Chapter 316
"Conrad-kun, was that really enough?"
After the meeting ended, Conrad and Thomas spoke in a room prepared for the two of them to use for a private discussion. Thomas had taken Conrad's hand, prepared to be made an accomplice to some wrongdoing. However, all Conrad had actually asked of him was to use his connections to have other influential merchants serve as organizers of the meeting. It was no wonder Thomas was puzzled.
But that alone had been enough for Conrad. The organizers would never have listened to a newcomer like him, who had never done business with them. As someone capable of persuading such people, Thomas, the heir to an established firm, had been the perfect choice.
"Yes, it was more than enough. We gained a great deal from that alone."
Just as the satisfied Conrad said, the two of them had gained a great deal simply by having Thomas persuade the others. As a young man, Thomas had shown consideration by deferring to the older merchants who had become organizers, while also showing them he was a man of action. He had given the impression that the 'Medil Trading Company' remained strong and that its heir valued his relationship with them.
At the same time, Conrad had displayed the diverse connections he had built with Players and made a name for himself among the merchants of Twentino. After the meeting, he had also been given opportunities to speak with merchants with whom he had never interacted before. What they expected of Conrad was for him to serve as an intermediary with skilled Players, and the profits he could gain from that would surely line his pockets.
"That is true, but you said you would smash any obstacles standing in your way. Yet you have taken nothing but peaceful measures. That means you must be doing something elsewhere, doesn't it?"
"As you surmised."
"The fact that you won't tell me means it's something I am better off not knowing, doesn't it? Ah, don't worry—I have no intention of forcing it out of you. Whatever happens, we've already joined forces. If things go wrong, it seems better for me to know less so I won't be hurt as badly."
"Wise of you."
Conrad gave a wry smile at Thomas, who shrugged. Naturally, he had told Thomas nothing about Izaam, nor had he told him that he was allied with Anne, who was rampaging right under his nose. He was acting as though he were merely taking advantage of the current situation to bring down his business rivals.
Even after everything was over, Conrad would never admit that the conspiracy had been his doing. Thomas seemed to have guessed as much, but he knew nothing of the circumstances. In fact, he was involved in a small part of it himself, so he would never tell anyone. If they finished everything without leaving behind any evidence, no one would even realize that a conspiracy had been woven at all.
Conrad was a terrifying man despite his appearance, but if one kept that in mind when dealing with him, a connection with him could lead to profit. Thomas had already grasped that distance. Conrad appreciated his flexibility and intended to continue doing business with Thomas.
"So what will happen to the pitiful uncle who picked a fight with you? I'd like to hear your prediction."
"The ships carrying Players recruited through the commercial guild's efforts will engage the pirate ships in a fierce battle and discover the pirates' base despite suffering heavy damage. Among the things recovered there, they will find irrefutable evidence that someone somewhere was involved... Something like that, I suppose. It is only a prediction, of course."
Conrad's prediction would surely become reality. If that happened, his uncle would be ruined, Thomas thought to himself. However, Thomas felt no sympathy for him. The man had assassinated Thomas's father out of spite when Thomas was young, and had even worked to bankrupt their family. There was not the slightest room for sympathy.
"If... No, I cannot imagine this happening even by the remotest chance, but if it did, the people involved would probably be executed."
"They made common cause with pirates, so that would be only natural."
Conrad smiled while conveniently ignoring his own involvement. He planned to remain on good terms with Anne, but had asked her to withdraw from the area around Twentino after this one occasion. He had already identified another place where she could rampage, so she could fight there to her heart's content.
Once the two of them finished discussing what fate awaited Leon, their conversation naturally shifted to business. They exchanged the information they had gathered and put their heads together to make use of it in their respective businesses. More than anything, Conrad enjoyed racking his brain to turn seemingly casual information into business opportunities.
"Speaking of Players, I hear the goddess has given another divine revelation. Was it Nyure-sama, the 'Goddess of Soil and Weather,' who told you to grow plants?"
"Yes. You're well-informed."
Conrad was a Wanderer—in other words, a Player—and knew about the next event. He was planning to participate in the food-tasting showdown Izaam and the others were holding, a festival-like commotion. He did not know whether he would enter as a contestant, however.
Usuba had also sent him a message about this matter. Apparently, Izaam had invited even Usuba to this ridiculous ruckus and asked Conrad to let Usuba board the ship once the current battle had reached a temporary conclusion. Since Usuba and his companions would not blab information about the Tinbrica Continent, Conrad had gladly replied that he would grant the request.
A king who seemed cautious yet prioritized having fun, and an assassin famous for his merciless fighting style yet strangely willing to go along with things. My friends are truly unique and amusing people, Conrad thought, laughing heartily to himself.
"Are you going to grow something too, Conrad-kun? I hear it may be possible to create a new species of plant."
"I do intend to grow something, but I haven't decided what it will be yet."
"If you're going to do it, I hope you create a plant that makes money. When you do, I'd be grateful if you could sell some to us cheaply."
Thomas's words struck Conrad like a revelation. He had thought of this event as nothing more than tending to a houseplant. That was because the image of the flowerpot sent along with the announcement showed an ordinary, cheap reddish-brown earthenware pot of the sort sold at a home improvement store.
Conrad had been trapped by the preconception that a potted plant like that was meant to be ornamental. Consequently, he had assumed that Izaam and the others' taste-testing contest would amount to little more than differences attributable to where the plants were grown. He had never thought of using his imagination to create a more economically valuable plant.
Though shocked that he had nearly missed such a business opportunity, Conrad began considering what kind of plant would be profitable. Would it be an expensive, high-class fruit produced at great cost, or cheap grain that could be harvested in massive quantities for a low-margin, high-volume business?
(Both are pretty commonplace. Maybe I should hold a contest in my clan for the crop that generates the most profit? Yes, that's it.)
Conrad decided to hold a similar contest in his own clan. He could work out the finer rules later, but if it was going to be a competition, he would have to begin preparing as soon as possible.
He wanted to get started immediately, but he was in the middle of a meeting with Thomas. It would be rude not to focus on that for now. Instead, he would casually ask Thomas which crops were in demand among the NPC residents. Though he was weaving conspiracies, at heart he was a merchant.
While the two of them were meeting, Leon was frantically working to erase every trace. They had decided to hire Players to join forces with the other merchants and defeat the pirates, but because he had received no advance warning, plenty of documents that could serve as evidence still remained. He was scrambling to dispose of them.
"Damn it... Everything has come to nothing because unexpected pirates appeared! Crushing those bastards will have to wait even longer... No, don't panic. Remember all the bitter hardships you've endured. You should be used to enduring them by now."
Leon tried to keep calm as though he were talking himself down. Unless he muttered to himself and soothed his anger, he felt he might lose control.
Leon had devoted a great deal to his schemes for destroying the 'Medil Trading Company.' The supplies he had provided to the pirates had not been cheap, and the enormous tribute he had paid the Organization to establish a connection with the 'Austin Crew' had cost a fortune. The profits from selling the goods the pirates had stolen were substantial, but he had not even recovered his initial investment. Naturally, he was furious at being forced to withdraw without accomplishing his goal.
"Who could have predicted the appearance of pirates whose base even Dios's... even the Organization's power couldn't locate?! And we still don't know who has been delivering supplies to those pirates! I can't believe it!"
Leon shouted in mounting irritation. Afterward, Dios and the others continued checking for ships taking suspicious routes, but they never found a single one.
As far as Leon and Dios could determine, no ship carrying potions or food that restored fullness had ever been attacked by Anne. If the pirates had no base on land and were not obtaining their necessities through plunder, then someone had to be supplying them.
Yet even the Organization's power could not reveal who that person was. The fact that neither Leon nor Dios could make things go their way despite all their efforts only fueled their childish tantrums.
"The pirates were more useful than I expected, but we need to cut our losses. Let them disappear beneath the waves along with their secrets."
Since Leon and his allies had been unable to dispose of Anne and her group before the idea of jointly funding an expedition to eliminate the pirates was proposed, their defeat was effectively certain. To minimize the damage from that defeat, they needed to ensure that their connection to the 'Austin Crew' was never discovered. Leon was therefore trying to dispose of any documents in the company's office that could serve as evidence, while Dios was attempting to eliminate the 'Austin Crew.'
By now, Dios and his subordinates were dispatching an elite force aboard the Organization's latest high-speed ships to the uninhabited island where the 'Austin Crew' had its base. The crew would surely be dealt with swiftly, and the ever-growing number of Players already gathering would defeat Anne and her group, the root cause of everything. The only consolation was that the people who had caused him such enormous losses would certainly be defeated, and with that thought, he continued reviewing and disposing of the documents.