If You Want

Two hours later, Ferda welcomed the expected guest.

“I am Bernard Wayne, President of Escolleia. It is an honor to meet the consort of the Aspect of Great Power.”

“It is an honor to meet the chancellor of humanity’s repository of knowledge.”

“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to set foot in Valdrova Castle.”

President Bernard Wayne of Escolleia removed his hat and bowed his head.

The flesh-colored plateau between two bushes was still gleaming smoothly.

“You must be exhausted from traveling such a long way, President. I saw an army stationed outside the window.”

“Two mages, two knights, and twenty soldiers, to be precise. Ha-ha! Now I finally feel a little like a nobleman.”

After the plan to pin everything on the President of Escolleia as a scapegoat failed, Escolleia was thrown into turmoil.

No matter how much people belittled the position of president as one in which the officeholder took responsibility for everything like a scarecrow, he was ultimately the face of Escolleia.

An assassination attempt was something that could shake Escolleia to its foundations.

That was why the president was able to wield power in Escolleia’s council.

“Ho-ho, since you live in such a splendid castle, I suppose many honored guests come to visit.”

“There have been more ruffians coming to threaten us than honored guests.”

“Pardon? Surely that cannot be true. Even so, you are the Aspect of Power capable of turning the continent upside down……”

“Another one came to threaten us just last week.”

“Ah…… I see.”

Since he had no idea what he could possibly say, Ferda decided to change the subject.

“This is the blueprint for the demonkin-emergence prediction device I promised to give you.”

Ferda looked at the paper Bernard handed him.

It had been engraved on parchment whose shape was maintained by mana, so it could not burn, become soaked, or be damaged by the elements like an ordinary book.

The fact that Bernard had used such valuable parchment even for the copy he handed Ferda also meant he harbored no ulterior motives.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. But are you able to read this blueprint?”

Of course not.

Ferda had always been far removed from this sort of design work.

“The chief researcher at the castle will look it over.”

“Who might that chief researcher be?”

“Vernel Marquis.”

“Vernel Marquis…… You mean that Mess? He is here?!”

Bernard was startled and repeated his name several times.

“I had heard he was famous, but I suppose he really is.”

“Famous, yes. There is no one in Escolleia who does not know that fellow. He was someone who was both highly anticipated and deeply disappointing.”

The person who had been disappointed was undoubtedly Bernard.

He let out a deep sigh and asked Ferda,

“What is he doing now? Did he finally give up on that absurd project and come here?”

“That absurd project succeeded.”

“As expected, so it did…… Pardon?”

Bernard’s eyes opened wide.

“You mean he succeeded?”

Ferda had anticipated his astonishment.

That was why, before Bernard arrived, he had brought one of the samples Vernel had made and shown it to him.

“It is a mana stone. It was processed from the corpse of a monster.”

“Good heavens…… You mean that fellow finally turned the world upside down……”

That was how scholars described an innovative discovery.

A multitude of emotions passed across Bernard’s face.

Wonder and admiration, envy and regret.

The person he had turned his back on had ultimately been right, and Bernard seemed not to know how to accept that.

“How efficient is it, by any chance?”

Perhaps he trusted that Vernel had calculated everything, because he skipped asking whether Vernel had done the calculations.

“At present, it is ten percent.”

“Do you know what percentage it was at first?”

“I heard it was 7.1 percent.”

“I see.”

His face showed both wonder and a lingering discomfort.

Ferda was not a scholar, so he could not know what was going on in his head.

That was why he made a suggestion.

“Would you like to meet Vernel Marquis?”

Bernard seemed to wake from his thoughts and shook his head.

“No. It is not worth meeting him just to talk…… That’s right.”

Bernard clapped his hands and spoke.

“Do you remember what happened at the Grand Council? Didn’t I ask you to participate in the exhibition?”

“I remember. You said there would be an exhibition in Halim, correct?”

“Fifteen days from now, all the scholars and nobles will gather there. It will last about three days. There will also be presentations for the opening, the main event, and the finale.”

What he brought up next was his proposal.

“I will use my influence to put Vernel in the main slot. Would you please attend?”

* * *

“President Bernard made such a proposal……? He said he would put me on the main stage?”

Vernel asked, his eyes wide.

Ferda had seen Vernel make a fuss several times, but he had never seen him this surprised.

He was so shocked that his hands had stopped moving.

“It must have been a bold proposal.”

“The most important part of Escolleia’s three-day exhibition is the main stage. Even for a renowned scholar, getting that spot is like plucking a star from the sky.”

“Then it is a fortunate opportunity for you.”

“A fortunate…… opportunity, yes.”

Contrary to his words, Vernel wore a complicated expression.

In the end, he set down his pen and leaned against the table.

“I do not know. I do not want to go.”

Ferda could feel that Vernel was being overwhelmed by his emotions.

“Are you going to turn down the glorious position every scholar wants?”

“Glory or no glory, it is obvious President Bernard has set a trap for me. Why would I go?”

“A trap?”

“He hated me terribly. Whenever I recall the insults he hurled at me, I cannot accept this favor.”

“What did he do?”

“He criticized my research proposal.”

Vernel clenched his fist tightly.

“When academy cadets become second-years, they participate in something called an Academic Conference. Even if the ideas are somewhat fanciful, it is a place to discuss the future. Since it is where fresh ideas are selected, being criticized there carries enormous weight. It is like having my pants pulled down and my crotch exposed before the entire audience.”

Someone might ask, ‘All that over something like that?’ but Ferda did not think so.

It meant that the future Vernel had envisioned had been completely sincere.

Having that sincerity denied was painful.

Ferda only knew that Vernel had gone from being first in his academy class to last.

He also knew that Vernel had barely graduated before turning his attention to magical engineering.

He had not realized that the rift between Vernel and Bernard ran this deep.

“If he insulted you, shouldn’t you participate all the more?”

Vernel turned toward Ferda at his question and asked,

“How would that help?”

“You were not wrong, so why not hold your head high?”

“Getting back at him would be nice. Yes…… But what if this is just a ploy to trap me?”

“Then will you avoid him forever?”

Vernel could not answer Ferda’s question.

He wanted to avoid it, but deep down he also knew that avoiding the issue was not right.

“I do not know what happened back then, but you are not an academy cadet anymore. You are my chief researcher. If Bernard tries anything outrageous,”

“……”

“He will have to settle things with me, not you.”

At those words, Vernel emerged from his thoughts and looked at Ferda.

Yes, he was not alone anymore, was he?

He was reminded once again that he had someone powerful backing him.

“Understood. As you said, I will meet him face-to-face. May I ask what is in your hand? It looks like a blueprint……”

“It is President Bernard’s child.”

“A child?”

“He says it is the blueprint for a demonkin-emergence prediction device. Could you take a look at it?”

“Ah, I see. A demonkin-emergence prediction device…… I will take a look at that as well.”

While Vernel was examining the blueprint, the door opened and someone entered.

It was Stephan.

Ferda had just been thinking that it was a good opportunity to tell him something.

Stephan’s complexion was not good.

He looked as though he might blurt out bad news at any moment.

“I, um……”

Stephan stammered.

* * *

A few days earlier, Stephan had been traveling in a carriage.

He was wearing a top-quality tunic that he normally would never wear.

It was so fine that even putting it on made him nervous.

Despite his splendid clothing, worry never left his face.

“Phew……”

“Are you all right, my lord? You do not look well. You will collapse at this rate.”

“I am a little anxious…… Phew.”

“Shall I loosen your knot?”

The servant sitting across from him loosened the tie at his collar.

Stephan looked at the servant and said,

“Tie it tighter. Make sure it does not come loose.”

It could not be allowed to become disheveled.

He would rather be strangled to death by the knot.

The reason he had no choice but to be so nervous was the enormous mansion before him.

The mansion of Herman Pascal, founder of the Pascal Trading Company, great merchant, and Stephan’s father.

It was Stephan’s hometown and, at the same time, a battlefield.

Stephan got out of the carriage and entered through the mansion’s entrance.

“Welcome, Young Master Stephan.”

Stephan smiled at the familiar face and embraced him.

“It has been a long time, Old Man Sebastian! How have you been?”

“My body is not what it used to be. The time has come for me to retire.”

“What are you talking about? You said you would be buried here and all that. You should work until your body falls apart.”

He tried to hide his trembling by making light conversation.

The butler noticed and played along so that Stephan could calm down.

They passed through the long corridor and went by the employees and servants before arriving at an ornate door.

“The second son, Young Master Stephan, is entering.”

The door opened.

Before him was a long table laid down the center like a red carpet, and at its far end sat an old man in a seat fit for a king.

Herman Pascal.

The head of the Pascal Trading Company, a man who had started as a fruit seller and reached into every field.

A dictator who had once been capable of seizing control of even the Empire’s entire commercial sector.

Despite such a reputation, he looked like nothing more than an elderly man.

“You are late, little brother.”

The man seated to his right chided him.

With his sturdy build, the man looked more like a mercenary than a merchant.

He was the eldest son, Murchit Pascal.

“I am sorry. It was an especially busy time, so I had to finish up some things……”

“What can you do? The company is more important than family, isn’t it? I like seeing you work as a faithful subordinate, big brother.”

The heavily made-up woman smiling sweetly was his younger sister, Tilda Pascal.

At first glance, it sounded as though she was helping him, but the smile in her eyes was closer to saying, ‘The best you can do is something like that.’

This was why I hated this family.

I had returned to my own family home, yet I felt like a stranger.

“Sit down.”

Stephan was pushed aside by his nephews, who had taken their seats in advance, and sat far away.

The entire family had gathered.

“Now, let us eat.”

The butler’s bell rang, and the maids entered.

As befitted the wealthiest man on the continent, every dish carried the pungent scent of rare spices that were difficult to obtain.

It was an opportunity to eat things that were normally difficult even to put in one’s mouth, but Stephan could not taste the food.

“Lately……”

As Herman began to speak, the hands of everyone seated at the banquet stopped moving.

“How have you all been doing?”

Murchit and Tilda set down their forks and knives and wiped their mouths as if they had been waiting for this.

The eldest son, seated closest to Herman, spoke.

“I am currently reaching into the southern market. You know Colosenia, don’t you? It is one of the greatest entertainment cities, famous for its splendid gladiatorial shows. I signed a contract to supply mercenaries from one of the gladiator training grounds there.”

“Are you only dealing in meat?”

“Of course not. It is a land so hot that they say even the moon shines like the sun. The spices there are intensely potent, and their quality is comparable to the finest the Empire has to offer.”

“Yes. Such luxuries are more precious than gold.”

Herman calmly nodded.

Murchit let out a sigh of relief, as though he had barely met his father’s standards.

Soon, Tilda Pascal spoke about what she had been doing.

“I am looking into the western market with my husband. They say it is a mysterious land of magic, but surely they need things too, don’t they? The moment we open a trade route, the Pascal Trading Company will become a storm.”

“That sounds rather fanciful.”

Herman glared at Tilda.

But Tilda retorted as though she had expected it.

“I thought so at first, too. But wouldn’t things be different if I had secured a contract for a crystal-stone mine? It is something mages go crazy over, isn’t it?”

“Hmm……”

Herman withdrew his gaze.

Tilda had also been securing contracts with remarkable skill, so there was no particular problem.

Now only one person remained.

“Stephan.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Why are you silent?”

“I am sorry. I thought you would not be very interested in my affairs……”

“Do not make me ask twice.”

It was an unavoidable gathering, one he had tried but failed to avoid.

So Stephan also spoke about what he had been doing.

“I am, um…… currently trying to establish a foothold in the East.”

“The East?”

“Oh my, are you starting a business in the East? I thought I heard you were going to target the North.”

Tilda acted as though this were the first she had heard of it.

She was preparing to pour oil on a burning house.

“The northern market should be fine if I merely maintain the status quo. So this time, I decided to make a bold investment in the East.”

“Hmm, big brother. From what I was taught, bold investment and throwing money into the ground are somewhat different things.”

Tilda was indirectly asking why he kept doing foolish things.

“It does not look good to me either, little brother.”

Murchit agreed with her.

“Selling alcohol, smoked meat, and leather to the northerners is a profitable business, isn’t it? If you simply followed Father’s formula, you could avoid losses and do well. Why go out of your way to do something like that?”

Wasn’t the reason obvious?

It was to survive in this family.

“I simply want to run a business with potential.”

“Potential? Look at the situation in the East. The demon lands are steadily encroaching even now, reducing the territory, aren’t they? Are you planning to scoop up soil from there and make a contamination weapon?”

“A contamination weapon is a good idea. It would smell less and be more effective than spreading excrement. If you want, I would like to invest in it, big brother.”

As the saying went, the sister-in-law who stopped the mother-in-law was more irritating than the mother-in-law who struck her, and Tilda’s words grated on him even more than Murchit’s.

“Enough.”

Herman, who had been silent, subdued the atmosphere.

He scratched his head with his thin hand, then spoke again.

“Stephan.”

“Yes, Father.”

“I know very well that you are not being foolish. After all, you are intelligent enough to understand me better than anyone else here.”

This was not going to end well.

Stephan sensed it instinctively.

“But when you want to persuade someone, what did I tell you to do?”

“You have to show them evidence……”

“Do you have that evidence in your hands?”

“I am not investing company funds. Even if I do, I have put in my personal assets first……”

“So you are saying you do not have it.”

“It is not that I do not have it. I simply do not want to announce it yet—”

“It is that mana stone thing, isn’t it?”

“!!”

When Stephan’s eyes opened wide, Herman scolded him with a displeased look.

“Why are you so surprised? This company is still under my control, you fool. Your sister and brother have already caught on.”

Even if he was proceeding in secret, it had only been a matter of time before they noticed.

That his father, Herman, knew was one thing, but the fact that the other two already knew was shocking.

It meant that someone among the people on Stephan’s side was leaking internal information.

But even more shocking than that was the fact that, despite knowing, they were allowing things to proceed smoothly.

It was as though they were watching Stephan dig his own grave.

Before the shock had even faded, Herman asked another question.

“Tell me. What made you get involved in that business?”

“I simply saw the future.”

“An intuition, then. Does that mean you are doing this because you trust that Regent Ferda?”

“Yes.”

Stephan answered immediately.

“How certain are you?”

“If you want……”

Stephan’s tongue moved of its own accord.

“To the point that I would give you the entire company.”

Silence fell.

Stephan realized what he had said and hurriedly shut his mouth.

His head had gone blank, and he had let his true feelings slip out.

‘I did it.’

The milk had already been spilled.

But he did not regret it.

That was genuinely what he thought.

“So you were bewitched by a man rather than a woman and wagered your entire fortune.”

The sigh mixed into Herman’s words pierced Stephan’s heart.

“You have one hand and can hold only one thing. Yet there are two things you must hold. Greed brings ruin, so the time will come when you have to choose.”

Stephan was perceptive enough to understand what Herman meant.

Would he give up on the Far East and choose the company,

or give up on the company and choose the Far East?

“Think it over carefully.”

That was the ultimatum of Herman Pascal, the man who had built everything from nothing.