A back alley in the slums.
A deserted, shadowy street.
A space that would never suit a noble.
Yet our newest member had shown up there.
No flashy accessories or expensive clothes -- perfectly disguised in rags and tatters.
"I know maintaining security is important, but. I didn't expect a noble to go so far as to disguise himself in rags. More thorough than I expected."
"What do you take me for? You deliberately chose a place like this as a meeting point for security. Think I wouldn't dress the part?"
"If it were any noble I've seen until now, they'd have thrown a fit screaming 'You expect me to wear these filthy rags and walk into a slum crawling with vermin?!'"
"That's...... something I can't honestly deny."
The medieval average was low. Far, far too low.
Nobles drowning in their sense of entitlement. Having been coddled and fawned over their whole lives, they were completely detached from reality.
That was why this new recruit was quite to my liking.
The fact that the words "noble" and "competent" could coexist at all was itself a major revelation.
"So, is the 'product' ready?"
Sian looked at me with a serious question.
And I didn't answer with words.
Seeing is believing, as they say. Wasn't it more effective to show it with his own eyes than to explain it in complicated terms?
"See for yourself. Our kids spent a full day making it. There isn't a single flaw to find."
He accepted the soap from me and inspected it with great care.
He handled it so delicately -- you'd think it was an explosive the way he treated it. Well, it was something the kids had worked hard on, so handling it gently was a good thing.
"This is...... genuinely impressive."
Sian accepted it and marveled. I'd already known, but the workshop children seemed more talented than I'd realized.
This product had apparently passed the standard even by noble eyes. Results exceeding expectations.
"The fact that you can't see what's inside at all is already more than satisfactory. But the most remarkable thing is the weight. I didn't think it could be made this light."
"Really? I thought it was heavy for soap."
"Your standards are surprisingly high. Considering what's inside the soap, making it this light is a miracle."
Sian spoke with a serious face as he looked at me.
Not a trace of dishonesty in that expression.
This didn't seem like praise offered just to be polite.
They'd promised to deliver a result that met my standards. The children had given their absolute best to keep that promise.
I was proud of our kids all over again.
I'd have to praise them the moment I got back.
"......This will make things easier. I'll personally deliver this soap to Yulia."
Sian spoke in a serious voice.
But the reason I'd come to this meeting point in person, instead of sending a subordinate like Rang, was for this moment.
There was a proposal I wanted to deliver myself.
"Isn't that risky for you? Personally handing over our soap. The risk to you seems pretty significant."
Calling it a gift was putting it nicely.
In practice, it was essentially asking someone to advertise our product on our behalf.
'Yulia is a noble famous for being obsessed with money. If we ask her to promote it, how much is she going to squeeze out of Sian?'
Thinking about what Sian would have to spend made me feel terrible.
"It's fine. I already knew there'd be risk involved. But this is the surest method. As for the price I'll have to pay...... you don't need to worry about it."
And yet Sian accepted the risk with such composure. I'd expected as much. That was exactly why I'd thought up a plan.
"But what if this isn't the best approach? What if there's a method that's both safer and more efficient?"
Now was the time for my 21st-century knowledge to shine.
Marketing that had been refined over hundreds of years.
I was someone who had witnessed it firsthand with my own eyes.
"Let's try stealth marketing."
"......What?"
"Why do you have to deliver it in person? We just do it naturally enough that even Yulia won't notice. Instead of it being an obvious promotion, we have one of her servants bring it in as if they bought it themselves."
At my words, Sian's expression changed in an instant.
"You're saying we bribe a servant and plant it. ......True, that would be far better than me approaching her and sneaking it in."
Pay a servant the advertising fee and have them slip our soap in. A pretty decent marketing method, I thought.
'I'm confident in the quality of our product.'
Once she tried it, she'd definitely be hooked.
Not only would she fall for our product, she'd go around chirping to every noble in sight about how amazing it was, promoting it left and right.
"But...... would it be easy to bribe a servant? I could use my personal assets, but. Buying off one of Yulia's close attendants doesn't seem like something money alone can solve."
Admittedly, this was the biggest problem with the plan.
Would a close attendant betray Yulia that easily? That was probably why Sian hadn't considered this approach himself.
"You don't need to worry about that. Trust me."
There was no need for that kind of worry to begin with.
"Of course, a famous bigshot noble would have tight control over their inner circle. But it's not like we're trying to steal an attendant and turn them into a spy."
What we were trying to do was exceedingly minor.
"We're just...... sneaking in one bar of soap."
So minor that it would be equally simple to accomplish.
"We don't even need to bribe anyone, really. Noble as she may be, she's got to wash at least once a week. We just need one of the maids to buy our soap. That's it."
The cost of advertising?
It wouldn't cost a single gold coin, let alone a silver one.
"Soap is treated as a luxury item here, so quality products are hard to come by. They'd probably buy it the moment we showed it to them. That's the current state of high-end soap -- people can't get their hands on it even when they want to."
"......So that's why! That's why it was soap!"
Sian's jaw dropped with admiration at my words.
"You chose soap with this very moment in mind? You'd planned for even this?"
......He didn't seem the type, but he was more excitable than I expected.
I'd jumped into the business because I knew it would sell well. If I'd thought it wouldn't work, why would I have started a soap business in the first place?
"......I'm convinced now. Your supposedly far-fetched goal might not actually be so far-fetched. If anyone can overturn this Empire and make the world cleaner, it's you."
Sian looked at me with a serious face.
He spoke as if steeling his resolve.
"I will see this through to success without fail. I'll mobilize every ounce of my strength and authority. And if it's discovered...... I'll take my own life. Please, carry the hope forward."
Hearing that, I flinched.
Take his own life? What was this bastard suddenly saying?
He'd kill himself if he botched the soap business? No, enthusiasm was great, but that was a bit too much enthusiasm.
"You don't have to go that far. Why would failing mean you have to die? Just survive and live to fight another day."
But the man's resolve was ironclad.
Looking at me, Sian declared once more.
"No. Someone must take responsibility. That is how everyone else stays safe. If one person takes on all the blame and dies, at least the ember of hope for what comes next can be preserved."
His words made it even more absurd, and I said.
"Why should you be the one taking responsibility? This is something I started. If someone has to take responsibility, it should obviously be me."
"......Are you serious?"
"That's what being a leader means. Even if you make a mistake, I'll take the blame. I showed you the dream and urged you to walk with me. I have to take responsibility for that."
If the company went bankrupt, I should be the one bearing that burden alone.
Foisting it on the kids would make me some kind of deranged psychopath.
"That's just basic common sense. That's what a leader is."
The most obvious thing in the world.
Yet Sian was staring at me.
Looking me straight in the eye as he spoke.
"......I will make this succeed, without fail."
A sudden shift in his register.
My face was colored with surprise.
"Wait, why are you suddenly being formal with me?"
"Regardless of social status, a person deserving of respect deserves to be shown it. That too is only common sense."
He looked at me.
He bowed his head and spoke.
"I am in your care, Leader. Let us change the world together."
***
Yulia's life was one of comfort.
Her secret to success was simple.
Not seeing people as people.
"Lady Yulia, another employee has died. It seems toxic substances are being released during the manufacturing process of the potions we sell. There may be a need to procure safety equipment......"
A subordinate delivering his report.
Yulia asked him with perfect indifference.
"This safety equipment -- how much does it cost?"
"Ma'am? That would be five silver coins per person, and it only needs replacing about once a year, I'm told."
"And the cost of buying a new slave who's sick and dying but can still be worked for a few more months?"
"......Twenty copper coins should suffice."
She would clearly need to replace this subordinate.
Incompetence was leaking from every word out of his mouth.
"Then the answer's obvious, isn't it? People are cheaper than equipment. Just replace them every time one dies."
She couldn't fathom why anyone would see people as people. All you had to do was see them as numbers, and making money was this easy.
"B-but it seems someone has caught a whiff of something suspicious and is trying to gather evidence to expose the irregularities."
Whenever she saw someone like him, she felt like she'd die of frustration.
Did he really need to be told?
"Kill them. They might have talked to people around them, so wipe out everyone from family to friends."
Human life was not precious in the slightest.
What did she care whether other people lived or died?
One stranger's life versus her own profit. Which side was the obvious answer?
"His Majesty has granted me immunity from prosecution. I could kill them in the middle of the street and it'd be fine. But just in case, arrange a cover-up."
Yulia did not see humans as human.
And that was precisely why she had risen this far.
"......God, I'm exhausted. Get out, now. You can't understand a single thing I say. Just talking to you stresses me out. I'm going to wash up and get some sleep."
She'd worked too much today and wanted to rest.
With that thought, she began to walk away.
She could not have predicted the future that was coming for her.
Because she did not see people as people.
She didn't know that the butler, who had endured her abuse for so long, had been careless with the inspection of today's incoming goods.
She didn't know that the head maid, who should have carefully vetted every item presented to the lady of the house, had grown so disgusted by the verbal abuse that she'd neglected her duties.
At that point, her future was already decided.
KABOOOOOOM—!
The signal flare of revolution had been fired.