The Art of Acquisition
The morning sunlight streamed into the spacious dining room. On the massive marble table sat freshly baked white bread still steaming and a rich mushroom soup. Before me lay a thick steak, its juices glistening just right. The menu had changed slightly, but nothing else was different. Except for the silver-haired Silvia standing at my side, and the beast cub nestled in her arms, eagerly suckling from a small bottle of goat’s milk.
Perhaps it had drunk too greedily. “Kyuuup!” The cub let out a short sneeze after choking. White droplets of milk sprayed everywhere.
“Ah……”
Milk stained the front of Silvia’s neat maid uniform. The thin fabric grew damp, revealing the faint outline of her intimate undergarments in places, yet she made no move to adjust her clothes. Instead, she carefully tilted the bottle, silently helping the cub catch its breath.
Morning light poured through the window. The silver hair catching the glow, the small creature wagging its tail in her embrace, and the gentle woman offering the bottle. The scene felt almost sacred, like a single frame from a holy painting.
I sliced into the perfectly cooked steak on my plate and swallowed it indifferently, quietly observing them.
“You’re quite skilled at handling beasts. Did you raise any before?”
At my sudden question, Silvia carefully wiped the cub’s mouth before answering.
“I have never raised livestock. However……”
“……”
“When I was very young, I cared for my younger sibling.”
I rummaged through the fragmented memories of Victor. The man from the past had never once asked about Silvia’s history, and she had never brought it up. The traces of another person, thoroughly erased.
I shoveled the remaining meat into my mouth and pushed the empty plate aside.
“Gwaaaah.”
As if on cue, Fenrir, having drained every drop of milk, let out a long, languid yawn. It then buried its face deep into Silvia’s soft chest and closed its eyes.
I rose from my seat.
The alchemical workshop reeked of pungent herbs. Even before opening the door, an excited voice leaked out from within.
“Celine! Remember the slime mucus ratio we calculated yesterday? I just added ice spider venom gland to the boiled flame herb water! Pour it in now!”
“Temperature stable and confirmed. Master, injecting mucus now!”
Before a cauldron where purple liquid boiled amid a tangle of distillation tubes, the two had already moved on to the next phase of their experiment. They were so absorbed they didn’t even notice me enter.
Bang—!
A burst of sound erupted from the end of a tube, followed by a plume of gray smoke. The acrid vapor rose in perfect rings toward the ceiling. When it cleared, at the center of the cauldron sat a shimmering liquid inside a glass vessel—red and blue swirling together like a taiji pattern.
A high-density mana catalyst, perfectly fusing opposing properties.
“Success! The slime mucus completely neutralized the exothermic reaction!”
“Your hypothesis was correct, Master. At this rate, we can increase the yield of mana potions by more than threefold.”
The pair cheered, savoring their results. That was when it happened.
“Kyaang!”
Fenrir, still cradled in Silvia’s arms, barked curiously at the smoke dispersing near the ceiling. Only then did Theo and Celine turn around.
“M-Master! You’ve arrived!”
Theo and Celine bowed hastily, their gazes lingering on the creature in Silvia’s arms. Theo’s eyes sparkled with immediate interest.
“Oh! Is this the new guard dog for the mansion? It’ll need to grow quite a bit more to protect a place this large. You’ll have to feed it plenty of milk for the time being!”
Silvia flinched at the word “milk.” Even while displaying the traits of a mad genius, his speech toward his master remained impeccably polite. Celine’s reaction, however, was entirely different. Her long ears twitched, and her eyes widened dramatically.
“Our Twilight Elf tribe reveres the Fenrir. To think I would meet one here… and such a young Fenrir at that……”
Her voice trembled with emotion.
I turned to Theo and got to the point.
“You needed magic stones and basilisk corpses.”
Theo’s eyes grew as large as lanterns.
“Ooh!! How much were you able to obtain?”
“Dozens of wagonloads of magic stones. Slightly over a hundred basilisks.”
Theo’s jaw dropped.
“Good heavens. Then please give me only two wagonloads of magic stones! For the basilisks, I only need the intact venom glands, so just ten of them will be perfect!”
A precise and courteous report. Theo glanced at Fenrir again and asked,
“By the way, have you decided on a name for the little one?”
At Theo’s question, Celine shook her head.
“Master. Each Fenrir possesses a unique mana wave pattern. We Twilight Elves can read those subtle vibrations to perfectly distinguish individuals.”
“Hmm. So it has no name?”
“Correct. They do not bind themselves with artificial labels.”
A proud reply laced with racial dignity. But Theo clapped his hands lightly.
“Aha, the wave pattern! Excellent ecological knowledge. However, Assistant Celine, those of us who cannot read the waves will have to shout ‘Hey! Mana Wave Number Three Fenrir!’ every time we feed it. Isn’t that right?”
“Ah……”
“Right now there’s only one, but what if there are two later? Hmm… wouldn’t it be more convenient to have at least one name that anyone can easily call?”
A reasonable point from a mentor, artfully mixing formal and casual speech. Celine furrowed her brow, then nodded.
“……You are correct. I momentarily forgot that other races possess incomplete sensory systems. An intuitive identifier will be necessary.”
I looked down at the wriggling silver fluffball in Silvia’s arms.
“Rua.”
The short syllable left my lips.
“From now on, this one’s name is Rua.”
Theo tilted his head.
“Rua? Is it derived from the Balua family? Or does it carry some deeper meaning……”
“No. I named it without much thought.”
My indifferent reply. Rua, nestled in Silvia’s arms, wagged its tail as if it already knew its name.
“Awooo!”
Inside the workshop thick with the scent of herbs, it was the moment a name was engraved on a paper tag made from a box once crafted with a younger sibling long ago.
I ordered full rest for Elina and the combat slaves who had participated in the orc subjugation and the basilisk extermination inside the mine. Solid compensation and proper rest were the most efficient way to extend the lifespan of assets. With five assigned to the mansion and five to the brothel, no combat slaves remained available.
I hired only ordinary coachmen to drive the wagons loaded with basilisks, then headed out alone.
A monster disassembly yard required a special imperial license. Handling deadly venom and demonic energy demanded specialized knowledge and technique. Most disassembly yards preferred to purchase entire monster corpses outright to maximize their margins. Commissioned disassembly—where they only took a fee to separate parts—was systematically refused under the excuse of being too busy.
Victor, who had lived solely as a slave trader, had never needed to trade monster corpses. Still, he couldn’t simply let expensive carcasses rot. The destination was the capital’s largest monster disassembly yard: Golden Scales.
The ordinary receptionist panicked at the sight of the massive wagon train and ran inside. Soon, a top executive of the company appeared, his hair slick with oil, strutting with an air of superiority.
“My, my. It is the first time the infamous slave trader Victor has graced this humble establishment.”
“……”
“Before we purchase the goods, I would appreciate it if you would follow a simple verification procedure.”
A merchant’s smile painted across his greasy face. I gave a slight nod.
“Go ahead.”
“Where did you obtain these monster corpses?”
“From the Arzen family’s magic stone mine.”
The name of a great noble left my lips. The executive’s eyebrows twitched, but he quickly scribbled in his ledger and asked the next question.
“How long ago did the basilisks die?”
“One day.”
“I see. Unfortunately, we currently have a large backlog of work, so commissioned disassembly for a mere fee is difficult. Would you prefer to sell the entire corpses and receive payment?”
The expected ploy from a monopoly enterprise. I leaned back in my chair and answered calmly.
“Fine. However, I require ten intact venom glands. Sell everything except those parts.”
“Understood. One hundred and twenty-five basilisks… that is quite the volume.”
The executive clicked his tongue and continued in an oily tone.
“Regrettably, this is our first transaction with you, Victor. Per regulation, the first deal is conducted at only fifty percent of the standard purchase price.”
A blatant attempt to swallow hundreds of gold coins in a single sitting. I asked indifferently,
“Then I will sell only one now. If I transfer the rest in the next transaction, I should receive full price.”
My clean logic. But the executive pulled out a small booklet, opened it, and pointed at the text as he read aloud.
“What a shame. Our policy states that the next transaction cannot occur until one month after the first.”
“……”
“Storing this quantity of basilisk corpses for an entire month would be impossible for you. Even if you forced it, the cost of maintaining the massive anti-decay magic circles would be considerable.”
The smug tone of someone who held the upper hand. He was certain I had no other options.
“Should you wish to conduct an additional transaction within that one-month period, we would be forced to purchase at the same fifty percent rate.”
I stared directly into the executive’s glistening eyes.
“Even if you paid full price of ten gold per unit, you would still make an enormous profit.”
“As Victor surely knows, we must uphold our rules so that customers can trust us.”
A ruthless, brazen business tactic. Without hesitation, I stood up.
As I headed for the door, the executive’s sticky voice followed me.
“You will return soon, Victor.”
His words were no empty bluff. I visited three more disassembly yards in the area, but each claimed they lacked the capacity to handle such volume and avoided the deal as if they had coordinated in advance.
I turned the carriage toward the last remaining option—the disassembly yard on the capital’s outermost edge.
Before a workshop with a faded, worn sign. The scene that greeted me after I stepped down from the carriage was chaotic.
“If you don’t pay the interest by today, we take ownership of this workshop!”
Thud—!
The old wooden door shattered, and a gaunt middle-aged man tumbled onto the dirt floor. Over twenty burly back-alley loan sharks held him by the collar.
“P-Please, just a little more time! I don’t have the funds right now, but I’ll raise them soon!”
“If you don’t have money, we can generously help your wife and daughter earn it for you.”
The bloodied man crawled across the ground, sobbing.
“I borrowed that money to heal my wife’s illness with a temple blessing! How can you drive my family into this!”
“You borrow my hard-earned money and then ask me to consider every circumstance! You expect me to let you drag my business into the gutter!”
The loan shark boss cackled and threw the contract into the owner’s face. Just as the owner lowered his head in despair and prepared to sign with tears in his eyes, I walked toward them.
“I have a commission.”
My calm announcement drew every gaze from the loan sharks and the owner.
“I have over a hundred basilisks to disassemble. Can you purchase them?”
The owner’s pupils dilated, but the loan shark boss recognized my face and flinched.
“V-Victor……? What brings you here?”
“Do I have any reason to visit a monster disassembly yard other than to sell corpses?”
“This place will soon belong to me. Conduct your business with me instead.”
Greed burned in the boss’s eyes. I ignored him and looked down at the owner on the dirt floor.
“After taking a loan from these men, all your trade dried up, didn’t it?”
“Y-Yes……”
Victor’s memories and my past-life knowledge quickly pieced together the situation. A vicious hostile takeover—strangling the target company’s cash flow, cutting off its air, then swallowing it at a bargain price right before it suffocated. Using their connection with Golden Scales and loan sharks to devour any operation that threatened their interests. It was a perfectly plausible and efficient method.
But now I had become a stakeholder.
“So. Can you purchase one hundred and twenty-five basilisks?”
At my question, the owner glanced nervously at the loan sharks and shed thick tears.
“I don’t have the funds to purchase them…… and even if I process them, all my buyers have been blocked. I have nowhere to sell. I appreciate the generous offer, but I don’t think I can handle it.”
“Can you perform the disassembly?”
“Of course. My daughter and I have the best disassembly skills in the area.”
The owner’s shop was a fourth-generation family business. It had been the only honest workshop in the capital that charged only for disassembly work. Eventually, Golden Scales had seen it as a thorn in their side, opened dumping shops nearby to steal customers, and sicced loan sharks on them to completely crush their livelihood.
“Victor! Isn’t this against business ethics!”
The loan shark raised his voice, but I fixed the owner with a firm stare.
“Don’t worry about sales channels or purchase prices. Just tell me how much you want per head for disassembly only.”
“T-Ten silver coins per head would be enough.”
Even at that rate, one thousand two hundred and fifty silver coins equaled twelve gold—an enormous deal for disassembly alone. I snatched the contract from the owner’s hand.
“One hundred and twenty gold, including principal and interest.”
I pulled a heavy leather pouch from my coat and hurled it at the loan shark’s chest.
Thud—!
“Ugh!”
The pouch burst open, and brilliant gold coins poured onto the dirt like hail.
“The transfer of ownership rights is void. The debt is paid, so take out the promissory note and tear it up immediately.”
The men’s pupils trembled as they realized they would not obtain the disassembly yard they had targeted. Trusting in their twenty-strong gang, the boss finally bared his teeth.
“You think waltzing in here alone and throwing money around solves everything? You brought this on yourself, Victor! Get him!”
The boss slipped back slightly and shoved the massive enforcer beside him forward. The rest drew weapons in unison, radiating murderous intent.
Not a single combat slave guarded me. I stood completely alone.
“Kill him!”
At the boss’s shout, the enforcer drew a blue dagger and charged at my throat. The crude, linear trajectory left his openings blatantly exposed. Instead of dodging, I reached out and seized his wrist in an iron grip, then mercilessly twisted it against the joint’s natural direction.
Crack—!
“Aaaaargh!”
The horrifying sound of wrist bones splintering. The man’s eyes rolled back in agony as his grip went limp. I lightly plucked the dagger from his slack fingers. At the same time, I drove my boot heavily into his now-unbalanced, empty knee joint.
Crunch!
The enforcer’s leg bent at a grotesque angle. He let out a beastly scream and slammed into the dirt. I stomped down hard on the back of his crushed neck, pinning him completely. Then I reversed my grip on the stolen dagger and drove it without hesitation into his thick shoulder.
Shunk—!
“Gaaaargh……!”
The giant convulsed, foaming at the mouth as his own weapon pierced his shoulder. The metallic stench of blood mixed with the dirt stung my nose. Overwhelming violence concluded in the space of three breaths.
The faces that had burned red with killing intent turned deathly pale in an instant. They froze in place, gasping as if knives were lodged in their throats.
The cruelty of dismantling another person’s body without batting an eye. Into their blood-drained minds flashed a nickname they had momentarily forgotten.
Victor, the demon of the back alleys.
The true weight of that name struck their skulls like lightning.
With the blood-dripping dagger still in hand, I pressed down on the fallen man’s shoulder and met the trembling boss’s gaze.
“The promissory note.”
A single dry word. The boss didn’t even dare pick up the gold coins scattered on the dirt. He pulled out the worn note with shaking hands and tore it to shreds. Then he dragged the bloodied enforcer away and fled with his tail between his legs.
An investment of a mere one hundred and twenty gold coins that had secured an entire usable commissioned disassembly yard. Had I dealt with Golden Scales, I would have lost at least five hundred gold, and commissioned disassembly would have been impossible.
I looked down at the owner, who was sobbing facedown in the dirt, and asked indifferently,
“How long will it take?”
“Ugh, sob…… If we start with the tools right now, we can finish everything in two days.”
The owner kept wiping away tears and snot with his bloodstained sleeve. His voice, thick with emotion, rang out as he banged his forehead against the ground.
“Thank you so much. My lord—no, Victor! How can I ever repay this immense kindness, sob……”
Creak. At that moment, the old wooden door inside the workshop opened cautiously.
“Dad!”
“Honey……!”
The wife and two daughters who had been hiding inside rushed out and burst into tears. In front of the shattered door, on the blood- and dirt-stained ground, they clung to one another and wept bitterly.
Soon the owner, his wife, and their young daughters all knelt before me, bowing their heads repeatedly. Their wet eyes brimmed with blind gratitude.
But what my company needed was not emotional praise. Only precise process and perfect results.
I took out another pouch and tossed it at the owner’s feet.
Clink—!
Twenty gold coins spilled out as the pouch opened. The owner’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
“V-Victor. Twelve gold and fifty silver is more than enough. This much money is……”
“Look at the state of your business and your family.”
At my dry remark, the owner’s gaze turned to his family and workshop. His wife and daughters, gaunt from hunger. The old, dull disassembly saws and the disastrously neglected cutting boards.
I shook the blood from the dagger and spoke firmly.
“Blades held by people who haven’t eaten for days are bound to miss. If they accidentally nick one of my basilisk venom glands, the loss won’t end at twenty gold coins.”
“……!”
“Stuff meat into your family’s mouths first and replace every chipped tool with new ones. No arguments.”
A maintenance order strictly for preserving asset value. Yet the owner’s family began to tremble violently at my indifferent excuse. The clumsy consideration from a slave trader who supposedly had neither blood nor tears. Overwhelmed by the weight of that gap, the owner collapsed fully onto the ground and wept.
“Victor…… You are the one who has preserved the lineage of our four-generation family that was on the verge of extinction.”
His thick tears stained the dirt black. He raised bloodshot eyes and made a life-binding vow.
“If you ever require the services of this workshop in the future, I will set aside all other matters and serve your commissions first, with the highest skill and absolute priority!”
Securing a fully loyal exclusive disassembly yard.
“I’ll come for them in four days.”
Leaving behind a satisfied confirmation, I turned toward the carriage. It looked like I would need to assign more combat slaves in the near future.