“Who does some reckless little brat think he is…?!”
With Haver rampaging behind them, the Black Snake thugs grew desperate.
One of them drew his sword and swung it wildly.
“Die!”
SWISH―
It was quite literally a ‘wild slash,’ thrown without the slightest technique.
The wavering tip betrayed an unstable Sword Path, and because he had swung it haphazardly while rushing toward me, there was no strength behind the blow whatsoever.
‘Tsk. And he calls that swinging a sword.’
Haver, watching from a short distance away, apparently became worried despite himself.
“Young Master Evan!”
“W-What?! What young master…?”
Thanks to him, every thug present now knew exactly who we were.
“We’re f*cked! I knew that giant’s face looked familiar! He is Knight Commander Haver Randolph!”
“Then that little bastard must be the one the Marquis of Verdin supposedly dotes on…?”
“Right! He must be the illegitimate son they recently added to the family register!”
“Aaaaaagh! F*uuuck!”
As his companions shouted back and forth, the man swinging his sword at me went deathly pale.
His already clumsy stance faltered even more.
WHOOSH―
I performed the Shadowless Dark Step, gliding forward like a shadow.
“Quiet.”
THUD―
In an instant, I slipped inside the man’s guard and buried a single fist in his abdomen.
“Keugh―!”
With a strangled cry as though the breath had been knocked from his lungs, he went flying into the distance.
“Damn it… Our luck is rotten!”
“Shake them off and get out of here!”
Unable to bring themselves to harm the lord’s favored son, the thugs tried to ignore me and flee.
Of course, they had no chance of succeeding.
“Where do you think you are going?!”
FWOOSH―
Before anyone realized it, three daggers had appeared between my fingers. Each flew toward its target with a sharp whistle through the air.
THUNK― THUNK― THUNK―
Every one of them struck true.
The fleeing thugs met untimely deaths with daggers lodged in the backs of their necks, freeing the shaggy-haired young man from the Black Snake gang.
“Are you all right?”
“Ah… Yes.”
I took his hand and helped him to his feet.
At that moment, his thick bangs fluttered aside, revealing the eyes they had concealed.
His left eye was red.
His right eye was blue.
He had ‘Odd Eyes,’ with each eye a different color.
‘Wait… Did that musclebound old man not call this young man Flüde earlier?’
An unusual name and the exceptionally rare trait of Odd Eyes.
As far as I knew, there could not possibly be another man like him in the entire Asron Empire.
‘He is definitely the Crazy Merchant!’
In the history I knew, he was the merchant who had originally established the monster-corpse industry.
He was also the first to reveal that Clove could be used to purify monster corpses.
His company would eventually become one of the Empire’s Four Great Merchant Companies.
He was, in every sense of the word, a future merchant magnate.
‘But the place he used as his base was not Verdin. It was Oben…?’
The Oben Viscounty lay slightly farther inland than our territory.
Moreover, Flüde had not first made a name for himself until five years from now….
‘Ah! So that is what happened.’
When I thought about the disaster that would occur five years from now, I understood how events had unfolded.
‘Flüde must have originally been a resident of Verdin.’
But when Verdin fell because of the disaster in the Behamag Mountains, he must have fled to the neighboring territory.
‘What a remarkable irony.’
I had taken the monster-corpse industry that he should have originally founded, only to encounter the man himself while searching for a suitable merchant to manage it.
“Um… Young Master Evan?”
“Hmm?”
While I was momentarily lost in thought, Flüde cautiously spoke to me.
“Thank you for saving my father and me.”
“Ah, of course…….”
Flüde expressed his gratitude with impeccable courtesy.
Yet even as I accepted his thanks, I felt rather strange.
I remembered meeting him back when I had been the Third Prince.
― What is so special about being royalty?
― That is the price. If you do not like it, you can simply leave.
― Heh heh! Kanion stopped by yesterday too. Care to take a look together?
An eccentric personality.
Unpredictable behavior.
Yet beneath it all, he possessed meticulous analytical ability and razor-sharp insight.
He even had the boldness to act upon them.
There was a reason his epithet was the ‘Crazy Merchant.’
“Ahem! Are you truly… a young master of the Marquis’s family?”
It seemed Haver had finished dealing with his side of the battle, for the musclebound old man, Glen, approached and addressed me.
I gave a slight nod before questioning the father and son.
“I am. May I ask what happened here?”
“Ah, well…….”
It was a rather predictable story.
The Marquis of Verdin had shown little interest in managing the territory until now, allowing underworld organizations to run rampant throughout the town.
‘Hmm. Should I use this opportunity to clear out all the trash?’
When filth and foul odors were left unattended, vermin gathered and disease inevitably spread.
The old man, Glen, and Flüde continued their explanation.
“There used to be several different organizations, but last year, those Black Snake bastards absorbed every last one of them.”
“Afterward, the protection money they demanded became much higher… And they threatened us in particular, saying that from now on, we were to manufacture and sell our goods exclusively to them.”
“I see. And when you refused, they decided to enforce their demands through violence.”
“…That is correct.”
Flüde nodded with a somewhat somber expression.
Even so, he did not neglect to ask what needed to be asked.
“But… What brings you here, Young Master?”
“I came because I have an offer for the two of you.”
“Pardon? An offer?”
“That is right.”
Grin.
Was there any need to speak in circles?
I immediately got to the point.
“Our family recently discovered a method of purifying monster corpses using an herb known as ‘Clove.’”
“Oh… Such a method exists?”
I had deliberately tested him just in case, but Flüde at this point in time clearly knew nothing about Clove’s effects.
As expected, it must have been knowledge he originally acquired because of that ‘disaster.’
“That is correct. My offer is for the two of you to take charge of the new enterprise Verdin will soon establish.”
“What?!”
Flüde was startled by my proposal.
His unusually colored eyes were hidden beneath his thick bangs, but they had probably widened in astonishment.
“…Ahem! We are grateful for your words, but why have you chosen us?”
The old man, Glen, seemed more worried and uneasy than surprised.
It was hardly unreasonable.
There were far too many nobles who made their fortunes by bleeding commoners dry.
Haver immediately raised his voice from beside me.
“What?! How dare you question the young master’s…!”
“Haver, enough!”
“Y-Young Master?!”
“Their question is entirely reasonable.”
“But…!”
“I will hear no objections.”
Sigh― Truly, his loyalty was excessive.
I firmly restrained Haver and answered Glen’s question.
“Of course, we could seek out a merchant company from outside the territory. However, from a long-term perspective, I judged it better to find one within Verdin itself. The reason is….”
“Your aim is to establish a reliable merchant company unique to Verdin, built from the beginning upon a deep relationship of trust with the Marquis’s family.”
I had introduced the subject, but Flüde finished the thought.
As expected.
Regardless of how he was now, was he not still destined to become a great merchant?
“Heh. That is correct. According to my investigation, although your weapons shop is small, it has shown continuous growth over the past seven years.”
“That is only because the goods my father produces are of such exceptional quality….”
“Is that so?”
I picked up a longsword lying on the ground and flicked it with my finger.
TING…….
A clear tone rang out.
The balance was properly set, and the edge had been sharpened well.
However, business could not succeed merely because one possessed a good product.
“Who are your primary customers?”
“Well… They can largely be divided into three groups.”
Mercenaries hired during the monster-subjugation season.
Verdin’s regular troops, who wanted weapons superior to their standard-issue equipment.
Lastly, the organizations of the underworld.
“Huh?! Now that I think about it, is this the place where my men come to buy good equipment whenever they have some extra money?”
Haver’s eyes widened.
Seeing his reaction, Glen gave a broad grin.
“If the Knight Commander requires anything, come and visit us. I will take special care when forging it for you.”
“Whoaaaa! Old man! Do you truly mean that?!”
Haver, who had been filled with dissatisfaction only moments ago, now had stars in his eyes.
Good grief. How simple could one man be?
At times, I found myself wondering how Haver’s brain was structured.
“Then where do you obtain your materials?”
“Our territory has no iron mine, and few merchant companies come here to trade.”
For that reason, they repurchased worn-out scrap metal from people at low prices.
“A wise decision. Do you use any other strategies?”
“It is nothing particularly impressive…….”
“I would still like to hear it. Tell me.”
“Well… whenever someone who has purchased an item from our shop recommends us to another customer, we offer a discount to both the person who made the recommendation and the one who received it.”
“Oh, that is an excellent idea!”
“D-Do you truly think so…?”
“Of course!”
Flüde’s expression brightened, and he began explaining their other sales strategies.
▶ A discount of 50 Silver for customers who spend at least 500 Silver
▶ One free weapon or armor repair for every ten paid repairs
▶ Increasing discounts based on the quantity of bulk purchases
Just as I had expected, the Glen Weapon Shop’s remarkable success was due in no small part to Flüde’s sales strategies.
‘As expected… Are those destined for greatness different from the very beginning?’
His father, the musclebound old man Glen, added a word of his own.
“Ahem! Young Master, he may be my son, but he was born with an extraordinary talent for business. If you entrust him with an important position, he will undoubtedly shine.”
“F-Father…!”
The shaggy-haired young man, whose thick bangs covered his eyes, fidgeted in embarrassment, unsure of what to do with himself.
I decided there was no need to investigate anything further.
“Glen, blacksmith of this weapons shop. And Flüde. I want you both to join Verdin’s new enterprise.”
However… Flüde’s response was unexpected.
“May I first learn the terms of the contract?”
“…What?!”
For a moment, my mind went completely blank.
I even wondered whether I had heard him correctly.
If I was this astonished, how angry must Haver have been?
His face immediately flushed red and blue.
“You damned merchant! Young Master Evan has recognized your abilities and is trying to grant you his favor, yet you dare test the waters with him?!”
RUMBLE―
He was so furious that blue Aura unconsciously began seeping from his body.
Despite that, Flüde refused to back down.
“Ugh… I-I am not trying to test anything… This is… only natural… for a merchant!”
“You still have not come to your senses…!”
WHOOOOM―
An even more powerful surge of Aura erupted from Haver.
The situation was on the verge of exploding.
“Haver!!! What disgraceful behavior is this?!”
WHOOOSH―
I roared at Haver as well.
At the same time, transparent Aura rose from my entire body.
“Y-Young Master Evan! A-Are you using Aura right now?!”
Haver’s eyes widened in shock.
Glen and Flüde also appeared considerably surprised.
“Sigh― First, allow me to apologize for our Knight Commander’s discourtesy.”
“Pardon? N-No… I am the one who should apologize for having no choice but to speak this way…….”
“No. Flüde, you merely made a perfectly reasonable request.”
At first, I had also been somewhat startled and irritated.
But when I thought about it, I realized that they had every reason to be cautious.
Moreover, my goal was to win their trust—especially Flüde’s.
“Black Snake, was it? In any case, those men may return. Beginning today, I will station our soldiers here to protect you.”
I also told them that I would have a contract prepared and sent to them soon, so they could review it at their leisure.
“Why would you… grant such kindness to people as lowly as us……?”
“Th-Thank you…!”
News of the day’s incident—and of how I, having received full authority over the new enterprise from the Marquis, intended to enter an important contract with a weapons merchant outside the castle—spread far and wide like wildfire.