“If you say work···?”
“To help me with all your heart and soul in anything I ask, regardless of the reason.”
Despite the arrogant demand from a boy who could have been young enough to be his son, Merlin could not resist the inexplicable pull he felt.
“What can I gain if I help you?”
“In one way or another, you will be able to rise above your enemies. I promise.”
At Friedrich’s answer, Merlin fell into thought.
Leibniz Merlin had been driven, as people often said, to the very bottom of life.
‘Rather than rot away for the rest of my life in this state···.’
To him, Friedrich’s proposal was itself a sturdy rope that could pull him out as he floundered in the dung pit of reality.
“Very well. I will work. Let us do it. To hell with it.”
At Merlin’s answer, a strange light flashed in Friedrich’s eyes.
“Good. But if you work with me, what I want comes first. You will not be able to leave our house or the autonomous territory until I permit it either. Will you still do it?”
“How could it be harder than what I am living through now?”
Even a contract that felt like rolling through a field of dog dung would be better than his current life.
Right now, he was despairing because he could not escape a reality that felt like a filth pit he could not even wash himself clean of.
Friedrich read the desperate determination in Merlin’s voice, so grave and urgent, and composed his expression.
“Understood. Then let us speak once the Consul arrives.”
“I hope you will persuade him. Lord Friedrich.”
Friedrich shook the hand Merlin held out.
The two exchanged a grip as strong as their wills.
Around the time Friedrich had picked up Merlin and was working to make the man his own.
Wilhelm was presiding over a meeting in the conference room of the Medichin Konzern trading house in Asteldorf. Gathered there were all the managers who oversaw the trade networks across the imperial mainland.
“From fish-stinking beggar hordes to the ignorant tin-can knights of Nodenburg···. It is always the north that causes trouble.”
Even when Wilhelm grumbled in a dissatisfied tone, no one dared open their mouth.
The Flandern Autonomous Territory and the city of Anstelda at its center had always been a headache.
“Is it true that trade between the Flandern Autonomous Territory and the Elbrian Maritime Empire is increasing?”
At Wilhelm’s worried question, Jakob Luther, the manager in charge of the western trade network, answered.
“My apologies, Mayor.”
“Haa-, how did those beggar bastards manage to win over those finicky pointy-eared bastards?”
“They say Flandern’s method of distributing fish has changed. A fisherman in Anstelda of Flandern devised a new brine-curing method···.”
If one used that knife, one could slit open a fish’s belly and remove the entrails at the same time.
Thus, the fisherman processed the fish immediately on board as soon as they were caught, then put them straight into barrels filled with salt water, improving their freshness and quality.
After learning of this, Orenje Billen, the mayor of Anstelda, consul of the Flandern Autonomous Territory, and head of the Billen Konzern, distributed that fish knife and brine-curing method, further increasing both freshness and the quality of the raw product.
“Ugh···, there is no way it would fail to sell. It would waste less salt than directly sprinkling it, and as for the saltiness, it could be removed well enough by soaking the fish in plain water.”
Wilhelm, a gourmand and a merchant to the marrow of his bones, immediately grasped the value of fish processed through the brine-curing method just from hearing about it.
No sooner had he finished speaking than he lightly ran his tongue over his lips, as though already intoxicated by the texture of fish flesh more plump and springy than that produced by the existing curing method.
‘Whoops!’
The moment moisture touched his lips, Wilhelm removed the unseemly expression from his face and straightened his look.
“Ahem, is there anything else to report?”
“Yes, Mayor. With that new brined fish at the forefront, the Flandern bastards are also increasing trade with the Kingdom of Fermigia.”
The Kingdom of Fermigia was the “Land of Lady Knights.” Considering that only a single mountain range separated it from the Empire, its customs and culture were strikingly different from the Empire’s, and it was difficult to open trade there except through Elbria.
To think that even Fermigia had been breached by mere preserved fish···. Wilhelm spoke with an expression of disbelief.
“How frustrating. They are already clawing desperately to extend their reach into banking as well···. Orenje, that damned bastard.”
Orenje Billen had been his friend back when they were both heirs, but now he was his political rival.
Ever since the Flandern Autonomous Territory that Orenje led as consul and the Billen Konzern that he moved as its head began chasing closely after them, the growth of trade profits within the Empire for the Etilant Autonomous Territory and the Medichin Konzern had gradually slowed.
Wilhelm’s lament as he cursed the friend who had become his enemy showed no sign of ending.
“And in the midst of that, the Margrave of Nodenburg-Treisen is ravaging the northeastern Empire as if playing at soldiers, which has even made trade with the Norslav Tsardom awkward···.”
“My apologies. It would not be enough even if I were bringing you good news, Mayor….”
Peter Andersson, the manager of the northern trade headquarters in charge of trade with the Norslav Tsardom, a powerful nation north of the Empire, could not raise his head.
Even if the war had not happened because of him, it had still occurred in his area of responsibility.
Looking at the two managers with somber expressions, Wilhelm shook his head.
“Do not be too hard on yourselves. I am well aware that the west and the north are difficult battlefields for us.”
Even for the Medichin Konzern, the largest merchant organization in the Empire, geographical disadvantages and the disaster called war were themselves forces beyond control.
Even so, the fact that the western and northern trade headquarters of the Medichin Konzern had protected even a rat’s-tail-sized profit was the result of tearful efforts made by employees from the two managers down to the lowest ranks, who had bled from their noses, sweated, and ground down their bones.
However, Wilhelm was absolutely not a man who clung only to warm-hearted indulgence.
“At times like this, our Konzern must strive harder than it does now. We need to discover new trade goods or improve our management methods. Or else create laws in the Imperial Diet that will protect our interests.”
One Tragedy of the Carrack Ships is enough, is it not?
Wilhelm’s blunt mutter sounded like thunder to the others in the room.
‘Haa! Damn it all!’
‘Just thinking about it makes my stomach ache!’
‘How much money and time did we pour into developing carrack ships!’
‘If we had sold the carrack ships built by other bastards···!’
Carrack ships were the pride and painful sore spot of the Medichin Konzern and Etilant.
As that memory surfaced, the sound of grinding teeth rang out from everyone without exception.
In the meeting room where that ominous chorus echoed, Wilhelm looked around at those present and opened his mouth.
“Here, in this place, I swear by all the gods and our ancestors that I will grant an appropriate reward to anyone who solves even one of the three matters I just presented. If all three are solved, then I will give three rewards as well.”
“!!!”
At Wilhelm’s declaration, the employees’ eyes flashed. If they received a reward and requested a promotion, a special promotion of up to three ranks would be possible.
“Understood, Mayor!”
The employees answered loudly, their motivation blazing.
Looking at them, Wilhelm laughed inwardly.
‘I will be able to make good use of this from now on too.’
Wilhelm Medichin was once again feeling the power of the performance-and-reward system his son had told him about after returning from his first battle.
Thus began Etilant’s culture, compressed into the words ‘carrot and stick.’
***
After finishing the meeting by assigning tasks with rewards attached, Wilhelm left the trading house and returned to the camp outside the city walls.
When Wilhelm dismounted and entered the large tent reserved for the Medichin family, the first person to greet him at the entrance was Friedrich.
“Did your visit to the trading house go well?”
“It did. Were you well too?”
At Wilhelm’s answer, Friedrich responded with a smile.
“Yes, Father. Actually···.”
After hearing the circumstances of how Friedrich had picked up Merlin, Wilhelm asked with a stiff expression,“You want a mage who is only 1st Circle that badly?”
“Yes.”
When Friedrich answered without even taking a breath, Wilhelm looked at Merlin, who was bowing his head beside him.
“Hmm….”
The more Wilhelm trailed off and groaned as though deeply reluctant, the deeper Merlin bowed at the waist.
The reason was simple. Mages were, in everyday terms, forces with a very poor cost-benefit ratio.
The salary of one 1st-Circle Battle Mage in the Etilant Army’s Magic Wing was equal to the salaries of three or four middle-grade Aura User knights.
Moreover, according to imperial law, mages’ research time had to be guaranteed, and their expenses had to be supported.
To ask him to employ a mage, who was normally a money-eating nuisance, and a 1st-Circle mage at that···.
Wilhelm prided himself on being second to no one when it came to money, but because the return on investment was far too poor, he was not inclined to answer readily. Moreover···.
‘Still, accepting him without condition is a bit….’
He needed to teach clearly what was possible and what was not. Friedrich was his child, but he was also the one who would one day succeed him, so this was all the more necessary.
‘What a miserly father!’
Seeing his father’s lukewarm expression and quickly grasping what was in his mind, Friedrich rose and bowed at the waist to ninety degrees.
“I ask this of you, Father. Please allow me to use Merlin as my own man.”
“Do you truly desire him that much?”
“Yes. It will not be too late to decide on the contract with Merlin after confirming whether what he said is true at the Imperial Magic University. There is time until the Imperial Diet ends, so please make your decision after confirming it.”
Friedrich Medichin was not throwing a tantrum unbecoming of his age. Instead, he had taken one step back and was asking permission while presenting reasonable conditions.
Though peach fuzz still grew beneath his nose, Wilhelm could not simply keep saying no to his eldest son, who was pushing and pulling as skillfully as any merchant.
In addition, Merlin himself raised his head upright. His eyes had not merely recovered the vitality they had regained when he first met Friedrich, but burned fiercely with the will that he absolutely wanted to work.
“Respected Consul, may I say one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“Although I entered into an oral agreement with Lord Friedrich, it would be difficult for you to trust me on that alone. Please give me a chance to prove my value. I beg you.”
At Merlin’s earnest words, Wilhelm’s heart also stirred.
Friedrich was not throwing a tantrum, but making a respectful request, and on top of that, he had tamed this proud mage so meekly?
‘Winning a person’s heart is not easy….’
Wilhelm Medichin was satisfied by Friedrich’s appearance, which had become even more dignified and thoughtful.
Seeing the two quietly waiting for his decision, Wilhelm found himself in a position where he could no longer simply refuse.
‘A mage of about the 1st Circle should be easy for Friedrich to use comfortably, and as his Circle rises, his loyalty to the boy will deepen as well. That is not bad.’
Friedrich was the one who would one day inherit everything Wilhelm possessed and lead House Medichin, the Medichin Konzern, and beyond them, even the Etilant Autonomous Territory.
Considering that future, allowing him to use Merlin would be a good opportunity for him to begin learning how to rule.
“Very well. Since you are yielding this much, allowing it would balance the scales.”
“Then···?”
“However, there is a condition.”
‘Nothing ever goes easily.’
While Friedrich grumbled inwardly, Wilhelm gave a small laugh and said,
“There is nothing free in this world, you rascal. If you want to have what you desire, should you not give this father of yours what I desire?”
Because our essence is that of merchants.
‘He is not wrong by even a single word, so I have nothing to say.’
At the words his father added, Friedrich gave a bitter smile and answered.
“Yes, Father. What do you want?”
“I gave the employees at the trading house a task···.”
After hearing the details, Friedrich rapidly turned his thoughts.
‘This is worth trying.’
He had reached a conclusion, but he did not reveal it even for a moment.
Instead, he opened his mouth.
“Wow-, that is truly difficult.”
“It is, is it not? That is why I attached one reward to each task. If you solve even one of them, I will allow that man Merlin to become one of your close aides.”
“!!!”
Merlin, who was standing beside them, flinched and desperately managed his expression, but inwardly, a wail was rising from him.
‘How is he supposed to solve that!’
Even Wilhelm, one of the most outstanding intellectuals in the Empire, had not found a solution and had entrusted it to his employees. It was far too difficult a task for Friedrich, who was only fourteen years old.
However, Friedrich answered Wilhelm with a grave expression.
“I will do my best, Father.”
“Good. Until then, Merlin, you may stay in our camp.”
“!!! Thank you, Consul!”
“Thank you, Father!”
However, Wilhelm was indeed a man faithful to the essence of a merchant.
“However, there is nothing free in this world. Merlin, as you yourself said, show your value. Even menial work is fine, so I hope you will make an effort.”
Leibniz Merlin had failed to break through the wall of the 1st Circle for forty years of his life.
His ‘regular employment’ now lay in Friedrich’s hands.