‘Shouldn’t you thoroughly investigate before investing somewhere?’
Even in this serious situation, he almost let out a hollow laugh.
In fact, when Victor first heard that Reytan was coming, he planned to use him.
Reytan Quartz Travel.
He might be exceptional with a sword, but when it came to business, everything he touched turned into a disaster—truly a man with the Midas touch in reverse.
“Manager, the second son of Count Travel wants to invest in us.”
“That’s not exactly a good sign. He’s infamous for being unlucky with business. Are you sure about this?”
“What we need to trust is money. It doesn’t matter what kind of judgment that young master has. The important thing is that Count Travel’s money will be coming to us, isn’t it?”
“What about the eldest son?”
“That one is dangerous. I made a mistake. He hasn’t caught on yet, but he might have noticed something odd about my eyes.”
His impatience regarding the new medicine had led him to approach Hevant recklessly, resulting in a painful mistake.
The brothers of Count Travel’s family were worse than strangers because of their fight for succession.
Hevant had tried to use his knowledge of Victor’s eye condition to threaten him, but there was no way he had shared that information with Reytan.
Even though the new medicine and Hevant’s letter had arrived at the Blue Trading Company, Victor remained confident.
However, on the day of his meeting with Reytan—
His vision had noticeably worsened.
“If the young master of Travel sees the merchant leader’s eyes, he will undoubtedly realize something is wrong. We should cancel the meeting—”
“There will be no cancellation, Manager. Do you even realize how much wealth Count Travel possesses? More than the Ixellona imperial family.”
“What do you plan to do?”
“I’ll have to test the new medicine.”
Memories flashed through Victor’s mind in an instant, and he swallowed hard.
Reytan Quartz Travel was still in the reception room.
“………..”
What had he muttered to himself just now? Had he mentioned that the merchant leader’s eyesight was failing?
For the first time, regret crept in—perhaps he should have listened to the manager and canceled the meeting.
Forcing down the trembling at the corners of his mouth, Victor focused his blurred vision on Reytan.
“My eyesight is so poor. If I had only turned my head slightly, I would have noticed you were here, Master Reytan. Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Are your eyes bothering you?”
“Yes. Recently, I had an accident where mushroom spores got into them. Because of that, my vision— It had slightly deteriorated, but only temporarily.”
Hiding his true feelings behind a smile and putting on an act—that was Victor’s specialty.
In reality, he wasn’t completely blind. Even if someone pressed him for answers, there was no concrete proof.
No matter how much the second son of Count Travel tried to threaten him—
“I see. I’ll be going then.”
“…What?”
“If you don’t need an investment, then I have no business here.”
Reytan withdrew cleanly.
Victor was taken aback.
This was what he had wanted, but to think Reytan would accept such a ridiculous excuse so easily?
Reytan might have had a disastrous hand for business, but he wasn’t a fool.
As a Grand Master, there was no way he had missed the true condition of Victor’s eyes.
He wanted to see Reytan expression. He wanted to understand his thoughts. But his damned eyesight wouldn’t even allow that.
“At least have some tea before you go—”
By the time he came to his senses, he realized he was the one holding onto Reytan.
This wasn’t right. Something felt off.
But Victor’s unease didn’t stop there.
The two children, as if they felt sorry for him, didn’t hold back their words of encouragement.
“Teacher said that in times like this, it’s best to just quietly cheer someone on.”
“Mister! Stay strong!”
Times like this—what kind of time was this?
Did even the children know about his condition?
With a complicated expression, Victor was left alone in the reception room.
***
A little earlier
“I refuse the investment.”
It was when I was about to leave the reception room after being rejected by the merchant guild leader.
As I stepped outside, Dad snapped his thumb and pinky finger together—one of our secret signals.
‘Coordinating?’
I looked up at Dad.
‘Three minutes.’
With his mouth, he silently mouthed the words while holding up three fingers. Then, he mimed knocking on the reception room door, quietly stepped back, and softened his footsteps.
At that moment, I had no idea what Dad was planning.
But then I realized—the Blue Trading Company’s leader’s weakness was his eyes.
I also understood how Uncle had managed to control the merchant guild leader through finances.
He must have struck a deal: secrecy in exchange for medicine that improves eyesight. After all, the alchemists Uncle hired around this time were working on developing a similar drug.
And now, we were walking through Goldport’s shopping district.
Since we had already dropped the bait, all that was left was to wait for a reaction.
“There are so many pretty things~”
“That’s because this is a city of merchants. You can find things here that you wouldn’t see anywhere else.”
I was holding Dad’s hand, admiring the shops, when he suddenly stopped walking. He was staring intently at a glass display case in one of the stores. Inside, beautifully arranged fountain pens were showcased to catch the eyes of passersby.
When Dad silently stared at something, it meant he liked it but wasn’t ready to buy it immediately.
‘Oh-ho. Looks like this decision is going to take a while.’
Nearby, Theon was also gazing at something on a stall, completely absorbed. There was no one around.
Perfect timing.
I took the chance to ask Dad about what had been on my mind since earlier.
“Dad, how did you know that the merchant guild leader’s eyes were bad?”
That was my biggest question.
During the investment discussion, the Blue Trading Company’s guild leader had seemed to have perfectly fine eyesight—probably because he had taken the medicine from Uncle Hevant.
‘He rejected the investment proposal, but… he wouldn’t have signed a contract with Uncle already, would he?’
Just as worry started creeping in, Dad casually replied.
“Oh, Cerberus told me.”
“Huh? Mr. Butler?”
“Hevant has medicine that’s good for the eyes, so it seems the merchant guild leader went to him to try and get it.”
Ugh. No way—did Mr. Butler get so anxious about stocks that he went straight to Dad to get answers?!
It wasn’t impossible. After all, we had deliberately kept him restless for quite some time to dig for information.
“So, I wanted to check. To see if his eyes were really bad.”
“Ooooh.”
I responded to Dad’s words, but internally, I was sweating bullets.
“By the way, Berry.”
Danger alert.
“Y-yeah?”
“Why do you think Cerberus asked me about Blue Trading Company’s stocks?”
A sharp question. And a sharp deduction.
“He said you were the one who told him.”
Cold sweat ran down my back. When I lifted my head, Dad had finally taken his eyes off the fountain pen display and was looking straight at me.
“M-Mr. Cerberus said that to you?”
“I made sure our stories matched. I don’t know exactly what you did, Berry.”
“O-oh? Dad, you’re the best!”
Since I didn’t have any allowance left to be deducted, there was no telling what kind of punishment might be coming next. Maybe a snack ban, or worse, having to take some nasty, healthy medicine.
I quietly let go of Dad’s hand.
But while he let go of my hand without resistance, his voice had me completely trapped.
“Berry.”
“Ack! Theon!”
“Don’t run.”
I dashed toward Theon as if running for my life. Dad followed at a leisurely pace.
It looked like Theon had just finished buying something.
He was accepting a paper bag from the merchant when he turned at the sound of my voice, startled.
“Berry?”
“Run!”
I grabbed Theon’s arm and took off running—a purely instinctive act to secure my ally.
Though he had no idea what was happening, Theon matched my pace and ran alongside me.
Then Dad’s voice rang out.
“Let go of Theon.”
“No way! Theon is mine!”
“…What?”
“……”
My ally. My possession.
They were similar words, blurted out in the heat of the moment.
Dad sounded baffled. Theon said nothing.
But our glorious escape barely lasted a single block—because we ran straight into a man in a dark navy uniform emerging from a building.
It was an investigator’s uniform.
And behind him, the building had a very clear sign.
[Hayshal Empire Central Investigation Bureau, 17th Branch]
“You shouldn’t run without looking ahead on the street.”
“S-Sorry.”
“Apologies.”
Faced with authority, we quickly expressed our deepest regret.
The investigator, apparently determined to lecture these reckless kids, pulled out a notebook from his coat.
“I need to know your family background. Which noble houses do you belong to?”
“It’d be nice if you let this slide. After all, you’re a fellow investigator.”
Somewhere behind us, Dad had caught up, casually addressing the investigator.
‘A fellow investigator? Oh no. Don’t tell me—’
I turned to silently signal Dad to stop talking.
But despite my desperate efforts, he went ahead and said it anyway.
“Ah, it’s Investigator Berryberry.”
“Investigator… Berryberry?”
A sharp sting. The burning weight of curious stares.
I suddenly felt like I was being accused of impersonating an investigator. I averted my gaze from the investigator, pretending not to notice.
Then the investigator spoke.
“I wasn’t aware that the Travel family had produced the youngest investigator in history. And I suppose the young man beside you is your first apprentice?”
“…Huh?”
Wait a second.
How does this investigator know about that?
