“…”
Drayton was quite confident in his instincts.
He had no doubt that it was his innate intuition that allowed him to grow to this extent as a rchant while working under Count Eckhart.
The extraordinary intuition that had guided him until now was sounding an alarm.
Sothing ominous was happening.
“Would you like to answer it?”
Arendt urged him gently once more.
Drayton unconsciously clenched his fist, glared at him, and answered the communication port.
As soon as he connected, he heard his secretary’s urgent voice.
– Sir! Are you available to talk right now?
“…What’s going on?”
– It’s regarding the shop you are taking over. Several rchant groups have suddenly expressed their intention to withdraw their investnts and deliveries.
Twitch. Drayton’s eyebrows furrowed.
“Why all of a sudden?”
– Well, I don’t know. They didn’t give a proper reason, they just said it was an internal matter in their groups…
The hand holding the communication tube tightened with such force that it started to tremble uncontrollably.
The secretary, who had no way of knowing the boss’ condition, hurriedly continued speaking over the communication port.
– Except for a few, most had only expressed their intention to trade verbally, so they think that withdrawing their intention isn’t a big issue. I tried to persuade them, but it didn’t work. You’ll need to talk to them directly, Sir… Sir?
“…”
The secretary, who had sensed sothing odd about the long silence, called out to him in confusion.
But Drayton did not answer.
No, he couldn’t answer.
His gaze had been fixed on Arendt from earlier.
His shoulders rose and fell heavily, unable to control his breathing that was growing ragged with anger.
His wide eyes began to beco bloodshot.
Despite that, the reason he wasn’t erupting with anger imdiately was because Drayton was showing the best patience he could muster.
A voice, like the growl of a beast, flowed from Drayton’s throat.
“…What on earth have you done?”
“I’m not exactly an expert in business, but I think I’m a bit better than you, so let give you so advice.”
Arendt burst into laughter.
“First of all, you should pay more attention to your facial expressions. How can a rchant let their emotions show so openly?”
“…”
“And also, never let your guard down until it’s truly over. You never know when or how the other person might stab you in the back.”
Finally, Drayton’s patience ran out and he shouted.
“I’m asking what the hell you just did!”
“Isn’t it true that a rchant has to act without any hesitation or rcy to sell their goods? Why are you reacting like soone who’s been slapped in the face on the street?”
Arendt answered indifferently, pretending to pick at his ears with his hand.
“If you’re really curious, then there’s no reason I can’t tell you. No matter how much I think about it, the Khan Union doesn’t really have anything to show for it. The Union Leader and Vice Leader are just greenhorns, and since the Union is ruined because of , wouldn’t it be better to give them a little help to save my reputation?”
“What are you trying to say!”
Eventually, Drayton completely lost his mind.
anwhile, the communication port began to sparkle again, revealing its presence.
His spine was getting damp from the constant flashing of the communication port.
But Drayton couldn’t bring himself to answer it.
It was because he had a gut feeling that the other person’s business would not be much different from the news the secretary had just relayed.
Arendt, staring blankly at him, blurted out.
“The East rchant Group has everything, except one thing.”
His golden eyes, curved like crescent moons, gave off a subtle smile.
“But by pure luck, that one thing happens to be in my hands.”
Drayton looked dumbfounded, not understanding Arendt’s words.
Arendt burst into laughter.
“So I tried using a little bit of influence. I thought it might be of so help to my poor brother and Lord Henry. But it wasn’t enough, so I think Lord Neumann did so more publicity.”
Oliver, who had been huddled in the corner, muttered as if possessed.
“No way… a business partner?”
He rembered what Henry had said in passing earlier, that he had found a new business partner.
But no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of a way that the Union could use to turn the tables right away.
After all, no matter how great he was, Arendt was just an apprentice knight.
However, Drayton seed to sense that sothing was off.
Drayton, who had been silent, suddenly turned pale, like soone being strangled.
But he seed to want to sohow deny the slight possibility that he had thought of.
“No, wait. That can’t be…”
“Oh, since you’ve co all this way, should I show it to you? I just happened to have a sample of the item that was supposed to be delivered this morning, so I brought it with .”
Arendt took a small pouch out of his pocket and tossed it to him.
Bam.
Drayton’s pupils began to waver as he looked down at the pouch that had fallen on his lap.
The subordinate who had been watching quickly picked it up and handed it to Drayton.
Drayton, glaring at Arendt with bloodshot eyes filled with anger, snatched it and opened it.
As the pouch opened slightly, a unique scent that stood out even among the various teas on display, one that he had never slled before, wafted out.
“This is…”
“These are tea leaves from the Second Elven Kingdom, but so far they have only been distributed to a small extent within the Everan Kingdom. I have received a definite answer from the Everan Kingdom that for the ti being they will only export them to the Caerleon Empire through the Khan Union.”
Drayton’s hands began to shake slightly.
Only rchants with the Emperor’s permission were allowed to directly import elven goods.
Even that was only in very small quantities, so all the items that ca from the Elven Kingdom were priceless.
Even the rchants who directly imported them were in that situation, so it was by no ans easy for other rchants to obtain goods through them.
However, the situation was a bit different in the Everan Kingdom.
The Everan Kingdom was a country with relatively active exchanges with elves due to the activities of Prince Llewellyn.
Although there was a shortage of items, it was not like in the Caerleon Empire where you couldn’t find anything for sale no matter how hard you searched.
So it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to say that they got the stuff through them.
The cheerful voice of the apprentice knight penetrated into his blank mind.
“What do you think? Do you have sothing like this over there?”
“…”
Drayton, who had been standing there dumbfounded, barely managed to find a rebuttal and stamr it out.
“Ha, but from the Everan Kingdom… why from there?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to take action yourself rather than just chatting here? Since the facts have already been confird, why does the reason matter? They even said they would cancel the contract.”
But all that ca back were words that sounded like mockery.
“The tea shop you bought. It’s probably losing value right now. Shouldn’t you hurry and run to the East rchant Group, your rchant Group, or at least Count Eckhart?”
The apprentice knight, with his pleasant smile on his face, whispered every word, making his stomach turn.
“You need to quickly find out what kind of sweet talk the other person fell for and what kind of tricks we used, and then respond accordingly.”
At first, it sounded like a soft tone, but what was contained within was blatant mockery.
After a long pause, Drayton, who had clenched his lips tightly, spat out with a biting tone.
“I will never forget this, Lord Arendt.”
With that, Drayton stord out and left the Union.
“Now, please wait a mont, Sir!”
His subordinates, who had been standing there blankly, followed him in a hurry.
Bang!
The door slamd shut, and a silence filled the room, a stark contrast to the commotion from just monts ago.
Among them, the one with the most corpse-like face was Oliver, who got caught up in the sudden commotion.
Arendt spoke to his precious audience.
“Hey, there’s a guy over there whose na I don’t know.”
“Yes, yes?”
As Oliver jumped up in surprise, Arendt added wryly:
“Did you see everything?”
“Yes?”
“You must have seen and heard it all with your own eyes. From how Count Eckhart brought in the East rchant Group to try and clean up the ss in his house, to what the Khan Union is planning to sell from now on.”
Oliver just nodded blankly at the following words.
Arendt clicked his tongue and frowned.
“Then what are you waiting for? You should report to your superior right away. You know I’m not lying, so I’m sure they know it too.”
“…”
“It’s not just the tea. Other items will be released slowly over ti.”
Drayton and Count Eckhart had already finalized the contract to take over the shop.
This was the mont Arendt had been waiting for.
It shouldn’t end with just excluding the East rchant Group.
Only by sohow giving Count Eckhart a terrible sense of defeat could it be called a complete victory.
“It seems like the East rchant Group wanted to finish it quickly, but I have no intention of doing that. I prefer to drag it out and slowly tighten the noose.”
“…”
Oliver couldn’t bring himself to answer.
It was because he felt an indescribable eerieness from a young man who had not even lived half as long as he had.
“For your information, the transaction will be diated by Lord Neumann. I don’t think you should try to swindle a small Union run by two people.”
“What? Swindle, swindle you say! That can’t be…”
“You said that the most despicable people in the world are rchants, right? Aren’t you a rchant too?”
Oliver, who had been stamring in surprise, quickly closed his mouth.
Arendt casually waved his hand.
“So you too, go do your work now.”
“…Are you saying there’s sothing to be done?”
Oliver’s eyes began to gradually co into focus.
“Yes, I believe the value for your petty favor has been sufficiently paid with the spectacle I just showed. Instead of giving change, please spread the word far and wide.”
Arendt t his gaze.
“Do you understand what I an?”
“…!”
Crash.
Oliver, as if possessed by sothing, jumped to his feet.
His chair tumbled across the floor, but he didn’t even seem to notice.
“Union Leader. I’m sorry. I’ll go first.”
Oliver nodded repeatedly toward Henry as he hurriedly packed his bags.
“I’m sorry. I’ll see you next ti. I promise. I really promise.”
“Yes, of course. Please make sure to go carefully.”
Henry nodded with a bitter smile.
Oliver didn’t respond to those words and left the union just as quickly as Drayton.
The last actor playing the role of the audience exited the stage as per the script and the door slamd shut.
It was the mont when the play set in the empty hall of the Khan Union ca to a successful conclusion.
It was a bit disappointing that there was no applause, but instead Arendt shrugged his shoulders at Henry, who was giving him a complicated look.
“How was it?”
“What do you an ‘how was it’…”
Henry couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile at those nonchalant words.
Count Eckhart’s efforts to bring in the East rchant Group to pressure the brothers were clearly excessive.
But as he watched Arendt, who had been relentlessly nagging the prince of the Everan Kingdom for this whole theatrical performance, that level of manipulation actually started to feel rather cute.
But instead of saying it out loud, Henry gave a brief nod.
“Thank you for your hard work, Sir Arendt.”
“Don’t thank yet. This is just the beginning.”
But the haughty apprentice knight didn’t seem to have any intention of accepting even that brief thanks.
“Just get ready to watch. It’s going to get quite interesting.”
A picture-perfect smile spread across Arendt’s lips.
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