Chapter 83: The Dark Side
At night, I ride my carriage towards Periknen territory.
To report today’s talk between the Guild Leader and the Peltra couple.
I brought something that’s too revolutionary. It’s an act that will upset the noble society. All the markets that our guild has expanded towards the nobles will be destroyed.
The Guild Leader was carried away by the excitement, but it couldn’t pass.
Thud. The carriage shakes violently. The neighing of horses splitting the night.
“What happened!”
I call out to the driver, but there’s no response. When I open the small window connecting to the driver’s seat, warm and moist liquid splashes on my face.
The carriage shakes again and comes to a stop. When I open the door, I see that my hands are stained red under the street lights.
“Uwaaah!”
When I look at the driver’s seat, the man’s head is gone, and he falls slowly.
“Sarasoya, the director of the Patent Department of the Royal Capital Commercial Guild.”
A voice that’s calm and not fitting to the tragedy echoes.
Under the street lights, stands a man wearing a golden embroidered magician’s robe and a silk hat. His silver long hair is exposed, and his monocle reveals a demonic eye…!
“T-The Great Ice-Flame Magician! What are you doing here?!”
He points his right hand towards here.
“<Bullet Brit>.”
A shock on my right leg.
“Ugh.”
“Look under your shoes.”
My ankles are frozen, as are my pants. With a snap, my ankle and all the rest of my body fell off without pain or bleeding.
This speed and power with shortened chanting…!
There was no sense of reality and I couldn’t even speak.I picked up my shoe and found a small stone on the sole. No, it was shining, reflecting the light of the streetlamp.
“Magic stone…?”
“A detection spell. After hearing today’s story, I’m looking for someone who moves to a completely different place than usual. Yes, like you, who is heading to Duke Periknen’s townhouse.”
“N-No! I just moved here!”
“<Ice-Blade>”
The space in front of my right hand sparkled like glass, reflecting the light. An ice blade. It extends without sound, and pierces my stomach.
It pierces my stomach without pain, passing through my suit and shirt. The ice spreads.
“There you are with our patents hidden away. It’s not appropriate for a position of leader who should protect the rights holder of the patent.”
A cruel smile rises on his handsome face.
My heart is being enveloped in ice.
“Our merciless queen, The Mistress will never forgive treachery.”
Then consciousness went dark.
***
“What the hell is this?!”
Father yells in the townhouse’s office.
“Even the commercial guild is stopping the magic stone trade!”
Saying that, he threw the paper in his hand away.
…Oh, I see. No wonder Father is getting angry. Unlike a single transaction, like last year’s with Cyclatron, it’s different because numerous small businesses and companies conduct magic stone transactions through the Commercial Guild. In fact, 50% of magic stone production in the Periknen Territory is through the Commercial Guild.
I picked up the letter that fell on the carpet.
“Excuse me.”
Hmm… This is.
“It doesn’t mean that the trading will be completely stopped. They just won’t accept the deals at the current price.”
Over the past year and into this year, my father has raised the price of magic stones to the established maximum price allowed by the government. This is the price that would normally be charged in the event of a collapse of the dungeon, when production is extremely low and an infusion of funds is needed to re-establish production.
The reason why my father’s tyranny is allowed is because of his status as Duke, and because the majority of magic stones in the country come from the Periknen Territory.
“The problem is the amount we are willing to deal for at this price!”
“That’s about half of what we’re selling for now in Periknen and about 80% of the original benchmark price… it’s close to the current minimum established price.”
The lower limit of this value is more of a value to prevent inexperienced merchants and adventurers from being unfairly underbid in business.
In other words, this price is not meant for the sale and purchase of magic stones in the first place.
Indeed, the commercial guild is taking bold actions.
This amount would have been a clear indication of the intention to stop doing business with the Duchy of Periknen.
“What are you going to do?”
“We’ll visit the king urgently and put pressure on the guild!”
A sigh escapes me.
It’s short-sighted and doesn’t make sense to just consider pressure without considering why the guild is able to take this action, or to speculate and investigate the reason.
The fact that this is possible means that the guild has at least the means to obtain magic stones equivalent to Periknen’s output in the medium term at a reasonable price.
And it’s within the established price range. I think the royal family will not move yet.
“I’ll head to investigate where the guild is getting the magic stones from.”
Even if pressure is applied, the target would probably be where the commercial guild obtained the magic stones.
I leave my father’s office.
The face of my sister popped up without any basis. She had a clear face, but with a delight in her Peridot eyes.
By some secret or miracle, she suddenly cut the price of the magic stones in half without even moving from the capital.
Ah, “storm” is coming.
It must be a storm big enough to blow the Duke Periknen house down.
