Chapter 155
The short date was over.
Thanks to it, I’d managed to spend a pleasant stretch with Jung Hayan, and I’d also gotten a rough sense of how Castle Rock was running. You could call it market research, if you wanted. I had a natural feel for the price level here, for which goods were expensive and which were cheap.
If I had to give the city an overall evaluation, I’d call it more than satisfactory. Castle Rock was in far better shape than I’d expected.
Maybe that should’ve been obvious.
The hunting grounds around Lindel were already mostly saturated. There were plenty of jobs, of course, but there were just as many people trying to get them.
Compared to that, Castle Rock still had work in abundance. In that sense, it was hardly wrong to call it a rising city.
It had plenty of resources, and the free citizens had already put down some roots, which meant it was not only a strategic hub but an economic one as well.
This is more useful than I thought.
I was even starting to think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to buy up a few plots of land.
Merchants and adventurers were both active, and there was plenty of demand for everyday necessities too.
What amused me a little was this.
A warning sign?
The city didn’t look like a place where something disastrous was about to happen.
If Kim Hyunsung was right, something would happen here within the month. Our regressor had told me, based on several pieces of evidence, that Castle Rock was in danger, and that was why we’d come here on this expedition in the first place.
And yet Castle Rock itself was peace incarnate.
The people here didn’t seem to care at all about the signs Kim Hyunsung had mentioned.
It was possible he’d made the whole thing up to begin with, but anyone could see that the current Castle Rock was at ease.
It was probably similar in the first turn too. They must have gone on like this, without a shred of preparation, until an accident blew everything apart in an instant.
The people here probably all died.
I figured Marlin and Small Rock probably hadn’t been exceptions.
“It’s lucky for the people here, then.”
“Huh? What did you say, Oppa?”
“I was just saying that after looking around a bit, I think I’ve got a handle on the quality of the potions being circulated here. In that sense, they’re lucky.”
“Ah! You mean they’re lucky that they can use the potions you made!”
“Right. Like I said before, Castle Rock is short on priests. The potions here are awful. Compared to the potions I make, they’re even worse. Honestly, they feel just a little short of being children’s toys.”
“I see.”
“Of course, it hasn’t been long since alchemists as a whole started improving, but… demand is high, so even garbage like that still sells. Castle Rock has it good….”
“I see!”
“I didn’t expect the Small Rock Guild to be making potions too.”
“I see!!”
Jung Hayan kept throwing out cheerful affirmations, and I smiled faintly as I walked on. Soon the Small Rock Guild came into view.
Pretty flashy.
The guild house itself was so grand it could almost be called gaudy. It occupied a fairly large lot.
I didn’t know much about architecture, but it had the feel of a place that had been built with quality materials. Overall, it gave off a strong sense of showmanship.
Even Red Mercenary isn’t this bad….
That was exactly the kind of man he was, just as I’d thought. He cared about appearances and was faithful to his own ambition.
As soon as I went inside, I could feel the eyes turning toward me. There was no need to be awkward. In fact, being confident was better.
I answered the greeting of a guild employee who came over to me with a vague nod, then after speaking with the guide who arrived immediately after, I headed to the reception room, where I finally saw our Jungwook again.
Of course, I could also see several other guild members beside him. Their abilities weren’t bad, and I wasn’t sure whether they were trying to put on a show of force, but the atmosphere around them was vicious.
It was the first time we’d met since that ugly incident on the main road.
As expected, his expression was anything but pleasant.
Of course it isn’t.
He’d been utterly humiliated in front of everyone.
For a man with ambition, face was surely important too. Someone like him would naturally keep that sort of thing festering inside.
So what? What are you going to do about it?
In a situation where the hierarchy was crystal clear, there was no need to pretend to be the subordinate.
That was true both on Earth and here.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yes. Blue Vice Guild Master. It has been a while.”
“Haha. Our first meeting wasn’t exactly pleasant, but it’s nice to see you like this.”
“Yes. Very nice to see you, Lee Kiyoung.”
“Haha. Relax your expression a little, Small Rock Master. Anyone watching would think we were enemies.”
“……”
“This is painful to see, Jungwook. If you keep staring like that, even I’m going to start feeling unpleasant.”
“……”
“It’s an important meeting, after all. Haha.”
“For someone who’s supposedly heading into an important meeting, you seem awfully relaxed, Blue Vice Guild Master. Taking it easy with a date at midday… it makes the rest of us feel like fools for preparing. No matter how much fame you’ve been making for yourself in Lindel lately….”
“Yes. Yes. Yes….”
“Our Castle Rock is not some subcontractor or underling of Lindel. Surely you should know enough to show some respect, Lee Kiyoung.”
“You seem a little sharp around the edges, Jungwook. Haha.”
“I’m not joking with you right now, Blue Vice Guild Master.”
“Looks like there’s been some misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding….”
“When I said it was an important meeting, I was speaking to Small Rock, not to me. For me, it’s not much of an important meeting at all. That’s right. Ha. Are you saying that before coming to a meeting like this, I’m not even allowed to take a date with the person I love? Pfft.”
“You….”
“And… I’m not sure whether you were shadowing us or what, but I have to say I’m a little disappointed in our Jungwook here. Isn’t this an obvious violation of privacy?”
His face was so twisted it was almost comic. It felt like he still couldn’t understand what I was saying.
I miss Ito Souta.
A man with ambition should at least have a nose for power… if he didn’t, then there really was a problem.
Even though I was already dropping hint after hint, he kept up that attitude. Apparently he’d been thoroughly offended. For a man who’d built up a guild this size, his thinking was remarkably narrow.
Huh.
He had done enough to deserve being hated, but maybe there was one more reason he couldn’t help but dislike me.
For instance…
Lady Marlin?
It wasn’t impossible. A man with a strong appetite for power using an immature noble young lady as a ladder to climb was the sort of thing that happened everywhere.
I realized there was quite a lot tangled up between us, and it was more entertaining than I’d expected.
So after Cho Hyejin, now it’s Marlin?
As I kept smiling with that annoying little grin of mine, he clearly couldn’t stand it anymore and spoke up at once.
“Please go back now. I thought it might be good to meet once, since Lady Marlin arranged it, but I really don’t want to work with someone who doesn’t know manners.”
“Ah, you’re sending us back already? Small Rock Guild Master?”
“I’m speaking politely, Blue Vice Guild Master. Small Rock will not do any business with Blue. No, it’s not just Small Rock. None of the guilds or clans in Castle Rock will want to work with Blue.”
“You’ll regret that.”
“I won’t ask politely twice. If you don’t want to be forced out, sit down and be quiet.”
“I’m also not going to ask politely twice, Small Rock Guild Master. Before you get any more worked up, I’d like you to hear me out first.”
“……”
“I’ll take that as permission. Pfft. Let me explain slowly. Jungwook, have you ever seen or heard of something like this on Earth? Young people, or artists, starting to gather in a particular district.”
“What are you….”
“Listen first. Pfft! I don’t know exactly how it happens, but in any case, when young people and artists gather by chance, they slowly start developing a district and its streets. The methods differ, of course. They paint murals, open shops with unique and unusual concepts, build their own festivals and culture, and gradually transform the place.”
“……”
“The media quickly focuses on that district. A neighborhood built by artists! They go on and on about how it’s full of good restaurants… pfft. Social media stars and celebrities who call themselves influencers wander through the place the artists and young people made as if it were their own backyard, and the area keeps getting more famous. You’ve probably seen a lot of this.”
“So… what does that have to do with our situation?”
“Places like that, you see, may look impressive at first. But in the end, they always meet a painful ending.”
“……”
“Because then the big money comes in and bursts through the door.”
“Wha….”
“The landlords who’d been coasting along and enjoying the honey soon raise the rent and the monthly fees and drive out the young artists who created the city’s glory. The expelled artists cry blood, but there’s nothing they can do. They’re at the bottom of the ladder, after all. I’ve already talked long enough, but in the end, those people lose the ground beneath their feet. So very futilely.”
His face was twisted now.
“Just when that happens, large franchise companies and local business owners who want a taste of the money rush in, and the streets once owned by the young artists end up in the hands of the existing powers with the biggest capital. Here’s the problem. In this situation, who are the young artists, and who are the big corporations with the huge capital?”
I could see his lips trembling.
“Who is it that has the capital and influence to shake up your way of life?”
His pupils were shaking.
“Who is it that has a product capable of shaking the market economy?”
His fingertips twitched.
“Who exactly is on intimate terms with Red Mercenary and the Black Swan, was appointed Honorary Bishop by the cardinal of the Holy See, and is on very close terms with the young lady of Castle Rock?”
Of course, they reacted right away.
I’d expected one of two things: either they’d lie flat and submit, or they’d bristle. Apparently they’d chosen the latter.
At least Small Rock’s Jungwook, the guild master himself, was watching me silently, but the men behind him were already opening their mouths as though they were about to shout themselves hoarse with red faces.
“What nonsense is that supposed to be!”
“Why wouldn’t it make sense?”
For a moment, their faces seemed to go white.
They were trembling as if they’d been threatened. Their expressions were full of fear.
Of course, they weren’t trembling because of what I said. The answer was obvious if you followed the direction of their gaze.
Their eyes had fixed on Jung Hayan, who was standing quietly behind me.
Goddamn… that’s creepy.
Jung Hayan was glaring at them with a face so frightening even I could feel the chill of it.
Yeah. Better cancel the marriage idea.