“Then shall we consider the Trash Village matter wrapped up with this?”
“That sounds fine.”
“Then we’ll move on to the next agenda item.”
The conference hall of the imperial palace.
Countless crystal orbs lit up the chamber.
A council of nobles that had been convened since early morning.
Yet no one complained, because the agenda included a matter that could shift the balance of power—drastically.
“Ohh… so this is that newly discovered top-grade mana stone?”
The top-grade mana stone nestled between the Emperor’s fingers shone with a brilliant light.
Several nobles who saw it had their eyes light up as well.
They were men who still walked the path of knights and mages even after becoming heads of their houses.
Even the Emperor, who wasn’t particularly attuned to mana, could feel the energy. For those who devoted their lives to mana, the sensation must have been overwhelming.
“It helps with training, but… more importantly, it’s incredibly valuable. Even someone who hasn’t trained in mana can use it.”
“Indeed, Your Majesty. It is mostly used in consumable artifacts, but it’s essential for technological development.”
“For a new top-grade mana stone mine to appear—surely that can only be thanks to Your Majesty’s boundless grace.”
Of course, they weren’t the only ones coveting the stones.
‘So that’s the very thing that let the Vyuern family climb all the way up to a ducal house… top-grade mana stones.’
‘They say a single day’s worth of mining is worth a month’s income for our whole territory.’
‘We absolutely have to get it for our side.’
Ownership of the top-grade mana stones would not only bring in money, but also reshape the fierce struggle between factions.
Everyone in the hall was aiming for it, but in truth, the outcome was already more or less narrowed down.
‘Will it be Duke Andoros of the neutral faction, or Duke Zeppelin of House Vyuern?’
Both houses had past experience mining top-grade mana stones.
But Vyuern’s chances of getting this mine were higher.
As one reason, Duke Aziz and the nobles around him were pushing hard on their behalf.
“To offer fifty percent of the profits as tax for five years…”
“And Duke Andoros only bid forty percent, didn’t he? Even that is immense. Duke Zeppelin… he really isn’t ordinary.”
“Are those two the only candidates?”
“Yes. The rest did not meet the requirements.”
The Emperor flipped through the documents again.
But there wasn’t much point. The mine had to be given to someone, and there was no reason to reject Duke Zeppelin’s proposal.
‘No justification, no fun, and the ending is way too obvious~.’
‘Where is this body’s dopamine supposed to come from in a situation like this!’
The Emperor started spinning in his chair, and a servant pretended to polish a crystal orb to block the view.
It was irritating that Duke Aziz’s faction was growing larger than expected, but it still wasn’t at the level where it needed to be checked.
Just as the Emperor was about to grant approval, the servant handed him a report.
The Emperor saw the name of the drafter and the corners of his mouth curled up.
“Now this is an interesting proposal. I’ll share it, so each of you take a look.”
“…?”
Question marks popped up above everyone’s heads.
It was strange enough to submit a proposal this late, and besides, this was a head-on clash between two huge factions.
Stepping in now was like trying to join a fight between whales.
‘Which lunatic…’
That lunatic’s antics didn’t stop there. The contents of the report were even more shocking.
“Th-this madman!”
“Heh-heh…”
“What the hell is this…!”
To summarize Dwener’s report, it went like this:
For one year, dozens of houses compete to sell top-grade mana stones.
The one that achieves the highest profit rate earns the distribution rights for two years.
After that, they compete again, and the winner gets another two years of distribution rights.
An endless competition system over the distribution rights of top-grade mana stones!
“Does this even make sense?”
“It’ll create massive fatigue. They’ll wear themselves out fighting!”
“But it will guarantee high profitability.”
“Tax is fifteen percent, is it? If profits are high, you could collect more tax than with fifty percent.”
“Even if it’s not that high, fifteen percent every year is far better than fifty percent for five years.”
“Grrr…”
“Wait, is it just the distribution rights? Who holds the mining rights?”
The mining rights were just as important.
You could control the production volume, or quietly skim some off the top.
Each top-grade mana stone was extremely valuable, so the mining rights were a critical matter.
What stood out in Dwener’s report was that the ownership of mining and distribution rights were separated.
“Let’s see here… the contract states that Trash Village will own the mining rights.”
“Who owns Trash Village again, as the production site?”
“Didn’t we just decide to hand it over to Annwood Academy a moment ago?”
“…?”
The nobles recalled.
While dealing with the earlier agenda, they’d changed Trash Village’s affiliation to Annwood Academy.
Everyone had been so fixated on the mine that no one spared a thought for Trash Village sitting right beside it.
“No, how does this make sense?”
“Well, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with it.”
“And the stated justification is decent. Revitalize a dying village, use it for academy students… and invest the remaining profits in donations and research societies for technological development…”
The nobles glanced at the Emperor’s face. He was all smiles.
Annwood Academy might be an independent entity on paper, but its owner was still the Imperial Family.
It was about to become the Emperor’s new wallet and slush fund. There was no way he would dislike that.
“We’ve been played. That Dwener fellow…”
“Strictly speaking, it’s Duke Aziz’s scheme. Dwener is just the incompetent man who carries out orders.”
“We should have realized when he insisted on directly managing Trash Village… We slipped up.”
“House Vyuern taking it outright would’ve caused too much gossip, so they chose this method instead? Very much like Duke Aziz.”
The nobles grumbled amongst themselves.
Every last one of them believed it to be Duke Aziz’s scheme.
“…”
Duke Aziz’s eyebrow twitched slightly, and the Emperor did not miss it.
‘So I was right… he didn’t share this one either.’
It meant this was Dwener acting on his own.
Considering that Duke Aziz was the one backing Dwener, this was a rather unusual development.
‘If I approve this as is, Dwener will amass a ridiculous fortune.’
Competition between houses.
They would all want more stones than the official allowance, and if Dwener secretly sold them extra for a price, that house’s chances of winning the distribution rights would skyrocket.
‘He could lie about production volume… There are endless ways to make money off this in secret.’
He wasn’t particularly worried about that, though.
Because the Empire’s Rat, Caron, existed.
With that man stuck right to Dwener’s side, there was no way he could freely embezzle. And even if some went missing, it would still be within an acceptable margin.
Frustrated expressions could be seen on the faces of many nobles.
Seeing that, the Emperor felt a familiar thrill he hadn’t felt in a while.
‘Dwener… he might be more competent than I thought.’
‘The kind of man who really gets my dopamine pumping, so to speak.’
“I hear he even took care of the demon? A man who works that well deserves proper treatment. Confer upon him a sixth-grade medal.”
“…As you command.”
A short while later, the storm-like meeting came to an end.
One of the crystal orbs installed around the chamber.
The light within that orb faded out.
“Everything went according to plan.”
“It went more smoothly than I expected. I was prepared to concede one or two more points… It seems His Majesty’s wariness toward Duke Aziz is stronger than I thought.”
It was Caron and Dwener.
“So, where are you going to use the profits?”
“Exactly as written in the report.”
“You’d better. Anything else would go against the principles of the Evil-Slaying Group.”
“Couldn’t we… skim just a little? We are working for the world here. Just enough for activity expenses…”
Caron silently looked down at Dwener, and Dwener quickly averted his eyes.
“A-hem! Are the preparations for departure finished?”
“Yes.”
“Send them off, then. It should be safe even without you, right?”
“I haven’t raised them so weak that they’d lose to some bandits.”
Today was the day we returned to Annwood Academy.
A few instructors were missing due to staying behind to manage the top-grade mana stone mine.
It would have been best if Caron could escort us, but that wasn’t possible.
He still had work left to do.
‘I still don’t know if this is the right call, though.’
The most important part of a story is how you end it.
What decision would Dwener make, and what outcome would it lead to?
While Caron was mulling over his curiosity, Dwener rose to his feet.
“Then let’s go.”
To tie up the long story’s loose ends.
“She left?”
“That’s right. It’s a shame, but what can you do? There are so many places that need her…”
It was the day we were leaving Trash Village.
As soon as we reached the rally point, Rodelin brought us the news.
The news that Lowell had left.
“She left before I could properly thank her… That’s a shame.”
“I only managed to greet her half-asleep myself. Don’t be too disappointed. She did leave a brief message, at least.”
“A message?”
“Yes.”
The message went as follows.
For Luna, to carry on her pride.
For Rezé, to stop locking herself away.
And for me.
“She said you should try walking around with your eyes open for once.”
“…”
I was insulted.
If she’d been in front of me, I’d have smacked her on the crown and made her even shorter.
“M-m-Master! I-I’ll do my best!”
Rezé shouted through her tears.
Maybe I was imagining things, but I could almost see a sunset ocean and waves crashing against the shore behind her.
‘Is her weakness emotional drama? I’ll make sure to remember that and use it.’
[You have met the conditions.]
[“Lucid Family’s Secret” chain quest has begun.]
[Lucid Family’s Secret #1]
“It seems the Lucid family has entered a special contract with the Second Legion Commander.
Uncover that secret and save the Lucid family.”
Find out from Rodelin the contents of the Lucid family’s contract. (0/1)
Reward: All stats +3
Penalty: None
A chain quest known for its good rewards popped up before my eyes.
But I only felt indifferent. Partly because I’d seen it so many times.
‘Because it’s a quest I can never clear to the end.’
I managed to restore Lowell and Rodelin’s relationship to how it used to be, but I didn’t believe that would change Rodelin’s future.
The trials and hardships Rodelin had to overcome weren’t limited to Lowell alone.
You could say I’d merely untangled a single thread in a hopelessly snarled ball of yarn.
‘Well, the rewards are good at least up to the middle, so I might as well accept it…’
I had no intention of following this quest chain all the way to the end. What mattered was seeing the game’s ending.
“Then I’ll be on my way first.”
Rodelin headed to where the second-years were, and we made our way to the first-year area.
“We’re finally leaving!”
“Goodbye, life of back-breaking labor!”
“First thing I do when we get back is soak in hot water!”
“But… we have to survive the trip for that to happen, don’t we?”
The kids’ shoulders drooped.
Right in front of us was that thing merchants loved to use.
“A plain wagon… Are we getting loaded like cargo again?”
“Yeah. Why do we have to put up with this? On the way here it was urgent because of the demon, fine. But there’s no need for that now, is there?”
“Bring out a fancy carriage with plush sofas! It’s time for the triumphant return of heroes!”
The kids grumbled their complaints.
An instructor walked up to them and handed them sheets of paper.
“If you have any complaints, write them down on these sheets and submit them.”
“What’s this?”
“It’s an inconvenience improvement form.”
“Ooh! That’s Annwood Academy for you!”
Scratch, scratch—!
While they were furiously scribbling with their pens, one of them asked:
“By the way, who does this get reported to?”
Obviously.
“Sir Caron.”
Rip! Fwoosh—!
The kids tore up the papers and started burning them.
“Annwood Academy is run on the hard-earned taxes of Imperial citizens! Of course we should be saving money!”
“This is all part of our training!”
“Did I ever tell you? Being treated like baggage is my dream!”
The kids voluntarily climbed into the wagon.
They even piled up neatly, as if they really were cargo.
“Mm, just another ordinary day.”
“Keke, going back to our daily routine. Not bad.”
“T-t-there won’t be any more fighting now, right?”
Rezé smiled brightly. I smiled back and spoke inwardly.
‘Nope. An even fiercer fight is about to start.’
As if to prove my words, a man was walking toward us from afar.
A man who turned people into cargo.
It was Caron.
