Chapter 115
As Marquis Kraft did not accept the handshake, tension hung in the Banquet Hall. The executives and employees of the bank and the company watched the quiet war of nerves with bated breath.
Count Macenas swallowed a groan inwardly.
Those pink eyes were looking him up and down with a condescending gaze, showing no sign of fluster.
To dismiss her as an easy opponent, considering the Marquis's track record of seizing power through schemes in the Sky Island, would be the arrogance of a naive child.
The Marquis had enrolled in the Academy immediately after recovering from her idiotic state. An investigation into her actions since then revealed that she had only visited the Camelot Territory as a friend, and lacked proper banquet and social experience.
That was why he had tried to apply pressure as an elder in an unfamiliar situation and space.
So such a petty trick doesn't work.
Even if they had fallen, the blood of Kraft remained the same.
No, if she had matured this much without going through heir training and bloodline competition, one could even say the blood had thickened.
If so, it was safe to conclude that the ominous rumors he learned during the investigation were true to some extent.
She instigated terrorism, used it as an excuse to overhaul the Sky Island Administration, and then disposed of the annoying Knights Order. After falling from the central political circles, she moved to plot her future in the frontier.
If such rumors circulated about an ordinary target, one would merely get the impression that she must have spent quite a bit of money spreading rumors herself to instill fear...
But if she had inherited the Kraft schemer temperament to this extent, there was a high chance she really had instigated the terrorism.
Although it was a rough and unrefined way of handling things, enough for rumors to spread in the streets, it actually showed some humanity, given the Marquis's age.
Or, lacking humanity, she had deliberately stood by or encouraged the rumors to spread as a schemer.
The Kraft Family was backed into a corner. To advertise that they were still going strong, they found few things as convenient as ominous rumors. It wasn't refined, but exceptional situations required exceptional measures.
According to information leaked during the secret room consultations with the Imperial Bank this time, the Imperial Family had also turned their eyes back to the Kraft Family and had begun to observe them carefully, thanks to the openly spread rumors. If Kraft's intention had hit the mark, one could say it had done so perfectly.
Although the Imperial Family had single-handedly brought down the Kraft Family, the Sky Island was strictly the Frontier, so there was no reason to restrain them again, with the other great nobles firmly established. Rather, it would be possible for them to receive a word from the Emperor and exert influence in the Central Political Circles as the Imperial Family's hunting dogs.
If the current Marquis Kraft grew at this rate, she would reach the caliber of those few heads of the Kraft Family whose betrayals and schemes were only uncovered after their deaths when historians analyzed them.
And she had acquired it all on her own, without any education.
A born schemer.
To think such a schemer had taken an interest in the railroad construction rights that could influence the Demon Realm...
Was it connected to how she had caused a stir in high society with the ridiculous method of electing the Acting President by vote, extensively advertising herself as part of the pro-Demon faction?
Count Macenas withdrew his ignored hand with a fluid gesture. Then, naturally placing it over his chest, he bowed his head in greeting.
"I have heard much of your reputation. You are exactly the person your reputation makes you out to be."
The gold rings on the Count's hand sparkled in the chandelier light.
Pastel flinched.
Eek.
Overwhelmed by the overwhelming Corruption Level, her eyes, which had been intently scanning her opponent, stopped. The mindset of a low-level newbie trying to somehow learn the golden sparkling fashion vanished with a poof~.
Come to think of it, golden glitter doesn't suit a Pink-Pink appearance.
It wasn't that I lost in fashion because my Corruption Level was lacking, but that I didn't wear gold ornaments because my fashion level was high!
In place of the vanished admiration, the feeling of insubordination from an elder bowing their head crept up.
Her chin rose stealthily in arrogance.
Ahem.
"You have a good eye, Count."
Yeah, yeah!
Honestly, I think gold rings, gold bracelets, and gold necklaces are tacky!
And! And!
Having a battle of wills with an opponent young enough to be your child over who gets to be the main character appearing last in the Banquet Hall is completely shameless!
I don't think I lost the battle of wills; I think the Count is just brazen!
Looking at the exquisite timing, you were waiting nearby, having a subordinate keep an observation on the Banquet Hall, and then followed me in right after I entered!
Now that I've laid out the inner workings, it's totally embarrassing!
Yeah, yeah!
Besides! Besides!
Having a battle of wills over entry order is too childish in the first place!
Even though I did it too...
I'm naturally childish, so it's fine!
Hmph!
So what!
Hmph! Hmph!
Childish-childish Pastel hurriedly spat out insubordinate remarks in her mind and regained her pace.
Thinking about it again, I have nothing to bow down to this person for.
Person in power Pastel, lacking in height and age. But actually, Power Level is more important.
She quickly scanned Count Macenas.
His Power Level could be felt radiating from him.
The leader of the Merchant Alliance, who once shook the Demon Realm and whose influence was still not weak, remained influential.
He possessed the capital that nearly monopolized the official Magic Stone trade—which, though having a lower profit margin than smuggling, was vastly larger in scale—and the military power to wield a private standing army into which he had poured money.
Lacking only territory on a map, it was a de facto nation.
The Sky Island was also a de facto autonomous government, but because of the Knights Order with its strong Imperial influence, power had been divided into administration and military, and was only now unifying, so it still felt like it was lagging behind.
Especially considering that the company had already colluded with the Imperial Bank, meaning she had to fight in the opponent's front yard.
Pout...
My Power Level is still lacking.
Pastel slightly lowered her arrogantly raised chin.
"I hope we can have a dignified bidding competition. The company has a wide reach, so there's no need for us to frown at each other over such a trivial matter."
Right?
"Let us do so."
Count Macenas's eyes gleamed as if he had caught a weakness.
"But, judging by how you speak, the Marquis must be very interested in this item? I just came from rejecting my executives' advice to gather more cash, but hearing you say that makes my appetite return. The railroad must have a lot of business potential?"
"Ahaha!"
Pastel leisurely laughed off the probing remark.
Business Mode?
No, objectively, it's true that I'm in a disadvantageous situation where I'm anxious for the item, so I'll detour toward being an ambiguous mastermind.
Her pink eyes smiled. As she looked up at the chandelier, her gaze deepened.
"I have a lot of interest, yes."
And she offered no further explanation.
A lot of interest.
Yeah, yeah.
Silence flowed for a moment.
Count Macenas's eyes changed at the mastermind act, and he fell into thought. Combining the information in his head, he began to guess what the Marquis's remark meant.
A smart person.
Actually, they say scams are easily fallen for by smart people who are confident in their own intelligence.
Idiot-idiot Pastel blankly admired the chandelier.
Sparkling.
Looks expensive.
Having organized his thoughts, Count Macenas's face changed to one of somewhat firm conviction.
Gasp.
There must have been a misdeed that even I didn't know about!
The Count's gaze turned toward Ellie, who was keeping a close watch on this side while pretending to drink wine.
Then, checking the surroundings where the crowd had slightly stepped back from the confrontation between the Marquis and the Count, he spoke in a low voice.
"Since you are pushing Professor Horace instead of Professor Marius for Acting President, and all that..., it seems you are on good terms with Princess Ellishita."
Huh.
Pastel looked back at the Demonkind girl.
Ellie's expression turned flustered. And she glared at the Count, who had committed the rudeness of arbitrarily exposing her hidden identity. It was a change that acted like a guarantee that the Princess title was indeed correct.
Ellie, you were a Princess?
A Princess?
Eeeh?!
No wonder she was so chic!
It was a chicness born from a gap in status!
But what does that make me, who used that Princess for paperwork?
Pastel's chin slightly tilted up again.
None other than Her Excellency, the Great Pastel.
Her Excellency, the Great Pastel smiled with her eyes.
"We are close."
We're really close.
Just stating the facts.
Count Macenas was convinced. He smiled meaningfully, guessing a reason that even Pastel didn't know why Marquis Kraft had intruded as an uninvited guest into a rigged auction.
"But it will not be easy. Since ancient times, politics has been a slave to gold."
At first glance, it was an arrogant remark bordering on insulting the Imperial Family.
"Ahaha!"
But Pastel, not knowing what context this was in, just laughed.
"Then it must be close with me, too."
Her pink eyes held a smile as she looked at the Count. A cheeky voice, pretending to be slightly cute, rang out.
"Because I like gold."
Sparkling.
Count Macenas's eyes changed to a peculiar look.
He thought for a moment, then looked around again, specifically checking if there were any ears from the Imperial Bank's side. In an instant, his expression changed to a greedy smile.
"That is wonderful. I happen to be quite fond of it myself."
The Count's hand lifted as if to show it off. The gold rings shone softly.
"I have a villa nearby. I have gathered a gold collection there. Would it be alright to invite the Marquis before the auction?"
A secret talk between rivals before the auction.
Gasp.
That's a total misdeed.
Pastel's expression brightened.
A total misdeed!
The sense of immorality is overflowing!
"We are of the same mind."
This must be why you have to make friends with high-levels in everything!
I'll definitely learn that cool all-gold fashion while I'm at it!
She had forced herself to deny it earlier out of pride, but to Pastel, the Count's fashion looked genuinely cool.
Gold rings! Gold bracelets! Gold necklaces!
Wrapped in gold all over!
I'm going to become high-level too!