There, the Blood Axe Merchant Company entered [The Wolf That Drinks Moonlight], a three-story inn and tavern.
Until recently, they had been traveling through the eastern frontier domains where pirates ran rampant, but this time, they had turned south.
The reason was that winter would soon arrive.
Once winter came, the monsters and barbarians in the south ran even more rampant than the pirates in the east.
Perhaps that was why countless arms merchant companies and mercenary companies flocked to the southern frontier in winter. The Blood Axe Merchant Company had come here for the same reason.
But if one were to dig a little deeper.......
'They came to secure an ongoing official trade relationship with our house.'
They had stopped here to make House Valantes, currently known as the foremost martial house in the kingdom, their primary customer.
For an arms merchant company, the greatest means of raising its renown was which house used its weapons.
House Valantes was indisputably the finest martial house in the Kingdom of Brahms, and merchant companies were already lined up for the chance to do business with it.
In other words, the best way to forge ties with the Blood Axe Merchant Company was to build them a bridge to a meeting with his father, the Head of House.
Above all else.
'The Blood Axe Merchant Company is still so small that it can hardly even join that line.'
It had at least been slowly growing of late, bolstered by the influence of its Head Merchant, Exile, who was known to be a Half-Dwarf.
Of course, being a Half-Dwarf did not mean he could procure Dwarven weapons.
Dwarves were known as a race that had hidden away in mines deep within the mountains several centuries ago and cut off all contact with humans.
The problem was that although contact with them was difficult for the moment, it would open up before long.
And the one who would start it all was Exile.
'By now.......'
Leo, who had been waiting in front of The Wolf That Drinks Moonlight, slowly opened the door and stepped inside.
CRASH, BANG, BANG, BANG—!
The moment he entered, Leo lightly dodged a chair hurtling toward him with a violent crash.
'What, already?'
Leo was puzzled by the sight that greeted him the instant he opened the door.
Then one man caught his eye.
'What a spectacle.'
His eyes were glazed with drink, and he could not even hold himself upright.
It was his older brother, Jamie, looking exactly as he had the last time Leo saw him in his previous life.
'I heard he got into a fight yesterday, but he doesn't have a scratch on him.'
He had supposedly fought a group of mercenaries, yet there was not a single wound on his face. His talent remained as impressive as ever.
CRASH—!
Leo had gone blank for a moment at the sight of his brother after so long, but the shattering of a bottle and Jamie's roar snapped him back to his senses.
"Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me around, you mongrel bastard?!"
It had already begun.
This was the decisive incident that would make Exile refuse Leo's request during the final war.
And it all began with Jamie's vicious rampage.
In Leo's previous life, a massive sword scar ran vertically across Exile's face.
Jamie had given him that scar.
Not only that, but Jamie would slash every one of the escorting mercenaries, leaving them all injured.
As a result, Exile would leave the Valantes Domain today burdened with tremendous losses and a scar that would remain with him for the rest of his life, all because he had come looking for a good client.
CRASH, BANG, BANG—!
"Oh, Young Master! Please stop."
Despite the tavern owner's desperate plea, Jamie's frenzy did not subside.
"A mongrel like you dares try to face me?"
His madness-filled gaze turned toward the table where Exile sat. By then, he had already subdued all the mercenaries.
His eyes resembled those of a wild beast that had lost all reason at the sight of blood.
Jamie smacked his lips grotesquely and staggered toward Exile.
At that moment, one mercenary stumbled to his feet and blocked Jamie's path to Exile.
Jamie licked his lips with his tongue at the sight and spoke.
"You'd better move while I'm still willing to let you live. I love seeing blood more than anything else in the world."
The sight was so grotesque that Leo's brow furrowed of its own accord.
But mercenaries might forget a debt of life, yet they never forgot a debt of coin.
Thinking of the fee Exile had paid him, the mercenary stood rigidly in Jamie's path.
"This is why I hate mercenary bastards...... Those bastards yesterday and you bastards too. What makes you any different from insects that simply die when they're stepped on?"
There was a reason Jamie was growing even more agitated.
He had fought a group of mercenaries the day before.
They were not the same group, but he was now so consumed by rage that merely hearing the word 'mercenary' was enough to make his eyes turn wild.
"RAAAAAH!"
The mercenary charged with a savage roar.
But.
THUD! THUD, THUD!
There was no way he could handle alone what several men together had failed to overcome.
After only a few punches from Jamie, bright red blood and white teeth sprayed from the mercenary's mouth in a shower.
SHING—!
Jamie drew the dagger at his waist and glared at Exile.
"A filthy mongrel isn't worth keeping alive. Die!"
Staring at Exile with maddened eyes, Jamie vaulted over the table in an instant and rushed at him.
He looked ready to cut Exile's throat then and there.
As Jamie closed the distance in an instant, fear filled Exile's eyes.
At that moment.
WHOOSH- WHAM—!
Leo shot over from the tavern door and drove his knee across Jamie's cheek.
At the same time, a vicious sound that tore through the air and the brutal crack of something breaking echoed throughout the tavern.
CRASH, BANG, BANG, BANG—!
Jamie, who had been about to swing his blade at Exile, flew into a distant corner and crashed down in an unsightly heap.
Exile, who had squeezed his eyes shut, opened them.
Leo stood before him, wearing a pleasant smile entirely unlike his expression moments earlier.
"My name is Leonard Valantes. Please forgive my brother's discourtesy."
Exile's eyes instantly sparkled like those of a princess who had just seen a prince on a white horse.
Leo knew very well that the best time to offer help was when someone was in the most desperate circumstances.
***
A moment earlier, Leo had borrowed Minatos's Haste to quicken his movements.
That was how he had been able to soar across the considerable distance from the door in an instant and send Jamie flying.
Jamie lost consciousness where he had crashed into the corner. Leo called over two knights who had been patrolling the domain and ordered them to take him to Valantes Castle.
Only after dealing with everything did he finally sit down with Exile and begin their conversation.
"Thank you for saving me."
"Not at all. I am the one who should apologize. Please forgive my brother's discourtesy."
"There is no need. Such things happen from time to time."
Seeing Exile's grateful smile, Leo thought.
'Now that he's calmed down, should I get straight to the point?'
"By the way, what brings you to our domain?"
"Ah...... Have you, by any chance, heard of our merchant company, Blood Axe?"
"Of course. I know of it."
A faint smile appeared on Exile's face at that answer.
"Truly?"
"Yes, I have. In fact, I heard that you were coming here today and sought you out because I wanted to meet you."
In truth, it would have been only natural for Leo not to know of it.
He truly had not known of it in his previous life.
It was not a famous or enormous merchant company. It had merely enjoyed a brief surge of attention because its Head Merchant was a Half-Dwarf.
But when Leo thought of the Exile he had met in his previous life, he decided it would be better to say that he knew of it.
"Ah...... It is an honor. To think that the greatest martial house in the kingdom knows of our company."
Exile looked moved beyond mere delight, and Leo smiled pleasantly in return.
Leo could not remember exactly when it happened, but Exile would eventually use his advantage as a Half-Dwarf to monopolize trade with the Dwarves.
'He's someone I need to build trust with now.'
Exile was someone Leo had to know if he wanted a supply of Dwarven weapons, which human craftsmanship could not hope to approach.
And when Leo recalled Exile from the past.......
'He had guts, but he also placed great importance on courtesy.'
Moreover, Exile had an enormous complex about being a Half-Dwarf.
Because of that, even the slightest discourtesy made him think he was being looked down upon.
He was also withdrawn by nature. Once someone disappointed him, he would never open his heart to that person again.
"Since you are already aware of us, I will get straight to the point."
At Exile's words, Leo composed his expression and straightened his posture.
"The Blood Axe Merchant Company deals in weapons of the finest quality. That is because we sell weapons produced by the company itself. As you know, I am a Half-Dwarf. Moreover, I am a fine blacksmith who inherited Dwarven blood."
"Of course. Dwarven weapons are extraordinary enough to be the stuff of legend. I also know that your smithing is renowned, Head Merchant Exile."
At Leo's words, Exile bowed his head and continued.
"The Blood Axe Merchant Company wishes to begin an official trade relationship with House Valantes, the great martial house of the Kingdom of Brahms."
At that, Leo tapped the table with his index finger and sank into thought.
No, to be precise, he pretended to.
It was not a matter he could decide.
More importantly, from a practical standpoint, it was nearly impossible.
The Valantes Domain already had numerous smithies and an arms merchant company with which it conducted most of its trade.
Moreover, that company was one of the largest on the continent, so severing ties with it would be difficult.
Yet the Valantes Domain's circumstances did not leave enough room to do business with the Blood Axe Merchant Company as well.
The answer, naturally, was.......
"I am sorry, but I do not think that will be possible."
A refusal.
But.
"Of course, that is only my opinion."
There was still room for hope.
"My father, the Head of House, may think differently."
Hope flickered across Exile's face, which had begun to stiffen.
"I will arrange for you to meet my father."
"Truly?"
"Of course. I swear it on the name of House Valantes."
The moment Leo finished speaking, Exile sprang to his feet.
He strode over to his bundle and soon returned carrying a dagger.
"This is the finest dagger I currently possess. I forged it myself."
Even the scabbard gave off a different air.
'This is good.'
Suppressing the upward twitch of his lips, Leo slowly accepted it.
Then he spoke again.
"I will consider this payment for saving your life today."
A question mark appeared on Exile's face.
Leo watched his expression for a moment, then continued with a pleasant smile.
"You will have to compensate me separately for arranging a meeting with my father. When one side gives, the other should give in return. Is that not the basis of every human relationship?"
Leo offered him an affable smile. Exile fell into thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. But I will compensate you only if the deal goes through."
"Hmm...... So you mean you will not compensate me if the deal does not go through."
"What you said is certainly the basis of trade. However, a merchant is someone who seeks profit. I acknowledge that the dagger is the price of my life, but...... I find it difficult to judge what profit I would gain from a mere introduction."
'He has guts, just as I expected.'
Leo might have been an illegitimate son, but he was still the Young Master of a count's house.
Yet Exile had not yielded so much as an inch while negotiating with him.
That courage, and the courtesy he showed when he respected the other party, were what had made him such a capable merchant.
"......Very well. Let us do that."
Leo appeared to consider it for a moment before nodding, and Exile gave a satisfied smile.
This was how Exile saw it.
The dagger was the price of his life, so he did not begrudge it in the slightest.
And if he met the Head of House Valantes and the negotiations did not go well, he would not have to pay Leo anything else.
In other words, he was gaining a free opportunity to promote his merchant company to the Head of House Valantes, a famous martial house.
There would be an enormous difference between having his company's name known even once and not having it known at all.
Thus, he believed this was not a losing bargain for him.
However.
'A sword from Exile would be more than sufficient as Zenix's partner.'
Leo was already excited at the thought of receiving a sword from Exile.
'Father will do business with Exile. One hundred percent.'
He was certain that would happen as long as the two of them met.
Watching Exile's satisfied smile, Leo slowly spoke.
"How long do you intend to remain here?"
"I have not decided."
"Then......"