Chapter 119
What is love?
I love gold too, but I don't understand the mindset of buying a collection of books made from Demonkind skin just to aim for market margins.
Even if they're classified as Demonkind, the only difference is whether their ears are pointy or not, so they're basically just people.
Eugh.
A totally eugh-inducing collection.
But it doesn't seem like there's a terribly evil motive behind it either. It's more like judging the historical value of already-made books highly and preemptively securing cultural assets.
The items are just weird, but it's a typical investment activity for an investor with a keen interest in history...?
Puu....
At this point, isn't love a bad thing?
I deliberately didn't ask Lord Demon because I didn't want to worry him, but shouldn't I ask Lord Demon what love is at least once?
A lecture on what love is from a man with a broken heart from unrequited love.
I might need to hear it.
"Marquis?"
Count Macenas, who was reading the Secret Contract with a cigar in his mouth, looked puzzled.
"Ah, sorry."
Business, Business.
"I was just contemplating whether it's about time I start sponsoring Artwork."
Pastel quickly pointed to one side before the topic could needlessly return to Human Skin Books. Among the gold collection was a golden flower painting decorated with a gold frame.
"Sponsoring paintings."
Count Macenas took the cigar from his mouth.
"I suppose it is about time the Marquis also found it difficult to manage cash. Has it been less than a year? Your business results are truly excellent."
The cigar pointed at the painting.
"Since this field runs on connections, you must have a lot on your mind."
It was a tone that understood the situation of a fallen Family, separate from her individual capabilities.
"If the Marquis wishes, I can give you an invitation to an Art Gallery. I receive many invitations, but I am not one to enjoy art myself."
"Thank you for the favor."
The trivial chatter with nuances of how to convert excessively piled-up, hard-to-manage cash into Artwork for tax evasion ended quickly.
Count Macenas put the cigar back in his mouth. He scanned the Secret Contract with sharp eyes.
This contract was about backstabbing the Imperial Bank and engaging in Auction Collusion. The concept was that the Kraft Merchant Guild would acquire the Trading Group up for sale at a low price, and in return, the Demon World Corporation would pocket a secret commission.
The point was for Count Macenas, who had already colluded with the Imperial Bank to take over the item at a designated auction price, to backstab the Imperial Bank.
The contract was placed on the table.
"This is a difficult position."
Count Macenas leaned back on the sofa. Cigar smoke flowed from his mouth.
"Isn't Merchant's Ethics all about trust? Ethics Ethics all about trust?"
An ethics she was hearing for the first time in her life.
Total head-shaking.
Pastel pondered how to persuade the Count, who was playing hard to get after inviting her all the way to his Villa for Auction Collusion.
She had set the commission amount high, so was the part about the Kraft Merchant Guild acquiring the Railway Merchant Guild the sticking point after all?
Inviting her to collude also seemed like an ulterior motive to use Marquis Kraft, who made an Appearance as an uninvited guest at the auction, as leverage to bid on the item at a lower price than promised with the Imperial Bank.
It didn't seem like his intention was to completely abandon his promise with the Imperial Bank.
Changing this mind was the goal of this meeting.
She had to persuade him to choose Kraft between the Imperial Bank and the Kraft Family.
According to the information Melissa had gathered at the briefing banquet, the Imperial Family's intentions might be reflected behind the Imperial Bank, but....
Could a bank, which should be separated from the government according to the principles of credit, really be acting like the Imperial Family's hands and feet?
There was no way it was a hopeless situation where Count Macenas and the Demon World Corporation were agonizing over whether to side with the Imperial Family or the Kraft Family, rather than agonizing between the Imperial Bank and the Kraft Family.
Yeah, yeah!
Because it's Pastel, whose life is too easy!
Objectively speaking, if a bank is swayed by the government's beck and call, it will be ruined by a collapse in credit.
Pastel stood up from the sofa. She slowly looked around the gold collection. Count Macenas leaned against the sofa, smoking his cigar and watching her.
The girl's hand moved as if to touch the Golden Bird Sculpture.
"It's lovely."
Since it was an Artwork, she didn't touch it, but gazed dreamily at the golden beak. It was a realistic sculpture that looked like it would chirp at any moment, yet it was solid gold.
The Count flicked his cigar.
"It is lovely. It is a master's posthumous work. Thanks to him dying at the right time, its value has already risen about twenty times the winning bid. It was worth the trouble of estimating his lifespan."
The pink-toned girl nodded.
"Love is greater than anything."
The cigar ash fell into the ashtray.
"Is that so?"
Count Macenas stood up from the sofa and headed to one side. He picked up a treasure chest full of gold coins and brought it to the table near the girl.
"Since the Marquis also understands this feeling, the conversation will be easy."
When the Count tipped the treasure chest, gold coins poured onto the table. The gold coins clinked as they hit each other.
"It is a message from the Imperial Bank. They said that if you quietly step away from this auction, they will make sure you are not disappointed."
Pink eyes looked down at the pile of gold coins.
"This is my personal opinion, but since it is the Kraft Family, the atmosphere isn't one of blaming you for your friendship with Demonkind. If you share what kind of scheme you are preparing against Demonkind, it will be a good opportunity for the Kraft Family as well."
"Do you think I'm preparing a scheme or something?"
Count Macenas laughed without saying anything.
"Count."
The girl shook her head. She slowly looked back over the gold collection.
"If you love all of this, then set your mind as big as that love."
The Count's eyes gleamed with a strange light.
"How big, exactly?"
"What is your dream, Count?"
A tycoon above all others?
A wealthy man with an infinite safe?
The girl pointed to herself.
"My dream is to be an Omnipotent Ruler."
She reached her hand toward the Chandelier on the Ceiling.
"The owner of a power that no one can blame, no one can criticize, and no one can even look at."
She lowered her hand.
"Is it childish?"
The girl smiled softly, then swept her arm across the table. The pile of gold coins was pushed away, ringing out. Countless golden lights fell to the floor. A golden wave rippled across the white marble. A fierce echoing spread.
Pink eyes smiled.
"Dream big."
Count Macenas stared blankly at the opponent in front of him.
What was Omnipotent Power.
Lightning struck in his mind.
He slowly turned his gaze and stared at the world map, one of the gold collections. The shapes depicting the Empire, Sky Island, and the Demon Realm.
Countless thoughts flashed by.
What it meant for the one who had obtained Sky Island, a Military Stronghold, to speak of power to the Head of Management of a company equipped with a large-scale Private Army and a munitions distribution network.
Count Macenas's voice trembled slightly.
"Can you do it?"
The girl answered leisurely.
"I don't plot schemes that fail."
A smile slowly spread across the Count's face. His heavy body shook, and a greedy laugh rang out.
"Marquis Kraft! I see! Of course! No matter who the opponent is, there's no way that Kraft would forget a grudge!"
His palm slammed the table.
"How much funding do you need for that dream?"
The girl smiled brightly.
"As much as the whole world."
Count Macenas laughed.
"You are brazen."
The cigar was placed in his mouth.
A short silence flowed.
Thick cigar smoke emerged from the mouth of the Count, who had finished his thoughts.
"I will invest, as much as the whole world."
Wow.
#
A verbal contract is actually meaningless.
Even if he said the whole world, if he didn't pull out a contract, it was no different from saying he would just watch the situation and invest.
However, Pastel cupped her cheeks and giggled in the Kitchen of the Airship returning to the Academy.
"Lord Demon, you should have seen that sight! It was totally Business~ Pastel!"
"How many times are you going to say that."
The Demon, who was rolling out dough with a rolling pin, had a somewhat exhausted expression like someone dragged out shopping. The difference from shopping was that Pastel kept following him around and talking.
Pastel began her 11th boast exactly.
"I actually succeeded in the incredibly difficult task of making a sale just by throwing out empty promises!"
And it was an achievement that protected her friendship by overcoming the counter-proposal to betray Ellie, who was Demonkind!
V! V!
Pastel: Count! Dream big! You shouldn't be satisfied with the Imperial Bank's pocket change! If you betray the Imperial Bank and choose me, I'll give you even more money than this pile of gold coins!
But I didn't say how much I'd give.
Because, I don't have any cash right now.
Because I put it all into smuggling.
Hehe.
But-But!
The Count was so captivated by Pastel's confidence that he went beyond the targeted Auction Collusion and made a statement about investing in the Kraft Merchant Guild?!
He was so captivated that he even played along with an absurd joke like the whole world.
"I know this! He's a good-hearted wealthy man who was moved by a young person's confidence and invested a large sum of money, telling them to give the business a try!"
The age difference is as big as a parent and child, so I can tell what kind of emotion was in the Count's heart!
It must have been an emotion tinged with regret and memories of 'I used to be like this once'!
Pastel clenched her fists tightly.
"Count! I will definitely repay that expectation! I, Pastel, will run the smuggling trade with all my might!"
I will show you the Magic of Compound Interest Calculation!
"Do not make such a resolve."
The Demon lightly tapped Pastel's head with the rolling pin.
"Ouch!"
Eeying.