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5 – The Moment You Must Bet Your Life

5 – The Moment You Must Bet Your Life

In the reception room, Calix received the gold prepared by Noah and rejected her offering.

She was engulfed in fear.

“Did we not prepare enough? We brought half of the profits we earned from the Crones territory.”

“My lord, is the amount we prepared unsatisfactory?”

“I did not call you here to receive such things.”

“Then for what reason…”

His reaction was completely different from the nobles and lords she had dealt with until now.

Any noble would have eagerly reached out for gold coins in front of them, yet the young lord of the Crones Family rejected it instead.

Calix sighed and got to the point.

“The reason I called you today is not to extort more taxes. Quite the opposite.”

“Opposite?”

“Yes, I intend to lower the toll in the Crones territory from 30% to 10%.”

Noah could not hide her astonishment upon hearing Calix’s words.

What did this person just say?

A noble is going to reduce taxes?

In an instant, Noah activated her Blessing.

– Whoosh –

Magical power concentrated in her eyes, and the world turned black and white.

Only those who speak the truth in this place do not lose their color.

To confirm whether the man before her was indeed speaking the truth, Noah looked at Calix, and she could not help but be even more surprised.

‘It’s not a lie…’

The young lord, shining with a silver hue, clearly displayed his true colors.

In that moment, her mind went blank.

He was not lying. Every word he spoke was sincere.

“However, there is a condition.”

“Please, tell me, my lord.”

Noah felt a sense of relief at Calix’s words.

As expected.

Instead of the toll, this lord wanted something greater from her.

What could he want?

If it was something in exchange for the toll, it was likely that he wanted exclusive distribution of one of their core products, the ‘Blue Slime Magic Stone,’ for the Crones Family.

I need to discuss this with my father.

As Noah was lost in thought, Calix opened his mouth.

“As much as the merchant guild benefits from the tax reduction, our commoners should also benefit. Sell the goods distributed to the Crones Family at prices as low as the toll.”

Noah used her Blessing once again.

And still, Calix did not lose his color.

He truly intended to revitalize commerce in the territory and was genuinely trying to lower taxes for the benefit of the commoners.

In that moment, Noah felt an emotion she had never felt before in her life.

The emotion of being moved.

“May I ask one question?”

“What is it?”

“I am curious about what you stand to gain from this, my lord.”

Noah was genuinely curious.

She wanted to know why this young lord was willing to give up such tremendous benefits for the sake of the commoners.

But the words that came from his mouth surprised her even more.

“The happiness of the commoners.”

“Really… are you truly lowering taxes just for that?”

“Yes.”

“That’s unbelievable…”

“Why are you so surprised? Is it so shocking for a lord to lower taxes for the commoners?”

Noah continued to use her Blessing.

And until now, Calix had never once lost his color.

In this black-and-white world, only that silver-hued lord shone brilliantly, affirming that his words were the truth.

Noah had learned from her father since childhood that humans are beings of infinite greed.

She had thought the same while doing business.

But the lord before her was clearly contradicting that teaching.

As she tried to comprehend this nonsensical situation, Noah’s thoughts reached a conclusion.

‘Wait… could it be…’

The current state of the empire was unstable.

The emperor had lost power due to a long illness, and the crown prince, princess, dukes, and countless lords were all vying for the imperial throne like wolves.

And within that turmoil, everyone was preparing their own weapons.

Some were gathering ‘Magicians,’ others ‘Blessed Ones,’ and still others were recruiting legendary ‘Assassins’ as they prepared for the ‘War of the Throne.’

But what if… a lord emerged who used the ‘people’ as a weapon in that war?

It was something so obvious that no one paid attention to it, but the largest group making up the empire was indeed the ‘people.’

If those ‘people,’ whom they thought would follow the rewards of victory, were to support their own lord, and that lord was the one before her, Calix…

What would happen to the empire?

She could not even imagine what future might come, but one thing she was certain of.

A future would undoubtedly come that she could not even fathom.

Noah became intrigued by the lord before her, who was trying to create a future she could not imagine.

And she thought.

‘I want to see that scene from the closest position.’

“So, do you feel like negotiating now?”

Noah recalled her father’s words.

He had said that there comes a moment in a merchant’s life when they must stake their life on something.

Noah believed that moment was now.

“I will comply with all the conditions you desire, my lord.”

“Good, you thought well.”

“However, I have a request.”

“A request?”

Noah approached Calix.

And she knelt down and kissed his hand.

It was a gesture of a vassal to the lord they served.

“Please appoint me as your treasurer.”

After being disappointed with the world, Noah had always worn a mask.

Not a single person, including her family, had seen her genuinely smile.

But at this moment, Noah was truly smiling.

The storm had passed.

Or perhaps it was more like an avalanche?

Everyone, including Hart and the other retainers, was taken aback by Noah’s sudden request to be appointed as treasurer.

For the representative and heir of the merchant guild to become the treasurer of a noble family was no ordinary matter.

It was a declaration of not just a business relationship, but of sharing the same boat.

It was as if, like in the Three Kingdoms, Nu Su was betting on the House of Sun and Mi Chuk was betting on Liu Bei, she was saying she would bet on me.

No, what is this all of a sudden for someone who wants to live quietly!

I couldn’t refuse due to face, but agreeing felt burdensome, so I asked for help as an ‘Advisor’ for now.

She seemed satisfied with that and left.

‘But… she’s really incredibly beautiful.’

‘Noah White’

An SSR-rated merchant with the aptitude of an advisor, she is a character from the World Archive that one must acquire and play as a lord in the southern region.

I had only heard vague information about such a character without being able to summon her.

The reason I remembered her was solely for one reason.

She was incredibly beautiful.

Like a goddess with snow-white skin?

Especially when she bowed her head to greet me at the end, my heart… oh…

I thought I would die trying to maintain a poker face while negotiating with Noah.

Anyway, she was beautiful and had a large chest.

Moreover, she possessed a unique Blessing, making her a cheat character in the merchant part with a 99% success rate in negotiations.

I wondered what her Blessing was… did she use it on me?

Well… to be honest, her Blessing wasn’t that important to me, who wanted to live quietly.

In fact, if I accidentally made her a retainer and she participated in the ‘Game of Thrones,’ that would be more of a headache. I should steer clear of that.

‘By the way…’

Before she left, she said something I couldn’t understand.

Surely…

‘Your lord’s plan will surely succeed. I will wait for the moment when I become necessary for your next plan.’

…she said.

What does that mean?

I had no plans at all!

I pondered over her words like a quiz until late at night and eventually fell asleep.

What is that ‘moment’ really?

I don’t know if this is the ‘moment’ Noah was talking about, but the moment she needed came soon after.

“Line up!!!!!!!”

“Ah! Please move faster!!”

“Let us through too!!”

I was now at the gates of the Crones Family.

The gates of the Crones Family rarely saw carriages passing through.

After the king doubled the toll, a few more carriages began to pass, and after the knights cleared the bandits, carriages started to frequent the area.

And now, with the lowered toll, the gates were overflowing with carriages.

It was like a highway on a holiday, with dozens, no, hundreds of carriages waiting to pass through the gates.

“Hart… what is going on?”

“Everything is according to the lord’s plan.”

A plan?

I had never made such a plan!

Hart smiled and continued.

“The average toll in the southern region is 35% of the goods’ value. In the case of the Lion Family’s territory, it goes up to 50%.”

Fifty percent of the goods’ value as a toll!?

I felt like my face was going to cramp from trying to manage my expression at such an outrageous figure.

“Yet, in this situation, we have lowered the toll to 10%. No matter how long it takes, it has become much more advantageous for merchants to deliver goods through our territory.”

“…………”

Suddenly, memories of my previous life working as a delivery part-timer and being ripped off by delivery app companies flooded back.

It was truly a nightmare with those delivery guys…

Just as I was beginning to understand this chaos, Hart spoke again.

“Also, look at this, my lord.”

“What is this?”

“This is the record of tolls kept by the gatekeeper. Just from the profits gained up until today, we have already made over 130% more than before lowering the toll.”

“What! 130%!?”

“Yes! That’s correct. Everything is as you planned, my lord.”

The book Hart showed me was filled with records of the tolls.

Just glancing at it, it seemed to have doubled compared to last month, and there were also high-end items like fine wine and magical tools.

“However, there is a problem.”

“What problem?”

“The sudden increase in the number of carriages has made it difficult for our clerks to handle all the administrative work. We will need more people, my lord.”

At Hart’s words, I thought of her.

Sighing, I reluctantly uttered the words I really didn’t want to say.

“Hart… call Noah.”

“Yes, understood, my lord.”

And just like that, I ended up acquiring an SSR merchant character I didn’t even want.

Life truly doesn’t go as planned.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you for reading today!!