Chapter 35
The Finance Department was in charge of the Siers clan's finances, budget, and trade matters.
The head of that department, Finance Minister Todd Siers, had been quite busy for the past week, for the first time in a long while.
Why the first time in a long while?
"Why else! I'm the Finance Minister, I'm busy when there's money to spend! We've been living like beggars until now!"
"Good heavens, what's wrong all of a sudden?"
"Nothing! Just talking to myself!"
"Yes, sir..."
Jimmy, the Finance Minister's disciple who assisted him, started working again with an expression that said, 'Here we go again.'
The Finance Minister cleared his throat and turned his eyes back to the documents, fiddling with his goatee.
"Ahem. Yes. It's better to be this busy. Indeed."
An irrepressible smile spread across Todd's lips.
A week ago.
Kain's victory in the duel against Hayden, which had the support funds on the line, nearly doubled the immediately available funds compared to the expected amount.
'How much had we been squeezed dry all this time, that recovering the 30% cut from three years ago resulted in a doubling of funds? Those ruffians.'
He once again seethed with anger at the Bederman clan's tyranny.
'Anyway, thanks to this recovery, I can execute quite a few of the budget plans that had been put on hold.'
Because the Clan Head, Blake Siers, had forbidden touching the East Wing-related budget and the budget allocated to the servants as much as possible, they had been forced to save or postpone budget execution in other areas.
'I nearly cracked my skull trying to split and use the meager budget we had, those damn bastards.'
There were more than a few times he had wanted to protest to the Clan Head, but seeing the water leaking from one side of the hallway inside the Clan Head's residence, he had no choice but to turn back.
What could he do when the Clan Head himself was rolling up his sleeves to save budget?
Because of that, Todd had to constantly worry and ponder how to use money as efficiently as possible.
Of course, even now, with the overdue budget being executed, it had only eased the pressure a bit, and he absolutely couldn't say they had plenty of funds.
"Finance Minister! Are we going to execute the repair for the left door at the North Wing entrance?"
"Oh, do it!"
"Understood."
The Finance Minister, who had cheerfully granted the request of another disciple who had come to his department, even hummed a little tune.
'If nothing goes wrong, the next support funds will remain at this level too. We might be able to normalize things little by little.'
Bang.
"Finance Minister Todd! Regarding the repair of the materials warehouse..."
"Execute it! And you, young man, how many times do I have to tell you to open the door gently! If the door falls off, are you going to fix it?"
"Sorry, sir!"
The disciples working in the finance department also seemed to like being busy again after a long time, their movements were lively and their expressions were bright.
"Finance Minister! The carriage we talked about last time..."
"Execute it!"
"Minister! This..."
"Execute it!"
He quickly scanned the documents that came in, and if there were no problems, he immediately issued execution orders.
"Hoo."
Todd put down his pen with a relieved expression, as if a weight had been lifted from his chest.
Then he asked Jimmy, who was next to him,
"But really, how did that Kain kid beat Hayden?"
"That's the fourteenth time you've asked that question, Minister."
"No, it doesn't make sense. That Hayden brat was a 4th Circle mage, wasn't he?"
No matter how he thought about it, it was strange.
Todd recalled Kain's face when the Bederman clan had visited.
'Even when he caused trouble three years ago, I really wanted to punch him. But when I saw him then, he looked calm, as if he had become a different person.'
Frankly speaking, Todd hadn't liked Kain much until then.
'After all, the support funds were drastically cut because of that kid!'
The support funds had been cut on the spot because of the incident where Kain had punched Hayden, and for Todd, the Finance Minister, it was like a bolt of lightning out of the blue.
Of course, the primary fault lay with Hayden, who had tried to take Kain's exclusive maid.
And it was certainly malicious of those Bederman clan bastards to use that incident as an excuse to drastically cut the support funds, as if they had been waiting for it.
If Kain had dealt with it a little more moderately back then, things wouldn't have gone this far.
'The Bederman Clan Head's intention was to make even the people within the Siers clan hate Kain by cutting the support funds, and I know I'm being played by him!'
Still, he couldn't help but be angry about the cut in support funds!
But even Todd, who had been looking at Kain with unfavorable eyes, had felt pity for Kain when the Bederman side tried to send him to the snowy mountains.
'It was obvious they were sending him to his death.'
Even though he was like that, Todd hadn't wanted him to die, and a few days later, when he heard the news that Kain had returned alive and well with the head of an Ice Troll, he sighed with relief and surprise.
'But then, to hear that he was going to have another duel with the support funds on the line, it was truly maddening. He really played with my emotions...'
Because Richter Bederman was trying to reduce the amount of support fund recovery he had promised with sneaky wordplay, the story progressed towards settling it all with one clean duel.
And Kain had immediately agreed to it.
'I didn't think he had any chance of winning.'
Todd would have preferred to recover even a small amount for sure there, but in the end, Blake Siers had ultimately accepted the duel.
-Aigoo, he accepted that! I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Ugh...
-Finance Minister!
--Get a grip!
Todd couldn't bear to see the support funds vanish before his eyes, so he hadn't gone to the dueling grounds where almost everyone in the clan had gathered.
And, after the duel ended.
-Finance Ministerrrr! Look at thissss!!
-We brought the support funds!
Seeing the hefty support funds that the disciples and servants had brought, Todd doubted his own eyes.
"He beat Hayden, who had been secretly hiding the fact that he was a 4th Circle mage after gobbling down all sorts of great elixirs? You'd have to say something believable for me to believe that!"
"What can I do if it's the truth? I wouldn't have believed it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. His skills were truly amazing."
"Ha, I should have just gone and seen it for myself back then, come hell or high water!"
The sight of Kain flattening Hayden's nose, the Bederman Clan Head's face as he stared blankly at the scene, and the way he scrambled away with the support funds.
He was so regretful for not having seen it himself that it felt like a grudge.
"Hoo... Anyway, that Kain kid..."
He had recently moved up to the 3rd floor, and he had heard rumors that his attitude in class was still perfect and that he was working hard in his training.
"He's an unpredictable one."
Well, anyway, it was true that he had been looking at him with unfavorable eyes until now.
But since Kain had ultimately cleaned up his own mess and given the Bederman clan a good blow, he felt like he could acknowledge him for that.
"That's right! He can do well from now on, from now on!"
He was in an exceptionally good mood right now, after all.
If Kain had been in front of him, he might have even patted him on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.
Todd grinned and asked Jimmy,
"Those White Magic Stones that the Bederman bastards left behind because they were short on cash back then, are they all safely stored?"
"Of course. And White Magic Stones don't really degrade in quality even if you store them haphazardly anyway."
"Ahem! Still, you have to handle expensive things carefully!"
White Magic Stones, which could only be obtained deep in the snowy mountains where blizzards raged.
They were magic stones used to create various artifacts and could also be used to enchant weapons by separating the cold air they contained, boasting a high price.
"The market price is rising anyway, and it felt like my hair was falling out every time we had to give them away to those Bederman bastards, so this is great. Hahahaha!"
Moreover, the magic tower of Perun, one of their important clients, had said they would pay a higher unit price in the next transaction if they provided a sufficient quantity.
'They said they had some important research, and they needed White Magic Stones for it. And Bederman doesn't know about this.'
Of course, even if they offered a higher price, he couldn't just ignore their other existing clients and sell all the White Magic Stones to one place.
'It would be profitable in the short term, but in the long run, it's important to maintain relationships with other clients as well.'
So he had been planning to sell them according to the original plan, which was a shame, but thanks to Kain, they now had a sufficient quantity of White Magic Stones, and the amount they could supply to the magic tower had also been secured.
All they had to do was load the White Magic Stones onto the clan's merchant caravan that would be arriving soon and sell them off to earn a considerable amount of money.
"Are you planning to sell them all at once?"
"Of course. There's the magic tower deal this time, but if we just divide them up and sell them as the market price rises, we'll incur losses due to the round-trip fees."
"The fees for the eastern section of the Hyperen region are quite outrageous, aren't they?"
"That's what I'm saying! Those damn Bederman clan bastards, they have a complete monopoly!"
Todd frowned.
"It stings, but if we just grit our teeth and pay it this once, there's something to gain in return. We'll just have to think of it as being robbed by bandits..."
And just then.
"Finance Ministerrrrr!!!"
Bang.
The disciple who had slammed the door open earlier came in panting.
"What is it now! How long has it been since I told you to open the door gently...! Never mind, just execute it!"
"N-no, that's not it!"
"Huh?"
Just then, a servant came in behind the disciple.
"Finance Minister, something terrible has happened. Our merchant caravan that's about to leave for Hyperen, right?"
"Yes."
"The Bederman clan bastards have increased the tolls and fees for that route by 1.5 times and 2 times respectively!"
"...What?"
Todd, who had a momentarily blank expression when he first heard it, twitched slightly around his eyes, and soon his entire face began to turn red.
"Two times? Twooooo times? Does that even make sense! Huh!"
The servant reporting flinched at Todd's roar.
"Are you sure? Huh?"
"...Yes. Several merchant groups coming into our territory from across Hyperen were all cursing them."
"Of course they'd curse them, those X-like XXX of XXX!"
Finally, a string of profanities burst from the Finance Minister's mouth.
"Ha! I wondered what their scheme was when they left White Magic Stones instead of cash, but it was to rip us off like this?"
Jimmy, who was beside him, also spoke up.
"It's not like only our merchants use that route, and no matter how powerful the Bederman clan is, there will be backlash if they suddenly try to take such exorbitant profits."
"Well, for ordinary travelers or small-scale merchants, they're only raising the tolls a bit, and the security fees remain the same as before. They're raising it for those above that level. They say it's because it becomes difficult to guarantee safety if there are expensive goods involved, so they have no choice but to raise the fees... but it doesn't make sense. It's not like it was cheap before either."
Todd gritted his teeth at the blatant move targeting the White Magic Stones.
"Those XXXs..."
Ugh.
Todd groaned.
'I underestimated those Bederman bastards.'
Now that he thought about it, the Bederman Clan Head's most beloved son had been completely humiliated by Kain, and they had even lost money.
There was no way they would have stayed still.
'Haa... Should I tell them to take the southern route? But what if they get attacked in the swamp and lose the goods...'
There was also the option of sending them with a strong additional escort, but even that wasn't 100% safe.
'If we sent disciples who were 4th or 5th Circle mages, it would be almost 100% safe, but having such high-level personnel leave the clan for a long period to escort a merchant caravan...'
Merchant caravans didn't just carry one type of goods.
They carried various trade goods, following a pre-planned route, buying goods here to sell there, and buying there to sell here.
That's what a merchant caravan did.
In other words, if they went as escorts, they would have to follow routes unrelated to the White Magic Stones as well.
'Once they leave, it'll be at least a month before they return.'
In fact, once they safely passed through the swamp south of Hyperen, there weren't many dangerous sections after that, so escorting them with 4th Circle or higher mages would be a sheer waste of high-level personnel.
Unless someone volunteered, most disciples who were 4th Circle or higher were direct descendants, and there probably wouldn't be any direct descendants who would want to travel with merchants, enduring uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and schedules, and spending a boring month just because of a swamp.
'Or should we just take a huge detour...? No, then we won't be able to meet the delivery date. The magic tower is so sensitive about dates. Damn it!'
To make matters worse, the magic tower, one of their biggest clients, was the furthest away, so it wasn't possible to stop by there first.
'Should I just grit my teeth and ask the Clan Head if there are any 4th floor disciples who aren't busy and ask him to assign them as escorts? But what if a request that requires 4th floor disciples comes up in the meantime...?'
Todd was almost tearing his hair out as he held his head and pondered.
"Finance Minister!"
"What is it this time! Don't execute anything right now. This isn't the time for that..."
"It's not that, Young Master Kain has come to see you."
"Huh? Kain?"
Speak of the devil, he must have heard me talking about him?
If so, he wished he had just talked about the Bederman clan's Finance Minister to make him appear so he could slap him across the face.
Anyway, as he raised his disheveled head, Kain, Edward, Fohn, and Bolio were entering in order.
"We greet the Finance Minister."
As Kain politely greeted him and the other three were about to follow suit, Todd waved his hand dismissively.
"Yeah, yeah, greetings are enough. Why are you suddenly here?"
Kain bowed his head again and said,
"First, I apologize for overhearing your conversation. It seems there's an issue regarding the White Magic Stone distribution, and I'd like to propose a solution related to this."
"A proposal? From you?"
A direct descendant who had never experienced even the basics of commerce was making a proposal to the Finance Minister.
Usually, he would have roared at him first, but...
"Alright, let's hear it."
As if half-resigned, Todd nodded weakly.
And then.
"...taking a large detour around the mountain range would take too much time..."
"Oh, right."
"...if we just safely pass through the swamp..."
"Yeah."
As Kain's words flowed smoothly, the strength in Todd's nodding head gradually increased.
"...therefore, the four of us here would like to go as additional escorts for the merchant caravan. What do you think?"
"......"
When Kain's long explanation ended, the surroundings fell silent.
The Finance Minister and the disciples of the finance department inside all had surprised expressions.
Todd asked the first question that came to his mind.
"You... where did you learn this?"
"I spoke based on the information that Fohn Siers here told me."
"Fohn?"
Everyone's gaze shifted to Fohn.
Fohn, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention, subtly hid behind Edward.
"Yes. He said he studied on his own by looking at books and records in the archives."
"Studied on his own? Is that really true?"
As Todd stared intently at Fohn, Fohn nodded slightly.
"Yes... Th-that's why there might be some incorrect parts."
"No, no. It's not wrong at all."
Rather, it was as if he was scratching an itch; each explanation was very accurate and clear.
The only thing that bothered him a little was that the escort consisted of one 3rd Circle mage and three 2nd Circle mages.
If Edward, Fohn, and Bolio were all 3rd Circle, it would have been different, but with only one 3rd Circle mage, it was a bit unsettling.
'However, Kain just recently won a one-on-one duel against Hayden, who had reached the 4th Circle.'
And according to what he had heard, it was with a very overwhelming difference in skill.
'Wouldn't that mean we can just treat him as a 4th Circle mage?'
Thinking of it as one 3rd Circle mage close to the 4th Circle with three 2nd Circle mages as support made it a bit different.
Again, normally he would have thought, 'Still, a 3rd Circle is a 3rd Circle,' but in Todd's mind, the fantasy of not paying fees to those dirty Bederman bastards and still meeting the delivery date was already blossoming.
'Moreover, that Fohn Siers kid. If what Kain says about him studying on his own is true, I'd want to bring him into the finance department right away and nurture him.'
He would have to ask for his opinion in an interview and report to the Clan Head to go through the proper procedures, but if Fohn were to join the finance department.
'This experience of accompanying the merchant caravan would be a great help.'
And by directly escorting the merchant caravan, Fohn himself would be able to decide whether or not he wanted to work in the finance department.
Todd looked at Kain's face.
Kain was looking at Todd with calm eyes that were impossible to read, waiting for an answer.
"Hoo..."
No matter how he looked at it, this was clearly a gamble.
Moreover, even if they returned safely this time, unless the monster and bandit problem in the swamp was fundamentally resolved, they would have to cross the swamp every time in the future if they wanted to continue avoiding the fees.
However.
"Alright. Let's do it."
Thump.
Todd Siers placed his hand on Kain's shoulder.
Then he patted it twice and said,
"Let's give those damn Bederman bastards a taste of their own medicine."
