Chapter 14
A chill filled the reception room where Albus had led us.
I quickly glanced around, my eyes darting about the room.
‘This place must’ve been a mess before…’
Crackle, crackle.
Logs belatedly thrown into the fireplace were burning, and the cobwebs that had hung in the corners were gone.
‘Albus must have cleaned up in a hurry.’
“Oh, are you the Duke?”
The middle-aged man sitting on an old leather sofa stood up and greeted me.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Doniche, President of the Merchant Guild Council.”
“Yeahhh.”
At my half-hearted reply, Doniche’s eyes widened for a moment.
Behind him stood a man with a ponytail, who looked like a servant based on his attire.
Next to Doniche was Moneypan, standing with his head bowed and hands clasped like a guilty man.
“Moneypan, did you take care of what I asked?”
I spoke to Moneypan first.
‘There’s no need for courtesy when they show up rudely without warning.’
Though he looked surprised, Moneypan quickly opened his mouth with a touched expression.
“Yes! It’s been successfully completed. The bid was accepted, and here’s the receipt.”
He held out a piece of paper with both hands.
As I read the contents, I had to resist the urge to scream.
[Auction Winning Bid]
Winning Amount:
75,500,000,000 Ld
Commission (Special Rate: 5%):
3,775,000,000 Ld
Final Amount Received:
71,725,000,000 Ld
…?
What the hell? Is this a dream?
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand a few times.
A winning bid of 7.55 billion?
The 5% fee seemed to have been properly applied.
A final amount of 7.1725 billion Ld.
That’s a full… 2 billion over my target.
Even if I give Moneypan a 1 billion bonus, I still get 7.07 billion.
“Wow! Amazing! Moneypan, you’re the best!”
I clapped like an excited child.
Moneypan stared at me, dumbfounded by my behavior.
I had just earned enough money in one shot to pay off 86% of my debt.
“Thanks to you, we’re rich now, right?”
Feigning innocence, I then turned to Doniche.
“So, what are you guys here for?”
“Ah…”
Doniche looked visibly flustered.
His gaze shifted behind him, then returned to me.
I tilted my head and smiled brightly.
“As I mentioned, we’re from the Merchant Guild. The man behind me is my aide. We personally escorted the item because it fetched the highest bid in our auction house’s history.”
“Ohhh, I seeee…”
I replied indifferently, letting my words trail off.
“Thank you for getting Moneypan here safely! Okay, bye now!”
I waved my hands in farewell.
Doniche looked confused at my innocent attempt to send him off.
It seemed my age made it harder for him to control his emotions.
“Ah! I heard you personally discovered the Aurora Diamond. Could you tell us where you found it?”
Blink blink.
I exaggeratedly blinked.
“No?”
“Excuse me…?”
“Grandpa says I shouldn’t talk to liars.”
“L-Liars?”
“Yup.”
At his baffled expression, I looked behind Doniche.
And made eye contact with the long-haired man in green who had been smiling all along.
The man who had looked like a ‘servant.’
“Ha.”
The man with half-closed eyes chuckled dryly.
“You’re quite sharp.”
His sleepy eyes narrowed even more.
When he beckoned with a finger, Doniche instantly stood up.
Strangely, Moneypan stiffened with tension too.
“Sorry for testing you. I’m the real president of the Imperial Merchant Guild — Ardian.”
The man sat down on the sofa where Doniche had been.
‘Knew it.’
He didn’t resemble the president from the original novel at all.
Loose robes with open front.
Silver accessories on his ears and neck.
A pipe tucked at his waist.
A unique Eastern-style outfit.
Green hair.
A man with a pleasant-looking, smiling face and squinting eyes.
That’s how the novel described the guild president.
Not like Doniche — a well-dressed, bearded middle-aged man.
“Doniche serves as my public representative, so it wasn’t a total lie. Please understand.”
Now we can actually talk.
“I heard the young Duke personally discovered it… Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And that it was your idea to secretly stir up rumors in the capital’s social circles to boost interest. Was that also your doing?”
I glanced at Moneypan.
He flinched and looked like he was about to cry.
“…”
“I also heard that on the final day, you told us to come one hour before the deadline, which caused us a lot of stress. Is that true?”
His voice was soft and non-confrontational.
Calm and slow, like a snake slithering toward you.
“The Viper, Ardian.”
He was the kind of man who’d lull you in and then strike the moment you let your guard down.
He became guild president at just twenty — clearly a formidable businessman.
“Oh. And you told Moneypan to keep saying ‘5% fee’ no matter what, didn’t you?”
Ardian smiled slyly.
I looked at Moneypan with exasperation.
‘Just how much did you blab?’
He avoided my gaze.
“Your skills are impressive. I really wanted to meet you in person.”
“…”
“I want exclusive rights to the Aurora Diamond.”
“That was just something I found by chance…”
Pfft.
When I looked up, Ardian was laughing.
“Young Duke, I don’t believe in coincidences. Repeated coincidences become inevitabilities — and those are always made by people.”
Should I drop the clueless-child act now?
‘I do need a reliable business partner for a while.’
Ardian is a ruthless money-grubber who’ll do anything to earn more.
He walks the legal line and deceives others with just 1% of truth.
‘If I work with him, I’ll earn back the debt in no time.’
According to the original story, the North has vast, untapped resources that will be revealed soon.
After some thought, I took a deep breath.
“Ugh… I don’t really get what you’re saying. I just told Moneypan what I saw in a dream…”
I decided to keep pretending all the way through.
Right now, forming a partnership with Ardian is a double-edged sword.
The Altard Ducal House is unstable.
We have huge debts, and our retainers are busy fighting monsters and barbarians in the frontier to earn money.
If I partner with him now, we might just end up under his thumb.
‘And I can’t keep up the innocent act forever.’
I need people to act in my place.
That means getting our retainers to return first.
“Goodbye, then…”
I waved with a sad expression.
Ardian didn’t reply.
Maybe he swallowed honey or something.
“I know the Altard Duchy is in a difficult position right now. So… if you’re refusing because of your circumstances, we don’t have to proceed with the exclusive deal right away.”
I had expected him to back down out of pride when rejected by a child — but he was surprisingly persistent.
And he read my concerns so easily.
“If it’s to help rebuild your house, I can offer support.”
Seriously?
As I stared at him in silence, Ardian smiled even deeper.
“You may think it was nothing, but… You made quite a brilliant move. Even against me.”
Nope. I only pulled it off because I already knew how much the diamond would sell for thanks to the novel.
“You want to invest in Rogas?”
“Yes.”
“This barren place? That diamond was literally all we had.”
I blinked innocently as I spoke.
“I have a keen nose for money. I can smell it a mile away.”
Ardian smiled beautifully and rubbed his nose once.
“High risk, high return.”
“…”
“It’s a gamble.”
Honestly, I was tempted.
Rogas is the only region without a Merchant Guild branch.
‘Because they decided it wasn’t profitable.’
As a result, nothing existed in this vast land — no sanctions guild, no merchant guild.
You had to go all the way to Count Ryuden’s territory to find decent commercial facilities.
Money didn’t flow into Rogas.
What did? Monster-hunting commissions, adventurers, mercenaries, and wandering travelers.
‘Anyway, I need to revive Rogas.’
Money needs to flow into Rogas for people to gather.
And once people gather, the money follows!
If I want to live well, Rogas has to thrive.
Which means…
“How about relocating the main Merchant Guild headquarters here?”
“…Excuse me? Not just a branch… but the headquarters?”
