Chapter 95 Negotiations

Marquis Rudolf was one of the nobles who was part of the second prince’s faction.

I don’t know what he thought but after he attended the commemoration party of the foundation of the nation, he sent me an invitation to a party he was hosting.

…Now then, one thing bothers me here. Why did he react so much to Marquis Rudolf’s name?

The answer to that is simple. That is he wanted to hide his connection to Marquis Rudolf.

“…Sorry but, why bring up Marquis Rudolf’s name here?”

“You are very close with him, right? So much that you were able to ask Edward-sama for your request.”

“……!!”

Vuld was so surprised that his mouth opened wide in reaction. Ah, he gives off such interesting reactions.

Hiding my smile with the folding fan, I just silently looked at him.

“….More importantly, let’s move on to the main topic.”

“Main topic, you say?”

“Yes, that’s right. It is about our management collaboration with Bennel conglomerate and Azuta conglomerate.”

“If I remember correct, we were supposed to provide funds in exchange for Bennel conglomerate’s location and personnel in the capital and other places… right?”

“Yes, you are correct.”

“…I am sorry but, I cannot consent to that.”

“….Wha!”

“It is certainly true that we need places and labour. But it would be fine if we just acquire them from other sources… I do not think I want them as much as to pay you the amount you asked for it.”

“That might be true. However… If I may say something, Iris-sama, I had assumed that Azuta conglomerate wanted to have connections with Edward-sama, though.”

There it comes. Using ‘Edward-sama’s connection’ as his lance and shield, he is trying to bring about conditions advantageous to himself.

However, I do not plan on agreeing to their terms.

After all, the fund they requested was absurdly high. To the point where it makes you wonder how they loaned such an amount of money…

“Yes, it is exactly as you assumed, Vuld-sama. We, the Azuta conglomerate, want a connection with Edward-sama to make a foothold in the capital… However, after thinking it through, we decided that we could just consult someone else. Just as your company consulted Marquis Rudolf.”

“How do you…!”

He didn’t even try to keep up his appearances anymore. He expressed his surprise just like that.

“Fufufu, our company has quite the big ears, you know? I would suggest you to not always find faults in your employees. After all, if they were to complain at a pub, it would spread very easily.”

This is why I appreciate Tanya. Really, her information gathering skill is amazing.

“Kuuhh…..!”

“We have gone astray from the topic, haven’t we? Even after you went to all the trouble to ask Marquis Rudolf for a ‘request’ to make a connection with Edward-sama and got labor from Azuta Conglomerate, now your company’s internal condition is that of a fiery chariot. It’s already in a precarious state…. If I were to reject today, you would have to close down your shop tomorrow, wouldn’t you?”

The ‘request’ was to have Ed-sama be a little partial to his company. In other words, he needed Ed-sama’s protection to take personnel from our company.

If that happens, it would be harder for me, who doesn’t want to aggravate the situation with the royal family, to complain about royalties.

Well… it is not like I am the only one who doesn’t want trouble with the royalties… it is the same for other businesses as well.

In other words, this would mean they would make the whole trade guild discontent so there is nothing to be afraid of.

Normally, when they try to extract personnel from our company that blatantly, we could also display our exhortation through the trade guild as well.

However, we were not able to do that because they were under the protection of the royal family, other than the commotion of the excommunication.

And because of that, our complains were all crushed.

Of course he wouldn’t want me knowing this.

Now let’s return to the main topic.

It was probably a good deal for Marquis Rudolf. After all, he would make profits just by being an intermediary to Ed-sama for the merchants.

And as it is a relation connected by ‘profits’, when the operation of the conglomerate gets this bad, it is pretty obvious it would be cut down.

“………….”

He was in a state of clear dismay.

“…..At this rate, you won’t be able to do anything because of the debt. You have two choices, either to stop the deal with me and commit a double suicide with your company, or to cleanly cut your ties to the debt and the company and start anew.”

He looked at me with hate. Well, I guess that can’t be helped.

He tried over and over again to say something, but stopped himself…. However, as if he just suddenly realized something, his restless expression calmed down.

….What did he realize?

“….Meaning, your condition is for me to retire, correct?”

“Yes. In turn for not providing funds to this company, you will not hold any connection to it ever. That is my condition.”

Vuld sighed and wore a smile. As if he had just sorted everything in his mind, he wore a refreshed expression.

But, seeing that, what I thought was….

Shameless — that one word sums up what I thought.

His eyes were flaming brightly, not matching that expression.

Even at this stage, he is only thinking of how he could profit.

“…….I understand. I will abide by those conditions then.”