Chapter 37: The First Secret Plan (1)
Chapter 37: The First Secret Plan (1)
Translation: Godtl
Gideon Belheim meticulously examined the documents containing the "secret plan."
Jurgen occasionally responded to his questions.
About thirty minutes later.
"This is quite the stinging counterpunch."
Gideon stroked his beard and smiled.
His gaze remained firmly fixed on Jurgen.
"Forgive me if this is impertinent... but Mr. Jurgen, are you affiliated with any particular noble house?"
"None whatsoever."
"Hmm, I see. If that's the case, then. Regardless, this is truly impressive. Remarkable."
If he had appeared as a cold-blooded banker until now, he somehow resembled a chess player before a board at this moment.
His refreshing smile betrayed an unexpected enjoyment of the game unfolding before him.
"To think you'd possess not one, but two game changers up your sleeve."
"Just preparing for contingencies."
"Is this technology actually feasible?"
"This is the technical feasibility review prepared by the Lenoir Workshop. Prototyping has already begun."
Penelope showed him the review document Serena had prepared.
Every page bore the Lenoir family seal, shimmering like a hologram.
"You've prepared quite thoroughly."
The documents demonstrated that Y&P had a real chance of winning this war.
They proved they weren't desperate enough to eat poisoned rice.
In other words, there was room to renegotiate terms.
"Since the board has changed, I assume you'll be proposing new terms as well."
"Yes. Rather than an investment requiring equity sharing, we'd like to secure a loan of 10,000 crowns."
"A loan instead of investment..."
"Of course, we'll provide fees in addition to interest payments."
Gideon tapped his temple thoughtfully.
Penelope swallowed hard as she waited for his response.
After all, Jurgen's game changers could only achieve maximum success with Belheim's support.
Please agree...
Please.
"It was impressive."
"Then does that mean..."
"But a simple loan wouldn't receive approval from our bank. Even if it did, for such a high-risk venture, we'd demand corresponding equity to offset the risk."
Jurgen's secret plan was essentially a high-stakes gamble.
Ultimately, it was just that—a gamble.
From Devbun Trust's perspective, the cola business probably wasn't worth gambling on.
'From Devbun Trust's perspective,' that is.
"Then it seems we've reached an impasse."
"Thank you for your hospitality. Next time, I'll treat you to dinner."
Just as Jurgen and Penelope exchanged glances and began to rise from their seats.
"Wait."
As expected, Gideon raised a finger to stop them.
"Give me time to think."
Gideon deliberated.
Y&P wanted a 10,000 crown loan without offering any equity.
Moreover, they were requesting Devbun Trust's network and cooperation.
The secret plan was a good idea, but even if successful, there was no guarantee of capturing 100% market share.
In other words, the risk remained high.
Even as department head, he couldn't bypass the bank's procedures.
If he presented Penelope's proposal as-is, Devbun Trust likely wouldn't act.
But this beverage war involved Keystone Company and Rex Salisbury.
Rex Salisbury—eighth seat on the Grey Council, head of Salisbury Financial.
Devbun Trust received funds from high-ranking nobles to provide loans or investments to baronets and emerging businesses.
However, Devbun Trust's true nature leaned more toward corporate predator than investment bank.
One of their primary revenue models involved acquiring quality collateral assets when debtor companies defaulted.
Sometimes they even intervened directly to force companies into default.
The problem was Salisbury Financial's involvement at this stage.
Those vultures would swoop in just before collateral execution, offering high-interest refinancing loans.
They'd pay off the company's debts then impose murderous interest rates.
Rather than losing everything to the bank, debtors would cling to Rex's coattails and be bled dry for life.
While Devbun Trust could recover principal and interest, Salisbury Financial would snatch away the quality collateral assets they'd originally targeted.
Gideon had been forced to watch Rex steal his hard-earned prey time and again.
You wouldn't understand unless you've been through it yourself.
It really makes your blood boil.
But what if, with the money and power Belheim lends them, Y&P succeeds in counterattacking?
Rex, acting as Keystone Company's lackey, would be in for a pretty nasty surprise.
Judging by the current scale of operations, Rex must have invested quite a bit himself.
This could turn into quite the spectacle.
"Very well."
A conclusion had been reached.
"A loan through the bank is still out of the question... but I'll lend you my personal funds. I'll even help you find a 'partner' to collaborate on this plan."
Belheim secretly anticipated their astonished or grateful reactions.
An offer this unconventional certainly warranted such expectations.
He was even prepared to proudly explain his decisiveness and the reasoning behind his generosity.
But.
Contrary to his expectations, the two showed neither surprise nor shock.
They remained perfectly composed, as if they had already known Belheim would make such an offer.
"Ahem..."
Their unshaken composure forced Belheim to mask his bewilderment with a cough.
Had they misunderstood him?
Or had he misspoken?
Then, a single hypothesis flashed through his mind.
"Well, well, well..."
Belheim finally realized.
Penelope and Jurgen hadn't come to Devbun Trust Bank—they had come to see Gideon Belheim.
From the very beginning, they had considered the rivalry between Belheim and Rex and arrived with the proposal, "Shall we screw that bastard over together?"
In other words, they had outmaneuvered him.
"Turns out I wasn't the one holding the upper hand."
Who would've thought these two, whom he hadn't expected much from, would pull off such a brilliant joint play?
This was exactly why he couldn't quit this line of work.
"Lady Penelope, you're far more fearsome than you appear."
"You flatter me."
Belheim, who had been maintaining a serious expression, broke into a delighted grin.
Penelope's lips curled slightly as well.
"Yes, Baron. The factory construction is proceeding smoothly. Understood. Keep up the good work... You goddamn son of a bitch."
The moment his call with Baron Keystone ended, Rex spat out a curse.
"He's got an uncanny nose for sniffing out money... and now he's even making me foot the bill for building the factory. Got me by the ankle, didn't he?"
The bastard kept demanding additional investments without even realizing whose efforts had made Berry Mix this successful in the first place.
It was a ploy to tie Rex down so he couldn't turn around and stab him in the back later.
Rex was an ambitious man.
Not that anyone on the Grey Council lacked ambition, but in his own estimation, no one matched his decisiveness.
Even before the board's designated "month of concession" had ended, he had sought out Baron Keystone.
He had conspired with him to devour Nortaris' beverage market together.
The Baron, who had already been salivating at the prospect, agreed to the proposal immediately.
He gathered every last bottle of Berry Mix stock from Golden Hill, Riverport, and Billstone and, despite the losses, flooded Nortaris with them.
In the first week alone, the volume reached two million bottles.
Now, entering the third week, over 2.5 million bottles had been released into the market.
Rex employed various methods to suppress Cola while simultaneously paving the way for Berry Mix to swiftly fill the distribution gap.
With each passing day, the tide of the market share war leaned further in Berry Mix's favor.
Encouraged, Rex and Baron Keystone prepared to drive the final nail into the coffin.
The topic of their earlier call—the establishment of a local manufacturing plant in Nortaris—was part of that plan.
Liquids are heavy.
The bottles that contain them are fragile.
Even now, every single bottle of Berry Mix sold incurred losses due to insane distribution costs.
Now that they had seized the market, it was time to secure profitability.
Keystone was in the process of constructing the largest beverage factory possible in the new industrial district at breakneck speed.
Keystone had pulled out all the stops, pouring maximum funds into the factory's construction.
Rex, too, had contributed half the capital under the guise of investment.
They had paid above market price to acquire the land in their haste, but timing was everything in matters like this.
The loss was worth taking.
Word had it that Y&P Trading was scrambling to build a second factory, but it was already too late.
The difference in scale alone was fivefold.
"You want to be even more certain, don't you..."
But Rex wanted greater assurance.
After all, Cola was a popular product.
The current market share of Berry Mix stemmed solely from Cola's supply shortages.
There was always the possibility it could catch up later.
Well, there'd be ways to handle that when the time came... but was there any need to wait?
Rex had violence at his disposal.
The outlaw organization 'Jet Black Group,' stationed in the Demon Realm, was under his command.
"Penelope is off-limits..."
Even knowing the rumors about her influence over the Grey Council were baseless, directly targeting Penelope still felt unwise.
She might be a weed, but she was a poisonous flower blooming in the Rosemore garden.
Rex had no desire to follow in Brighton's footsteps.
"As for that commoner..."
Jurgen, who held half the shares.
Though his origins were suspicious, he was far easier prey than Penelope.
But given how closely he stuck to Penelope, opportunities would be hard to come by.
"In that case..."
There was, in fact, a perfect target.
Someone both vulnerable and deeply entangled in this Cola business.
"Huuu..."
Twenty days had passed since Serena accepted Penelope's new commission.
Twenty days since Serena last slept in her own bed at home.
"I can't... I can't do this anymore..."
"Young Lady, you should go home and rest today."
"Should I...?"
Since becoming team leader at the Lenoir Workshop, Serena had never been this swamped with work—but this was excessive.
Beyond excessive.
Yet she couldn't delegate it to anyone else.
Not just because she couldn't bear handing over such achievements to another workshop...
The new equipment installed for this project contained Y&P Trading Company's core technology.
It was also part of their secret plan to counter Keystone Company.
'Both of our secret plans must proceed under the strictest confidentiality, Miss Lenoir.'
Even more surprising was the unexpected visitor who had personally come to emphasize this.
None other than the head of Devbun Trust Bank himself had descended to deliver the warning.
Somehow, the two of them had dragged one of Nortaris' key players into this war.
"How big is this going to get...? I... I'm so scared..."
But that wasn't all.
Serena couldn't shake the vivid memory of her conversation with the bank director.
While inspecting the equipment, Director Belheim had subtly probed when they were alone:
'Do you happen to know which family Jurgen belongs to?'
'Huh...? I-I don't really know. Only that he's very capable...'
'I thought someone of your standing might have an idea. Beaumont? Brunet? Pelford?'
'I-I truly don't know... I'm sorry I couldn't be of help...'
Assuming Jurgen was concealing his identity, Serena had dodged the question.
She couldn't risk carelessly provoking the scrutiny of an industry senior.
But in hindsight, it was strange.
Belheim had casually asked which family Jurgen belonged to—as if it were a given.
Even though Jurgen had been introduced as a commoner.
Serena's timid radar quickly pieced together the truth.
Director Belheim hadn't been asking out of genuine curiosity about Jurgen's identity.
He had been testing whether Serena was the type to carelessly leak information.
She distinctly remembered him ending their conversation with a meaningful smile.
'I was being imprudent. The heavier the lips, the better.'
Translated into high-society speak, that meant:
'Well done. Keep it up.'
What if she had said something like, 'Now that you mention it, I think so too,' or named a specific family?
Serena couldn't help but shiver.
The realization that she had stepped into the real world was thrilling, exhilarating, and full of anticipation...
...and utterly exhausting.
"I'm going home for now..."
"A wise decision. We'll handle the rest."
"Indeed. Get some proper rest."
At least her home was near the workshop.
Just eight solid hours of sleep—that's all she needed.
Sleep deprivation was the enemy of good skin.
As Serena trudged forward, shoulders slumped—
—VROOOOM!!!
A vehicle roared up fiercely behind her.
"Huh? Wha—...?"
By the time the momentarily halted car sped off again, only swirling dust remained in its wake.