Right now, I was paying a visit to the Maguire family for the first time in several months.
Perhaps because I hadn't visited my parents' house in a long time, after ignoring their order to come back immediately, I received a lecture from my mother as she cried.
Since then, my mother had been showing an intense opposition to letting me leave. As a result, I had been bothering the Maguire family for the past two days.
The test that would determine my students' fate was already getting closer, but instead, I had paused their classes for the past two weeks.
Sure enough, I received the silent treatment from the students, but here I was, completely ignoring them.
"Gu-chan, chew your food well, okay?"
"Umm."
I nodded genuinely while taking a sip of the soup. The soup quickly melted in my mouth as I chewed on the overcooked and coarsely chopped ingredients with the nostalgic taste of faint saltiness.
"Is it delicious?"
"Yes!"
I replied cheerfully to my mother, who was watching me eat with a delightful smile while resting her chin on her hands.
I didn't try to flatter her, though. It was my true feelings. I'm sure if we talk about the taste or cooking technique, the food served in Silver Knife was far more perfect. Even so, somehow this simple taste was so delicious that it brought tears to my eyes.
"Well, despite Master's words and actions, you were still born as a human, after all."
Mura earnestly expressed his rude impression.
Leave me alone.
Aware of heat creeping up my cheeks, I quietly sipped the soup in my mouth, trying to cover up the awkward atmosphere.
Once the meal was over, Anna Maguire disappeared inside the kitchen to pick up the dessert. Replacing her, my grandfather, Dimer Maguire, showed up and made an offer.
"Grey, there's something I want to discuss a little bit. Is it fine with you?"
"I don't mind."
While it was true that I'd come here partly to meet my mother, the other reason was only that my grandfather had summoned me.
Urged by my grandfather, I entered the drawing room. The current head of the house, Bart Maguire, was also present there.
As I sat down on the chair facing them, Bart waved with his right hand, greeting me with a bouncy voice.
"Yo, Grey. Your hard work has become the talk of the town among the high society."
"Thank you very much."
High society, huh. Basically, purebred aristocrats and the local great clans were completely different parties. So, they naturally had different social circles.
Among the local great clans, the way my existence had confronted the purebred aristocrats should be evaluated positively in a certain way. I'm sure of it.
"So, what do you want?"
I'm not fond of indirect strategy, which is why I asked them straightforwardly. I assumed it was about the loan.
With a mysterious face, Bart gave me a bow so deep that his forehead touched the table in front of me. (T/N: Probably typo from the author; it is Bard instead of Bart.)
"I apologize for treating you unfairly until now."
Then he expressed his apology.
"Huh?"
Oblivious to the fact that his eccentric behavior made me confused and dumbfounded, he went on.
"We don't have an excuse. It is an undeniable fact that we drove you to the Millard family. Of course, we have also forcibly separated you from your mother, Anna. I understand that this is by no means something forgivable一ー"
"Oh, if it's about that, you don't need to worry. I can meet my mother freely like this now. And the Millard family gave me an irreplaceable experience."
It wasn't a pretense. I was speaking from my heart. I had heard the majority of the truth from my grandfather. In the aristocratic society, bloodline was the most important thing.
If my existence had been the cause of conflict within the Maguire family, as the head of the party, he had made a reasonable decision of cutting off the root of the problem. Otherwise, the so-called aristocratic society wouldn't have been able to preserve itself.
"Your words have calmed me down, even if only a bit."
Bart took a deeply relieved sigh and gave me a worn-out smile.
"Yeah, let's get down to the main business now."
"No, that's all. Bart just wanted to apologize to you, really. That's why I called you here. Well, there is also a part where he was being pestered by Anna..."
Dimer stroked his unshaven beard in awkwardness.
Judging from their behaviors, it was most likely my mother's intention to call me here. The two of them seemed to have gone through a lot of trouble.
In that case, it was a great opportunity. Let's talk about business. If the rumors were true, this place must be in a lot of trouble right now.
Just as I was about to speak, there was an uproar in the entrance. Apparently, the timing was somehow perfect.
The door opened with a bang, and a tall gentleman with slanted eyes entered the room while stroking his beard.
Interesting. I thought I had seen this man once in the imperial council. I remembered him because of his fussy attitude and the clamor he had caused in the conference room.
The tall nobleman sat down at the table without permission. Taking a cigar from the soldier behind him, he lit it with firestone and put it in his mouth.
"How is it? Have you made up your mind, Lord Maguire?"
Hmph, it seems like he hasn't recognized me. I suppose it was natural, given how he hadn't been summoned to my knighthood award ceremony half a year ago.
"Lord Noval, I believe there is still some time before the deadline?"
Unlike his usual attitude, Bart spoke with a cold tone and unconcealed hostility. It was just like how I'd expected.
The tall man was Count Noval. Then, the obese-looking man without an ounce of fashion sense must be the merchant of West Company.
"There's still time in the deadline indeed, but the interest is still incurring. It's a kind gesture on my part."
While saying that, Count Noval let out a puff of smoke onto Bart's face.
Bart's whole body trembled from the humiliation as he shot a deathly glare at Noval. It was a perfectly natural reaction, given his current circumstances.
Information is everything to a merchant. I had already heard about the situation of the Maguire family.
To the west of Maguire's territory was the vast domain of Count Noval. Precisely on the border of Maguire's territory, there was a mine owned by the family from generation to generation. This mine had been the main source of income for the Maguires, as it was still expected to yield a certain amount of minerals. However, now it had become their biggest Achilles heel.
"Don't you know the 30-day rule for the transfer of debt?"
The transfer of debt 30-day rule. It was a rule stating that interest was not accrued within 30 after the debt was transferred.
Basically, the transfer of debt didn't require consent from the debtor's side. Therefore, in order to ensure that the debtor's side was aware of the transfer, interest would not be accrued for the next 30 days.
This rule had been set up by the Commercial Guild, and the empire and other countries had enacted it as law. You probably didn't need to explain this separately if someone was a merchant.
"T-that's right! The transfer to West Company was made right after the judicial decision. Now, it's the 25th day since the transfer was made. The interest is still halted!!"
While Bart spoke in a delightful voice, the representative of West Company gritted his teeth for a while.
"I just remember we have something to do. Let's go back for today, Count Noval!"
He hurriedly urged Count Noval next to him.
"Aren't you going to take it?!"
Dimer shouted in criticism.
"You don't particularly need to receive it."
A cheerful voice of a young man resounded from behind to answer that.
He made it in time. I would just leave the troublesome part to this man.
As I turned around, a blonde-haired handsome young man was standing with a malicious smile plastered on his face.
"L-Lord Rainer!!"
Count Noval remained upright, while the representative of West Company showed a desperate expression.
"I owe you for coming here, Rainer-san. Here is the deposit from Lord Maguire.''
"Hmm, I will check it."
Rainer dumped the red coins on the table and began to count.
"I have confirmed it. I'll arrange the repayment agreement here. By the way, is it really alright for you not to receive the deposit? If a deposit is made, it will bring shame to your trading company and the Trade Union, won't it?"
A deposit was a method used when a creditor was unable to receive the repayment due to absence or uncertainty. Therefore, to be deposited was in itself to be branded as a third-rate merchant as it meant they were unable to receive the debt.
In particular, this time, the one who wrote the repayment agreement was Rainer Owenheim, the president of the Commercial Guild. The credibility of that document was considerable. Furthermore, if the refusal to accept the contract was publicly announced as the reason, the reputation of the merchant would plummet as a result.
"T-that will be a problem!!"
And so, with the shriek from the teary-faced West Company's representative, the curtains dropped for this foolish charade.
◇◆◇◆◇◆
The repayment agreement was signed, and Count Noval and West Company's representative left immediately with a quiet and meek attitude as if they couldn't wait to escape this place, unlike how they had arrogantly entered the room.
"Rainer-san, thank you very much."
"No, it's fine. It's a small price to pay if I can do you a favor."
As Rainer gave a dry laugh, Bart was completely stiff and tense. Meanwhile, Dimer's face was also a bit stiff, though he was better at concealing it.
"So? What are you going to do now?"
Rainer asked, leaning his body with a mischievous look.
"I have come up with a solution to solve the matter you have been talking about."
"That's interesting. Well, I can partly guess what it was. Shutting down the Trade Union, isn't it?"
"Yes, it's just as you said."
As expected, he seemed to have noticed.
Certainly, one of the reasons why I helped was I couldn't endure seeing my mother's hometown being trampled and devastated by such scum.
However, I'm a merchant. I'm not so simple-minded that I would simply finance them, even if they were the direct relatives of my mother. I would forsake them if there was no profit.
The true reason why I lent my hand to them was to shut down the highly-efficient Trade Union.
Lately, the Trade Union had been aiming at local great clans through the purebred aristocrats, just like the Maguire family's case, and they had been trying to shun the Commercial Guild by forcefully acquiring credits. So, we could use that against them.
"Then, we have to watch over them attentively, right?"
Rainer's malicious smile deepened, so much that even a demon would run away immediately if they saw it.
"Yes, of course."
It would be a huge advantage for us, so it was a natural conclusion.
In the feudal system of this empire, the territory of the feudal lords was, so to speak, like a small country in itself. From deciding the tax rate of the territory to granting permission for a specific business, all decisions were based on the will of the feudal lords.
However, asking for money in exchange for granting permission for a specific business was equivalent to asking for a fight against the Commercial Guild, and no one would dare to do that, except some purebred aristocrats. Even the worst kind, like the Millard family, had no restrictions on commerce.
The feudal lords, who held such substantial authority of their territory, were usually conservative, so they didn't wish to see a sudden change in their territory. Even if this was the sole method to earn a fortune in the future, they would only stand back and look at other territories.
For that reason, Rainer's Commercial Guild and the others from the empire were at their wit's end, unable to do anything about the rapid development of Radol.
So, the Trade Union was like other materialistic organizations, the villains igniting the fire on the butt of those feudal lords. There was no other way to deal with this.
Furthermore, it would be killing two birds with one stone by testing the loyalty of the betrayers joining the Trade Union.
"It's scary. You really are terrifying."
I don't want to be called that by you, who immediately notice my true intentions.
"Then, shall we polish the plan as much as possible?"
"Yeah, let's do that. I will also have you guys cooperate with us."
"Y-yes!!"
Bart nodded repeatedly.
A peal of laughter leaked out from me and Rainer, and it grew louder and louder, echoing throughout the room.
"It's really scary how they look like two peas in a pod. These two......"
Mura's monologue echoed inside my head. He sounded genuinely speechless.