Chapter 14 - It Makes Money
The greatest merchant of the East asked.
If the Plague Demon made money.
I answered.
“It does.”
It was an immediate reply.
I could see the copper coin moving up and down on the great merchant's hand under the table.
When it went down once, and up once.
The great merchant threw his second question.
“How much.”
“A lot.”
This time too, an immediate reply.
The copper coin moved up and down three more times.
During that time, Marvin watched his superior’s expression.
His expression was the same as when he entered here, but the copper coin moved faster.
Jubel’s mouth opened.
“I am also sensitive when it comes to information. But in front of someone I am considering for a partnership, I tend to speak a little more.”
The great merchant spoke methodically, as if teaching or disciplining.
“And the person who proposes a partnership is inevitably bound to become talkative. Budget, expected revenue, net profit, manpower, legal checks, and so on. Because there are so many things to calculate.”
I nodded my head.
“I know.”
“If you know, and if you covet my gold, then I need a concrete answer. Furthermore, it must be a persuasive answer.”
He spread the hand that was not holding the copper coin.
“Young Son, you want my initial business funds. Manpower. My reputation and name value. The wealth needed for the succession competition. And finally, you want to make even me into a part of your faction, don't you.”
When he finished speaking, all of Jubel’s fingers were folded.
Furthermore, when the last finger folded, I also learned what level his insight was at.
A great merchant’s intuition. And gut feeling.
It seemed closer to foresight or mind-reading than just intuition.
An ordinary person would feel stripped naked by his insight and instinct, but.
“Hmm.”
The shell of a blood relative was thicker than imagined.
“You have quite the delusion, Jubel Maxman.”
“…What might be the delusion.”
“You have not yet proven your abilities before me.”
This time, even Jubel could not retort immediately, and opened his mouth after a breath.
“I am the greatest merchant of the East.”
“Right. The greatest in the East. But I, you see. I want to have the world’s number one merchant under my feet, beyond the greatest in the East.”
Jubel scoffed inwardly.
The person who can have the world’s number one merchant under his feet is the world’s number one king. - He was about to reply so.
But the great merchant’s intuition sealed his mouth.
Even his insight that could see years into the future could not grasp the true meaning of those words at once.
But it was a problem even after grasping it.
“Beyond Millesdusk, the four great families. Beyond them, even the imperial family…. Do you wish to obtain ‘The Five Families’.”
The Youngest Son savored the tea.
Even Marvin next to him could tell that this was a silent affirmation.
Marvin learned one more thing there.
‘He’s crazy…. That one is crazy…. Whatever comes out of that mouth is the devil’s temptation and the shortcut to ruin.’
Troupe Leader. You must be thinking that, right?
He gave his superior a look filled with conviction and trust.
‘…Troupe Leader?’
Because he was the closest subordinate, he could tell.
That bastard right now. He had taken the bait.
And he was savoring how valuable, how delicious this bait was.
‘…This merchant troupe has no hope now.’
While Marvin was quickly searching for a new merchant troupe to transfer to in his head.
The troupe leader, Jubel, spoke.
“Certainly, if your goal is to stand above everything in this world. The greatest merchant of the East would not even catch your eye.”
His words were right. But.
“For the Youngest Son, Dante Black Millesdusk, who lives with one side of his mansion collapsed, the greatest merchant of the East is about the right fit.”
Marvin, who was listening, was stunned.
And Jubel’s features showed a change for the first time.
It was the chilling smile of a great merchant whose main customers were sorcerers.
“Do you know why I do not enter under the command of any blood relative.”
Knowing the answer, I did not reply that I was curious, but Jubel spoke.
“It is because the blood relatives see us merchants as something like a magic money pouch.”
The reason it was a magic money pouch and not just a money pouch was in their behavior.
“Whether it’s strengthening their forces or for luxury, they spend as much as they want. And when tomorrow comes, it’s a given that the empty space will be filled, that kind of magic money pouch.”
I nodded my head.
It was the reason just as I knew it.
Jubel continued.
“In that case, it is right for me to live for myself while being satisfied with the protection of Millesdusk.”
“Right. I’ve heard you out. I have presented my ambition, and you have presented your personal theory. Doesn’t this seem just like a lord and his subject.”
“You are not even hiding it anymore. Then shall you start telling me. What kind of gold mine the Young Son in this shabby mansion holds.”
“There’s nothing to say. Head Maid.”
As if they had arranged it beforehand, the Head Maid received something from the worker she had seen earlier.
Marvin recognized what it was.
“A Spirit Containment Orb…?”
At his murmur, the Youngest Son, who received the item from the Head Maid, smiled.
It was a smile of unknown meaning.
The Youngest Son moved the containment orb on his hand like Jubel fiddling with his copper coin.
“This is an item used by a Spirit Sorcerer when immediate subjugation is difficult. One containment orb can hold one spirit.”
Also, a containment orb holding a spirit would take on a deep gray color like this.
“That seal can be released at any time by the user’s will.”
Just like this.
Teok─
The containment orb, which began to release its seal in response to magic power, was placed in the center of the table.
“Uh, eot…!”
While the flustered Marvin was startled and fell over with his chair.
Shyuhwaaaaaaaaa─
A spirit shot up, breaking through the powerless containment orb.
A spirit with a faint green tinge.
Its appearance, with a crow’s face and feathers, was something the people of the East were familiar with and trembled in fear of.
“…A Plague Demon.”
Jubel murmured, and Marvin, hiding behind a chair, shouted.
“Yo-Youngest Son…! What in the world is this! To release a spirit that holds a plague in the reception room!”
“It is not particularly unfair. I am also in this reception room, am I not.”
“Th-that’s…!”
“No. Look closely, Marvin. Look closely at that Plague Demon.”
He shuddered in terror.
Fighting a Leviathan in the sky was not scary, but when meeting an irresistible ghost, there was nothing to be done.
But…. Why is nothing happening?
One of Marvin’s eyes shot up.
The Plague Demon still existed in the reception room.
“Huh…?”
But it wandered around inside, not recognizing anyone in the reception room.
The Youngest Son spoke calmly, with the Plague Demon floating above his head.
“This morning. My subordinate procured a Spirit Containment Orb containing a Plague Demon from Dusk Citadel, the by-products from extinguishing a Plague Demon, and a few ingredients.”
A few ingredients?
Jubel’s ears perked up.
The Youngest Son looked at that and continued.
“Each Plague Demon carries a variety of diseases, so it is nearly impossible to create as many cures as there are demons.”
But before they transferred the disease, the Plague Demons were the same entity known as a Plague Demon.
“Those things that hold tens of thousands of diseases must make contact to transfer them, and they must recognize a living being to make contact with.”
“…Then is the Young Son saying you have erased us from the Plague Demon’s perception?”
“You could say that. The secret is mixed in the tea you drank.”
The copper coin in Jubel’s hand stopped.
His eyes stopped on the teacup he had neatly emptied just a moment ago.
This question was more urgent than rolling a coin.
“How on earth can that be.”
There was a perception that had settled and taken root since people started living in the East.
One cannot resist a Plague Demon.
The best solution was to just not leave the house and have a plague doctor stay in the village.
Nevertheless, every spring, thousands of people died because of the Plague Demon.
Every spring, the merchants of the East couldn’t even dream of trading outside the East.
Who would let in a ship that might have been swept over by a Plague Demon?
Spring. Spring. The damn spring made the lives and livelihoods of all Easterners difficult.
In the Youngest Son’s mind right now was the answer that could quell that pain, perhaps even eliminate it.
The world might not know, but it was an answer that everyone in the East wanted.
It meant the demand was certain.
And the supply was one blood relative and one merchant troupe in this small reception room.
Truly, the ideal supply and demand was here.
The Youngest Son said leisurely.
“You said it earlier. If I need gold, I need a concrete answer. And a persuasive one.”
“…That is correct.”
“I wonder if this is a sufficient answer.”
“It is more than enough. Of course, only for a partner.”
“That is also a relief. I didn't put any sincerity into recruiting you, so if you had kneeled already, I would have had to reconsider my choice.”
No matter their respective positions, they wouldn’t lose in a childish way.
The two men, perhaps smiling similarly, extended their hands at the same moment.
The deal was struck.
So the young partner slowly brought out the story he had hidden.
“The Plague Demon’s eyes only search for and see healthy bodies. But they are not seeing us.”
What did these words mean?
“Are you saying we are not healthy?”
“That’s right.”
With the calm reply, Marvin, who was watching the two, frowned.
He felt an unbearable stomach ache in his lower abdomen.
Was it the same for everyone in the reception room?
“…….”
“Eum.”
“Keueum.”
Everyone’s complexion was gradually turning pale.
The cure would tell them when today’s meeting would end.
“Head Maid. Put the spirit back into the containment orb, and show our guests to their, hooo…. rooms to stay.”
“…Yes. Everyone. Heuhm. Please follow me.”
The Plague Demon disappeared from the reception room, but.
The stomach ache brought on to avoid the Plague Demon continued for a long time.
It was for quite a long time, but Jubel Maxman enjoyed his time in the privy.
Because the smell rising to his nose felt like the smell of money—
“Oooargh….”
…It felt similar to the smell of money.
***
The Fourth Son’s faction. Black Citadel.
The butler, who had entered the top floor, knelt on one knee.
It was a courtesy shown to his lord and master, but.
“…Kill, me… please….”
It was also to avoid getting on the master’s bad side like that fool.
The fool’s name was Kerard Balum.
He was the one who had magnificently and grandly screwed up a task that should have naturally succeeded.
Tearing apart and reassembling his limbs while keeping his mind clear.
Next, not stopping at the limbs, but swapping the positions of his bones and then reassembling them.
It was the work of disassembling Kerard Balum piece by piece until even his parents wouldn't recognize him, then reassembling him to completion.
Throughout the entire process, the workpiece could never lose its vitality.
Because controlling even the senses that the brain managed and secreted was domination in its truest sense.
“Butler uncle. It’s strange.”
The blood-soaked hand that was about to swap the positions of the lung and bladder stopped.
“What part is strange, sir.”
“Mr. Kerard cannot lie. That is true, isn’t it?”
“Yes. That is correct.”
“But Mr. Kerard keeps lying. Why is that?”
The butler could not bring himself to say that his words were the truth.
Because even he himself could not believe it.
Summoning a griffin with a Skeleton Soldier.
One had to make up lies moderately.
It was true that lying was the worst option, but lies that didn’t even seem like the truth were even worse.
But since his lord asked, the subject had to answer.
“In my opinion, I judge that the Youngest Son possesses some kind of evil sorcery. And that he passed the Trial of Achievement with that evil sorcery.”
“Evil sorcery? Isn’t the pinnacle of evil sorcery Millesdusk? Is there something even within Millesdusk that can be called evil sorcery?”
“Evil sorcery is evil sorcery because no one should approach it.”
But not knowing was not everything.
“I will look for anything similar to Kerard’s testimony and report back to you shortly.”
“Alright. I’m counting on you, Butler uncle.”
The Fourth Son answered so and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
“Oh dear. Then Mr. Kerard wasn’t lying, was he? What should I do….”
“…Kill…. Kill me, plea…se…. plea…se….”
Kerard wished for this hell to end quickly, but the Fourth Son smiled brightly.
“No way! I have to reward Mr. Kerard, who was almost killed in vain! Mother said a good lord must be clear with rewards and punishments.”
Puuuk─!
He thrust his hand into the half-severed upper body.
“It should be around here.”
“Keoheok…. Keoeok….”
His hand swam through the inside of the body, searching for something.
“Ah, here it is.”
It was the heart.
“Dante seemed to like the gift I sent last time, so I should give the next gift here too.”
Judging by his tone alone, he was a brother who dearly loved his younger sibling.
In reality, he did.
It was just that his way of loving was different.
“Life is hell and living is pain. Your older brother will take away everything scary, so Dante, you should rest soon.”
Puuuuuk─!!
He ripped out the heart just like that.
Only then could Kerard slump down and obtain the death he had so longed for.
The corners of his mouth were filled with ecstasy.
“See. Even Mr. Kerard is this happy. Dante, you will be too.”
He kissed the still-warm heart.
It was a gift filled with an older brother’s love.
“Butler uncle! This to Dante! And tell me everything about what Dante is doing and planning to do. My younger brother still seems unfamiliar with me.”
“Of course.”
The butler, who received the heart, soon disappeared.
In the room where nothing living was left.
The Fourth Son lay sprawled on the floor, smeared with blood, guts, and flesh.
My younger brother. My beloved younger brother, Dante. A pure thing, not yet stained by the world.
On the other hand, his older brother and sisters were restless to torment their younger brother.
They were bastards he would slaughter all one day.
“It would be nice if Dante could see that. But it’s become difficult for now.”
The Fourth Son took a nap just like that.
Hoping his only younger brother would appear in his dreams.