A Merchant's True Colors
Robon had been deep in his massage gun research at the lab when Rachel brought word that the hunting party had returned. He dropped everything and headed straight down to the manor.
"Whoa… those are magic beasts?"
Five enormous carcasses lay piled like a mountain in the manor courtyard. Even at a glance, the monsters looked several times larger than he was. Their claws were vicious, and the fangs jutting from their jaws were enough to make anyone's skin crawl.
They took down things like that?
Andersen, his older brothers, and Wendy all looked perfectly fine. Just how strong were they? Had they been hunting monsters like these all along?
"It's dangerous. Please don't approach them."
Andersen blocked Robon as he started toward the carcasses.
"We caught these beasts as a family, so they're ours, right?"
"Robon. I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no."
Gain shook his head.
"Why not?"
"Magic beast carcasses are under special management—because of the danger of residual mana corruption. They have to be reported to the Principality first."
"So we report them and then use them, don't we?"
"After the report, they're handed over to Lahen to assess their condition and purge the corruption. Any that can't be cleansed have to be burned on the spot."
A shame. Robon had a feeling he could have made something useful out of those carcasses.
"Merchants from the Stens Coalition have arrived. They wish to meet the Research Director."
"What? Another guild from there already?"
The whole setup was starting to feel like déjà vu.
"They call themselves the Raven Merchant Guild."
"From what I can tell, they're deeply entangled with the Pacific Guild."
"Ah—the ones who don't get along with Pacific?"
Hector had ranted about them once. He'd called the whole Raven lot a pack of scum.
"Did they bring anything worth looking at?"
"I only glanced, but a few pieces looked promising. Best if the Research Director examines them himself."
"Understood. Magic Advisor, go upstairs and get some rest. Oh—and where are your colleagues?"
"In Iron Hall. They said a noble's castle makes them more uncomfortable, not less. They plan to return to the Principality tomorrow."
"They helped us with this. We ought to reward them. I'll leave that to you, Magic Advisor."
"Very well."
"Where are the merchants now?"
"Resting off the journey. Before you see them, check the bikes."
Whatever the riders had done on those bikes, several were caked in soot. Magic beast blood was splattered across them, and a few frames were slightly bent. The scratches hardly needed mentioning.
Yeah. Bikes for knights are going to need better durability.
He'd put real thought into the design, but these were still only a first-run test model. Gather the data, upgrade bit by bit—that was the plan.
After a short while, Robon was heading for the reception room when Hector showed up with people from his guild in tow.
"Lord Robon!"
"Ugh. You reek of booze. How much did you drink?"
Every face in the group was flushed brick-red.
"This much is nothing."
"So what's the sudden emergency?"
"We saw the Raven people heading this way."
Ah. So that was it.
"And you came to tell me not to deal with them?"
Hector nodded.
"Why shouldn't I? If they bring better terms and decent goods, I don't see a reason to refuse."
"I'm not doing this simply because I dislike them."
His voice had settled into something quieter. He took a few slow breaths, then went on carefully.
"Claiming exclusive rights to you just because our guild traded with you first would be absurd. A merchant always moves by profit and loss."
"And so?"
"Separate from all of that, I personally hold you in the highest regard, Lord Robon. And I'm grateful to you."
What is this? Is he just drunk? He was tossing out lines he'd never say sober, and it was getting painfully awkward.
"Even merchants are still people. We have feelings. We can't move on pure calculation alone. And to me, Lord Robon, you are that kind of person."
"…"
"I'm not asking you to trade only with our guild. I'm asking you not to trade with the Raven Guild alone. Those people stop at nothing. When things go sour, honor means nothing to them. They might help you for now—but sooner or later, they'll grab you by the ankle."
"Anyone can say that."
Robon answered him even more coldly.
"Bring me a solid reason and evidence why I should refuse them."
"I have no hard proof. Only strong suspicion."
"Suspicion?"
"When we suffered that major trade disaster, every line of support and every deal cut off as if they'd been waiting for it—and all of it flowed straight to the Raven Guild. That only works if someone already knew the accident was coming."
Resentment thickened his voice. Even now, the memory made his cheeks and fists tremble.
"After the accident we were too busy cleaning up to dig into how it happened, but the Raven bastards were involved. I'm certain of it. If you work with them, they will stab you in the back. So please—consider this carefully."
Were the tears in Hector's reddened eyes genuine? Honestly, Robon didn't trust him completely. The full truth of any affair only comes out when you've heard both sides—and preferably from people who were actually there.
"Then come prove it yourself."
"Pardon?"
"You're coming to the reception room with me. Go in there and dig up the evidence that I shouldn't deal with the Raven Guild. Or find the holes in whatever terms they offer. Either works."
With that, Robon walked into the reception room first. Hector scrambled after him a beat later.
Eight people sat around a rectangular table. Robon took the head seat. On either side of him sat Gain, Hector, Richard, and Samuel. Across from them sat the people from the Raven Merchant Guild.
"On the way here, I saw many of the things Lord Robon Bladewin has invented. Truly remarkable work. In all my years in the Stens Coalition, I have handled countless goods—and not one of them could compare to what you've created."
The praise was predictable, maybe even obligatory, but it still felt good. Robon had never been to the Stens Coalition and had wondered what the outside world was like. From the sound of it, even that place couldn't match Iron Hall as it stood now.
"The cultivator, the automobile, the bike—if even one of them crossed beyond the Valces Mountain Range, wherever it landed would be turned upside down. Your inventions have already outstripped their common sense."
"I know."
Robon answered with deliberate arrogance. Far from flustered, the man simply nodded as if that were only natural.
"Which is why our Raven Merchant Guild will serve as the bridge that carries Lord Robon's technology to the world. Wherever you wish! We will transport and sell everything. Safely, and swiftly!"
"For all that talk, your guild arrived looking rather worse for wear."
"We encountered monsters in the Valces range…"
"You didn't even have the scouting ability to prepare for that? The dangers of the Valces Mountain Range are hardly a secret."
"That isn't fair! We ran into creatures far more dangerous than any existing reports suggested. And the terrain was far more brutal than we expected. Getting even a single wagon through was an achievement. Any other guild would have lost more than one."
"Hector brought a wagon through as well."
Every gaze swung toward Hector. Genuine surprise. After experiencing the crossing themselves, they understood just how hard it was to haul a wagon over the Valces range.
In truth, Hector's wagon had been about a third the size of the Raven Guild's. Smaller meant easier to move—but even so, bringing a wagon across the Valces with so few people was impressive work.
"And what I want isn't a guild that loses only one wagon. I want a guild that doesn't lose even one. As a reason to deal with the Raven Guild specifically, that feels thin."
"When a wagon breaks, you repair it. Our guild is a place that corrects its mistakes and mends them. Beyond that, the Raven Guild is the third-largest in Goldhaven—and by volume and performance alone, some say we outstrip the two ahead of us."
"And who exactly is saying that? Some Shadow Market dregs peddling nonsense?"
Selena cut in with a derisive laugh.
"Selena. Stay out of this. This is not your place to—"
"For all that volume and performance, you fail a remarkable number of deals too. Funny how you never mention that. The guild with the most complaints in all of Goldhaven is Raven. First place in that category as well."
"Selena! You can't just sling accusations because they can't be verified in this room!"
"You're the one talking garbage. Think you can pretend something never happened just because it can't be checked here and it'll stay buried forever? And the fact that you stabbed us in the back and caused that trade disaster—everyone who matters among the guilds already knows."
"Ha! Stabbed in the back? Stop blaming other people for your own mistakes. Why pin your incompetence on—"
"Given enough time, I can find the proof anytime I want. If we track down the Blue Tide sailors from the day of the accident…!"
"Enough!"
Their voices had climbed into outright shouting. Robon had been content to watch and see how long they'd go, but Uncle Richard finally lost patience.
"Neither the Raven Guild nor the Pacific Guild seems to possess basic manners. Is this a room for the two of you to brawl in? This conversation no longer appears to have any point."
At his rebuke, both of them flinched and shut their mouths.
"Please calm yourself, Administrator Richard. For now, let us at least hear the terms the Raven Guild is offering."
Samuel stepped in, cooling Richard's temper.
"That said, those terms will need to be more than enough to satisfy us. Fortunately, Young Master Robon is a man who places more weight on the value of money than on petty etiquette."
Robon glanced at Samuel at the sudden mention of his name. Samuel looked back with an expression that said, What? Was any of that wrong? Damn it. He wasn't wrong, so there was nothing to say.
Smoothly raising the asking price. Even in this mess, he's selling me out to squeeze more money out of them?
From Jackie's position, the atmosphere now forced him to put a bigger offer on the table than he'd planned. The furrow in his brow said everything about how he felt.
"Nine to one. We'll take only one. We'll take every product you want moved from here and sell it. If you prefer, we can even pay ninety percent of Bladewin's set price up front and buy the goods outright—though that won't be possible when our liquid assets run short."
It was a stunning proposal.
If they sold a bike for two thousand gold, the Raven Guild would handle transport all the way into the Coalition and keep only ten percent of that price.
Even Robon, who had already made up his mind, felt the offer pull at him.
Take the Robon-001 portable water purifier—currently their highest-volume mass-produced item. Inside the Principality it sold for about three silver apiece. In the Coalition, they could dump it in bulk at thirty silver a unit. Prices the Principality, with the bubble already burst, could never support.
A genuine gold mine.
Hector's and Selena's eyes wavered. Neither of them had imagined an offer this aggressive. Even Uncle Richard, who had been the first to object, twitched. Samuel was already rolling a pen between his fingers, estimating how much profit such a deal would yield.
A faint smile touched Jackie's face.
And then—
"Ten to zero."
Selena cut in with a proposal no one saw coming.
"We'll do it for free. The Pacific Merchant Guild will."
"You insane—! Selena! You're spouting that nonsense just to sabotage us—!"
"No. I mean it, Jackie."
Selena fixed her gaze steadily on Robon.
"I'm not lying. If Bladewin has goods it wants sold in the Coalition, we'll sell every last one of them free of charge. We won't take a single copper."
In that moment, Robon felt genuine admiration rise in his chest—and at the same time, he understood exactly why Jackie had been so desperate to crush the Pacific Guild by any means necessary.
Jackie was a full step below Selena. Maybe more than a step.
Nice. Looks like I'm about to walk away with more than I expected.
He had never intended to deal with Raven in the first place. He'd only meant to tug the rope a little, force their hand into the open, and watch how Pacific responded.
But this Selena—the guildmaster—had outperformed his expectations. If she could just rein in that temper of hers…
"That's a fine offer. In that case, I'll go with the Pacific Gui—"
"Wait! W-we'll do ten to zero as well! The Raven Guild!"
"Too late. I heard you'd stop at nothing to grow your guild, so I figured you at least had some steel and a working brain. Apparently not. Why would I deal with an untrustworthy outfit like Raven when Pacific is offering the same terms?"
Jackie's face twisted.
"Untrustworthy…! You're taking their word for it?"
"A crime doesn't vanish just because the evidence is missing. Strong suspicion can become as good as hard proof. Miss Selena—you said earlier that given time, you could find the evidence, didn't you?"
"Yes! I can find it! I will!"
"Then go find it. Do that, and I'll trust the Pacific Guild and leave the work to you."
"M-money! We'll pay you money! And our guild has connections with far more partners. We can bring in a much wider range of goods—unlike a collapsing wreck like Pacific!"
His voice grew more desperate by the second.
"Ha! The shamelessness. Vice-Guildmaster Jackie! Those connections are the ones you stole when you stabbed us in the back!"
"You're the shameless one, Selena. You can find evidence? Go on, then—look as hard as you like!"
"Enough."
Robon stepped in again before the shouting could restart.
"Money? I'll be making more money than I know what to do with soon enough. Levels the Raven Guild couldn't even dream of touching."
Jackie ground his teeth. There was no rebuttal for that.
"And Pacific is collapsing, you say? So what? Once they hold an exclusive deal with us, they'll grow far beyond anything Raven could ever match."
That much, he could guarantee.
"Handing your future to a thriving fool is the same as admitting you're a fool yourself. My principle is this: even if someone's struggling now, you entrust the future to the one who has integrity and ability."
The Raven Guild people's faces went scarlet. At the same time, the Pacific contingent looked close to tears, eyes shining.
Even without hard proof, just hearing the circumstances made Raven the clear culprit. Robon had floated the possibility anyway—and sure enough, Jackie did nothing but repeat that there was no evidence. Not a shred of genuine grievance showed on him.
Robon despised backstabbers. Even if they offered more money, he would never deal with people like that. Never.
"Get out. Now."