Chapter 95

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 . ”