Sign Merigold.

13.

Thud, thud!

Hooves kicked up the dirt roughly.

Dozens of cavalrymen with torches galloped across the field.

At the end of the path they were chasing, a knight in a black cloak fluttered.

Despite the overwhelming numerical disadvantage, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. Rather, he sped up and charged head-on.

“Qu, quickly block him! Now!”

A man in a red cloak shouted compulsively.

Bang!

Dozens of cavalrymen and one knight collided. The sound of something breaking and shattering erupted in a chain reaction.

“Kkyaaaa!”

“M, my, a, arm……!”

The screams came from the side with more numbers.

Behind the path where the knight in the black cloak passed, flesh flew and blood swirled.

“Agh!”

“St, stop him, no!”

“He’s coming this way!”

Each time the blade flashed, a cavalryman invariably tumbled down. Tearing through armor, severing muscles and bones completely.

The black cloak finally passed through dozens of cavalrymen without a single wound. Spurring his horse towards the commander in the red cloak who had retreated far away.

“Th, this crazy bastard……!”

The red cloak’s face was wet with fear.

“Do, do you know who I am! This is treason! This is treason!”

14.

If it was just a matter of finding one person named Marigold, it would have been difficult no matter how much time was given.

But following the traces left by the Grand Caravan of Mary’s Trading Company was not that difficult.

“The Salt Trading Company? They were amazing.”

In the first village, they talked about the grand majesty of Mary’s Trading Company.

“They stopped by this village for a while, and because there was no place to stay, they all set up camp in that field. It was quite a sight! I heard they had so much money they were rotting, they charged four times as much for a bottle of alcohol……!”

“Where did they go?”

“Huh? If you go straight along this road, you’ll come to a plain, and I heard they passed through there.”

In the second village, there was talk about the overwhelming Mercenary force of Mary’s Trading Company.

“That forest over there. The remnants of soldiers who fled from Velrog Kingdom gathered and committed so many robberies, but those guys dared to touch the Salt Trading Company?”

“What happened?”

“Only bones were left and lined up in front of the village, would you like to take a look? The stray dogs have taken them away, so there’s not much left.”

By the third village, there was finally talk about Marigold.

“It was unusual. A young woman leading such a large trading company. I thought she was a noble.”

“Do you remember anything else?”

“The most famous thing is that they had a fight at the Castellan’s fortress over there.”

“Castellan? Are you talking about the lord of the castle?”

“Who else would it be?”

“A noble and a trading company owner fought?”

“That’s right. He’s a high-ranking noble. But that guy’s personality is usually terrible. I heard he asked for 20 silver coins as a toll.”

“He’s no different from a Bandit.”

“He lost it all in one gambling game and even got 10 silver coins from the woman. I secretly felt good about it.”

“…….”

Whether she’s fearless or thoughtless. Marigold is something else.

Lancel felt that the fatigue he had felt coming a long way was somewhat relieved by the news. It was because he felt it was like her. In a good or bad way.

Passing through the fourth and fifth areas.

Finally, when he reached a village close to the battlefield.

“Don’t even mention the Salt Trading Company.”

Lancel felt the changing atmosphere.

“Those people, weren’t they called traitors until recently?”

“Traitors?”

“Yes. Traitors.”

It was because the merchant he saw on the road lowered his voice as soon as he heard the name Mary’s Trading Company.

“Those people were in this area for a while and just raked in money. I was so jealous that I almost died wondering how many silver coins I could have earned if I had been there.”

“How well did they earn?”

“You can think of almost all the supplies flowing into the battlefield as going through the Salt Trading Company? The owner of that trading company is a very great person. A woman who knows how to sell things.”

“What’s this about traitors?”

“They sold so well that they even passed goods to the rebels?”

Ah.

Lancel rubbed his forehead.

“They didn’t want to sell it, did they?”

“That’s right. She was a woman who knew how to value her life.”

No matter how strong Marigold was, she would have known that selling goods to the rebels would get her head chopped off.

“But if His Highness the Sixth Prince said they sold it, then they sold it, right?”

“……Prince?”

“You know, that one. The one with a temper. The one famous for being eccentric.”

He knew without being told.

If there was a member of the imperial family who was so famous that even a mere merchant would speak ill of him, there was only one.

Sixth Prince.

Karin Craig Phrygia.

“In the end, they were stripped of everything they had and became empty-handed. What else could merchants who lost their money do if they didn’t hand over everything they had when they were called traitors? Still, it’s a relief they saved their lives.”

Mary’s Trading Company was a trading company with its own backing. Viscount Dante had half of the shares.

But to confiscate all of that.

It was something only the Sixth Prince could do.

He was the kind of person who wouldn’t care even if the aristocratic society pointed fingers behind his back. He had a temper that made him do whatever he wanted.

“If you’re looking for the people from the Salt Trading Company, don’t bother. By now, they’ve all returned to their hometowns. What else can merchants who lost their money do? But it’s a relief they saved their lives.”

“……Then the owner of the trading company too?”

“The owner of the trading company? Ah, that woman?”

The merchant, who was gathering the goods spread out on the floor, replied indifferently.

“That woman……I think I heard she died?”

.

.

.

“Do, do you know who I am! This is treason! This is treason!”

Lancel raised his sword to the Sixth Prince, who was making a hoarse sound.

“What if it’s treason?”

“……!”

The blade pierced the Sixth Prince’s heart completely.

It was a strangely familiar sensation. This bastard has a good feel to him, even if he looks like this? I’m going to get addicted to this.

“Kkeureureuk……!”

==========

—Event lost! The route of Sixth Prince ‘Karin Craig Phrygia’ has been lost.

==========

“How many more times do I have to kill you for you to come to your senses, Karin.”

Blood gushed out as he pulled out the sword. Leaving him behind as he rolled his eyes and fell from his horse, Lancel quickly left the scene.

The incident in which dozens of imperial guards were annihilated by a single surprise attack, and even the Sixth Prince’s life was lost.

The rumor spread as a pleasant story that ‘His Highness the Sixth Prince died at the hands of the rebels!’

15.

Lancel, who had sent the guy he didn’t like to hell, visited a quiet rural territory a few months later.

It would be a lie to say he had no regrets. He had not achieved the original purpose for which he had come all the way here.

But the only option given to Lancel was to pass over even such regrets without any particular emotion.

‘It has a bad aftertaste.’

Looking at the setting sun, Lancel recalled what had happened over the past 10 years.

Saving Marigold from being punched, taking Marigold out of the noose, finding Marigold who was framed as a Bandit, chasing after Marigold who suddenly disappeared and flowing into the battlefield…….

Looking back, it became clear.

‘My vacation was ruined like a dog.’

What can I do?

Sometimes it fails.

‘If necessary, I can play again.’

Lancel decided to think comfortably.

As the dark night came, people gathered in front of the inn. Travelers, deserters, vagrants, and bad people were the main ones.

“Come on! Put your money down and win!”

Is it a shell game?

Come to think of it, the first time he met Marigold in this round was just like this. The air, the smell, the atmosphere were all similar to that time.

He felt strangely nostalgic. He turned his gaze to the place where the noisy sound was coming from.

“Too bad! Maybe next time!”

“No, what is this……!”

Men surrounded the shell game player.

“This swindler is cheating on someone now!”

“Cheating? Where is there a fair person like me?”

“I saw it all, why are you pretending you don’t know?”

Yes, yes.

It’s peaceful.

“There’s nothing more unsightly than making a fuss because you lost money, ptooey!”

“You dog-like woman!”

Huh?

“Keeng!”

Lancel looked again at the woman who was bleeding from her nose and falling backwards.

Short hair, a hat pulled down low, shabby clothes and a robe. It was a figure who was hiding her identity by wrapping herself up tightly.

He felt a sense of déjà vu.

Such intuition usually hits the mark.

‘Marigold?’

He didn’t recognize her at first.

But he was sure.

“Give me back my money, you swindler……!”

“Hic!”

The woman curled up as another fist flew towards her.

“……?”

After a long time, when she didn’t feel the impact, she slightly raised her eyes that had been closed.

“What are you doing?”

Their eyes met.

Like that day he saw her for the first time.

That’s right.

There was no quiet village in this war-torn area except here, so it wasn’t that strange to meet like this.

If he had known in advance that she was alive and wandering around, he would have searched the village long ago.

Because he thought she was dead, because he thought it wouldn’t be strange if Marigold died by now, he was missing her right in front of his eyes.

“……Benefactor?”

Marigold’s eyes wavered.

There was no reaction.

How much time had passed?

“S, sorry, you’ve mistaken me for someone else!”

“……!”

She turned around and ran away.

Lancel looked at her retreating figure with a dumbfounded expression at the unexpected reaction.

He immediately chased after her and grabbed Marigold’s wrist.

“You’re running away?”

“U, Benefactor…….”

Marigold’s face, which had become tearful, turned to Lancel in the moonlight.

“……I heard you were dead, what are you doing here now?”

“Y, yes? I’m alive……I sent a letter asking you to tell them that…….”

He never received it. It may have been because he had already left home before receiving such a letter.

“But why.”

“…….”

Lancel waited for her to open her mouth on her own.

The meaning of the words ‘Why aren’t you coming back and doing this here’ was easily conveyed to Marigold.

Because it was normal to come back if she was alive.

Her mouth, which had been hiccuping intermittently and suppressing her sobs, opened after a long time.

“I’m ashamed…….”

Absurd.

“Is this a one- or two-day thing? You’re ashamed of me?”

“Still, I said I would come back as a tycoon…….”

“Sorry, but I didn’t expect it. I thought it would be a relief if you could just avoid being a beggar, no matter what you did.”

“Y, you’re too much!”

“You actually became a beggar, didn’t you?”

“……Principal…….”

“……?”

“I was going to recover the principal and go back…….”

“Will it work? With a shell game. To get that much money back?”

The money that Marigold had confiscated by the Prince was a truly enormous amount.

It was a Grand Caravan in which more than half of the money earned over the past years was invested. It was impossible to recover it alone from the start.

“Will it work, that?”

“Aeuuu.”

Lancel grabbed her head with both hands and squeezed it from both sides.

“Eueu, aeuuk, aeueueuk!”

He seemed to feel a little relieved only after squeezing and stretching her face for a long time.

“Follow me for now.”

Lancel grabbed Marigold’s arm and took her to the accommodation.

That night, Lancel and Marigold shared the details of what had happened in the past.

“Benefactor, did you……come to find me?”

“Why else would I come to such an unrelated place?”

Marigold’s expression was a sight to behold. She kept going back and forth between crying and laughing.

“If you want to make money, come back to the family first. Get proper reinvestment and recover step by step. You know very well that even if you just play shell games alone, it won’t work even after a hundred years, right?”

“A, are you not going to kick me out?”

“Should I kick you out?”

If she had just waited blankly for a year, this wouldn’t have happened. The only reason he came all this way was.

‘I had a feeling this would happen.’

This is what déjà vu is. It was Marigold’s characteristic to go straight down a strange path if left alone.

“I’m going back as soon as the sun rises tomorrow, so keep that in mind.”

“……Yes.”

Marigold replied with her head bowed, then took something out.

“This.”

“……?”

“Dobern Regional Specialty Tea Leaves…….”

“…….”

She lost all her money, but she still has that? Lancel chuckled.

In the end, Lancel drank the tea that Marigold had been asking him to drink that day. It was a tea with a pleasant scent that made him feel sleepy.

As the night deepened, Marigold’s body came closer and stuck to him. Through Lancel’s cold arm, Marigold’s hot warmth slowly passed over.

“Benefactor.”

Marigold’s swollen and bruised face approached Lancel.

It was an unsightly appearance, but her eyes had already regained their light.

“I, I’ll start again. I’ll succeed this time and become a tycoon for sure. No.”

Yes, yes.

Be sure to do that.

Even though he’ll be regressing in a few months.

“I’ll become the richest person in the empire! And I’ll get Benefactor in my hands too!”

“……? Why are you putting me in your hands?”

“Because that’s what a tycoon is.”

What a miserly remark.

“When that time comes……will you be with me, Benefactor?”

Marigold’s voice sounded desperate. Lancel gave the same answer again.

“I’ll think about it positively.”

The next morning, Lancel and Marigold set off on a journey that would take several months. It was a long journey around the continent and back to the Dante Family.

Feeling the energy of the approaching summer, occasionally going off on a tangent and loafing around. He didn’t really want to do anything, but anyway, when he came to his senses, time had passed quickly.

It was such a leisurely trip.

“We’ll be arriving soon, Benefactor.”

A hill with flowers blooming.

Marigold, wearing a flower crown on her head, smiled brightly.

It was already June.

It was the day Marigold turned twenty-five.

“Gyaak! Bees! Benefactor, bees, bees! Bumblebees! Heeiik!”

“Take off what you’re wearing on your head.”

“It’s a waste……!”

That’s how 10 years passed.

.

.

.

[Playtime 10 years 0 days]

—Marigold has turned 25 years old.

—No marriage partner.

—There are achievements.

▶First experience (Target: Lancel Dante) +1000 points.

▷Achieved tycoon +100 points.

▶New record for sexiness +50 points.

▷Trading company owner title +50 points.

—A total of 1700 points have been achieved.

—Memory inheritance ‘1 time’ has been accumulated.

—Points remaining until the next memory inheritance. (200/1500 points)

[Normal Ending 82. Pleasure Minister Marigold]

—The ending has been recorded in the ‘Album of Memories’.

—Open the album.

.

.

.

Welcome to the city of pleasure.

Marigold finally earned countless silver coins in the war that swept through the empire, and gained the honor of being the greatest tycoon of all.

Luxury.

Joy.

Indulgence.

Gambling.

Tycoon.

A land where all things related to money gather.

In this huge city of pleasure built on the outskirts of the continent, away from the empire, there is no place where her hand does not reach.

A place where even the royalty of minor royal families come running to borrow money. Welcome to the pleasure city of Mary’s Trading Company.

‘Hehe, the money the Dante Family borrowed from me is already so much? What are you going to do, Benefactor? You’ve become someone who can’t do anything without me.’

Marigold’s eyes burn with desire today as well.

‘That’s right. Just forget about the collapsing empire. Benefactor, you just have to live with me. Forever on this land……!’

The eyes of a burning beast.

The desire to have whatever you want.

That covers her old benefactor.

‘Hehehe, come here.’

I don’t think she’s in her right mind.

[Pleasure Minister Marigold – fin]

—Restart the game.

—Would you like to use ‘1 time’ of memory inheritance?

.

.

.

“What is this.”

Lancel couldn’t hide his embarrassment.

The absurd ending content was nothing new, so it was okay. Her sexiness pierced the sky, I knew this would happen.

The problem was the strange achievement called ‘First Experience’. Lancel can say with certainty that he has no such memory.

I’m telling you, it’s real?

If there is such a thing, it must be Marigold’s doing. I don’t know for sure, but she must have done something.

That wasn’t the only thing that bothered him.

‘Memory Inheritance?’

Lancel felt something ominous in that phrase.

And.

“Master, the girl over there is the new maid who just arrived. Her name is Mary.”

“……?”

Marigold came to find him.

[Tycoon Merigold – END]

[NEXT – Inheritance Round 1. Behind-the-Scenes Lansel]