Uncle said he had something to talk about and went into the study with Dad.
What kind of conversation took place in there that it ended with him becoming one of Dad’s subordinates?
“How did that happen? Uncle just became Dad’s subordinate like that?”
I asked Aqum. I had asked it to eavesdrop on their conversation.
[No! Yossel was at risk of losing his credit rating as a guarantor! Apparently, the children’s clothing business Yossel was going to launch got taken over by Reytan. Reytan received support funds from Travel in exchange and plans to repay the lost investment with that.]
“Ooh…!”
A children’s clothing business!
That had to be one of the plans Mr. Victor came up with. It was one of the businesses that the manager of Trang’s dress shop said she wanted to do with Dad and had spoken to Mr. Victor about.
The investment money most likely came from Mr. Victor.
But just how large was the investment that the proud Yossel—my uncle—would come all the way to Stone House and agree to become Dad’s subordinate?
“Did you find out how much was invested?”
Aqum’s answer was shocking.
[Two billion Kona!]
“What the—!”
I was horrified. Even if Mr. Victor managed to recover the investment, that still meant Uncle Yossel effectively lost 2 billion Kona.
Regardless of his reputation, that meant the children’s clothing business Dad was running was now lacking 2 billion Kona in operational funds.
‘Why would Uncle even lose 2 billion Kona in the first place?’
The children’s clothing business hadn’t even started yet. If the dress shop had taken losses and he was trying to cover them, he wouldn’t look so completely worn out.
He looked like someone who had lost his entire normal life. Like a total wreck.
“…Whoa.”
Suddenly, a word popped into my head, along with the memory of that old, ragged newsboy cap I had seen just a few days ago.
Massive loss… poker… ruined…
“Dad must’ve called in Mr. Peter!”
[Peter? Who’s that?]
“He’s a gambler from the countryside village where I used to live…”
That’s Dad.
This was a plan he had cooked up with Mr. Victor.
***
Blue Trading Company’s Reception Room.
Victor sat on the couch, facing a handsome man with golden wheat-colored hair.
“Did you get the answer you were looking for?”
He was in the middle of shuffling a deck of playing cards using the overhand method. At that, Reytan paused his hand.
The answer he was looking for…
“…The mine? The day Brown died…?”
A few days earlier. When Reytan asked Yossel about something from 7 years ago, Yossel struggled for a while trying to remember.
Then suddenly, he raised both arms high and clenched his fists. It was the joy of finally recalling the memory.
“I remembered! It was such a trivial thing, I completely forgot… B-by the way, brother, why did you capture that Wyndis…?”
“Tell me. What did you remember?”
“I overslept that day because I drank too much the night before, okay? I woke up in my room at the Emerald House, and there was a card and a chrysanthemum next to my pillow.”
“A chrysanthemum?”
“You know, the kind they use at funerals. I was going to throw it away because it felt unlucky, but I got curious about the half-folded card, so I opened it. It said to go to that mine.”
“And you just went? That’s suspicious.”
“Hey, hey! Don’t give me that murderous look! I was looking for the guy who scammed me back then, alright? The card said that guy would show up at the mine. That’s it. When I arrived, I got a message that he’d already been caught somewhere else, so I left right away. I was just a pawn of that card. That’s all.”
Hmm.
Reytan resumed shuffling his cards, then started dealing one card each to Victor and himself.
“It wasn’t a very satisfying answer.”
Still, if Yossel was telling the truth, then although the evidence was weak, this was the first meaningful testimony suggesting that Brown’s death wasn’t an accident.
“That’s unfortunate.”
Said Victor, flipping over two of his face-down cards to check his hand.
A King and a Queen. A strong hand.
“And you? Did you get what you wanted?”
“Yes.”
Victor smiled slyly.
“Master Reytan now has a family-sponsored business venture, after all.”
The dress shop manager from Trang had said he wanted to start a business with Reytan, and it clearly had the scent of success.
Victor had been racking his brain.
He needed to give Reytan a business that would help him build a good record. But he was sure Reytan would reject it.
Then he remembered. Reytan was still bothered by Brown’s death. And Victor himself had claimed to have seen Yossel Cornelian Travel at the scene.
That’s when he came up with a plan—meticulously crafted to satisfy both himself and Reytan. And with his silver tongue, he successfully persuaded Reytan.
“The only issue is the investment amount and how we’ll recover it.”
“I’ll take care of both. I happen to know the right person for the job.”
“Oh ho. I didn’t realize my client was such a big player. My apologies.”
‘If you rush, you’ll stumble.’
Victor knew he had to build a foundation over the next four years so that Reytan could steadily build his record.
So he discarded the first card.
“I’m glad to see my plan is running so smoothly.”
“Negative two billion. Real smooth.”
Reytan chuckled as he picked up his card. Victor smirked in return.
“Just wait and see.”
***
17. The Blacksmith’s Village
“Wow.”
The village of the dwarves was surrounded by red, earthen cliffs.
From the entrance alone, the heat was intense and suffocating.
“You’ve brought quite the crowd.”
Chief Baltar greeted the humans with a grumpy face.
Since this was also an educational field trip organized by the training center, our group was fairly large.
Even though we trimmed it down, we couldn’t completely exclude knights and servants, so the group ended up with about 40 people.
“Not all of us will enter the village.”
Grandfather said with a smile. He looked pleased, likely because relations and trade with the dwarves were finally being reestablished.
“It’s been a while.”
“Indeed.”
As the village chief and Grandfather exchanged greetings, I and my cousins stood quietly behind Grandfather.
‘Wow, a real dwarf.’
It was my first time seeing one in person, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
Sharp, piercing eyes, protruding brow bones, a large, pointed nose, short stature, and thick, log-like limbs—he looked exactly like the descriptions in the books.
“These are my grandchildren. From the eldest: Ciel, Calypso, Marty, Harty, and Berry.”
“Hmm. So this is the next generation of the Travel family.”
Chief Baltar scrutinized us. The twins flinched in fear at his appearance, and even Calypso and Ciel stepped back slightly.
Grandfather immediately scolded them for that behavior.
“You kids! Why aren’t you greeting him properly?”
“That’s alright. They’re just children…”
Then, the chief made eye contact with me.
Huh? Am I allowed to greet him?
“Hello!”
“…Right.”
Chief Baltar accepted my greeting in a curt tone and returned to his conversation with Grandfather.
It didn’t seem like he planned to speak with me further.
What a shame. I wanted to ask him if he was friends with Grandma Marshall.
“You…”
I felt a light poke on my back. When I turned around, the twins each took one of my ears and whispered.
“Idiot… You’re not supposed to make eye contact.”
“He’ll eat you.”
Huh??
***
Count Travel visited the home of the Dwarf chief.
As expected, the dwarves’ house had low ceilings and furniture. He had to bend down to enter and sat in a chair at the dining table. His knees stuck up higher than the table, but that wasn’t the issue here.
Callet stood in the arched hallway between the entrance and the living room. If he stood up straight, his head would touch the ceiling, so he had to tilt his head slightly to the side.
Lassek grinned from ear to ear the entire time as he signed the delivery contract on the table. Across from him, Baltar, the chief, looked far less enthusiastic.
“It’s an honor. To see the Dwarves and the Travel family do business again before I die.”
“Hmph.”
Baltar responded curtly. He hadn’t agreed to resume business because he had forgiven the Travel family.
Even if he wasn’t happy about it, it was the dwarves’ craftsmanship spirit to give their all in any trade.
“There won’t be any problem with the goods we deliver.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Even though Baltar grumbled like that, the head of the Travel family kept smiling as if everything was going great.
“I hold the dwarves’ craftsmanship in the highest regard. My eyes are never wrong.”
The reputation of Count Travel’s “golden eye” had reached Baltar as well.
Hearing his people’s skills praised, Baltar’s attitude softened—just a little. Enough to slip in a different question. He cleared his throat and asked,
“By the way… there’s something I’d like to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“What kind of relationship do you have with Baron Oldman?”
~~~
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