Side story: Makuma Edward

<<Edwards Perspective>>

After finishing the business meeting, I took out special wine and drank it. I decided to end my work early today, today is special.

“You’re in a good mood, Edward-san.”

“Of course, just look at this, it’s going to change the world.”

“hah…”

I pointed to the mithril alloy wire and potatoes that Grace-sama had just brought. But Chris, the subordinate who spoke, only smiled vaguely.

Well, I guess it’s not too much to look at, because from the outside they’re just a metal wire and a potato. It’s only because I have a connoisseur’s eye that I could understand their value.

“Was he really that amazing? I heard the third prince, Grace-sama, was banished to the frontier because he was incompetent and could do nothing.”

“The rumors were just baseless rumors after all. There are still areas where he’s naive but he can strike a bargain. He seems to be an excellent person since Bowman recommended him and asked me to take care of him. Perhaps if I had made the wrong choice, he would have ended the conversation early. Otherwise, he would have told me from beginning not only about the materials from monsters but also about the product that he had invented. It’s very important to be able to bargain properly when doing business together.”

I smiled at Chris, who had a puzzled expression on her face and answered. Originally, my expectations were high when the difficult Bowman wrote a letter of introduction.

And when I met him, I understood why he did. Even though he was a member of the royal family, he used honorific language and paid respect even to a merchant like me. It was probably to show his sincerity to the fact that I, the chairman of a merchant association, had spoken to him directly.

“As I’m sure you know, the nobility of this country, especially the royalty, believe that force is everything. They don’t think much of the fact that the wars they love so much are made possible by us merchants who prepare and transport the things they need. That’s why they usually have an arrogant attitude toward us merchants. For example, when you said rude words to Grace-sama’s subordinate, what do you think would have happened if it were an ordinary nobleman or royalty?”

“That… things would have gone horribly wrong.”

Chris’s face turned pale at my words. I know she didn’t mean any harm, but it’s true that she misspoke. She needs to reflect a little on her words. I know she’ll use this experience to grow.

“But he was different. If he really was as foolish as they say, we could have been killed by the girl who was guarding him or he could have demanded an unreasonable deal for our insolence. We merchants are no match for the girl’s brute strength and the authority of the royal family is powerful. He could be forgiven for being a bit forceful. But he did not. He only tried to have a dialogue with me, and when I apologized for my rudeness, he just said that was the end of it and moved on to business negotiations. And most importantly, he told me that he wanted to trust me.”

I remember his sincere eyes. I don’t know what I did that tugged at his heartstrings, but I think it made him feel that I was worthy of his trust.

And I also liked this young man, Grace. I’d heard that the third prince was a foolish prince, but I wondered if he actually was. He was well-liked by Lord Bowman, and the girl who was guarding him didn’t even change her expression when she was bad-mouthed, but when she felt her Lord was being insulted, she unleashed a tremendous murderous intent. I can’t imagine how she could have such high loyalty.

“It’s true, the second prince, Kyle-sama, was terrible.”

“Yeah… that was a nightmare. He pushed his own opinion without considering our situation.”

Chris and I remembered what happened when Prince Kyle came to visit us. When my merchant association clashed with the Azure merchant association, with whom he has a close relationship, that man came forward and made unreasonable demands, forcing us to back down.

Even though he was at fault, he didn’t want to listen to our story and I had no choice other than to grit my teeth inadvertently. You can’t go against royalty, even if they’re unreasonable.

“So what are these? In particular, what’s the difference between these potatoes and ordinary ones?”

“Oh, it restores magic power when you eat it.”

“Oh, does that mean it has the same effect as a high-quality potion?”

“Yes, it restores magic power just like the high-grade potions monopolized by the hated Azure Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, the taste seems to be quite good. If you want, you can cook it later.”

“That’s… It can match high-quality potions and it even tastes superb!?”

“Yes, if this is distributed, it might change the way we recover magic power and then the Azure Trading Company, which has a monopoly on high-grade potions and sells them to other trading companies like us at unreasonable prices, won’t be able to keep their big face.” (Edward)　

I chuckled and nodded at Chris’ words. This is a great opportunity for my business association to expand our business in this city and we’ll be able to deal a blow to the hated Azure Chamber of Commerce.

And I decided to follow Grace who gave me such a chance.

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