Ch.184Time Flows #5

Rebuilding a city requires various materials. From construction materials to food, the types are diverse.

Altram Trading Company sold some of the items that could be stored for a long time, which was to avoid the scrutiny and interference of other merchants as much as possible.

Nix was observing these dynamics and the flow of goods firsthand while traveling with the merchant group, and he was able to take in other aspects as well.

For example, he learned that during the reconstruction of ruined cities, merchants and workers gather, and where people gather, money inevitably flows.

Even if the Blue Nail royal family, nobles, or the local people who have to pay are poor.

“When money isn’t available, it’s common to receive payment in goods instead. This tendency becomes even stronger when purses are tight.”

“Yet why did you specifically lead your merchant group here?”

“Haha. What other reason would a merchant have for leading a trading company? Solely for profit, of course.”

At present, the profits weren’t substantial, and considering the travel time, it could even be considered a loss.

Despite this, the merchant leader spoke without hesitation about seeking profit, which naturally made Nix tilt his head in confusion.

“What kind of profit are you referring to?”

“Hmm. What kind of profit indeed…”

Normally, if pressed for time, he wouldn’t have asked such persistent questions, but since the sun had long set and they were in an inn in a Blue Nail village, there was little hesitation.

The merchant leader felt proud of Nix while also finding it difficult to deal with someone of such high status, but after careful consideration, he spoke in a way that would be easy to understand.

“As long as people live here, it can’t remain ruins forever. Someday, this place will regain its former vitality. The profit I mentioned can be found there. Of course, it’s just an expectation, so there’s a possibility it might miss the mark… but investments aren’t always safe.”

Of course, he wasn’t suffering any significant losses at present, so it wasn’t all bad, the merchant leader laughed heartily.

And only after seeing this did Nix vaguely understand what kind of profit the merchant leader was talking about, nodding with a slightly dazed expression.

“…So what does this ‘investment’ mean?”

“He’s probably talking about potential future trading partners. I think he means building trust, which is perhaps the most important thing in business, with those partners. That’s what I think… is that strange?”

“No? It sounds quite plausible.”

A little later, the three children of Zion gathered in the same room, raising their voices on the topic of the conversation between Nix and the merchant leader.

Although only the people in the mansion knew they were children of the same father, it wasn’t strange for them to act intimately since they had eaten and slept in the same mansion for a long time.

To the extent that they spoke casually to each other in this private space with just the three of them, despite being in unfamiliar surroundings with potentially listening ears.

“Don’t you have anything to say?”

When Lachesis tapped the shoulder of Clotho, who was sitting on the bed staring blankly ahead, he finally seemed to come to his senses, closing his eyes and saying a word.

“Oh… that’s good.”

“This one. It’s really a problem that he’s not interested in anything except magic.”

“Clotho is just being Clotho, what’s the problem with that?”

For a moment, Lachesis wanted to shout at Nix asking why he would say such a thing, but thinking about it, it wasn’t wrong, so she kept her mouth shut.

If he truly resembled Ive’s childhood that she had only heard about, this level of conversation was actually quite good.

“…Fine. Let me stop talking.”

After concluding the conversation with someone’s sigh-mixed complaint, they went to sleep, and the next day.

While Nix was learning by sticking close to the merchant leader in another village, he encountered a group that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar from a distance.

“Those people also look like a merchant group, do you know which one they are?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. If they’re a well-known group, they would have an emblem to prove it, but if they’re a small group looking for opportunities, I wouldn’t know.”

However.

The merchant leader standing next to Nix stared at the tail end of the group moving away across the central plaza, which resembled an open field, and suddenly smirked.

He wouldn’t have sneered like this if they were a small merchant group or individuals moving independently, but he recognized a very familiar emblem.

“Judging by the emblem, they’re clearly from the Imperial Trading Company. I heard their influence within the Empire has been shrinking, reduced to the point of having their limbs cut off, and it seems they’ve come all the way to this remote area. If they still had their former power, they wouldn’t have needed to come here.”

“Imperial Trading Company…? Could it be that in the war fought before I was born…”

“You already know. That’s right. They were the trading company that actively supplied materials when the Empire started the war. The problem was that they supported the war faction. The current Emperor of the Empire took the opposite position, belonging to the moderate faction.”

So their position narrowed, and the current Emperor didn’t view them favorably, causing their standing to gradually diminish until they reached this state.

Listening to the merchant leader’s kind explanation, Nix finally realized why these strangers felt familiar.

Although he had never seen them directly, he had heard so much about them that they couldn’t help but feel familiar.

“Still, it seems they have enough strength left to come this far.”

“Yes. Although they’re incomparably shabby compared to before, the Imperial Trading Company can’t just collapse immediately. Of course, seeing them come all the way here, I think they’re practically as good as finished…”

“But as long as they’re alive like that, there’s a high possibility they’ll spread their wings again someday. They’re an organization with resilience.”

“That’s certainly true, but… hup!”

The merchant leader was about to look at Nix with admiration for speaking without letting his guard down, when he inadvertently swallowed air.

The way Nix’s gaze swept over the Imperial Trading Company as a whole and then sharply focused on their leader was like a sharpened blade, making him feel as if he would be cut if he touched it.

Although he seemed slower to learn than the Duke and had childlike aspects that made one think they could relax, he was indeed of Krauser ducal blood.

The merchant leader held his breath, recalling Helena’s formidable appearance.

Despite the qualitative difference in aura, the essential resemblance was so uncanny it gave him goosebumps.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Ah, nothing. Nothing at all.”

When Nix asked with the same childlike look in his eyes as before, the merchant leader hurriedly fumbled with his words in confusion.

He was startled, but he couldn’t show any disrespect in front of the Duke’s child, so he quickly composed himself and calmed his mind.

But as if it wasn’t over yet, his efforts were in vain due to the unbelievable words that flowed from Nix’s lips.

“Is it possible to arrange a meeting with them?”

“Y-Yes?!”

“A meeting. Since we’ve come all the way to this remote place with the same purpose and happened to meet like this, wouldn’t it be proper to at least exchange greetings? The past is just the past, after all.”

The past is the past. It sounds good, but it’s questionable whether those who suffered would think the same way.

Even if it wasn’t the fault of the Krauser ducal family but the result of their own ambitions, how could one prevent resentment from growing in people’s hearts?

After all, anger is largely disconnected from logic.

“Th-That’s true, but…”

However, due to the strong outward justification and the status of the child speaking, the merchant leader couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

If the other side had been as powerful as in their heyday, he might have tried to persuade Nix otherwise, but that wasn’t the case.

“Right? So I’d like to at least exchange greetings. However, if it’s too troublesome for you, just find out where they’re staying. I’ll go there myself.”

Nix smiled brightly, as if reading the merchant leader’s mind, giving him some leeway.

From a distance, he might look like an innocent child who knows nothing, but the merchant leader knew that wasn’t the case at all.

Because he knew this well, he could see right through the intentions hidden behind that smiling face, and it terrified him.

“…I understand.”

So he comforted himself that he had no choice but to quietly agree without any further objection.

.

“Wow. You’ve got guts.”

That night, after the merchant leader had inquired about the inn where the Imperial Trading Company was staying and their approximate schedule.

As the three children sat around a round table discussing, Lachesis was shocked after hearing the whole story, her mouth wide open.

Until now, she had thought of him as just a well-behaved child with a decent mind, but occasionally at times like this, he seemed like a different person, which felt strange.

“I’ve got guts? Me? Why?”

“Wanting to meet the Imperial Trading Company that you’ve only heard about in passing is gutsy. Especially when they’re said to be a declining company.”

“Just because they’re declining doesn’t mean they’ve completely fallen. Besides, I just want to see what they look like.”

“Just see their faces? Do you think they’ll feel the same way when they see you? That you just want to get acquainted?”

Nonsense. Lachesis was certain just by looking at Nix that he had no such intention, and that the other side wouldn’t think so either.

Also, she could tell that he had a scheme to completely crush them using any provocation as justification.

Because they were born from the same father’s seed, even if they had different mothers, and had grown up in the same house with similar education.

“I agree with Lachesis.”

Although he might not be interested, Clotho wasn’t so lacking in knowledge as to be unable to participate in this type of conversation, so he chimed in.

He had rationally judged that if Nix got involved, he would inevitably have to get involved too, so he wanted to create a situation where he wouldn’t have to step in.

After all, if complications arose and they had to stay outside longer, the time for research at the mansion would become increasingly distant.

“You too?”

Nix looked as if he had been hit hard on the back of the head, not knowing Clotho’s thoughts, but Clotho spoke without showing any sign of concern.

“Yes, me too. What was the purpose of coming along on this trading journey in the first place? You wanted to see and experience firsthand what a trading company does, right? But what you’re trying to do has nothing to do with that. Moreover, have you thought about the possibility of danger?”

If Nix were in danger, the merchant leader would naturally be held responsible, which would be like getting many people’s heads cut off.

Clotho used a tone that was as emotionless as possible while emphasizing reason, as if it were the truth spoken without any personal feelings.

Nix thought it sounded more convincing because of this, but he still had no intention of changing his mind and parted his lips to say so.

“You’re right. But what if the Imperial Trading Company learns that Altram Trading Company has come this far?”

“Huh?”

“Their fortunes are declining, and would they leave alone my mother and her ducal family, who drove in the wedge? Wouldn’t they rather harbor resentment and try to revive their company, thinking of revenge somehow? If not now, then later.”

“Um… that could be possible?”

Perhaps because Nix spoke with such conviction, Clotho blinked and nodded as if entranced.

Even Lachesis was tilting her head, wondering if this was right, and was listening attentively to the conversation, so there was nothing more to say.

“Then who knows what might happen to our ducal family in the future? Moreover, even if the current Emperor is friendly to our kingdom, that thinking won’t continue forever.”

“Isn’t it too strange to worry about future generations? I hate to say this, but… there’s no such thing as an eternal kingdom or eternal nobility.”

“That’s true. Both countries and families rise and fall.”

But. He strongly stated that he didn’t want to see that fate in his generation, and he wouldn’t leave a seed of threat unchecked.

“Bugs visible in the garden should be picked out before they spread, and embers should be extinguished before they grow into waves of fire to minimize damage. Don’t you agree?”

“That’s… true. After all, it’s difficult to deal with troublesome matters once they grow larger.”

At this point, Lachesis began to show signs of agreement and actively responded. She had seen and experienced quite a bit while traveling outside.

“Right. So don’t you think we should uproot the seedling in advance? There’s a saying that revenge begets revenge… but I don’t think so. I believe we should be selective about who to forgive.”

“So… you want to provoke them somehow to create an opening to feel satisfied?”

“Yes. Just the fact that they’ve approached like this, isn’t it heaven’s will telling us not to let it go? What are the chances of meeting by chance in a remote area far from both the Empire and the Kingdom?”

Now that he was even dragging in divine will to suit his convenience, it was enough to make one sigh, but safety alone wasn’t enough to persuade him.

Clotho finally let out a short sigh, imagining that Nix would do as he wished and that he would have no choice but to follow.

At times like this, he seemed so much like Helena, whom he had only heard about, that he didn’t even dare try to stop him.

“…Fine. Do as you please.”

When Clotho finally raised the white flag as if giving up, a smile bloomed on Nix’s face.

“Phew… you’re really something.”

Feeling that she should complain at least once as someone who was getting involved, Lachesis, who had been watching quietly, glared at Nix and made a remark.