Chapter 100

Chapter 100:  Ripping Us Off?

At that moment, when Hardin and Mikkelsen were looking toward the second floor and straining their ears.

Once again, loud voices rang out.

"That’s right. I think this is a bit excessive."

This time, it was Malion’s voice.

Hardin blinked a couple of times and then raised the corners of his mouth.

‘As I thought, it’s that.’

He then walked straight over to the wall and looked at Mikkelsen as he spoke.

"Hey, distract them a bit."

"…Distract them? All of a sudden, why?"

Without answering, Hardin reached out, grabbed the gap between bricks, and suddenly began climbing the wall.

Grab!

Mikkelsen quickly grabbed onto Hardin’s leg and said,

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Let go. You heard the noise just now too."

"W-well, voices can get raised during a meeting. Why are you suddenly climbing the wall?!"

"Just let go, will you?"

Thud!

Hardin shook his leg roughly.

"Ugh!"

Mikkelsen took a heel to the forehead and rolled backward.

"Ah, sorry."

Hardin raised a hand in brief apology and then…

Step! Step! Step!

He once again stretched out his arms and climbed up the wall.

"H-hey! What are you doing up there?!"

"Wait a second!"

The merchant guild’s escort knights, startled, ran toward them.

And then—

With a jolt!

Mikkelsen got back on his feet.

‘What a life I have…’

All this trouble just because I ended up with the wrong lord.

He let out a heavy sigh and spread his arms.

"Alright, alright, calm down, both of you."

"Calm down? You don’t see him climbing up there?"

"Ahem, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it."

"No, it’s—!"

While they were squabbling…

‘Let’s see here.’

Hardin, who had swiftly scaled up to the second floor, moved toward the window of the conference room and poked his head inside.

From there, he could see the conference table and, at the head seat, Viscount Cobalt.

"No matter what, these terms are far too harsh."

Viscount Cobalt wore an expression that seemed both deeply angry and somewhat anxious.

"Now then…"

Let’s hear what’s going on.

Hardin stayed still for the moment, watching the scene, as Viscount Cobalt spoke again.

"To cut the harbor usage fee in half? This is too much."

Across from him, Chairman Bezar stroked his beard and replied.

"It’s not too much at all. You know very well, Viscount Cobalt, that our merchant guild using the harbor alone is a tremendous opportunity to promote Mudside."

"But still…"

"In fact, we think we’re being charitable to Daphne. Don’t you all agree?"

"That’s right."

The merchants present from the guild all nodded their heads almost in unison.

Bezar shrugged his shoulders and continued speaking with a calm tone.

"Daphne’s harbor has been sitting empty until now, hasn’t it? That means there’s still no trust in your house. We’re saying that we’ll take the risk and sign a contract anyway."

"But still, this is going too far. There’s nothing particularly wrong with our harbor…"

"Heh heh, Viscount Cobalt, think carefully. Leaving the harbor unused will still cost you quite a bit in upkeep. Wouldn’t it be better to sign a contract at a cheap price than to keep it empty?"

A sly smile spread across Chairman Bezar’s face.

Outside the window, Hardin let out a deep snort.

‘Knew it.’

I knew this was coming.

Merchants—those creatures can sniff out money better than a dog, and if they lose even a single coin in a deal, they act as if they’ve lost a family member.

And now, at this exact time, a big-name merchant guild has gone out of its way to come to us?

‘They know our house’s situation, and they’re thinking they’ll use this chance to bleed us dry.’

Their insides are pitch-black, completely rotten.

Hardin clicked his tongue and furrowed his brows.

"I… I understand what Chairman Bezar is saying."

Malion adjusted his glasses and spoke again.

"But still, half price is too much. Couldn’t you raise it just a little?"

"Well now, I think half price is plenty fair."

"Eight-tenths. No, at least seven-tenths would be reasonable. You’re contracting for ten ships, and giving all of them at half price will, in the long run, be a loss for us…"

At that, Bezar stroked his beard a few more times, then spoke with a smug smile.

"Then, how about six-tenths?"

"Six-tenths?"

"Yes. At that rate… we could make a big concession and agree to it."

Malion and Cobalt exchanged troubled glances.

‘Even if it’s six-tenths, signing with the Red Ear Merchant Guild would be a significant promotion.’

‘If we miss this opportunity, the losses could just keep piling up…’

Rather than letting the losses accumulate, maybe accepting that offer would be the rational choice.

As the two of them sat there full of hesitation, Bezar pressed them.

"Come now, decide quickly. We have our next appointment, so I’d like to wrap up this meeting soon."

"…"

Malion let out a heavy sigh, then gave a small nod, and Viscount Cobalt, as if making up his mind at last, closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and spoke slowly.

"Very well, in that case, we’ll accept your—"

Just then—

Bang!

"That’s not going to happen."

"…Huh?"

Everyone turned their heads to see Hardin standing by the window, arms crossed.

His brow was furrowed, and he looked thoroughly angry.

"Brother, what are you doing?"

"Hardin! When did you get here? Didn’t I tell you not to come in?"

Everyone threw out a remark with troubled expressions at that moment.

Hardin strode forward…

Bang!

He slammed his palm down hard on the table.

"Hey, Chairman, we’re not cutting even a single coin off the harbor usage fee."

"What?"

"So if you don’t like it, just leave as you are, or pay the proper price and sign the contract."

Chairman Bezar twitched his eyebrows briefly, looked at Hardin, then turned to Cobalt and asked,

"Lord, how am I supposed to take this situation?"

Ah… Hardin.

Viscount Cobalt pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead and answered,

"Don’t mind him, he’s just speaking out of ignorance. Our house wants the contract…"

But actions spoke louder than words.

Hardin grabbed the contract lying on the table and—

Rippp!

—tore it clean in half without hesitation.

"How dare you…!"

Chairman Bezar furrowed his brows sharply, about to lash out, but Hardin cut him off with a grin.

"Dare? The ones being rude are you lot, coming to a perfectly fine harbor, driving the price down, and acting arrogant."

These bastards think they can take a perfectly good harbor for free.

In that instant, a blue light flared in Hardin’s eyes.

"Gh—!"

Chairman Bezar and the other merchants all turned pale.

"W-what is this…?"

"C… can’t breathe."

The aura spilling from Hardin filled the room, pressing down on them as if gripping their hearts and squeezing.

"Hardin!"

Bang!

Cobalt slammed his palm on the table and raised his voice.

"Ah, sorry. I got a little carried away."

Hardin finally let the light fade from his eyes.

"Haa… haa…"

"Phuhhh…"

The merchants finally gasped for air.

Sweat beaded heavily on their foreheads, their faces pale as paper.

Chairman Bezar jumped to his feet and shouted,

"This is outrageous! Treating us as if we’re thieves!"

"Calm yourself, Chairman Bezar. This was just the boy’s mistake…"

Cobalt tried to salvage the situation somehow, but Bezar shook his head firmly.

"Trust is absolute for merchants! Trust with Daphne is already broken!"

"B-but…"

As Viscount Cobalt and the Daphne representatives froze with uneasy faces, Hardin waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, yes, in that case, take care on your way out."

That brat…

Bezar’s face flushed red as he slammed the table.

"Argh! Well? Everyone, get up!"

"Y-yes!"

With Chairman Bezar in the lead, the entire Red Ear Merchant Guild hurriedly made their way out. Viscount Cobalt and several retainers quickly followed after them in a rush.

"Chairman Bezar! Chairman Bezar! Please wait a moment!"

"Tch, what’s with him."

Hardin, who had been watching, crossed his arms and shook his head.

‘Tsk, why are they groveling to someone like that.’

Damn it, when someone starts spouting crap like that, you’re supposed to crack their skull.

It was then.

"Brother! What in the world do you think you’re doing?!"

"Hm? What did I do?"

Hardin turned his head to see Malion glaring at him furiously.

"How could you just ruin the contract on your own? Have you lost your mind?"

"Lost my mind? Me?"

"Yes! You know exactly what state the house is in right now, so how could you do something like this? You’d have to be insane…"

Hardin placed a hand on Malion’s shoulder.

"Look, once you give in on something like this, it’s over."

"What do you mean by that?"

"If you let yourself get ripped off just because you’re in a hurry, you think others won’t do the same? No, later on, they’ll push even harder."

"But that kind of pride is something we can only afford when we’re in a good position…"

"It’s not pride. I’ve told you over and over—just wait a little."

"Wait for what? For what exactly?!"

When Malion finally trembled as he demanded an answer, Hardin gave a crooked grin.

"You’ll see. You’ll find out soon enough."

"Brotheeer!"

Hardin waved his hand as he left the conference room, while Malion clutched his head with one hand, yelling in frustration.

---

As the sun was setting, in a restaurant along the Mudside coastline.

At a table outside, Hardin and Malion sat, sipping tea with vacant expressions as they looked out at the sea.

"Brother."

"…What."

"Is it really going to get better?"

"What is?"

"You said it yourself. That if we waited, the situation would improve."

"I did."

Clang!

At that moment, Malion threw his teacup forward, shattering it.

"Then why hasn’t anything changed, huh?"

He glared at Hardin as if he wanted to kill him and continued.

"For the past two weeks, not only has nothing happened, we haven’t signed a single contract!"

Hardin avoided his gaze and cleared his throat.

"Ahem, just wait a little longer. It’s taking more time than I thought."

"What exactly is taking more time?"

"I told you, didn’t I? A big customer will come soon."

While Hardin wore a vaguely awkward expression, Malion raised his voice.

"Big customer? What big customer! In the past two weeks, only five ships have come in, and every one of them was just a lost fishing boat!"

"Well… maybe that’s because you didn’t promote things well enough?"

"Promotion? Promooootion?"

Drip!

Right then, a thin stream of blood trickled from Malion’s nose.

After wiping it away with a handkerchief, Malion scrunched up his face like a demon and roared.

"Is that something you say to someone who’s been running around day and night, cutting down on sleep?"

"Oh, really? My bad. Ahem!"

Tch, see? This is why I told him to just stay put instead of overdoing it.

Hardin raised his hand slightly and took another sip of tea, while Malion stomped his feet hard.

"Why are you so relaxed, Brother?! Even now, money is pouring out! At this rate, we’ll be running nothing but deficits!"

"Hey, hey. That’s exactly when you need to stay calm and wait. One step back for two steps forward. Don’t you know?"

"Two steps forward, my ass! Does calmness put food on the table? Does it pay the workers’ wages?"

"Eh-hei, just wait a little longer."

"Why are you really doing this?! We should’ve signed with the Red Ear Merchant Guild! Dammit!"

Malion grabbed his head like a madman, kicking the table hard and making strange noises from his mouth.

‘The idiot here is me, for trusting that man! I’m the idiot!’

We should have signed with the Red Ear Merchant Guild, even if it meant taking a loss.

If we had, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad!

‘We shouldn’t have built the harbor in the first place. Or at the very least, we shouldn’t have gone ahead with such a ridiculous scale…’

Hardin shook his head and said,

"Just wait a little. Then, from that sea, a big customer—nothing like that Red Ear Guild—will show up in a magnificent ship."

"Please stop spouting nonsense! What kind of ship could possibly be… huh?"

Malion suddenly frowned, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.

From far out at sea, a massive sailing ship with five masts was really heading toward them.

‘Am I so tired I’m seeing things…?’

At that moment, Hardin rose from his chair, finishing off his tea.

"See? Told you they’d come. The big customer."

"Who the hell is that supposed to be, Brother?"

"Who else? Look at the flag."

Hardin motioned with his chin, and Malion’s gaze shifted toward the flag on the ship.

On a black background, the emblem of a sun crossed with a sword.

That was…

"Th-th-that’s the imperial crest, Brother!"

"That’s right."

Snap!

Malion shot up from his seat like lightning.

"M-madness! M-my lord!"

Crash! Bang!

He bolted into the restaurant, came rushing back out with a telescope, and looked toward the ship.

On the deck, a woman stood with her arms crossed.

Long silver hair glittering as it whipped in the sea breeze, a feline-like face, and a white uniform with meticulous embroidery.

Princess Medeia stood there.

"…P-princess? The Princess is here?"

Why in the world would she be here?

Malion’s mind was spiraling into chaos.

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