Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Adaptable
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Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump
Could a sound like this really come from a human heart?
Renajora Chemien was desperate.
A familiar smile was plastered on his face, and his hands and feet moved with graceful courtesy, but…
*I want to run away!*
That was what he was truly feeling inside.
The corpse of one of the Five Kings was lying right in front of him!
The blood was overflowing, soaking his knees!
And hadn't he seen it with his own eyes?
The two Sword Masters he'd brought as escorts had immediately lowered their gazes the moment they met Lansen's eyes!
*What? If the two of them joined forces, they could take on Harun or Lansen, what?!*
Renajora wanted to scream and run away right then and there, but he held it in.
Nothing could be achieved by backing down.
He had always lived that way.
"The humble merchant, Renajora Chemien, wishes to congratulate Your Highness Grand Duke Lansen, the rightful ruler of Ilunael, on your victory."
His mind was going blank with terror, yet the words flowed from his lips like water.
His smile was relaxed, but his mind was a chaotic hornet's nest.
In his mind,
Lansen shouted, "Who are you!" and lopped off his head.
Lansen said, "How unpleasant," and crushed him to death underfoot.
Lansen did nothing, but his subordinate struck off his head...
Lansen… Lansen…
A hell of delusion where every outcome ended in death.
At the end of it, he heard Lansen's voice.
"Ah, it's you, isn't it? They say you're one of the top three on the Golden Trade Route, right? The Thousand-Faced Merchant."
"I only worry that my humble name may have troubled your noble ears."
"Well... it's a pleasure. It's a bit messy here, so let's talk inside. Someone bring some new clothes. And prepare some tea."
Lansen's demeanor was so commanding, as if Ilunael was already his.
*Ah, so this is the bearing of a king!*
*What? Ten years, he'd need?*
*Have I been walking around with these useless things I call eyes?!*
With every passing second, Renajora's heart burned and rotted away.
Still,
after changing his clothes and drinking some warm tea, he felt a bit more alive.
Harun's pale corpse still flickered in his mind, but…
he managed to regain a sliver of composure and sit across from Lansen.
On a plush, ornate sofa, with a low table between them.
*Gaze? Okay. Corners of my mouth? Good. Hands? Fine, not shaking.*
After checking himself over, Renajora steeled his resolve.
*Hoo... Right. I can do this.*
I must remain calm.
A merchant must not lose his composure.
No matter how frightening, one must seize the opportunity and avoid the crisis before them.
He was terrified, but the key was not to show it.
Just as he had finally gathered his courage and met Lansen's gaze directly.
"But."
Lansen slowly leaned forward.
"Am I that scary, Renajora?"
*Hic!*
As a violent hiccup escaped him, only one thought crossed Renajora's mind.
*Thank goodness. It was after I swallowed the tea...*
*At least I won't be executed for the crime of spraying tea in his face...*
***
Strange.
I observed Renajora quietly.
Something kept tickling my senses.
*Emotion...? Will...?*
I could faintly read something like that.
Looking back, this wasn't something that had just started.
*Was it since I achieved Sword-Self Unity?*
The state of merging my will with the sword.
It seemed to have started after I realized that.
I can faintly read the will of others.
I hadn't been consciously aware of it...
but now that I had a moment to relax, I could tell for sure.
That Renajora, sitting there so calmly, was hiding an immense fear within.
*Being a merchant isn't easy.*
For such a timid man, how many challenges must he have faced to build one of Roverland's three great merchant guilds?
As I stared at him with that thought, cracks slowly began to appear in Renajora's composed expression, and he started to waver.
Oh?
If I press him a little more, it feels like something might break through.
Will I be able to see his true colors?
...This might be fun.
"Grand Duke Lansen!"
...His instincts are sharp.
Just as I was about to be mischievous, he suddenly cut in and stole my timing.
But am I a Grand Duke?
Everyone used to call me Count...
Did I become a Grand Duke because I now have four cities, including Ilunael?
It was obvious flattery, but it was so shamelessly natural that I didn't dislike it.
"Actually, I have prepared a small gift to celebrate Your Highness the Grand Duke's victory."
Honestly, I was unimpressed.
Is there anything I need right now?
It's not like I've only seen one or two treasures lately.
My subspace is overflowing with supposedly rare ancient artifacts.
It would take more than an ordinary gift.
That's what I thought,
"...Huh?"
A gasp escaped my lips before I knew it.
The item that Renajora Chemien took from his coat.
It was,
a finger-sized bottle.
It was transparent,
yet it emitted a radiant glow that brightened its surroundings.
I know that.
I know it very well.
"That's... an Elixir, isn't it?"
The Thousand-Faced Merchant, Renajora Chemien, showed a faint smile.
"As expected, you recognize it."
It's real.
It was real.
An Elixir.
He then took out a box lined with a soft cushion and placed the Elixir on top of it.
*Thak-*
He stood up, knelt on one knee, and respectfully presented it on the table before me.
Even up close, it was an Elixir.
It's real.
An Elixir, something even the Lorraine Research Institute couldn't find, is coming into my hands like this?
A thousand emotions washed over me.
After a long moment, I looked up at Renajora. He had remained with his head bowed, perfectly still, the entire time.
Well,
he suddenly looks like a different person.
Just a moment ago, I was feeling a bit cold toward him.
The source of wealth in Roverland ultimately comes from the Golden Trade Route connecting the eastern and western continents, and the man before me was a great merchant who held a large stake in that route.
I'd planned to assess him, weigh the pros and cons, and if I didn't like him, I was even considering cutting him off and backing another merchant.
But now, I felt like I could forgive him even if he scammed me once.
At the same time, I realized something.
"So it was you. I was wondering how Harun came back to life."
Renajora flinched in surprise.
"Ah, I merely gifted it to him a very long time ago."
Quite resourceful. An Elixir isn't something you can get with just money. He had two of them?
"Do you have more?"
"N-No, I do not. I was blessed by heaven's luck to obtain just two bottles."
Hmm... Judging by the will I could feel, he was close to telling the truth.
"A shame. Sea?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
I called for Sea, and she also addressed me as Grand Duke.
...Are we just going with Grand Duke now?
Anyway, Sea was Sea.
She understood exactly what I wanted.
She looked down at Renajora with emotionless eyes.
"Merchant Renajora Chemien. What you desire is the continuation of the rights you previously enjoyed, correct?"
Renajora opened his mouth to say something, but Sea spoke first.
"Tariff benefits, a trading post building in the most prime location, priority in legal rulings over other lawsuits, exclusive rights to Etope Mountain's smoked coffee, and even the dispatch of guards for special protection. Am I right?"
Renajora's eyes widened.
He hadn't expected us, who had just taken over Ilunael, to have such detailed information.
But seriously, how do you know all this, Sea?
I was surprised too, but,
it would be trouble if I showed it.
I nodded as if I'd known all along.
*Right. So his request is the continuation of these rights?*
Deliberation?
I decided against it.
Renajora's first impression was a pass.
The initiative to come see me right after Harun's death.
The self-control to feel fear but not show it.
And on top of that, a gift that I absolutely loved.
He seems like someone worth working with.
"I'll grant your request. In return, there's something you need to acquire for me next time. As much as you can get."
As soon as I finished speaking, Sea placed a piece of paper on the table.
It was a list of expensive materials.
Things needed for the ancient magic research Sea and Asha were conducting.
It was no easy task, as they had to be sourced from various continents.
However, after checking the list on the paper, Renajora nodded confidently.
"Magic ingredients. Quite rare... but I can acquire them."
He took out paper and a pen from his coat.
"I will acquire them. Then, I'll draw up an invoice right now..."
"Hm?"
"...draw up an invoice..."
"Hm?"
An invoice?
Really?
Renajora was silent for a moment, then crumpled the paper and pen back into his coat and smiled brightly.
"A tribute, of course. I will present them as a tribute. I will be sure to acquire them and present them as a tribute."
That's more like it.
Pleased, I had Renajora sit down.
We sat facing each other on the sofa again.
We drank tea and made some light small talk,
and I was thinking it was about time to wrap things up.
It had been a day with too much bloodshed.
I just wanted to chat with my siblings for a bit and then go to sleep.
To me, whose mind was already halfway out the door,
"I would like to purchase the artifacts from Glowingsteel. I can purchase them at a price 50% higher than what you are currently receiving."
this merchant once again threw me bait that was hard to resist.
"Hoh?"
50%?
That's great for me, but will you have any profit left?
*Flash-*
Renajora's eyes gleamed.
It was impressive.
Renajora Chemien.
Even now, the sound of his terrified, pounding heart was clear in my ears... yet he spoke his demands clearly, without a tremor.
"However, please grant me the exclusive rights to the artifacts from the Glowingsteel ruins. If you do, I am truly confident. At first, I will buy them at a 50% increased price, and later, I will take only 20% of the profits and offer the remaining 80% to Your Highness the Grand Duke."
His way of speaking was impressive.
If he had mentioned the exclusive rights first, I might have thought him arrogant.
But by mentioning the 50% increase first, he naturally caught my interest while taking a more pleading stance.
Even the conditions themselves weren't bad.
That bastard Harun said he'd take 70%.
*Interesting...*
Exceptional ability. Extreme cowardice, yet the courage to overcome it. Where does it all come from?
What future does that man dream of that allows him to be this way?
*I wonder what kind of mark that will leave on this world.*
Perhaps because I've been to the Magic Era so many times, I keep getting sentimental.
The things that remain and the things that don't.
The difference between them.
...Well,
in any case,
I liked him.
"Alright."
I stood up and extended my hand.
Renajora stared blankly up at my hand for a moment, then tried to kneel and kiss the back of it.
"Hey now."
I quickly pulled him up, gently took his right hand, and shook it twice.
"Like this. You do it like this. It's called a handshake. A greeting I made up."
"Ah, yes..."
Renajora, flustered.
For some reason, this is amusing.
I'll have to see how things turn out... but it was a good start.
***
Emperor Lokstehlen burst out laughing while reading the report.
"He was wearing armor that emitted a strange mana ripple? And then his martial prowess became vastly stronger and magical effects appeared?"
He looked amused.
But since his mood was unpredictable, his subjects watched him nervously, on high alert.
The Emperor, Lokstehlen Gallotti.
His abyss-like purple eyes emitted a chilling light.
"Not laughing?"
At that one phrase.
"Hahahahaha."
"Gwahahaha!"
The subjects laughed on cue.
They didn't know what was funny, but they laughed anyway.
Only then did the Emperor smile in satisfaction, dropping the report and muttering.
"Now I see. Lansen. I see which line this fellow has taken. An entity that passes on long-lost knowledge... quite impressive, isn't he? He chose his line well, too. To think he used Magic Armor from the Magic Era...?"
The Emperor was lost in his own thoughts.
At times like this, everyone had to be silent.
The subjects, who had been laughing hard, quickly read the room, their laughter dying down until they fell silent.
A moment of silence.
Finally, the Emperor finished his contemplation and spoke again.
"How is it? Are the preparations complete?"
The one who answered the question was the mysterious man who always stood by the Emperor's side.
His title, rank, and identity were all unknown.
Just a suspicious man in a black robe with his face hidden by a hood.
He bowed his head and reported.
"Yes. A report came in yesterday that preparations are complete."
"Good. The time has come. Then proceed."
"Yes. I will."
As the man replied, the Emperor gave a pure white smile.
He reached out with his long, white fingers and stroked the map of Norverge that he always kept spread out these days.
"I've prepared a grand feast, so eat your fill. You filthy, hideous things born of chaos. The flesh and souls of pitiful, pathetic humans."
And,
"Lansen."
The Emperor rolled the name that kept bothering him around in his mouth.
"This time, I will be watching. To see your worth."