The Devil of Finance and the Slave Girl

In northern Freyjagard, the Findolph domain, in the Port District of the city of Dormundt—

“Pant…! Pant…!”

A dark-skinned girl wearing tattered rags crouched behind a pile of crates. Her breath was labored. A rugged sailor with a wide, square jaw and eyes goggling out of his head like those of a fish was searching for her.

“Shit! Where’d that brat go?!”

He was holding a knife, and his eyes bulged as he looked around. Then he started walking toward the crates behind which the girl had hidden.

“Over here?”

“”

She could hear him getting closer. Her lungs tightened as fear welled up inside her. But before he could reach her, he stopped. The reason being—

“Hey, you! Quit slackin’ off! Get over here and unload the cargo!”

—his boss, a sailor with similar facial features, started shouting at him.

“S-sorry! One of the slaves we brought up from the south ran off, so I…”

“What?! Which one?”

“O-one of the byuma girls. The one with red hair…”

“Dumbass!”

“Eep!”

“It’d be one thing if it was one of the men, but girls don’t sell for shit! You can deal with that later! Finish unloading the cargo first, you dope!”

“Y-yes sir!”

The girl heard the man run off.

“…Haff…” Having survived her narrow brush with death, she breathed a deep sigh of relief. Though the immediate danger had passed, that didn’t mean she could just stay where she was forever.

Her legs were trembling from both fear and exhaustion, but she managed to struggle to her feet by leaning against a crate.

Have…to run…somewhere far away…

She vanished into the back alleys. En route, though, she stopped and looked up at the sliver of blue sky visible between the buildings.

But…what then…?

The world was too vast. Too big. And she was too small. Too weak. Where could she go? What could she do? She had no idea.

At the foot of the mountain down the trail from Elm Village, there was a large castle with tall ramparts surrounded by vast fields of wheat. The castle belonged to Marquis Findolph, the region’s feudal lord.

Everything up to the structure’s outer walls was painted white. The castle’s towering roofs, on the other hand, were all coated in solid gold. It wasn’t hard to deduce what kind of person its owner was.

That day, the gate to the citadel surrounding the castle’s outer walls was open. This was because it was the late-autumn tax-collection day. Wagons from the surrounding villages came rolling into the courtyard one after another to pay their dues, either in the form of crops, handicrafts, or hard currency. Of course, it went without saying that Elm Village had a wagon there, too.

“Oh, it’s you. You people, always reeking of wild beasts…”

“Ha-ha, you said it. Feels like my nose is gonna fall off.”

The tax collector made a cruel jeer, and the knight clad in bronze who accompanied him piled on without reservation. However, as the village’s usual representative, Elch was well accustomed to it by now. Instead of blowing up at them, he just ignored it and unloaded the tax from his wagon.

“…Here are our fall taxes. You can go ahead and store them.”

“What, pelts and picked game again? You are allowed to pay in gold, you know.”

“Those savages spend all their time chasing boar around in the mountains. Where are they gonna get gold?”

“Heh, too true. Besides, gold’s too good for bumpkins like them.”

“………”

Masato Sanada sighed as he watched the exchange from beside the horse.

“Thank goodness Tsukasa isn’t around to hear this.”

If he had been there, they likely would’ve had a repeat performance of the other day.

When someone bad-mouths him, he doesn’t so much as flinch. Even though all the stress from it is what turned his hair white. But as soon as it’s about someone else, the guy flips out.

As Masato mused on that fact, Elch returned.

“Welcome back. I gotta say, those tax dudes rubbed me the wrong way.”

Elch frowned for a moment at Masato’s friendly tone. His grandfather, the village mayor, had made him take Masato along, but Elch still hadn’t warmed to these seven sudden intruders.

“Pretty much all the nobles are like that. C’mon, quit making small talk so we can head back. I’m worried about the cargo.” With that, Elch got onto the wagon and grabbed the reins.

Shrugging at the cold shoulder he’d just received, Masato hopped back in the cargo bed.

Then, a little while after they left the castle—

“Heya! Welcome back, you two.”

—they spotted Shinobu Sarutobi waving at them from beneath a tree by the side of the road. She was surrounded by the rest of the goods they’d brought down from the village…as well as three seedy-looking men collapsed on the ground.

“Who’re those guys?”

“Pickup artists, maybe? I am a bona fide cutie, you know. Still, it was super-rude how they led with ‘Give us a piece of that cargo you’re workin’ with.’”

“Y’know, normally we call those bandits.”

“Wait, you beat all of them on your own?”

“Yes sirree!” Shinobu puffed out her chest with pride.

Elch had known that if they went into the castle with more cargo than they needed to pay their taxes, the collectors would be all too eager to take more than their due. Consequently, they’d left Shinobu in charge of watching the excess they were planning on taking into the city to sell later that day.

Elch had balked at the idea of leaving a single girl to watch their stuff, even for a short while.

“See, I told you. You didn’t have anything to be worried about. Shinobu’s not gonna lose to any of the guys around here.”

“It was a piece of cake. Sha-sha!”

This was the same attitude the two of them had expressed when they’d overruled Elch’s concerns. The three bandits now twitching on the ground served to retroactively prove their point.

“Still, she was barely alone for a minute before getting attacked. Guess these parts are pretty rough.”

“…Things weren’t this bad before the old lord got sick and died… But this new lord’s a real piece of work. Ever since he took over, not only have things gone to shit, but the taxes have tripled, too.”

“Well, that’s messed up.”

“He couldn’t care less about our livelihoods or how safe the roads are. The knights, the lord…all the nobles treat us like wild dogs,” Elch spat in disgust, then turned and looked to the sky.

Masato followed his gaze, and his eyes caught the golden rooftops shining radiantly in the sunlight. The more wealth that castle of avarice sucked up from the masses, the more it glittered.

Staring at its infuriating splendor, Elch continued, “If… If it was just money, that’d be one thing. But that bastard even went and instituted the First Night Right.”

“Huh? Whazzat?”

“When any woman in the domain gets married, she has to give him her virginity before she can sleep with her husband.”

“What?! That’s nuts! That’s, like, abuse of authority taken to the nines! I can’t believe it!”

“…I guess being in a different world doesn’t change the ways assholes abuse their power.”

“He’s a massive deviant. That’s why we keep Lyrule hidden. You don’t see many people that attractive around these parts. No good could come of that lecher learning about her.”

“Oh. Smart thinking! See, I knew you Elm guys were nice!”

Elch frowned at Shinobu’s giddy display.

“Don’t talk about it like it’s someone else’s problem. You’re, I mean, you’re relatively pretty, so you’re in danger, too.”

“Oh? Oh-ho-ho. What, are you worried about little old me?”

“D-don’t take it the wrong way! Who’d worry about a bunch of weirdos like you guys?!” Elch’s face went red, and he looked away.

He might not have taken to Tsukasa and the others, but he was still Winona’s son and a resident of Elm Village. His heart was in the right place.

Having gotten a glimpse at Elch’s true nature, Shinobu flashed him a friendly grin.

“Hee-hee. Thanks. But don’t worry—they won’t catch me that easily.”

“…If you say so.”

“Besides, Shinobu, you aren’t even a virgin any—Hey, wait, my elbow doesn’t bend that wa—OW-OW-OW!”

“Hmm? Did you say something? I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. ”

“…Don’t break his arm; we need him to be able to help. Now, c’mon, let’s load this stuff back on. Dormundt’s still half a day away by wagon.”

After a few hours rocking along with the wagon and asking Elch about the village, Freyjagard, and the world as a whole—

“…!”

Masato abruptly rose to his feet and looked toward the setting sun.

“What’s up, Massy?” asked Shinobu.

“I know that smell. That’s the smell of money…!”

Soon thereafter, the three of them crested the hill, and a massive city surrounded by ramparts came into view.

It was their destination: the city of Dormundt.

“That’s one weird sense of smell you got…”

“Yeah, that’s creepy.”

Ignoring the other two, both of whom were looking at him less with less amazement than exasperation, Masato gazed down at the stone metropolis dyed in the oranges and reds of the sunset.

“Man, that’s one nice town. Is the entire thing walled off?”

“Yeah. Dormundt is the biggest trade hub in all of Marquis Findolph’s lands. Almost all the goods in the domain come through here. It’s also the only port, so merchants from New World colonies and other regions all stop here, too. Because it’s so important, there are lots of people who live and work here. You could even call it the heart of the Findolph domain.”

“How big’s the population?”

“I don’t know for sure, but from what my old man told me, there’re about a hundred thousand residents. But that’s not counting all the people like us who come in from smaller towns and villages or who arrive by ship from foreign lands.”

“I like the sound of that. All right, let’s make a killing so I can bring back a nice present for Winona!”

“…Wait, you’re into my mom?”

“Of course! She’s so charming—yet has a mature, womanly spirit. How could I not be into her?”

“Massy’s got a thing for older women, y’know.”

“Is it a crime to like strong, beautiful, independent women?”

“Man, I don’t get it. Especially the part about her spirit or whatever. She should be settling down at her age, not running around like a lunatic. Besides, do you have any idea how much older than you she is? I doubt she’d even go for it.”

“Hey, that’s fine, too. I spend money so I can see beautiful women smile. That’s motivation enough for me.”

To that, Elch replied, “You’re weird, dude,” and sighed.

This was an age where people were far more worried about where the next day’s meal was coming from. Romance as a pastime was something reserved for nobles. As far as commoners were concerned, it was just a prelude to marriage and childrearing. It was a duty one performed so the village could endure. Elch and Masato were from different worlds; their values were too fundamentally different. Romance was a point on which they were unlikely to see eye to eye.

“…Well, if you wanna try to get closer to Mom, then that’s your problem. But you should give up on the souvenir. We don’t have money to waste on stuff like that.”

“It’s fine; I’ll just drum up some cash by making some slick deals.”

“…You’re gonna run into a big problem there.”

“Huh?”

Elch’s words were pregnant with significance, but Masato tilted his head to the side, unable to deduce their meaning.

“…You’ll figure out what I’m talking about pretty fast once we get into town.”

And sure enough, once they’d passed into the city, Masato quickly learned what Elch had meant.

By the time their wagon made it through Dormundt customs and into the city proper, the sun had worked well into its descent below the horizon.

After heading down the unpaved road that stretched past the gate, they eventually reached a wide, open area. Throngs of people were hustling about. It was virtually the spitting image of the Shibuya Scramble Crossing.

“Whoa! That’s a city with a six-figure population all right! It’s so crowded! It didn’t really hit me while we were in Elm Village, but this world’s actually got loads of people in it!”

“Yeah, and the ladies are all hotties. It’s hard to pass on Winona’s plain, pastoral appeal, but women dressed to the nines are great, too! Hey there, gorgeous!”

“…What, so one’s as good as the next to you?” Elch sighed in exasperation watching Masato wave at every attractive woman he spotted in the crowd.

“Hey, I get why Massy’s so pumped. It’s been so long since we’ve been anywhere this lively, I’m starting to get excited, too.”

“It’s only natural that it’s bustling here. This here’s the heart of the city, the central plaza. Dormundt’s split into four big sections in the northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest, but you end up passing through here to get to pretty much any of ’em. The foot traffic’s always nuts.”

“Makes sense, makes sense.”

“Huh. There’s no marketplace here, even though the location’s so great?” Masato asked, not missing a beat despite his flirting.

A hint of surprise crossed Elch’s face upon realizing that Masato had actually been listening, and he replied in the affirmative.

“There used to be one, but now it’s down in the southwest Port District… We’ll be coming up on it soon.”

Sure enough, a little while after they escaped the central plaza crowds and made their way to the Port District, the roadsides became lined with stalls. Scores of people, many of them probably residents, were out shopping. It was about time to start buying ingredients for dinner, after all, so there was a decent crowd. But for all the people, the variety of goods for sale was even more impressive.

There were vegetables like cabbages and tomatoes. Luxury items like honey-pickled apples, oranges, and casks of wine. Dried meats and fish—all sorts of stuff. And it wasn’t just food, either. The stalls featured farming implements, tools, cookware, and fancy clothes that were likely hand-me-downs from nobles.

“Whoa! That shirt is so cute! And that hair accessory, too! Just looking at this stuff is a blast!”

Window-shopping was getting Shinobu amped. However—

“There are a lotta people here, but I’m not feeling any excitement in the air.”

—something about the market seemed off to Masato.

There were plenty of people, and the wares for sale were breathtakingly diverse. Impressive as it was, though, it all seemed kind of tepid to him. None of the shopkeepers were calling out to people on the street, and he couldn’t hear anyone haggling. The dirty homeless people lurking in the small alleyways and glaring at the market only served to amplify the depressing impression the market gave off. Masato tilted his head to the side, curious as to the reason for it all.

“All this is because of the trade company we’re headed for,” Elch muttered.

“How do you mean?”

“…You need a license from Dormundt’s mayor, Count Heiseraat, to do any trade in the city, but…the only ones who have one, and the only people who have enough money to run a market anyway, are those in the Neutzeland Trading Company.”

“What? For real? They have a monopoly on the entire city?”

“Yeah. There was another one up until a couple years ago, though… The Orion Company. My old man used to work for them. Trade was booming when the two companies were fighting over the marketplace. But one of Orion’s investments in the New World went south, and Neutzeland took them over. Ever since then, Neutzeland’s had complete control over Dormundt.”

“I see. There’s no energy ’cause there’s no need to compete, huh… So that’s what you meant earlier when you said I’d run into a big problem.”

“Uh-huh. I dunno how good you are with words or whatever, but there’s no way you’ll be able to mark your stuff up when there’s only one place you can sell it.”

“Man…no wonder everyone looks like they’re half asleep.”

“We’re almost there. That there’s the Neutzeland Trading Company.”

On Elch’s cue, Masato turned his attention away from the roadside markets. Standing before them was a building that looked less like a company and more like a temple. Erected before the structure’s entrance was a massive statue of a fat man carved from malachite.

“What’s up with that ugly-ass statue?”

“That’s Jaccoy, the manager there.”

Shinobu frowned, mumbled, “Yikes, how tasteless,” and leaped off the wagon.

“Hey, wait! Where’re you going?!”

“Sorry, Elch, but I gotta go. I’ve got things to do and places to be. Later, Massy. Tacky places like this aren’t my style, so I’m gonna go get started on my research.”

“Sounds good. Go do your thing, Shinobu.”

“Sha-sha. Do it, I shall! If you find something you want me to look into, just give me a holler on your cell.” With one last “Later!” she vanished into the crowd like smoke.

Even with how out of place her clothes were, it was impossible to see where she’d gone. Her lineage as a ninja wasn’t just for show. After looking in the direction the girl had vanished for a moment, Masato turned back to Elch.

“The reason we brought her along is so she could look for info on the world and hopefully figure out a way for us to get home. Don’t worry, though. You’ll be fine with just me here.”

Elch scrunched up his face at the remark.

“Ha. I’d do fine without you, too. Nobody asked you to come.”

“Oof. That’s cold, man.”

“Hmm, hmm… Ten rook for the leather boots. Sixty rook is the going rate for winter coats. As for the charcoal…well, I can do two rook a briquette at most. Then…”

The Neutzeland Trading Company had two counters where you could sell goods. One was installed over by the port, designed to be used by merchants who’d come via the sea. The other was at the far end of the marketplace. It was a small building that resembled a stable, built into Neutzeland’s main office. That was the counter for merchants who’d come from the local towns and villages.

After waiting their turn in line, Elch and Masato drove their wagon up and had their goods appraised by a gloomy-looking trader with a thin frame and narrow eyes. The result:

“In total…it comes out to fifty gold and fifty-three rook.”

Elch went pale at the result of the appraisal.

“Th-that’s all?”

“That’s the best I can do. I’m already cutting you some slack because you’re a regular client, you know. The countryside may be one thing, but here in the city, meager foods like potatoes are difficult to sell. Yet I’m offering you a fifth of a rook each on them. If anything, you should be grateful.”

“Gah…”

As Masato stole a glance at Elch’s pained expression, he thought back on the info he’d drummed into his head regarding the world’s currency system.

In Freyjagard, money came in two denominations. The first was a copper coin called a rook. There was the smaller copper coin with a hole in it worth one rook and a larger coin with no hole that was worth ten. Because they weren’t worth much, people tended to use them for most of their day-to-day purchases.

The other type was gold. Those came in silver coins worth one gold and golden coins worth ten. They were primarily used for larger business transactions, and one gold was worth a hundred rook.

According to Elch, an adult man could live modestly for about a month on a single gold. As for the number that could survive the four harsh winter months on fifty gold…

“Huh? If I remember correctly, the village has fifty people in it.”

“…Close to sixty if we count you punks.”

“I mean, either way, that’s nowhere near enough, right?”

“Shut up, I don’t need you telling me that!” Elch’s frustration was palpable.

It was only natural.

Between the forest and the farmland, Elm Village was more or less self-sufficient most of the year. But winter was a different beast. The heavy snowfall left Elm practically buried, and it went without saying that the fields were useless. An attempt to hunt deep in the woods under those conditions was tantamount to suicide.

That was precisely why Elm Village went and sold all the leather goods their twenty-odd women made at once right before the winter, when demand spiked. They needed to buy enough food to weather the cold season. Although they made regular trips to sell lumber, charcoal, and jerky, that didn’t provide much income. The money they made from leather goods was their literal lifeline. Surviving the long winter with only fifty gold was utterly impossible.

What can I do? Elch’s forehead broke into a cold sweat as he thought. Beside him, Masato posed a question.

“Elch, how much does it normally take for the village to make it through the winter?”

“I told you to shut up, didn’t I?”

“Just tell me.”

“…Tch. Eighty gold, usually.”

“So you can normally make that much?”

“Yeah. But our yield from the forest this year was pretty bad. I hate to admit it, but we came up short on pelts and meat. And because you guys showed up, we’re burning through food even faster. The village is basically out of reserves.”

“I am sorry about that, you know…”

“If you’re really sorry, then shut up already… Hey, mister, can’t you sweeten the pot a bit? With so little money, we’re gonna starve to death this winter.”

“I’m afraid that your circumstances aren’t the responsibility of our establishment.”

“Isn’t there something we can…?” Even faced with a brick wall of a trading partner, Elch kept pushing. But then—

“Now, what seems to be the problem over here? You’re holding up the line, you know.”

With a creak, the door between the appraisement hut and the main building swung open, revealing a middle-aged man with a potbelly, the spitting image of the large statue out front.

His outfit was so colorful it was almost vomit-inducing, and his bracelets and necklace were all adorned with gold, silver, and gems. The radiant sheen of his expensive accessories was outdone only by that of the fat on his face and his pudgy nose. This was Jaccoy, Neutzeland’s manager.

“Ah, Mr. Jaccoy. These obstinate customers were complaining about our quote.”

“Oh, my friends, that won’t do. You aren’t children; throwing a tantrum won’t get you… Oh?” The manager had been glaring at Elch, but after a moment, his eyes widened with surprise. He’d recognized him.

“My oh my, I thought you looked familiar. Adel was Orion’s finest star, and here we have his son! Out running errands for the village, are we? It’s about time to start hunkering down for winter, after all.”

“…Well, yeah.”

Elch’s father, Adel, had been the finest peddler in Orion, a competing trade company that once operated out of Dormundt. Apparently, Adel was so skilled that even now he lingered in the memory of his rival company and Jaccoy, its manager. This wasn’t the first time Jaccoy and Elch had met, either.

Back when Elch’s father was still alive, the two of them would exchange greetings whenever Elch came the city. That wasn’t to say they were on good terms, however.

“I see, I see. So what did you bring us to sell today?”

“Here’s their list, sir.”

“Pfft.” Jaccoy let out a disparaging snort after the assessor handed him the itemized list.

“Most of this is just trash, is it not? It’s sad, seeing the son of such an accomplished man reduced to hawking such garbage. It was the same with Adel, you know. If he hadn’t stupidly insisted on staying a peddler and just become our accountant like we’d asked, he wouldn’t have gotten caught in the cross fire of the war. Being pathetic must run in the family.”

“…My old man has nothing to do with this.”

“He certainly doesn’t. Just like we have nothing to do with what’ll happen to you people this winter. Oh, and we have no obligation to buy your trash, so don’t go grumbling about what we offer you for it. If you don’t like our prices, feel free to take your business somewhere else… Of course, we’re the only company that has the mayor’s permission to operate in Dormundt. And even if you find some tiny company out in the sticks, they’ll just end up coming to Dormundt and selling to us anyway, so they can’t offer more money than we do. If you want better prices, you’ll have to cross the Le Luk Mountain Range and try selling outside the domain.”

“Ha-ha-ha. You’re a cruel man, Mr. Jaccoy. If they tried to cross Le Luk at this time of year, they’d just be going to their deaths. Besides, Lord Findolph would never issue a travel pass to village commoners like them.”

“Hee-hee-hee. Too true, too true.”

Both Jaccoy and the assessor gave nasty sneers.

“We’re your only option, so just do as we say” was the vibe these two were giving off.

I don’t like this one bit.

Masato narrowed his eyes at them. As they’d been passing through the market on their way to the trade company, Masato had actually been memorizing the prices on all the goods for sale. By his calculation, Elm’s cargo was actually worth approximately two hundred gold.

It was fairly standard for wholesale suppliers to get less than market rates for their merchandise, but Neutzeland was turning around and selling the goods just a few hundred yards from where they were buying them. That was nowhere near enough to justify taking a 75 percent margin. They were abusing the fact that they were the only game in town.

These guys aren’t merchants.

Rather, they were more like the mob. Masato wasn’t about to let guys like that get their way. So he made a choice.

“Izzat so? Welp, looks like there’s no agreement to be reached. We’re done here, Elch.” The Devil of Finance quickly hopped back on the wagon, took the reins, and began steering it out.

“Huh? …WHAT?!” Elch was taken aback at the sudden development, but…

“Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Wait up! Wait up, I said!” The young byuma raced after the wagon, leaped onto it, and grabbed Masato by the collar.

“What’s up? That’s a scary-ass look you’ve got on your face.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Turn the wagon around!”

But Masato wasn’t having it.

“Screw that. I’m fine with taking advantage of people, but getting taken advantage of myself? No thanks. Besides, fifty measly gold isn’t gonna get you through the winter, right? That means there’s no point selling to those guys.”

“Y-you’re right, but I just told you, remember?! There’s only one company in Dormundt! No matter how little they give us, we don’t have a choice!”

“All right, then how’re you gonna survive?”

“W-we… We can use the village’s savings…”

“Oh? And how much are those savings, by the way? Given how pissed you sounded at the banquet, I can’t imagine there’s much.”

“…There’s…about eight gold.”

“Y’know, Elch, we have a saying for that back where I come from. It’s called ‘a drop in the bucket.’”

“…! Fine, then we men’ll figure something out! The forest has pretty much nothing but wolves during the winter, but…still, we’ll just eat those!”

“You guys get crazy-heavy snow, don’t you? It’s already started falling. And once we get into winter for real, it’s really gonna start piling up in the mountains. You might have wolf ears and a wolf tail, but you still only have two legs. The snow’s gonna mess with your mobility something fierce… Do you really think Elm’s hunters will come out unscathed against wolves in conditions like that?”

Elch furrowed his brow and sunk into silence. He was a hunter himself, so he knew full well how dangerous hunting wolves in the winter was.

Masato twisted the knife deeper, his voice turning ever harsher.

“Elch, I think you’re misunderstanding what a trade is in a big way.”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“Trading isn’t about buying and selling stuff. It’s just a means to some end. Our goal is to get Elm Village through the winter safely by buying supplies. Any trade we make that doesn’t succeed in achieving that is out of the question as a means.—Besides, look.”

Masato jabbed a finger at the shops lining the street.

“Check out that store’s leather boots. They’re pretty much the same as Elm’s when it comes to quality. Neutzeland probably bought them for around ten rook, just like they offered to buy ours. But they’re selling them for forty-three rook. They bought those fur coats for sixty rook, but they’re selling them for four hundred. If they were just buying raw pelts, or if they came and picked them up or something, that might be understandable… No, even then that’s too wide a margin. Look, they’re making you guys handle the production, the delivery, even the customs fee when you bring the goods into the city. Instead of having a supply chain, they’re just making you do everything. It’s insane. Long story short, you guys are getting swindled. All of you are.”

Visibly irritated, Elch wrung a rebuttal out his throat.

“…We know that. Hell, even I know that! But we don’t have a choice! Neutzeland’s the only company in the city with a trading license!”

“See, you’re getting swindled ’cause you keep thinking like that. Lemme tell you, spending your life getting jerked around by other people is no way to live. If something’s screwed up, you gotta learn to say ‘Screw this.’ If you don’t like something, it’s your job to change it. Trust me, it’s way more satisfying that way… When a guy mocks you like they just did, you can’t just say ‘Oh well’ and take it. You can’t let that shit slide.”

“…!” Elch’s shoulders twitched as he held Masato’s collar. The burning rage in Masato’s eyes was beginning to cow him into submission. “W-wait, are you actually mad?”

“Damn straight I’m mad. I hate getting taken advantage of. Also, that guy made fun of the man Winona chose to marry… Hey, Elch. Let me take point on this. Let me be in charge of all the trading this time around. Gimme a week…and I won’t have just made us enough cash to survive the winter; I’ll have destroyed that whole shitty company.”

“…Is that even possible…?”

Masato nodded without a moment’s hesitation. “Of course. Just so long as you follow my instructions to the letter.”

In truth, Elch had a hard time believing that. But still…the confidence burning in Masato’s eyes was no bluff. They wouldn’t survive the winter at this rate anyway. There was basically nothing to lose…

“…Fine. If you say you can do all that, then you’re in charge.” Elch released Masato. He’d made his choice. He was ready to see just how strong this man was for himself. “But remember, everything I’m putting you in charge of is the village’s property. If you’re all talk and no results…then I’ll chop you into wolf bait myself. Consider yourself warned.” The harsh glint in Elch’s eyes made him the very image of a wolf. However, Masato’s confidence proved unshaken by the threat.

“Heh. Don’t you worry, Elch. Money loves me more than just about anyone else.”

“If you say so… So how exactly are you planning on taking that company down? And in just one week, no less. Just for the record, I’m not gonna do any arson or burglary.”

“That’s not on the agenda, man; I’m not the damn yakuza. I’m a merchant. When a merchant says he’s gonna crush another merchant, he means he’s gonna do it on the open market. I’m gonna make a company even bigger than theirs, then take over their market share.”

“…I already told you, remember? You can’t do business in the city without a trading license from the mayor. If you try, the soldiers’ll arrest you on the spot.”

“All that means is I gotta go get one. Easy.”

“Easy, my ass. The count’s never gonna issue a license to bumpkins like us. He won’t even give us an audience.”

“A little sweet talk’ll solve both those problems. Besides, you can’t go givin’ up before you even get started. You handed me the ball, remember? Now, just believe in me and help me run with it.” And with that, Masato handed Elch the wagon reins. He had no idea where anything in the city was, after all. He would need his companion’s help to find his way around.

“…Fine.” Picking up on what the so-called merchant was saying, Elch glumly took the reins and steered them toward Count Heiseraat’s mansion. Having given control of the wagon over to Elch, Masato fished his smartphone out of his pocket.

“Oh yeah, I’ve been wondering about those ever since we found you. What exactly are those glowing slabs you all have?”

“What, this? It’s, uh…basically a magic item. It lets you talk to your friends even when they’re far away.”

“…For real?”

“Yup. Handy, right?” As Masato nodded, he opened the communication app Ringo had installed. The call connected instantly.

“Heya, Shinobu. Sorry for the short notice, but can you look into some stuff for me? Yeah, ASAP. First, I need a surface-level profile on the mayor. Personality, interests, résumé, that kinda stuff. Then I need—”

Masato and Elch left the market.

A young girl with light-brown skin emerged from a side alley and watched their departure. She’d lived in the New World until her region had been conquered as part of the New World Colonization Project that Freyjagard’s eighteenth emperor, “Conquering King” Lindworm von Freyjagard, had spearheaded. Slavers had brought her all the way to northern Freyjagard as a slave, but she’d spotted an opening, slipped from her bonds, and fled into the alleys of the marketplace.

The cat ears protruding from her red hair had picked up Masato’s speech.

“…Spending your life getting jerked around by other people is no way to live…”

Masato had been speaking to Elch. However, the girl happened to hear him, too. He’d spoken of a way of living unfettered by the whims of others.

He said…there’s a way…

Was it true? She didn’t know. But before she knew what she was doing, the girl found herself running after the wagon.

“You said you’re a merchant from across the sea, but whereabouts exactly?” The aged hyuma, who had a mustache that looked like a large pair of wings, shot a piercing stare at his mansion’s visitor. His visitor, of course, was none other than Masato Sanada, a member of the High School Prodigies.

As Masato knelt before Mayor Heiseraat, who was sitting atop the parlor’s sofa, he offered the man a respectful bow.

“I hail from a land far across the eastern sea called Japan, Lord Mayor.”

“Japan… I’ve never heard of such a country.”

“We’re a small island nation, so it’s quite possible Freyjagard hasn’t discovered us yet. I’m a businessman of some renown back in my homeland, but even my company has yet to do trade here.”

“…Hmm. Well, no matter. I’m unfamiliar with this land of yours, but I don’t doubt you’re a foreigner. I’ve never seen garb like yours. The fabric is of such a high quality I can hardly believe it. And those leather shoes of yours shine like lustrous pearls. I can see that your country’s culture has been refined over many moons. A mere liar could never produce such fineries.”

“It’s a great honor to receive such compliments.” Masato bowed again, silently rejoicing at the man’s powers of comprehension. The mayor’s shrewd eye was going to make the conversation go much smoother than he’d anticipated.

“…So? What business do you have with me, merchant from ‘Japan’?”

Masato thought back to the dossier Shinobu had sent him while he’d been waiting to get inside.

Walter von Heiseraat.

Walter was Dormundt’s current mayor and a third-generation member of the Heiseraats, the family that had taken Dormundt from an undeveloped plot of land to the foremost trade city in northern Freyjagard. He also held the title of count. According to Shinobu’s report, the way Freyjagard’s peerage system worked was that marquises were given domains, and counts and barons were given cities within those domains to manage. Basically, counts and barons were like modern-day Japanese mayors, and marquises were like prefectural governors. It wasn’t quite the same as the historical feudal systems with which Masato and the others were more familiar.

Although survival of the fittest was Freyjagard’s one absolute law and nobles assaulted and even killed commoners like it was nothing, Walter was more of a moderate. He was a man well-liked by the residents of Dormundt. In his private life, though, he was quite the spendthrift who had a particular penchant for rare imported goods. In all likelihood, that proclivity of his was why Masato had been able to secure a meeting with him so easily after telling the guards that he was a merchant from overseas.

This was Masato’s chosen avenue of attack.

“There’s actually a very particular reason I sought an audience with you today. The thing is, I heard word of a renowned count who was a fervent collector of foreign trinkets, so I had hoped you might take a look at this piece of craftsmanship from my homeland.”

“Hmph. So this is a sales pitch.”

It appeared such visits to the mayor’s home probably happened with some amount of frequency. Every pore on the mayor’s face was shouting, “This again?!”

“Fine. But be warned, I have a discerning eye. If you show me something trifling, you won’t get a single rook out of me.”

Hook, line, and sinker.

“Oh, I’m quite confident you’ll like it. Here’s the item in question.” Chuckling internally at the mayor’s response, Masato showed him what he’d brought to offer. Sitting atop his palm was a gleaming golden armlet.

“…I see. A bracelet made of gold, is it? Very tasteful. I especially like the jewels set in the… Hmm? Hmmmmmm?!?!?!?!?!?! Wh-wh-wh-what’s this, now?!”

“It’s an accessory the people from my country wear. We call it a wristwatch, a clock you can wear on your wrist.”

The wristlet Masato had handed over was, in fact, his own high-end watch.

There were notable differences, but Freyjagard’s culture was largely around the level of the Earth’s Middle Ages. Although Earth had mechanical clocks in the later part of that era, the technology to make small, delicate parts certainly hadn’t existed yet. Back then, clocks were massive and generally installed in buildings. Wristwatches didn’t come around until the nineteenth century.

In other words, it was doubtful that Freyjagard had clocks anywhere near that small. They certainly weren’t common. It was an anachronism, like something straight out of science fiction. It caught Mayor Heiseraat’s attention, purveyor of novelties that he was, like nothing else.

He’d completely fallen for Masato’s scheme.

“A clock?! I-impossible! Nobody can make clocks this small!”

“Feel free to take a look for yourself. The back cover should be of particular interest.”

“Hmm? Oh? Whaaaaaaaaaat?! Th-this minute construction…! Bwuuuuuh?! It’s moving! There’re so many tiny gears, all interlocked! I’ve never seen anything so precise…! But the technology to construct something so small, so accurately, it doesn’t exist…!”

“Maybe that’s true…in Freyjagard, Lord Mayor.”

“—! S-so this Japan of yours really exists?! And your technical abilities are this advanced?!”

“They are indeed. In fact, we’re so good at manufacturing that some of our neighbors call us a technological superpower. In Japan, wristwatches are so common that even children own them.”

“I-it boggles the mind…! I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it, but…seeing it in my hand… I guess I don’t have a choice! Oh, it’s so beautiful…!” Heiseraat couldn’t peel his eyes away from the watch’s interior. His face was flushed, and his nostrils were flaring, like a kid who’d just gotten a new toy.

Sensing that the iron was hot, Masato took another step toward his final objective.

“I’m glad you like it. What do you say? …If you honor my one request, the watch is all yours.”

“T-truly?! What is it?! What’s this request of yours?! I’ll pay however much you want! P-p-p-please! Sell me this wristwatch!” Heiseraat clung desperately to his new curio. When the man said he’d pay however much Masato wanted, he was more or less being serious.

No matter how rare it was, though, at the end of the day, it was still just a single bracelet. There was a limit to how much Masato could realistically charge. There was a chance he could sell it for enough money to get Elm through the winter, but adding on Ringo’s requests, the amount he’d need to ask for was dicey.

And besides, one-and-done deals like that were boring. What the young businessman Masato Sanada wanted had been locked in from the very start.

“Money isn’t what I need, Lord Mayor. I’m a merchant, which means there’s only one thing I want… Permission to do business in this city. It’s a trading license I’m after.”

“Wha…?! Rrr…”

However, hearing Masato’s demand brought the previously elated mayor back down to earth. It was to be expected. After all, the reason he’d never issued new trading licenses was because of the large bribes he’d been taking from Neutzeland.

“W-well… About that…” He looked down at the watch reluctantly. Masato stepped forward and whispered in Heiseraat’s ear.

“I know about your arrangement with Neutzeland, by the way.”

“Wha…?!”

“It wasn’t hard to figure out. Orion may have gone under, but northern Freyjagard is famed for its myriad industries—restaurants, breweries, glassblowing, even shipbuilding. There’s no way the largest city in the region’s gone years without a single company looking to open up shop.”

“I… I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Month four of spring: 3,247 gold and twenty-three rook. Month four of summer: 2,789 gold and eighty-eight rook—”

Upon hearing Masato recite the numbers, Heiseraat blanched. After all, those numbers…were the exact sums of the bribes he’d taken.

“H-how do you…?”

Masato replied with a smile that could almost be described as exhilarated.

“My company employs a rather talented intelligence operative. She was able to snatch a glance at the secret ledger hidden in your safe in the time it took this meeting to start. Now, that money isn’t being recorded as income from the market. That means Marquis Findolph doesn’t know about it. If he was to catch wind of that fact, I doubt he’d be too pleased.”

The mayor’s forehead broke out into a nervous sweat.

This kind of illicit payoff wasn’t all that surprising to Masato. In Freyjagard, the marquis was the one who controlled the domain.

Count Heiseraat ran Dormundt as its mayor, but he was little more than a glorified bureaucrat. All the revenue in the Findolph domain was supposed to go straight to Marquis Findolph. By illegally ignoring that decree, Heiseraat was committing embezzlement. If that came to light, it would be impossible for him to stay in Marquis Findolph’s good graces.

As a threat, it was more than effective, and yet…

“However, I’m not here to criticize the way you do business. And I’m certainly not planning on using that information to threaten you.” Suddenly, Masato changed his avenue.

“Wh…at?”

“Why would I? The Heiseraat family is the one that broke ground here and built this magnificent city from nothing in just fifty years. Your family members are heroes of the north. That being the case, it’s your right to enjoy some kickbacks every now and again, no?”

“Yeah! Yeah, that’s right! My ancestors built this town!”

“They did indeed, and that makes you Dormundt’s rightful king. But why should a man like you have to curry favor with a single lowly company? Why should a man like you have to temper his desires? If those punks start complaining, if they start threatening to hold back payments, all you have to say is this: ‘Quit your moaning, you mangy hyenas! If you don’t want me to run you out of town, shut your stinking mouths!’ That’ll shut them up good. Everyone at Neutzeland would rather die than lose their business in the finest city in the north.”

Threatening the mayor had never been Masato’s plan. Doing so would have been stupid. Heiseraat may have just been a bureaucrat, but he was still the highest authority in town. Masato wanted to do business in the city. Making an enemy of its owner would’ve been counterproductive.

Blackmailing him had certainly been an option, but getting the license amiably was far and away the better option. That was why he’d praised the Heiseraat family while bemoaning the fact that they’d become Neutzeland’s stooges.

And it was thanks to those honeyed words…

“…Yes, yes. You’re absolutely right.”

Masato had guided the mayor’s emotions to exactly where he’d wanted them. Heiseraat, who’d been clutching the watch throughout their exchange like it was already his, gave Masato a domineering smile. Masato responded by grinning in kind, but his was no longer the customer-service smile he’d been wearing up until that point… It was the smile of a carnivore baring its fangs.

“Then we have a deal.”

“And just like that, we’ve got ourselves a trading license under the name Elm Trading Company.”

When Masato got back to Elch, who’d been waiting outside, he showed him the piece of parchment with the mayor’s seal.

“Th-that’s not a fake, is it?”

“I just went into the mayor’s house, dude. If anything, wouldn’t coming out with a fake be harder?”

“I never thought you’d actually get one…” Elch may as well have seen a ghost the way he stared at the document.

“What sorcery did you have to pull…?”

“Unfortunately, sorcery isn’t in my wheelhouse. Wish it was, though. Nah, supply and demand are my tools of choice. Coming up with win-win scenarios for everyone, now that’s business. Anyway, now we can go do business out in the open. This is good news, remember?”

Joy finally started spreading across Elch’s face.

“Yeah. Yeah! You’re right! C’mon, let’s head over to the market right now! It’s almost nightfall, but there should still be a decent number of people around! If we sell our goods for the same prices Neutzeland does, we’ll be able to make four times as much!” Now that he was getting excited, the words came pouring out of Elch’s mouth without stopping.

Seeing him get all ready to dash off, Masato…gave Elch’s forehead a good flick.

“Hey, what was that for?!”

“Saying dumb crap like that. This license practically prints money, but after all the work we put into getting it, you wanna peace out after selling barely one wagon’s worth of goods? Don’t be an idiot. I told you, didn’t I? I’m gonna crush Neutzeland’s market share. We’ll set up shop tomorrow. Today, our job is to stock up on inventory to sell.”

“…Huh? What are you going on about? We don’t have that kind of money, man. I only have eight gold, remember?” Elch looked at Masato like he was the idiot. Masato rubbed his chin and started thinking.

I mean, my job here’s only supposed to be fixing Elm’s finances and buying the stuff Ringo asked for, but…

…merely using Elch to achieve that end was a little cold. Not only was Elch the village’s treasurer, he would someday be its mayor. Maybe it was Masato’s duty to teach him a thing or two.

If he molded him into a fine merchant, Elch could become the bedrock of the newly formed Elm Trading Company. Masato owed Elm Village a debt for saving his life, and if there was any way to repay it twice over, this had to be it. With his choice made, Masato posed a question to Elch.

“Elch, what’s the one thing you need in order to secure product?”

“Money, duh.”

“Bzzt. Zero out of a hundred. You can get inventory without money.”

“Wh-what? No, you can’t.”

“Ah, but you can… Actually, this works out. I do owe you guys one, after all. As president of the Sanada Group, lemme teach you a good way to make money. And hold on to your socks. We might be broke now, but before long, we’ll have more gold than we can carry.”

“You mean it, mister?”

*   *   *

““?!””

Out of the blue, someone called out to the them.

Masato and Elch turned around and saw a small byuma girl dashing toward them across the darkened road. Her scarlet eyes were fixed straight on Masato.

“Roo wants it, too. More gold than she can carry.” Her speech was a little sloppy, but it was clear from her tone that her resolution was firm.

“Roo…wants money. She wants to be able to make it on her own. She doesn’t want to be tossed around anymore. So…please teach Roo how to make money, too!” The red-haired girl was disheveled from head to toe, wearing nothing but tattered rags. She’d been running along unpaved, exposed earth, but she wasn’t even wearing shoes.

A runaway? Or perhaps a homeless girl? Or maybe—something worse. Elch and Masato could tell at a glance that she didn’t come from great circumstances. Yet, still…

This kid’s eyes…

Her scarlet irises felt like they pierced right through Masato. Seeing their burning light dredged something up from his memories. A dark room. A choking stench. A soiled tatami mat. And…his father’s corpse hanging from the rafters.

…Ha-ha.

“Fine by me. C’mon.”

Masato immediately accepted the mysterious girl’s request. Elch let out a surprised yelp.

“Wait, are you serious? We don’t know anything about this kid, and you’re just gonna take her in?”

“Of course I’m serious. Besides, this works out great for us. I was in the market for another employee, after all. And she’s a girl and a kid, both of which are handy. And above all else—I like her eyes.”

“Her eyes…?”

“She might look like poverty incarnate, but her eyes are shining like rubies. This kid’s got a hunger. A hunger for cash. And the drive to better her position in the world. Getting someone like that in your camp is never a bad thing. Avarice is power, after all.”

After responding to Elch’s confusion, Masato turned back to the girl.

“The name’s Masato Sanada, and this here’s Elch… You said your name was Roo, kid?”

“Roo is Roo.” The girl nodded.

“Great! Then hop on board, Li’l Roo. I’ll show you how to make more money than you can spit at!”

“Thank you, Teacher!”

“Ha! I like the sound of that. You’ve got promise, Li’l Roo! With a big clear voice like that, you could take over any boardroom! Now, you two aren’t ready to set foot on the battlefield just yet. For now, just watch what I do. First, I’m gonna show you how you can build inventory without spending a rook. Strap in and follow along, kids! It’s time to rake it in and have a blast doing it!”

And with that, Elm Trading Company began its quest to secure goods to sell the next day.

The next week promised to be the wildest seven days of Elch’s and Roo’s lives.

Gold and Greed

Masato Sanada had declared that he’d destroy Neutzeland. Even if one set aside whether he could actually pull that off, though, not even a businessman as brilliant as him could make money with nothing to sell.

But this was Dormundt, a city with a six-figure population. It was the beating heart of the Findolph domain. The center of its economy. What was he to do for merchandise? Why, he was spoiled for choice of merchandise. The only problem was how to raise the money to buy it. After all, he needed start-up capital to get the ball rolling. However, Masato had claimed he could get goods without needing any money at all.

—But how?

It was hard to imagine such a method existing. Elch and Roo certainly couldn’t think of a way. However—Masato most assuredly knew one. There did indeed exist a method that wouldn’t take a single rook.

Roo’s shabby outfit was going to get in the way, so Masato had her change into one of the children’s outfits they’d brought to sell. Then he had Elch take them to the city’s entrance.

There, they saw a number of wagons barely make it in before the gates closed. Masato looked them over with a keen shrewdness, then set his sights on one set in particular. A group of three byuma with bearlike ears leading three wagons.

They were farmers from a rural village called Fitze with a population of around three hundred, and just like Elch, they were there to sell crops and handicrafts to buy stores for the winter. Having decided that they were who he wanted to get his goods from, Masato called out to them.

“The assessment counter’s probably closed by now, right? As fellow suckers who rolled in too late, wanna go get dinner together and drink to our folly?” he asked. The farmers had been planning on getting dinner anyway, and as Masato had very deliberately made himself come across as approachable, they readily accepted.

He led them to a pub, just as he’d planned. Then, as their small talk began winding down…

“Truth be told, I’ve got something nifty here,” Masato said, pulling out the trading license he’d gotten from the count and showing it to them. They stared at it in shock.

“Th-th-that’s…!”

“That’s Count Heiseraat’s seal…! You’ve got an authentic trading license!”

“How’d you get your hands on that?!”

“The mayor issued it to me. He’s a pretty reasonable man, you know.”

The Fitze farmers went green with envy.

“With that, you can sell stuff wherever you want in Dormundt, right? Damn… Must be nice… That means you guys don’t have to let Neutzeland rip you off.”

“Sounds like you guys had it rough with them, too.”

“Oh yeah, they’re awful. When we came and sold them plums this summer, they fed us some line about ‘the market being flooded, so they had to lower their buy prices’ and only gave us a fifth of a rook each. Summer’s when the harvest is, so the market’s always flooded then! Besides, they were selling the damn things at five for four rook. Can you believe it?!”

“Hey, could you guys buy our stock instead? We poor villages have to stick together, you know.”

Masato shook his head apologetically, though internally he was grinning from ear to ear.

“Believe me, we’d love to, but we’re just as broke as you guys. We don’t have that kind of money.”

“…Yeah, figures.” The farmers looked crestfallen.

—It was the perfect time to strike.

A fierce light shone in Masato’s eyes, like a falcon eyeing its prey. He dropped the question.

“But hey. We’re just as pissed as you guys that Neutzeland is screwing everyone over and taking absurd margins. We can’t just sit by and do nothing… So this is just an idea, but we’re planning on setting up shop in the central plaza tomorrow. How do you guys feel about consigning your goods to our shop?”

And there it was. Masato’s method for obtaining product without spending a rook.

“Consigning?”

“What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.”

However, on hearing the word consign, the farmers cocked their heads to the side. Elch and Roo did the same. Masato laid the concept out for everyone.

“It’s simple, really. A consignment sale is basically where you guys set up a shop as part of our company, Elm Trading.”

“Huh?! Wait, we can do that?! Even though we don’t have a trading license?”

“Of course. There’s no rule against it.”

“So we’ll be able to sell our goods without having to rely on those Neutzeland bastards?” The farmers rose to their feet in excitement, and Masato gave them a composed nod.

“Yes, indeed. Now, this license wasn’t exactly cheap. Normally, we’d be taking twenty percent of your sales as our fee, but…y’know, you’re right, we poor village people have it rough enough as it is. We gotta look out for one another. If you guys come to our shop and help sell the goods, I can cut it down to ten.”

“Hey, uh, how much’s ten percent?”

“I dunno; I’m not too good with numbers…”

“Wait, hold on a minute! Lemme do the math. Up until now, if we sold a hundred rook worth of wheat to Neutzeland, at best they’d give us fifty rook for it…but if we sold it ourselves, then paid Elm their ten percent, that’d leave…ninety rook!”

“Th-that’s great! We’d be making almost twice as much!”

“Well, not quite, guys. If they’re selling something for a hundred rook over there, we gotta go lower, or no one will buy from us. We’ll have to undercut them on prices to bring in customers. But hey, even if we only sell it for eighty rook, you’ll still get seventy-two for your share. That’s almost one and a half times as much as you’ve made up till now. What do you think? Not a bad deal, huh?”

Instead of going with a calm, ingratiating smile, Masato instead elected to plant his elbows on the table, rest his cheeks on his fists, and flash them a suggestive, villainous grin. That way, he came across more confident in what he was doing. Masato was a guy who knew full well how to wield a smile. And just as he expected…

“Yeah! You’re the best, man!”

“Please let us work with you!”

The Fitze farmers’ eyes glittered with excitement and joy as they shook Masato’s hand.

Masato’s reply came without hesitation.

“I welcome you with open arms, brothers. Now then…let’s take inventory of your load, shall we?”

And thus, with his secret weapon—consignment—Masato managed to add three wagons’ worth of goods to their inventory without spending a single rook, just like he’d promised. After they parted ways with the Fitze men, he, Elch, and Roo were left with four fully inventoried wagons of goods.

“See? I told you we wouldn’t need money.”

“S-so amazing…”

“Damn, man, you really pulled it off…”

“If we were individuals looking to buy stuff, then yeah, we would’ve needed money just like you said. But as a business looking to acquire inventory, ‘trust’ is way more important than money. And in the world of business, trust just boils down to profit potential. That’s the be-all and end-all. A trading license in this town is the best kind of trust there is.”

A trading license was no mere scrap of paper. It was an absolute authority in Dormundt’s markets.

“Also…Elch. You’ve dabbled in business a little, so you’ve probably noticed by now. What is it that makes this method so nasty?”

“It’s that you don’t need to spend any money, so you can assemble as much inventory as you want, right? Even if we’re only making ten percent, it’s basically no risk and all profit. We don’t have to spend a rook, and we can make as much money as we want. And if stuff doesn’t sell, well, we aren’t out anything… It’s almost too easy. It’s so incredible, it makes me wonder why I didn’t think of it.”

“You get half credit for that.”

“Wait, what?”

“Li’l Roo, do you remember what I made them agree to when I dropped the consignment fee from twenty percent to ten?”

“Um, um… You said they have to help at the shop!”

“Ah…!”

“That’s it. And that there is everything. If all we did was get inventory, we’d hit our limit real fast. There are only three of us, after all. I mean, I can do the work of ten people, but even so, we’d be talking peanuts. This way, though…”

“Hey! Mister!”

With auspicious timing, a voice called out to them as they stood in front of the stable. It was the Fitze farmers they’d parted ways with not long ago. The farmers’ lantern swayed as they rushed over and introduced Masato to an unfamiliar, well-dressed young man.

“This here’s Tohr, a peddler from a rural company we do a good bit of business with. We told him about what we’re doing tomorrow, and he said he wants in! What do you say, mister? This party have room for one more?”

“Would you mind if I joined your undertaking? I spent the whole day trying to negotiate with those city merchants, but they weren’t having any of it. Honestly, I’m in a bit of a bind.”

Masato replied, “Of course, glad to have you aboard,” and shook the young man’s hand.

“All right, you mind if we take a look at what you’re working with?”

“Oh, of course not!—Hey! Bring the wagons over!”

In response to the young man’s shout, seven wagons emerged from the dark. Elch’s eyes went wide.

“That makes ten wagons…and with ours, eleven!”

“You get it now, right? This method lets us secure inventory and labor at the same time. In other words, as long as there’re people who fit our criteria, there’s no limit to how big our company can get. We can even get bigger than Neutzeland.”

“…!”

That was the real nasty trick behind Masato’s “consignment” method. While he was obtaining inventory, he was also taking advantage of the fact that this world hadn’t developed the idea of hourly wages yet to obtain labor simultaneously. Because his workforce increased proportionately with his supplies, he effectively had no limits, either. His company would be able to grow completely unrestrained.

It was the perfect method for the job.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome! Five apples and four onions, is it? You got it!”

“That’ll be forty rook in all!—Of course, absolutely!”

“Three leather coats; that comes out to a thousand rook. Gold? We absolutely take gold.”

Elm Trading Company’s central plaza market was hustling and bustling. And why wouldn’t it be? It was a more convenient location than the port, and their prices were cheap. It would have been far more difficult not to draw a crowd.

The first day had been a smashing success—all eleven wagons’ goods were cleaned out before noon. Rumors circulated quickly of their success, which drew hordes of merchants who practically ran one another over to sign consignment deals with Masato. By the third day, the company’s wagon count had expanded into the forties, with Elm’s personal profits totaling over a thousand gold, a sum far higher than they would have otherwise been able to reach. But even with all the money he’d amassed, Masato had no plans of stopping.

“Li’l Roo, you’re up! C’mon over here!”

“Hweh?!”

Masato called out to Roo, who had been frantically restocking their goods as they very nearly flew off the shelves, and handed her a celery stick and a small dish filled with mayonnaise made from the eggs he’d picked up that morning. Then he had her dip the celery in the mayonnaise and eat it in front of their vegetable-stick-with-mayo stand.

It was basically a commercial. There was no better way to get someone to buy food than to show them the face of someone actually enjoying it. A smile was worth a thousand good reviews. However, someone as old as Masato or Elch shouting about how tasty something was would look too strange and risked coming across as sketchy. A young girl like Roo, on the other hand, would look adorable. That had been Masato’s plan for Roo from the get-go.

Now that plan was paying off in spades. After all, Roo had never had much in the way of decent food. Though the small girl found pretty much everything delicious, the way she was enjoying that otherworldly condiment made people drool just looking at her. Her smile was like a secret spice that drew out their curiosity and appetites. Between that and the fact that they’d branded it as a “rare treat from across the sea,” the snack sold as if they were giving it away. People in that era were starved for entertainment, so seeing something new and exciting piqued just about everyone’s attention.

In the end, the mayonnaise sold out before nightfall, just like the consigned goods. Masato prepared even more the next day, but the buzz they’d generated drew such a crowd that it sold out that morning. Elm Trading Company’s profits were so immense that even after paying out their consigners, they’d still filled two full-size crates with copper and silver coins. It wasn’t just enough money for Elm to survive the winter, it was enough that no one in the village would have to work for the next decade. Elch could hardly believe it.

“”

That was why the byuma boy found it so strange. All those profits would have originally gone to Neutzeland, but they’d snatched them away. So why…?

“You look like you’re wondering why Neutzeland isn’t coming after us.”

“…!”

Elch jumped a little at having Masato say exactly what he was thinking, but after having watched Masato work for the last few days, he’d started believing his companion was capable of anything. Instead of responding with the stubbornness he once showed the High School Prodigy, Elch just nodded.

“Roo thinks it’s weird, too!” added Roo.

Masato laughed.

“It’s simple, really. From their perspective, this kind of money is nothing.”

That was the cold, hard truth.

“Nothing? All this?!”

“No way…”

“Yes way. Here, take a look at this map of the city… See, we’re set up in the middle of town so we can catch all the merchants from other villages. But around these parts, the biggest fish…don’t come by land.”

A shocked look crossed Elch’s face at the sudden realization.

“Ah! The port…!”

“That’s the one. They’re set up by the only port in the whole domain. In other words, the iron and precious metals the Industrial District uses, as well as the jewels and other imports—all of it still goes through Neutzeland. And the prices that stuff goes for are off the charts. Plus, because they’re the only port and demand is stable, all they have to do is move the goods from the Port District to the Industrial District. It’s like taking candy from a baby. As long as they control that, their position’s basically untouchable. I hear that Neutzeland manager guy uses a pile of gold coins for a bed. And I bet he sleeps like a baby, too,” Masato said, giving the cashbox by his foot a nudge. Although it was so full that its contents didn’t so much as stir, most of the coins in it were copper and silver.

If they traded it in for gold coins…it wouldn’t even take a tenth of that space. That was how different the amounts were when you sold to individuals as opposed to businesses.

“They’ll probably come after us in a couple days, but they don’t need to make their move just yet. We’re annoying them, but they probably figure we’ll crash and burn on our own. Price wars are double-edged swords, so they’d rather not start one unless they have to.”

“So—so if things stay like this, we can’t win?”

“Nope, not a chance. Our returns come quick, but our profits are small.” Masato gave Roo’s question a firm answer. Then he compared his two students’ expressions. The difference in their attitudes was quite apparent.

Elch…wasn’t quite apathetic, but he didn’t seem particularly worried. As far as he was concerned, the money they’d made was already more than enough. If they returned to the village right then and there, he’d be satisfied.

But Roo was different. Hearing Masato’s explanation, her expression had gone as grave as if he’d said the very world was ending. Tears had even begun welling up in her eyes. Seeing that, Masato couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

There’s that greed I respect…

Masato smiled at Roo in admiration.

“Chin up, Li’l Roo. If things stay like this, we can’t win. But do I look like a guy who just gives up without winning?” He looked right into Roo’s eyes and flashed the young girl the same sinister grin he’d used when he was manipulating the Fitze farmers. Roo’s eyes lit back up. She shook her head from side to side.

“So what, do you have some kinda plan?”

“…Here’s a question for you, Elch. Didn’t you think it was odd? You can’t get mayonnaise around these parts, if anywhere. In other words, it should be worth as much as sugar or pepper. But here I was, dipping veggies in it and selling it so cheap that anyone could afford it. I mean, if I’d gone and found some gluttonous noble, I could’ve made gold so fast you’d have thought I was an alchemist.”

“True, that did seem a little strange… Did you have some reason?”

“Of course. I was using it as bait. My goal wasn’t to make money; my goal was to get everyone talking about us. I wanted all of Dormundt to know there was a company in town other than Neutzeland…so I could reel a big one in from the sea.”

A sudden sensation, a pressure, suddenly came over the two byuma.

““!””

It was like a freezing wind had just run across Elch’s and Roo’s skin. The sensation bearing down on them was so strong, it was almost scary. But the thing was…it wasn’t coming from Masato. It was coming from behind them. Masato looked more elated than he ever had in that world as his gaze turned to what stood behind them. Following his lead, they turned around—

“…!”

“Eep…”

—and each let out a startled yelp.

The pressure was coming from a short hyuma man with soft, androgynous features. The tension in the air around him was as sharp as a knife. The man narrowed his eyes, as though he were smiling. A shrewd light burned in them as he called out to Masato.

“…Forgive me for interrupting your conversation. You represent Elm Trading, correct?”

“…Actually, this guy’s the representative.”

“No, I’m quite certain it’s you. Or at least, you’re the one running the show.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“…Do I look like a man who couldn’t figure out that much?”

“That you do not.”

Masato radiated an aura just as acute. No, perhaps even more so. The air grew tenser still. Elch felt goose bumps run across his skin.

This was the kind of atmosphere that only veteran merchants possessed. They weren’t farmers who engaged in trade to support their humble lifestyles or corrupt landlords getting rich off their property rights. They were starving wolves who lived their lives on razor-thin margins day in and day out so they could amass unfathomable fortunes.

“I like this guy’s vibe. He feels like the first real businessman I’ve met since I came to this world.” Having sensed that this visitor was of a similar mind to him, Masato rose from his chair and offered his hand.

“I’m Masato Sanada, and I do Elm Trading’s books. Who is it that I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

The man shook it as he stated his name.

“Forgive me for the delayed introduction. My name is Klaus, and I lead the Sea Serpent Maritime Trading Company based out of eastern Freyjagard. I heard talk of an interesting company making a name for themselves in Dormundt, and…I had hoped to have a chat.”

“What a coincidence. I’ve…been wanting to have a sit-down with you all day, too.”

“You noticed me? Among that massive crowd?”

“Do I look like the kind of guy who wouldn’t?”

“…That you do not,” Klaus said with an elegant smile, letting out a little chuckle.

Masato offered him a seat, ordered beer and sausages from a nearby tavern employee…then whipped a jar of mayonnaise seemingly from nowhere and placed it atop the table.

“The thing is, I wanted you to try this, so I saved a jar just for you. Let’s have a bite and talk about money, Mr. Klaus.”

“We lost the Sea Serpents.”

Learning that fact shook Neutzeland like a magnitude 8.0 earthquake.

“Th-that can’t be! Is this true?!”

“I-it is! We’re sure of it…! Mr. Klaus came and told us in person…! As we speak, the Sea Serpent sailors are carrying their cargo to a warehouse rented by Elm Trading…!”

“Rrrrrrgh!”

Neutzeland’s manager, Jaccoy, had made light of the Elm Trading Company at first. Given how small they were, he’d been sure they’d collapse in on themselves in no time. Now he was getting nervous.

After all, the Sea Serpents were the ones slated to bring all the wholesale goods Neutzeland was getting through the shipyards that month.

Jaccoy made his way to where the Sea Serpents’ ship was anchored so he could give Klaus a piece of his mind. The leader of the maritime company was busy barking out instructions to the sailors transporting their cargo, so he wasn’t hard to find. Neutzeland’s manager shouted at the man in a furious tone.

“KLAUS!”

“Why, if it isn’t Mr. Jaccoy. You seem upset. What’s the matter?”

“Of course I’m upset! You’re cutting us out and selling your cargo to those strange novices! Have you gone mad?!”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about.” Having learned what Jaccoy was cross about, Klaus’s expression changed to one of exasperation. “I’m perfectly sane, thank you very much. I listened to what they had to say, then made a decision… He’s an impressive man, Elm Trading’s accountant. I don’t know what he’s been selling or where he’s been selling it, but despite his youth, he’s a shrewder man than you or I. During our negotiations, there were a number of moments where I felt as though I was about to be swallowed whole. Why, I had to try my damnedest just to make it out of there in one piece. Honestly, I’m a little embarrassed. I did learn quite a lot, though.”

“You’re overestimating them…! They don’t have the capital for any sort of serious business, and the slightest upset could blow their flimsy company away…”

“Yet you’re the one about to be devoured, aren’t you?”

“Wh-what?!”

“Oh? Have you not realized your situation yet? Elm Trading isn’t just gobbling up your market share on the land, they’re stealing your share of the sea, as well.”

“Only because you betrayed us!” Jaccoy, unamused with Klaus’s less than sympathetic tone, grabbed him by the collar and screamed right in the man’s face. “We always took market prices into consideration when we bought from you people, didn’t we?! What could you possibly have to complain about?!”

Faced with Jaccoy’s boiling rage, Klaus was as cool as a cucumber.

“Yet you always sold for far, far more, right? It’s only natural for us to want a piece of that action… And one other thing. Instead of going after ludicrous profits like you, Mr. Sanada promised to sell the Industrial District their wholesale goods at affordable prices. When he does, it should help end the price-spike-induced recession they’ve been having these last few years. His vision has a future, you see. We do our share of buying, too, so we wanted to partner with a business willing to set aside their own profits for the good of the region as a whole.” As the leader of Sea Serpent gave his answer, he grabbed the arm holding his collar.

Jaccoy yelped in pain and released his grip. Klaus’s fingers had left visible marks on Jaccoy’s fat arm.

“If you keep refusing to wake up, they’re liable to swallow your beloved bed of gold coins whole—and you along with it. Do keep your wits about you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” Having said his piece, Klaus returned to his work.

Jaccoy headed back down the road to Neutzeland’s headquarters. Chewing his fingernails, he mumbled, “Dammit, dammit, how did this happen?”

He’d been certain that Elm Trading’s consignment system would fail in no time. There was no way those uneducated peasants could keep decent ledgers, and without accurate ledgers, people would lose faith in them, and the system would break down. Then their bloated market would pop like a bubble. There was no need for him to burn his own money on a price war.

But Elm Trading simply refused to fail. How? How had they gotten so big yet still showed no signs of collapsing?

—Jaccoy didn’t know it, but its sole secret to success was Masato Sanada.

One of the reasons the Sanada Group had grown so much during Masato’s tenure was that he’d personally directed every single company under their umbrella. That’s right—he wasn’t their president; he was their director.

In other words, he attended every meeting of every company, from the biggest banks to the smallest workshops. What enabled him to do that was a rare gift Masato possessed called multi-listening. He had the ability to accurately listen to and process thirty conversations at once. It was possible for him to take on ten times that many discussions if they were comprised of simple words and numbers.

The farmers couldn’t keep their own ledgers, so Masato had them instead confirm the goods and their prices out loud whenever they made a sale. Then, by picking those voices out from the noise of the market, he was able to record the transactions himself and keep an accurate account of the goods the Elm Trading Company was dealing with, even now that their stock had swelled to more than a whole ship’s worth. That was how he’d earned other merchants’ trust.

It was a feat bordering on superhuman ability. Not just anyone could pull something like that off. But the fact that he could was precisely why people revered him as one of the High School Prodigies.

—Not that Jaccoy knew any of that.

There was no way he could have known that Masato had been hailed as a prodigy back on a planet called Earth. And because of that…he’d underestimated him. He’d underestimated the threat the Elm Trading Company posed with Masato at its wheel. However…

“If you keep refusing to wake up, they’re liable to swallow your beloved bed of gold coins whole—and you along with it.”

“………”

Klaus’s speech had jolted him to his senses.

The Elm Trading Company’s influence would likely spread through the sea routes via the Sea Serpents. At the moment, the Sea Serpents had three ships docked at the port, and the Dagon Company had the other four.

Neutzeland and Dagon had already finished their dealings for this haul, so Elm Trading wouldn’t be able to butt in on that. However, there was no way of knowing which way future ships would lean. This was no time to be sitting around idly waiting to be destroyed.

When Jaccoy returned to his company, he gathered his merchants and made an announcement.

“…Starting tomorrow, we’re opening our market in the central plaza, too.”

“I-in the central plaza?!”

“That’s right. The only advantages they have over us are their prime location and their low prices. We’re going to eliminate both.”

“We’re competing with this tiny company directly, sir?”

“They’re meddling with our ocean trade routes, and that cannot stand. We have to crush them while they’re small. We’ll buy goods for more than them! We’ll sell goods for less than them! Right now, their land-based trade is still their foundation! If we rip it up from the roots, they’ll shrivel and die!”

“B-but what about our profits?”

“This is war! Until they’re dead and gone, profits are of no concern! We’ll take some hits, but when it comes to a brawl like this, that’s not what matters. We have more money, so we can simply outlast them! We’ll defeat them with our superior resources! We’ll bankrupt them! No, we’ll obliterate them! We’ll annihilate those country bumpkins!”

“““Yes sir!”””

The merchants got to work as soon as Jaccoy finished his tirade. Watching his underlings scurry to their work, the man muttered a vow to himself.

“You people made enemies of the great Neutzeland Trading Company…and I’ll make sure you regret it!”

That evening, Shinobu Sarutobi dropped by the inn that Masato and the others were using as their base. When she entered their room, her eyes gleamed at the mountain of gold coins piled up on the desk.

“Holy moly. That’s so much gold! You guys are raking it in!”

“We’re doing business with companies now. If we’d kept using copper coins, the floor would give out.”

“So we’re looking good on Ringo’s requests, then?”

“Yeah, I was able to get everything she needed and more from my deal with the shipyard today. I was worried about being able to find magnesium. But apparently, they got some from a glass workshop, so I was able to get enough. I’m gonna charter a horse tomorrow and send Ringo’s haul to Elm along with the winter stores.”

“There was some pricey stuff on the list, like gold and silver. How’d those go?”

“I’m just gonna have her melt down some of the gold and silver coins for that.”

“Oh, huh. Hadn’t thought of that.”

“…Just so you know, that’s a serious crime.”

“Elch, we have a saying back on our world: ‘It’s only a crime if you get caught.’”

“And if they catch you, you can just make a break for it!”

“That’s horrible…” With a sigh, Elch went over to the bed and placed a damp towel on Roo’s forehead.

“That’s Roo, the protégé you took in off the street, right? What’s wrong with her? Did she catch a cold or something? Her face is bright red.”

“Nah, she just got so excited from seeing all this cash that she popped a nosebleed and fainted.”

“…Well, you can’t say she doesn’t have promise.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be a while before she’s actually useful. She can’t even read. —Hey, Elch, there’s a mistake here,” Masato said, looking up from his tablet computer. Then he tapped the touch screen with his stylus and pointed something out to Elch.

“When you sell on credit, you don’t list the debit on the day of as cash, you list it as accounts payable. After all, you don’t actually have the money yet. If you do it like this, you’ll end up putting in the ‘cash’ twice and causing all sorts of problems.”

“Oh, I see…”

“What’s going on over here? …Oh, double-entry bookkeeping. You’re teaching him?”

“Yeah. Single-entry causes way too much ambiguity.”

“Apparently, up until recently, there were some developed countries that were using that ambiguous single-entry method to manage their public funds, you know.”

“Well, sure. That ambiguity made things real convenient for them.”

Double-entry bookkeeping was an accounting method that had only become popular relatively recently in Earth’s history. Unlike the single-entry ledgers Elm Village had been using, which only had income and expenditures, double-entry ledgers classified incoming money based on its attributes, which allowed for a better understanding of an organization’s financial structure. In short, it was difficult to make errors, which meant it was easier to earn other people’s trust.

Learning how to use it was essentially all upside.

So while Masato used their downtime to teach Roo her letters and some basic math, he was also coaching Elch on how to keep double-entry ledgers.

“Now, onto the next drill. Go ahead and organize this cash flow here into the account book.”

“G-got it!”

With that, Elch took the tablet (or as he called it, the magic paper that you could write and erase on however many times you liked) and stylus and began writing in the ledger displayed on its LCD screen.

While still keeping an eye on his pupil, Masato turned to Shinobu. His tone switched from small-talk mode to serious mode.

“…So given that you’re here, does that mean they’ve made their move?”

Shinobu nodded in answer.

“Yup. Looks like they’re pretty pissed you muscled in on the port. They’re planning on taking the war to you tomorrow.”

“Wh-what do you mean, war?” Having heard the frightening word, Elch looked up from the tablet, pale.

“They’re gonna start buying and selling without caring about being profitable. Basically, they’re planning on icing us out.”

“Wait, but if they do that, won’t they run out of money?”

“They’ve got all sorts of cash stored up over there. They’re a hundred percent sure they can take us if it comes down to a head-to-head fight. And they aren’t wrong. We made a good chunk of change off our deal with the Industrial District, but that’s nothing compared to their reserves. If they’d taken full advantage of their material lead, they could have flattened us. Power plays are just as effective in financial wars as they are in real ones. Honestly, it’s not a bad strategy.”

It wasn’t bad plan. However…

“Or it wouldn’t have been, if they’d done it on day one.”

“You’re saying they’re too late?”

“Yeah. They’re so late it’s almost makin’ me yawn. What a bunch of slackers.”

“So you have a counterstrategy ready?”

“I don’t need one. That slugfest’s never gonna happen.”

With a wicked grin, Masato stood up from his chair and opened the room’s window.

The sight outside made Elch’s eyes go wide.

In the darkness behind the inn…were dozens of men. Their clothes were so shabby, they looked like beggars, but their eyes were filled with an ominous, fiery light.

Those guys… I’ve seen them hanging around the market, haven’t I?

Masato rested his elbow on the windowsill and called out to the men like they were old friends.

“…It’s gonna go down just like I told you yesterday. This ends tomorrow. I’m counting on you guys.”

“““………””” The men nodded in unison, then vanished into the night. The entire exchange was thoroughly unsettling. Elch wanted to know what that was all about.

“Who were those men…?”

Masato’s smile was downright fiendish.

“The blades I’m gonna use…to slay Neutzeland.”

Slay Neutzeland.

Although the words had a sinister ring, he obviously wasn’t going to actually kill anyone. He was speaking metaphorically. Though his blades were only figurative, they were a far crueler weapon than actual knives. After all, the blades he was using could gouge out a heart without causing any physical pain. By the time the victim noticed, it was already too late.

That’s right. Jaccoy had already been stabbed by Masato’s blades. He just hadn’t noticed yet. The master of Neutzeland remained unaware even as Saturday morning rolled around. It had been ages since his employees had seen the man this fired up.

I won’t let them have their way anymore.

Today, Neutzeland was going to open their market right in the central plaza. Then, by disregarding profits and selling for less and buying for more than Elm did, they were going to beat them bloody.

After all, Elm’s foundation was so weak that they had to rely on an unorthodox method like consignment. They’d used their deal with the Sea Serpents to drum up some decent dough, but compared to the mountain of gold Jaccoy slept on, it was still little more than pocket change. At the end of the day, money was the backbone of a business. In a fight, it was their stamina. Money was everything.

There was absolutely no chance Neutzeland could lose in a slugfest. The competition for morning inventory had already begun.

The people over at Elm Trading were probably going pale at discovering that Neutzeland was using its overwhelming amounts of capital to buy up all the incoming merchandise. Jaccoy leaned back in his chair, his expression brimming with confidence. His bed of gold probably only served to reaffirm those thoughts.

The unease of the previous day had vanished from his thoughts without a trace. It was gone. Nowhere to be seen.

—In other words, this was the limit of Jaccoy’s strategic ability. With this, he’d unknowingly proven himself incapable of escaping from atop Masato’s palm…which meant he was dead. Masato’s blades reached his heart. It was only half an hour after the market opened when the fat merchant finally learned of his demise.

One of his employees came running over to him, drenched in sweat.

“Mr. Jaccoy! Mr. Jaccoy!”

“What’s wrong? Heh, did they already throw in the towel before the market even opened?”

“N-no sir! I-it’s a disaster!”

“A disaster? What happened?”

“We haven’t been able to buy a single piece of merchandise!”

“Wh…? WHAT?!?!”

Jaccoy shouted hysterically and stood up so fast his chair toppled over.

“I told you to offer better buy prices than they did, didn’t I?!”

“You did, sir! We put up signboards and banners announcing our new prices, but…nobody seemed to care! They all just went to Elm…”

“?!?!”

It defied logic. The Findolph domain was at Freyjagard’s northernmost point, and their winters were brutal. Impoverished farmers of the frigid region should have leaped at the opportunity to sell their goods for even a single rook more. They needed that money to buy winter stores. So why were they intentionally accepting lower prices?

Panicking over the incomprehensible actions of the farmers, Jaccoy rushed over to the market. But when he got there—

“What’s the meaning of—? Huh?!”

—he saw something unbelievable.

“A-ah! I-it’s you people…!”

Dozens of people and wagons were lined up in front of the Elm Trading Company’s lot in the plaza. Mixed in with the rest of the rabble…were some faces Jaccoy recognized. They were—

“That’s right. They’re your old peddlers.” Masato’s heels clicked as he stepped out to face the shell-shocked Jaccoy.

“Y-you bastard…!”

“When we started digging, we found out all sorts of interesting stuff about you guys. Not only did you have a secret agreement with the mayor to monopolize the market, you were also real aggressive when it came to cost cutting. For example, you moved the market from the central plaza to the Port District so it’d be closer to your warehouses. But the biggest move you made…was laying off all your traveling peddlers.”

Masato had always found it strange that Elch had to bring his wares to the city. He’d known that Elch’s father had been a peddler who was often on the road, after all. There were a number of differences between this world and Earth, but the concept of traveling salesmen definitely existed here. Why should Elch have to bring Elm’s goods to the city himself, then? Thanks to Shinobu’s efforts, Masato discovered the answer to that question the first night after they’d started Elm Trading.

After Jaccoy secured a monopoly on distribution, he laid off not just Orion’s old peddlers, but Neutzeland’s, as well.

“You had sole control over Findolph’s only port, so even if you didn’t go out and buy inventory, goods would still naturally flow your way. That’s why you fired pretty much all your peddlers and made the villagers come all the way to Dormundt to sell their goods directly. By doing so, you were able to cut personnel expenses while foisting the city’s tariffs off on the villagers… It’s the kind of dumbass idea that only a guy who spends all day looking at ledgers and who’s forgotten what it’s like to pound pavement would come up with. Human relationships are the bedrock of business, but you were willing to throw away all the goodwill the peddlers built up with the villagers just to make a couple extra rook.”

Jaccoy had been like an octopus eating its own leg.

“It felt like a real waste to me, so we figured we’d take it all for ourselves.”

“Y-you don’t mean…” A nasty hunch barreled through Jaccoy’s mind. With a sneer packed full of his contempt for Jaccoy’s foolishness, Masato confirmed his fears.

“Oh, but I do. All these peddlers signed exclusive three-year contracts with me. We bought up all these goods before they even made it into the city… I don’t have to explain what that means, do I? The fact that I employ all these peddlers means that today isn’t a one-off thing. Tomorrow’ll be the same, and the day after that, and all the days to come. In other words, not a single unspoken-for wagonload will ever make it to this plaza… You’re gaping at me like a dumbass again.”

“This…can’t be!” The proud merchant master of Neutzeland turned as white as bone at Masato’s declaration. It was an understandable reaction. His entire plan had revolved around coming to the plaza and undercutting Elm’s prices.

However…Masato had gone and cut him off upstream. If the goods never made it into the city, Jaccoy’s strategy was worthless. To make things worse…Neutzeland didn’t have the ability to compete with them outside the city. How could they? Jaccoy’s company lacked the peddlers to do so. His business had, in a sense, chewed off its own legs.

It certainly wasn’t as if they couldn’t hire new peddlers, but it was going to be impossible to find people who knew how to keep ledgers, negotiate, and navigate safely through the Findolph domain’s bandit-infested roads…outside of the men who’d just signed on with Elm.

—In other words, Neutzeland had no way to counter Elm’s play. This was no slugfest. Neutzeland was completely powerless.

“Rrrrrrgh!!!!”

Sweat cascaded down Jaccoy’s forehead like a waterfall as he finally came to understand his despair-inducing predicament. He turned to the gathered farmers and shouted.

“He-he’s tricking you! Look at those banners! We’re paying far better prices than that deadbeat company ever could! It’s not too late! You can still change your minds! If there’s a penalty for breaking your contracts, we’ll pay it all! So—!”

The response from the farmers was colder than ice.

“Sorry, but…Elm Trading told us you’d offer us more money. We sold our goods to them already knowing that.”

“Wh-why?!”

“Why? It’s simple. We just don’t want to do business with you.”

“?!?!”

“We’re not greedy. All we ever wanted was enough to survive the winter…so our villages could make it to spring. Elm Trading made sure to take that into account when they set their prices.”

“Besides…you’re only offering better prices for now. Once your war with Elm is over, you’ll go right back to ripping us off. We might be uneducated, but even we can tell that much.”

“So instead, we just went with a trading partner who understands how we feel. Not just for this winter, but for every winter to come.”

“N-no, wait! This is all a misunderstanding! I promise, we’ll never try to rip you off again! I regret everything we’ve done! So—”

“Don’t go bowing to us. That’s not what we want. After all…even if you really were remorseful and telling us the truth from the bottom of your heart…we simply can’t trust you.”

“…………”

It was like Jaccoy was scratching against a wall of polished marble. That was how firm, cold, and absolute their rejection was. The villagers of Findolph had made it thoroughly clear just how fed up with Neutzeland they were.

And who could blame them?

Neutzeland had been abusing them for years. Money. Coin. It’s all the company had ever cared about. But that had been wrong. Both from a moral perspective…and a business perspective. As Jaccoy reeled from the farmers’ rejection, Masato spoke.

“Mr. Jaccoy, was it? You’ve been laboring under one big misapprehension. You probably thought the most important thing in business was money. That’s why you tried so desperately to amass it. But see, money’s not the most important thing… It’s trust. Even if you’re dead broke, as long as people trust you, you can still rebuild your company. As long as there are people who trust your business, money’ll come naturally. But…no matter how much money you have, if people don’t trust you…you’re dead in the water. And you…took things too far.”

“………” Jaccoy had nothing left to say. All he could do was gaze lifelessly at the merchant from another world standing before him. He was certain of it now.

There was no way…he could win.

The man standing there wasn’t someone he could ever hope to defeat. Before long, this man would probably snatch away every major deal that went through the port. And when that happened…Neutzeland’s cash flow would die.

If Neutzeland were a plant, it was like their roots were being ripped out. Even with their vast fortunes—even though their flowers bloomed far larger than Elm’s—without their roots, all they could do was use up their stores of water and eventually wither away.

Filled with despair at that inevitable future, Jaccoy sank to his knees. Seeing the once high-and-mighty man sink so low left Elch and Roo speechless.

Amazing…

Masato had done it. He’d dealt Neutzeland a fatal blow in just a single week. They’d doubted he could pull it off. Now, though, they saw it with their own eyes as they stood in shocked silence.

However, the biggest shock was yet to come…

“But if I beat you and Neutzeland into the ground, then I’d be the one taking it too far.”

Suddenly, Masato offered Jaccoy a hand of salvation.

“Huh?”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s Elm or Neutzeland, no good can come of a single company having a monopoly. Without competition, companies grow corrupt. Pretty much every time. So what say we all just have a little sit-down. Then we can talk about the future of Dormundt and, by extension, the economy and trade of the entire domain… Though, I suggest you prepare for a taste of your own medicine.”

Stunned by the sudden glimpse of redemption, Jaccoy was silent for a moment, and then…

“…All right.” His head sank low as he nodded.

Elm’s hand was already around his throat. Coming to a settlement, even if it was a harsh one, was obviously preferable to being strangled.

And with that, the Elm Trading Company emerged victorious from the Elm versus Neutzeland war.

Night had already begun to creep over the city by the time they’d finished negotiations and left Neutzeland’s offices.

The three members of the Elm Trading Company walked down the twilit port streets, making their way back toward the inn where they’d been staying.

“Damn, those Neutzeland chairs were hard. Sure, they looked nice, but would it have killed them to add a little padding? My back’s killing me.” Masato, the one complaining, was at the group’s head. In his right hand, he was holding a spherical leather bag.

—They’d settled on three major points in the negotiations.

First, a prohibition on the use of bribes to interfere with the issuing of trading licenses.

Second, the revival of the peddler system and an agreement that the companies would shoulder all tariffs and the burden of transporting goods.

Third, for Neutzeland to pay reparations to the villages as an apology for their misconduct.

The first was largely a formality, so they reached an agreement on that point quickly. About half the peddlers Masato hired had expressed a desire to go back to their old jobs, so the second issue was resolved by Elm transferring their contracts to Neutzeland under the same conditions. However, the third topic caused no end of disputes. It alone ate up about 90 percent of the discussion.

Eventually, though, they did decide on sums for Neutzeland to pay the villages as compensation for making them shoulder the tariffs: two gold per person for villages from which they’d bought goods and three for people like Tohr who’d come peddling from rural companies.

Even for small villages like Elm, that came out to around a hundred gold. For larger ones like Fitze, it was closer to six hundred.

All in all, Neutzeland ended up having to pay over a hundred thousand gold. Jaccoy’s beloved bed of gold was gone.

They couldn’t pay it all at once, of course. Losing that kind of liquid capital would severely impede their ability to actually run their business. If Neutzeland ended up having to flee Dormundt on account of their increased expenses from the tariffs and the peddler payroll, that would put the situation right back where it started.

As a result, Masato asked the villagers to be understanding and sought a compromise wherein the payments to higher-population farm villages and towns would come gradually over the next few years. Jaccoy, who’d been thoroughly humbled by the whole process, thanked him profusely and agreed. They then drew up the agreement, at which point Jaccoy signed and affixed Neutzeland’s seal to it. Once Count Heiseraat signed his name and made it official, the discussion came to a close.

Masato’s leather bag currently held a hundred gold in reparations and 650 more of the coins as a finder’s fee for the peddlers.

Elch gazed at the bag as he called out, “Man, you really had it out for them.”

“What do you mean?”

“The thing where they tried to take advantage of us on day one.”

“Oh yeah. I told you, remember? I hate getting ripped off.”

Elch nodded. With all that’d happened, that conversation felt like it had been ages ago. However, Masato had said one other thing back then, too.

“I’ll destroy Neutzeland.” And yet—

“But for all that, you never ended up actually destroying them.”

“Hey, I got you your money, didn’t I? Don’t go chopping me into wolf bait, now.”

“I’m not gonna make you into wolf bait… I was just kinda curious. Why’d you decide to come to a settlement?”

Elch could tell. The agreement had almost no upside for Elm. The reparations and finder’s fee together were nothing compared to the money they could have made by keeping the market all to themselves. And if that was the case, why’d Masato make the proposal he did? Well, Elch was about to find out.

“The thing is, if we’d refused to compromise and just crushed them, things would have gotten real messy for us.”

“You think so?”

“Definitely. I said I’d destroy them at first to raise your morale, but that was never actually the plan. After all, Neutzeland and we are the only companies in Dormundt. If we got rid of them, we’d have to sustain all the trade in the whole city for a while.”

Masato explained that even with the secret arrangement eliminated, it would take some time before other companies could get a foothold in the city.

“But that’s just not possible. You don’t have the skills to run a company that big yet, and I’m not planning on sticking around in this world for that long. My plan was only ever to fix the mess we made of Elm Village’s finances and to get the stuff Ringo asked for. But there’s another, even bigger reason why we couldn’t truly kill Neutzeland—personnel expenses.”

“Per-so-nnel expenses? What’s that, Teacher?”

“It’s the money you gotta pay people when they work for you. We hired all the peddlers Neutzeland laid off, but we’re just a fledgling little company that hasn’t even gotten a decent shipment of goods in yet. Our deal with the Sea Serpents gave us a little bit of bankroll to work with, but with that many employees, even that wouldn’t last long. I only hired them in the first place to break Jaccoy’s will. It was my plan from the get-go to force Neutzeland to take half of them back after the dust settled. For a finder’s fee, of course.”

“………” Elch gawked at how unashamed Masato was about all that.

For all the preaching he’d done to Jaccoy about trust, he himself had hired the peddlers with contracts he never intended to uphold. The nerve was downright unbelievable. Elch could hardly begin to comprehend the depths of Masato’s audacity.

“…Hey, are you actually evil or something?”

Masato replied with an amused grin.

“You’d better believe I am. Back on Earth, they called me the Devil of Finance.” His expression in that moment was his most villainous one yet. Elch contorted his face in revulsion. Roo, on the other hand, gazed up at Masato in admiration.

“All right, the Neutzeland problem might be out of our hair, but I still have a lot to teach you two. When we get back to the inn, we’ll pick up from where we left off yesterday.”

“G-got it!”

“Yes sir!”

But before they could make it back, the day’s final incident reared its ugly head.

“There she is! It’s her!”

“Stop right there!”

“““?!”””

All of a sudden, four men with fishlike faces appeared and blocked the trio’s path.

Seemingly unprovoked, a group of threatening sailors had appeared. Each was carrying a knife, and their eyes were tinged with anger and hostility.

Elch braced himself for trouble.

“Did Neutzeland send thugs after us?”

“…Nah, these guys don’t look like merchants.”

“Eeep…”

“Li’l Roo?” Masato suddenly caught on to what was happening.

Not only was Roo hiding behind him, she was looking at the men in abject terror. He wondered why for a moment, but the men quickly dispelled his confusion.

“You assholes think you can make money off goods that don’t belong to you?”

“Goods? What are you talking about?”

“The kid! Dagon Company brought a shipment back from the New World…and she’s one of our slaves!”

“Wh…?!”

“…Is that true, Li’l Roo?”

“………” Roo’s shoulders flinched, and she looked away.

Judging by her reaction, it seemed the story checked out. To complicate things, it was clear there was no way the sailors were about to let them get away with making off with their slave and selling her.

The sailors clasped their knives in their sea-tempered hands.

“You assholes ready to pay the piper? Get ’em, boys!”

“““Yeah!!!!””” The sailors charged.

Or rather, they tried to. Elch was one step faster on the draw, however. He pulled the bow off his back and loosed an arrow into the cobbled road directly in front of them.

“““Ah!”””

“…Don’t come any closer, or the next one’s going through your forehead.”

Not only had he drawn his bow faster than the sailors could blink, but his arrow had landed right at their feet. It was no wonder that Mayor Ulgar had called Elch the best archer in the village. To an unskilled eye, it might have looked like he was just showing off, but the young man’s combat prowess was actually well beyond that of the four sailors.

They’d been in their fair share of brawls, however. Their eyes were anything but novice.

“Yo, Boss… This guy’s trouble.”

The leader of the bunch, however, quickly barked at his cowering underlings.

“D-don’t get spooked now! We’re the victims here! Justice is on our side! If it comes down to it, we can just call a patrol over! These guys are the thieves, after all!”

“…!” Hearing that made Elch’s face twitch.

The man was right. If they summoned a patrol, Elch and the others would have no excuse. The slave trade was just a normal part of life in this world. Even people were just another commodity to be sold. Stealing them was just as much a crime as stealing anything else.

—And it went without saying that criminals couldn’t own trading licenses.

Even so…Elch didn’t break his combat stance. Come what may, he was still a villager of Elm. He wasn’t just about to abandon someone in their moment of need. Especially not if that someone was a person he’d been working alongside for the past week.

“I’ll buy you some time! Take Roo and make a run for it!”

But as Elch readied himself to protect Roo…

“Nah, that won’t be necessary,” Masato said from behind.

“Huh?! What are you—?” Elch glared at Masato. He wasn’t seriously planning on abandoning her, was he?

Masato didn’t return Elch’s look. Instead, he turned his eyes down to Roo as she hid behind him and asked her a single question.

“Li’l Roo…do you want me to save you?”

His voice was gentle.

“!”

Roo’s wide eyes grew even wider. They were filled with joy. —No. That wasn’t it. It wasn’t joy. It was comprehension. She understood. She understood what Masato had meant when he asked if she wanted him to save her.

It wasn’t a question that needed to be asked. Obviously, she wanted to be saved. She was a runaway slave. If the sailors took her…she could only imagine the cruelties they’d inflict.

Simply put, Masato wasn’t really asking if she wanted to be saved. He was asking how the girl wanted to live her life from here on out.

“Roo…wants money. She wants to be able to make it on her own. She doesn’t want to be tossed around anymore. So…please, teach Roo how to make money, too!”

It was all because she’d come to him with that request.

…That’s right…

Roo was ashamed that her first instinct had been to hide behind Masato. She wanted to be able to make it on her own. That had been her wish from the very start, the reason she’d followed Masato in the first place. But trembling and waiting to be saved was no way to accomplish that. She shouldn’t have been relying on the altruism of others.

Roo’s gonna became a big strong merchant like Teacher…!

She needed to seize her future with her own strength and wisdom.

“TEACHEEEEEEEEEER!”

With new resolve, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “Roo has a dream! Okay?! Roo’s gonna make lots and lots and loooots of money, and then someday, someday…she’s gonna buy Mommy and Daddy back!

“So, so! Roo’s gonna study even harder!

“She’s gonna learn her letters, her numbers, everything!

“Then she’s gonna become a merchant just like, no, a merchant even better than you, Teacher! She’s gonna make mountains of money, and then, and then…she’s gonna get Mommy and Daddy back! Roo’s not strong enough now, but she’s gonna study and study and study until she is!

“Then, then! Roo’s gonna give Teacher all the money she has left over!

“Roo promises! She won’t let you regret this! So, Teacher, please…!

“Buy Roo right here and now!!!!”

She was practically screaming as she demonstrated her “value.” She was pitching herself to Masato. As a merchant, she was her own product. At the moment, she was nobody, so she shouted to convey the one thing she had—a will that burned like fire.

“What’s that kid babbling about?!”

“We should chop off her legs so she can’t make another break for it!”

The sailors sneered at Roo and closed in on her as she conducted the first negotiation of her life. But when one of them reached out to grab her, something struck the man in the face.

“Agh!”

“The hell you think you’re—?!”

The eyes of the sailors’ leader bulged wide at the sudden attack. However, the rage quickly faded from his voice as he became transfixed by what had been thrown and was currently scattered across the pavement.

It was the leather bag full of gold and silver coins. Masato had quite literally thrown the money in their faces.

“That there’s seven hundred and fifty gold. I wanna buy this slave from you… That’s easily a hundred times what she’d go for on the open market. Do we have any problems, gentlemen?”

“Wh…?”

Now, the men were just sailors. They were nothing more than the people paid to transport goods from point A to point B.

They themselves didn’t technically have any ownership over Roo. They were just in charge of making sure the slaves didn’t go anywhere. In other words, they had no right to conduct this sale. However…their ethical concerns were no match for the sheer volume of coin they were being offered. That was precisely why Masato was offering so much.

“Nope! No sirree! No problems here! Just remember, all sales are final!”

“Then it sounds like we have a deal.”

The lead sailor scooped up the bag, along with the stray coins that had escaped the sack when it had been thrown. He then turned to his confused men and said, “Look, let’s just forget about all this,” and he promptly dragged them all off.

His plan was probably to tell the owner that they couldn’t track down the slave, then embezzle the cash for himself. Though Masato didn’t much care what the man did with the money. After all—

“Well said, Li’l Roo.”

—he’d just traded it for far more gold than could ever possibly fit in that little sack.

“Teacher…”

“Doesn’t matter how savvy a businessperson someone is; doesn’t matter if they’re so lucky it makes you think they were touched by the hand of God—they’re useless if they don’t have the hunger… I was like that, back before my dad died. I spent my life just getting jerked around.”

Back then, Masato had lived with no goals, no hunger, and no wants. Every day was tepid and uneventful.

“But when I saw my dad’s corpse hanging there, I felt that hunger for the first time. A dark hunger for revenge against the companies that drove my father to his death. My eyes back then probably looked just like yours do now, Li’l Roo. And you’ve got it, too. Something you want to do. Something you need to do, deep down in your heart. And I can tell you’re ready to put your life on the line to do it.”

Even though she’d known that getting caught meant near-certain death, she’d sought Masato out anyway. Despite knowing how conspicuous being in public had made her, she’d taken in every drop of financial wisdom he’d given her.

“That courage? That willpower? That’s worth a million times more than that paltry sum I tossed them.” Masato knew full well that the girl’s hunger would someday lead to wealth beyond measure. Compared to that, a single bag of gold was nothing.

“Those dumbasses just let a fortune slip through their hands for a song. Let’s make ’em regret it,” Masato said, giving Roo’s red hair a rough tussle. His hand was so warm. Not only did he understand Roo better than she understood herself, he respected the way she wanted to live her life.

“Tea… Teacheeeerrrrr!”

The tears she’d been holding back, the feelings she’d been holing up in her heart, they all came out at once.

She embraced Masato and began crying loudly to express all the gratitude and joy she couldn’t possibly convey in words. Masato gently rubbed her head, then turned his gaze toward Elch.

“Sorry about that, Elch. I kinda ended up spending everyone’s money,” he said apologetically.

Elch, however, understood what Masato’s true intentions had been. He could hardly blame him for what he’d done.

“…It’s fine. It’s not worth worrying about, given how much else you made us.” And more importantly, it felt nice spending money the way he had. “Heh. You know, I never knew spending money could feel this good.”

Elch’s words made Masato smile like a kid.

“Ha-ha, right? That’s why I keep makin’ it.”

And with that, Masato Sanada’s skills restored Elm’s finances to the point where, as long as they didn’t do anything reckless, they could live out their next couple decades with security. He’d easily made good on his promise to repay them twice over.

Furthermore, he’d successfully gotten Ringo Oohoshi all the iron and other goods she’d asked for. With the ability to manufacture aluminum, Ringo could now wield her scientific acumen to its fullest. It was certain to be a big boon in their search for a way home.

Report and Unrest

The night after things had wrapped up in Dormundt, Tsukasa received a phone call from Shinobu Sarutobi, who’d gone to the city alongside Masato and Elch.

“Evening, Tsukes! Long time no see. How’s the crew?”

“Good. Due in no small part to the sugar and pepper Merchant sent over. Everyone’s glad that our menu’s expanded. And you guys?”

“Oh, we’re golden. I’m, like, in my element here. Being cooped up in the mountains is no good for a journalist like me, y’know. A reporter with no news is like a fish out of water. But here in the city, it’s like I found my ocean again.”

On the other end of the phone, Shinobu sounded downright elated.

“Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself… I hear things got a little hairy over there.”

“I mean, I wasn’t there for most of it, but Massy did go on a bit of a rampage. I think he was just happy to be back on the grind, like me. But hey, it’s thanks to that we got all those supplies, right?”

“True… Although, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting him to buy a slave.”

“Oh, you know about Roo?”

“Yeah, Merchant sent me a picture.”

“I hear she cost him a pretty penny.”

“That’s Merchant for you. He’s good at making money, but he spends it like there’s no tomorrow. When it’s something he really wants, that is.”

“Oh yeah, he totes has the hots for her. He can’t get enough of her smooth brown kiddie skin…”

“Try not to tease him too much. He knows the right way to spend money. That’s one of his great virtues.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. C’mon, it’s not like I’m totally tone-deaf over here.”

Shinobu roared with laughter, to which Tsukasa replied, “As long as we’re on the same page,” before broaching the main topic.

“Now then, I’d say that’s about enough catching up. Your battery’s not going to last forever, after all. Let’s hear what you’ve learned.”

“Wow, now who’s the buzzkill? After all the long, cold nights I’ve had to spend alone over here, the least you can do is entertain me a little. Boooo.” For all her complaints, though, Shinobu did finally start giving her report.

“There’s actually too much info to go through at once, so I’ll write up all the stuff I learned about this country and its history and send that over to you later. For now, here’s the TL;DR: First, as far as magic goes, I got a veteran to tell me a bit. Basically, it works about how you’d expect. This world has four types of elemental spirits—fire, water, earth, and air—and by communing with them, you can do stuff like throw fireballs and call down bolts of lightning.”

“That sounds pretty useful, especially considering how undeveloped this world is.”

“Yup. That’s why anyone who can use it is respected, no matter where they come from. Now, that said, they’re super-rare. Most of them live in the capital. The only one around these parts is the First-Class Mage at the lord’s castle.”

“First-Class?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. First-Class Mages are the ones who serve the empire. There are also Second-Class Mages and Prime Mages. Second-Class Mages are basically like students, so they’re all at the magic academy in the capital. First-Class Mages are Second-Class Mages who’ve graduated. It’s kinda like the difference between trainees and full-time employees. Then, out of all mages in the empire, the cream of the crop get the title of Prime Mage. I’ve heard it goes even higher than that, though. Rumor has it that there are people who can cause natural disasters all on their own.”

“Is there any kind of magic that allows the user to traverse worlds or summon someone from another world?”

“Mmm, I haven’t heard of anything like that yet. Magic’s rare to begin with, so info’s pretty scarce. I figured the First-Class Mage in the lord’s castle might know more, so I’m planning on getting in contact with him next.”

“Got it. Well, even just learning that our assumptions about magic are largely on the mark is more than I could have hoped for from a one-week investigation. Thank you.”

Shinobu replied with a singsong “Sha-sha. No problemo.”

“…Now, as far as the Seven Heroes thing goes, I did get one big piece of info, but…long story short, I kinda hit a wall.”

“How so?”

“Well, for starters…it might be related to this old, dead religion called the Seven Luminaries…but that’s all I got so far. See, a couple hundred years ago, the Freyjagard Empire wiped them out. Freyjagard operates under the law of survival of the fittest, with the feudal emperor at the top of the food chain…and the emperor didn’t take too kindly to having a religion that placed God above him. It wasn’t just the Seven Luminaries, either. He took every religion on the continent, burned their holy books, tore down their churches, brutally killed their followers, and ripped them up by their roots without leaving a speck behind.”

“…Religious persecution, huh.” Hearing Shinobu’s report set a flame of ugly hatred burning in Tsukasa’s chest.

This entire country was messed up. A nation and its laws should exist to protect the people who live in it. But here, the masses were being violently oppressed to support a small privileged class. That…could hardly be called just.

Shinobu was just the messenger, though. There was no point shooting her. Tsukasa suppressed the fury in his chest and continued listening.

“I tried checking out the villages near Dormundt, too, but…there weren’t any records or texts anywhere. I’m good, but even I can’t find something that isn’t there.”

“…Hmm.”

Shinobu’s investigative abilities were far beyond those of the rest of the High School Prodigies. If she couldn’t find something, odds were slim that any of the rest of them could, either. Even so, though—

“It’s clear there aren’t any leads around the village. But still, the roots faith leaves in people’s hearts run deep. Violence can tear up the surface, but those roots will still be there. Any religious teachings that reached across an entire continent should have left footprints somewhere, even centuries later.”

Winona’s husband had probably stumbled across one such set of footprints. And if he could—

“Right now, the legend of the Seven Heroes is the one lead we have in our search for a way back to Earth… We need to follow up on it, even if it means scouring the entire continent. We need to find what’s left of the Seven Luminaries.”

Shinobu seemed to share his opinion, as she immediately agreed. “…You’re right. It’s the only clue we’ve got, after all.” However, her voice quickly took on a shade of unconcealed irritation.

“…But there’s one big problem there.”

“There is?”

“Yeah, it’s a doozy. See, what we’re in right now is northern Freyjagard. That’s comprised of four domains, and Marquis Findolph’s domain, the one we’re in, is at the northernmost point of the whole continent… But in order to leave it, they say you need the lord to give you a travel pass.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty standard for a civilization like this.”

“Uh-huh. From what I’ve heard, though, this Marquis Findolph guy is a scumbag of epic proportions—”

At around the same time as Tsukasa and Shinobu’s conversation, a shrill male screech echoed through Marquis Findolph’s castle.

“Youuu little whore!!!!” A corpulent, middle-aged man wrung a naked woman’s thin neck atop an opulent bed, his face red with rage.

“Ack, gah! P-please…”

“How dare you, how dare you, how dare you! How dare you try to deceive me! This is unforgivable! Utterly unforgivable!”

His pudgy arm could hardly be considered strong, but it was still too much for the slender woman to shake off.

“…H-help…”

Then, all of a sudden, the woman stopped clawing at the man’s arm. She went limp. The light faded from her teary eyes as drool dripped from the corners of her gaping mouth. When a drop fell on the hand clutching her throat, Marquis Findolph grimaced in disgust.

“Gyeh! How foul!”

He heaved the woman’s corpse aside, then grabbed the bell from beside his pillow.

“Inzaghi! Inzaghi, get in here!” he shouted, summoning his captain of the guard.

The man in question quickly opened the bedroom door and responded to the call. He was a hyuma with long hair, silver armor, and a gloomy countenance. The accessories on his ears and fingers were of a similar make to his armor, and he had a sly look about him. His name was Inzaghi, and he held the title of Silver Knight.

After bowing respectfully to his lord, he asked what was wrong.

“You called for me, my lord?”

“Inzaghi, clean up that trash at once!” Marquis Findolph pointed at the woman’s corpse, which had rolled off the bed to slump on the floor.

“Oh my. Did the girl do something to offend you?”

“Why, I should think so! That whore wasn’t a virgin! She even cut herself down there to try to trick me with a bit of blood! Not only did she rob me of my First Night Right, she plotted to deceive a noble! Do you think I ought to show mercy to this tart, Inzaghi?!”

Inzaghi shook his head almost exaggeratedly.

“Absolutely not, my lord. All common women of Findolph must give their virginities to its lord. Such is the law of this land. And when someone violates that law, they forfeit their right to live here. That is how justice is kept.”

“Well put. Well put, Inzaghi. You know what to do, then, I hope?”

“Indeed. I shall track down this girl’s family and any man she had relations with and have them executed.” After giving his answer, though, Inzaghi found he still had a bit more to say. “…But if I may be so bold, my lord, I fear that punishing the transgressor after the fact does little to solve the underlying problem.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You may be being too gentle with these commoners, your lordship. While lenience is a virtue among rulers, your subjects are quick to take advantage of it. Commoners are like wild dogs roaming the fields. Without proper discipline, they’ll never learn their place… My lord, might I suggest that we hold a little ceremony to teach these uneducated commoners exactly whose property they are and what Freyjagard’s absolute law is?”

Marquis Findolph contemplated the suggestion for a moment.

“…Hmm. True… You’re right, Inzaghi, quite right.” His gold teeth glimmered as a barbaric smile crossed his face.

“It’s high time these people know who owns them.”

Inzaghi smiled internally at his lord’s response, thinking how easily manipulated the man was. However, the Silver Knight was careful not to let any of his scorn leak out as he guided the marquis in the direction he wanted.

“If I might make a suggestion, your lordship, I heard tell of a village of greedy peasants who’ve recently amassed wealth beyond their status—”

It was a moment that marked the beginning of the next great trial the High School Prodigies would have to face.