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Chapter 10
Shrrrk—!
“I think you’ll need an explanation for this, Tania.”
I pushed the sack I’d set down on the floor of the guildmaster’s office toward him.
It was so heavy I couldn’t even lift it—I’d barely managed to drag it all the way here.
“Guildmaster Ageratum, how about making a deal with me?”
“A deal?”
The guildmaster, who had been staring blankly a moment ago, straightened up, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes.
“How much have you investigated before coming here, young customer?”
Even knowing my abilities were no ordinary thing, it couldn’t have been easy to treat a child with this much seriousness.
The guildmaster really did seem to be a natural-born businessman.
“It’s about buying grain to prepare for the bad harvest next year. I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity either.”
“Well, if you’re investing too, the credibility of the information improves, so there’s no particular reason to refuse. But where did you get the money…?”
He gave me a look that clearly said, You didn’t take it from the household you’re staying with, did you?
I shrugged lightly and pointed at the sack on the floor.
“I personally gathered this over the past few weeks while going around the nearby mountains, so go ahead and open it.”
“Oh? Now I’m curious what you brought back with such confidence.”
Still joking around, the guildmaster opened the sack—and then his eyes went wide in disbelief.
“Mana stones? Good heavens, the purity is top-tier! How in the world did you get these…?!”
“My ability has endless applications, you see.”
At his satisfied reaction, I curled the corners of my mouth into a grin.
It had been three weeks since Uncle Aiden left the house to deal with an urgent matter.
During that time, I’d gone to a monster-infested area that would later be discovered as a mana spot and brought back high-purity mana stones.
I remembered the location because, in the future, the Empire would carry out a large-scale monster subjugation there to obtain the stones.
Luckily, it was close to the capital, so I could go and come back quickly.
Oh, you’re wondering how someone like me—with bottom-tier combat ability—managed to mine mana stones in a monster-filled forest?
Naturally, I spammed save-load like crazy and avoided every place where monsters appeared.
Smiling leisurely, I opened my mouth.
“So, are you interested in doing business?”
The guildmaster’s eyes were already half-crazed, but I asked out of courtesy.
“Tania, I’m not an idiot who throws away good fortune that’s rolled right to my feet.”
“Oh, by the way, I’m not proposing we trade these mana stones.”
“…What? Then what?”
“The place I mined these from is actually private land, but monsters appear there, so even the owner can’t do anything about it and has been pulling his hair out.”
In Earth terms, it was like land crawling with every kind of ferocious beast imaginable.
In other words, from the owner’s perspective, it was worthless land that wouldn’t sell and only drained him with annual land taxes.
“If you bring up the monster byproduct business and say you want to buy the land, he’ll welcome you with open arms.”
It might put us at a slight disadvantage in price negotiations, but at least it would avoid raising suspicion that the land had something special about it.
“I’ll tell you where the land is. Confirm that it’s a mana stone deposit, then either resell it at a higher price or mine it yourself.”
“Y-you’re saying you know of land with mana stones of this purity buried in it…?”
“Yes. In return, please be sure to use the profits from this to buy grain, and give me a percentage.”
A big catch!
That thought was written plainly across the guildmaster’s face.
Not missing my chance, I smiled brightly and slid the mana stones I’d brought a little closer to him.
“Consider this a bonus.”
From the start, these were both proof that I knew where mana stones were buried—and a goodwill gesture to win him over.
As expected, honey practically dripped from the guildmaster’s eyes as he stared at the mana stones.
Before the goodwill effect wore off, I needed to negotiate.
“So then, Guildmaster Ageratum—what percentage are you thinking?”
“I’ll have a lot to handle. Purchasing the land with mana stones, converting the stones into cash, buying grain, storing the grain, and so on. Especially the cost of dealing with the monsters…”
This was getting long-winded.
Knowing that the longer he talked, the worse it would be for me, I cut him off.
“So, the percentage?”
“Tania, this isn’t something that can be decided immediately—”
“The percentage.”
“…You’re merciless. Then how about this? As a commission, we split the net profit, not revenue, fifty-fifty.”
See? A few pokes and it came right out.
He’d had a figure in mind from the moment he heard my proposal.
With the most serious face I could manage, I asked:
“Which one is five?”
“….”
Seeing him at a loss for words, I shrugged.
“I guess I can’t even joke with you, Guildmaster.”
“…Anyone would be fooled by your youthful appearance.”
“Hehe.”
Still, fifty percent of the net profit was far more reasonable than I’d expected.
“I thought your share would start at at least seventy percent, since I’m entrusting you with full authority.”
The guildmaster laughed heartily as he stroked the mana stones.
“Haha! I’m not foolish enough to cut open the belly of a goose that lays golden eggs.”
“A fine philosophy.”
I’d actually planned to squeeze him as much as possible… but seeing him concede like this changed my mind.
“Alright. Let’s draft the contract based on what you just said.”
“Wait! What if the land is so densely infested with monsters that, after handling costs, it ends up being a loss instead of a profit?”
Considering it would later be included in a large-scale monster subjugation, that wasn’t impossible.
“As I said earlier, there’s also the option of simply reselling the land at a high price. And…”
I curved my eyes into crescent moons.
“Minimizing risk may be a merchant’s virtue, but if you can’t handle even that much risk, you can’t really call yourself a merchant.”
In other words—if you’re scared, don’t sign the contract.
If not you, I could always find someone else to do business with.
Sensing the hidden pressure beneath my smile, the guildmaster hastily continued, unwilling to lose the deal.
“Haha, you’re right! Then shall we draft the contract, young customer?”
With a kindly smile, he began writing the contract in swift, confident strokes.
We discussed the details as we finalized it.
Thanks to how well we communicated, the contract was completed in one go.
“Come to think of it, you’ve become much prettier since the last time I saw you, Tania.”
That was only natural.
Nearly two months had passed since I’d come up to the capital.
The emaciated body I’d had back then had filled out a bit, and brushing my once-dull hair daily with an oil-treated comb had given it a healthy sheen.
My long, pale-pink hair fluttered like cherry blossoms with every step, and my clear eyes shone with a vivid amber hue.
I looked completely different from when I’d been treated as a street orphan.
Not hiding my good mood, I let out a bright smile.
“Maybe it’s because I’m being loved.”
“Hah, you really do have a way with words—nothing like that other fellow’s son…”
Muttering to himself that he should’ve had another daughter, the guildmaster suddenly seemed to recall something.
“Oh, right! What did you talk about with Ron last time?”
“Uh… I don’t remember having any particularly meaningful conversation. Did something happen?”
Shaking his head as if exasperated, he replied,
“Since your visit, the boy hasn’t been himself. He keeps asking who you are and where you live.”
“Haha, I guess I should avoid Ron’s sight for a while until he cools down.”
“He’s not angry. Quite the opposite, actually.”
“…The opposite?”
Just then, the office door flew open and someone burst in, clearly protesting.
“Hey! If you’re here, you should at least say so!”
Yikes. I’d been caught by Ron.
Thinking there was no way to slip by quietly now, I turned around—
And Ron, locking eyes with me, flinched and rubbed his wide-open eyes.
“…Who are you?”
Who? What was that supposed to mean?
After blinking a few times, a hypothesis came to mind. With a tentative expression, I asked,
“Hey, pretty boy—have I changed so much that you don’t recognize me?”
