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Chapter

119. It’s Better That I Eat It All. (3)

The phrase “not free” implies that I’ve brought back spoils worth as much as, if not more than, the Runestone.

Claude, dripping with cold sweat, cautiously asked,

“Does Count Perdium or his retainers not know at all?”

“They don’t know. Digald is famous for his poverty, after all. They probably think he spent nearly all his wealth on war costs. I reported it like that.”

Ghislaine rushed to Digald as soon as the war ended.

While there was also the intention to eliminate any future troubles by killing Count Digald, there was a bigger plan to seize the nobles’ wealth.

Despite being a poor territory, a noble is still a noble.

Moreover, the Digald Territory was notorious for plundering its residents. This means there was likely a lot of hidden wealth possessed by the lord and his retainers.

Claude chuckled as he inspected the gold coins in the chest.

“Still, there really is a lot. I can understand why the territory’s condition is like that.”

“Ah, not all of this came from Digald. I also raided some baronies on the way back.”

“……What?”

“I looted all those who participated in the war. Since I was going that way anyway, it was two birds with one stone.”

“Wow… You really ate all that by yourself?”

“Then who else should I share it with? I hate having my things taken by others.”

With such a shameless statement, Claude closed his eyes.

‘Is my father even considered “other”? Besides, it’s originally my father’s… Is this really a noble, or is it a bandit’s kid?’

I’ve seen plenty of greedy nobles in the Seiron Kingdom, but I was definitely seeing someone who was so blatant about money for the first time.

“Hey, you don’t have any secrets about your birth or anything, do you?”

“What? What do you mean?”

When Ghislaine glared, Claude waved his hands dismissively.

“No, it’s just that you haven’t told Count Perdium, right? Do you really have to eat it all by yourself? Don’t you care about your father’s feelings?”

“I’ll guarantee that eating it all myself is much better.”

Even if Perdium takes a look, he would just squander it half-heartedly and end up losing everything.

They were in a situation where it was hard to endure the present, let alone prepare for the future.

In that case, it was better to use what I needed for myself.

Thanks to that, Perdium wasn’t missing out on the benefits, right?

As Claude listened to the conversation, his eyes sparkled.

He was surprised, but he couldn’t let this opportunity slip by foolishly.

“Heh, if you don’t reduce my workload right away, I’ll… tell Perdium about this.”

Before he could finish, Ghislaine rolled up her sleeves and flashed a sinister smile.

“Exactly what I was waiting for. I’m not too fond of vague threats.”

“Wha? Aah!”

Moments later, Claude stood up sniffing from the corner of the warehouse.

“I will remain silent until I die.”

“Good, don’t forget that feeling. It doesn’t matter if you say it, but it just wouldn’t look good, right? No need to get embarrassed.”

Ghislaine clapped her hands joyfully. As if waiting for that moment, the warehouse door opened, and Wendy along with a few mercenaries entered.

“Uh?”

Claude was taken by surprise.

There hadn’t been anyone around when he and Ghislaine came in.

He had no idea how long the mercenaries had been waiting.

Regardless of Claude’s shock, Wendy and the mercenaries greeted them briefly and began gathering the goods.

Claude shook his head in disbelief.

‘They completely predicted me, truly.’

They seemed to have anticipated both his lack of money and his impending arrival. They even called in mercenaries to act as porters in advance.

Ghislaine wrapped her arm around Claude’s shoulder and smiled.

“Let me know when you run out of money again. Don’t worry about unnecessary things and just focus on your work. I’ll get you the money.”

“…Tch.”

Claude turned his head and pouted his lips. He felt slightly humiliated.

Everything was chaotic, yet somehow, whenever there was a problem, they would manage to suggest a solution.

Though their methods were completely outside common sense, the fact that their irrational ideas actually worked was a problem in itself.

“Ahem, with about this much, we should be fine for a while.”

“Alright, let’s get ready to leave quickly.”

Claude hurriedly bought the necessary materials with the money Ghislaine had given him.

He thoroughly trained Lowell for tasks that needed consistent management.

While Claude prepared to head to the capital, Ghislaine directed her course towards Perdium.

While he was away, someone was needed to manage the territory’s troops and conduct basic training.

‘Randolf should be able to manage things decently.’

The best approach would be teaching the mercenaries the Mana Circulation Method while he was away, but there was a lack of time for that.

Since most couldn’t handle mana, teaching them would require hands-on attention, just like he did with Vanessa.

It wouldn’t be a problem if it were just one or two people, but with hundreds of mercenaries, Ghislaine wouldn’t be able to oversee them immediately.

‘Before the Mana Circulation Method, I’ll need to renew contracts. For now, it would be better to teach them the more pressing subjects.’

Randolf should be able to teach the basic knowledge required for regular military training.

He intended to ask him to help teach not just the mercenaries, but the newly recruited soldiers as well.

*

Randolf nodded without any opposition upon hearing the story, but Zvalter frowned and questioned back.

“You’re going to the capital? You’re a lord. How can a lord leave just because of trade?”

“Yes, it’s important, and I need to go myself.”

“Really? How could a lord act like a mere merchant and carry goods themselves? People will laugh.”

“I don’t care. What’s important isn’t my reputation.”

Zvalter was displeased with his son’s attitude.

It seemed like he had no idea how heavy and important the responsibilities of a lord were since he had just received his fief.

“If that’s the reason, I can’t allow you to go. Now that you’ve become a lord, you must understand how serious and weighty that duty is.”

Zvalter wasn’t usually this rigid.

But since Ghislaine appeared to be completely unaware of the weight of being a lord, he was determined to teach him indirectly.

Of course, it didn’t work on Ghislaine.

“A year’s supply of food.”

“Uh?”

“I will provide a year’s worth of food upon my return to Perdium territory.”

“…Now that I think about it, it seems you’re reaching the time to broaden your horizons outside the North. Have a good trip. Randolf will be sent as soon as he’s ready.”

Zvalter kindly smiled and patted his son’s shoulder.

It was too much money to refuse.

*

Though Zvalter was easily subdued, he faced fierce opposition when he returned to the territory.

When he announced his departure for trade, not just his retainers eager to maintain their honor, but even Belinda and Gillian, who knew Ghislaine well, voiced their negative opinions.

“Just send someone else! Why does Young Master have to do this?”

“Lord, if you take the lead, everyone will laugh. The merchant leader is your Chief Officer; how could you move personally?”

“No, I have to do it myself to make it the fastest. I’m not just going to trade; there’s also work to be done in the capital.”

The two tried to persuade him several more times, but Ghislaine remained steadfast as always.

Belinda and Gillian gave up and sighed.

At this point, as always, they had no choice but to go together and throw themselves in front of him to stop any absurd actions.

Days later, Ghislaine surveyed the loaded wagons with satisfaction and smiled.

“This amount for the first batch should be just right.”

“Do you really think we can sell it all?”

“If promotion goes well, there will be no problem. Once we use it, nobles will go crazy for it. Don’t worry.”

Claude scratched his chin at Ghislaine’s overly confident words.

The efficacy of cosmetics was undeniable, and word would eventually spread.

But the initial shipment was too large.

It was not something that could be stored for long; he couldn’t understand how they were supposed to sell it all.

Moreover, the carts carrying the cosmetics weren’t cheap either.

To prevent damage to the goods, freezing magic circles were inscribed on each cart. One Runestone had to be embedded for maintaining the magic circle.

“Is this really okay? If nobles don’t buy it, it’ll be a huge loss. Refrigeration isn’t omnipotent.”

“Ah, will you stop worrying? We’ll sell everything without leaving a single item behind. They aren’t going to spoil that easily.”

“Sure, you say so. I guess the Lord has it all planned out.”

Claude sighed, feeling disheartened.

The opponents he had to face this time were nobles that not even the lord could handle recklessly.

He couldn’t even predict how this hot-headed lord would persuade them for publicity.

“Young Master! This side is ready as well!”

Belinda approached him with a bright smile.

Behind her, about twenty servants stood with numerous loads.

“Ugh… We don’t need to take this much.”

“Being a noble means you have to take at least this amount. Don’t you know about showing strength? You can’t afford to give the slightest impression of being looked down upon in the capital.”

Just as Ghislaine was about to say something, Belinda emphatically interrupted.

“If we’re not careful, they’ll think we’re countryside bumpkins. It’s clear they’ll laugh at you for a noble acting like a merchant.”

That wasn’t wrong, and Ghislaine couldn’t say anything back.

At that moment, Gillian and Kaor arrived with over fifty fully armed mercenaries lining up in front of Ghislaine.

“We are also ready. Lord.”

“What? Do you want to take this many mercenaries with you? We really don’t need this many.”

“The road to the capital is long. We need this many personnel to move expensive goods. Also, we have to ensure the lord travels comfortably.”

Gillian’s expression was firm, as if he wouldn’t budge at all. Ghislaine let out a deep sigh.

“Fine, since we’re already prepared, let’s all take a trip and sightsee in the capital. No one else is coming along, right?”

Belinda and Gillian nodded.

“Ah, right. Young Master, what are we calling this? Have you given it a name?”

“A name?”

“Yes. If we’re going to introduce and promote it, we need a name.”

“That’s true. Um… how about ‘Lovely Blingbling’? Doesn’t it sound pretty?”

Claude burst into laughter at Ghislaine’s words.

“Wow! What a naming sense! What kind of girl sensitivity is that?”

He laughed so hard that all the worries and concerns that had been bottled up inside him disappeared.

As Ghislaine glared at him with a deadpan face, Claude hurriedly averted his gaze, pretending he didn’t notice.

Belinda clicked her tongue and said,

“That’s a bit… Nobles believe names should have a certain dignity.”

“What’s wrong with Blingbling? I think it’s pretty. Is it really that bad?”

Ghislaine whipped around to glare at Gillian. Faced with the unexpected question, Gillian gritted his teeth and answered.

“It’s okay… I guess.”

Ghislaine then exchanged glances with Wendy, who stood beside Claude.

She tried her best to maintain a neutral expression, but she couldn’t help the twitching at the corners of her mouth. Her face was clearly asking a question without needing to ask.

“Young Master, that’s really not it.”

As Belinda frowned, Ghislaine licked her lips and shared the original name of the cosmetics.

“Deneb.”

Deneb was the name that Duke Delphine attached to the cosmetics in Ghislaine’s previous life.

She had heard it was named after a star passed down from ancient times.

It sounded magnificent, but since it was named by Duke Delphine, it didn’t really appeal to her.

So she tried to use the name ‘Lovely Blingbling’ that she came up with, but it was getting no traction.

“Hm, well, it’s not bad. It gives off a feeling that nobles might like.”

Belinda finally nodded her head.

Kaor, who had been listening from behind, tilted his head sideways, thinking,

‘Lovely Blingbling? I think this one is better.’

Of course, tastes vary among people.

Anyway, now that they had settled on a name, all that was left was to go to the capital and sell it properly.

Ghislaine mounted her horse and looked around at everyone. Seeing reliable people made her smile naturally.

With a huge grin, Ghislaine tightened the reins and shouted,

“Alright, let’s head to the capital!”

 

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