The Sky's Golden Feathers
Her rose-colored glasses thoroughly fleeced the Protein Mercenary Group and Breck, leaving them penniless and driven out. Albert didn't stop there. He set his sights on the Rice Eaters soaring through the sky. "Every single one of those is money. If I secure it now, my retirement will be that much more comfortable."
The Rice Eaters flew high, but that height posed no obstacle to Albert. Without mercy, he mercilessly plucked the last shred of hope from the crown of a Rice Eater's head.
—Kieeeek!!!
The sorrowful cry of a Rice Eater that had lost something precious echoed across the sky. Some even shed tears.
—Kieek! (Did you really have to take everything?!)
—Kieek! Kieeeek!! (My last hope!!!)
—Kieeeek!! (My feathers!! Isn't this going too far, you bastard!!)
The Rice Eaters wailed. Those who had been sobbing in grief scattered, fleeing far from Albert.
"A satisfying session of farming."
While the Rice Eaters flew away vowing revenge through their tears, Albert wore a thoroughly satisfied expression. He had gained a great deal today. The Rice Eater feathers could be sold through the Flower Merchant Group. By dealing with the Rice Eaters, he had also protected the territory's precious crops. Between the feathers and the compensation from the merchants, he had secured a solid side income.
"Brother."
Upon returning to the territory, Elena was the first to greet Albert. She had likely heard that the Rice Eaters were heading this way.
"You worked hard."
Elena and the farmers all looked brighter, their worries eased. They had seen the Rice Eaters fleeing in the distance.
"I'm so relieved."
"The Rice Eaters ran away. I was worried what would happen if this year's harvest was ruined… We were really concerned."
"This takes a huge weight off our shoulders."
Countless places had lost their entire year's crops because of the Rice Eaters.
"Back then, because of those things, we had to do stakeouts just to protect the crops."
"Even thinking about it now makes my skin crawl."
"Whew… Still, we're lucky this time."
"We won't have to stay up all night anymore."
Stakeouts were essentially an extension of work—overtime, in other words.
[Whether it's them or us, nobody likes overtime, huh?]
'Of course not. Even a little overtime pisses people off. If you add night shifts on top of that, someone might actually snap.'
[Indeed. There was that time when you were still a rookie hunter and they made you do night duty…]
'……Making someone work the night shift and then forcing them to do a full day shift the next day without rest was crossing the line.'
Anyone would have snapped in that situation.
"Three cheers for Lord Albert!"
"Waaah!!"
The farmers, finally freed from night duty, cheered and sang Albert's praises. Watching them, Albert smiled gently and said,
"You all have enough energy left to cheer? Then get back to work. If you're getting paid, you should work for it."
He looked every bit the unscrupulous employer.
* * *
The harvest began smoothly. The scythes Hot had crafted were far beyond ordinary farming tools, gleaming with a razor-sharp edge. If they were swords, they could easily be called masterworks. Thanks to them, the farmers had no trouble with the harvest. Everyone was laughing and chatting as they bent at the waist to gather the crops.
The guards had also been mobilized.
"These are precious provisions that will build your bodies!! Bend your knees, lower your waist, and engage your core! This too is training to build your physique!! Use wrist snaps to……"
Even here, Aiden was turning the work into exercise.
"You there. Lower your hips more. If you keep that posture, you'll wreck your back. Engage your core and straighten your waist. Endure the discomfort! It's all for the sake of your muscles!"
The guards groaned as they harvested. Then one of them collapsed from exhaustion under the blazing sun. Working without a hat in direct sunlight naturally led to heatstroke and collapse. In the other world, people died every summer from heatstroke. Heatstroke and exhaustion were that dangerous.
But here, exhaustion was a blessing from the gods.
'I can rest.'
The only break time. Even Aiden, that ruthless muscle-obsessed maniac, wouldn't force someone who had collapsed from exhaustion to keep working. Though drained, the joy of being able to rest was real. Others might not understand, but to the guards, exhaustion was the signal for rest.
"……He collapsed."
"Exhausted?"
"How dare he?"
"Trying to rest alone? That won't do."
But that was now a thing of the past. The moment one guard collapsed, another sprinted to the well at incredible speed, drew water with a bucket, and made the fallen guard drink. Replenishing fluids after exhaustion was essential. Normally, one would need to rest after drinking, but the well water in Legrian Territory was different.
"Kuhak! My strength is returning!"
The trembling limbs calmed, and energy began to surge. Every morning, Albert grudgingly mixed Bakhass into the well water. This doping effect was one of the reasons the territory had grown so rapidly.
"Ahahaha, buddy, you're fine now, right? (Where do you think you're going to rest alone?)"
"If you're tired, you should've said so. There's plenty of water, so drink up. (Even if you want to rest, you can't. You know what this water does, right?)"
"You little punk, you thought you could rest? Get back to work. (Buddy, you gotta pace yourself. What if you collapse?)"
The words spoken aloud and the thoughts behind them were completely at odds. Replenished by the well water, the exhausted guard rose to his feet. His depleted energy returned, and his blurred vision cleared.
"Khup…… Damn it…… Those bastards."
Water ghosts, the lot of them. They had the mindset that if they were going down, everyone was going down together—and if they were living, everyone was living together. He had no choice but to return to work.
"Good grief……"
Hot, who had been watching, shook his head.
"This place isn't normal."
And so the harvest continued peacefully.
* * *
While the territory residents worked together in unity, Albert was meeting with Richel, the leader of the Flower Merchant Group, who had come to the territory.
"This is…… What in the world……"
Richel stared in shock at the table in the reception room, which was piled high with Rice Eater feathers. Hundreds of them. Each one, upon appraisal, was of the highest quality.
"Did you pluck all of these yourself?"
"Yeah."
"Good heavens, how? Rice Eaters are extremely wary. They never come down if there's a person nearby."
Capturing a wary Rice Eater alive was no easy feat. Since they flew so high, arrows couldn't even reach them. Killing them was one thing, but capturing them without killing them was far more difficult.
'If you kill them, the feathers lose value, so you have to pluck them while they're still alive.'
But that was easier said than done. Many had tried to capture Rice Eaters, but successful cases were extremely rare. Obtaining even a single feather was difficult, yet here were hundreds piled up.
"How on earth did you do it? Did you perhaps devise some new capture method?"
"Not really a new method. Anyone could do it."
"Anyone could do it? How?!"
Watching the excited Richel, Albert gave a slightly mischievous smile.
"Just jump."
"Huh?"
"Jump high enough to reach where the Rice Eater is, then pluck the feathers."
"……"
Richel's expression went blank. That meant Albert hadn't captured the Rice Eaters—he had simply jumped up to their height and plucked them. If anyone else had said it, she wouldn't have believed them. But because it was Albert, she couldn't easily deny it either. She had already experienced his abilities firsthand.
'If it's Lord Albert, then it's possible.'
"I see."
Richel turned her gaze back to the Rice Eater feathers, lost in thought. She was already planning how to sell them.
"Don't release them all at once when you sell."
"Pardon? Why?"
"The reason Rice Eater feathers are expensive is partly because of their quality, but more than that, it's because they're hard to obtain."
"That's true…… Ah, I understand."
Her merchant's mind worked quickly.
"Indeed, if we flood the market with this quantity all at once, the scarcity value will drop……"
"The price will fall. So,"
"We should sell only moderate amounts at a time to maintain the price."
"Exactly. And we'll sell them in limited quantities each month."
"Limited quantities…… I see. If we sell only five per month, the value won't drop, and it might even stimulate people's desire to own them."
"Right. Selling in limited quantities gives those who bought them a sense of superiority—'I managed to get one!'—while those who couldn't buy feel, 'Next time, I absolutely have to get one!'"
Richel looked up.
"I've always thought this, but Lord Albert, you would have succeeded as a merchant too."
"I would have succeeded at anything."
"That's bragging."
"It's confidence."
"How arrogant."
"I have the qualifications."
Albert's bold reply made Richel laugh. Albert didn't mind. That confidence was backed by overwhelming ability. If anyone else had spoken that way, it would have been distasteful, but coming from Albert, it felt different.
'Is it because he's handsome? Even that cocky attitude doesn't bother me.'
"Very well. Then I'll sell them as you suggested, Lord Albert."
"Good. By the way, how's the merchant group doing?"
At Albert's question, Richel's previously bright expression darkened slightly.
"It's not easy."
"Why? You're trading with the Mage Guild, aren't you?"
"Selling Iron Ant antennae isn't a problem, but the other items……"
"Is it the iron?"
"Yes. It seems the Merchant Guild is interfering. We can sell the antennae directly to the Mage Guild, but they've taken control of distribution for everything else…… Haah……"
"The Merchant Guild?"
"More precisely, the local branch of the Merchant Guild in the area where I'm operating."
She looked troubled. No matter how capable and talented Richel was, going up against the Merchant Guild alone was difficult. If they were determined to block distribution, a small merchant group like hers couldn't push through.
"The nobles won't trade with us either. They're probably wary of the Merchant Guild's reaction."
If one fell out of favor with the Merchant Guild, trading became difficult, so the nobles had no choice but to be cautious.
"So basically,"
At that moment, Albert's displeasure showed clearly on his face.
"A big corporation is pressuring a small business that's just starting to bloom? The powerful are petty no matter where you go."
"Huh?"
"What should we do? Want me to go cause a scene? The Merchant Guild has a building, right? If I just knock it down…… they'll be too busy to bother us……"
Albert was muttering something terrifying. The Flower Merchant Group was an important source of funds for Legrian Territory going forward. And it was already running into problems right from the start. If Richel had simply been incompetent, he might have let it slide. But that wasn't the case.
"They're underestimating us."
[Well, we are still relatively weak right now.]
'Shut it.'
[So what do you plan to do?]
[Surely you're not thinking of going on a rampage?]
'……Do I look that barbaric?'
[Then what was that just now?]
"So how exactly are they interfering?"
[Why are you ignoring me!?]
"They're spreading strange rumors about our merchant group."
"Strange rumors?"
"That we're selling defective goods, committing fraud, forcing sales through threats…… treating people like slaves……"
"Have you tried explaining?"
"Even if we wanted to, they won't even meet with us."
The Merchant Guild was using a classic yet effective method. They were damaging the Flower Merchant Group's credibility with rumors, making people hesitant to trade. The terrifying thing about rumors was how difficult it was to trace their source. There was suspicion, but no evidence, and tracking the origin required enormous time and manpower. Neither Legrian Territory nor the Flower Merchant Group had that luxury right now. Even if they did find the source,
'Huh? We didn't do that. Where's your proof?'
would be meaningless. Even if they produced witnesses, it wouldn't carry much weight in court. The other side could simply claim the witnesses had been bribed to lie.
"What should we do?"
"What do you mean, what should we do? I don't take things lying down."
"Then……"
"We need to show them what happens when they mess with me. Since they played dirty with rumors, I'll respond with the same tactics."
He had no intention of being on the receiving end. Favors would be repaid twofold, grudges a hundredfold. He was thorough when it came to debts of gratitude and vengeance.
'This is basically like getting bad reviews, isn't it?'
[Pretty much.]
Bad rumors and bad reviews were no different in nature, only in their field of activity. Both were malicious acts done anonymously to harm others. Albert tolerated many things, but when it came to bad reviews, his motto was zero tolerance and immediate retribution. This world was no different.
'I can't let trolls slide. Time for some education.'
"Hehehe……"
Watching Albert sit with his legs crossed, laughing wickedly, Abel trembled in fear from behind. But Richel……
'How can even that face look so cool?'
Her infatuation clung to her like an ultra-fine microfiber blanket.