The Curse That Kept Me Silent Was Lifted
The game had made Hans a figure of growing renown, operating a farm that expanded month by month, yet he still sent money every single month. That alone was enough to earn the merchant a reputation for an honest heart.
Edgar had always agreed that assessment, hadn’t he?
But.
Today, only today, he finally understood why Hans had been so scrupulously honest.
“Disappointing,” Edgar murmured, voice flat as winter ice.
“Huh?”
On the Yo side, they sold silk and sometimes bought iron ore from Hans.
They had built a relationship on trust, stacking credit over time.
But that fragile trust was about to crumble today.
The chill in Edgar’s tone was the warning.
“What we asked for was iron ore of middle-grade quality or higher. If you couldn’t meet the volume, even one piece was fine as long as it was properly high-grade.”
“Yes… but what’s the problem?”
[Curse description and effects]
“Tsk.”
Edgar clicked his tongue, and Hans, standing right in front of him, swallowed hard enough to make his Adam’s apple bob.
A cart piled with iron ore refused to stand against the wall anymore, and Hans felt the thought flash through his mind like lightning.
[Curse description and effects]
Now he understood why Hans had sent money so faithfully.
The one who had granted the blessing had been a player character, so he had been conscientious.
That was why the tone changed depending on who extended the favor.
Edgar sighed after realizing Hans’s hidden side, then held out the low-grade ore he had been concealing in his hand.
“This iron ore… it’s low-grade, not middle. And you went to such lengths to hide the fact.”
“Eh? What do you mean? I picked only middle-grade or higher as you requested…”
“You’re still trying to lie until the end? Shall I hunt down every artisan in the kingdom and ask them whether this is middle-grade or low-grade?”
Hans tried his best to keep playing innocent until the end, but the moment he met Edgar’s freezing gaze, his throat tightened and not a single word came out.
He had been completely crushed in momentum.
He had led a fairly large guild and carried the weight of experience, but compared to Edgar he was still no match.
Overcoming life-and-death crises together.
Taking on the responsibility of leading the mighty Aurion Trading Company.
The gap was simply too wide to be bridged by that kind of life.
“…I’m sorry. My greed blinded me.”
Would he play tough?
Or would he be honest?
Hans chose the latter, so he bowed his head meekly and apologized.
Realizing there was no escape from the truth helped him speak the truth.
His voice was thick with powerlessness and regret as he confessed his crime.
“What will you do?”
After taking a few steps back, Edgar approached the front of the Ropeshroud group and spoke to Freesia.
The representative of Aurion Trading Company was Freesia herself, but outwardly Edgar was the one shown to visitors.
That was why he spoke quietly now.
“Just this once. Just once.”
Freesia emphasized “once” with particular force.
Turning a blind eye to this matter was not mercy; it was a warning.
She also didn’t feel like finding a new trading partner.
Edgar understood her meaning, so he nodded silently and stepped forward.
Hans’s head remained bowed toward the ground.
“Raise your head.”
“Yes.”
As soon as Edgar spoke, Hans’s head finally lifted.
He didn’t even feel humiliated; he was simply crushed by the atmosphere.
He felt no strange resentment that it was all his fault.
Sharp eyes from every direction made Hans shrink back.
“I’ll overlook it this once. But if something like this happens again… I can’t guarantee how things will turn out. Understand?”
“Thank you so much for your forgiveness. I truly apologize.”
Hans bowed deeply once more and offered a sincere apology.
At the same time, he realized the mistake had been caused by greed clouding his eyes.
If Edgar had been weak, Hans might have tried to play the victim instead.
Edgar placed the low-grade ore into the cart and continued.
“Low-grade ore will be taken without payment. You’ll understand why. But for anything else, pay properly.”
“Eh… no, you don’t have to do that. You can take the entire shipment this time…”
“Take it.”
Edgar spoke each word slowly and pulled a pouch of coins from his robe.
He handed several gold and silver coins to Hans.
“Take it.”
“Ah… yes.”
Hans received the money with both hands in a proper manner and carefully tucked it into his pocket, as if it were precious treasure itself.
“As I said before, I hope such a thing never happens again. If you have no ore, simply tell me honestly.”
“I will remember.”
“Then I’ll be going.”
Edgar pointed at the cart, and the Yo men in Ropeshroud moved swiftly.
They loaded the iron ore into the wagons they had brought.
Soon the two guilds turned their backs on each other and moved away.
The Yo guild headed toward the Yo lands.
Hans’s guild headed toward Paestum.
Clop. Clop. The sound of hoofbeats echoed ahead.
Freesia, who had been riding in the same wagon as Edgar, asked.
Her Ropeshroud hood had been removed long ago.
“If you hadn’t been there, I would have had my nose buried in the ground.”
“Don’t say that. I only did what I was supposed to do.”
Edgar turned his gaze sideways with embarrassment and smiled.
“It’s because you did what you were assigned.”
“That’s why it’s appreciated.”
Humans could have sided with humans, yet the way she still put the Yo clan first was truly touching.
“More importantly… is there any new news?”
Edgar, feeling awkward, changed the subject bluntly.
Trade locations changed sometimes, but they usually happened near Paestum.
Yo people who came to the guild gathered information from the vicinity every time they visited and checked the trends.
Of course Freesia and Edgar also kept their ears open inside Paestum.
Therefore, changing the topic bluntly wasn’t unnatural at all.
“Nothing special. Just a lot of talk about silk.”
“What about you?”
“Nothing special either. It seems silk is selling well.”
“Hmm… we might need to increase the supply.”
Freesia tilted her head in indecision, so Edgar met her eyes directly and answered.
“In my short opinion… it would be fine to keep it like this.”
“Why?”
“If supply is too high, the value drops, and fewer people will bother to buy. Besides, silk has already become a luxury for those who can afford it.”
“That’s true.”
“Exactly. So the actual sales volume is fixed. Keeping it like this is better. Later, when the nobles’ silk purchases drop, we can increase the quantity then.”
“Hmm… that makes sense. Gradually building up the system is good. If we’re too greedy, there will be people who suffer.”
Freesia agreed honestly because the words made sense.
Producing more than now would force producers to work harder.
“Then let’s put silk aside for now. How about talking about what you’re planning to sell newly?”
“Yes. Do you remember the lotus root I gave you last time?”
“That? I remember. It was too bitter to eat.”
Even if you remove the bitterness, the lotus root still tastes bitter.
Freesia recalled the lotus root tea she had drunk and frowned.
“Recently I found something even more bitter to eat. It’s called ginseng.”
“What? It’s bitterer than that?”
Freesia asked in surprise, and a faint smile curved Edgar’s lips.
The way he disliked anything bitter looked exactly like a child.
“Yes, but the medicinal effects are excellent.”
Edgar’s memory flashed back to a fifty-year-old ginseng he had harvested.
Without any ginseng-harvesting skill, he had sweated blood to avoid damaging it…
“So you made liquor with it?”
“Yes. It can be eaten as is, but I added ginseng to the Yo medicinal liquor. The effect is supposed to be very good.”
Whether the result of making medicinal liquor would be good or bad could only be known by observing the outcome.
Sometimes you had to drink it yourself to check whether it was good or bad for the body.
But Edgar didn’t need to do any of that.
Just by touching it, the quality and effects of the item were instantly clear.
He could simply confirm it right away, sell it outside, or drink it himself without worry.
“It’s good… that’s fortunate.”
“Yes. The chieftain was pleased. Did you see it?”
“I saw.”
Freesia crossed her arms and nodded, then asked Edgar.
“By the way, when is the next trade?”
“For now, two months later.”
Even the trip to the cart took half a month.
The return trip would take another half month, and without using a warp point there was no choice.
The warp point was the most secret of secrets.
*
“…So when is the trade?”
“Ha, a little over a month from now.”
Recently he had caused a stir by trying to cheat, but this time an unexpected customer had shaken the entire guild.
The guild master, Hans, looked at the woman sitting opposite him and swallowed dryly.
She was not only treated as a noble in this kingdom but throughout the continent, and she deserved it.
She was none other than Megus, the Seeker who had defeated the King of the Dark Withered Tree.
“That should be enough to wait.”
“Do you know the name of the trading partner?”
Megus asked while crossing her arms, and Hans answered hesitantly.
“Ye… I don’t know. The other side didn’t reveal it.”
“They’re trading without even doing a proper introduction?”
Megus’s eyebrows narrowed at the unexpected answer.
Of course she should know the name of the trading partner.
She hadn’t expected the outright “I don’t know” response.
“Yes. The other side said they wanted to trade without revealing the name. But… the quality is flawless. You already know as a seeker.”
“That… that’s what they said.”
In the end, only the quality mattered.
Hans was saying that.
Megus let out a long sigh without arguing.
What was the point of arguing?
“…I’ll accept it. If you’re coming to trade, please contact me. Understand?”
“Yes, of course.”
Megus crossed her arms and clicked her tongue, staring at the ceiling of the empty office.
She had expected some waiting…
“I never thought I’d have to wait more than a month.”
Megus was filled with impatience and worry, while Hans simply stayed silent, watching Megus’s eyes.
For that reason, only an unbearable silence filled the office.