Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: His Demon Gradually Approaching
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"What is it?"
Carter tilted his head at Esther's words.
Esther looked at Carter, who had a slightly fierce impression with his sharp gaze, and hardened her resolve. This was the best option.
Carter was the man who had worked hardest to protect this place. Even in the past. Until the very end, when everyone began to leave the merchant group, Carter had held his ground.
His steadfast figure, sitting at the desk plastered with seizure notices and handling work, was still vividly clear in her mind.
Esther knew Carter's abilities better than anyone. Yes, she could entrust it to this man.
"Once Father's work is successfully completed, I plan to step down from the position of merchant guild master."
"Pardon? What on earth do you mean?"
Carter's face, which had been amicable just moments ago, twisted, emphasizing his fierce features.
Esther wasn't greatly surprised, as she had anticipated such a reaction from him.
"Are you saying you're leaving this merchant group? This place that holds your entire life's work, the place you've been with since childhood... you're abandoning it?"
Carter's jaw trembled noticeably.
Seeing Carter's emotional side for the first time left Esther a bit flustered.
His sharp gaze and the eyes burning fiercely within it turned toward Esther, filled with resentment.
"Do you even realize what words just came out of your mouth, Guild Master?"
Esther knew. It was the merchant group she had never given up on, even through those harsh past days.
And what had been the result? She had endured a hope torture, clinging to nonsense like miracles only happening when you make them happen.
In the end, all that returned to Esther was a miserable death.
"I know."
"......"
Carter was at a loss for words at Esther's serious demeanor, which couldn't simply be dismissed as youthful folly. Esther recalled her past and spoke.
"You know it too, don't you, Carter? How undeserving this position is for me, how lacking my abilities are."
"It's just that you haven't adjusted yet. Everyone gets flustered with new experiences. I was worried about it too, but didn't you find wise countermeasures even in trade matters?"
No. That hadn't been her idea. She had merely organized what her colleagues said and spoke on their behalf.
"This position is too much for me. I show no aptitude whatsoever as a manager."
"Haven't you shown prominence in accounting matters?"
It felt novel to see Carter, who had never shared such deep conversations with her in the past, trying so hard to persuade her. But Esther's mind was already made up.
"You know that the qualities needed for a guild master aren't just accounting skills."
"Well......"
"And I'm the one who feels most acutely how inadequate my abilities are. How long do you think I can handle everything with just luck and quick thinking, when I'm already thrust into the real fray?"
"We can build it up together."
"No."
Esther already knew the right answer.
Once, she had thought the same, but what awaited her was failure and a wretched end due to her wrong choices.
Call her a coward if you must. Esther knew she could no longer bear that weight.
"Today, the Emperor proposed a deal regarding Dran Oil."
"His Majesty the Emperor?"
Carter visibly frowned as he asked.
"He offered to buy it cheap, saying the prospects for the goods are bleak. But I don't think so."
Carter nodded as if agreeing with Esther's words.
The real issue started now.
In the past, amid the negative market reactions, she had sold everything to the Emperor, who contacted her at just the right timing with a contract offer.
At the time, she thought it fortunate, but then the Emperor served food using Dran at a banquet for the nobles.
The promotional effect caused the product's value to skyrocket soon after.
And a few days later, when they learned the Imperial Palace had sold the remaining stock to nobles at even higher prices, the merchant group's morale had plummeted—she knew it all too well.
"Once the product gains recognition and the merchant group becomes famous, deals of all sizes, countless contracts, will come flooding in. Everyone will be busy handling them."
"......"
"And I'll have a ton more to handle alone."
Esther swept her gaze over the papers strewn across her desk, feeling a bitter pang.
She hadn't managed to clear them all. Her failure as guild master was proven by past experience.
Esther knew the right answer, and the best choice she could make.
Staying put like this would burden everyone—she felt it bone-deep.
"I lack both the perfect ability and experience to handle it. I've thought about it a lot. Who this merchant group truly needs."
"......"
"Someone deeply knowledgeable in the merchant group and management, who can pursue maximum profit through reason, not emotion."
And finally, someone who could love and cherish this merchant group more than anyone.
If there was someone who could do it all, she felt she could entrust her home to them.
And Esther knew exactly who that person was.
"No way...... Guild Master?"
Carter caught Esther's silent gaze and widened his eyes at the sudden realization.
As if anticipating the follow-up, he asked her with trembling eyes. As expected, a quick man, Esther thought once more.
"Carter, I believe you are the one who should become this merchant group's representative."
"What do you......!"
Carter waved his hands in denial, but Esther's mind was set.
"I know Father discussed many things with you when he was alive. That means he trusted you that much."
"To give the guild master's position over something like that......! You know I wouldn't be able to face Master Ete then."
"Carter, this is a conclusion I reached after much deliberation."
She had pretended not to notice her shortcomings and struggled to handle the piling work. But Esther had to admit that effort alone couldn't protect the merchant group.
She needed abilities worthy of safeguarding it.
"I heard the place where Father first started his business was Mother's hometown."
"You mean Ravins?"
Carter asked, recalling what Ete had told him of his childhood.
Esther had heard the story countless times from Ete too. Mother's beauty had been so striking, and he had settled there upon marrying her.
After Mother passed, they left Ravins and settled in the capital.
"Yes. I want to build my skills steadily from there."
"......"
"I'm not leaving completely. I know I can't run away. This is my home, after all."
Esther needed to grow her skills. Simply repeating life wouldn't make her abilities grow noticeably.
At first, she had seriously considered fleeing......
"Once I've honed my skills enough to pull my own weight as one person, I'll definitely return."
It was a worry she had mulled over in her heart hundreds of times.
Whether to leave this place and live freely without ever setting foot in the capital again, or to rebuild it once more with the merchant group members.
And Esther presented the answer she herself had forged to Carter.
"When I can proudly prove my abilities are helpful here, I want to protect the merchant group alongside all of you."
Carter, who had first glared at her with anger-filled eyes, seemed to calm his emotions as his tone softened, falling into serious contemplation.
"Please."
"......"
A silence like one minute stretched into an hour passed between them. Carter broke it first, sighing deeply, crossing his arms, and muttering as if conceding defeat.
"I have a condition."
"What is it?"
Esther nodded at Carter's tacit agreement and asked.
"Now that the trade ship has set sail and you've shown your face to the Emperor as guild master, it's tough to leave right now. At least stay until this matter concludes."
Esther nodded at his words.
She hadn't planned to leave before then anyway. She intended to depart after securing a stable position, so she had no objections.
"And one more thing. This is far more important."
"What is it?"
Carter noticed Esther's tension, her hands clenched tightly.
From childhood, that little girl had always tensed up around him. He hadn't known the once-small girl could think such thoughts now. Though not his own child, emotion welled up unbidden.
"You must return. Until then, I'll hold this position temporarily."
As he spoke, Carter took the hand of Esther, who had once been that little girl he had pondered over long ago.
Thinking how delighted his old boss and friend Ete would be to see this, he couldn't hide his bittersweet feelings.
For Esther, the conversation with Carter had unexpectedly been affectionate and comforting.
As a child, his sharp eyes had frightened her, and after becoming guild master, their clashing views had only driven them apart, or so she thought. But today's Carter had shown worry for her while trying to trust her.
"He was someone I should have been so grateful for......"
As she reproached herself for foolishly keeping distance, someone knocked on Esther's door.
"Come in."
The unexpected visitor was Carter, whom she had just been speaking with. The only difference was the single sheet of paper in his hand.
"What is it?"
"You're still the guild master for now, so you should handle some work. It'll be good to familiarize yourself since you'll need to do it when you return someday."
Carter, now close enough to tease her playfully, smirked slightly as he placed the document on Esther's desk.
Esther chuckled and picked up the paper. But as she read it, her expression hardened instantly.
"What is this?"
Carter, sensing something off from her darkened face, examined the document here and there before speaking.
"It's exactly a week until we deliver goods to the Imperial Palace. How about going together? Moreover......"
As Esther stared at the part emphasized with colored pencil, Carter followed her gaze there too.
"It was quite unusual, which surprised me, but someone wants to meet with the guild master to discuss new business."
The emphasized part read: 'Seeking to discuss new matters, a meeting with the guild master is necessary.'
Esther realized it immediately. Helios—that man—was summoning her.