Inheriting the Novel

Chapter 46 : What Remains (1)

What Remains (1)

"Haa..."

Ravin Timmons, the head of the Timmons merchant guild, let out a sigh at his bleak reality.

For years now, he'd been running a deficit, and the debt had piled up to a considerable amount.

With his credit completely ruined, he couldn't secure any proper deals, and the vicious cycle only continued.

"Do I really have to close shop?"

At this point, it felt odd to even call it a merchant guild.

There were barely ten members left, and most of their struggling business partners had already cut ties.

'Ugh, father. You really outdid yourself.'

It was a feat, in its own way, to ruin a merchant guild with such a long tradition in just ten years.

Having stayed by his father's side to honor his mother's last wish, all Ravin was left with was a collapsing business.

"What do I do now..."

He didn't want to blame his late father, but it was hard not to curse aloud given how hopeless things looked.

He had no idea where to even begin fixing things.

"Guildmaster."

At that moment, a merchant member with a haggard look approached Ravin.

"What is it?"

"There's a guest from Count Bellen's house here to see you."

The moment he heard 'Count Bellen's house', Ravin's mind went blank.

At last, what he'd been dreading had finally come.

"Show them in."

"Yes, sir."

The merchant member fled as if escaping danger.

Ravin shook his head and sat in the parlor, waiting for a guest he had no desire to meet.

"Ahem, ahem!"

Not long after, Nior Bellen—the eldest son of Count Bellen—entered, his face twisted with displeasure.

He strode in and sat so roughly it bordered on rudeness.

"Welcome, Lord Bellen. I've been expecting you."

"Where is Guildmaster Chervan?"

"My father passed away about a month ago. I'm the guildmaster now."

"Hmm? Oh, right. You were Chervan's son. Only just remembered."

Ravin was deeply annoyed by Nior's arrogant attitude.

But he was, after all, the weaker party—a debtor who owed money.

"My father is very, very disappointed, you know. You do realize the debt is due next month?"

"... Yes, I know."

Ravin's father, chervan, had tried all sorts of things over the past few years, borrowing money from Count Bellen's house to somehow make up for the guild's continued deficit.

The problem was, every single attempt had ended in failure and further ruin.

'I should have stopped him, somehow.'

Most of Chervan's plans had seemed fine on the surface.

Securing distribution rights over a newly-discovered mine or importing trending goods from the empire—

None of them looked like they'd fail.

But they had.

The mine, supposedly full of silver, had only contained a trickle of iron ore, and those fashionable imperial goods simply wouldn't sell.

'It's all in the past. Nothing to be done now.'

The stress eventually drove Chervan into illness, and he couldn't recover.

Ravin recalled these events and let out another shallow sigh.

"I'll find a way to pay everything off by next month. Please trust me."

"That's good to hear but... what if you can't?"

"Th-that's..."

As Ravin faltered, Nior gave him a sly, twisted grin.

"I've heard you have a younger sister, is that right?"

"Yes, but..."

"If you truly can't repay the debt, you can send her to my house as a maid. I'll write the debt off in that case."

It took Ravin a moment to understand what Nior meant.

"Th-that's a bit..."

"What? So, you're sure you can repay the debt? And if you break your promise—are you prepared for the consequences?"

Gritting his teeth at Nior's abrasive tone, Ravin knew both he and his sister would meet a miserable end either way.

He couldn't afford to make enemies of Count Bellen's house—and if he ran, he'd surely be caught quickly.

"... Then."

Just as he was beginning to think maybe it would be better for him to pay the price, the parlor door burst open.

"G-Guildmaster!"

The merchant member who'd rushed in with urgent news caused Nior's face to immediately contort with anger.

"Do you not see I'm busy in a private meeting?! How rude. Mere peasants, I swear."

"I-I'm really sorry, sir. It's just—a very urgent matter..."

"Urgent?"

There was nobody present who wasn't aware Ravin was talking to Nior. For such a breach in manners, something extraordinary must have happened.

"Well? Did something happen outside?"

"A-a guest has arrived."

"A guest? But there aren't any more appointments today...?"

With Nior's gaze growing ever sharper, Ravin quickly pressed the matter.

"It's Count Vanhart. He suddenly asked to see the guildmaster—"

"Count Vanhart?!"

It was Nior who answered, not Ravin.

Springing to his feet, Nior seized Ravin by the collar.

"You! Have you been dealing with Vanhart house behind my back?"

"N-no! Absolutely not!"

"Then why would Clay Vanhart come here? Lying to my face, are you?!"

Nior raised a fist to strike Ravin, but before he could, someone else grabbed Nior's wrist.

Turning to the one who held him, Nior saw a familiar face. It was, of course, Clay.

"It's not a lie, so why don't you stop?"

"You...!"

"Mind your manners, Nior Bellen. Like I told you before, I'm a count too, you know?"

Clay grinned, and Nior ground his teeth in frustration.

'Anyone who took part in the Founding Festival should be in the capital by now.'

The festival had just ended, so it wouldn't be strange for Clay to return to the kingdom.

But why had he come home instead of heading to the capital for the banquet?

As Nior considered this, a hypothesis formed in his mind.

'He must have been utterly humiliated at the Founding Festival!'

Why else wouldn't he attend the banquet in the capital? He must have caused a scandal and no longer had the face to show up.

Nior's frown faded and he put on a faint smile.

"So, what brings you to our province? There should be a grand banquet starting in the capital now. A massive one for those who shone at the Founding Festival, isn't that right?"

You're here only because you wouldn't be welcome in the capital—was the obvious subtext.

Clay immediately picked up on Nior's mocking undertone and smiled mysteriously.

'Well, well.'

It seemed word about Clay hadn't yet reached here. Otherwise, Nior could never have taken that attitude.

He could easily guess what Nior was thinking.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. May I mediate this matter?"

"What?"

"I have business with Guildmaster Ravin as well."

Clay took a good look at Ravin, who still looked lost and overwhelmed.

'Just as the profile said.'

He was a very capable man. Clay couldn't let him be ruined here.

But most important of all was Ravin's younger sister.

He couldn't let Maria Timmons be sold off to Count Bellen's house.

"Count Vanhart, what exactly are you talking about?"

"From what I gather, the Timmons merchant guild owes a large debt to Count Bellen's house. I'll guarantee it."

"A guarantor?"

"If the Timmons merchant guild fails to repay Count Bellen's house within three months, house Vanhart will pay the debt ourselves."

Nior's eyes widened—this was completely unexpected.

"W-why are you—"

"That's not important, is it? All you care about is getting your money, right? I'll even pay extra interest for the two-month extension."

Clay spoke gently, but his eyes were cold as ice.

"You've been told to collect from Count Bellen, haven't you? This is hardly a bad deal. Well?"

It was phrased as an offer, but it was closer to a threat.

* * *

Nior Bellen only left the guild after securing the signed contract from me.

Until the very moment he departed, he kept eyeing me with suspicion. But there's no way he could have known why I was doing any of this.

'I absolutely can't let them get their hands on Maria Timmons.'

Ravin was important in his own right, but the real game-changer was his sister, Maria Timmons.

Though frail in health, she was a woman of incredible intelligence.

In the following episodes, Maria played a major supporting role to Fabian.

'Soon enough, Count Bellen's house will be caught up in a massive fraud and pushed to the brink.'

It was Maria—working as a maid at Count Bellen's house—who would help them overcome that crisis.

Count Bellen would borrow her wisdom to weather the storm, and as a result, he'd shower the Timmons merchant guild with investments.

Thanks to that, the Timmons merchant guild would soon be counted among the "Three Great Merchant Guilds" of the continent, surpassing even the Talua kingdom—and Count Bellen's house would amass immeasurable wealth along the way.

'But to hell with them.'

Count Bellen was even more greedy than Nior. Once he got his hands on real wealth, it would only be a matter of time before he turned dangerous.

There was no guilt at all in depriving a man like that of his fortune.

"Thank you for your help. But... I don't really understand your reasoning behind such an offer."

Unlike me, who understood everything, Ravin was just bewildered.

"We owe a whole hundred thousand gold. I can't possibly let you pay such a huge amount on our behalf."

He seemed almost intent on persuading me not to go through with this bizarre contract, going so far as to confess the exact amount.

"But the contract is already signed—it's too late to take it back."

"But..."

"There's still three months left, so don't worry. Actually, three months is more than enough. I think Timmons merchant guild can pay it off in two, even."

"What? Th-that's impossible. Who would do any business with us in our current state...?"

"You can just do business with me."

"What?"

I smiled and took out another document for the dumbfounded Ravin.

"If this all works out, move the Timmons merchant guild to Vanhart territory."

"What? P-please wait, what exactly are you suggesting...?"

"Let's talk about what we'll be trading first."

Ravin looked puzzled as I flipped through the documents.

"As far as I know, the Vanhart territory is only known for its grain—there's nothing else of note..."

He was right—until now, house Vanhart had no real specialty.

But that was about to change.

"Mithril."

"... Excuse me?"

"I'd like your guild to handle distribution of the mithril we mine."

Except for orichalcum, mithril was the best and most expensive metal available.

Naturally, the value was astronomical.

"Can you handle it?"

If they could handle distribution of mithril, the debt of a mere hundred thousand gold to Count Bellen's house would be nothing.

* * *

'Well, then...'

Having finished my contract with the Timmons merchant guild, I returned immediately to Vanhart territory.

The deadline was in two weeks. By then, I needed to find the mine and report back to Ravin.

'He'll take care of the rest.'

Just hiring miners and setting up facilities for an excavation cost a lot.

After I found the mine, everything else would fall into place.

Ravin was competent and not the kind to let such an opportunity slip away.

'It's a pity I didn't get to meet Maria.'

She was to become an indispensable supporting role for Fabian someday.

A shame I hadn't met a protagonist in her own right.

[But where are you going to find a mine? Didn't you say there were only two options left? The dungeon and the merchant guild.]

"There's a mine inside the dungeon, you know."

[You've got to be kidding me.]

They must have never imagined there could be a mine inside a dungeon.

"When you're the main character, luck like that just happens. That's what it means to be a protagonist—money just falls into your lap."

And Fabian always had Monet by his side.

In fact, Monet was the key to finding the dungeon in Kiten Forest.

Kiten Forest was also called "the fairy forest".

Anyone who entered would become lost amid illusions cast by fairies and eventually return to the entrance.

But Monet was different.

Recognizing her kind heart and natural-born luck, the fairies themselves opened the way for her.

Thanks to this, Fabian was able to meet the Fairy Queen, who in turn gave him a mission.

He was entrusted with dealing with a certain dungeon inside Kiten Forest.