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Chapter 30
“We need to spread the word beyond Kaspel too. Depending on the situation, it’s fine to accept a few orders, Young Lord. Especially from mages.”
Arileti sat cross-legged on the desk, flipping through the list of visitors who had requested meetings.
Glen raised a question.
“Ismail said that the ultimate customers are mages. But if mages are coming to us on their own like this, was it really necessary to make a contract with him?”
That wasn’t quite right.
Arileti shook her head.
“Our customers aren’t individual mages. They’re an organization.”
“An organization? If it’s an organization of mages…”
Glen repeated the words in his mouth for a moment, then suddenly looked up.
“Don’t tell me… the Magic Tower?”
Correct. The ultimate goal they needed to reach through the Ismail Merchant Company was the Magic Tower.
The corner of Arileti’s lips lifted.
The pride of the Bertel Empire, and the eternal ideal of mages across the continent—the Magic Tower.
A treasury of knowledge that only the best of the best mages could enter.
If the White Forest supported the world’s great natural order, then the Magic Tower gathered together all of humanity’s wisdom.
Not only mages, but also mana scholars, magic historians, monster researchers, and potion makers—geniuses from many fields gathered at the Bertel Magic Tower.
The Tower had autonomy and was not supposed to interfere in imperial politics. But that was only a principle people hoped would be kept.
In her first life, the Magic Tower supported the First Prince, Albert.
‘Though that was actually the Empress’s work, not his.’
So in her second life, Arileti had tried to approach the Magic Tower first.
It took years to persuade the strict Tower Master. But just before the final negotiation, the Second Prince, Lucius, stabbed her in the back, and the alliance with the Magic Tower collapsed.
‘Thinking about it again makes me angry. Idiot. If you get the Magic Tower on your side, you start ten steps ahead of your opponent.’
Even in her third life, the Magic Tower was a key card that could instantly change the balance of power in the imperial family.
The Empress would not seriously approach the Magic Tower for another five years.
They had to secure a deal with the Magic Tower within those five years. That was why Ismail was absolutely necessary.
“Be good to Ismail, Young Lord. If someone steals him from us, we’re in big trouble.”
Within a few years, Ismail would discover a rare herb region that no one had found before. Ten years later, he would become the only merchant supplying research materials to the Magic Tower, and his name would be known throughout the empire.
That was why he earned the title of Great Merchant.
He would become great on his own eventually. But if they waited until his company had fully grown to start dealing with him, it would be too late.
With this deal with Hezeite, the Ismail Merchant Company would gain fame at least five years earlier than in her previous life.
‘That means we’ve moved up the timing to trade with the Magic Tower by five years.’
Arileti smiled to herself.
Ismail would gain wealth earlier, and Hezeite would sit on a pile of money too. How nice.
They were grabbing the chance to secure a future top merchant and the mages of the Magic Tower connected to him—and all for a contract deposit of only 500 gold? Even at three times the market price?
Ridiculous.
They received word from Ismail that 100 pre-orders had sold out in just one day. Now the real beginning started.
“Inventory management is important now, Young Lord. If we release too much stock, the rarity will drop.”
After loading goods onto twenty carts, the once-full warehouse was reduced by half. A couple of Snow Fairies that kept the warehouse frozen flew in circles in the air.
“Our resources aren’t unlimited either, so we can’t accept just anyone.”
“We can just hunt more monsters. The Colden Mountains have never run out of them.”
“Uh…”
Well, that was true, but—
Arileti’s pupils trembled slightly.
“…There’s no need to overdo it.”
‘The Colden Mountains never run out of monsters.’ That was actually something that needed careful watching.
Arileti hugged her rabbit doll tightly.
‘It’s true we should earn as much as possible while there are many monsters. So… until the end of this month.’
It was already past mid-March. To allow for possible errors, she would give herself about three extra days. That left ten days.
There was something that had to be done within those ten days. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the fate of this territory depended on how those ten days were spent.
“Young Lord.”
“Yes?”
“When is the Count coming back?”
At the unexpected question, Glen let out a short exclamation.
“You knew the Count wasn’t here, Teacher Arileti?”
“Well, you’re the Young Lord.”
And she knew he wasn’t old enough yet to inherit the title of Count.
Glen stared at her for a moment before answering slowly.
“He left around the time you arrived in Hezeite. It’s been nearly two months now. He should be back soon.”
“Where did he go?”
“You’re asking even though you know?”
Huh?
Arileti panicked.
Glen crossed his arms and asked as if testing her.
“You’re not pretending to ask, are you?”
“W-why would I know that?”
Her facial muscles almost moved on their own, but she managed to control her expression. Only her pronunciation slipped a little.
“No one told me. I’ve never even seen the Count…”
“Really? I thought our little sage knew everything.”
“No.”
When she firmly denied it, Glen didn’t press further.
Arileti watched him nervously, but he simply returned to the topic.
“My father went to inspect the imperial border guards along the Colden Mountains.”
“The border guards?”
“Yes. Every six months, they patrol the northern border, rotate the soldiers, and deliver supplies. It’s called a regular inspection. It usually takes about a month to a month and a half.”
“Why does it take so long?”
She really didn’t know this time.
After thinking briefly, Glen lifted Arileti up and turned toward the window.
The snow-covered mountains filled her view. Glen pointed somewhere with his finger.
“See that? The flags planted at the mountain peaks.”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s the northern border of Bertel.”
Red flags were planted along the ridge. They were too far to see clearly, but they likely bore the symbol of the Bertel Empire—a tree and a tower.
Beyond that, on the other side of the mountains, lay the Teberta Snowfield, outside the empire’s territory.
“The Colden Mountains are long and dangerous. The areas where the border guards are stationed are far more dangerous than these foothills. The monsters there are on a completely different level. Down here, at worst, we get Frozen Wolves. But up there, there are higher-ranked ones. Like Dark Frozen Wolves.”
“….”
“So during the regular inspection, they also organize a subjugation force to clear out the monsters at the peaks. That way, higher-level monsters don’t come down into the territory.”
Most monsters were dealt with by the border guards, but Glen added that this recent incident had been unusual.
“They sent a signal to the border last month. Fortunately, the damage near the mid-mountain and peak areas wasn’t severe. Well, they are the elite.”
“…What was the cause?”
“Who knows? Monster attacks are like natural disasters. You can’t predict or avoid them easily. All you can do is prepare thoroughly.”
“So that’s why you keep a separate border guard?”
“Exactly. It’s part of the preparation.”
Hezeite’s private forces were divided into two groups:
The knight order that protected the territory and the castle, and the border guards who served at the frontier.
The two groups switched roles once a year.
“Hezeite’s knights spend half the year in the territory and the other half at the mountain peaks. Last year, I went to the capital, so Sir Tombel and Sir Dunken were excluded from the list. But this time next year, they’ll go to the border.”
“You too, Young Lord?”
“Of course. Me too.”
In other words, Hezeite’s strongest forces spent half their lives stationed at the front lines.
She had known about the border guards, but she hadn’t realized it was run like this.
‘They hunt the monsters that come down into the territory with their bare hands. So in reality, they’re strong enough to handle even higher-ranked monsters without much difficulty…’
On top of that, more than half of them were aura users.
Without realizing it, Arileti smacked her lips.
What a waste.
No matter how much she dug into this territory, problems kept appearing.
‘What’s the use of having the strongest forces if they waste half the year stuck on mountain peaks?’
The imperial family had practically left the defense of the northern border to Hezeite. And the reason Hezeite had never grown more powerful was because its troops were tied up fighting monster hordes.
But if they neglected the border, the first place to suffer would be Hezeite itself.
This was where their lord, families, and loved ones lived.
So they had no choice but to defend the border with all their strength.
‘But this time will be different.’
For a moment, she imagined something swarming down the snow-covered mountains.
‘Everything here will change. From one to ten, all of it.’
Arileti clenched her fist firmly.
