Chapter 15 - Spending Money
Jubel doubted his ears.
“…So what the Young Son is saying is. All that’s needed is the soul powder that comes from extinguishing a Plague Demon, and the minimum amount of poison herbs for the effect to show?”
“Right. That is the Plague Demon prevention method.”
“Compared to the genius idea, the secret is very humble.”
Even though the Youngest Son’s eyes were still fixed on the Scripture of the Dark Wheel, his mouth was aimed at his business partner.
“The point is to get sick first. You have to become a patient before you touch a Plague Demon. That sickness will neither be fatal nor will it be a plague.”
“I understand. But it would be even better if the sickness does not interfere with daily life. Enough to avoid the Plague Demon’s eyes, but still be able to work.”
“That would be ideal.”
Jubel clapped his hands lightly.
The business revenue in his head jumped once more.
“Then I will hire a Poison Demon sorcerer. I can ask him to create a poison with weak and long-lasting symptoms.”
“Head Maid.”
“Yes, Young Son.”
Instead of answering, the Youngest Son called for the Head Maid.
She handed him a note, folded a couple of times, from behind her apron.
From her politely extended hand, the scent of grass, not yet faded, wafted.
“Here is that ideal recipe. The side effect of fever from the soul powder can also be managed with this recipe.”
“…As expected. The Young Son had it prepared. I feel foolish for a moment for trying to use this as leverage to adjust the profit distribution. Hahat.”
The profit distribution was 4:6.
The Youngest Son’s side, which provided the idea, was 6, and the merchant troupe’s side, which provided the supplies and money, was 4.
Marvin, next to him, looked displeased, but Jubel accepted it without complaint.
If an ultra-massive item like today’s were to come out even once more in the Youngest Son’s remaining life.
He would seek out his former partner first, instead of a new company.
He had staked his claim on the bottomless honey pot, but his subtle attempt to adjust the terms had not worked.
“Is the Young Son also proficient in poisons.”
“There was a proficient person by my side.”
No further answer followed.
Because that proficient person was living by his side, pretending to be not proficient at all.
I had asked her for this favor in return for the slap on her cheek, and she had complied.
The multi-purpose worker also helped the agent with her work.
To Jubel, who did not know the other side of the story, the potential of the Youngest Son in the shabby mansion felt even more amazing.
“The Plague Demons will swarm next month, so now we just need to mass-produce. From here, will you be entrusting it to our merchant troupe?”
“Isn’t your specialty knowing how to spend money to make money. Do it spectacularly.”
“Leave it to me.”
Jubel bowed deeply and turned around.
…But before that. There was something he didn’t have to ask, but wanted to ask.
He asked the Youngest Son, who was still looking into the Scripture of the Dark Wheel.
“You borrowed 500 gold coins from me.”
“I did.”
“What do you plan to use that for? It seems you’ll need a little more to repair the mansion.”
“I’m not interested in repairs. The money has already been spent. I sent my subordinate as soon as I borrowed it, so they should have arrived by now.”
The Youngest Son was again sparing with his words.
This was as much as he would say to a business partner, not a subject under the same roof.
Jubel smiled.
“The more I talk with you, the more my desire to purchase wells up. Ah, this is a merchant’s expression, so please pay it no mind.”
“It matters not. But if I were to give one piece of advice, the basis of playing with money is to invest at a low point and reap the profits at a high point.”
The Youngest Son was saying.
To be loyal to me now, when I am at a low point.
When it’s a high point, it will be too late.
It was surprising enough that he saw himself, living in a collapsed mansion, as a stock whose success was guaranteed, but he had never seen a blood relative use such an expression before.
Is the Youngest Son truly a stock that will not break?
“I can’t think of two things at once, so. I will think about investments in that area once this business stabilizes.”
“As you wish.”
Jubel, maintaining his courtesy to the end, bowed and came out of the mansion.
“Marvin. Purchase a factory in Dusk Citadel.”
“Purchase? Not rent?”
“This is a long-term business. People get sick sometime in their lives, and Plague Demons come every year. It’s a gold mine that doesn’t run dry.”
“I will look into it. Shall I hire workers as well?”
“Hire enough to fill one factory. We need to produce enough to supply the entire East within a month.”
“Then we’ll need to purchase a large amount of materials as well. I’ll contact the branch managers.”
The troupe leader and vice-captain began to realize their imagination with a well-matched rhythm.
“But, doesn’t this mean our merchant troupe will be setting up in the citadel. The council members will demand bribes.”
“Ignore them. We are now backed by the name of a direct blood relative. You know what this means, right?”
Marvin’s eyes flashed and dilated.
But it did not take long for his pupils to return to their original size.
“But it’s the Youngest Son. The council members have probably already been won over by the majority of the new generation blood relatives. Is it meaningful?”
“I thought so too, but the Youngest Son said this.”
─No one can go against the tide.
It was a statement that made him nod as soon as he heard it.
“The tide is us, and the cause and justification are with us. We don’t need the influence of an individual direct blood relative. The name value is enough.”
“Phew. Alright. Let’s get to work quickly.”
“Raise the ship. We’re going to the citadel.”
***
G-District Levering Firearms.
A customer had come and gone just a moment ago.
Actually, I didn’t know if they were a customer.
When I went out to the sound of a knock, there was only this sack in front of the door.
A sack with an unusual weight.
I opened the tightly tied mouth.
My eyes were dazzled by the golden color.
“Hey, hey. Kio. How much is this.”
“It looks like hundreds of gold coins…?”
“…It’s 500. 500 gold coins.”
The reason I knew without even touching it was from a few weeks ago.
It was because of what that man had left behind.
─I will sponsor 500 gold coins every month.
I had dismissed it as mere nonsense and never wanted to see him again, but.
“It’s really 500 gold coins….”
The young lady from the West swallowed hard, put her hand into the sack, and swept it around once.
She couldn’t believe that the weight, which seemed capable of killing a person, was made entirely of gold coins.
What could she buy and make with these?
Ah, ah. First, I have to get a proper workshop.
Install an industrial furnace, buy tools, and then sweep up the raw material ores I couldn’t even look at before, and then some firearms to disassemble and examine….
“Wa-wait. Get a grip.”
She slapped her pale cheeks at the flight of fancy that had unfolded without her realizing.
“Reggie. Kio. What do you two want to do with this money?”
Reggie shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms.
“We don’t have any expensive hobbies. We’re content just eating something delicious.”
“That’s right. And our wish can only come true if Lady Josephine succeeds.”
“Kio is right. You, who came out abandoning the name of Wisdom, must become the best Magitech engineer for us to have even a slim chance.”
“…Thank you, everyone.”
The three of them huddled around the money sack and comforted each other.
Money is money only when it’s spent.
Now it was time for expenditure, but even that was a cautious matter for the fugitive of Wisdom.
The young man with dark green hair, Kio, said worriedly.
“If we suddenly buy 500 gold coins worth of Magitech-related products, we’ll catch the eye of the council members. Wouldn’t it be better to take our time and go around several districts?”
That was the standard argument, but the situation was different this time.
Kuoooooooooh─
A heavy mechanical sound that seemed to shake the sky.
Not just the three of them, but everyone in the citadel raised their heads towards the sound.
Breaking through the clouds, a giant merchant ship, the Mariella, was descending.
Reggie smiled so wide his canines showed.
“It’s the Maxman Merchant Troupe. There’s no need to go around bothering ourselves anymore.”
Josephine didn't know what he was talking about yet, but Kio, who was from the citadel, had a bright expression.
“If the Maxman Merchant Troupe brought an airship, it means a massive trade is going to happen in the citadel! Then a huge amount of funds will be released!”
“Our 500 gold expenditure and purchase history can just be buried next to that unimaginable wealth. The heavens have helped us.”
Reggie nudged Josephine, who still had a dazed look on her face.
“Be happy, my lady. Hurry up and say what you want to buy. Kio will go and buy it for you.”
“J-just me?”
The small protest was ignored.
Josephine, unable to contain her rising smile, quickly wrote down a list.
Money is a good thing.
Especially for a profession that costs so much money like this.
But a doubt kept creeping in.
Though she came from Wisdom, the symbol of pure magic, the blood of that great family still ran in her.
In the world of a pure magician, there are no coincidences.
Only inevitability existed, and what looked like a coincidence was an inevitability created by others.
The 500 gold coins that arrived even though a few weeks had passed, but not yet a month.
The money had appeared, but just as the situation became inconvenient, Maxman’s merchant ship appeared as if on cue.
Was this a coincidence?
‘If it’s not a coincidence, then the owner of the sponsorship money is powerful enough to move the greatest merchant of the East. That man in shabby clothes…? He didn’t seem to have any great martial strength either.’
The more she looked at the gold coins filling the sack.
Her curiosity about her sponsor grew little by little.
***
Scripture of the Dark Wheel.
I finished the first complete reading without the process of interpretation.
My first impression was this.
‘What the hell is this gibberish?’
If I hadn’t even known that this was a sorcery book similar to a skill book.
If I hadn’t known that chapters 1 through 6 were talking about six different sorceries.
It was nothing more than an ancient book where cloud-chasing, nonsense, delusions, personal theories, and private opinions continued without end.
But a modern person’s perspective allowed for the Scripture of the Dark Wheel to be interpreted from a different viewpoint.
“In short, it’s talking about Reincarnation, isn’t it.”
Reincarnation, spoken of in various religions, was, in short, a process of attaining enlightenment.
In that process, as life and death repeat, karma can be accumulated, or blessings can be accumulated.
But the Scripture of the Dark Wheel, along with the journey of such enlightenment, also placed importance on the elements that make up the journey.
The two properties that make up reincarnation.
Life and death. Yin and yang. Things like these.
“Now I have to start interpreting it according to the answer I already know…. This is quite a hassle.”
I let out a faint sigh and returned the page to the beginning.
Knock knock─
“Young Son. A gift has arrived from the Fourth Son’s side.”
“…A gift?”
“May I enter.”
“Yes.”
The Head Maid entered the room.
Again, there was a deep scent of blood.
But the box exuding the blood scent was not as large as last time.
The velvet case looked as if it should hold jewelry, but inside was something completely different.
“…I have no need for a heart like this.”
“Could it be from the messenger who came before.”
“It seems so.”
In the case, there was only a heart.
Even among sorcerers, it was quite a radical gift.
It would be one thing if it was just a heart.
The problem was the sorcery treatment applied to this heart.
“Beast Sorcery Flesh Fragment Explosion…. It’s made to explode the moment magic power flows into it.”
There wouldn’t be major damage, but it would be a hassle if bits of flesh splattered all over the room.
Not for me, but for the multi-purpose porter in the house.
Huuuk─
I threw the heart into the spatial artifact and into the griffin’s mouth.
The undead didn’t need food, but the heart wasn’t something to be classified as general waste.
The griffin chewed the human heart to bits inside the spatial artifact.
And then, something unexpected appeared.
[The subordinate undead private soldier 「Red-blooded Griffin」 has consumed the heart of 「Kerard Balum」.]
[Confirming unique skill 「Balum's Scythe」.]
[The unique skill slot of 「Red-blooded Griffin」 is full.]
[Would you like to remove one unique skill and add the new unique skill?]
Or.
[Would you like the player to acquire the new unique skill?]