Chapter 55

It was already evening when he trudged out of the office.

He wanted to put something in his mouth, as restoring his body seemed to require tremendous calories.

On his way down to the kitchen, he encountered Leandros on the stairs.

"......"

"...What? If you have something to say, say it now."

"What is that beside you?"

"What do you mean? Why are you talking like that to a clearly living horse?"

Beside him stood a horse.

Sleigh, summoned with the half-horn, fortunately had the appearance of an ordinary black horse.

He had tried it just in case, and after blinking once, it was standing in the office.

"When did you bring a horse to the office... No, never mind."

"That's how it is."

Behind Leandros, faded narratives were being frantically outputted.

[What insane talk is this. No, this thought was somewhat disrespectful toward the Duke. Leandros found the Duke strange.]

Even to him, this was somewhat suspicious.

But conversely, he also thought, "Why should it matter?"

From the beginning, if he kept worrying about such things and telling lies, it would obviously come back as karma.

Leandros spoke as if barely suppressing a boiling rage.

"Please exercise restraint. Arndt's wariness toward Your Grace is considerable."

"Arndt's?"

"I believe you're already aware of the witch hunts that occurred in the past. Including those against Arndt's family."

[He remembered that Arndt had some fear of non-ordinary phenomena. All Leandros could do was implore the Duke.]

There seemed to be some connection.

As he obediently nodded, Leandros turned around and went down.

Following behind him, he and Sleigh exchanged glances.

By the time they reached the basement, Sleigh had disappeared somewhere.

He probably went outside to graze, but he wasn't sure.

Arndt, who was just putting something into the pot, froze with an awkward expression when he entered the kitchen and their eyes met.

"The meal preparation is almost finished."

"I'll wait."

"Since the kitchen is quite hot and dirty, how about waiting in the dining room?"

"What are you saying? We've always eaten here."

Almost simultaneously, sentences appeared behind Arndt, scattered in fragments.

[Arndt wore a startled expression. He felt as if his discomfort in seeing the Duke had been exposed. He also needed time to organize his thoughts. Had he grown wary of the Duke?]

Pretending not to see it, he sat down.

Arndt, seemingly embarrassed at trying to drive him away, cleared his throat and moved busily.

No words were exchanged throughout the meal.

Both Arndt and Leandros were quietly clattering their utensils.

As a result, despite his appetite, he felt like he might get indigestion.

This was what he hated most when eating.

"Hmm, by the way, were there any letters that arrived while I was away?"

"I, I moved them to Your Grace's bedroom."

"Thank you."

As Arndt awkwardly closed his mouth again, Leandros asked.

"Did you have other contacts besides the Baron Arnold's daughter?"

"I sent correspondence to the Aisling Merchant Group to discuss matters related to the eastern project. I'll have to check if there's a reply among the received letters."

Before leaving the castle, he had sent letters everywhere, wanting to handle matters as quickly as possible.

There had been a slight delay due to dying and recovering, but it shouldn't be too late to start now.

Arndt's eyes widened as he spoke while chewing meat.

"Will we also participate in the eastern project?"

"Not that, I'll tell you when it's confirmed. More importantly, Aisling might visit us."

"What? Who?"

"Who else? The only one who can control the merchant group right now is the heir apparent, Aiden Aisling."

Arndt's mouth fell open.

"Ah, b-but, the castle is a mess, it's not yet prepared to host distinguished guests, n-no, really?"

"Can't we welcome him as we are now?"

"Absolutely not! On the honor of Hartmann, never!"

"What more do we need to do here?"

"We need to hire more staff! Bring in more splendid furniture, purchase more refined decorations! It needs to be ten times cleaner than it is now!"

"Do we really need to work that hard...?"

"Your Grace may not feel it yet, but the dignity of Hartmann changes with each of those things! Ah, then I'll need to readjust the budget!"

"Is the budget insufficient?"

"I had allocated it frugally, considering it as a one-year budget. But hosting guests certainly requires money."

"Huh? Then isn't it just a matter of sending Leandros back to the gambling tables?"

"Ah, that method!"

Leandros, who was eating soup, declared firmly.

"I too have my dignity."

Despite saying that, his form when calculating the trajectory of dice moving in a cup was quite extraordinary.

In the end, he burst into laughter seeing Arndt pouting.

It was fortunate that all his attention was focused on the new guest.

"Leandros, it's a joke, so cheer up. Arndt, don't worry too much. The reason Aisling is coming this time is to give us money."

"Such a large merchant group to us?"

"That's right. Just prepare well for the guest reception."

The money Aiden would bring would be enormous.

The narrative behind Arndt was screaming with joy.

[I'm excited!]

* * *

The narratives gradually became invisible.

They were clearest right after his death, then gradually faded until they couldn't be seen.

Looking at this reminded him of a system error.

They were supposed to be invisible and set that way, but felt as if they were briefly visible only to him.

A system error in this world visible only to him, a bug.

It took about two days for the narratives to completely disappear.

For those two days, from eavesdropping on the narratives, he discovered that the two had considerably relaxed their wariness toward him.

Arndt was busy preparing for guest reception, and Leandros recalled the former Duchess with fond affection whenever he saw him.

Thus, after fifteen days and a few more,

A rare guest visited Hartmann Castle.

"Greetings, Your Grace. I prepared minimally as I was in a hurry to come, but I hope you will kindly accept it."

"Who would find fault with your sincerity? Of course, I'll gladly accept."

In the reception room of the castle.

The repairs, renovations, and interior decorations were so perfect that there was no trace that it had once been broken and collapsed.

Aiden, whom he met after a long time, was polite as usual but somehow stiff.

Though fallen, Hartmann was still a Duke of the country.

It would be rare for a merchant to have a private audience with a Duke.

"Arndt."

"Yes, Your Grace."

When he spoke softly, Arndt instructed others to move the mountain of gifts that Aiden had brought.

It was truly noble treatment.

Long, luxurious sofas and splendid tables.

Sweet desserts and fragrant tea.

Classic paintings hung on the walls, and behind him, servants stood politely and submissively with their hands clasped.

Seeing this, Aiden said with a smiling face.

"I heard that Your Grace successfully completed the succession. Belated congratulations."

"That's in the past. Isn't the future more important?"

"You are wise. There may be various talks in the world, but Hartmann Castle is still magnificent and beautiful."

Of course, all of this was thanks to Arndt.

For over two weeks, Arndt had been in charge of everything from castle management to cleaning, hiring staff, and etiquette training.

He was said to have slept less than two hours a day.

"Let's drop the formalities. We'll have nothing to talk about at the dinner banquet."

After sending away all the employees except Arndt, the reception room became much less crowded.

He opened his mouth, leaving Arndt who was pouring tea with a restrained touch.

"You must be tired from coming all the way here, but let's get straight to the point. What do you think about the letter?"

"I read the letter well. However, I don't think I can give you an answer right away."

No answer?

This was a different response from the previous iteration.

"Why?"

"The eastern project has grown too large to pull out of. All major merchant groups in the kingdom are involved, and above all..."

"You'd rather stake more on the royal palace than hastily withdraw, right? At least for now."

"I won't deny it. That's the nature of a merchant's trade."

In a way, it was natural.

In the last iteration, it had taken quite some time to deliver this information to Aiden.

During that time, Aiden would have found his own grounds.

The information they had provided would have served as "confirmation."

But now it was much earlier.

Aiden seemed to have not yet found his own grounds.

But by the time he did, it would be too late.

"Besides, the royal palace would have provided evidence. Perhaps showing off a tamed demonic beast specimen."

"...How did you know that?"

"Of course, there would be various complex reasons besides that. I don't intend to dig into all of that. I'm giving you an opportunity right now."

Even one step too late, and Aiden would die.

The face of Arndt, who had been depressed, still came to mind.

Aiden asked, hiding his confusion.

"How much do you know about the eastern project?"

"Just that it will fail? Strange omens will erupt inside the pit, and by then, it will be too late. Why would the royal palace undertake such a project to tame demonic beasts in the first place?"

"If we breed demonic beasts, we..."

"Since there's demand, it would sell well. But there's a limit to using demonic beast byproducts in daily life. Perhaps in 100 years, they'll build houses from demonic beast bones and make shoes from their leather."

"I cannot guess Your Grace's insight."

"Demonic beast byproducts are optimized for weapons. Both in terms of currently developed processing technologies. Since demonic beasts are not livestock, their usefulness is limited."

Aiden was not stupid.

He bit his lip slightly and said.

"Your speculation is excessive, Your Grace. However, the royal palace's plan..."

"That's why I'm saying it will take another 100 years before it reaches a level that ordinary kingdom citizens can handle. Ah, or perhaps there's something you're worried about? Such as the possibility that Hartmann, who has just returned after falling, is rebelling against the royal palace, and the Aisling Merchant Group might be a chess piece in the fight between the two powers?"

Human suspicion was cumbersome and bothersome.

And it was an emotion that was even more obstructive to salvation, which was the reason he came here.

After scratching the itch for him, Aiden looked at him with a face that didn't know whether to frown or be angry.

"...Those are dangerous words."

"Dangerous or not, I want to make it clear that I have no intention of engaging in a power struggle with the royal palace."

"Then what does Your Grace have in mind?"

"Well. Money?"

"Money... you said?"

"I have many mouths to feed."

Aiden looked around the reception room with an incredulous expression.

Of course, no traces of poverty could be found here, but he was surprisingly sincere.

Think about it.

Generally, to plan something big, funds are needed first.

What great work could be done while starving!

Just because he didn't need to eat didn't mean others didn't need to either!

"There must be other reasons, but if that's what you say for now, the reason you informed me of this..."

"Money. No, not just money, but because I wanted to make another proposal."

"May I ask what it is?"

"If you withdraw from the eastern project now, I'll bear half of the penalty fee."

"What?!"

Aiden stood up in surprise.

Arndt too was looking at him with wide eyes.

"W-why such a proposal?"

"In exchange, why don't you do a business with me? Aren't all the manpower and resources used in the east tailored for demonic beasts?"

"That's right, but... could it be?"

"Do it in the Hartmann Mountains. The Dikenter Mountains."

The kingdom was filled with demonic beast nests.

One of them was the Dikenter Mountains.

While distant ducal territories were still being returned or seized and couldn't be touched, part of the Dikenter Mountains, being utterly useless, had been returned along with the reinstatement.

So it was up to him whether to boil them or roast them.

"But the work would not be smooth in plains and different mountains."

"Don't worry about that. I'll designate a good location."

As he answered, recalling the bundle of papers from the Duchess, Aiden sat back down, deeply contemplating.

When he was already uneasy, to have half the penalty fee covered,

And an opportunity to transfer the business as is to another location.

It was completely like eating the pheasant, eating the eggs, and using the nest for kindling.

If he didn't take this opportunity, he would be the fool of fools.

Then he wouldn't be able to save him either.

He drank the lukewarm tea, leaving him to his dilemma.

Only after he had emptied his teacup did Aiden speak seriously.

"How do you plan to distribute the profits?"

"Let's talk about that slowly from now on."

He put down his teacup and smiled.

Okay.

He would hold onto him tightly and save him.