Chapter 94: Was That Today? (4)
Claude, enraged, shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Don’t ss with ! Are you mocking like this? Do you have that much ti to waste?”
However, Ghislain’s response remained calm and consistent.
“Why are you acting like that when I said I’d give it to you? I was just surprised that the amount was smaller than I thought.”
He was certain because he’d heard it from Claude several tis in his previous life. Back then, it had clearly been 5,000 gold.
‘Well, quite so ti has passed since then. I suppose the price could be different now.’
“Smaller? You’re really…,” Claude growled, glaring at Ghislain through clenched teeth.
He couldn’t fathom what kind of twisted ga Ghislain was playing with him.
“Fine, you seem pretty confident. Then hand it over right now.”
Claude’s words were dripping with sarcasm, but Ghislain rely nodded lightly, without showing any sign of offense.
“Not difficult at all. Is that all you want?”
‘This guy just doesn’t quit. Persistent bastard.’
Claude snorted, playing along with Ghislain’s little ga.
“2,000 gold isn’t enough for you? Then just give 500 more. That should be cheap enough for the price of working for you.”
Belinda, unable to tolerate the increasingly shaless demands, stepped forward with a frown.
“No manners, no sha. It wouldn’t be enough to cut off your neck, let alone your wrist.”
She looked like she was ready to drive a dagger into Claude’s neck for real. Ghislain raised a hand to stop her.
“That’s enough, Belinda. He’s soone we’ll need for the future of our estate.”
“Master! Are you seriously planning to let soone like that off?”
Belinda’s temper flared as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“I said, enough.”
Upon Ghislain’s heavy voice, Belinda clamped her mouth shut but continued to glare daggers at Claude.
With Belinda in such a foul mood, it seed impossible to send her off on any tasks.
Ghislain let out a bitter smile as he called for Gillian.
“Gillian, go to the largest rchant guild in Austern and bring soone back. Tell them we’ll issue a letter of credit.”
“Are you really sure about this?”
Gillian asked cautiously, his eyes questioning whether it was wise to hand such a large sum to soone like that.
Up until now, he’d followed Ghislain’s instructions without objection, but even he found this situation troubling.
However, Ghislain rely smiled, as if nothing were wrong.
“Gillian, what were you like when we first t? Were you any different from this man now?”
At those words, neither of them could say anything.
In so ways, Gillian had been in even worse shape.
Unlike Claude, who at least frequented gambling dens, Gillian hadn’t even stepped outside.
But look at him now. He had beco Ghislain’s most vital asset, soone he couldn’t do without.
Understanding the aning behind Ghislain’s words, Gillian bowed his head and left the room.
Based on everything he’d observed so far, his lord had never acted thoughtlessly, not even once.
Surely, Ghislain had seen sothing in this gambling addict that the rest of them couldn’t.
Even though Belinda still wore a dissatisfied expression, she withdrew as well..
‘That old man had a good physique at least. What in the world does Master see in this guy to trust him so much?’
Claude crossed his arms and looked around at the now chaotic atmosphere.
He was no longer just angry—he was utterly dumbfounded.
Given how things had escalated, it seed that giving them a proper humiliation was the only way to feel satisfied.
Before long, Gillian returned with soone in tow.
Claude recognized the man entering the tavern and flinched in surprise.
‘Huh? That man is…?’
The man was the vice-president of the largest rchant guild in Austern.
Since the amount involved was significant, it was only natural for soone of such a high rank to step in.
‘What kind of prank are these bastards pulling…?’
For a prank, the scale was enormous. To think they had brought in soone like him.
‘How are they planning to handle the aftermath of this?’
If Ghislain were a noble of the Kingdom of Seiron, he would have been able to secure a letter of credit without any conditions.
Since there was no fear of the rchant guild being defrauded, even for the sake of saving face, they wouldn’t worry about not being repaid.
But it was different for a noble from another country.
No rchant guild would easily issue a letter of credit without collateral.
‘What are they planning to offer? No ordinary jewel is worth 2,500 gold.’
From what he could see, Ghislain didn’t seem particularly wealthy.
His clothes were neat, but the fabric wasn’t anything luxurious, and there were no expensive accessories to be seen.
If the noble was like that, his subordinates were not even worth considering.
Most likely, the vice-president of the rchant guild would leave once it beca clear there was no collateral.
Claude chuckled inwardly, imagining Ghislain’s humiliation.
It was then.
‘Huh?’
One of the rcenaries rummaged through his bag and plopped a stone onto the table.
The stone emitted a faint blue glow.
Claude involuntarily parted his lips, srized by the soft blue light.
The vice-president of the rchant guild picked up the Runestone and examined it closely, a servile smile spreading across his face as he bowed deeply.
“Oh! This is truly a top-grade Runestone. Do you happen to have more? I’ll offer a price well above market value. Not only in Austern but throughout this region, our rchant guild offers the best rates.”
‘What?’
Claude was taken aback by how things were unfolding, completely different from what he had expected.
The vice-president’s eyes were brimming with greed.
For soone who had handled countless goods to be so captivated, it ant that the Runestone Ghislain had offered was of exceptional quality.
‘Is it… real?’
Just then, Ghislain frowned, waving his hand dismissively as if annoyed.
“I have no intention of selling more, so just finish the transaction quickly.”
“Please reconsider… I’m offering you a really good price. No other rchant guild will offer as much as we do. How much have you been quoted so far?”
The vice-president, who had been persistently clinging to Ghislain with a desperate expression, finally clicked his tongue and opened his bag when the rcenaries began to draw their weapons.
As he wrote out the letter of credit, regret was clearly etched on his face.
Claude, seeing this expression, suddenly shouted out.
“W-wait!”
Everyone turned to look at him in bewildernt.
Swallowing hard, Claude spoke in a trembling voice.
“If you’re going to do it, make it two letters: one for 2,000 gold and another for 500 gold. Can you do that?”
Belinda pouted her lips, while the vice-president glanced over at Ghislain.
It was a silent question, asking for his approval.
Ghislain gave a slight nod.
“Do it that way.”
“This paper has been magically treated, so we usually don’t do this… but since you’re handling such a large transaction, I’ll make an exception without any extra charge.”
The deputy rchant leader, hoping to secure a future deal with Ghislain, eagerly accepted Claude’s request.
He didn’t forget to emphasize his generosity as much as possible.
“Please co to our rchant guild again next ti. We’ll do our best to serve you.”
Even as he groveled, he continued bowing deeply to Ghislain.
Finally, when the rcenaries couldn’t bear it any longer and glared at him, the deputy rchant leader left the room.
He left behind a credit note worth a staggering 2,500 gold.
“Take it.”
Ghislain gave a small nod toward the credit note lying on the table.
Claude’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between Ghislain and the note.
He had asked for money, but he hadn’t really believed he would get it.
On top of that, Ghislain hadn’t even asked why he needed such a large amount or how he planned to repay it.
Claude’s hands began to tremble.
‘The thing I’ve been dreaming about for years… just happened this easily?’
He couldn’t believe it.
It was so unbelievable that he even wondered if the deputy rchant leader was in on so cruel joke, trying to fool him.
2,000 gold was enough money for an ordinary person to live comfortably without working for the rest of their life.
It was such a large sum that even wealthy nobles wouldn’t hand it over lightly.
And yet, the young man in front of him had casually given that enormous sum to a re gambler.
Claude had spent years living in gambling halls, trying desperately to raise that kind of money.
Sothing he couldn’t achieve through all his hard work had co so easily to soone else.
As his mind swirled in shock, a sense of emptiness slowly crept in.
Claude, who had been standing dazed, suddenly snapped out of it and shook his head, dispelling his thoughts.
His pride didn’t matter.
He had finally gotten the money he had been willing to sacrifice his life for—what did pride have to do with anything?
“Wait right here for a mont.”
Claude hastily grabbed the credit note and shoved it into his coat, quickly making his way to the door.
He reached the entrance, turned to glance at Ghislain once, then burst out of the tavern.
As if he were fleeing.
The rcenaries, who had been watching him with uncertainty, jumped to their feet.
“Catch him! Thief!”
Belinda gasped in horror and tried to rush after him, but Ghislain grabbed her arm to stop her.
“Why aren’t we catching him? He’s running off with the money!”
“It’s fine. I know where he’s going.”
With Ghislain’s confident voice, Belinda and the rcenaries froze, confused.
“You know where he went? Ah, is it the gambling hall?”
“No, this ti it’s sowhere else.”
Ghislain stood up from his seat, moving leisurely.
“Still, he won’t be able to handle this alone. Let’s follow him.”
Claude was so overwheld by the thought that he had achieved his goal that he wasn’t thinking clearly.
He had no idea how dangerous it was for soone without power to carry that much money.
Ghislain led the rcenaries out of the tavern.
By the ti they stepped onto the street, Claude had already disappeared.
But Ghislain, without the slightest hesitation, calmly began walking in a specific direction.
Before long, the group stopped in front of the Austern Estate.
“Young master, what is this place?”
“As you’ve guessed, this is Baron Austern’s estate.”
Just as Ghislain had expected, Claude was already there, arguing with the guards at the gate.
“I brought the money like we agreed! Let et the lord!”
“Do you think the lord is your buddy? You can’t just barge in and expect to be let through.”
“The lord made a promise! Just go and tell him I’m here!”
“All right, calm down and wait.”
The lord wasn’t soone one could just et whenever they pleased.
Yet, it seed there had been so prior arrangent, as Claude was shouting confidently.
Even after one of the guards went inside to deliver the ssage, Claude nervously glanced around.
When he spotted Ghislain, his body tensed up, and he shouted.
“Why are you here? I told you to wait for a mont!”
“I was curious about what you were up to.”
“It’s my business! Once I finish up here, I’ll co back, so why did you follow ?”
Before Ghislain could respond, Belinda snapped back with irritation.
“And who’s going to trust a gambler like you to co back? If you don’t explain yourself, we’ll just take it back!”
“Who said I’m running away? Just wait a little longer!”
As the two of them snarled at each other, one of the guards turned to Ghislain and asked, “Who might you be?”
Ghislain casually slung his arm around Claude’s shoulder and smiled.
“Oh, I’m this guy’s friend. We ca here to et with the lord together.”
“Friend? What are you talking about…”
Before Claude could argue, Ghislain whispered into his ear.
“Are you out of your mind? You’re planning to go in there alone with that much money? Baron Austern is notorious for his greed.”
Only then did Claude snap back to reality as if cold water had been poured over him.
He had gotten so excited at the thought of achieving his lifelong goal.
It seed his brain had completely frozen over after years of being consud by alcohol and gambling.
In fact, it was practically a miracle that he had made it here safely with that much money.
He had been under watch, after all.
Claude shook his head vigorously, trying to clear his mind, and bit his lip.
‘I’ve been living like a wreck for too long. At least going in with a noble might give so protection.’
Forcing himself to maintain a calm expression, Claude finally spoke.
“Yeah, he’s my friend. We’re going in together.”
The guard still looked suspicious, but he sent a ssage inside to inform them that Claude had company.
A short while later, they received permission to enter.
Of course, the rcenaries, after surrendering their weapons, had to wait in the reception room.
Only Claude and Ghislain were allowed to et with the lord.
Baron Austern’s appearance matched his reputation for greed.
His eyes were murky, and his cheeks were bloated with flesh.
As soon as the two entered the main hall, the baron spoke in a dry voice.
“You’ve really co with the money?”
Claude, who had been so bold in front of Ghislain earlier, imdiately dropped to his knees and pressed his forehead to the floor, groveling pitifully.
“I’ve really brought the money. Please, I beg you, return it now!”
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