A few days later.
“Welcome. The Count Habsderk family is honored to receive you.”
“I am Edmond, head of the Midgard Kingdom branch of the Silverstar Trading Company.”
The delegation from the Silverstar Trading Company had arrived.
They entered our manor with carts loaded with an impressive array of goods, a testament to the high regard in which the Count Habsderk family was held.
Silverstar Trading Company.
Though it’s called a trading company, it would be more accurate to describe it as a massive conglomerate that spans the entire continent.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that they control about 30% of the continent’s logistics and are the leaders of the Merchant Guild Alliance, making them a giant among trading companies.
They started small, as a humble trade house, but their name has endured through the ages. Despite their traditional name, their true scale and wealth are so vast that the term “Silverstar Group” might be more appropriate.
In modern terms, you could compare them to something like “3☆”, “KaKao,” or perhaps even “Amazon” if you wanted to take a more global perspective.
‘I was quite indebted to them while playing the original game.’
They’ll do anything that turns a profit.
If the protagonist’s actions don’t benefit them, they’ll even send assassins after him—
‘But if they see potential profit, they’ll invest heavily in the protagonist.’
When the protagonist manages to bring significant profits to the Silverstar Trading Company, making a deal with them can provide a powerful financial backing.
“And who is this?”
“This is our young lady.”
“Ah, I see. Regif, show the lady around the garden.”
“Yes, Father.”
The Count led Edmond and the other adults to the reception room, while I approached a young girl accompanied by a maid.
“Welcome to the Habsderk estate.”
“Hello, young master Habsderk. I am Yurha Silverstar.”
The girl before me, with golden hair and golden eyes, was indeed Yurha.
As the young lady of the Silverstar Trading Company, and as one of the prominent figures within the group, she appeared before me in a luxurious pink dress, reminiscent of the young noble heroines from romance novels.
“Yurha Silverstar.”
“Yes, I am Yurha Silverstar.”
Despite her name, Yurha had golden hair and eyes, but this wasn’t unusual or a mutation.
The Silverstar lineage didn’t actually all have silver hair and eyes.
“Nice to meet you. I am Regif Habsderk, the eldest son of the Count Habsderk family.”
“Yes, I know. I heard we’re the same age. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Yurha smiled kindly.
At first glance, she appeared to be just a polite and well-mannered 7-year-old girl—
‘ She’s dangerous.’
This girl, from a very young age, had awakened to the pursuit of profit and was a “monster merchant”.
That smile masked the careful calculations of whether I, as the future Count Habsderk, would be an asset to the Silverstar Trading Company.
‘It may have been just a game setting, but that’s the gaze of a genius already standing out from an early age.’
Yurha was a genius.
Especially when it came to economics, she must have already mastered it.
Her visit to our family was likely part of her early exposure to real-world trading operations.
“What is the purpose of your visit to the Habsderk territory?”
“Oh my, are you already learning the ropes of being a successor?”
Yurha’s eyes sparkled as she asked, in response to my slightly sharp tone.
‘She thinks I’m someone of the same caliber as her.’
Despite being a future genius who would one day control the continent’s economy, she was still just a 7-year-old child.
“The Silverstar Trading Company visits noble families only to conduct business. Why would you ask about my purpose?”
She couldn’t hide her excitement at meeting someone she considered her equal.
‘What should I do?’
If I approached this wrong, I’d reveal my hand too early, but if I just played the part of a clueless 7-year-old, I’d make a terrible first impression and face great difficulties in the future.
‘I have no choice.’
Though it pricked at my conscience, this was all part of the struggle to survive.
“You must’ve come not just to do business, but to swallow up all the assets of our Count family.”
“Oh?”
Judging eyes.
Analyzing whether I made my own judgment or heard it from an adult.
“Miss Yurha, let me ask you one thing. If you answer honestly, our ‘deal’ will be very easy to settle.”
“…‘Deal,’ you say?”
Yurha smiled as if amused. The black-haired maid behind her glared at me for my lack of manners in dropping the formalities, but I only focused on Yurha, who was still smiling at me.
“But I’m not the one in charge.”
“But with just one word from you, that branch manager who’s bombarding my parents with all those contracts could be replaced, couldn’t he? After all, you’re the sole heir of the Silverstar Trading Company.”
“Oh my, you’re that reckless of an heir?”
She didn’t deny that she had the power to do so.
“Well, I’m willing to listen, but are we really going to have this conversation standing here?”
Yurha pointed to the ground with a smile, and I extended my hand to her, following the noble etiquette I had learned over the past three months.
“Let me escort you to the garden, Miss Yurha.”
Her hand, which she extended like a lady receiving a knight’s escort, was much smaller than mine.
* * *
A little later.
After leading Yurha to the rose garden of Habsderk, I escorted her to a tea table nestled within the garden and served her tea.
“Is this the place of tradition and history you mentioned?”
“…It is indeed a place rich in history.”
The rose garden.
It was filled with roses of all colors, and the layout of the garden seemed perfect for couples to have a romantic encounter among the bushes.
I imagined that my parents must have once held hands and walked here as well—
“It seems you’re not particularly fond of such traditions and history, young master.”
Was I that obvious? Yurha looked at me with an amused expression.
“Do you dislike your younger sister, perhaps?”
“Of course not. Objectively and subjectively, she’s adorable and lovable.”
I still vividly remember the expressions she made during the times I completed her individual route as the original protagonist.
“If I weren’t her actual brother, I might have wished to become her fiancé.”
I glanced toward the mansion.
A silver-haired girl peeking from behind a window quickly ducked out of sight, but it was too late—she had been caught.
Did she really hear that?
Of course not.
“Hehe.”
Yurha laughed.
“You really care for your sister.”
“She’s family.”
And besides, siblings don’t do such things with each other.
“Very well. Let’s talk business first, and then we can chat casually afterward. What is it you want to say?”
“I’ll offer you 30% of the magic stones we harvest from the Demonic Land. In return, I’d like you to refrain from bankrupting the Habsderk family.”
“…”
Yurha’s eyes widened in surprise.
The black-haired maid behind her also gave me a startled look.
“I think I’d like to hear the reasoning behind that offer…”
“I’ve heard that the Silverstar Trading Company partners with those who provide satisfactory profits, but if they don’t, you have no problem twisting their arms until they break.” “Your words are quite bold, young master. We’re just a simple trading company.”
“I’m well aware of what happened to the Marquis of Nadrancia.”
When I mentioned that specific case, Yurha’s smile deepened.
“You approached the marquis and eventually drove him to bankruptcy, didn’t you? It took ten years.”
“…”
“And that’s not all, is it? How many nobles across the continent have been forced to sell their family heirlooms after being unable to repay the money they borrowed from Silverstar? After securing those territories, you developed the resources or established new revenue models, reaping enormous profits.”
This was information I could have known as Regif, but it was also something I knew as a gamer.
“The heir of Nadrancia is probably plotting revenge as we speak.”
Among the supporting characters, there were those whose families had been ‘ruined’ by Yurha’s trading company, leading to significant conflicts in Yurha’s personal route.
“I don’t want that to happen to me. Even if it means reducing the amount of meat I can eat tomorrow by 30%, I’d rather not lose my status as the young master of a noble family.”
“…”
“I know that Silverstar is interested in the magic stones harvested from the monster zone. I’ll give you 30% of them, so can’t you spare our family?”
Currently, the Habsderk family holds a monopoly on all the magic stones obtained from hunting monsters in the Demonic Land.
Is it unfair to say that Silverstar has its eye on them?
“…Young master. According to our research, the Habsderk family only harvests about 20% of the magic stones from the monster zone. Is that correct?”
“That’s probably accurate.”
From Silverstar’s perspective, their approach made sense.
“If the Habsderk family had worked a little harder to secure more magic stones, the market price of magic stones on the continent would have collapsed due to oversupply.”
The Habsderk family was essentially sitting on a gold mine—the Demonic Land.
“From Silverstar’s viewpoint, which seeks ‘maximum efficiency for maximum profit,’ it would be more beneficial to just take it by force.”
“…Young master.”
Yurha leaned in closer, reaching out her hand toward me.
“How about 40%?”
“Isn’t that a bit too much?”
I had already thrown down my final card.
“Don’t try to negotiate. I’ve already laid all my cards on the table.”
“Hmm… I don’t know how the young master managed to gauge the figures the executives and ‘Grandfather’ have proposed so closely…”
It was probably around 33%.
“Alright. Instead of 30%, let’s settle at that. But there are some additional terms I’ll need to address.”
Yurha smiled.
“Young master, don’t we seem to communicate as better than expected?”
“…”
That’s likely true.
I was a 7-year-old with the soul of an adult, and Yurha was the type of prodigy that adults had set up as someone capable of conversing with grown-ups from a young age.
“So?”
“While I’m here, I’d like you to be my conversation partner.”
“Conversation partner?”
“Yes. I think it would be more enjoyable to talk with you than with other young ladies of my age.”
“…”
“Oh my, are you not interested?”
Yurha smiled as she pointed her fork at the piece of cake in front of her.
“Couldn’t Habsderk be driven to bankruptcy and torn apart?”
Thump.
She mashed the cake with her fork.
It was Yurha’s threat, well… not quite a threat.
“What do you think?”
“Whatever I say won’t change the decisions of the trading company. If the negotiations are positive, we’ll proceed with the deal; if not, they’ll resort to any means necessary. …That’s how it is with Grandfather.”
It was a threat from Silverstar, and Yurha couldn’t influence the outcome.
There was only one thing.
“Tell the head of the Silverstar Trading Company this: ‘The future Count Habsderk is looking at the next 50 years and hopes to establish a close relationship with Silverstar.'”
If Yurha could convey this unexpected variable to Silverstar, the company would at least refrain from crushing Habsderk with capital immediately.
“Yes. Alright.”
Yurha smiled brightly as she held her hand in a flower-like gesture.
“Let’s establish a close relationship. Young master.”
“Certainly.”
Bankruptcy ending by Silverstar.
For now, I succeeded in blocking it.
And at the same time, Seia’s painful past as well.
“Thank you, Yurha.”
“For what?”
“Just, everything.”
It wasn’t that Regif’s past mattered, but Seia’s past after losing the Habsderk name was marred by starvation and abuse.
“If it weren’t for you, someone else might have ended up in a slum. I’m truly grateful.”
“…Well.”
Yurha looked away and mumbled softly.
“…You’re welcome.”
Her ears were slightly red.
‘Whew.’
It was done.
‘Favorability achieved.’
Even if Habsderk were to fall, I could survive.
And if all went well, so could Seia.
