The Male Lead? I Don Chapter 8

* * *

“…Luna is not here?”

“Yeah. She went down to the Peils Estate for a vacation. Haven’t you heard?”

Fersen couldn’t hide his disappointnt at the news of Luna’s absence and ran his hand over his face.

She wouldn’t have gone down to the Peils Estate to avoid him, would she?

That thought crossed his mind. It was highly likely. Lately, it had beco clear that she was avoiding him. There had even been a suggestion to not et anymore due to so misunderstanding or sothing.

He had been doing well all this ti, but recently, he couldn’t understand why she was acting this way.

‘Is sothing wrong? Maybe she’s not feeling well, like she has a headache or sothing.’

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense. Seira’s excuse was also strange.

Seira, who was known for her kind-heartedness, wouldn’t care about anything.

When he had confronted her about running away in tears before, she replied that it wasn’t anything and that she had just felt lancholic. So it was clear that Luna was needlessly worried and misunderstood.

‘Who could have planted such thoughts in innocent Luna?’

It wasn’t like that before, but there must have been so change in Luna for sure. Fersen’s head throbbed with worry for his dear friend.

“When did she say she’ll be back?”

“Well, I don’t really know. She just said she’ll take a break. Since she doesn’t have much money, she’ll probably co back soon.”

“…I see.”

Peils Estate… there was nothing. Maybe she went to Vincent Estate.

Suddenly, Fersen’s heart grew restless. He turned his steps in the opposite direction of the restaurant where he was supposed to go with Baron Peils.

“Sorry, but I think I have to go now. Sothing urgent ca to mind.”

“Oh, really? That’s a sha, but it can’t be helped. Since neither Luna nor the young master is here, I guess I’ll have to eat alone this morning.”

“I apologize. Enjoy your al. I’ll take my leave.”

Fersen, along with a light luggage, a horse-drawn carriage, and a few escort knights, returned to the Duke’s Manor. His destination was Vincent Estate, where Luna was heading.

“Sir Fersen, if you’re planning to be away for a long ti, shouldn’t you at least say a few words to Miss Seira before you go?”

“Ah…”

At the words of the butler who was seeing him off, Fersen seed to rember Seira just now and sighed.

“Oh no, I completely forgot. What should I do? Is a letter okay? It’ll take at least a week to ten days for

to go to Vincent Estate.”

On top of that, there would also be ti spent searching for Luna, so it was highly likely that it would take over two weeks.

In response to Fersen’s worried words, the butler bowed his head and replied.

“A letter should be fine. Shall I prepare it for you?”

“Yes, please. Write it for . I’ll be going to Vincent Estate for a short while to et a friend. Ah! And tell her to expect a gift. So she wouldn’t worry.”

“I understood. I will deliver it along with a bouquet of roses. Please take care.”

“Thank you.”

As the butler deeply bowed, the carriage window closed.

* * *

As promised, the man indeed provided the prestigious guarantee and certification from the Imperial Palace.

Doubting if it was forged, Luna carefully scrutinized the docunts, but fortunately, the seal on the papers was clearly visible, and the imposing identification of the Imperial Supervisor attached to it quickly dispelled any doubts.

Thus, a fairly large group consisting of the three hired rcenaries as workers, a man called ‘Captain’, Luna, and finally the guard of the imperial family, set off from Vincent Estate to Peils Estate.

“What are we supposed to do here?”

The supervisor, who had arrived at their destination, crossed his arms and looked around, asking. There was nothing but stones in sight, making it hard to understand why they had to go through the certification process.

The others also wore perplexed expressions, as if questioning the need for certification to co to this place.

In response, Luna shrugged her shoulders as if they were foolish and ordered them to dig into the rocky mountain.

“I’m going to sell what’s buried under the mountain. Until the mountain is completely gone.”

“Well, I don’t have enough energy to keep going like that.”

“Today is just the beginning. After this, I plan to hire people officially to handle the operation, so don’t worry too much. We’ll stop after digging a certain amount.”

So, start digging. With the pickaxe in your hand. We made a promise, rember? As a condition for using informal language.

When Luna nodded, the rcenaries, who still had skeptical expressions on their faces, began to dig into the rocky mountain.

And after a while…

“What is this!?”

“Th-this is gold, isn’t it!?”

Just like in a novel, gold nuggets began to co out one by one. The rcenaries, surprised by the sight, were montarily speechless, and Luna herself was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t as if she had thought about how Luna Peils suffered more or almost sold the small rocky mountain for a low price. It turned out that it was a massive gold nugget.

“So, that’s why you were so worried.”

The man held up the nugget of gold in his hand and observed it closely. Then, he let out a short exclamation.

“This is a top-grade piece of gold. It’s the cleanest gold I’ve ever seen. And it’s an enormous amount without even needing to calculate whether it will be profitable or not…”

In response to his words, Luna also observed the nugget of gold in her hand.

She had never been close to gold in her past life or present life, so she didn’t know much about it, but the shining golden color was so bright that it seed to say, ‘Now you can rest, my dear. You’ve struck it rich.’

With this amount, she could shower her friends, including Seira, with bundles of checks. No, she might even be able to buy a large mansion and fill it with checks for swimming.

“Don’t entertain foolish thoughts. Have you forgotten about the guarantees and certifications?”

The supervisor, who was srized by the gold, suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. Fortunately, he seed to be faithful to his role.

“Don’t say that! We’re not really bad people!”

“You’re going too far, young lady!”

“I have children to take care of. Would I do such a terrible thing? I’m already receiving a decent salary, I don’t have such greed!”

As the rcenaries beca increasingly indignant, Luna felt a bit uneasy. They were a rchant Guild that were associated with villains, and she was operating without anyone trustworthy, making her nerves sharper.

They had been helping her to the best of their abilities, so she apologized sincerely.

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit sensitive because I’m acting alone. It’s a gesture of goodwill, so just fill a certain amount and you can take the rest.”

“…!?”

It was an excessive reward, but after all, the gold mine had turned into a diamond mine. It was a definite windfall.

She didn’t rember the exact locations, but she had a few candidate locations. If she purchased all of them, the main work would be done. Then she could obtain a trendous amount that couldn’t even be compared to the gold.

Thanks to Luna’s compassion, the morale of the rcenaries soared, and within a few hours, they were able to mine a significant amount of gold. The rcenaries got excited and started taking their share.

“Let’s sell our portion to the rchant Guild.”

While fondling the gold he had dug with his own hands and realizing how wealthy he had beco, the man approached Luna, seemingly uninterested in his share.

“We’re going to sell it anyway, right? We should sell it to the Antares rchant Guild.”

“Well, let’s check the market price before selling.”

“I’ll offer you the highest price.”

“Let’s see how high that is.”

“We can provide workers without any commission. You need to hire workers to mine the gold, right? And we should also receive investnts. We, the rchant Guild will take full responsibility, so let’s make a contract.”

* * *

“We will provide not only the guarantee from the rchant Guild but also the certification from the royal family.”

“Do you need anything else? Just na it.”

The man tempted as if he would grant anything just by asking. He seed genuinely eager, as evidenced by his unnecessary flamboyant smile and urging.

In fact, his efforts were unnecessary because his words alone were sufficient. There was nothing else to ask for. He had promised to take care of all the troubleso matters.

However…

‘This is the rchant Guild with Antes Vincent… Can we really conduct transactions here? Is it safe? Can we survive?’

As Luna pondered to that extent, she suddenly rembered the mont a few days ago when she handed a check to Seira’s face.

‘…Ah, I was already in a desperate situation then.’

The female protagonist, Seira, and the male protagonist, Fersen, almost seed like authentic villains.

There was no need to fear the rchant Guild of villains anymore. It would be better to engage in transactions with them, whether they were villains or not, and earn money to hire knights during that ti.

“Okay. Just make sure the docunts are clear. Include the nas of reliable witnesses. Also, include a clause stating that the contract can be terminated if soone offers to purchase the gold at a higher price than them. The sa applies if any suspicious points are discovered. ‘Terminate imdiately.'”

Luna spoke her words as she saw fit, feeling a sense of ‘let it be as it may’. If they didn’t like it, they could refuse.

Anyone would be tempted by the leisure of having gold that arouses greed. In response, the man smiled as if he admired Luna’s audacity.

“You’re thorough. Great. This rchant Guild will build trust. There’s no doubt. Go back and prepare the docunts.”

“…And I apologize, but could you provide an advance paynt? I have sothing I need to take care of.”

“If you just make the contract, I’ll give you even a million gold.”

Luna nodded in response to the man’s answer, as if saying she would empty all the checks she had right now. The contract was established in an instant, as if she had decided too quickly.