Chapter 292
Chapter 292
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 292
>Chapter Title: Egg White
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"Tricked? What a harsh thing to say."
There was plenty he wanted to argue back, but he barely swallowed the impulse.
The Third Princess issue was more important than that.
"The situation isn't great."
"The situation's bad?"
"Yeah. I had no choice but to step in this time, but if things go wrong, it could drag in not just Salvatium but the Second Prince too. Ah, you've heard of Salvatium, right?"
"Not really. Just the rumors floating around like urban legends."
He'd thought someone like Parun would know, but apparently not.
"So, Salvatium is this group of..."
For the sake of smooth conversation, Aster first explained what Salvatium was about.
What kind of bastards they were. How they differed from the public perception. And the circumstances that got him tangled up with them.
In truth, there wasn't much to say since Salvatium's goals and even its members were unclear.
All Aster knew was that they were obsessed with impure things like 'Destroyer' or 'Demonic Realm'.
Anyway, once all that was said.
"...Whew."
Parun had lit a cigarette sometime during and took a deep drag, exhaling smoke as he slowly closed his eyes.
His head must have been spinning because he pressed his temples.
"It's complicated."
"Isn't it?"
This wasn't just about Salvatium.
Decullan, the Second Prince, and Salvatium.
It was about how everything swirling around the Magic Tower was a mess.
But Parun calmly sorted it out. First, his grasp of the Magic Tower's current state was this:
'Hostile forces... Decullan, Second Prince, Salvatium.'
None could be taken lightly, but fortunately, the friendly forces weren't pushovers either.
The Lortel family, the continent's top swordsmanship house from the east, and the Archmage of Conclusion, Muspellun.
Adding the Third Princess might just balance the scales.
Decullan ↔ Lortel, Archduke Muspellun
Second Prince ↔ Third Princess
That way, they'd check each other, leaving only Salvatium.
For the record, he wasn't assuming Archduke Muspellun would block the Second Prince. That would mean the Archduke fully entering the succession struggle.
Anyway.
There was one big problem here.
"Suppose the Magic Tower allies with the Third Princess. Assume that checks the Second Prince. Then Lortel becomes the issue."
"...Lortel?"
"Yeah, Lortel."
Why bring up Lortel out of nowhere in a talk about imperial power struggles?
Aster didn't get it, but he kept quiet and waited for Parun to continue.
"If it gets out that the Second Prince is targeting the Magic Tower... our relationship with Lortel could get awkward."
"Is Lortel part of the Second Prince's faction?"
Parun shook his head.
"Like most noble houses, Lortel doesn't back any specific heir. But that's exactly why they might not like the Magic Tower allying with the Third Princess and opposing the Second Prince."
"Why?"
"Why do you think? If we're not careful, the Magic Tower's moves could make it look like Lortel is siding with the Third Princess too."
"...Ah."
Aster finally got it and let out an exclamation.
Once he grasped that much, he realized the situation wasn't simple, but Parun kept going.
"The imperial family doesn't touch the noble houses—not just because of their power, but because they're indifferent to the throne's power games. But Lortel backing the Third Princess? That complicates things for them."
It would shatter the delicate peace between the imperial family and the noble houses.
"And do we really need to join hands with the Third Princess? The Second Prince doesn't seem to have the bandwidth to bother with us. Grabbing her hand might just provoke him instead."
Fair point.
Better to gang up on the guy with the knife than break it.
But.
Aster shook his head anyway.
"The Second Prince's personality... he's a real asshole."
"Hmm."
"If the Third Princess falls later, we'll be next in line. Might as well bolster her now."
"...I see. Let me think on it."
"Hmm."
At Parun's words, Aster crossed his arms and blankly shifted his gaze to the table.
The translucent dark brown glass bottle held about half a drink left, and his eyes fixed on its surface.
His simple plan—to check the Second Prince by backing the Third Princess—was falling apart.
Gain the Third Princess, lose Lortel.
Don't gain her, endure the Second Prince.
Parun spoke up.
"Still, better not to join hands with the Third Princess."
Why?
The Second Prince was a potential future enemy, but Decullan was a present threat.
And the Magic Tower's hatred ran far deeper for Decullan.
That was the judgment...
"...So the point is."
"...?"
"As long as it's not the Magic Tower, it's fine?"
Parun tilted his head at the baffling nonsense.
Aster spouting rubbish wasn't new, but this time the intent was especially hard to guess.
"What are you trying to say?"
"You know the Finance Overseer joined the Magic Tower, right?"
"I do. The Black-White Slums auction this time was his doing, yeah?"
But why bring up the Finance Overseer suddenly?
"I heard something."
"...?"
"You know how merchant guilds get hit with higher taxes once revenue passes a threshold? Sure, ambitious ones keep expanding the pie, but plenty don't? So what do they do then?"
Parun narrowed his eyes at Aster.
Aster looked awfully confident, clearly sure his idea solved the dilemma.
What could it be?
The answer was simple.
"Easy. Make another merchant guild."
"Another... guild?"
"Yeah. Not a real one, though. What do you call it...?"
A moment of thought.
Aster grinned and opened his mouth.
"Ghost guild."
"Ghost... guild?"
Parun squinted at Aster. Soon, his face crumpled like fruit skin shriveled in the blazing sun.
But.
Unlike Parun's reaction, Aster had no doubts.
'Ghost guild.'
This tax-dodging merchant trick would save the Magic Tower from the dilemma.
His conscience sparkled.
...As smoothly as the surface of an egg white.
* * *
In the end, this was Aster's idea.
Just as merchants create ghost guilds to split profits and ease tax burdens, the Magic Tower makes a ghost organization.
'That way, we reap the benefits of allying with the Third Princess while avoiding friction with Lortel.'
And if things go south...
'If it blows up, we can abandon the Magic Tower and jump to the ghost org.'
In other words... yeah.
Two main bases.
But no one knows which is the real one.
Why?
Because the one that doesn't fall is the main base.
But wait.
On second thought, there was a problem.
'We'll put the land under the Magic Tower's name, right?'
What if the Magic Tower falls?
Doesn't the land vanish with it?
Aster narrowed his eyes at the sudden snag.
He'd smirked in triumph over a perfect plan, but property rights were unavoidable.
"Ah, how about this instead?"
"...I want to crack open your skull and see what's inside."
"Why are you mad?"
Parun scowled at the innocent question.
"I get making a ghost org. I see the utility. But... didn't the Magic Tower mean something big to you?"
Parun remembered clearly.
The look in Aster's eyes when he talked about the Magic Tower. The meaning he poured into actions done in its name.
So, setting aside utility, he couldn't understand.
To Parun, what Aster was doing felt like... denying his parents to avoid getting hit when they were insulted.
But Aster saw it differently.
"Is the 'Magic Tower' name important? Or the meaning I put into it?"
"So... 'Magic Tower' is just packaging for that meaning?"
"Exactly."
It sounded like profound insight into essence at first glance.
But Parun couldn't buy it because Aster was the one saying it.
Anyway, Parun shook his head to clear the dizziness and dropped the questions.
Plenty he wanted to ask, but this wasn't someone for rational talk.
Still.
"...Just keep going with your plan. What exactly are you gonna do?"
"Ah, that. Listen up."
Aster explained the 'two main bases' formation, and Parun listened with a furrowed brow. Fortunately, Parun's face didn't crumple further.
By the time he finished explaining even the 'property rights' issue.
Aster wagged his index finger, signaling the key part.
"There's a fix for this too."
"...Tell me."
"So, here's the thing... Look."
Magic Tower and Ghost Org A.
If one falls, all its property—land, buildings—goes poof.
Inevitably, one side gets the heavier load, but Aster's solution was this.
"Make another ghost org."
"Another one?"
"Yeah. Ghost Org B just holds the property rights. Then the Magic Tower and Org A lease buildings and land from B. That way..."
"Yeah, that reduces risk if things go south."
"Right?"
"But."
Parun raised a doubt.
"Ever think this? Org B could expose the link between the Magic Tower and Org A."
"...Ah."
Hearing it, yeah, that was a problem.
Magic Tower and Org A.
Both coincidentally leasing from the same Org B?
Suspicious as hell.
So Aster racked his brain for a fix when Parun spoke up right then.
"How about this."
"How?"
"Make one more org."
"One more?"
"Yeah. Magic Tower leases from Org A, Org A from Org B—no, wait. Magic Tower from A, A from B? Wait."
Parun paused, then:
"Make it Magic Tower leases from A, A from C. How's that?"
"Yeah, that works..."
Problem solved.
Problem solved, but...
A worry crept in.
"Isn't it getting too complicated?"
"What's complicated?"
At Parun's question, Aster scratched his head.
"Registering orgs... Ah, real estate leases are better under personal names. Anyway, all the paperwork..."
Plenty to handle.
Once you make an org, you need some activity for basic cover...
'Tch, first time with this stuff.'
His head felt needlessly cluttered.
As Aster pondered, Parun—who'd been watching quietly—tilted his head, face saying he didn't get the issue.
He spoke soon after.
"Why are you worrying about that?"
"If I don't, will you?"
That'd be ideal...
Parun shook his head.
Impatiently.
And said:
"We've got the Finance Overseer."
"...Ah?"
"From what you're saying, he seems sharp on this stuff. Isn't he? Better leave it to him."
Aster blinked.
"R-Really?"
Parun shook his head again.
He thought:
How tragic to have a brain with poor mass-to-efficiency ratio.
Thus, a different kind of silence settled between them.
These two very different men shared one thing: neither considered the workload burden on the Finance Overseer.
...Neither of them.