[Abduction] Double arm scales (6)
“Brother, it’s normal to go around here and there, but this time I’m even more worried because he said he’s accompanied by Bell. Is it so dangerous that you cannot handle it alone?”
“No, it’s not particularly dangerous, it’s just… out of consideration for Lortel… He still seems very uncomfortable being alone with me…”
“…is it so? It didn’t seem that uncomfortable to me…”
“That’s it.”
The next day, servants lined up at the front door of the Ross Taylor mansion. It was to see me off to the commercial city of Oldeck.
I’ve told Tanya beforehand that I don’t have to be too mindful every time I go out of the mansion, but when I go out on an official schedule like this, I have to follow proper exit procedures.
I go to Old Deck, a commercial city, to carry out an official schedule. The reason is that he is going to inspect the stores that distribute various household items under the order of the Roth Taylor family.
In order to go out with Bell, the maid, he needed a justification worthy of it. It was because Bell was a high-class manpower more than he thought, and he had to miss out on schedules just as much as the key people in the mansion.
Little Lortel was hiding behind Belle, clutching at her collar. We were quite close until yesterday, but it feels like we’ve suddenly drifted apart after knowing that I read the contents of the notebook I cherished so much.
Yesterday, while Lortel was asleep for a while (to be precise, while I put her to sleep), I checked the contents of the notes and couldn’t help but panic.
It was because the notebook Lortel had always been carrying with her before she lost her memory… was filled with thoughts about me that made her feel embarrassed.
The stories about me described by Lortel are somewhat exaggerated or overly glorified. …It was to the point where I thought it was a bit excessive, so I felt sorry for myself while reading it.
“So, would it be okay if I ask what it was about?”
Staring at Lortel, who was running around among the maids loading the wagon, Bell asked in a timid voice.
He wasn’t the type to ask more questions than necessary, but this time he seemed to have judged that it was necessary for him to ask.
“Well, there are graphite-like portraits of me here and there… Unexpectedly, Lortel did quite a bit of drawing…”
“…”
“Also, the business plan that Lortel had put together before she lost her memory was drawn in an easy-to-understand manner. I think I know why they always wore it while pampering it.”
As it is a notebook that details Lortel’s business intentions and the direction of the company’s future business operations, it will be a great loss if it is passed on to a business enemy.
Even so, it was impossible to organize everything in my head, so I had no choice but to cherish it.
“Lortel seems to have been thinking of reorganizing the company’s internal manpower after making a deal with Seonghwangdo.”
“It’s natural to organize people first as soon as you take the seat of the head of state.”
“And in the process, I tried to use the deal with Seonghwangdo to take control of the company.”
Perhaps it was an unexpected story up to that point, Bell tilted her head.
“The surest way to tie up merchants is to wrap them up in money and tie them up.”
I said while checking the luggage on the wagon with my eyes.
“If you attract a large business and hold onto the business right and the key connection point, the merchant forces inside the trading house will not be able to do anything about Lortel.”
Lortel has already proven its ability and power, but in order to finally rise to the position of Lord, it is necessary to express its influence more clearly.
Just because she is the adopted daughter of former lord Elte Kecheln, she cannot reign as the leader of the dark-hearted merchants.
“I get it roughly. The transaction with Seonghwangdo is a huge transaction that will make even Elte’s mouth drool… If you attract such a customer and keep it for a long time, you will be able to earn astronomical income.”
“okay. And it’s a project that would be difficult to achieve without me or Lortel, who will connect the saintess and the merchant.”
To open a market that other merchants have no influence on and that only you have access to.
That was the final decision for Lortel to solidify her position as a merchant.
Seonghwangdo Island, a facility that is like the heart of the castle town of Carpea.
If he could afford all the ceremonial supplies, daily necessities, building and maintenance materials, and other magical items for the huge temple by himself… the profits the Elte Company would receive were immeasurable.
What is the scale of the Telos Church, and what is the scale of the building in Seonghwangdo?
Seonghwangdo, where the holy emperor and the saintess live, consists of only three buildings, and the site is twice as large as the Sylvania Academy. Even though the Sylvania Academy was enormous.
Being a priest does not always lead a life far from luxury.
On the contrary, in order to maintain its sanctity and dignity, a huge amount of gold coins are needed.
The place where the gold coins flowed in would be inside the warehouse of Elte Firm.
The starting point of that plan begins when I, Ed Rosteiler, connect Lortel and Saint Clarisse.
Considering the grand business plan that followed, Lortel must have been fully aware of how terrifying my remarks about introducing Clarisse to her for free were.
That look at me in shock was not acting. Well, it’s not like they’re acting between each other now.
“It’s not a pleasant thing from a slogan’s point of view.”
“okay. That’s why we moved at this time.”
If he succeeds in concluding a consignment contract with Saint Clarisse for logistics distribution, Lortel’s position in the merchant’s society will be so great that no one can touch it.
To do so, he cuts Lortel’s neck. It’s going to be really late if Lortel doesn’t see the light of day for this blueprint.
“Your brother knows, too~. Senior Lortel always draws a big picture that is hard to fathom.”
At that moment, Tanya jumped out of the carriage bed, shaking off the hem of her skirt.
The workers who were putting things in the wagon before I left were startled. Certainly, I never imagined that Tanya, who had been standing at the front door waiting on the maids until just now, would be in the luggage compartment of the wagon.
“You always come out of the wildest places.”
“I don’t really like wagon luggage compartments~. I don’t think there’s that kind of cold feeling…”
“…”
“Anyway. Listening to what you said, I can smell it.”
Tanya landed on the floor, twisting her glossy blonde hair.
The porters who were loading the bags were shocked and fell to their knees, but Tanya gave the order to continue working with a rough shake of the head.
“smell?”
“Your brother is noticing the smell, right? That old merchant named Slog is oddly bold. As if he had someone looking after him.”
“That’s true, but I can’t see the power to do so again…”
“That’s why… Won’t they subdue Lortel-senpai out of nowhere, even come to the Ross Taylor estate to check on his condition… You know very well that if we make up our minds and intervene, they’ll get tired too… .”
Tanya c*cked her chin and tilted her head.
“Is there a corner that you believe in?”
“I wonder how reliable it will be if there is one, but…”
Roth Taylor’s estate is a place where he receives protection from both the Chloe family and the holy city of Carpea at the same time.
For the time being, on this continent, there is no force that can tamper with the Roth-Taylor duchy.
Right now, Lucy, the core force, is recovering, and the family system itself has not been fully restored, so although the scale may be limited… it will not be possible to harm it with authority.
“I think it’s good to move cautiously… but my older brother doesn’t seem to have such an intention.”
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“Okay…”
“You pretend not to know it in order to be considerate of your busy younger sister, but Tanya has already seen all the boxes of long weapons carried behind her brother’s wagon… and ‘that bow’ that you cherish.
Tanya said with a natural look, perched on a nearby wooden box.
“I’m thinking of pushing you away by force. From the moment he said he had to take Bell, I thought something was unusual, but you’re not the type to move around like this, right? I don’t know what will happen next.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t think about post-processing at all. I have finished preparing to give my own legitimacy to wield force…”
“Still… I have a strange feeling that is not like my older brother.”
“Well, there are times when you go out like this. You don’t have to do it when you have to warn.”
I spoke without changing my expression.
“You touched Lortel.”
He and Lortel Kecheln had already promised each other to be each other’s people.
It was a fact that many sisters had been saying, but it was not a promise made lightly.
“…”
Tanya was about to say something, but smiled brightly for no reason.
It seems that he is quite satisfied with himself, but he has a face that says he is enjoying the world, but from my point of view, he also responds a bit.
“Still, since I’m in the position of the head of state, I’ll ask. Even if you say that you break through the front door of the store and knock on the slog, how are you going to deal with it? Senior Lortel also said that, right? If the justification cannot be secured… A simple ignorant solution is meaningless.”
No matter how restrained the duke is, to break down the door of a large business that is doing well and lift the collar of Hoeju is nothing but foolishness.
“You know better about the nature of merchants. They sell their souls for money, and they ruthlessly kick out those who steal money.”
“…I know what you’re going to say~.”
Tanya brushed off the dust from her skirt and put on the outerwear offered by the maids who came running to wait on her.
“If it turns out that he tried to bury a big deal like a delivery contract because of a political fight within the company, Slog himself would be in a precarious position. I agree. It would be hard to get support for the judgment of blocking the party of money to maintain one’s position…”
Tanya had a natural flair for weighing the direction of public opinion.
Tanya, who was scratching the tip of her nose and pondering for a while, put on a worried expression for a while…
“Well, there’s no way that Slog doesn’t know that fact, so you’ll have to play tricks there too… Aha…”
As if something came to her mind halfway through, Tanya smiled and went back to the front door where she was seeing me off again.
“What, yes. Brother. Bye. Be careful not to hurt yourself.”
“okay. I will come and solve it soon. Take good care of the mansion while Belle and Lortel are gone.”
“That’s what I always do.”
So, me, Lortel, and the wagon carrying Bell left the Roth-Taylor Mansion.
It’s going to be quite a long journey, so I thought I’d get some sleep beforehand.
“The wind is getting chilly. Come in slowly.”
The old vassal lowered his head and spoke to Tanya.
Tanya, who had been standing at the front gate of Rosteyler Mansion and watching the carriage disappear into the distance, looked sideways at the kneeling vassal.
Even on the continent, it is the face of the Duchess Tanya Ross-Tyler, who is difficult for anyone to touch only with the value of her name.
In case he makes a mistake, the way he puts his strength on his legs makes it look a bit pathetic.
“…You’re more angry than I thought.”
“…yes?”
“no. Let’s go.”
Ed’s appearance as he climbed into the carriage seemed calm and quiet to anyone.
The tone was normal, as always… but Tanya, who had already worked with him for a long time as the owner of the Ross Taylor mansion, could read the psychology underlying it.
It seems that what was written in Lortel’s notebook was not all he told me. Tanya was half-sure.
It was because, in Tanya’s eyes, Ed Rosteeler, who was heading to Old Deck as if nothing had happened, looked like a very angry person.
*
I saw Lortel sleeping half-embraced by Bell at the back of the large carriage.
It looks like he’s a little tired after the long journey. It was just the kids of that age who ran around energetically in the morning and then fell into a cool nap.
I leaned back on the back of the seat and rested my chin on the window sill.
“…”
In the rhythm of the swaying carriage, I carefully organized my thoughts.
Various contents seen in Lortel’s notebook. I didn’t feel very good because the contents that I had organized my thoughts while running the business seemed to come to mind again.
– ‘Check again the trend of meat distribution in the Goellenhelt region.’
– ‘Reconsolidation of less-identified internal asset items.’
– ‘The distribution of equipment ordered by Count Larsen was blocked. How?’
– ‘It’s been too long since I stopped by the Duchy of Ross Taylor…’
Occasionally, I would laugh at the portrait of myself drawn in the corner of my notebook or the content of thinking about what gift to buy the next time I visit the dukedom.
– ‘Break through the transaction route with Sunghwangdo. Interference from the old old man is expected.’
– ‘I think it would be best to keep quiet about senior Ed. I’ll tell you it’s okay.’
I stayed still with my head down. The carriage rattled along.
——Actually, Lortel had an easier solution.
As is the case with cruel colossi, all you have to do is rush to the Duchy of Roth-Taylor, bow your head, and ask. It is not a disgrace to merchants to depend on those in power.
okay. It would have been more convenient to rely on the authority of those in power who are connected to our dukedom, and figure out how to catch the pods of the slogs and drive them away.
Nevertheless, Lortel thought of pushing him out as a merchant’s influence until the end.
In front of me, I didn’t talk about the political structure of the store, but only the business story with Seonghwangdo.
why?
justice. belief. righteousness. Well, such cool and romantic words come to mind, but it’s far from Lortel.
She only looks like a girl of her age in front of me, but in the world of commerce, isn’t she a woman with a reputation for being a wicked woman who makes contracts with the devil to win?
Since I’m not unaware of the gap, I was able to draw conclusions without difficulty.
– ‘If you want to intervene more in the affairs of the business, tell me it’s okay until the end.’
The battle of the merchants is a scuffle in the mud.
As you fight there, all kinds of stigma, notoriety, and resentment follow you like a needle and thread.
Lortel, who has lived her whole life in such a place, imagines herself… She must have always been covered in foul-smelling muddy water.
The Roth Taylor family is growing day by day and slowly regaining its former glory. Lortel did not want to cause damage to the Ross Taylor family.
Lortel is too smart, but on the contrary, she is a stupid woman.
“…….”
With her head down, she stared at the bottom of the rattling wagon.
Even though summer was coming to an end, a cold chill seemed to set on my back.
