Chapter 71

He introduced himself as Carini Zombart, deputy manager of the Bax Company.

He wore a mustache under his nose like a bull’s horns and clothes lavishly embroidered with gold and silver thread, making his noble appearance even more obvious than Cole’s, but that in turn raised a concern.

Why would the deputy manager personally come all the way to a remote island like this?

“A ship came into the provincial capital’s harbor saying that something terrible seemed to have happened in your territory.”

For the moment, they received Carini in the company’s guest room, the same one where Nodon had entertained Cole.

Iiria and the others were at the mansion preparing to receive a distinguished guest.

“I heard a dragon appeared.”

Cole sat beside Carini, and behind them stood two private soldiers on guard.

There also seemed to be a fair number of soldiers on the ships, waiting at the harbor.

Their side’s forces were Dodol and the others, and directly above their heads in the ceiling space, Gerario and Balan were waiting in full gear. If things looked like they would turn troublesome, the plan was for them to smash through the floor immediately and secure Carini and Cole.

“Yes. Fortunately, we were able to subjugate it.”

“Wonderful. I heard you have a skilled magician here.”

Not knowing what he was aiming at, he answered with an ambiguous smile.

At the same time, he tossed the ball back from his side as well.

“I would like to consult you about selling the dragon we subjugated.”

“Oh, truly splendid. That is exactly one of the matters we came to discuss as well. Is it not, Cole?”

When Carini addressed Cole, Cole, who usually puffed out his chest and looked down on everything, nodded obediently.

Looking so uncomfortable in front of his superior, he seemed more like a boy than a young man. Perhaps he was younger than he looked.

“And as deputy manager of the Bax Company, I also wished to meet you once in person.”

“Me?”

“I heard from Cole that you are the one who drove out the villain who thought only of lining his own pockets, and who has been livening up this entire territory.”

A courtesy visit? No, everyone in this world was sly to the core.

Could this Carini also have had a hand in the collusion with Nodon?

With Nodon gone, had he come in place of Cole to recover the kickback profits they had lost?

As all kinds of doubts swirled in his mind, he somehow managed to answer.

“No, I merely did what needed to be done… and Lord Cole also gave me a great deal of assistance.”

Just in case, he elevated Cole first and then looked at him, but Cole did not look back.

“What a humble man you are. Cole, it seems you have been able to do business with a truly fine person. We must give thanks to the gods for such a meeting.”

Like a borrowed cat, Cole meekly replied with things like, “Just so,” and, “As the gods will.”

“And I hear Lord Yorinobu also manages a magic stone processing workshop.”

His back straightened a little.

Magic stones were the vital heart supporting everything in Jirenu Territory.

“It is still very much an immature workshop…”

“Please do not be so modest. I have heard that you gathered craftsmen who lacked skill and produced remarkable results. It has become the talk of the provincial capital.”

He did not know how much of that was true, but at the very least, word of Jirenu Territory’s internal affairs seemed to be reaching them more than he had expected. Or perhaps they had spies of some sort?

“However, those results have been so remarkable that Cole has found himself increasingly unable to handle them alone, and so I came here myself.”

He almost let out an exclamation.

The matter of trade after the workshop had been established, had begun running well, and the processing of magic stones had started advancing at a tremendous pace.

Cole had been left speechless at the sight of the stacks of wooden crates filled with magic stones.

And when told that there might be even more to come, he had said it would be difficult to secure enough gold coins, since magic stone purchases had to be made in cash.

He had even proposed offsetting the cost of the magic stones against the price of other goods they were buying from the Bax Company, but apparently there were turf divisions by product line within the Bax Company, and Cole had said he could not authorize such an offset on his own.

Keeping all that in mind, he put himself in their position and thought it through once more.

A dragon had come out of the mine, and apparently it had even been subjugated safely. Magic stone processing was proceeding at explosive speed. The scale of transactions would only continue to expand from here on.

Hearing all that, what would an executive of the Bax Company think?

He had assumed that some greedy corrupt merchant had come to snatch Jirenu Territory whole, but perhaps he could afford to trust people a little more.

“What do you think? I would like to discuss it with the lady lord afterward as well, but perhaps this is a fine opportunity to greatly expand our magic stone trade.”

They needed all the funds they could get.

Even to prepare for the day when this Bax Company might suddenly change its attitude and become hostile, it would be better to secure as many gold coins as possible.

“We brought many ships with us precisely so that we could buy up every magic stone we could.”

Carini showed the smile of a greedy merchant, but in a sense it was also a reassuring smile.

Perhaps Cole had been aiming for a relationship like that between a butcher and livestock farming.

In other words, thanks to the Takahashi Workshop they had become able to process mountains of magic stones, but if the buyers held back on purchases, then they on this side would be forced to lower the price if they wanted them bought at all.

From Cole’s perspective, Nodon, with whom he had joined hands, was gone, and so were the kickbacks.

If Cole, no longer able to line his own pockets, wanted to recover his profits, then it would not be strange if he had been planning something like that.

Maybe that was why he had started saying things like how difficult it would be to secure enough gold coins.

But the executives of the Bax Company were not fools, and hearing stories about Jirenu Territory coming in through the harbor, they sensed that Cole was making some kind of suspicious move.

So the deputy manager had gone out of his way to come personally, both to reprimand Cole and to expand trade with Jirenu Territory.

That was probably the situation.

“Heh. To think the day would come when that man would call her Iiria-sama.”

After receiving the courtesy visit from Carini and Cole, and after the rather formal but still fairly cordial audience with Iiria had ended, Kururu looked pleased in the kitchen.

Not only Carini but even Cole, who had mocked Iiria together with Nodon, had eaten the meal Kururu prepared. In other words, Cole had followed their etiquette.

“I also heard they will buy every magic stone we can sell. That Carini fellow understands things.”

“We need money no matter what, so I really am grateful for the purchase offer.”

He said that because another plan for the sake of Jirenu Territory was about to move forward.

That was the establishment of a new harbor.

He had keenly felt, remembering the dragon uproar, that they needed something set a little apart from the current harbor, something that could serve as a base in an emergency, in other words, something close to a military port.

Also, if the volume of trade handled by their company kept increasing from here on out, they would have to hire even more beastfolk, but that would also take work away from the people who handled cargo manually.

They were hoping that if they could separate the harbors, it would ease concerns over jobs and avoid friction with Katz and the other dockworkers.

“But was it really okay to show them the workshop?”

Kururu, who had been lightly washing the pot with hot water, dumped the water, set down the large pot, and spoke while drying her hands.

“It is fine. From what Gerario-san said, magic stones are the foundation that supports the powerful all across the Empire. Even if production increases somewhat, the price should not collapse that easily.”

Not only Kururu, but Gerario and the others had said that Carini’s visit might really have been aimed at uncovering the workshop’s secret. But he had shown Carini the workshop without hiding anything, revealing the secret behind their increased production.

One reason for that was that they controlled the mine. If the other side raised its processing speed, they would need raw magic stones either way. He had calculated that no matter how things turned out, their business would not be placed at a disadvantage.

And if they showed themselves to be obedient here, then when they later smuggled magic stones with Gerario’s help, the other side would be more likely to let their guard down.

“You… I cannot tell whether you are a good person or a bad one.”

Kururu said that with her chin tucked slightly and her eyes turned up at him, wearing an expression that somehow looked frustrated.

“Anyway, how is your shoulder?”

Kururu’s ears shot upright.

“It still gets itchy if I take a bath and such… but it is much better now. Honestly, I went through something awful.”

Kururu said that dissatisfiedly, but the expression on her face as she stroked the tattoo area with her right hand was softer than expected.

“Still, it does feel strange.”

“Strange?”

Kururu turned her green eyes toward him and narrowed them shyly.

“When you first started working at Nodon’s place, I remember thinking about how I should bite your throat out.”

“Ah… about that…”

Every time they met, she had shown him a face full of hostility and glared at him with tremendous force.

Kururu chuckled, then stroked her own shoulder again.

“It really is strange. Now I feel proud of this.”

“…”

He found himself staring at her face when she said that.

Kururu, gently stroking her own shoulder as if cherishing it, looked far more maidenly than Iiria.

“Want me to carve one on you too?”

Then Kururu said that.

Snapping back to himself, he saw her grinning with her fangs showing, so there was only one answer he could give.

“Absolutely not.”

“Why not?! If you do not suffer too, then I am the only one who loses out!”

“That is exactly why. I am not a magician.”

As he fended off Kururu’s repeated smacks, there came the sound of knocking on wood.

When he and Kururu looked that way together, Iiria was there, leaning against the open kitchen door, her eyes cold.

“Our guests are leaving, you know? Were you planning to make only me do the work?”

It was Iiria, having finished her duties as lady lord and now thoroughly in a bad mood.

Kururu made a face as if to say this was all his fault, then took off her apron and moved to soothe Iiria’s temper.

He followed after them with a weary sigh, thinking about getting a tattoo from Kururu… but then he imagined Kururu holding a needle with a smirk on her face, and the fear won out, making him shiver.