Chapter 24
Yuria McBane.
She was the youngest daughter of Cain McBane, the master of the Level rchant Group, and she had been involved in rchant business since she was young.
Actively engaging in trade, she had earned recognition for securing great profits in several deals, and her reputation had spread widely throughout the Levelium region.
If she had been born a son, there were even talks that she would have beco the next master of the rchant Group, which showed just how capable she was.
But what was even more famous than her ability was her appearance.
Her beauty was known not only throughout Levelium but even in the southern provinces.
In a few territories where she personally traveled for trade, it was said that the lords themselves had proposed marriage to her.
Even after rejecting all those proposals, extravagant gifts continued to flood into the rchant Group, proving that her reputation was no trivial matter.
And now, that very Yuria McBane was sitting right in front of .
The guide from the rchant Group had directly led here.
It was quite impressive.
Did she have many people of her own within the Group?
Or was their intelligence network so sharp that they could imdiately identify and report the identity and purpose of a person who had just passed through the castle gates?
Whatever the case, I had to admit she was competent.
‘Her beauty is equally impressive.’
Her height was around the mid-to-late 160s.
That was slightly taller than the average woman of this era, but her long legs made her appear even taller.
The silk dress with its sowhat daring side slit accentuated her charm, and the way she sat with her legs crossed exuded an alluring elegance.
The finishing touch was, of course, her face.
Slightly upturned eyes, with a delicate beauty mark under her left eye.
And with features so finely arranged, it was easy to understand why n trailed after her.
She had the look of a truly beautiful cat-like face—or rather, perhaps closer to that of a fox.
Either way, she was an extraordinary beauty.
Had she lived in modern tis, she would have at least been an actress by default.
Her deanor and atmosphere were just as striking.
Her refined posture gave her an air of dignity, but in the small gestures—the way she crossed her legs or tucked her hair behind her ear with her fingertips—there was an unmistakable touch of sensuality.
Perhaps it was a natural coquettishness?
She didn’t seem to be doing it consciously, but rather, it was simply in her nature.
A natural-born master of flirting? In any case, she was an amusing woman.
-Indeed, no wonder the master fell for her. In all my life, I have rarely seen such a beauty.
‘Not , Iron. It’s my first ti eting her. The fake, though, was slightly lacking. The appearance was nearly identical, but in terms of atmosphere, the real one was the clear victor.’
-So, does that an you are not captivated?
‘Well, how many n could possibly dislike a woman like her?’
It was with such a face that she seduced Iron—of course he would have fallen.
Even if the fake had only partially captured the real thing, Iron still wouldn’t have been able to handle her.
That face alone was a scam.
Such beauty couldn’t be common. Just how did they even find such a substitute?
Perhaps the person who had planned my marriage scam was far more formidable than I had imagined.
“We’ve t before, haven’t we?”
“That’s right. But you yourself are welcoming ?”
“Ah, since Sir Iron of Johnson Territory was personally coming, I decided to move myself. It’s not as if we’re strangers.”
“I see. Originally, I was planning to et with the rchant Master first.”
“He’s busy in his own way. As for Johnson Territory’s matters, they can be settled with . Rather than going in circles, isn’t it better for both of us to speak directly with the one handling the work?”
“That’s true.”
Perhaps it was due to her position.
She looked so accustod to giving orders, and her casual speech ca far too naturally.
Yet, paired with her unique aura and dignified presence, it didn’t feel unpleasant at all.
Normally, when dealing with the lord of a territory, the formal speech was expected.
But I wasn’t the type to be overly particular about such things, so I didn’t bring it up.
Besides, we weren’t too far apart in age, and technically, this wasn’t even our first eting.
In fact, it almost felt more convenient this way.
If she was speaking casually, then I would simply speak casually as well.
“So why have you co personally? We usually handled trade by visiting Johnson Territory ourselves.”
“Well, there was that incident in the past.”
“Ah, you an that discourtesy?”
“I rely responded to discourtesy with discourtesy. Why did that incident even happen? The reason was obvious, so let’s not try to dance around it.”
“Hehh, is that so? You’re smarter than I thought. Back then, you didn’t seem like it.”
She was indeed an interesting woman.
When Iron had co to demand the return of his runaway wife, that had certainly been discourteous.
And as a rchant, she too was probing, picking at only the parts that were favorable to herself.
But the incident had most likely been a sche targeting her rather than , and she must have realized it as well.
By pointing it out, I let her know that I had guessed as much, and in doing so, I reset the tilted scale back to balance.
‘Since the subject has co up, I should settle this matter first before moving on.’
After wetting my throat with the tea she had poured, I brought up that past incident.
It felt necessary to clear it up before a proper transaction could begin.
“That matter back then. It didn’t feel like a sche aid only at . You must already know that much, so don’t you have sothing to tell ?”
“Hm…”
My blunt words made her brows furrow slightly, as if recalling sothing unpleasant.
Tapping the table lightly with her fingers, she thought for a mont before slowly nodding.
“Well, you were indeed a party to it.”
And thus, her story began.
It wasn’t too different from what I had already expected.
But it contained details that I couldn’t have known.
“First of all, I’m the one in charge of all dealings with Johnson Territory. Every bit of profit from there is entirely thanks to .”
“Really? Our territory can’t be that great of a business partner.”
“That’s not true. I’ve gained considerable profit from trading with you.”
“Is that so? From what, exactly?”
“Potions. The potions from your territory fetch a very high premium.”
“Ah, is that so?”
This I hadn’t known.
That the potions from our territory were being sold for such high prices?
‘Co to think of it, didn’t Dr. Nickel ntion sothing like this before? That potions made in our territory were sold at high prices in other regions. Turns out, it wasn’t just “a little expensive.”’
-So those potions are made by that sharp-eyed male? He’s at least earning his keep.
Peter, that guy—perhaps he was an even greater alchemist than I had thought.
‘If he’s that skilled, I should give him more work.’
-…Master, are you a thug? This is the kind of thing where you give a reward.
‘Wouldn’t more work count as a reward? That guy’s practically a workaholic.’
Since Peter was the absolute powerhouse when it ca to potions, maybe I should assign him a project on potion refinent?
Now that the food shortage had been resolved, he must have more free ti.
I pictured Peter ecstatic over being swamped with work, and continued listening attentively to her story.
“But then why?”
“Because there’s soone who isn’t happy about gaining achievents through Johnson Territory. The hand behind that incident belonged to that person.”
“Ah, I see. But was it really sothing worth going that far over?”
“Well, beyond that is just family business on my side. Anyway, this ti I got hit pretty hard. They even managed to win over so of the people under . See? Humans really can’t be trusted. I thought I had treated them decently.”
“Is that so? By any chance, that caravan that brought in the fake back then……”
“Yeah, the rchant who led that caravan vanished right after that trip.”
“Bribed. Or had the evidence erased.”
So there really was a problem inside the rchant group.
Even the rchant who introduced to the fake had been bought by the other side.
‘That makes the pieces fit together, roughly. But…….’
If soone within the Level rchant Group had really tried to use the marriage scam to pit against Yuria, then why did they try to assassinate ?
Was it because, since I had stepped back instead of colliding with Yuria, I no longer had any use?
No, then what was with the mine?
“There’s been an assassination attempt recently.”
“Assassination? That can’t be.”
“You don’t know anything about it on your end?”
“Nothing. It’s probably not from our side. They’re not the type to take such bold action. And besides, that side is more interested in snatching deals with Johnson Territory. Killing you wouldn’t let them steal a deal, would it?”
“That’s true. But their purpose of setting against them has already failed. Besides, I stepped back quietly and avoided trouble. They might bear a grudge against for that, don’t you think?”
“Maybe. But there’s been no such movent. If nothing else, I keep thorough track of those kinds of things.”
“So you weren’t just taking it lying down.”
Well, if they were behind my assassination, then there’d be no reason for such a strange order as collapsing the mine.
I asked just in case, but it seed the Level rchant Group wasn’t behind my attempted assassination after all.
“I’ll tell you this as a reference—the ones behind my assassination tried to collapse the mine that was being developed back then.”
“That? What’s there?”
“Nothing. That’s why it’s strange.”
“That is strange. But I don’t know anything about it either. I’ll keep it in mind just in case.”
So that was about the extent of it.
What I learned was that within the Level rchant Group, there was a faction opposing Yuria.
That faction had joined hands with another faction to stage the marriage scam, and this still-unknown faction had ordered my assassination and the mine collapse.
The true goal of this faction remained unclear.
‘The best I can do is crush that faction opposing Yuria? At least then I might find out who they’re working with. This is going to be such a headache.’
Opposing Yuria ant it was probably about the matter of succession within the rchant group, right?
That ant it was her siblings—but could I really just recklessly beat down such powerful figures?
Besides, would they have been honest about their identities while pulling this off?
Why, even in cooperative relationships, it wasn’t uncommon to hide one’s identity and just shake hands.
And if they even prepared a fake Yuria, then they must be quite the formidable group as well.
‘Ah, why am I even worrying about this?’
Was there any reason I needed to know why those people tried to collapse that mine?
The assassination attempt was irritating, sure, but even transmigrating into Iron was Iron’s own fault, if you thought about it.
He drank himself into a stupor even while knowing an assassination attempt was likely.
Considering the atmosphere of Johnson Territory, assassinations weren’t exactly easy to pull off here. Maybe I should just ignore it and focus on my own business.
-You seem unsettled, Master.
‘You’re right. I feel very unsettled. I sll trouble.’
Hmm, this wouldn’t do.
The more I dug, the more it felt like I’d uncover nothing but ghost stories.
I had the feeling that if I kept probing, more botherso things would keep coming up.
Why should I bother with such trouble, just to gain so empty glory?
Since the assassination attempt wasn’t even aid at personally, all I felt was annoyance rather than any sense of danger.
After all, as long as one kept their wits, assassinations were impossible here, in our Johnson Territory.
With almost no outsiders allowed in, strangers were imdiately noticeable—what assassination?
It was only because Iron had abandoned his duties, drowned himself in drink, and let the territory fall into disorder that such a thing had even been possible.
‘Alright, self-justification complete.’
-Master, that’s pathetic.
After settling my thoughts, I finally brought up the real matter: business.
In the end, the most important thing was the trade between the Level rchant Group and Johnson Territory.
“Then I’ll trust you to handle that man who’s been troubling , and let’s get to talking about our deal.”
“Oh-ho, a deal? Do we even have anything new to discuss? This shipnt you brought will be traded as usual, and you’ll prepare the goods as in previous years, won’t you?”
“That’s not quite right. This ti, we’re handling the transport. You’ll have to cut the delivery fee.”
“…Tch. You really are a nuisance, aren’t you?”
What nonsense.
Did she know how outrageous transport fees could get?
rchants really were all swindlers.
“And there’s sothing else this ti.”
“Sothing else?”
“Yeah. Call in my knight commander waiting outside. Have him bring the goods.”
“What did you bring, to make you say it like that? Should I be looking forward to this?”
Yes, look forward to it. You’ll probably be shocked.
I, too, waited expectantly for Rudick to bring the goods, curious to see how this woman would react.
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