the experience of feeling intimidated in a place like that.
So, I subtly asked the Merchant Guild leader for a different location. "Unfortunately, since this wasn't planned for today, I haven't dressed for the occasion. Would it be possible to go somewhere else? Somewhere comfortable would be preferable."
The Merchant Guild leader hesitated at my question. I gave a slight nod toward Eri. Gustav looked at her, puzzled. Just then, Eri sniffled and wiped her nose with her sleeve. Even if you dress her in silk, you can't hide the wildness of the Limbus Pit. Gustav's eyes sparkled with realization.
"Ah! Haha!" The Merchant Guild leader slapped his knee. "As it happens, I've been quite into buffets lately! There's a wide variety of food, and the atmosphere is relaxed! Would that be acceptable to you, young master?"
"That sounds good."
Lunch was decided as a buffet. Eri tilted her head. She seemed to sense that something was strange, but she didn't know exactly what. 'She still doesn't know this kind of social maneuvering.' Well, she could learn slowly.
"Then let's go with that." Right. She's at an age where she needs to grow. Today, just eat to your heart's content.
The place Julian and his party arrived at was a restaurant called [Gastro & Gusto]. It was one of the budget-friendly buffets that the Merkur Merchant Guild had contracted for employee welfare.
Clang. As the door opened with the sound of a bell, Eri's footsteps stopped.
"..."
Her jaw dropped as if it might hit the floor. The place was too vast to be called a restaurant. It was massive, grand, and hot. It was, quite literally, closer to a giant factory.
Hiss— hiss— White steam was being vented from beneath long rows of brass tables. Hot water pipes laid into the floor kept the food from cooling. Above them, roasted turkeys and thick steaks were piled high like mountains. On the other side, coolers hummed, emitting a cold chill. On a mountain of ice that wouldn't melt even in midsummer, colorful fruits and ice cream were displayed like jewels. And the staff scurried about, filling the pots so they wouldn't run empty.
"Is this... all for eating?" Erika muttered, dazed.
In the slums, people would kill for a single piece of rotten bread. Here, they were filling the place with more food than a human could eat in a lifetime, even throwing it away if it got cold. The violence of overwhelming abundance. The girl was left stunned before she could even feel a sense of relative deprivation.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you going in?"
"Can I really eat anything?"
"Put as much as you want on your plate and eat."
"Is there a limit on how many times?"
"None."
"Does the owner here even want to make money?"
At her words, Julian let out a soft chuckle. Did she know how much the entrance fee was here? Even if she sat here for 24 hours straight and chewed like a cow, it would still be a profitable business for them. "Don't worry about things like that and eat all you want."
"Hehehe..." She let out a goofy laugh as she was guided to a table. Julian held her hand tightly so she wouldn't get lost, forgetting that he himself was barely a twelve-year-old child. The sight of him taking care of Erika was the picture of a close-knit pair of siblings, enough to make the adults watching them smile with satisfaction.
After stopping Erika, who tried to go get food before even knowing where their table was, the group settled into a private room.
"...Teacher."
"What is it."
"Do nobles eat like this all the time?"
Inside the private room, before they went out to get food, Erika asked. Julian didn't answer, simply lifting his water glass. He only wore an ambiguous smile that was neither affirmation nor denial. In truth, the truly wealthy don't come to places like buffets. Saying that table manners aren't necessary is, in other words, saying there's no need to show off one's refinement. The true upper class eats course meals at restaurants to confirm their standing among themselves; they don't do things like lining up to fetch food. A buffet is a restaurant for the middle class, who are slightly wealthier than commoners but haven't even reached the level of the nouveau riche. However, there was no need to pour cold water on an excited child.
"Don't worry about things like that, just go and fetch what you want to eat."
"...Really? You won't regret it?"
"Yeah. Eat a lot."
Eri jumped up. She couldn't understand why he was being so good to her. But could she refuse just because she didn't understand? If this was happiness that might end at any moment, she had to enjoy it as much as she could before it did. She walked toward the food tables with her plate in hand.
However, her resolve was seen differently by others.
"Haha. They should be like that at that age." The Merchant Guild leader watched her back with a fatherly smile. Erika had risen from her seat with her own kind of resolve. But to the Merchant Guild leader and Julian, that sight looked different. In their eyes, she was just a naive child who didn't know etiquette and ran off to get food before the host.
As Erika's guardian, Julian bowed slightly to the Merchant Guild leader. "I apologize. She's a child who still struggles with self-control."
"Not at all. It's actually a pleasant sight." The Merchant Guild leader lifted his teacup. "By the way, young master. There is one more piece of good news."
"What is it?"
"You know there's a grade assessment by the Imperial Chamber of Commerce soon, right?"
"Yes. I am aware."
The world within the brass walls is finite. The land, the resources, the people. In such a world, free competition inevitably leads to monopoly, and monopoly leads to chaos within the walls. The Chamber of Commerce was an institution born from the end of such "wrong answer notes." The work of the Chamber of Commerce is simple. It evaluates the scale and influence of each merchant guild to assign a grade, and imposes taxes and obligations based on that grade. In return, it provides corresponding benefits and protection. Those who have more give more, and those who give more gain more rights. You can think of it as roughly that kind of system.
"Hahaha..." After bringing up the keyword "Chamber of Commerce," Gustav, the Merchant Guild leader, suddenly let out a suspicious laugh. His face was actively spoiling what he was about to say, but Julian pretended not to know and drew out his answer. "But what about the Chamber of Commerce? Is there perhaps some tax that was omitted?"
"Hoho. No."
"Then did we perhaps violate some prohibition?"
"Nooo~?"
Every time Julian gave a wrong answer, the Merchant Guild leader's smile deepened. Then, just as Julian began to get the impression that the man's behavior was becoming more like a nouveau riche by the day, the Merchant Guild leader, who had been dragging it out, finally gave the correct answer.
"It seems we are likely to be promoted to 2nd grade."
"Ah, I see. Congratulations."
"It's all thanks to you, young master! If it weren't for the Quinine and Insulin, it would have been a dream I couldn't even imagine!" Despite Julian's dry reaction, Gustav flapped his arms exaggeratedly, his jowls wobbling. If they were 2nd grade, they were a major merchant guild. A scale that didn't just trade in one city, but traveled between several. A guild that was on the verge of bankruptcy just a few years ago had become a nationwide major guild.
"If the insulin succeeds as well, we'll be able to act as the leader among the 2nd-grade major guilds!" The Merchant Guild leader spoke excitedly. Julian clapped calmly from across from him. It wasn't that he wasn't happy. The Merkur Merchant Guild was also Julian's guild. He was a director there, and he held a 14 percent stake. (For reference, the Merchant Guild leader held 16 percent.) Because of that, Julian also cheered in his heart, calling it the miracle of the M-vidia stock surge. However, his expression remained cold, as always. It was because of his character image.
"That is truly a wonderful thing."
"It's all thanks to you, Director!"
Suddenly bursting into tears, the Merchant Guild leader tried to hug Julian. Julian subtly leaned back, escaping the Merchant Guild leader's clutches. Fortunately, the table between the two blocked Julian from the Merchant Guild leader. The Merchant Guild leader sat back down, looking embarrassed. He took out a handkerchief, wiped his tears, and said, "But you see..."
"?"
"With the promotion, won't the taxes increase as well?"
"..."
"Sob sob. What are small business owners like me supposed to eat and live on? Why does this country take everything?"
Julian stared at him without a word. He had a burning desire to retort and tell him to stop talking nonsense. In this world where everything is stratified, an increase in a guild's grade is not merely empty honor. A guild's grade is a form of noble title. When a guild's grade rises, one gains some of the rights of the nobility, even without the bloodline. A 2nd-grade guild is equivalent to a Baron or Viscount. In other words, the Merchant Guild leader had now gained the right to freely enter and leave Sanctum Hill without permission. From the start, double the taxes wasn't a harsh measure. Considering the privileges and monopoly rights granted to a 2nd-grade guild, even if they were taxed three times over, they would only stop at pretending to cry. Therefore, Julian looked at the weeping Gustav with cold, dead eyes. Thinking that, no matter how he looked at it, the Merchant Guild leader's nouveau riche image wasn't just because of his appearance.
At that time, Erika. She was caught in the dilemma of a lifetime.
"Lamb or pork..."
A very small space left in the corner of her plate. It was a problem of what meat to put there. Just then, a voice came from behind her.
"Excuse me, miss."
She turned around to see an elderly man with white hair standing there. A neat black suit. His waist was slightly bent, but even that was hidden by the grace flowing from his body. It was a face she had seen before. The old man who saw the young master off at the Sanctum Hill mansion. He was the head butler of the Nihilit family.
"...Oh?" Erika blinked.
"You're the head butler... right? But why are you here...?"
The old butler bowed with a kind smile. "I, this old man, couldn't overcome my curiosity about what kind of person the young master has kept by his side for the first time, and I ended up committing a rudeness."
"Did you follow me?"
"Let's call it an escort."
Erika was left speechless.
"My name is Wilhelm, the head butler. It is an honor to meet you."
"No, no. Please don't do that." Erika hurriedly waved her hands. The sky she had known until just a few days ago was Wangcho. Because that was the limit of the sky that people living in those dark alleys could imagine. But now, with the parade of the young master, the Merchant Guild leader, and now the head butler who made even that Wangcho seem like 'nothing,' she couldn't keep her head straight.
"You shouldn't greet me like that. I'm just... I'm just an assistant."
At her denial, Wilhelm's eyebrows moved minutely. "If I may be so bold, where are you from?"
"...Limbus Pit, Tanner's Street."
Erika answered honestly. There was no use in hiding it. It was bound to show eventually. Besides, she didn't even dare to lie in front of that seasoned butler. But the head butler's reaction was different from what she expected.
"Is that so." He bowed even deeper. "Then I must show even more respect."
"...Yes?" Erika was bewildered.
The head butler spoke quietly. "Miss. Do you know who it was that chose you?"
"Mr. Schnabel... no, the young master."
"The young master... haha." The butler's gaze turned toward the private room in the distance. Through the window, she could see Julian talking to the Merchant Guild leader. Unlike the nouveau riche Merchant Guild leader, an unapproachable grace radiated from Julian even through the window.
"To describe that person with a mere word like 'young master' might perhaps be a rudeness."
At the head butler's subtle remark, Erika closed her mouth. Her gaze reached Julian, who was holding a teacup with an indifferent expression through the window. He looked like a noble born to be one, dealing with a nouveau riche who was chattering away excitedly.
"...I know that too." Erika muttered, bowing her head deeply.
"That's why I don't know even more. The young master is a genius. He's like a magician who can make medicine just by touching it, so why did he take me... is it okay for someone like me to be by his side..."
Undeserved luck given to an orphan from the slums. It felt less like a blessing and more like walking on thin ice that could break at any moment. But the head butler shook his head.
"You are mistaken, miss." His voice was low, but firm. "The reason I said calling him 'young master' was a rudeness is because it is not bloodline that makes him noble."
"Yes?"
"For the same reason, calling him a genius might also be a rudeness. That word... it feels like praising only the results without knowing what kind of efforts he has made behind the scenes."
After pausing for a moment, the head butler stared at Erika. Erika nodded blankly. The head butler signaled for Erika to follow him and walked slowly toward the food tables. It was a natural gait, as if he were taking a walk. Erika followed him without realizing it.
"Do you know how many times he has failed, miss?"
"...I don't know."
"I suppose so. People always look only at the completed results. They don't know how much blood, sweat, and tears are needed to create those results."
The head butler stopped in front of the warm meat corner. He glanced at Erika's plate. There was still empty space left.
"Ah, I recommend the lamb. The rosemary scent here is exquisite. There's nothing better than this when you're first getting into lamb."
"Ah... yes."
Clatter. The head butler picked up the silver tongs and placed the meat directly onto Erika's plate.
"...!"
As Erika flinched and tried to pull back, he continued softly. "Miss. Would you answer this old man's question?"
Looking at the steaming steak, he murmured, "A noble born with nobility engraved in their bloodline. A genius who is gifted talent by the gods and changes the world with ease. And..."
The head butler's gaze slowly reached Erika. "A person born with nothing, yet who shoulders a noble mission alone and walks a thorny path."
His eyes sank deeply. "Among these, what do you think is the most shining title?"
Erika held her breath. She wanted to answer, but her lips wouldn't move easily. It wasn't because she didn't know the answer. It was because she intuited the weight she would have to bear the moment she spoke that answer aloud.
Perhaps he read that hesitation. The head butler's eyes curved softly. "You don't have to answer right now. If the clothes are too big, you just have to grow your body to fit them. I see enough potential in you, miss."
"..."
"Now, let's go. The meat will get cold."
As if he had never talked about anything heavy, the old man returned to his kind smile and turned his steps toward the dessert corner. Then, suddenly, as if he had remembered something, he stopped and whispered to Erika, just loud enough for her to hear.
"By the way, did you know?"
"?"
"This old man also used to eat No. 13 budget blocks back in the day, and I hated it more than anything in the world when cricket legs got stuck in my teeth."
"...Oh?"
No. 13 budget block. It was a cricket nutrition bar provided to the poor by this city to maintain minimal labor. And for the head butler of Sanctum Hill to mention that fact... Erika's eyes widened.
But the head butler put his index finger to his lips and winked. "There's no reason you can't do it, miss, so you can be confident."
"...!"
He bowed politely and turned his back to her. "Please have a good meal, miss."
Left behind, Erika couldn't move for a long time. In the middle of the noisy buffet's clamor, the plate she was holding felt incredibly heavy.