Chapter 27: Human Hunting (8)

“Hoo…… I was able to catch my breath thanks to you. I appreciate it.”

“Friends should naturally help each other.”

We took a brief moment to chat. The topic of our conversation mostly revolved around who could have wreaked such havoc on the city and for what reason. Jack must have wanted to show off his knowledge about national politics as he passionately voiced his opinion about how it could have been a conflict between the Kingdom of Sardinia’s prince faction and the noble faction or that it could have been intervention from the church. It seems his anxiety was gone now because he believed he was out of harm’s way.

The carriage stopped shortly after. We had arrived at the edge of a forest located on the outskirts of the city. We got down from the carriage and sat on the grass. We could still see smoke billowing above the ramparts of the city from afar. Jack clicked his tongue as he took in the sight.

“Tsk. Traditionally, Pavia has always taken issue with the church. The Earl of Pavia strongly demanded that the church should take responsibility for the plague. The church has always been against the slave system, so they might have committed this act of terrorism for that reason.”

I nodded my head as I agreed that his reasoning sounded very plausible. In truth, however, I was struggling to hold back my laughter. I had an urge to tell him, ‘It was all for the sake of taking your slave.’ Though I barely managed to stop myself. Laura sat next to us and silently listened to our conversation, but she kept glancing at me. It was also quite difficult to ignore this. It’s rather annoying that I can’t directly read a human’s emotions.

Jack stared out into the distance for no special reason as he spoke.

“I guess the slave market will be in a momentary recession now.”

That was true. Since an auction house was attacked, even if they could find the culprit, people will most likely avoid going near a slave market for the time being. I asked with a concerned face.

“Won’t that be an issue for your business?”

“Honestly, yeah, it will.”

Jack let out a sigh.

“My father had delegated this auction deal to me as a type of trade. The reputation of my father’s business will go up as a company that produces high-quality slaves, and my company’s reputation will go up as a firm that’s able to sell them. As you know, one’s accomplishments are what’s important in the Merchants Guild……we give and take like this.”

Jack revealed internal affairs that were obviously not supposed to be said in public. This probably meant that he trusted me that much.

“Jack, from what I can tell, this isn’t just an important trade. Your father is giving you an opportunity. He’s testing you in order to see whether you’re capable enough to handle a large deal or not.”

“……I figured as much. Damn it, everything has become messed up.”

“How about selling that slave to me?”

Jack opened his eyes wide.

“You? Are you serious?”

“Merchants don’t lie about transactions.”

Jack quickly became restless.

“B-But, Her Ladyship De Farnese is expensive. The price will put a severe burden on you…….”

“Hm.”

Was he saying this with the sincere intent to refuse me?

I took a glance at Jack’s status.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Name: Jack Aland Race: Human　　 Faction: Medoranm Firm(Lombards Firm-affiliated) Attribute: Good(+45)

Level: 5　　　　Fame: 58 Job: Merchant(E)

Leadership: 10　　Might: 5 　　Intelligence: 23 Politics: 20　　Charm: 9　　Technique: 6

Affection: 50 Current thought: ‘If he were to buy her……no, I can’t hand my blunder over to a friend. But…….’ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

‘Would you look at this? Hahaha.’

I almost let out a sound of admiration. Was he worried about friendship right now? Seriously? In this situation where he might betray his father’s trust and lose a big business opportunity for his company? If I were Jack, then I would have deliberated on getting the highest price out of the other party.

‘Jack, down to the very core, the life of a merchant does not suit you.’

Albeit, this was good for me in various respects. At first, I simply felt strangely comfortable because of his foolish behavior. I felt as if I didn’t particularly have to act in front of this person. Jack was a man who would take bullshit as genuine words.

“Don’t tell me. Are you concerned because you don’t want to burden me?”

Jack waved his hands frantically once he saw me frown.

“N-No. It’s not that……it’s just.”

“Jeez. What an honest man. I’m a merchant. I pursue profit in all things. I wish to purchase Her Ladyship De Farnese because I discovered that much value in her.”

I winked.

“Of course, my personal interest in helping you is mixed in there as well. I won’t deny that. Nevertheless, my relationship with you is nothing more than a small driving force. If purchasing Her Ladyship De Farnese didn’t align with my path of profit, then I wouldn’t have even considered buying her.”

“Lolita…….”

Jack looked at me with wet eyes. His eyes looked as if they were saying ‘You really are an amazing man!’. A little more and he might even create a cult around me. I wonder if the people that had good businesses in my original world felt like this as well.

“Mm, the highest bid was 1,650 gold, right?”

I spoke as if I were picking up a tab.

“I’ll purchase her at a clean, round number of 2,000 gold. How about it?”

“2,000 gold?!”

Jack drew back in shock.

“What? Is it not enough?”

“N-No! If anything, it’s too high!”

“I believe it would have risen this high if the auction had proceeded as usual.”

“No way! Even if it did, the auction is in ruins right now. I don’t have to pay any of the personal expenses for the auction house, so it would be right to make it cheaper. I’ll sell her for 1,500 gold.”

I frowned.

“Nonsense. A product must have an appropriate price. 2,000 gold.”

“It’s impossible to imagine that an auction would be able to bring out the appropriate price of an item. If anything, the price goes up because of the competition. The very fact that I’m receiving 1,500 gold for a single slave is already an excessive price.”

“Is De Farnese a normal slave?”

Jack shook his head firmly.

“1,500 gold. I won’t sell her for any higher than this.”

“How stubborn.”

I waved a white flag. A bizarre scene where the seller offered the lowest price while the buyer offered the highest price took place. There was no end to how much of a pushover Jack was. If you consider the path in which Laura will walk in the future, far from 2,000 gold, 20,000 gold wouldn’t be enough either.

“It can’t be helped. Let’s settle at 1,600 gold.”

“Seriously, you…… Fine. I’ll sell her for 1,600 gold.”

Jack spoke in a relenting tone that sounded as if he couldn’t win against me. Sheesh. Stole the words right out of my mouth, you pushover. It felt hilarious, but I shook Jack’s hand happily. Jack spoke with a smile.

“Where will we hold the transaction?”

“Well, it’s tiresome, so let’s just do it here and now.”

Jack tilted his head.

“What are you talking about? If you want to own a slave, then you have to register at a government office.”

“……Oh, is that so?”

“Of course, visiting a government office to register in person is a hassle, so we can just take care of the procedures at a nearby Merchants Guild.”

“…….”

My thought process which had been light and fluffy until now became cold in an instant.

“I see. That’s right.”

My tone cooled off at a degree which even I could notice.

Oh dear, this isn’t good.

I made my tone bright again. I quickly turned the bolts in my head. I immediately thought up of an adequate lie. The only thing that has improved ever since I came to this world was my ability to lie.

“Jack. I’m sorry, but can we not make the contract here?”

“……Do you have some personal circumstances?”

“You know that I have herbs that can cure the Black Death, right?”

“Naturally. There’s no way I would forget.”

“The Merchants Guild in Pavia is keeping an eye on me because of this. They probably intend to hold me down by the ankle using whatever method they can. It’s obvious that they’re being greedy because they think they can make a lot of money off of me.”

“Ha, those brazen curs!”

Jack got upset.

“They’re always like that. Even though they should be protecting merchants, they persecute them instead!”

“Unfortunately, I can’t do much about this either. That’s why I don’t want to do any transactions in a Merchants Guild if possible. I have no idea how they’ll try to put me in their debt and take control of my wares…….”

“Hm.”

Jack pressed his hand against his forehead. I can take a guess as to why he wants to do the transaction at a Merchants Guild. What Jack needs right now is accomplishments and not funding. His funding could be handled as long as his father sponsored him, but accomplishments as a merchant were something that you had to actually accomplish on your own. For Jack, having a transaction of 2,000 gold in a Merchants Guild, where the accomplishments of merchants are managed, was the best thing that could happen to him.

The firm that I’m claiming to be a part of is nothing more than a ghost firm. Even if we were to do the transaction at a Merchants Guild, it’s a question as to whether they would even acknowledge my identity as a merchant, and, more than anything else, I didn’t want to stay in a human city any longer than this. There’s no way of knowing when my identity as a demon would be revealed.

‘Don’t disappoint me, Jack.’

I liked Jack in some aspects. Although the humans of this world are somewhat naive, naivety and innocence are two entirely different things. Jack was closer to the latter. Even though I look down on naivety, no, it’s because I look down on naivety that innocence looks more charming to me. I calmly watched Jack as he racked his brain.

“……Okay.”

Jack finally opened his mouth.

“Then let’s do this. There’s a firm branch that’s managed by my father in a town that’ll take about 4 days to reach from here. The Merchants Guild there is controlled by my father’s firm. If we do the transaction there, then there should be no chance of you being harmed in any way, Lolita.”

An excellent plan.

It really is the best solution.

However, Jack, that absolutely isn’t the answer I wanted.

“Friend, don’t get me wrong. I’ll form a contract of 2,000 gold and not 1,600 gold if we can do it here as a secret between the two of us. I want a contract between only the two of us. I don’t want to give anything to those damned Merchants Guilds.”

“I don’t want more money.”

Jack furrowed his brows.

“Also, you can trust the Merchants Guild there. I’m serious. Do I look like someone who would scam you? Don’t tell me you think that.”

“……”

“I naturally understand your hostility towards the Merchants Guild. No, I probably understand better than anyone else. They’re like loansharks that never come out to do business in person but still manage to make money behind the scene. They have no loyalty or business ethics. Nonetheless, I have a backing that can block their schemes.”

“3,000 gold.”

Jack paused.

“What……?”

“I’ll buy her for 3,000 gold. Jack, this is my last offer. I’m sincerely saying this for your sake. I’m putting our friendship on the line here. Let’s make the transaction here for 3,000 gold.”

“…….”

“You hand me De Farnese and I’ll hand you 3,000 gold. The trade will end like that. Nothing more than this. No one can guarantee our contract, no one will blame you, and no one will interfere. A promise between 2 people.”

I can’t spend any more than 3,000 gold. A lot of my fortune was used purchasing the magic scrolls and requesting the arson of the city. If I want to make even more money, then I have to have enough to make a rather large investment. I have to scrape together whatever I can in order to survive in the future. 3,000 gold was the Maginot Line of how much I could spend.

However, it seems the other party didn’t understand how sincere I was being.

“Lolita……I’m not that greedy for money. Be it 1,500 gold or 3,000 gold, they’ll be happy as long as I manage to make more than a thousand gold from this trip. Honestly, all I need is an accomplishment to show my father and to the people of the firm. The people around me think that I’m incompetent. It’s partially true, but I don’t want to miss this opportunity to get rid of that reputation.”

Jack’s eyes were serious.

“I have a dream. I want to become a big merchant and make my sincere business ethics spread throughout the world. In order to do this, one’s reputation and achievements are essential, Lolita. I don’t want to end up like a child who falls behind after chasing after their dream. Fortunately, I possess various advantages. For starters, my father is the president of a large company!”

He spoke chantingly.

“Is this not a great blessing? It’s impressive if you consider the average merchants that start as cart peddlers. If I lived insincerely despite having these advantages, then I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. I believe that I should be sincere right now. 3,000 gold? That might be an immediate profit for me, but I want to gradually establish a foundation, Lolita. For the sake of going into a trade that helps the entire continent like you.”

“…….”

“If you genuinely do not want to be in the presence of a Merchants Guild, then let’s do this. Let’s go to the town for now. Once we’re there, I’ll send my subordinates in my stead to the transaction area. I’ll give you the slave brand through him.”

Haah. I let out a long sigh.

“Yes, it can’t be helped. I can’t just disregard your wish when you have your own personal reasons as well.”

Jack’s face lit up.

“You understand, then?”

“Of course. I know that you are sincere at all times. I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but your sincerity is pleasant to look at for me. It’s not just the conversation we had earlier, but you’re also feeling reluctant about trading a slave using an improper method, right?”

“Huh? Ah, yeah. That’s also an issue. Be it directly or indirectly, if you don’t register at a government office, then it’ll become a crime.”

I smiled bitterly.

“You’re a tiringly upright man, Jack.”

“Haha. Compared to you, I’m still lacking.”

“That isn’t the case. There are many times in life where you cannot pursue the right path. There are situations where you can’t pursue the right path from the very beginning. I came to this realization a while ago.”

I stuck my right hand out. Jack smiled warmly as he took my hand in his. We gripped each other’s hands tightly. I could feel the warmth from his grip.

“But you’re walking the right path, Lolita. You’re amazing.”

“I wonder about that. Oh right, this is my first time buying a slave, so I’m curious. How do people exchange those slave brands?”

“It’s simple. A mage affiliated with the Merchants Guild uses their magic to transfer the brand. There’s a reason why some of them go out of their way to frequent a Merchants Guild that specializes in slave trading. They do this on the side while they’re at a government office registering a request. If we do the exchange in town, then I’ll make the personnel cost for the mage free. Haha.”

We laughed together.

“Is that magic difficult?”

“Uh……no. I don’t know anything about magic, but considering how the mage in our firm was able to learn it, it seems easy. Probably.”

“I see.”

I nodded my head before uttering something quietly.

“Lapis. Cut off the right shoulder.”

“Huh?”

Jack gave me a confused look. It didn’t take more than 3 seconds for that expression of his to contort.

Slash!

A long sword severed Jack’s arm. It took him a while before he could comprehend what had just happened. He first looked at me in shock before turning to look at his right arm. A second passed like that before Jack fell back and started to scream.

“Guha, guaaaaaaack! Guuaaaaaaack⎯⎯⎯!”

Jack twisted and turned his body on the field of grass. With his left hand, he grabbed his right shoulder. Was he instinctively trying to stop the blood? The veins in his neck were pulsating grossly. The pressure in those veins went straight to his screaming.

“Kuh! Guuuuuk! Guhaaack! G-Ghuaaack!”

Lapis returned her sword into its sheath. It was clean. There was no flaw in her posture as her might was 30 and she possessed the swordsman job. Well, at least to the untrained eye. I gave Lapis a nod as a way to tell her that she did a good job. Lapis bowed in return. It was like she was saying, ‘It was no big deal.’

I glanced towards where Laura was sitting. Laura had a placid look on her face as if she somehow predicted this would happen. Well, if she were surprised, then I would be very disappointed. The only one who couldn’t predict this situation was currently flailing on the ground.

“Haa, Jack……this is truly regrettable.”