Translator: Pink Tea Editor: JackOFallTrades

Yes, this is the sound of it beginning to crumble.

Chasing after superficial things, he will keep piling up those coldly shining things with the illusion of worth, wishing to reach ever greater heights, he will keep looking above.

So I kept pulling out fragments of the tower, quietly, one after another so it would not be noticed. Slowly, so the tower would not shake.

The fall becomes more painful as the height grows.

I will make it crumble when he will try to add another layer to this tower, I will make him fall without even a chance to resist.

And this is the last piece.

This is the first loud sound of the tower that begins to collapse.

It is the sound of everything that he has so delightfully built up until now, crumbling beneath his feet.

I pick some of those fragments and let them spill back onto the ground with a rattling sound.

「Now, with this, preparations for the festival have been completed. I will let you experience the moment when your sense of values that you treasured so far gets shredded to pieces as well.」

The coldness that freezes everything over and the burning, molten depths will be your coffin.

「And in the end, I will drown you to death in your beloved sea of money, Grond.」

The racket of metal pieces upon their fall resonated very pleasantly to our ears.

☆

「Fuh, with this, the negotiations on details are over. 」

After signing the last one of the piled up doc.u.ments, I breathe a sigh of relief on getting rid of that mountain.

Though I felt a pleasant sense of accomplishment upon finishing my job, the course of events that defied my predictions invoked an unpleasant feeling.

「Really, each and every company has a worse set of ears than I expected. I guess my eyes were more clouded than I would imagine…」

The currency used in deals with our company disappears, there is a number of small and medium-sized companies that took such a rumor seriously.

As result, most of them decided to cut ties with our company and stop any dealings.

Among them were few that as I was thinking had some wits to them so I could not suppress my disappointment.

In the end, companies that didn"t stop doing business with us were either big trading a.s.sociations that didn"t receive any damage or firms that have some light weakness grasped by me.

「Hmpf, since it came to this, after obtaining special privilege with funds that I collected so far, I will squeeze them for profit with no remorse. 」

If I get special rights, tides will quickly turn in my favor.

A lot of trading companies will try to get closer to this Grond Trading a.s.sociation.

However, right now, they are trying to get out of our agreements. Were they to flip their att.i.tudes and try to make an arrangement with our company, it is only natural to make them pay a fitting compensation.

(The current situation is an aggravating one, but considering what is going to happen from now on, it will lead to even larger profits.)

The magic storm was calming down, monsters blocking the road will be eventually eliminated by the guild.

As a means for information exchange will recover, news about money recasting will spread right away.

If we release part of our trading records and summary of damage reports to counter that, this idiotic rumor will be eradicated.

There is no problem at all.

(We pulled out money from affiliated companies and ripped money off from the companies that we could somewhat push around. With us having that much of a lead, other big companies will not try to compete.)

Normally, money recasting is carried out swiftly upon making the decision.

Which means it is not strange if it has already started in other towns.

In this situation, there is just not enough time to overtake my company, which is supposed to make me a sole winner here.

「President, the Ochalea, Fugine and Munaito trading a.s.sociations are requesting for a conference.」

「What?」

Every name that was brought up belonged to an equally powerful town ruler.

Each of them was a business rival with whom our company competed ruthlessly on daily basis.

They are of an equal scale with our company… No, they actually have a bit more power.

They were in a position that would allow them to aim for the privilege of money recasting, those are a.s.sociations that our company should be cautious about.

「On subject?」

「That is… They want to make a special supplementary deal…」

(Extra deal? With this timing…?)

「What do they want to trade?」

「Eehm, it appears they intend to purchase an array of weapons and several types of potions in large quant.i.ties. The reason is said to be the expected demand on those goods due to the monster extermination that is scheduled in a few days. 」

「Is that so. I understand. Leave this room for a while. I have to contemplate on something.」

「Certainly!」

Bowing once, subordinate quietly leaves the room.

In the room that had turned silent, I stand up from the chair in a spinning motion and survey the town from a window in the back of the room.

「Hehehe, AHAHAHAHAHA!!!」

And break into a laugh after not being able to endure it anymore.

「Yes, yes, yes!!! With this, my company will definitely receive the privilege!!!」

If you take this for its face value, they want to profit from the current monster extermination, but there is no way they would come to us for supplies.

Surely, with the monster extermination, demand would rise, but there is no way that with their scale, they would not be able to cover that.

The purpose of this deal clearly lies in getting money off their hands.

(Information about money recasting likely reached those companies as well, so in order to reduce their losses they rushed in panic to bow their heads to me… Hehehe)

The privilege that can be earned in exchange for a large quant.i.ty of money.

It is a sweet fruit that can bring a huge fortune, but there is a certain risk a.s.sociated with it as well.

It lies in that the value of coinage that you possess will change.

And the more money you have, the more significant influence of such change will be.

In other words, other companies gave up on trying to attain that privilege.

Since big scale companies with proper information network will not be deceived by that rumor, there can be no other reason.

So to cut their losses they brought that deal to me, together, in order flatter me up.

「Until now they gave me a lot of hardships. Hehehe, let us proceed with the deal while paying plenty of attention to details.」

Just imagining the faces of each trading a.s.sociation president warped in a humiliated grimace makes me want to laugh.

Soon, very soon, the town that can be seen from here will be mine.

I will be able to get my breath on all the money that comes in and out of this town.

I will have the very life of this town in my grasp.

The whole of this town will be mine to do as I please.

「Kukuku, Haa HA HA HA!!!」

And so once again, I, unable to restrain myself, started to laugh.

☆

「Oh my, it appears we made you wait, such embarra.s.sment for our Grond trading a.s.sociation.」

Several days later, while taking my time leisurely on purpose, I entered the reception office where presidents of the Ochalea, Fugine, and Munaito trading a.s.sociations were waiting.

「No no, we weren"t waiting for that long.」

「Tha, that is true.」

「…Being the head of the trading company is a busy job after all.」

All of their faces that simultaneously turned my way, had a mask of the professional merchant.

However, each and every one of them could not help but have their true face filled with humiliation showing through it.

「Well, time is money as they say. Let us begin negotiations right away.」

Thinking to myself how impudent I was, I began the talk.

「So what are the goods that you requesting?」

「……Yes, here is an order form from Ochalea Trading a.s.sociation.」

Splendidly hiding his annoyance, the Ochalea Trading a.s.sociation President handed me over a paper.

「This is an order form from Fugine Trading a.s.sociation.」

「…From Munaito Trading a.s.sociation.」

The other two also hand over their order forms to me in the same fashion.

「Hm, Hm.」

Food, iron-made arms and armor, lower to mid-grade HP and MP potions, all kind of status increasing drugs and medicine for the removal of abnormal conditions.

(…The amount is less than I expected and price per unit is quite low. And they wanted to hold a conference for this?)

Numbers and prices on all three order forms were less than antic.i.p.ated.

Most likely they discussed it among themselves beforehand and decided on prices and proportions for what they going to buy from me.

Even for a big trading a.s.sociation such as mine, there is a limit to the volume of supplies it can provide.

If all was provided by one company, prices would inevitably climb higher which surely would not be a happy occurrence for those three companies.

（Well, that is a natural decision, I would do the same. No, this is the only way.）

If you think about the profit of your company, this is definitely the best choice.

However…

「Hm, each company is not even worth the talk.」

「「「What!?」」」

I toss away all three of the order forms in an abrupt motion as if throwing them away.

「Suppose the amount is alright. This is the amount that even us might not be unable to provide. But those prices are not acceptable. There should be at least a bit more to them.」

I take the order forms into my hands once again and after making corrections with a pen return them to the three.

「…President Grond, no matter how you look at this, this is just too greedy.」

「Tha, That is correct. The prices that we provided already had enough extra to them considering the current market situation.」

「Yes, this is just ridiculous!」

The trio were fl.u.s.tered and raised their voices after glancing over my corrections.

「Well well well, I actually consider those to be quite fair prices. This is an emergency and everyone holds their lives dear. Those will be sold in a blink of an eye in the exact amount that you will be able to provide. Even if most of the monsters blocking the highway were exterminated, there still will be a lot of them due to the influence of the magic storm. There is almost no need to worry about anything being left unsold.」

The words flowing from my mouth were very smooth.

Using lies and pretense to win your opponent over is that being merchant is all about.

And if the content of your speech is an actual truth then words come out even more smoothly.

「Oh, how enviable. I am working on the opening of a branch store, so at the moment I am more in the need of coin than stock, but this is an opportunity that a merchant can only wish for.」

Hahaha, I make a laugh.

「Though, personally instead of trading in small quant.i.ties, I would prefer first to dispose of the stock by turning it into profit since it would be easier to operate this way. Right, everyone, with this approach, we all will be able to make an earning?」

「「「…!!」」」

As I show a confident smile, the merchant facade on their faces crumbles for a moment, allowing a peek at their faces, burned with humiliation, that were hiding beneath it.

That is only natural.

Though what I am saying is not a lie and we all will profit from this, with this sum of money, there is a huge disparity in our gains.

In essence, there is a small difference from this and from telling them to work for free.

(Yet, even so, you won"t be able to refuse?)

It was close to a genuine order.

A defeated general should not talk of the battle.

For them that came with the capitulation, there is nothing else to do but to grovel before me.

Since if they manage to get in the favor of our a.s.sociation then there is a high probability that a good opportunity might be presented to them later by us.

「…Un, understood. Us, the Fugine Trading a.s.sociation will make a deal under those prices and for this quant.i.ty.」

「……Ochalea Trading a.s.sociation as well.」

「Same for the Munaito Trading a.s.sociation.」

OoOo, just those faces alone can make me forget about a certain degree of hardships.

Complete victory!

In truth, I want to start laughing loudly right here and now.

Of course, what one truly thinks should be hidden behind a facade. No matter the circ.u.mstances during negotiations, it is unbelievable for a merchant to take off his mask and expose his delight.

「Oh, you got my point. Then please sign an order form.」

I present to the three the written forms with already revised numbers.

The sight of them lowering themselves in order to sign the order forms is almost like they are kneeling before me.

Feels good. Feels so good.

Since the heads of all three were lowered, I smiled without thinking.

And right in front of my eyes, the proof of their defeat is being produced.

What is important is not the amount of profit made from the contract.

What is important is the fact that I was able to make the deal with that much advantage towards our side.

This deal that under normal circ.u.mstances would be absolutely impossible, makes positions of trading a.s.sociations of this town clear.

This is a ritual to put my Grond Trading a.s.sociation on the top.

At that second, I felt like I heard a creaking sound from somewhere.

（…What, what is this feeling.）

This is something that I have experienced a number of times during my life as a merchant, it is a signal to be cautious.

A heavy sensation of uneasiness burning in my spine that has nothing to do with logic or reason.

A feeling like I committed some kind of a grave mistake.

(That is strange, why? What is the problem?)

Before me are the losers that had dropped their heads unsightly.

No matter how you think about this, it is unmistakable that they are in my hands. Since I am dictating my will to them as a winner.

However, despite my thoughts, the ripples in my heart showed no sign of disappearing.

This feeling arises when I am basically being deceived by someone and is about to lose something.

「Then president Grond, one copy goes to you and we will take the other copy with us.」

As the president of Ochalea Trading a.s.sociation hands over the doc.u.ments that he was done with, heads of other two companies also present me the order forms that they finished signing.

(Could it be, this? Could it be that they did something to those order forms?)

Usually, during business transactions, two copies of a contract are being made and each side gets to keep one.

This is done to prevent annulation of a contract for the convenience of one side.

While receiving a contract, I check with the magic tool that was hidden in my inner pocket for any manipulations that could be done to it but detect nothing abnormal.

「Did some point catch your attention?」

「Ah, no, there is nothing. Indeed, with this contract is sealed.」

After collecting my copy of each contract one by one, I hand them over to my subordinate.

The subordinate that received the contracts leaves the room in order to deposit them under safekeeping.

Even though deal went without a hitch, the sense of uneasiness would not leave me after all.

(Why… What am I missing exactly?)

Could it be that I am just overthinking this?

Could it be that the feeling of obtaining what I wished for has made me anxious?

「Well, then let us decide on the deals for the next month. We are busy people, opening another day for that would be just foolish.」

It appears that I am a merchant at my core.

I have to do what must be done. So I proceed with the talk as planned.

Each of the three trading a.s.sociations had its own forte.

The Ochalea Trading a.s.sociation had potions for temporary status enhancements, the Fugine Trading a.s.sociation excelled in arms, armor and various ironware while the Munaito Trading a.s.sociation is advanced in the trading of high-quality provision and magic tools.

Compared to that, our trading a.s.sociation did not have anything that it particularly excelled in, but in exchange, we were quite versatile and did not have any weak areas.

Though our goods were lagging behind a bit compared to the goods that could be considered their forte, we could trade in articles that other companies weren"t so good with in cheaper prices.

(As our positions were just made clear, I should strike while the iron is hot and deliver another decisive blow.)

However, the three men sitting before me looked at each other appearing bewildered.

But before I could even think about the meaning of that, the president of Munaito trading a.s.sociation spoke on behalf of all three.

「………What are you talking about? There is no way we would trade with Grond Trading a.s.sociation anymore. Or rather did you actually think that you still can do business in this town?」

「……Huh?」

To my own voice that I unintentionally let out, the ground began to sound like it had crumbled beneath my feet.