Chapter 42: 49

Chapter 49

The Battle for the Sage’s Seal (4)

It would have been faster to find the parts without any fancy decorations.

A jacket lined with gold frames and a cape embedded with a flying eager pattern. Mahogany cotton pants underneath a shirt with voluminous frills. Every corner of his outfit was covered with jewels.

The loose jewels and decorations he wore symbolized his vanity.

After all, the most direct way to show off one’s wealth and high honor was to have a luxurious appearance.

Strangely enough, Krepin Rothstaylor looked rather serious and sharp, even in such flashy attire. 

He had a sharp jawline and eyes that didn’t match his age. He was a peculiar person that didn’t make any unnecessary movements, while at the same time giving off an aura of gentleness and class. 

You could tell with just one look that he was not an ordinary person.

As the head of the Rothstaylor family, he was one of the few key influential figures in the Kroel Empire… He had the vigor to make others intimidated just by glancing towards them.

“It’s a shame that Headmaster Obel wasn’t able to personally attend. I’m quite worried, as his health appears to be deteriorating. I hope he gets well soon.”

“Thank you. I’ll make sure to tell the headmaster that Duke Krepin has asked about him.”

Krepin, who took a sip of soup in a dignified manner, expressed his regrets towards Deputy Headmistress Rachel, who had shown up in place of the headmaster.

It was extremely discourteous that the president had not come out directly to greet Krepin despite his visit. Either way, the expression of regret ended shortly after as Krepin, who had one of the highest statuses in the room, changed topics. 

“I’m glad that you look healthy, princess. His Majesty was quite worried about you, seeing as you have come here to study.”

“Thank you, Duke Krepin. Please tell my father that I am adjusting well to my school life and studying hard.”

“As your command. Additionally, though it has been a while… I haven’t yet been able to formally apologize. I heard that you had quite a hard time because of my stupid child. It has already been quite a while, but I have since excommunicated him, as you ordered. It still bothered me greatly that I had yet to properly apologize to you.”

“It’s fine, Duke Krepin. Don’t worry too much about it.”

Princess Penia humbly rejected Krepin’s apology with a somewhat stiff face.

Meanwhile Lortel, who sat at the luncheon for a while watching over them, didn’t say a word.

Krepin also did not appear to care about Lortel’s presence.

The Deputy Headmistress of Silvenia, The Princess of the Nation, and a Duke from the Rothstaylor House.

It was a meeting of nobles with names that were enough to make others kneel without hesitation, regardless of where they went.

The fact that Lortel, who was born in the slums, was sitting at the same table as them was practically an insult. It was only natural that she wouldn’t open her mouth rashly.

The position of chief executive at the Elte Company was by no means light, but it was not an official title.

Elte’s dismissal was almost certain, and the next person to become head would be entirely on Lortel’s side. The weight of power that Lortel would come to hold… Even they wouldn’t be able to take that lightly.

However, ‘as of now’ that situation was taking place entirely inside of the Elte Company. Since there was no official announcement, it was only natural for her to still be treated in such a manner.

So Lortel continued to smile as she kept her head down… She looked over at Krepin with eyes that were as sharp as the knife in her hand.

That man was one who shared the same blood as Ed Rothstaylor.

He was famous for his honorable, dignified, benevolent, and wise household. 

Indeed, that reputation of his wasn’t false… She even felt a sense of sincerity coming from the vassals that followed him.

She could feel the sense of respect directed towards Krepin from each and every one of them.

“As for you… You must be the stand-in for the Elte Company.”

“Yes, my name is Lortel Kehelland. It’s such an honor for me, who is not worthy, to be sitting here.”

“The Golden King, Elte Kehelland’s only child. I am familiar with your profound insight and your spirit in taking on challenges.”

It was just a formal compliment from Krepin as Lortel responded with gratitude, giving off her business-like smile.

She was sure that he was well aware of what was currently happening to Elte inside of the company, but the two of them kept on smiling.

“I didn’t realize that you had your eyes on the Sage’s Seal. As expected, when there’s something good on sale it will always attract the attention of merchants with good eyes.”

Lortel gave a humble smile in response to Krepin’s cunning words.

“We always head towards the scent of money. If there’s something for sale that will make a good profit, we will always make sure to visit there.”

Soon after the luncheon ended, the Sage’s Seal was brought out to the central conference room in Trix Hall. 

A few moments were given so that both the Elte Company and the Rothstaylor Family could use the scholars, who were experts in magic books, they brought over to verify the authenticity of the seal.

After taking time to report on the condition of the seal, the amount of magic power inherent in it, and the current situation of the resonance owner, the meeting moved onto the main event.

“As for the situation… I won’t be going into detail.”

The situation in which the Sage’s Seal needed to be sold off was a major disgrace for Silvenia.

Even though they didn’t want to make it into a big deal, they couldn’t sell it off at a low price to those who didn’t have the power to purchase it at a larger price.

“From our point of view, we want to avoid a situation in which negotiations are dragged on to the point that unnecessary rumors begin to circulate. As you both heard last night, I’m asking you to both write down your bid and submit it… We will then sell it to the person who listed the higher offer.”

A sheet of parchment was placed in front of Lortel and Krepin, who sat far away from each other in the conference room. 

The carefully opened parchment was imbued with all sorts of preservation magic.

It was a method to prevent the use of magic ink to change what was written halfway through.

Krepin stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Lortel slowly closed her eyes.

The Sage’s Seal was a unique, one-of-a-kind item in the world. Though, there were previous sales of similar books recorded in the history of commerce.

Lortel knew about all the previous, unprecedented large-scale book transactions throughout history. For her, such market knowledge was no different than multiplication tables. It was only natural that she would memorize everything.

‘The Magic Book of Order’, which had dozens of materialistic type magics imbued in it by the genius alchemist Karl, had a final bidding price of 8100 Plen gold coins.

‘The Book of Habitual Routine’, which was the only magic book on organism replication magic analysis and was currently stored in the imperial library, had a final bidding price of 6730 Plen gold coins.

Finally, the Archmage Glockt’s personally handwritten magic notes, regarding his visit to an unknown continent down in the south, had a final bidding price of 7020 Plen gold coins.

The value of the inherent magic, the value of being an academic material that still needed to be researched, and the value of it simply being a luxury item all had to be considered when determining the bid.

In the end, the key was how much profit you could make off it.

Watching the two quietly look down at their parchment, Princess Penia—who came as a notary—carefully watched over them.

“I have received your bid. Thank you both for expressing your valuable opinions.”

The school’s staff greeted them politely shortly after, and Deputy Headmistress Rachel unfolded both of their submitted parchment.

The result was the exact opposite to what Princess Penia had expected.

Attendee: Krepin Rothstaylor (Representing the Rothstaylor Family)

Presented Amount: 8900 Plen Gold Coins

Attendee: Lortel Kehelland (Representing the Elte Company)

Presented Amount: 9400 Plen Gold Coins

* * *

“All she has to do is raise the price and it will work out. Even if she goes on the offense to get her hands on the Sage’s Seal, she still won’t face a loss.”

“Is that so? But isn’t that something you don’t know for sure?”

Sitting next to the fire, Ziggs handed me some more soup.

On the second day, it felt like my body had regained some of its energy. After having my magic power untangled, it seemed like my body’s condition was recovering rapidly.

“The Elte Company isn’t the type of business to go around randomly digging for gold, right? I didn’t expect Lortel to accept your offer so easily, especially since she’ll face a loss if she’s not able to sell it at a higher price.”

“No matter how high she raises it, the Rothstaylor Family will buy it from her. Either way, she won’t end up facing a loss.”

“Does the Rothstaylor family really place that high of a value on the seal? To the point where they are willing to buy it, again regardless of the price she asks?”

Looking at Ziggs, I nodded my head

But that was a lie.

I had no idea just how much the Rothstaylor Family would be willing to spend on the Sage’s Seal. 

If Lortel really ended up buying it at such a ridiculous price, then even the Rothstaylor Family might give up on the seal.

In any case, Krepin was researching eternal life, while the Sage’s Seal was related to Celestial Magic. It was only acting as a secondary piece of research material, to assist with his goal. In other words, he could still continue with his research even without it.

There was no way that Lortel, who was an outsider, would know that. Even if she did, Lortel had still agreed to what I asked of her. 

There were two reasons for that.

The first was because Lortel felt affection towards me.

The second was that she was betting on the unique fact that I used to be a part of the Rothstaylor Family.

She had invested in my suggestion because she thought I might have been aware of some of the internal circumstances within the Rothstaylor Family.

Just listening to my explanation of it all might make it sound like I was complete trash.

It seemed like Lortel was spending an astronomical amount of money just to prevent Krepin from purchasing the Sage’s Seal.

Well, most of the money could be returned, even if she had to sell the seal at a lower price. It wasn’t not as big of a loss as one might think… But it still wasn’t a small amount of money by any means.

In my defense, it didn’t matter how much money Lortel used in the first place.

She wouldn’t even have to pay for it.

In any case, the Sage’s Seal would end up getting stolen by Professor Glast the day before the sale took place. In the end, the deal would never go through.

That was just so that I could make sure to keep Krepin, who was trying to squeeze his way into the current flow of the story, away.

Rustle.

Suddenly a rustling sound came from a patch of grass. As Ziggs and I turned our heads, a girl whose face we were quite familiar with came walking into the camp. Breathing hard, it seemed like she had run over in a hurry.

“Oh, it’s Yennekar. It’s not even lunchtime yet, but you’ve already made it here from the teacher’s district?”

“Yeah! My morning class is already over! There’s no other class that I need to attend, and I can just take care of my assignments later tonight!”

“Even so, you should have eaten lunch first—”

“I’m not hungry!”

Yennekar smiled faintly as she took off her outer layer, twisting the ends of her light-pink hair as she walked over to the campfire.

“Ed! You’ve regained consciousness!”

“Oh, Yennekar. I’m sorry that I made you worry. I heard all the details from Ziggs. It sounds like I’ve caused you a lot of trouble…”

“Hm? No, no way!”

Yennekar waved her arms around in an exaggerated gesture as she shook her head, taking note of my complexion.

“I really wasn’t worried, not even a bit! So don’t say that you’re sorry because you thought I was worried! Really! I wasn’t worried a bit! Not in the slightest! I didn’t even care!”

“That’s not true, Yennekar. There was even a rumor that you ran across the school grounds on the verge of crying. On top of that, when you went into the school’s conference room last time…”

“Haaaa! Heeey!! That’s quite a funny story, Ziggs! But look at today! Isn’t the weather quite chilly?! Better be careful!!! You don’t want to catch a cold!!!!!”

Seeing her breathing heavily after running through the forest, I felt even worse for her.

She was definitely a girl with a big heart. Even though she was worried, she didn’t want to hear someone apologize for making her worry.

Yennekar, flustered, looked around… After taking a few deep breaths, she came towards me and sat down.

As soon as she did, a bat suddenly popped out from behind Yennekar’s back.

* * *

Translator – Plumper

Proofreader – Harley

* * *

[Please kill me, young master Ed! Please kill me! I am unworthy, as I had no idea that young master Ed was overworking himself!]

“Wh-What? Mugg? You were there?”

[I wanted to come out right away to bow in apology, but I was worried that manifesting this worthless body of mine would only hurt young master Ed’s magic power more. So right now, I am now using Lady Yennekar’s magic power instead!]

Yennekar nodded at those words as she looked at me.

Mugg flew around before he landed on my lap, bowing in apology with tears running down his face.

“Why is he making such a fuss?”

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“Considering how you looked while unconscious, isn’t much that of a fuss.”

Hearing what Ziggs said, my face went pale. They said that I resembled a corpse and, when considering just how unsightly I was, I couldn’t say anything.

“I guess so… being unconscious for ten days, it makes sense…”

Ten days.

“Wait a minute… Ten days…?”

I quickly rose from my seat. Even though I hadn’t fully recovered my strength yet, I managed to slowly move my body over to the underground tunnel I dug out to check on the meat I was storing.

All the meat that I’d been working so hard to smoke… As I poked my nose inside to take a look, a rotten smell filled my nostrils.

“U-Ughk!”

I furrowed my eyebrows as I quickly plugged my nose.

The smoked meat could only be stored for about five days without any issues, so I was consuming it according to the order I was preserving it… But after being unconscious for ten days, all of it had gone bad.

Also, when I went out to the river to check, the fishing net was torn up after not being maintained. All the fish that I had previously farmed had swam away in search of freedom.

“I’ve lost all my food.”

I let out a deep sigh as I returned to the fire and sat down. It was my fault that I hadn’t properly taken care of my own body, so there was nothing I could do about it.

It seemed as if I didn’t have much of a choice but to use some of the money I’d been saving up on food so I could eat. It was not a big loss, but it’s still a painful mistake that would hurt in the long run.

When I started thinking about having to survive through the winter, there was still so much work I needed to take care of. But having been pushed back so much… I let out a deep sign.

“You’re thinking of overdoing it again, aren’t you Ed?”

As if Yennekar read my thoughts, she came rushing closer to me.

“It’s okay, Ed. I’ll help you.”

“I can lend a hand until the next exam period. If it’s simply hunting or carpentry, I can definitely help out.”

Ziggs spoke as if it was no big deal as he shoved the poker into the fire.

“As long as we keep on working little by little, eventually we can get the job done, right?”

Hearing his words and seeing that smirk of his, he truly seemed like a man who had survived out in the wild on his own.

As long as I took care of the work bit by bit, I’d somehow be able to make it through it all.

Sitting by the fire and looking up, I watched Yennekar and Ziggs put their heads together, contemplating what problem we should take care of first. Suddenly, I was reminded of a similar scene from the previous spring.

Sitting down, completely broke in the woods, without anything to my name… I slept while hugging myself under a wooden shelter that I built in a hurry. 

Falling asleep by myself while being bitten by bugs in the dark… I suddenly realized that such a past hadn’t been all that long ago.

That’s right. There was a lot of troublesome work to take care of, but I’d managed to deal with even worse situations while living out in the woods.

The flow of the original timeline had gone awry, but there’s no reason for me to complain all that much since I’d been able to solve every major issue.

As for the work regarding my survival, I could get help from the two of them as I slowly recovered my health.

The flow of the story… If Krepin lost the bid, then there wouldn’t be any other variables. That meant there wouldn’t be any major problems.

But just in case, I couldn’t let my guard down.

* * *

The bid submitted by the Elte Company had ended the negotiations for the purchase of the Sage’s Seal.

Krepin Rothstaylor was bewildered, though he soon got rid of that expression as he looked towards Lortel with a gentle smile.

Lortel smiled back at him.

Only a few transactions of that magnitude regarding a magic book had taken place before.

Of course, the Rothstaylor family would have come up with a price according to the market price.

The highest price ever for a magic book in history was only around 8000 gold coins.

In other words, he thought that if the main goal of the Elte Company was to ‘make a profit’, they wouldn’t submit a higher price than that.

That’s why Krepin had chosen to go from 8000 coins up to 8900 coins.

Lortel had read that far in advance and called for a higher sum of money to surpass Krepin.

It was a battle in which Krepin had lost from the very start.

That was because the goal of the Elte Company was ultimately to ‘make a profit.’

‘Wasn’t her goal to make a profit…?’

Sitting in the audience, Princess Penia’s expression was frozen.

A merchant was a man whose actions were for the sake of creating a profit. Lortel’s offer of 9400 gold coins made no sense, considering how much would be needed to break even.

Considering the prices of magic books in history, it’s unlikely that she would be able to resell the Seal at a higher price.

Lortel was not the type of person who would bet on making profit when there was only a small chance of success.

She must have had another intention than making a profit.

However, Princess Penia’s Insightful Eyes were crying out. The true nature of Lortel truly only consisted of the greed for gold coins.

If making a profit wasn’t the goal, then what made that foxlike girl to do something like that?

In the first place, it was difficult to use the true strength of the Sage’s Seal unless you were an owner with a proper resonance with it. Even with that in mind, without a proper understanding of Celestial Magic there’s no use in it.

If it wasn’t to take advantage of the seal’s magical strength, and it wasn’t for its academic value, and it wouldn’t generate a profit…

Why did Lortel go so far as to accept the bid for the seal, despite all those reasons against it?

If you ruled out all those values, just why would she make a bid for the seal?

“Hm…”

Krepin had an unusual expression on his face.

He politely greeted the audience as he left the meeting room with an awkward expression on his fac. He didn’t seem all that happy.

Only then did Princess Penia feel as if she had been struck by lightning.

If you looked at the purpose of the Sage’s Seal, ignoring all of its pre-existing value, the goal of owning it was to make sure Krepin Rothstaylor was kept in check and not able to go ahead with his plans. 

That was the reason Princess Penia was so concerned in the first place.

“Princess Penia. Only in this instance are we allies. The Rothstaylor family, who are the public enemy, must be driven from Acken Island.”

That line from Lortel stung Princess Penia’s heart again.

However, there was still one thing that was strange.

Lortel had tried to prevent Krepin from being able to buy the seal at a lower price.

However, if you ended up buying it at that high a price, what was the point of trying to keep Krepin in check?

What if she didn’t care about purchasing the seal in the first place…?

What if she was just trying to keep the seal out of his hands instead?

There was no other explanation. Otherwise, someone like Lortel—who lived and died to make a profit—wouldn’t have bought the seal at such a high price.

With that being the case, a new question arose.

Just why on earth was Lortel trying to keep Krepin in check?

Princess Penia knew the answer. Krepin was a seemingly dignified and benevolent duke, but he was actually a villain that hid his evil intentions.

However, even with the authority and power that came from being a princess, she didn’t have evidence to prove his sly innermost thoughts to the world. 

Krepin was so meticulous that he made sure to never leave a trail.

Even with Lortel’s power and influence as a merchant, she shouldn’t have been able to find anything related to Krepin’s innermost darkness. No matter how influential she might be, she couldn’t dig up information on someone like him.

Even if she were able to, there would be no reason for Lortel to step up and take action to stop Krepin’s dark plans.

That was because there would be no reason for her to confront such a powerful, influential person.

What was needed was a sense of justice against wrongdoings. Or a sense of duty to punish the evil.

Those things… That was too different from the type of person Lortel truly was. In other words, it wasn’t Lortel’s intention to stop Krepin.

“But…”

Penia blurted out her words in a stream of thought.

If that was the case, then there was someone who had used or manipulated Lortel… Did it even make any sense for such a person to exist?

As a merchant, she had a rare, exceptional talent—going as far as to be called the Golden Daughter… Just who could control someone like her?

Lortel was, to say the least, a person who tended to reign over the situation. She wasn’t the type of person who liked to be under someone’s thumb. Penia had thought that she was like a wild wolf, unable to be tamed by anyone.

“Princess Penia, you don’t look so well. Are you uncomfortable?”

Penia bowed her head down quietly in the corner of the conference room. She didn’t bother to respond to Claire’s words.

There was someone that tried to stop the Sage’s Seal from falling into Krepin’s hands.

If that proposition was established, then there needed to be a prerequisite.

There had to be someone else that knew Krepin Rothstaylor’s dark nature.

If there were someone like that at Silvenia…

“Princess Penia?”

“It may be presumptuous of me to say, but I wanted to answer your speculations regarding Ed taking the side of the Rothstaylor family.”

Lortel’s words regarding Ed stabbed her heart like a dagger.

Excommunicated from his family, tossed into the wild, clenching his teeth while working hard to survive, to the point that he had collapsed from overworking… If he was the one that was trying to fight the darkness inside of the Rothstaylor family…

It was Penia Elias Kroel herself who had brought such a person down into the abyss.

* * *

Certificate of Sale.

Buyer: Lortel Kehelland (Elte Company)

Seller: Obel Forsyth (Silvenia)

Sale Price: 9400 Plen Gold Coins

Date of Contract: Transfer of resonance ownership (7) days after the certificate signing.  

Further Details of the Contract.

.

.

.

Rolling up the signed certificate of sale, she held it close with a bright smile.

According to Ed’s message, no matter how much she bought it for, the Rothstaylor family would buy anyway. She believed in his words and aggressively raised the price.

She was willing to put half of her trust into Ed. After all, he was an insider from the Rothstaylor family.

As for the other half… Well, if things didn’t go the way Ed said, Lortel was skilled enough to resell it for at least 8500 gold coins.

The difference of 900 gold coins could be considered a loss, but thinking of it as the cost of a free pass from Ed… It was a bargain.

“Anything… Anything, he said…”

Lortel let her hair fall loose as she put in some accessories.

The mysterious, foxlike appearance that she had shown at the negotiation table was nowhere to be seen. Standing in front of a mirror, she was putting on a rose-shaped blue headband.

“… Anything? Really?”

She began to blush.

Even that devilish, cold face of hers at the negotiation table would turn into that of an innocent, sweet girl in a game of tug-of-war between man and woman.

Because of that large gap in appearance, she seemed to be out of her mind. All she was able to do now was look at the newly received piece of jewelry she placed on her head.

If the Princess had witnessed that scene, she would have vomited blood.

____

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