“Father! Mother! I’m home!”
Standing in front of the house, I shouted at the top of my lungs as though I were a triumphant general.
“Mikael is back!”
The first one to run out was my third older sister.
Her expression showed surprise more than delight.
‘Oh, right. I didn’t buy any tasty treats….’
A moment later, my parents and the rest of my older sisters came out into the yard one by one.
Mother clasped my hand tightly.
“Was everything all right? It was such a distant town that we couldn’t even hear proper rumors… I can’t tell you how worried I was.”
“Ha ha, as you can see, I’m perfectly fine. I actually arrived five days earlier than expected.”
Father said with something like a snort,
“Right, right. Good. Let’s eat. Seriel, set the table!”
“Um… Would it be all right if the person behind me ate with us too?”
“……?”
Garen smiled awkwardly.
“I’m Garen, the one who escorted the Merchant Company Head this time!”
“Oh my, a mercenary. Come in with us.”
“Ha ha! Thank you.”
It was nice to laugh with my family and catch up, but my mind kept turning elsewhere.
“What happened to the ‘request for mediation’ the Bernard Family filed back then?”
Mother briefly avoided my gaze.
“Let’s talk about that while we eat.”
“Yes, Mother.”
My family and I headed to the dining table.
Steam rose in soft curls.
As if to celebrate my safe return, several chickens had been placed on the table.
‘Ah… this is a burden.’
My family was watching only my mouth with sparkling eyes.
RIIIP—
As I tore off the meat, I slowly began telling them about what had happened on the road west.
“For starters, direct trade by merchants was blocked….”
“……!”
I told them that the Empire was purchasing supplies directly, that transactions were being carried out only through promissory notes, and that I had bought up as many of those promissory notes as I could.
Of course, I roughly glossed over the dangerous parts.
The dining table soon became noisy.
“They’re trading only with promissory notes?”
“That’s… really true?”
“Really, Mikael?”
Everyone looked as though they were listening to a heroic tale.
“Yes, that’s about it.”
Feeling needlessly embarrassed, I changed the subject.
“Now please tell me. About Lucian’s ‘request for mediation’….”
Before I left for the west, our family had been caught up in suspicions that we had paid a bribe as a condition for leasing a warehouse site.
My second older sister, who never lost her composure, opened her mouth.
“Lisa helped us a lot, so it won’t go as far as a formal trial.”
Right, Lisa had said she knew Imperial law inside and out.
“Then?”
“There will be a summary hearing tomorrow, so you can go and explain your side. However.”
“However?”
“The Bernard Family’s influence is very strong. From what I saw, they aren’t even from Heindel, so I don’t know why they’re doing this.”
I had found that strange since last time too.
If they were going to do business in this town, there should have been no reason for them to deliberately antagonize the lord. In any case.
“Legally, there’s no problem. You’re saying it just feels a little uneasy?”
“Yes.”
A heavy silence settled over the table. And then.
Chomp. Chomp.
“……?”
Garen was happily tearing into the chicken.
This makes it look like I didn’t even feed him….
“If it’s you, Merchant Company Head, then… munch, munch… I’m sure you have a plan, don’t you?”
Garen answered with his mouth full. Instead of answering him, I spoke to my family.
“I’ll meet Lisa tomorrow and go to the hearing.”
Mother looked at me with a worried face.
“Will you be all right going by yourself? And you should rest. You’re tired.”
“I have to stop by the Commerce Bureau to exchange the promissory notes anyway. I can go to the Legal Affairs Bureau first and then go there with her, so it’s fine.”
And around the time the chickens had been reduced to nothing but bare bones.
I brought up the topic I had prepared.
“This time, I’m going to formally apply to the Commerce Bureau as a small merchant company.”
A variety of reactions burst from my family all at once.
“What…?”
“Wow, does that mean Father is becoming a merchant company head now?”
“…….!”
“M-Mikael, are you serious?”
I set down the last chicken drumstick and said, “Yes. Transaction volume, transportation capacity, and a recommendation letter from a government office. I should be able to satisfy all three.”
“Mm… what about trade goods?”
Father, who had been quiet at the table the entire time, finally spoke.
“For now, I’m thinking of marine-grade steel. I’ll be going back toward Oxhorn Pass soon anyway.”
Father nodded slowly.
“Good. Let’s discuss the details tomorrow after you sell the promissory notes.”
“Yes, Father.”
And so, my grand return ceremony came to an end.
As I saw off Garen, who was patting his stomach—pat, pat—I brought up a proposal.
“Garen. If we’re promoted to a small merchant company this time, would you consider working exclusively for our merchant company?”
Because finding another talent like him would not be easy.
When I thought about it, I might be the one who needed him more.
“What? Exclusively?”
“Just as I said. Once we become a proper merchant company, we’ll also be making contracts with mercenary corps.”
“But I don’t belong to any mercenary corps. I’m just a wandering mercenary.”
“Then we’ll call it a one-man mercenary corps.”
Garen scratched his chin and laughed heartily.
“Ha ha ha! That’s not bad either. Then am I going with you this time too?”
“Heh heh, of course.”
“I’m looking forward to it already, Merchant Company Head!”
I smiled and nodded.
That night was strangely comfortable.
With my mind completely empty, I fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a very long while.
***
The next morning, I headed to the Merchant Guild.
For some reason, I felt needlessly tense.
Jingle, jingle—
As soon as the door opened, Lisa jumped up.
“Wow, look who it is?”
“Uh, huh?”
I was so startled that I half-stepped back.
“How long has it been? Did you get back safely?”
“Of course. I made a tremendous amount of money and came back.”
I waved the promissory notes in my hand.
“Oh! Are you giving me a gift now?”
“I do have work for you….”
“……?”
“Actually, I need your help today.”
“Heh heh, what are you planning to work me for this time?”
“…This one really is important.”
Lisa crossed her arms and raised the corner of her mouth.
“I feel like I’ve heard that line before.”
“You’re imagining things.”
“Keke, look at you. Is it because of today’s summary hearing?”
“Yes. And there’s more besides that.”
I explained, in order, the things I needed to handle at the Legal Affairs Bureau and the Commerce Bureau. Selling the promissory notes, applying for small merchant company status, and so on.
Surprisingly, Lisa did not seem very shocked.
“Really? Then we don’t have time. Let’s go right away.”
“Is it all right for you to leave the Guild?”
“Ahem. Business trip.”
“Ah, right. A business trip. Then let’s go.”
I headed to the lord’s manor with Lisa. After we walked for quite a while, a three-story stone building appeared in the distance.
The lord stayed on the top floor, and the first floor housed Imperial institutions such as the Commerce Bureau and the Legal Affairs Bureau.
It was modest in scale, but it handled the administration of no fewer than three villages.
“Mikael.”
“Yeah?”
“The Bernard Family’s side has been putting quite a lot of pressure on the officials. Do you have any sharp move?”
“It’s not like we have anything to be ashamed of. Of course I do.”
“Really?”
Lisa looked me over for a moment and smiled.
“Then I’ll trust you. Today, your mouth is our weapon.”
As we had last time, we were guided by the guards of the lord’s manor to the Legal Affairs Bureau on the first floor.
CLICK—
The interior of the Legal Affairs Bureau was smaller than expected.
No matter that it was only a summary hearing, there were only two small tables and a few long benches for spectators.
I sat with Lisa and waited, and soon, Lucian and the lord’s representative appeared as well.
“Mr. Mikael, it’s been a while.”
“It has.”
He wore a faint smile as he walked over and sat across from us. And beside me sat the lord’s representative.
RAP. RAP. RAP.
The gavel sounded three times, and the judge opened his mouth.
“This matter is a mediation proceeding regarding the charges of bribery and improper solicitation related to the warehouse-site lease in the outskirts of Heindel. We will first hear from the requester of mediation, Lord Lucian de Bernard.”
“Yes.”
Lucian took a short breath, then threw out his words.
“I would like to take this opportunity to speak on the bribery allegations the lord’s side has been perpetrating all this time.”
“Yes, speak.”
‘What the hell, all this time…?’
Instinctively, my mind snapped alert.
I lifted myself from the chair’s backrest.
The lord’s representative hurriedly rose from his seat.
“W-wait! What is this? Your Honor, the requester is making statements unrelated to this case!”
“…….”
The judge did not give any particular answer.
“Your Honor.”
Lucian immediately continued.
“On the surface, it may appear unrelated, but this statement contains important content that confirms the lord’s cowardly administrative practices. I ask for permission to speak.”
The judge briefly closed his eyes, then opened them and said,
“It appears related to this mediation matter. Permission granted. Requester, continue your statement.”
Small whispers flowed here and there from the spectators’ seats.
“No way, the lord…?”
“That man isn’t even from our village….”
Even in my memory, the current lord had not seemed like a corrupt person.
Having gained the right to speak, Lucian recited the lord’s alleged offenses without hesitation. Quite plausibly, at that.
“The lord’s side blocks new merchant companies from entering and always grants land only to the same few merchant companies. Last year, there were three merchant companies that applied for approval for grain storage warehouses. But all of them were rejected on the grounds of ‘insufficient paperwork.’”
He unfolded the documents he had prepared.
“On the other hand, during the same period, a merchant company that had known the lord’s side for a long time submitted its application three days after the deadline, and its documents were incomplete, yet its permit was approved in a single day.”
The courtroom, which had been quiet, began to stir subtly.
“That really happened?”
“My younger brother applied for warehouse approval too and was rejected….”
As though savoring those sounds, Lucian slowly looked around at the people.
He gradually revealed his intentions more openly.
“Is this fair?”
A brief silence flowed.
“There can be no development in an administration where fair competition has disappeared. The result is Heindel as it is now. Even when useful land lies unused, permits are granted only through personal connections. If even the idle land were properly put back into circulation, this place would become far wealthier.”
His voice grew increasingly firm.
“This village now needs someone who can set its administration right.”
Lucian’s words ended, but the air of the courtroom remained cold.
As though someone had just drawn a dagger.
Wait—
Ah, only now did I get it.
He had never been aiming for me from the start.
From beginning to end, he had only clung to the “charges” against the lord’s side.
As though he were some witness speaking of justice, he shouted “administrative transparency” at the end of every sentence, but the conclusion ultimately came down to one thing.
‘The current lord won’t do.’
No, to be precise—
‘It should be me.’
If he was a noble, it was the obvious sequence.
The problem was…….
The one getting caught up in this for no reason and having his back burst like a shrimp was me.
“Wh-what is that man saying…!”
In the face of a sudden attack, anyone’s tongue was bound to tangle.
The lord’s representative’s face turned red and blue.
A short silence passed.
“May I speak, Your Honor?”
“You said your name was Mikael, correct? Yes, go ahead.”
He had attached “Lord” to Lucian…
In any case, when I raised my hand, every gaze among the spectators turned to me.
“You say new merchant companies are being blocked?”
I slowly looked at Lucian.
“Am I not a new merchant company?”
The moment my words ended, the room went quiet.
“If Lord Lucian’s words are correct, then I should have been blocked as well.”
Several people glanced at one another.
“However—”
I took out my temporary permit and held it up.
“I was properly granted permission.”
Lucian’s smile stiffened for a moment.
“Your Honor, one moment. About that permit, I understand the conditions were extremely peculiar.”
“Is that so? What were those conditions, young Mikael?”
Unexpected supporting fire.
For an instant, my heart leapt.
I never expected him to help me like this.
“Yes, I will confirm them.”
I unfolded the document and read clearly.
“Period: two months. Formal conversion upon submission of results from a postwar restoration business. However, full responsibility shall be borne in the event of accidents or disputes.”
Before I had even finished speaking, Lucian quickly cut in.
“Look at this. The Raphael Family is nothing more than a small-scale peddling operation. To demand that such peddlers produce results in a restoration business within two months. Does this make sense?”
‘…Now that I hear it, is he really taking my side?’
I struggled to swallow my laughter as I pulled a document from inside my clothes.
“This is a promissory note certificate. It is worth one hundred gold coins. Of that, fifty came as profit from a postwar restoration business, and the rest are promissory notes I purchased separately.”
A moment of silence.
Soon after, the entire Legal Affairs Bureau began to stir.
“What did he say? A hundred?”
“A mere sixteen-year-old touched that much money?”
“Raphael raised his child damn well.”
“Mom, I want to marry Mikael!”
No, that last one is a bit much…….
Pffft— Lisa, who had been quietly sitting beside me, finally failed to hold back her laughter.
The situation was as good as over.
The stage of agitation Lucian had painstakingly prepared had scattered into empty air.
The judge looked at Lucian for a moment, then wore a subtle expression. Somehow, his eyes looked apologetic.
“The request of the mediation requester, Lord Lucian de Bernard, is dismissed.”
BANG, BANG, BANG.
The sound of the gavel rang out.
“Mr. Mikael, let’s talk for a moment.”
Just as I was stepping out of the Legal Affairs Bureau door, someone grabbed my shoulder. When I turned around, it was Lucian.
“Yes? Go ahead.”
“In this matter, I underestimated you.”
“…….”
What was I supposed to do about that?
Was he trying to reconcile?
“Heindel is a granary region. Its trade routes are good, and its resources are abundant. It is a place with some of the greatest potential in the Empire’s south.”
This man was skilled at dressing logic in words until the very end.
“Yes, and?”
“At this rate, its development will only stop.”
Of course, there was some reason in Lucian’s words.
If Heindel and the other two villages were combined, their grain production was considerable.
But—
“I’m not sure that becomes a justification for attacking the lord.”
I took a short breath and quietly continued.
“And with that method, it will be difficult for you to achieve what you want.”
“…Perhaps.”
Lucian held out his hand.
“But I will try. If someday you feel those limits as well, come find me.”
I did not take his hand.
“Then, excuse me.”
I headed straight to the Commerce Bureau.
The door handle was cold.
“Whew…….”
“What? Are you nervous? Keke.”
Lisa laughed and nudged me.
“It’s not nerves. It’s anticipation.”
Promotion to a small merchant company.
Just those words made my heart strangely excited.