Hey Magpie, Stop Repaying the Favor Already
“Lord Ideon Caldia,” Iriniel said, her voice steady. “The man who helped me take revenge for my father. A person of such immense ability that comparing myself to you would be laughable.”
“W-wait a second. Why are you suddenly dropping to your knees on the floor….”
“If you’ll permit it, I wish to remain with this merchant guild and continue assisting you. While I’m at it, I can pursue my father’s revenge as well.”
“…….”
“I still have so many shortcomings. Please teach me.”
I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, ‘I genuinely don’t care, so please just get lost!’ but I barely managed to swallow the words.
The person before me was one of the Seven Stars, beings known to possess strength capable of opposing the Original Prisoners. In fact, she was said to be the strongest among those seven.
‘At this point in time, even if we clashed, the best I could hope for would be mutual destruction or a narrow victory where I barely cling to life….’
No, even now, here I was comparing combat potential like the stale veteran gamer I was. I pressed hard on my temples, trying to organize my complicated thoughts.
“I understand what you’re trying to say. For now, please stand up. I should at least hear why you’re suddenly doing this.”
“…….”
Yet even after I spoke, Iriniel didn’t rise. She remained on her knees, only lifting her head slightly to look up at me.
“While fighting the Tearful Marionette this time, I realized it in my bones.”
Her voice had lost nearly all the arrogance and haughtiness it once carried—the confidence that naturally belonged to the continent’s strongest.
“If you hadn’t been there, I would have foolishly tried to fight the Original Prisoner at full strength in a fair duel for the sake of revenge, only to meet a dog’s death. No, from the very beginning, if not for your perfect information and insight in that cathedral, I would have been torn to shreds by the Marionette’s threads and died.”
Her tone was calm as she fully acknowledged her own weakness and limitations. But right after, the light in her eyes as she gazed at me burned with far more blind devotion than even Elenoa’s had in the corridor earlier.
“That’s why I want to receive your teachings. I want to borrow your wisdom so I can personally tear apart my remaining enemies with my own hands.”
“…….”
“Of course, I require no escort fees or compensation. In fact, beyond working for free, you may use my name as one of the Seven Stars however you wish if it benefits the Caldia Merchant Guild. I would gladly act as a figurehead for your exclusive bodyguard. This is a bit embarrassing to say, but I know very well how beautiful I am. If you want, I can even pluck one of my Holy Wing Feathers for you once a month.”
Oh, a Holy Wing Feather? That SSS-grade cheat item that permanently increases your mana pool by ten percent just by owning it! Back when it was available as an event reward, I could only get two and felt so—
‘—disappointed, not excited, you idiot.’
I nearly drooled and snatched up the offer on the spot. Get a grip, Ideon Caldia. You have to stay sane.
I coldly calculated the destructive power that would erupt the moment a Seven Stars title entered the guild under my command.
‘Yeah… no. Absolutely not.’
The conclusion came in less than a second. The guild was already drowning in commission requests thanks to the nonsense coming out of the Iregos Principality. If I added the title of exclusive Seven Stars retainer on top of that? It was obvious that hundreds, even thousands of exclusive contracts from every kingdom and noble on the continent would come pouring in that very day.
And none of them would have anything to do with the perfect bankruptcy plan I had devised. They would be pure, one-hundred-percent black-ink contracts that would only inflate the guild’s size in the most ridiculous way!
Still, I had no justification to coldly drive away someone who had come to me of her own free will.
‘Then there’s only one method. I’ll have to thoroughly work her to the bone from dawn to dusk until she runs away on her own two feet.’
If I really put my heart into exploiting her, she—who had never experienced a lifetime of hardship—would surely exhaust herself and leave soon enough.
At the same time, a small part of my mind briefly entertained another possibility.
‘Maybe I should raise her from now on and prepare her for the main dark fantasy strategy?’
For a moment I thought it wouldn’t be so bad… but unfortunately, I immediately discarded the idea. The current Iriniel had only barely managed to win against a Tearful Marionette that hadn’t even used half its power, and that was only because I had grabbed her by the collar and spoon-fed her the weaknesses. Raising her to the point where she could be used for the main strategy would require an absurd amount of time and capital.
In that case, it would be better to stick to the original plan: ruin the guild, evacuate my family to the Ertio Peninsula, and move myself. The timing wouldn’t be all that different.
In the end, the only correct answer was my original goal—‘guild bankruptcy.’
I let out a short sigh and extended my hand toward Iriniel.
“If your resolve is that firm… then fine.”
At my permission, Iriniel’s expression brightened like the sun. But I added in a cold, utterly merciless voice:
“Instead, I will thoroughly use you as this world’s Hermes.”
Iriniel clasped my outstretched hand with both of hers and tilted her head.
“Who is Hermes? Well… never mind. Thank you so much for accepting me.”
“There is such a being. A very pitiful person who works their bones off beneath the highest gods.”
It had been two weeks since I started using Iriniel as an excellent communications officer. Or rather, as my second Hermes.
And today, as always, the guild’s business was going far too well.
“Guild Leader Ideon Caldia! Please sell me just one Holy Wing Feather! I’ll pay one thousand… no, three thousand gold coins!!”
“Ignore Count Tarver and listen to me! I’ll supply the Tira Beer that Duke Caldia loves at a ten percent discount, and I’ll pay three thousand five hundred gold coins!”
“I don’t need any of that, so please just give me one chance to supply decorative daggers to our Polia territory! I will prove their value!”
A scene that had repeated every single day for the past ten days—a nightmare that existed only for me.
Ever since the news that Iriniel—the Seven Stars known as the Wing of Repentance—had joined the Caldia Merchant Guild quietly spread through the empire’s social circles, nobles blinded by greed had thrown away all dignity and begun swarming the guild lobby.
These people had even somehow learned the rumor that the feathers Iriniel ‘personally plucked and gifted’ had far better effects than the ones she occasionally shed.
Thanks to that, they were throwing around enormous sums of money that even most nobles would never touch in their lifetimes—three times, four times the original value.
‘I’m seriously going to die of exhaustion.’
I pressed hard on my temples and let out a long sigh. I was already losing my mind trying to handle the flood of commission requests, and now I had to deal with nobles camping out in the lobby every day just to buy a single feather.
What made it even worse was Elenoa’s attitude as she stood beside me. The former elite vice guild leader who once seemed like she wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a needle had completely vanished. She calmly and skillfully managed the incoming nobles, but whenever she had a spare moment she would shoot me those burdensome, blindly expectant eyes.
It was the face of someone who couldn’t wait to see what miraculous insight I would use to resolve this chaos this time.
My head was pounding so badly I thought I would go insane, so I finally decided to make use of the situation.
‘Fine. If I can’t control it with money, I’ll gather a bunch of junk that money can’t buy and tank the guild’s asset value.’
I put on the most natural merchant smile I could manage and raised my voice toward the noisy lobby.
“So all of you desire the Holy Wing Feathers of Lady Iriniel the Atoning Winged One that badly?”
“…….”
With a single sentence, the bustling lobby fell as silent as if cold water had been poured over it.
“Very well. I will hold an auction four days from now. Each of you may bring the most noble item you can offer. Ah, for reference, I value quality far more than quantity.”
Gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing dryly rang out clearly.
“D-does that mean…?”
“Exactly. If an item truly catches my fancy, I will gladly trade for it even if its monetary value is somewhat lacking. And for this special occasion….”
I deliberately trailed off, tormenting their anticipation.
“I will personally ask Lady Iriniel to pluck her feathers while pouring blessings meant solely for others into them!”
“Waaaaaaaaah—!!”
Before I even finished speaking, the nobles erupted in cheers and scrambled to leave the lobby. They looked ready to race back to their territories and empty their family vaults completely.
I stared blankly at the suddenly empty lobby, then turned to Elenoa standing beside me.
“Prepare the auction exactly as I just described. You will oversee the proceedings, Elenoa.”
“Understood, Guild Leader.”
Elenoa bowed without asking a single question. Well, at least this part was convenient. I used to get tired of having to convince her every single time.
Late that night, I sat alone in the empty guild leader’s office, examining the new report and letter that had arrived from the northern territories via Baroness Lilian Rumien’s household.
The moment I turned to the third page, my hands began to tremble violently.
“Haa… seriously, just stop already! Stop!!”
The report’s contents were utterly shocking.
Recently, a horde of monsters that had flowed out from the Forest of Disaster near the Marvas Margraveship had attacked their territory. Yet the Rumien barony had repelled them with ridiculous ease and zero casualties.
And they hadn’t even used the magitech cannons or magic like before. The sword I had accidentally awakened in Barundal had sliced through the monsters’ hides in a single stroke, and the wasteland purified by the mana stones had provided such clear visibility that their defensive battle had been flawlessly executed.
In short, it was a report that once again raised the value of the Caldia Merchant Guild and my own insight. It even mentioned that upon hearing the news, the Marvas Margrave had highly evaluated the northern pioneering project and sent a massive amount of additional investment funds.
‘They’ve already recovered twenty percent of the money I invested in buying the mansion site and weapons?’
I had gone through so much trouble to waste that money! Every blunder I had made in my attempt to bankrupt the guild had transformed into a goose that laid golden eggs, swelling the guild’s accounts even further.
Thud!
I finally hurled the letter onto the desk. Then I clutched my hair with both hands and collapsed onto the surface.
“Aaaah… my head hurts so much! It hurts!!”
Please, just stop already!!