Chapter 20 – Days of Quiet Reprieve (5)

  [Deilos, Son of Demon Lord Dantalion, Young Lord]

  [Demon Territory, De Gracia—Slums]

  For the past few days, I’ve been observing the market.

  The price rise, the frustration of merchants, and especially the carriage disappearances.

  These lead to one thing—there’s a mastermind behind this.

  From how the city has reacted in the past few days, it’s clear that there’s a delay in how they are processing the situation. Whether it’s due to a genuine problem or a deliberate one doesn’t matter. Whoever the perpetrators may be, they’re trying to manipulate the market indirectly. But for what reasons exactly?

  Better trade?

  Monopoly on the carriages?

  No, something better—Influence.

  If the group of nobles that sought out the buyout of the carriages did plan this, then that’s their most likely goal. While it is easy to assume this is just a short-term scheme of the nobles, this is perhaps an elaborate plan to fund the supposed rebellions happening within the Demon Territory while also covering it up as just another mishap in preparing for the festival during the Eve of Walpurgis.

  A setup for the meeting of Demon Lords......

  Only someone who is either a reckless idiot or a complete lunatic would even think about doing this at such a high-profile event. There’s no in-between. If this whole thing is merely a coincidence or a ploy, it will surface when the meeting takes place.

  Currently, the Demon Territory has 6 large firms. These firms are the same as what you’d expect. They offer merchants the opportunity to profit from their goods, be it produce, livestock, or any other services you may find. In a sense, they are the backbone of trade within the Demon Territory. Most firms are tied to a single faction or multiple factions, whether it’s the Eastern Faction, Western Faction, Southern Faction, or Northern Faction.

  One of those large firms stands out from the rest, the only large firm not to be tied to a faction.

  The Euryphaessa Firm.

  Though it might not be as big as the others, what sets it apart is its freedom. While other firms are strictly controlled or limited in their reach because of their faction, Euryphaessa Firm is much freer in how it interacts with others. May it be faction-to-faction deals, demon-to-human negotiations, or even black market trading. It is known best for its reliability despite being independent in nature.

  De Gracia, being a border city for the Eastern Faction and Western Faction, has multiple firms overlooking it. The Euryphaessa Firm happens to be one of them, and it is the one firm that can benefit from all of this.

  The firm is neutral, making it the best option to align with. Even if the firm were to get caught, at most all they would receive is a light pat on the back since a neutral firm has an obligation to keep their clients anonymous, though if their alignment would be too substantial, they can still get scrutinized. If anything, this is a winning gamble for them, and their only setback is having that small window of slipping up.

  It is the best-positioned firm for the whole orchestration for several reasons.

  That’s why it’s the firm I’m trying to get a hold of right now.

  Fortunately, Leiche works for the Euryphaessa Firm. I’m a bit relieved that I already have someone to run to regarding this situation. That may also be the reason he knows about the conspiracy of nobles getting entangled with the rebellions. But that has to be set aside at the moment.

  “Well, Leiche. What’s your choice?”

  After giving him my proposal, Leiche thought for a while, staring at the pendant I handed over to him.

  Seekth gave me the pendant when we arrived at the guest mansion. I wondered what it was at first and only remembered what it was recently. It was a Demon Lord’s pendant, specifically, Demon Lord Dantalion. The pendant is a magical device that only reacts to the blood of a Demon Lord, meaning it can’t be counterfeited or replicated unless you have the blood for that pendant. Since I’m Demon Lord Dantalion’s son, I’m able to forge a contract even if it’s not that powerful.

  Although I might not have the full authority when using the pendant, since I’m Dantalion’s heir, I can still use it to my advantage.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  Leiche looked at me, holding the pendant with shaking hands.

  “While it’s a sound proposal, would the Demon Lord accept someone like me? A back alley merchant? I’m not saying that the Demon Lord of this pendant is an incompetent person. All I’m saying is that it would stain their name if they were to work with me.”

  “That’s irrelevant. What the Demon Lord accepts isn’t status, but your ability. I’m here to recruit you because of that.”

  “Ability?”

  “Yes. To say in other words, I’ve gotten fond of you, that is. There’s no harm in wanting to help a friend in trouble now, is there?”

  I smiled at him.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  This is a lie. Although I’m telling him that Demon Lord Dantalion would be willing to accept him, this is far from the truth. I don’t even know Dantalion despite him being my father due to how muddled my memories are. Considering that this is an advantage for both me and him in the future, it is highly unlikely that he would oppose this decision unless Dantalion truly is incompetent as others suggest.

  He looked at the pendant one more time, placing his left hand on his chin, thinking.

  The Euryphaessa Firm, being a firm that acknowledges its merchant’s abilities more than anything, this would be a jackpot for Leiche. Not only would he be able to have the authority of a Demon Lord at his side, but his status at the firm would also rise by the simple fact that he was able to get one.

  I can tell that his worries aren’t about the carriages now, but the proposal at hand.

  No matter how he would doubt it, the power in his hands was undeniable.

  “Hmmm......”

  While I left Leiche to think for a while, my eyes were wandering at the tavern.

  Looking around its unkempt interiors. The people who were walking about were watching us with discerning eyes. The slaves in their cages were hiding their gazes whenever I took a glance. Some were newer ones I didn’t see here before. Beast-kin and other similar races were being presented as merchandise. Unlike the beast-kin of the guest mansion, these had different colors and were more animalistic in their appearances. They had distinct colors from one another—orange for the fox-like beast-kin, dark blue for the wolf, and so on and so forth.

  Other than the people inside the tavern, I took a glance at the two who came with me here. Pelica, who was sitting on my shoulder, happily swayed her tiny feet forward and backward while humming something and tilted her head when I looked at her. Scylla, who stood by my side, was as stoic as ever.

  Come to think of it, from the very beginning of my reincarnation in this world, I’ve never really relaxed. Our trip earlier in the market was my first time doing something that could be considered relaxing.

  Eating boar meat.

  Joking around.

  Teasing a small witch.

  It really did seem like a fantasy. These are the very things I wasn’t able to do in my past life. Maybe it was as simple as hanging out with friends, but for me, it was impossible. The only thing my father wanted from me was my ability to make money for him. Yet here I am doing the same thing with Leiche. How ironic.

  It took a while before Leiche could answer. His bead-like eyes seemed resolved when he looked at me this time.

  “How much?”

  “What do you mean, how much?”

  “Hah. I’ll go with your proposal. Having influence at this point in time is quite valuable, considering that it’s been quite a mess lately. Tsk. More on that later. You said that you were willing to lend this pendant earlier, didn’t you? I’m asking how much you want, and I’ll pay you properly.”

  He truly is an asshole of a merchant. Even with my roundabout way of taking things, he understood my proposal with ease while also considering his position. Well, he did go all the way, trying to hear me out. It should be fair to treat this with a bit of seriousness.

  “About this much.”

  I presented six fingers, three showing my palm and three with the back of my hand.

  Leiche, after rummaging through his pockets, gave me a bag containing 300 gold coins.

  After checking the amount of the coins, I put Pelica down from my shoulders, fixed my posture, and made a flat expression. I looked at Leiche with cold eyes. He flinched a little when he saw my expression change before quickly gaining composure.

  Grabbing a hidden knife tucked into my shirt, I cut the tip of my ring finger and asked him to extend his hand. When Leiche extended his left hand, I drew a rune on the back of his palm with the blood coming out of my ring finger and placed the pendant on it. As the pendant made contact with the rune I drew, it started to burn into his skin, making him contort his face as the rune was being engraved on his hand.

  Cleaning the knife and ring finger with the inner collar of my shirt, I returned the knife back to its sheath.

  “Well, how does it feel to have a contract?”

  I asked Leiche, as he was waving his hand, trying to soothe the pain.

  “Awful.”

  “Look at it from another perspective. Now you know what being a slave feels like. Isn’t it great?”

  I chuckled.

  “Kid, did you always have that morbid sense of humor?” he said as he put his hands down. “I don’t even know if I’m even dealing with the same dipshit who got ratted out for their pocket money a few days ago. Hahhh......”

  I didn’t reply and only picked up Pelica for a second time. Pelica made the ‘wah!’ sound when I picked her up the first time, but she seemed a bit more comfortable now being carried like this. Nonetheless, I could infer from her pouting expression that she was still embarrassed. How cute.

  As her soft thighs came in contact with my neck, I suddenly remembered something.

  “Oh, I nearly forgot.”

  Leiche was about to get back to business when I walked up to him again.

  “Here. Don’t open it yet.”

  I gave him a piece of paper.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a little secret from me. Not anyone can get the information on that small piece of paper right now. But do keep in mind to only open it during the start of the Eve of Walpurgis. It will end up in flames if you’re too eager to look at it. That’s it for now. Just keep your heads up when the event does come.”

  Leiche made a reluctant sigh and gave me a grumpy farewell.

  Isn’t he a bit rude......

  Despite me going all out of my way to cling to him like a distressed princess, he still treats me like another customer. Well, he is a merchant, after all. It’s money that matters at the end of the day. I walked out of the tavern with an exhausted feeling. Taking into account that this is still far from what madness is to come during the Eve of Walpurgis, I do have to wonder what it would be like.

  Before we could get out of the slums, Pelica leaned forward and asked me.

  “Young lord, what was that all about?”

  Her long bangs were covering my peripheral vision. Before answering her, I fixed her bangs a bit so we wouldn’t be bumping into anyone while walking.

  “It’s a favor.”

  “Favor?”

  “He’s someone I know that helped me out a few times now. Helping me out might not be the exact word, but around that idea.”

  “Ehhhh......”

  She made a sound like how a child would do when they discovered something interesting.

  . . .

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