[Side story] Two-arm scale (6)
“Brother, it’s normal for you to move around here and there, but this time, I’m even more worried since you said you’re bringing a bell with you. “Is it so dangerous that you can’t handle it alone?”
“No, it’s not particularly dangerous, it’s just… out of consideration for Lortel… He still seems very uncomfortable being alone with me…” “
…Really? To me, it didn’t look like he was that uncomfortable…”
“That’s right…”
The next day, people were lined up at the front door of the Ross Taylor mansion. This is to see me off heading to the commercial city of Oldeck.
I’ve told Tanya in advance that she doesn’t need to worry too much whenever I leave the mansion, but when I go out on official schedules like this, I have to follow proper departure procedures.
I am going to the commercial city of Oldeck to carry out my official schedule. The reason is that we are going to inspect the merchants that distribute various household goods under orders from the Ross Taylor family.
In order to go out with Belle, the maid, in person, I needed a suitable justification. This is because Belle was a higher-quality person than expected, so her schedule was as tight as that of the mansion’s key personnel.
Young Lortel was hiding behind Belle and clutching her collar. Until yesterday, we were quite close friends, but when I found out that he had read the contents of the note I cherished so much, I suddenly felt distant.
Yesterday, while Lortel was asleep (to be exact, while I was asleep), I checked the contents of the note and couldn’t help but be embarrassed.
The notebook that Lortel had always carried with him even before he lost his memory… was full of embarrassing thoughts about me.
The stories Lortel describes about me are often somewhat exaggerated or overly glorified. … It seemed a bit excessive, and I almost felt sorry for myself while reading it.
“So do you mind if I ask what it was about?”
Belle asked in a calm voice, looking at Lortel running around among the maids loading luggage into the carriage.
He was the type of person who didn’t ask more questions than necessary, but this time he seemed to have decided that he needed to be heard.
“Well, there are portraits of me drawn in graphite here and there… Surprisingly, Lortel draws quite a bit…” “
….”
“And I can see the business plan that Lortel put together before he lost his memory. It seemed easy to draw. “I think I now know why I always cherished it and wore it on my body.”
As it is a note that details Lortel’s business intentions and the major directions for the future operation of the company… if it is passed over to a business enemy, it will suffer great losses.
However, since it was impossible to organize all the information in one’s head, I would have had no choice but to cherish it.
“It seems that Lortel was planning to reorganize the company’s internal staff after making a deal with Seonghwangdo.”
“As soon as you become the head of the association, organizing people first is… in a way, it’s natural.”
“And in the process, they tried to use the deal with Seonghwangdo to gain control over the company.”
Belle tilted her head as if the story had been unexpected up to that point.
“The surest way to tie up merchants is to tie them up with money.”
I said while visually checking the luggage being loaded on the carriage.
“If we attract a large business and hold tightly to the business rights and key connection points, even the merchants within the Chamber will not be able to mess with Lortel.”
Lortel has already proven his ability and power, but in order to finally ascend to the position of Lord, he must demonstrate his influence more clearly.
She cannot reign as the leader of the dark-hearted merchants simply because she is the adoptive daughter of the previous leader, Elte Keheln.
“I guess I get it. “The transaction with Seonghwangdo is a large deal that even Elte Trading Company is drooling over… If we attract such customers and maintain them for a long time, we can generate astronomical amounts of income.”
“okay. And it’s a business plan that would be difficult to accomplish without Nana Lortel, who will connect the saint and the merchant association.”
Developing a market that other merchants cannot influence and that only you can access.
That was the final straw that would solidify Lortel’s position as a merchant.
Seonghwangdo is a facility that is like the heart of Seongdo Carpea.
If he could provide all the ritual supplies, daily necessities, construction and maintenance materials, and various other magical supplies for that huge temple by himself… the profit that Elte Company would make is incalculable.
What is the size of the Telos Church and what is the size of the Holy Emperor’s building?
Seonghwangdo, where the Holy Emperor and the Holy Virgin reside, consists of only three buildings, and the site is twice as large as Sylvania Academy. Even though Sylvania Academy is enormous.
Being a priest does not always mean living a life far from luxury.
Rather, a huge amount of gold coins are needed to maintain its sacredness and dignity.
The place where the gold coins will flow will be inside the warehouse of Elte Company.
The starting point of the plan begins with me, Ed Rothtaylor, connecting Lortel with Saint Clarice.
Considering the grandiose business plan that followed, Lortel must have been fully aware of how terrifying my statement that I would introduce Clarisse for free was.
That look that was looking at me with shock wasn’t acting. Well, it’s not like we’re going to act with each other anymore.
“It’s not a pleasant thing from Slog’s perspective.”
“okay. So, it was moved at this time.”
If they succeed in concluding a logistics distribution consignment contract with Saint Clarice, Lortel’s position within the company will become so great that no one can touch it.
To do so, he cuts off Lortel’s head. It will be too late before Lortel’s latest blueprint sees the light of day.
“Onii-sama, you know~. “Senior Lortel always draws a picture so big that it’s hard to fathom.”
At that moment, Tanya jumped out of the carriage, wiping off the hem of her skirt.
The workers who were organizing the luggage to be loaded into the wagon before I left were astonished. I certainly had no idea that Tanya, who had been standing at the front gate being attended to by maids just a moment ago, would soon be in the luggage compartment of the carriage.
“You always pop up in strange places.”
“The carriage luggage space is not really my taste. I guess it doesn’t feel like it’s fitting…”
“….”
“Anyway. “After listening to what you said, I can smell it.”
Tanya landed on the floor, her shiny blonde hair twisting.
The porters who were unloading the luggage fell to their knees in shock, but Tanya simply shook her head and gave instructions to continue working.
“smell?”
“Your brother is also aware of this, right? That old merchant named Slog is strangely bold. “It’s as if there’s someone looking after you.”
“That’s true, but there is no such force in sight…”
“So… You even came to Rosstaylor’s territory to check on the situation in person to see if Senior Lortel might be subdued out of nowhere… We. “You know very well that if you decide to intervene, they will get tired too…”
Tanya tilted her head, resting her chin.
“Do you still have any faith?”
“It is questionable how reliable it is…”
The Rosstaylor estate is protected by both the Cloel Imperial Family and the Saint Carpea.
First of all, there is no power within this continent that can mess with the Rosstaylor family.
Right now, Lucy, the core force, is recovering, and the family’s own system is not fully restored, so there may be a limit to its scale… but it can’t be messed around with authority.
“I think it’s better to move cautiously, but… your brother doesn’t seem to have any intention of doing so.”
“Well…”
“You pretend not to notice out of consideration for your busy little brother, but Tanya has already seen all the boxes of weapons loaded on the back of your brother’s carriage… and ‘that bow’ that your brother cherishes~. ”
Tanya sat down on a nearby wooden crate and spoke with a natural expression on her face.
“I’m thinking of pushing you away by force. From the moment you said you had to take Belle, I thought something was unusual, but you’re not the type to move around this hotly, right? “I don’t know what will happen next.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t think about cleaning up afterwards. “I have prepared to justify my use of force…”
“Still… I feel strangely unbecoming of my brother.”
“Well, there are times when things get this extreme. “I shouldn’t have to give a warning when I have to.”
I spoke without changing my expression.
“You touched Lortel.”
Lortel Kecheln and I have already promised to become each other’s person.
It’s true that I’ve said it over and over again, but it wasn’t a promise I made lightly.
“…”
Tanya was about to say something when she smiled brightly for no reason.
To others, he seems to be quite satisfied and happy, but from my point of view, it is a bit difficult to respond well.
“Still, since I’m the head of the family, I’ll ask questions. Even if you kick in the front door of the business and beat up the slog, how are you going to clean up after it? Senior Lortel also said this, right? “If a cause cannot be secured… a simple and ignorant solution is meaningless.”
No matter how much of a rogue he is, breaking down the door of a large, well-performing commercial company and lifting its owner’s throat is nothing but a fool’s errand.
“You know better the nature of merchants. “They sell their souls for money, and they mercilessly throw away those who take money.”
“…I know what you’re going to say~.”
Tanya brushed off the dust from her skirt, took the outerwear offered by the maids who came to serve her, and put it on.
“If it is revealed that he tried to bury a big deal like the Seonghwangdo supply contract due to a political fight within the chamber, Slog’s own position will be in jeopardy. I agree. “It will be difficult to support the decision to block the money banquet of the upper chamber in order to maintain one’s position…”
Tanya was gifted with an innate sense of weighing the direction of public opinion.
Tanya scratched the tip of her nose and thought about it for a moment, but then
she looked worried for a moment… “Well, there’s no way Slog wouldn’t know about that, so he’ll have to do some trick… Ah ha…”
Something started in the middle . Tanya seemed to have come to her senses and smiled and returned to the front door where she had seen me off.
“What is it? Brother. Bye. “Be careful not to get hurt.”
“okay. It will be resolved soon. “Take care of the mansion well while Belle and Lortel are away.”
“It’s something I always do.”
And so the carriage carrying me, Lortel, and Belle left the Rosstaylor mansion.
It was going to be quite a long journey, so I thought I would get some sleep beforehand.
“The wind is getting chilly. Please go in slowly.”
The old vassal bowed his head and gave Tanya a mantra.
Tanya, who was standing at the front gate of the Ross Taylor mansion and quietly watching the carriage disappear into the distance, glanced at the kneeling retainer out of the corner of her eye.
This is the presence of Duchess Tanya Rosstaylor, who is difficult for anyone to meet even on the continent due to her name alone.
The sight of him tightening his legs in fear of making a mistake seems a little pathetic.
“…You’re angrier than I thought.”
“…yes?”
“no. “Let’s go in.”
Ed, who was getting on the carriage, looked calm and quiet.
The tone was ordinary, as always, but… Tanya, who had already been working with the owner of Ross Taylor Mansion for a long time, was able to read the underlying psychology.
It seems that what was written in Lortel’s notebook was not everything he said. Tanya was half sure of that.
This is because Ed Rosstaylor, heading towards Old Deck as if nothing had happened, looked like a very angry person in Tanya’s eyes.
*
I saw Lortel sleeping, half-carried by Belle, in the back of a large carriage.
As the journey got longer, I guess I got a little tired. Children of that age were the ones who ran around energetically in the morning and then quickly fell into a nap.
I once again laid down on the back of the seat, rested my forearms on the window frame, and rested my chin on my chin.
“…”
I carefully organized my thoughts in the rhythm of the rocking carriage.
Various things I saw in Lortel’s notes. I didn’t feel very good because it seemed like the thoughts I had organized while carrying out the business were coming back to me.
– ‘Recheck the trend of meat distribution in the Gölenhelt region.’
– ‘Re-collecting the internal asset items of the trading company that are not well understood.’
– ‘The distribution of equipment ordered by Count Larsen has been blocked. How?’
– ‘It’s been too long since I stopped by the Duchy of Rosstaylor…’
Sometimes, I would laugh out loud because my portrait drawn in the corner of the notebook or the content I was thinking about what gift to buy the next time I stopped by the Duchy would come across.
– ‘Breaking the transaction route with Seonghwangdo. I expect interference from that old man.’
– ‘I think it would be best to keep it as quiet as possible from senior Ed. Tell them it’s okay.’
I stayed still with my head down. The carriage moved forward with a clatter.
──In fact, Lortel had an easier solution.
All you have to do is run to the Duchy of Rosstaylor, bow your head, and ask for it, like the cruel colossi usually do. It is not a shame for merchants to rely on those in power.
okay. It would have been more convenient to rely on the authority of those in power connected to our duchy and figure out how to catch the slog and drive it out.
Nevertheless, Lortel was determined to push him out through the merchant’s influence until the end.
In front of me, he did not talk about the political structure within the Chamber of Commerce, but strictly spoke about business matters with Seonghwangdo.
why?
Justice. belief. righteousness. Well, such cool and romantic words come to mind, but it is far from Lortel.
Only in front of me does she look like a girl of her age, but in the world of commerce, she has a reputation as a wicked woman who will even make a contract with the devil to win.
Since I was not unaware of the gap, I was able to draw a conclusion without difficulty.
– ‘If you want to get more involved in the affairs of the business, just tell them that it’s okay until the end.’
The merchants’ fight is a brawl in the mud.
As you fight there, all kinds of stigma, notoriety, and resentment follow you like a needle and thread.
Lortel, who has lived in such a place his whole life, imagines himself to be… always covered in foul-smelling mud.
The Rosstaylor family is growing day by day and slowly regaining its former glory. Lortel did not want to cause harm to the Rosstaylor family.
Lortel is a woman who is overly smart and, on the contrary, dull.
“…….”
I lower my head and stare at the shaking floor of the carriage.
Even though summer was coming to an end, it felt like a cold chill was creeping on my back.
