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Since then, my mother had been showing an intense opposition to letting me leave. As a result, I had been bothering the Maguire family for the past two days.

The test that would determine my students\' fate was already getting closer, but instead, I had paused their classes for the past two weeks.

Sure enough, I received the silent treatment from the students, but here I was, completely ignoring them.

"Gu-chan, chew your food well, okay?"

"Umm."

I nodded genuinely while taking a sip of the soup. The soup quickly melted in my mouth as I chewed on the overcooked and coarsely chopped ingredients with the nostalgic taste of faint saltiness.

"Is it delicious?"

"Yes!"

I replied cheerfully to my mother, who was watching me eat with a delightful smile while resting her chin on her hands.

I didn\'t try to flatter her, though. It was my true feelings. I\'m sure if we talk about the taste or cooking technique, the food served in Silver Knife was far more perfect. Even so, somehow this simple taste was so delicious that it brought tears to my eyes.

"Well, despite Master\'s words and actions, you were still born as a human, after all."

Mura earnestly expressed his rude impression.

Leave me alone.

Aware of heat creeping up my cheeks, I quietly sipped the soup in my mouth, trying to cover up the awkward atmosphere.

Once the meal was over, Anna Maguire disappeared inside the kitchen to pick up the dessert. Replacing her, my grandfather, Dimer Maguire, showed up and made an offer.

"Grey, there\'s something I want to discuss a little bit. Is it fine with you?"

"I don\'t mind."

While it was true that I\'d come here partly to meet my mother, the other reason was only that my grandfather had summoned me.

Urged by my grandfather, I entered the drawing room. The current head of the house, Bart Maguire, was also present there.

As I sat down on the chair facing them, Bart waved with his right hand, greeting me with a bouncy voice.

"Yo, Grey. Your hard work has become the talk of the town among the high society."

"Thank you very much."

High society, huh. Basically, purebred aristocrats and the local great clans were completely different parties. So, they naturally had different social circles.

Among the local great clans, the way my existence had confronted the purebred aristocrats should be evaluated positively in a certain way. I\'m sure of it.

"So, what do you want?"

I\'m not fond of indirect strategy, which is why I asked them straightforwardly. I assumed it was about the loan.

With a mysterious face, Bart gave me a bow so deep that his forehead touched the table in front of me. (T/N: Probably typo from the author; it is Bard instead of Bart.)

"I apologize for treating you unfairly until now."

Then he expressed his apology.

"Huh?"

Oblivious to the fact that his eccentric behavior made me confused and dumbfounded, he went on.

"We don\'t have an excuse. It is an undeniable fact that we drove you to the Millard family. Of course, we have also forcibly separated you from your mother, Anna. I understand that this is by no means something forgivable一ー"

"Oh, if it\'s about that, you don\'t need to worry. I can meet my mother freely like this now. And the Millard family gave me an irreplaceable experience."

It wasn\'t a pretense. I was speaking from my heart. I had heard the majority of the truth from my grandfather. In the aristocratic society, bloodline was the most important thing.

If my existence had been the cause of conflict within the Maguire family, as the head of the party, he had made a reasonable decision of cutting off the root of the problem. Otherwise, the so-called aristocratic society wouldn\'t have been able to preserve itself.

"Your words have calmed me down, even if only a bit."

Bart took a deeply relieved sigh and gave me a worn-out smile.

"Yeah, let\'s get down to the main business now."

"No, that\'s all. Bart just wanted to apologize to you, really. That\'s why I called you here. Well, there is also a part where he was being pestered by Anna..."

Dimer stroked his unshaven beard in awkwardness.

Judging from their behaviors, it was most likely my mother\'s intention to call me here. The two of them seemed to have gone through a lot of trouble.

In that case, it was a great opportunity. Let\'s talk about business. If the rumors were true, this place must be in a lot of trouble right now.

Just as I was about to speak, there was an uproar in the entrance. Apparently, the timing was somehow perfect.

The door opened with a bang, and a tall gentleman with slanted eyes entered the room while stroking his beard.

Interesting. I thought I had seen this man once in the imperial council. I remembered him because of his fussy attitude and the clamor he had caused in the conference room.

The tall nobleman sat down at the table without permission. Taking a cigar from the soldier behind him, he lit it with firestone and put it in his mouth.

"How is it? Have you made up your mind, Lord Maguire?"

Hmph, it seems like he hasn\'t recognized me. I suppose it was natural, given how he hadn\'t been summoned to my knighthood award ceremony half a year ago.

"Lord Noval, I believe there is still some time before the deadline?"

Unlike his usual attitude, Bart spoke with a cold tone and unconcealed hostility. It was just like how I\'d expected.

The tall man was Count Noval. Then, the obese-looking man without an ounce of fashion sense must be the merchant of West Company.

"There\'s still time in the deadline indeed, but the interest is still incurring. It\'s a kind gesture on my part."

While saying that, Count Noval let out a puff of smoke onto Bart\'s face.

Bart\'s whole body trembled from the humiliation as he shot a deathly glare at Noval. It was a perfectly natural reaction, given his current circumstances.

Information is everything to a merchant. I had already heard about the situation of the Maguire family.

To the west of Maguire\'s territory was the vast domain of Count Noval. Precisely on the border of Maguire\'s territory, there was a mine owned by the family from generation to generation. This mine had been the main source of income for the Maguires, as it was still expected to yield a certain amount of minerals. However, now it had become their biggest Achilles heel.

All of a sudden, Count Noval claimed that his family was the original owner of that mine, and he demanded the Maguire family to hand over the right to manage the mine as well as the huge royalty they had incurred until now.

From the beginning, Count Noval\'s ownership claim was based on some worn-out old documents, not the kind of things that could be officially recognized.

Neither Bart nor Dimer must have doubted their victory at first. However, without any evidence, it had turned out to be a total victory for Count Noval. As a result, the Maguire family now owed a 20 billion amount of colossal debt.

"This place is really good. The air is fresh here, and natural resources are abundant too. Above all, the women here are nice. This place will surely flourish as a red light district."

A merchant-looking man licked his tongue, shaking his flabby cheeks and laughing vulgarly.

I couldn\'t believe it came from a merchant like us. If anything, this man looked more similar to the underworld people like Laguna.

Perhaps, West Company only labeled themselves as a trading company, but they actually might have deep connections with underground organizations.

"Hmm, so you are from West Company, the one that has purchased the right to claim the land from Count Noval?"

At my words, the obese man slightly furrowed his brow, staring at my entire body for a while. As if suddenly recalling something, his expression turned grave.

He squeezed out his voice in surprise.

"The president of Sagami Co., Shirabe Sagami!"

"What!?"

Count Noval turned his sharp gaze at me.

It seemed the idiot finally recognized me. Right now, I was wearing clothes made by my mother. These clothes had an outstanding taste, but unfortunately, they were too childish. It was no joke how it made me look a few years younger. Most probably, they must have thought of me as a relative\'s child.

But then again, I was the bitter enemy of the purebred aristocrats. It wouldn\'t be that hard to find out that the Maguire family was one of my parents\' homes. I\'m sure they could\'ve figured it out themselves if they\'d used their brain a little.

"Nice to meet you, Underling of the Trade Union and the purebred aristocrats."

"......"

The two of them glared at me, gritting their teeth in disgust.

The empire\'s commerce association, also known as the Trade Union, was an organization recently formed by a collaboration of multiple giant companies established in the imperial capital, beginning with West Company. Its economy was the largest in the world aside from the Commercial Guild.

They loaned money at high-interest rates to the feudal lords of the empire who had to rack their brains to collect it, then they used the debts as the basis to effectively rule the empire\'s territory and shun the non-union merchants.

Recently, it seemed the number of merchants joining the union was rapidly increasing, and starting from Rainer, the Commercial Guild\'s management had frequently consulted me about the countermeasure against the union.

"Hmm, please show me the written contract or whatever it is, Uncle."

"Hey, you bastard, what are you doing talking on your own accord!?"

Count Noval\'s armored guard approached me with an annoyed look, his nostrils flaring up as he grasped the hilt of the sword fastened on his waist. He pulled the sword blade from the sheath.

Idiot, so you want to make me your enemy!

"Stop!"

My sharp voice of restraint reverberated through the room. Hatch\'s long, sharp claws had dug into a thin layer of skin on the guard\'s forehead, and a streak of blood flowed out of it.

"You don\'t need to come out."

"Okay."

She gave me a bow and blended into the scenery.

My mother and the other members were now in the most dangerous position as my relatives. That was why I\'d brought Hatch along with me to guard the Maguire family. Judging from her bloodshot eyes, she seemed to be accumulating stress from being in an invisible state all the time. I should try to replace her with Dorahachi next time.

However it might be, Dorahachi also held the [Awakened] title, and she was easy to satisfy as long as I bought him lunch boxes.

"I apologize, my subordinate is a little bit short-tempered. I won\'t be able to guarantee your safety, so how about keeping your mouth shut?"

The guard dropped to the floor as if all of his strength had been sucked out.

Count Noval and the merchants of West Company looked at us silently with a paper-white complexion as if they had seen a ghost.

"I definitely don\'t think it\'s only \'a little bit short-tempered,\' though......"

"Uncle!"

Ignoring Mura\'s grumbling that sounded like he was fed up, I once again called out to Bart, who was still in a daze.

"A-ahh, yeah."

As if being switched on, he immediately got up and left the room.

Before long, Bart returned with two letters and presented them to me. I took the letters and checked them.

One of them was a letter issued by the Judicial Branch. It confirmed Count Noval\'s claim against the Maguire family in the amount of 20 billion Gs, including the decree to pay them.

The other one stated that the claiming right had been transferred to West Company.

"Very well, I will finance the Maguire family."

From the universal storage, I took out two cloth bags containing 100 red coins each and put them on the table.

At the same time, I whispered to Hatch to bring a certain person to this place as soon as possible.

"Please confirm the amount."

Bart reached out to the cloth bag with a trembling hand and peered into it. Then, with his mouth wide open like an idiot, he stiffened.

"Bart!"

Dimer shouted at Bart in an unusually stern voice.

"E-excuse me. B-but, I don\'t want to be a nuisance to my nephew more than I already am......"

Bart stammered, spitting out his incoherent words.

"Bart, leave everything to Grey."

Dimer ordered without listening to his opinion.

Bart only gave a silent nod.

"West Company\'s representative, here is the promised 20 billion G. I will pay it here and now, so sign the agreement."

"W-what about the interest!?"

West Company\'s representative stood up and shouted, his expression changed.

"Don\'t you know the 30-day rule for the transfer of debt?"

The transfer of debt 30-day rule. It was a rule stating that interest was not accrued within 30 after the debt was transferred.

Basically, the transfer of debt didn\'t require consent from the debtor\'s side. Therefore, in order to ensure that the debtor\'s side was aware of the transfer, interest would not be accrued for the next 30 days.

This rule had been set up by the Commercial Guild, and the empire and other countries had enacted it as law. You probably didn\'t need to explain this separately if someone was a merchant.

"T-that\'s right! The transfer to West Company was made right after the judicial decision. Now, it\'s the 25th day since the transfer was made. The interest is still halted!!"

While Bart spoke in a delightful voice, the representative of West Company gritted his teeth for a while.

"I just remember we have something to do. Let\'s go back for today, Count Noval!"

He hurriedly urged Count Noval next to him.

"Aren\'t you going to take it?!"

Dimer shouted in criticism.

"You don\'t particularly need to receive it."

A cheerful voice of a young man resounded from behind to answer that.

He made it in time. I would just leave the troublesome part to this man.

As I turned around, a blonde-haired handsome young man was standing with a malicious smile plastered on his face.

"L-Lord Rainer!!"

Count Noval remained upright, while the representative of West Company showed a desperate expression.

"I owe you for coming here, Rainer-san. Here is the deposit from Lord Maguire.\'\'

"Hmm, I will check it."

Rainer dumped the red coins on the table and began to count.

"I have confirmed it. I\'ll arrange the repayment agreement here. By the way, is it really alright for you not to receive the deposit? If a deposit is made, it will bring shame to your trading company and the Trade Union, won\'t it?"

A deposit was a method used when a creditor was unable to receive the repayment due to absence or uncertainty. Therefore, to be deposited was in itself to be branded as a third-rate merchant as it meant they were unable to receive the debt.

In particular, this time, the one who wrote the repayment agreement was Rainer Owenheim, the president of the Commercial Guild. The credibility of that document was considerable. Furthermore, if the refusal to accept the contract was publicly announced as the reason, the reputation of the merchant would plummet as a result.

"T-that will be a problem!!"

And so, with the shriek from the teary-faced West Company\'s representative, the curtains dropped for this foolish charade.

◇◆◇◆◇◆

The repayment agreement was signed, and Count Noval and West Company\'s representative left immediately with a quiet and meek attitude as if they couldn\'t wait to escape this place, unlike how they had arrogantly entered the room.

"Rainer-san, thank you very much."

"No, it\'s fine. It\'s a small price to pay if I can do you a favor."

As Rainer gave a dry laugh, Bart was completely stiff and tense. Meanwhile, Dimer\'s face was also a bit stiff, though he was better at concealing it.

"So? What are you going to do now?"

Rainer asked, leaning his body with a mischievous look.

"I have come up with a solution to solve the matter you have been talking about."

"That\'s interesting. Well, I can partly guess what it was. Shutting down the Trade Union, isn\'t it?"

"Yes, it\'s just as you said."

As expected, he seemed to have noticed.

Certainly, one of the reasons why I helped was I couldn\'t endure seeing my mother\'s hometown being trampled and devastated by such scum.

However, I\'m a merchant. I\'m not so simple-minded that I would simply finance them, even if they were the direct relatives of my mother. I would forsake them if there was no profit.

The true reason why I lent my hand to them was to shut down the highly-efficient Trade Union.

Lately, the Trade Union had been aiming at local great clans through the purebred aristocrats, just like the Maguire family\'s case, and they had been trying to shun the Commercial Guild by forcefully acquiring credits. So, we could use that against them.

"Then, we have to watch over them attentively, right?"

Rainer\'s malicious smile deepened, so much that even a demon would run away immediately if they saw it.

"Yes, of course."

It would be a huge advantage for us, so it was a natural conclusion.

In the feudal system of this empire, the territory of the feudal lords was, so to speak, like a small country in itself. From deciding the tax rate of the territory to granting permission for a specific business, all decisions were based on the will of the feudal lords.

However, asking for money in exchange for granting permission for a specific business was equivalent to asking for a fight against the Commercial Guild, and no one would dare to do that, except some purebred aristocrats. Even the worst kind, like the Millard family, had no restrictions on commerce.

The feudal lords, who held such substantial authority of their territory, were usually conservative, so they didn\'t wish to see a sudden change in their territory. Even if this was the sole method to earn a fortune in the future, they would only stand back and look at other territories.

For that reason, Rainer\'s Commercial Guild and the others from the empire were at their wit\'s end, unable to do anything about the rapid development of Radol.

So, the Trade Union was like other materialistic organizations, the villains igniting the fire on the butt of those feudal lords. There was no other way to deal with this.

Furthermore, it would be killing two birds with one stone by testing the loyalty of the betrayers joining the Trade Union.

"It\'s scary. You really are terrifying."

I don\'t want to be called that by you, who immediately notice my true intentions.

"Then, shall we polish the plan as much as possible?"

"Yeah, let\'s do that. I will also have you guys cooperate with us."

"Y-yes!!"

Bart nodded repeatedly.

A peal of laughter leaked out from me and Rainer, and it grew louder and louder, echoing throughout the room.

"It\'s really scary how they look like two peas in a pod. These two......"

Mura\'s monologue echoed inside my head. He sounded genuinely speechless.