The company head tilted his head as he looked our way.
I stepped forward with an easy smile.
"The master is currently away."
The man's expression crumpled immediately.
Mm, that was definitely an amateur.
What was he going to do if the slave tattled to his master later?
This was the damn Empire. A world where if a noble killed some rude commoner company head, the Emperor would cover for the noble.
"......Hah, and here I rushed over as fast as I could."
Of course, if this were some tremendous tycoon, or a noble-born operating a trading company, it would be a different story.
But judging by the poor intelligence and unprofessional attitude, this was clearly a small-to-mid-tier trading company. He wasn't in a position to push back against a noble, yet he was this blatantly showing his displeasure.
"This is rather unpleasant. The company head himself came in person, even brought subordinates along to show respect. And he won't even show his face?"
And on top of that, the company head had come in person for a deal like this?
This was small even among the small ones.
But that was exactly why this was good.
A massive company with hundreds of people versus a small one. Which one would be easier to devour? The answer was obvious.
"I'm sure the master didn't mean for this to happen. You arrived earlier than expected, and he's someone who's frequently away due to a packed schedule."
"A packed schedule?"
"Yes, well, you know...... Drinking engagements."
The company head put on an expression mixing comprehension with contempt.
But he didn't storm off and leave.
Being snubbed was certainly unpleasant, but the smell of money would have hit him all the same.
A noble with no common sense, a degenerate who didn't know basic etiquette -- there was nothing easier to swindle than that.
"Still, the master did leave me a draft contract for situations like this. Why don't you come take a look?"
"I'd rather talk directly with your master."
Not even trying to hide the fact that he wanted to fleece a sucker.
'Bring me the easy mark, not you. I'll be the one cooking him.' He was saying it that brazenly.
I smiled with feigned nonchalance.
"Well, it'll take some time before Boss gets back anyway, so wouldn't it be better to at least read over the contract? Time is money for a merchant, after all."
The man considered it briefly.
"Hah. Fine, no choice. Get me some tea, at least."
You'd think he owned the place.
Have some shame, seriously.
You should have a charming side like our kids do.
"Yes, let's sit down and talk."
The company head still looked displeased.
He spoke in a grumbling voice.
"Good grief. I shouldn't have brought all eight subordinates to a cramped little place like this. I dragged along horses, a carriage -- the whole works, trying to make a good impression on a noble."
"I'm sure Lord Leon will appreciate your sincerity."
"The kind of person who calls us to a place like this? It's already cramped enough. I'll have to tell my subordinates to wait outside."
He seemed dissatisfied with the venue.
Not much I could do about it. Party rooms didn't exist in the medieval world. And my house was a commoner shack, even worse than this.
"You're the one managing the other slave brats, right? Do your job properly. When guests arrive, the least you can do is have tea ready beforehand. And come out to greet them promptly."
The man removed his leather coat.
And then...... hurled it at me.
The coat hit me square in the face.
"Hah, fuck. I tossed it to you so you'd hang it up, and you can't even catch it. There's a limit to how useless you can be. This is exactly why slave bastards are hopeless."
He threw an object at someone's face and then had the gall to call me incompetent.
And then.......
"What's with that face? Want to die?"
The atmosphere flipped in an instant.
Not my atmosphere, though. To me, medieval people were roughly equivalent to orangutans doing a passable impression of humans.
I wasn't so immature as to get angry at an orangutan for throwing things. Well, it was a dim creature, so it would do that sort of thing.
The ones who were angry were the children.
""......"".
I could even feel killing intent in their gazes.
As if they'd all made a silent pact, every one of them fixed the man who'd thrown the coat at me with eyes gone cold as ice.
Since they all adored me so much, whenever I got disrespected, they'd get angry to a degree that was honestly a bit terrifying.
"That's no way to act in front of a guest."
He was the head of a trading company, after all.
I tried to calm the agitated children down to some degree. I'd been worried that one word from me wouldn't be enough, but.
"You all go outside and attend to the other guests out there."
At my words, the children's expressions changed in an instant.
They accepted what I said with unexpected speed.
"......You're referring to a 'welcome reception'?"
Rang asked in a meaningful voice.
"That's right, a welcome reception. We should make it grand. Do you understand what I'm saying, Rang?"
What formed was the purest smile I'd ever seen.
"Yes, I'll put on a grand fireworks display."
Our kids really were so well-behaved.
I grinned broadly and turned back to the company head.
Right then. Time to start the real negotiations.
***
The subordinates that Company Head Rotan had brought along.
They were currently engrossed in a side job.
Sneaking valuables into their own pockets whenever the boss wasn't looking. Stealthy repositioning of goods.
To put it simply, they were all hard at work stealing.
Small-to-mid-tier trading companies and bandits were synonyms to begin with.
Larger trading companies at least maintained some image, but the small ones lived with ruthless efficiency.
"What the hell? He's supposed to be a noble? Why's the workshop in this state? I can't find a single storehouse no matter where I look."
"Unbelievable. Even if you can't fill a storehouse with gold coins, you should at least have some bundles of silver stashed somewhere. It's so pathetic there's nothing worth stealing."
On normal days they'd haul and sell goods on the road, but if they spotted easy pickings in the mountains or wherever?
Instant transformation from trading company to bandits. Moonlighting with a second job, living more industriously than anyone -- that was just who these people were.
Right now, they were taking the chance to scout for anything worth stealing.
"I heard this particular noble is famously such an idiot that he wouldn't even notice a few things going missing. No, at this point, having nothing to steal is a failure of hospitality."
But this particular homeowner was too stingy.
He should have at least left some goods around for easy pickings.
They'd rushed here hoping for a big score this time. And yet here they were, looking at zero profits.
Everyone was in a distinctly bad mood, when.......
"......What's this?"
A voice came from somewhere.
This was a noble's residence, after all, meager as it was. One of their colleagues had gone off saying he'd check if there was a hidden storehouse.
He sounded as if he'd found something.
"What is it? Find something?"
"If it's something good, share the wealth. Where is it?"
Everyone rushed over, hoping to grab a piece.
But what the men found was not a treasure room.
"Was there a fire or something? Everything's burned down."
What they found was the annex.
The annex where Leon had resided. The annex where Leon had died. A place burned beyond recognition.
The alchemy workshop was right next to it.
Probably an explosive potion malfunctioned or something. That was everyone's assumption, and they were about to move on, when someone spoke.
"......Hey, guys. Doesn't something feel off about this?"
A man who'd been blankly staring at the ash-covered annex. One of the company's men opened his mouth with a serious face.
Something was unnatural.
"A noble who won't show his face even when a trading company has come to visit, and a building that's burned to complete ash."
It could be two unrelated events.
One could just be a freak accident with a potion, and the other could just be a rude bastard who couldn't be bothered to show up.
There wasn't a single piece of hard evidence.
No bones in sight, no matter where they looked.
"......Something's fishy, I'm telling you."
But the absence was precisely what made it more suspicious.
The scene was too clean, if anything.
There were no traces of a body, but it gave off the unnatural feeling that someone had tampered with the scene.
Almost as if someone had tried to cover up a crime.
"What are you on about? Playing detective or something?"
"No, I'm serious, something's really off. What if that noble is already dead? What if he didn't go out somewhere -- what if he's dead?"
Calling someone over and then not being there?
And on top of that, being unreachable even after the guests arrived?
No matter how you thought about it, wasn't that a bit unnatural?
"The bastard's famous for his foul personality and being addicted to entertainment. He's probably at a gambling den right about now. Most likely forgot about the appointment because he was drinking."
"Still, not showing his face at all is a bit suspicious."
There was no hard evidence. Just a hunch -- he'd seen a similar case before, and something felt familiar. The kind of gut feeling that barely qualified as evidence.
And yet, it was certainly worth looking into.
"Besides, what if the slave bastards actually killed the noble? This could be a chance to score a massive payday."
"A massive payday?"
It didn't cost anything to check, after all. And if this gut feeling turned out to be right, there was a lot to gain.
Enough to make the trip here feel anything but wasted.
"The original owner's already dead anyway. We just kill all the slave bastards here and take this alchemy workshop for ourselves. Simple as that."
Nobles required caution when disposing of.
But against commoners, there was nothing to worry about.
The Imperial Family didn't treat commoners as people to begin with.
The lowborn are not citizens. Words the Emperor spoke in private, but everyone who mattered knew the sentiment.
A few commoner deaths here and there meant nothing to the Imperial Family. As for the guards -- a bit of bribe money and that was that.
"No, actually, killing them ourselves seems wasteful. What if we hand them over to the Imperial Family on charges of murdering a noble and collect the bounty instead? I need to think long and hard about which option makes more money."
Just as he was thinking that, a voice rang out.
"I was wondering why Boss would suddenly give such a drastic order. What a fool I was for even hesitating."
Blue hair and red eyes.
A girl had appeared behind the men at some point.
"As if Boss would ever give an order without good reason. It's just that my narrow vision can't possibly comprehend the world he sees."
Those red eyes gleamed.
The girl faced the men with a nonchalant expression.
"Boss has given the order."
A smile formed at her lips.
The girl spoke with a playful grin.
"To burn every last one of you in a grand fireworks display."