Chapter 13 - Does It Make Money
The airship, abandoning its existing client and returning to the Pantheon.
Sometimes it rode the wind, and when the wind was weak, it moved forward by turning its Magitech propeller.
But in the East, the propeller often became useless.
The strong yin energy of the East created strong monsters, and just by those monsters moving, hunting, and breathing, the weather in the East was bound to go wild.
The wind and rain were a problem, but.
The monsters that came with that wind and rain were an even bigger problem.
One day's distance remained to the Pantheon.
“Damn it. These winged bastards are as shitty as ever, no matter when I see them.”
The merchant troupe leader Jubel Maxman’s direct subordinate, Vice-Captain Marvin, picked up the receiver in the command and control room of the airship ‘Mariella’.
The closer they got to the Pantheon, the source and essence of the East's yin energy, the more chaotically the monsters made their journey.
─A swarm of Giant Gremilins is approaching from the stern! The number is at least thirty…! It will be dangerous if the hot air balloon is hit by their acid spit!
─A 20-meter-sized Sky Leviathan has appeared on the port side! It is charging power from the thunderclouds!
─We couldn't refuel at the client's, so we have to rely on the wind now! Outrunning them with speed is impossible!
Marvin, on behalf of the troupe leader who cared for nothing but money, gritted his teeth again today.
“Load all the net cannonballs in the direction of the Leviathan! Drop all the baggage stored inside the ship in the direction of the Gremilins!”
A flustered voice came from the cargo hold.
─B-but Vice-Captain! These goods are…!
“Now that we couldn’t go to the client, it’s a lost cause to get a good price for them anyway! I won’t watch the ship get a hole in it while trying to save some trash!”
─Ye-yes, sir!
Biiiiiiiii─!!
The red siren of the cargo hold wailed louder than lightning.
The bottom of the ship, which had been firmly closed after loading the cargo, opened up just like that.
Thanks to the pre-loosened ropes, the cargoes swayed this way and that before starting to pour down.
Befitting a great merchant of the East, befitting the size of the airship, the amount of cargo overwhelmed the swarm of Gremilins.
─The majority of the Giant Gremlin swarm is being blown up by the cargo boxes! The Gremilins are retreating!
The immediate fire was put out.
The Eastern lumber inside the boxes lingered in his mind, but they had already fallen.
There were no private houses or cities directly below, but some lucky person would probably pick them up.
What he needed to focus on now was the terrible reality of having unluckily encountered a giant monster.
─Th-the Sky Leviathan! It has just stuck its maw out of the clouds!”
A breath attack.
Ah. This is why you’re not supposed to fly in the skies of the Pantheon.
After a short, thick lament, Marvin, gripping the receiver as if to crush it, barked out a command.
“Fire all the loaded net cannonballs! Block its mouth and throat completely!”
─Yes, sir!
Those who were called merchants on land and sailors on the ship moved swiftly.
It did not take long for the gunports on the Leviathan’s side to spew fire.
Nothing could be seen properly in the thunderstorm, but Marvin saw the flying nets clearly.
Dozens of them.
If just one of them flew near the Leviathan’s mouth, it would be a success.
But did the troupe leader’s opportunity cost also include luck?
“Son of a bitch!”
The nets wrapped around various parts of the Leviathan’s body, but failed to entangle its open mouth.
The fierce wind and rain rendered the sailors' precise aim useless.
The thunderous glow within the unclosed maw pointed accurately at the ship.
“Fucking Jubel Maxman…!!”
A curse came out on its own.
Naturally, it was a curse aimed at his superior.
The miserly troupe leader had not allowed escort ships or sorcerers on board, citing the cost.
So the order to stop the Leviathan with nets meant for catching birds was the best of the best options.
The next command was the same.
“Turn off the power furnace feeding the hot air balloon! We need to escape the breath’s path with a steep dive─”
─V-Vice-Captain! Another giant monster has appeared in the sky above our airship!
Shit, again?
He stuck his head out the window as if he would ram it outside and looked up.
When lightning flashed in the pitch-black clouds, its silhouette and form were faintly revealed.
A large, sharply curved beak.
Huge twin wings that proved its status as the king of the sky.
When it spread its wings along with its four legs that seemed to play in the clouds, it was no smaller than the Leviathan.
“A, a griffin…?”
The legitimate child of the sky and the earth issued a challenge to the flying dragon that played in the clouds.
The Sky Leviathan saw a griffin for the first time.
This was because it was rare for griffins to ascend to such heights, according to their natural habits.
Unless there was some reason.
Also, it was rare for a griffin to initiate a fight with something.
A challenge is something the weak do.
The strong were strong without needing to challenge and prove it, and they had no need to prove it.
Unless there was some reason, a griffin did not attack first.
“I remember its habits were something like that….”
The griffin he was seeing now was like a fighting cock.
A battle fiend that covered its eyes and, without thinking of the future, thought only of killing the enemy.
─The, the griffin is approaching!
“…No. It is not heading for us.”
─Ye-yes?
As if to prove Marvin’s words.
The griffin folded its wings back and descended, piercing through the thunderclouds.
It was like a giant arrow. Like a harpoon to catch a whale.
It plunged into the flying dragon playing in the clouds, shortening its long body.
The breath it had gathered split the ominous dark clouds, raining down erratically.
The griffin, using that lightning flash as a backdrop, soared once more.
It spread its wings, leaped through the empty air, and cut across the sky.
The prince who subdued the sky and the earth disappeared once more into the thunderclouds.
…He didn't know what was going on, but for now, it was a stroke of luck.
“Now! Reorganize the ship and move only towards the Pantheon! We can refuel at the Pantheon, so don’t spare it!”
There was no more fuel to use for evasive maneuvers.
There was only a straight path, and fortunately, not a single hair of a monster was seen for the remaining day.
When he reported this to the troupe leader.
“They say it’s a good omen to survive seeing a griffin. I have a good feeling.”
“…….”
He only heard shitty words.
“…I’ve followed everything the troupe leader has said so far without a word of complaint, but I really don’t think the Youngest Son is it.”
“What’s the big deal now that we’re at the Pantheon. At least there are no rival merchant troupes around the Youngest Son. Let’s think positively.”
“…Since when were you so optimistic? The man who said he’d rather die than take a loss?”
Jubel Maxman, still rolling the copper coin in his hand, said.
“I said I have a good feeling. That guy, the Youngest Son. He seems to be my kind of person.”
“I sincerely hope the troupe leader’s feeling is not wrong. The pursuit from the other family merchant troupes is already fierce as it is.”
Kuuuuh─
As he spoke, a vibration echoed through the ship.
The airship Mariella had landed.
Jubel grabbed his overcoat and smiled.
“My friend. One slows down when one looks back.”
“Tsk. Enough with the sermon. I’ve prepared the carriage, so let’s get going.”
***
The Youngest Son’s side, the mansion.
The Youngest Son, sitting cross-legged on the guest room bed, was meditating.
That’s how it looked on the outside.
But the rapidly depleting magic power.
And just as frighteningly, the magic power being replenished again.
The slightly parted lips that continuously muttered.
Combining the various elements, he was not meditating.
But whatever it was, he could smile at the end.
“…Finally, it’s all done.”
The work I wanted to finish before Jubel Maxman arrived.
The construction of the full-body magic power recovery amplification magic circle came to a close as of this hour today.
As always, I wiped off the profuse sweat with a warm towel the Head Maid had brought and changed my clothes.
Soon, I would have to greet a guest.
“The magic power required to move the griffin was no joke, but now that the full-body construction is complete, the consumption and recovery rates are roughly matching up.”
Of course, that was under the premise of deploying only the griffin.
“But this guy is well worth it.”
──「Red-blooded Griffin」──
[Description]
: The prince of the sky and the earth. No steed is faster than a griffin, and no bird is swifter than a griffin. Its eyesight, capable of seeing for several kilometers, tears apart enemies with poison-laced claws, along with the predator’s immense strength.
[Unique Skills]
: Wings of Steel
: Subsonic Movement
: Venomous Claws
[Classification]
: Bone Sorcery / Beast Sorcery / Poison Demon Sorcery
──────────
Three unique skills.
Three classifications.
As the griffin was a creature with a poison sac inside, it used a deadly poison that even a Poison Demon sorcerer would find difficult to handle.
This creature was a monster that basically preferred soft internal organs over thick, tough muscles.
Because useless things like leather had to be melted away quickly, their poison also had acidic properties.
“Now that’s mine.”
It was a creature with high output and firepower.
If I were to bring out the ogre or other undead private soldiers here, magic power depletion was a foretold future.
Nevertheless, my combat power had not decreased but had leaped up several stages.
Of wealth, power, and martial strength, one was no longer an urgent matter.
“Young Son. Jubel Maxman has arrived in the reception room.”
Now, it was time to solve the matter of wealth.
***
Marvin was uneasy.
It had been that way since he saw the middle-aged gatekeeper who he felt he himself could beat.
Seeing the mansion with one side blown open, his unease seemed to turn into certainty, but….
His superior’s expression was still subtle.
“Welcome. Welcome to the Youngest Son’s mansion.”
It wasn’t really a mansion from the point one of its outer walls was blown open, but the merchants didn’t nitpick.
They were merchants belonging to the family, and this was a blood relative’s home.
On the way to the reception room, a man who looked like a worker was busy cleaning the floor.
“This is an important mission…. This is an important mission….”
…His mind seemed a bit off, but he worked well without dawdling.
The reception room, arrived at without having seen a single normal thing.
When the Head Maid had prepared tea and the cups were about half-empty.
The owner of the letter entered.
“The Youngest Son is entering.”
The merchant stood up to greet the blood relative.
The most important thing in deals and negotiations was not to show any openings.
The two thoroughly observed the etiquette and treated the blood relative with respect.
“A pleasure to meet you for the first time, Youngest Son. I am the merchant troupe leader, Jubel─”
“I know. And next to you is Vice-Captain Marvin. For now, let’s sit.”
The pleasantries were skipped with a single gesture.
Jubel smiled inwardly.
The Youngest Son is my kind of person.
That guess seemed about to turn into certainty.
He took out the letter from his breast pocket.
─Plague is also money.
It was a letter with only that single line.
“I found out by backtracking the Messenger Ghoul. The Youngest Son sent this, correct?”
“That is correct.”
The Youngest Son admitted it readily.
In that case, it was time to talk business.
The beginning was a question.
But before opening his mouth.
Jubel waited quietly.
…Silence continued.
By the time the thirsty Marvin took another sip of tea.
The Youngest Son smiled faintly.
“Not a single opening to be seen.”
“An opening, you say. How could I dare to prattle on first inside a blood relative’s mansion without the blood relative’s permission.”
The battle of wits that had worked so well on that messenger did not work in the slightest on the great merchant who had mastered the relationship between a master and a servant.
‘I didn’t think it would work, but he’s truly the Jubel Maxman I know.’
This one, unlike Josephine, was the same-natured Jubel even in this timeline.
It was a relief.
“Ask your question. You seem to have a lot you want to say.”
“Thank you for the opportunity. I, Jubel, shamelessly have one thing I would like to ask the blood relative.”
An extremely deferential posture.
For Jubel, there was no hierarchy of position between himself and his opponent.
What filled the space instead of the concept of hierarchy was only money. And more money.
Therefore, he asked.
“Plague Demon. Does that make money.”