Volume 1 Chapter 8

“What a cramped little workshop,” Deanna said disparagingly, her eyes sweeping over the room.

Her attitude alone was enough to throw Laurent’s mind back into his days in Golden Hawk, and he hunched into himself.

“Deanna-san, why are you…”

“Ara, what’s with that look? I’m a guest who has come all the way to this workshop, and you can’t even give me some decent hospitality?”

A lump formed in Laurent’s throat.

He had no rebuttal.

“What’s wrong, Laurent-san? Did something happen?” Ranju appeared suddenly.

Deanna looked at Ranju coldly.

“Ranju, we have a guest. I’ve got something to discuss with her, so if you could bring out the tea?” Laurent said, leading Deanna to the parlor.

When she saw the parlor, her disparaging sneer returned.

Her eyes darted around the room, and she sat, arms and legs crossed. A cold smile spread over her lips.

Ranju glanced at Deanna as he served her tea. He did not like her.

What the h**l is up with her? She’s got a real stick up her a*s. Laurent-san seems to know her, but she seems like a piece of work.

Ranju scowled at her and sat down next to Laurent.

Laurent didn’t want Ranju to get caught up in her schemes and get hurt, so he told him to head to the back. But Ranju didn’t listen.

Instead, Ranju spoke to her. 

“Well? What can our workshop do for a high-ranking member of Golden Hawk?” Ranju asked, his tone belligerent. He didn’t even bother trying to hide the fierce look in his eyes.

She didn’t reply to him, instead she dismissed him with a sniff.

Ranju’s glare turned fiercer as his irritation grew.

“Deanna-san, what in the world do you want from us?” This time, it was Laurent who asked, but Deanna still refused to reply. She was staring at the refined iron in the corner of the workshop.

D-grade Iron. Those are junk products, aren’t they? Well, it makes sense since it’s Laurent’s workshop; I suppose.

Deanna took that to be the limit of this workshop.

They couldn’t pull any major guilds as clients, so they’re making ends meet by producing junk for small guilds, huh? Poor things. At this rate, the workshop will probably shut down within the month.

Coming to that conclusion, she shot a satisfied smile at Laurent and Ranju. “Let me be direct. We’re willing to extend Golden Hawk’s protection to you.”

“What?”

“Isn’t it tough, getting by with this tiny workshop? We could help you out.”

“We’re not having so much difficulty that you need to take pity on us,” Ranju snarled, baring his teeth.

Deanna ignored him once again.

Fufu. Isn’t he just feisty? Even though he will never stand a chance against us.

“What do you think, Laurent-san? Do you have any interest in making a deal?”

“I… Of course, it depends on your conditions…”

At that, Ranju looked as though he’d sucked on a lemon.

He fought down his protest.

“That’s fine. How about this, then? One hundred gold coins for an A-grade iron ore.”

“One hundred gold coins for one A-grade iron ore…”

“Other guilds sell to us wholesale at that price. Surely, you can do that for us, too?” she said coercively, waiting carefully for the right moment to put more pressure on him.

Fufu. I wonder how he’ll react. At this price, they’d never make it, no matter how hard they tried.

She pictured their vehement rejection; “That’s ridiculous! There’s no way we could sell it at that price! Please, if you could buy it at a slightly higher price…” they’d beg.

Maybe they’d even do a dogeza.*

(T/N: A dogeza is basically where you get down on your hands and knees, press your head to the floor and beg in desperation for something. Clearly, Deanna has problems.)

And after she got thoroughly bored of toying with them, she’d tip Laurent’s workshop off the cliff’s edge.

Both she and Lucius did something like this all the time, and it was how they’d gotten to the very top.

“Well? How about it, Laurent-san? Can you sell at the price of a hundred gold coins per A-grade iron ore?”

“Sure, that sounds good,” Laurent agreed easily.

“Yes, I thought so. I knew you’d say that it’s not possible, but well, if you beg nicely enough, I might lower the… wait, what? It’s fine?”

“Yes, it’s no trouble for us,” Laurent replied cheerfully.

Frankly, Arsenal of the Spirits had no interest in the iron industry.

Their main product line was [Earth Stones], so if anything, the iron ores were just taking up space there.

It was a waste to throw them away given how much effort they’d put into making them, so it had been gathering dust in storage. Recently, Ranju had been nagging at him to ‘somehow sort it out soon’.

Really, Deanna was doing them a huge favour.

“You’d be helping us out if you bought it at the price of a hundred gold coins,” Laurent said, grinning from ear-to-ear. 

“How would you like it delivered to you? We’re a little short-handed right now, so we would appreciate it if you could send someone from your end to pick it up,” Ranju said brazenly.

Deanna twitched.

W-What’s with them? I’m driving a hard bargain here, but why do they seem so confident? Do they know where they stand?

Deanna’s original plan was to have Laurent cling to her disgracefully and beg her to raise the buying price a little. 

And after she’d gotten thoroughly bored of playing with him, she’d find fault in his guild’s work and bully them into breaching the contract.

If Jill saw the way he would pathetically plead with them to buy the iron ores, surely even she would wash her hands of him.

At least that had been the plan. But now she was completely thrown off guard.

“Is something wrong, Deanna-san?”

“You look pale. Are you okay?”

Laurent and Ranju peered at Deanna’s face worriedly, seeing how pale and silent she’d become.

Their concern only disturbed Deanna even more.

“Y-Yes. I’m fine. I’m fine.”

“You’re fine? Thank goodness.”

“Well, what should we do about the delivery? You’re interested in purchasing iron ores from us, right?” Ranju asked. 

At that, Deanna lost her composure. “What? Are you an idiot? There’s no way I would want to buy anything from you. Who the h**l would want to make a deal with a s****y workshop like this? I take back my offer. A hundred gold coins are wasted on you. Don’t misunderstand; it was just a little joke,” she snapped, then left the workshop as though she was fleeing.

Laurent and Ranju stared at where she’d been sitting, stunned into silence.

“Um, Laurent-san.”

“What is it?”

“What was that person wasting our time for? She said herself that she wanted to buy from us, then she said she wasn’t buying and retracted her offer. It made no sense.”

“… Sorry, but I have no clue, either.”

Laurent’s gaze turned to the iron ores piled up in the corner of the room.

The junk products gave off a dull, lonely light.

——

Deanna left the workshop and barely managed to calm herself down as she tried to sort out what had just occurred.

Honestly, what was that? Such attitude, flaunting what they have like that.

She walked down the street, seething.

She only got more furious as more time passed.

More than anything, she was furious at herself for getting shaken up by people as worthless as them.

I mean, you can’t really make a profit at one hundred gold coins per iron ore, right? It’s not like I even wanted to buy from them in the first place. That alchemist guild of his is surely just a front for some shady business; Laurent is Lilianne’s little boy-toy, after all. I’m sure that because of Lilianne’s support, he’s slacking off in running the guild. What a piece of trash. She’s just being used as a cash cow.*

(T/N: The last sentence here was particularly difficult. I’ve translated it quite liberally because, well, I have no idea what the original text meant and just picked the next-best option—a probably inaccurate translation that makes the most sense.)

At that thought, Deanna managed to ease her own mind.

——

Lucius returned from his lunch with Count Elson, boarding his carriage with a discontented look.

He recalled the conversation he’d exchanged earlier with Count Elson.

They had meals together many times already, and their conversations had remained on the level of small talk. But today, Count Elson had dove right into the heart of the matter.

“Actually, my daughter will be getting married soon,” Count Elson had said.

“My, how auspicious.”

“I hope to prepare a gift for her wedding—something from the silverworkers. I’ve been looking for a good silverworker, but it’s tough to find one. By chance, I heard that you’re in the position of leading the city’s alchemist guilds.”

“Leading them? No, no. I just act as a mediator because I’ve been asked by everyone, but no more than that.”

“The reason why I invited you here is none other than this. I wish for the guilds affiliated with you to participate in the silverworker’s contest I am sponsoring.”

“A… contest?”

“Yes, and this is not a one-off event. I plan to make this an annual event—the biggest and most anticipated of the region. Isn’t it simply grand? All the city’s alchemists in one room, pouring their hearts and souls into their finest products, and a showcase. This way, the city’s alchemists can all compete, and the skills of the alchemists in my territory will improve by leaps and bounds. The contest itself might become a tourist attraction. And if that happens, my city will become the greatest city for alchemists all over the world,” Count Elson had boasted, his arms sweeping as though painting his vision right before his eyes.

It seemed as though that glittering map of the future had already been drawn out in his head.

“Well…” Lucius had said.

“Any alchemist will be able to enter, no matter their social status, no matter their lineage, no matter their level of proficiency. I have prepared plenty of prizes, and even amateur alchemist guilds will have a chance to be awarded. If it is known that even inexperienced alchemists may have a chance to become famous, the competition will be even fiercer. It’ll be a rousing event. An amazingly out-of-the-box idea that has never been seen before could come from this. Isn’t it simply marvellous? And to that end, I am asking the guilds affiliated with you to participate. The winner will, of course, be handsomely rewarded. I simply cannot wait to see such passion-fuelled competition!”

Lucius, who had been thinking that Golden Hawk would be receiving a peerage, felt his excitement drain from him.

Damn it, and that idiot is considered nobility. He spends all his time looking for amusement so all he does is do useless s**t like this. For f**k’s sake, I poured in so much effort in unifying the city’s alchemist guilds; does he have any idea how bad it would be for me if something like ‘free competition’ really happened?

Lucius did not like that Count Elson had not taken him seriously at all. 

He’d only treated Lucius and his guild as another participant in his bloody contest, and had not granted them any preferential treatment.

Lucius had seethed while he was in his carriage, but by the time they arrived before the headquarters of Golden Hawk, he had recovered his usual composure.

Well, it’s fine. It’s an opportunity to display my strength. I will make it known that in this city, there is no need for guilds other than those affiliated with Golden Hawk. That every other guild but those under my control are nothing more than small-fry. I’ll advertise my influence directly to Count Elson; surely, even he will have no choice but to award Golden Hawk with peerage then. If we are able to obtain peerage, I won’t even have to lift a finger to crush Guardians of the Magical Tree. And then, it won’t be long before the city will be completely under my control.

The moment Lucius returned to Golden Hawk’s headquarters, he gave the order to the alchemist guilds under his command to craft silverworks products for the contest Count Elson was sponsoring.

While he was at it, he did not forget to issue another order, one which forbade any other guild other than Golden Hawk-affiliated guilds from participating in the contest.