Recalling the message Winter had brought a short while ago, Creina slowly tilted her glass.
"Might I know the details concerning Director Dechion and Proprietor Reijo?"
"His Highness has resolved to begin his first venture in Deber. Considering his ties with you, Lady Creina, he said he would grant you a special opportunity to take part, so regard it as an honor."
The red liquid overflowing the glass trickled down.
Like blood.
"The Ninth Prince. Having nothing of his own, he means to hunt."
Winter had demanded information on Reijo and Dechion under the pretext that it was preparation for a partnership proposal, but Creina had already seen through his true intent.
The Ninth Prince had marked the two men as prey. He meant to devour them to fill his belly and to make clothes from their hides.
Dechion was one thing, but the other was a businessman who had promised to sponsor him.
"An Imperial pig who fattens his own flesh by fleecing Deber. One of the ten traitors who led the way in selling the nation."
Arist Reishal, he truly did have the qualifications to lead the Liberation Army in place of their young lord.
The Ninth Prince was moving exactly as the Liberation Army had predicted.
Not only should they watch as the worst trash in the Empire sought to gain power, they had to help him.
Because it would be a path that further increased the homeland's profit and the Empire's loss.
'And yet he offers a partnership even to a mere merchant who sells luxuries. Ninth Prince... do you consider me prey as well?'
Either way it did not matter. If she became a partner and was seated close at hand, carrying out the Liberation Army's orders would become that much easier.
...However.
"The Imperial pig. Deber's traitor. And the Imperial family's trash."
A future in which only two of the three perished did not satisfy her.
If possible, she wanted to watch and enjoy the downfall of all three.
'I hand over the information. I accept the partnership as well. At the same time...... at the perfect moment, I expose the prince's weakness.'
The Ninth Prince had flaunted his wealth by spending five million Luon in a single night at the Madame de Gallery.
But the Creina of now knew that the money had been won at a casino by the boy called Winter.
In other words, the Ninth Prince had squandered the merit of the first subordinate he had made in Deber on a single night's luxury.
"So bear it as you deserve."
A business was, before it was an opportunity to earn greater money, a right that only those with money could enjoy.
Dechion and Reijo were men second to none in their greed for money, so the moment they learned the Ninth Prince was in fact penniless, they would change their stance.
'I make the two of them and the Ninth Prince fight and bleed. And then.'
Creina herself and the Liberation Army would collect all three corpses as spoils.
It would be very easy.
Merely exposing the Ninth Prince's financial situation in secret at the optimal moment would plainly make everything flow according to plan.
"Ninth Prince. Prepare to pay the price of your bluffing."
The root cause of the hardship her young lord was enduring.
She sincerely wished for the prince's ruin.
***
"Dechion! What are you doing?"
"......."
"You seem too delighted to grasp the situation? Ah, this is not a dream but reality. You have just been bestowed the honor of partnering with a prince!"
Shouting cheerfully, Zion sneered inwardly.
'A total fortune of one hundred million Luon. You sold your homeland and could only hoard that much, Dechion. How incompetent.'
Since it was information obtained through Creina, the scale of the fortune itself was certain.
The Liberation Army's information boasted 100% accuracy, at least where traitors were concerned.
The reason? Simple.
'I will make this an opportunity to fulfill one of my long-cherished wishes.'
One of Crown Prince Zion Bliese's long-cherished wishes was to punish, one by one with his own hands, the Five Enemies Within the Palace and the Five Enemies Outside the Palace, ten traitors in all.
'Mere downfall is not enough. I will kill you, Dechion.'
Enough musing. Once again he shouted merrily and laughed.
"Come to think of it, Dechion. You are not performing the salutation? Under the law of the homeland, the minimum penalty for that offense is, I believe......."
Startled, Dechion dropped to his knees with a thud.
"A subject of the Empire greets a member of the great Divine Race."
"Enough. Salutations between us? Henceforth I bestow upon you the privilege of forever omitting the salutation. Now then, shall we start with the contract?"
Dechion, who until moments ago had been burning with vengeance, floundered as he racked his brain for a way to refuse the offer without offending the prince.
Nothing came to mind.
Of course not, since he knew nothing!
"Ah...... Your Highness. If this humble one may ask, what sort of business do you have in mind by this partnership?"
"Blen Industries, of course. Director Lumio has succeeded in commercialization."
"Do you mean Lumio Blen's cold-production technology has been completed?"
"Precisely so. Thanks to you, I was able to take a fine talent under me! Hahaha."
Dechion's eyes hardened.
That the technology was complete meant that, had it not been for the prince who had barged in and slapped his cheek moments ago, Dechion himself could have monopolized everything.
'Angry? Boil hotter, hot enough for your reason to fly away.'
Hot enough that even though his opponent was a prince, he would want to retaliate with the help of his backers and monopolize the business itself.
"It is a technology you coveted, so you must know its value well. Have a contract prepared. This prince will specially promise you 1.5 times the shares."
Dechion's eyes twitched.
'It should be starting to whet your appetite. Right?'
Multiplying the shares Dechion had taken while supplying funds to Blen Industries by 1.5 gave roughly 56 to 57 percent.
In other words, he could take sole possession of Blen Industries' management rights.
Sure enough, it was plain to see that Dechion, having finished the calculation, was cheering inwardly.
He was probably thinking that the idiot prince before him knew nothing about newly enacted laws such as corporate management rights.
'Well, I did not know either until Winter told me. I am no businessman, so what use would knowing that be?'
He had no particular intention of learning it in future either. The right arm he had obtained by chance was, admirably enough, practically an expert in this area.
'I only meant to educate a bastard who gambled in the back alleys, and it turns out he had studied the new learning and even had a taste of university. I was very lucky.'
So the role given to Zion was merely to actually complete the cold-production technology, which was still unfinished despite the bluff that it was done.
"Your Highness. 1.5 times is far too gracious an offer. However...... considering the value of the money and time I have invested in Blen Industries thus far, ahem. And after what happened recently, part of me would rather not concern myself further, and also......."
Dechion rambled on and on.
Summarized, he was saying: hand over more shares.
He seemed to have gained the conviction, from the promise of 1.5 times, that the prince knew nothing of how the world worked.
"I would like to give you more if it were up to my heart, but even I, prince though I am, cannot run a business as I please. There are two more partners, so that will be difficult."
"What...? This was not a business between you and me alone, Your Highness?"
"Delicious things ought to be eaten together. I have promised a total of 25 percent of the shares to an Imperial businessman called Reijo and a lovely noble widow called Creina."
For the record, matters had already been settled with Reijo and Creina.
On the premise that Lumio Blen's technology was complete, it was a partnership with nothing to lose by joining, so that was only natural.
Reijo had gone a step further and struggled desperately to seize even more shares.
"Is that so? Your Highness, how would this be?"
Having quickly worked out that there was some room left in the shares, Dechion opened negotiations.
Zion let himself be taken in by the ploy while pretending to be reluctant.
"Well now. Director Dechion, your business acumen is truly excellent. Very well, I promise a clean 60 percent. In addition, I will permit you to set collateral in lieu of the investment funds."
Dechion's face brightened.
Not being able to monopolize the slab of meat he was originally to eat alone was something he would repay the prince for again and again, but apart from that, he had secured 60 percent of the shares without a single immediate outlay, so it was fair to say the loss had been offset to a degree.
"Let us draw up the contract at once, Your Highness. You there! Go and prepare a contract!"
A blank contract, brought by a servant. Dechion took up a quill pen and quickly filled in the contents.
"Thank you for such a gracious offer, Your Highness. Kuhahaha. After the contract is notarized, how about a fine occasion together?"
Even while smiling pleasantly on the outside, Dechion harbored a wicked scheme inwardly.
'The loss may be offset to a degree, but it is also true that he made the profit I would have had shrink. Should you not pay the price for that, prince? You called me a lowly thing, did you not? I will see to it that the noble Divine Race suffers the humiliation of clinging to a lowly Deberian and pleading.'
The sound of a pen nib scratching paper rang out. That it was the sound of a noose being knotted, one that would later bind his own ankles, Dechion never realized to the very end.
"I shall write Your Highness' investment funds as the amount promised."
"Do so."
In truth, Zion did not have a single coin of investment funds on hand.
He had boasted to Dechion that he would put up a large sum, but it had all been a lie meant to wring out as much as possible and drop him into the trap of a contract.
'Well, I will blow his head off before he realizes it.'
"Ah, that reminds me. Would shares in another business be acceptable as the collateral in lieu of my investment funds?"
"It must be a business whose value is expected to rise."
When he set that condition, Dechion nodded.
"Of course. Let me see...... how would shares in Brown Defense be?"
Zion's eyes hardened.
Brown Defense. Its official name registered at the securities exchange was the Brown Trading House.
It was the very business mentioned in the scene within the Guide of the Fork.
"You held shares in the Brown Trading House?"
***
A letter had come flying in from the communications office. Lumio swallowed hard and stroked his mouth with a trembling hand.
「Matters have proceeded as planned, so please call upon His Highness at six o'clock today.」
Lumio knew a considerable part of the prince's plan.
It was thanks to Winter, who had explained in such-and-such a manner and guaranteed Lumio's own revenge and profit.
"Whew......."
It was a sigh of relief.
He had thought that merely keeping his life would be a fine outcome. To think matters would resolve in the best possible direction.
But carelessness was forbidden.
His counterpart was a bastard infamous as the worst trash in the Empire... no, an esteemed personage.
'If I am late, he might strip me of every share for the sole reason that I was late.'
Lumio hurriedly gathered the key documents and articles into his briefcase.
Even the treasure that could be regarded as everything Blen Industries was.
'How much will he leave as my share.......'
A single worry consumed Lumio's head the whole way to the hotel where the prince was staying.
Things had gone well, but whether Lumio's actual profit grew was another matter entirely.
'Against Director Dechion I could at least dig in my heels, but against His Highness.......'
Even if the prince tossed him a few hundred thousand Luon as though bestowing a favor, he would have to withdraw in gratitude.
That was what it took to keep one's life against the worst trash in the Empire.
Lumio smoothed down the goosebumps that had risen on his forearms.
'That violence. That momentum.'
The day the prince struck Dechion's cheek.
Thinking of that moment still made the backs of Lumio's knees go weak.
The violent charisma the prince had radiated then had been that intense.
It had even made him think that this was what it took to bear the infamy of being the worst in the Empire.
'Lumio. Pull yourself together. Even if His Highness gives you not a single share, you must not show your disappointment.'
While he was composing himself, he found himself in front of the prince's suite.
He pressed the bell with a trembling hand.
"Come in, Director Lumio."
It was a high-rise hotel of no fewer than seven floors. Against the backdrop of a window view whose splendid night scenery was exceedingly beautiful, the prince stood holding a glass.
Lumio dropped to his knees without realizing it.
He had to kneel for the salutation in any case, but just now his body had reacted purely from being overwhelmed by the prince's dignity.
"A subject of the Empire greets the great Divine......."
"Stop. We have become partners, so from now on omit the salutation entirely. I permit it."
There was no way for Lumio to know.
That the reason for omitting the salutation was his nationality.
"Shall we get straight to business? You must have been curious how large your share is, I will tell you now."
Lumio swallowed hard.
Merely keeping his life would be fortunate, but Blen Industries was the technology and the business into which he had poured all the years since he had obtained a treasure by chance some twenty years ago.
If possible he wanted to receive a commensurate reward, and this was also why the soft-natured Lumio had resisted Dechion's oppression to the very end.
"Your share is 14 percent."
"Y-yes...... what?!"
Fourteen percent? Fourteen percent!
Having received Winter's explanation about shareholding relations, he understood at once how large a proportion that was.
"If you set it that way, will Your Highness not be left with only 1 to 3 percent of the shares?"
"Is this the time to worry about another man's share? I will look after my own share, so do not concern yourself."
Zion smiled as he finished speaking. Without meaning to, Lumio thought this.
Though he pretended to smile magnanimously, his mouth was twisted maliciously.
The prince was without a doubt harboring some wicked design.
Looking at the pair of eyes gone wide behind the glasses, he continued.
"There is something I want in place of shares, Lumio."
The prince was revealing his true colors after all.
"The source of the technology you developed. It is likely an Ice Essence, is it not?"
'H-how could he...!'
Lumio felt cold sweat streaming down his back.
Ice Essence. To put it more precisely, the essence of cold-attribute mana.
It was a top-grade mana crystal found only very rarely.
Its value differed according to the mana traits and patterns contained within, but by their nature all essences shared the common trait of being so rare that merely laying eyes on one was difficult.
In fact, the prince's objective from the very beginning had been the essence of mana that Lumio himself had secretly possessed.
"Hand over the Ice Essence, Lumio. That is the price this prince desires."
'So this was it. His Highness' intent was to take the shares and seize something greater still.'
The source of the technology to which he had devoted some twenty years. Handing over the Ice Essence was the same as handing over a leash on his throat.
Blen Industries' cold-production technology was still unfinished. For commercialization, the Ice Essence's mana pattern had to be perfectly analyzed and applied.
'Why now of all times... If only it had been after completion, I would have given it without regret.'
His fingertips trembled violently. He wanted to refuse. But he could not refuse.
Steeped in helplessness, Lumio murmured inwardly.
That the formless pressure the prince radiated could not even be compared with the likes of Dechion.
For a brief while he had dreamed of happiness. Now it was time to wake from the dream.
Lumio himself had been fated from the start to hand everything over to the prince.
"Ah, that is right. Take this."
The first page of the documents the prince tossed over read as follows.
「Supplementary Theory for the Commercialization of Blen Industries' Cold-Production Technology」
"Haaugh!?"
Lumio buried his nose in the documents. Being in the prince's presence he could only skim them, yet even so he could be certain.
Blen Industries' patented technology had just been completed.
"What are you doing? I told you to hand over the Ice Essence. Surely you are not refusing the honor of presenting a treasure to this prince?"
"I shall give it at once!"
With these documents, there was no further need for something like an Ice Essence.