Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I stared at him, flipping my expensive leather bag over. “I’ve got influential connections. Is that enough for you?”

The man saw my secret weapon as it slipped out of my bag. He started to laugh again.

“How’s that?” I asked.

“That’s certainly not something just anyone can acquire easily, other than you, my lady.”

A mana stone of the highest quality had fallen from my bag, glowing with a blue light. Stones of its like were sent to the Magic Tower the moment they were unearthed and thus the stone was basically a symbol of the influence I had thanks to my father, the master of the tower. Good thing I pocketed one just in case.

Not only did I have wealth, but I also had Duke Seymour. “Now it’s time for you to show me just how creative you can be.”

He hesitated for a moment, then reached into a drawer, producing a pouch that was reddish in color. Oddly enough, the cord that bound the pouch had three small high-quality mana stones sewn to it. “I hope you like it, my lady.”

“What is it, exactly, that this pouch does?”

“It combines the magical elements of spatial distortion, weight removal, and summoning.”

Nowhere in Deborah’s memory could I find any trace of such a fantastic object. Was it one of the rare artifacts I’d only heard rumors about?

“This pouch can store fifty large safes’ worth of gold coins,” the master said. “You never have to worry about losing it, since you can summon it right into your palm. It only weighs about a pound when completely full.”

“Don’t tell me you made it yourself?”

“That’s correct.”

I marveled at the convenience of the invention. Owning this pouch was like having a small bank at my fingertips. “Please give me that pouch,” I asked sincerely.

“I’ll have one made for you.”

He started writing up a contract regarding the pouch, but a condition of the contract was that I would never mention its existence to anybody else. He apparently didn’t want the idea of using magic to hide money to spread. Ah. He’s using the pouch as a means to avoid paying taxes. It was clear the guild master was hiding dirty money from illegal dealings in the pouch and that was why he wanted me to remain silent.

“But tell me… Why is it a pouch, of all things?” I muttered, and he tilted his head.

“It’s convenient.”

“Yes, but it’s not very efficient, since it can only hide so much gold.”

The guild master’s lips pursed as soon as I spoke. He suddenly seemed cold, just like when I’d first entered the room. I felt distressed. Oh no. Now he probably knows that I figured out he’s evading taxes from my phrasing. I should have pretended I hadn’t noticed, but it was already spilled milk.

Maintaining an impassive expression with some effort, I continued, “If I were as good at spatial magic as you, I would have purchased an island in a country with the lowest tax rates, then set up a fake business there.” I spoke as though I was hiding my own funds to also avoid taxes. I could lower his guard once more by pretending to be doing the same thing as him. “I would teleport to and from the island, leaving my safe there. Then I’d use the fake business to complicate the flow of gold. Tax investigators wouldn’t be able to easily travel to the island, so it’s two birds with one stone.”

With teleportation magic, I could probably create a refuge from taxes that would leave even the millionaires of the twenty-first century in awe.

The guild master’s eyes glowed as he mulled over my words, and he tapped a single finger against the table for a moment, deep in thought. “Now that is a surprisingly smart idea, but it’s not possible at the moment to use teleportation magic to travel across the sea. A class nine mage could do it, perhaps.”

“I see.” Even Duke Seymour, the greatest mage in the empire, had not been able to achieve anything higher than class seven. Class nine, then, would be the stuff of myth.

“But that’s creative. Much more creative than this pouch I’ve made.” The master suddenly declared that he would take no money in return for making my pouch, in return for the creativity I’d shown him.

Oh, goody! That’s a pleasant surprise. I realized that the various bits of general knowledge I’d accumulated while picking up the slack in group projects could be very valuable—as information I could use to trade with the master of the Blanchard Guild. The intimidating price for constructing the pouch, I’d immediately paid by introducing him to the concept of an overseas location safe from taxes.

Not only had the pink diamond fallen straight into my lap, but I was also now going into business with the master of Blanchard. I seemed to be on a roll, and my confidence was at an all-time high. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a client as good as me, possessing wealth, influence, and creativity.”

He smiled upon hearing my proud statement. “You even have a sense of humor. What more could a man want? But then, I haven’t mentioned…” he trailed off, mumbling something to himself.

I tilted my head. “What?”

“It’s nothing.” The man slipped our three new contracts into an envelope and, using a flame he produced from his fingertip, began melting some black sealing wax. He picked up one of the dozens of seals lined up on the table and pressed it into the gooey wax.

The design was that of a swan. I wonder what that means? I was confused. He hadn’t used the one with the cat, which meant he wasn’t satisfied with our deal. I’m not certain if this is a good thing or a bad thing. It might mean that I’d gotten more out of the deal than him, or that he didn’t want anything more to do with me at all. I have no way of finding him if he refuses to see me again. I’d teleported here, and I had no way of even guessing at his location.

“My lady,” he said as I sat there nervously.

“Hm?”

“If you want any updates, don’t go all the way to the Atra District. Just go see one of my agents in the Iones District instead.” He wrote the address for a shop located in the district famous for the many high-ranking nobles who lived there.

This is Maison. I was taken aback by the familiar name. Maison was a dessert shop in the Iones District, which had grown in popularity of late—even Deborah herself had visited it often. Servants from noble households began lining up starting at three in the morning to purchase one of the incredible desserts created by the chef who used to work at the palace.

Deborah had demanded that she be served a dessert from this shop—which sold only seventy-seven per day—with her tea each day. I’d been reaping the benefits of that absurd demand of late. But to think that even Maison, not just Diana, was owned by the master of the Blanchard Guild!

I thought he was just a dealer in information. But he’s pretty rich, isn’t he? He obviously had a great mind for business. Silently nibbling at the inside of my mouth, I picked up my bag, which was empty now except for the contracts, and stood.

“I can search you out whenever I have another request, yes?” I asked, slightly less confident than before, as I moved toward the arched door. The swan-shaped stamp was bothering me.

He smiled with his eyes. “A rich client is always welcome.”

I relaxed slightly. To think I now had access to the crown prince’s miracle worker—his schemer! I suddenly felt much safer with his help to call on, since I was essentially a stranger in this world with no one to rely on.

The dignified expression on my face threatened to give way to a smile at any moment, so I quickly turned and made for the exit.

* * *

“I can search you out whenever I have another request, yes?”

Isidor gazed into Deborah’s beautiful eyes, which reminded him of rubies. “A rich client is always welcome.”

He thought a faint smile might be about to appear on her cold, red lips, but she turned away quickly as if trying to hide it. He couldn’t be sure she had really been about to smile. The door slid closed behind her with a raspy noise and the lady was gone. Isidor stared at it, now firmly shut, and relaxed into his chair.

Now all that remains are my many questions. He felt the outline of the swan on the black wax and grumbled under his breath. The black swan was used only for something or someone completely unexpected that he had no choice but to accept.

The moment he’d seen the lady petting Cookie before turning her glowing red eyes on him, his heart had lurched like he’d seen an actual black swan. She’s not like the rumors suggested. Had Deborah Seymour always possessed such an odd air about her?

What Isidor had discovered about the daughter of the House of Seymour so far through his network was that she was violent, haughty, and incompetent. She also had an inferiority complex, and no one in high society thought well of her. But the Deborah he’d just met was completely different from the picture that had been painted of her.

That can’t be right. Perhaps I’m only thinking this way because Cookie actually seems to like her, which has never happened with anyone besides me... But as the conversation progressed, Isidor was forced to revise his opinion of her.

Of course, she wasn’t a nice person. To that extent, the rumors had been right about. She wore an icy expression on her face and glared at him coldly whenever she didn’t like what she heard. She put a price on how she’d managed to tame Cookie and even joked that she’d give him a discount for the information.

He laughed to himself, incredulous even at the memory. He’d never thought the somewhat ill-mannered joke he sometimes threw at his clients would be used against him.

I suppose I find that appealing about her. It was difficult to predict what she was going to say next, so he hadn’t been bored for a single moment while in her presence. And her last request had taken him completely by surprise since she’d been basically asking him to reveal one of his trade secrets. When he’d hesitated, she’d pulled out a mana stone.

She’d shown him wealth in return for his information, and influence for his creativity. He found her crafty ways intriguing, and on an impulse, had let her in on the secret of how he managed his own funds. But that was not all.

Purchasing an island in a country with a low tax rate and setting up a fake business... It was an idea worthy of the most notorious villainess in the empire, all right. The method she’d suggested was creative, and at the same time nefarious.

And more importantly, the applications were endless. He didn’t need to go so far as to purchase an actual island. He could set up dozens of fake guilds in the self-governing Heleia Territory, ruled by the temple, and direct his profits there which would make it hard for the emperor of Asteia to keep track of his money. It was tax evasion on a far grander scale than just hiding gold in a pouch and a much smarter technique.

He had never felt like he’d met his intellectual match while making a deal with a client before. And never had he felt so intrigued by one, either. All the customers he’d dealt with so far had always behaved exactly as he’d expected them to, like pieces on a chessboard. But Lady Deborah had barged onto a board she had no business being on and left him with nothing but questions.

He had no idea how she’d found him, how she’d managed to get Cookie to instantly like her, and why she was trying to sell the pink diamond in exchange for gold. There was no end to his questions. Even if he was dying to know, since he dealt in information, he couldn’t bring himself to ask.

“I can’t stand unanswered questions,” Isidor muttered. The fog that filled the office faded away, and a man slowly appeared from within the shadows.

“My lord. Shall I go and investigate Deborah Seymour myself?” asked Miguel Drane, one of the retainers in the employ of the House of Bisconti.

Isidor shook his head. “Things are actually looking interesting, for a change. Why are you trying to ruin the fun?”

“Are you saying… You mean to look into this yourself?”

“The Academy will be back in session soon. I’ll run into her often whether I like it or not.” Isidor, who’d claimed on multiple occasions that there was nothing for him to learn at the Academy, had gone about last semester handing out bribes left and right in an attempt to skip most of his future classes.

“You’re going? After spending all that money?”

“There’s nothing to lose from becoming friends with Duke Seymour’s only daughter.”

“I thought you said you had all the connections you needed. You were going to focus on the crown prince for the time being...”

Isidor ignored the man completely, gently petting Cookie’s head. “I am not going to spend a single copper to find out how she tamed my cute Cookie. This is a matter of pride as an information dealer.”

Miguel was struggling to wrap his head around Isidor’s obvious indignation. Isidor was obsessed with cleanliness and he avoided women like the plague—he hated even brushing against them. Why was he suddenly showing an interest in speaking with Lady Deborah? It seemed suspicious, but at least she was a duke’s daughter. Even still, she didn’t seem important enough to warrant his liege dedicating precious time to.

He can be so unpredictable. Isidor was frighteningly calculating most of the time, but then sometimes he seemed to act impulsively. Miguel had to admit he simply wasn’t capable of fully understanding the man.

Assuming that his liege must have some bigger plan that he just wasn’t privy to, he said, “But how will you approach her?”

Isidor shrugged and undid the bracelet wrapped around his wrist, imbued with polymorph magic. His gray-brown hair suddenly shifted to a sunny blond color, and his vaguely waxen face melted away, leaving a handsome man with a face no woman could easily forget.