Chapter 44: Liela and Janna (2)

Janna seemed to be out of breath from running. It seemed a bit much to talk in this state, so I opened the door.

“There was no need to rush. You could have come slowly. Come inside and catch your breath for a moment.”

“Gasp. Gasp. Can I?”

“Of course.”

“Phew. Thank you. I’ll be taking you up on that.”

She bowed her head and trudged into the house.

“Sit on the sofa for a moment. I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. Rachel.”

Janna paused as she headed for the living room. I wondered what was wrong, and saw that she was looking at Liela.

She seemed embarrassed that there was another guest in the house. Before the two of them became awkward, I introduced them to each other.

“This is Janna, the owner of the Janna merchant guild, who is helping me with my business. And this is the alchemist Liela. She has outstanding skills, and is a friend who assists me well.”

The gazes of the two met. The two soon approached each other and shook hands.

“Hello. I’m Janna, who was personally ‘sponsored’ by Rachel a while ago. I’m here to repay the favor.”

“Hoho. Hello. I’m Liela, Rachel’s ‘assistant’ who helps her with this and that. Nice to meet you.”

They were clearly smiling, but strangely, the atmosphere was not very good.

‘Well, they’ll figure it out.’

The two of them aren’t children, so I don’t need to get involved in such minor disputes.

I went to the kitchen and brewed coffee with the espresso machine. Since I didn’t know the tastes of the two, I just made espresso.

Next to it, I placed syrup and steamed milk. So they can mix it according to their taste.

“Oh, right. There are also brownies left, so I should serve those too.”

I took out the brownies that Emily and I had eaten yesterday and had leftovers. Since Emily has such a small appetite, there were a lot of leftover desserts.

“Come and have some coffee.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you. Rachel.”

“Thank you.”

The two sat across from me.

“If you like it with milk, you can add it. And if you like it sweet, it’s good to add syrup.”

Liela often gets coffee from me, so she added syrup skillfully. She prefers to eat it sweet.

On the other hand, Janna didn’t seem familiar with coffee.

Naturally.

For commoners, coffee is a drink far removed from everyday life.

“Do you like it savory, Janna? Or do you like it sweet?”

“I prefer it bitter.”

“Then I recommend just drinking it as is, try it.”

Janna carefully drank the coffee. The moment she took a sip, her eyes widened.

“Whoa, was coffee originally this delicious? Last time I had it, it was just a bland and tasteless drink.”

Liela also took a sip and was surprised.

“Hmm? It tastes different from usual? It’s more concentrated. The flavor is rich, so you must have changed the method?”

“Yeah. I used a new machine.”

“Oh.”

So I had a casual conversation with the two, and Janna took out a paper document.

“The negotiations with the Blazing Castle proceeded like this. Read it and ask me if you don’t know anything.”

=====

[Blazing Castle Treaty.]

The Blazing Castle is referred to as A, and the Janna merchant guild is referred to as B.

B must provide the recipe for Ruby to A, and the Blazing Castle manufactures and distributes it according to the recipe. At this time, the profit distribution ratio is 6:4, with the Blazing Castle taking 6 and the Janna merchant guild taking 4.

A must do its best in distribution and production, and if any problems occur in the process, the Blazing Castle will be responsible.

…

=====

At first glance, it is an overwhelmingly advantageous contract for the Janna merchant guild.

The fact that the other party handles both production and distribution, but only takes 6, is proof of that. I looked at the other clauses, but there were no malicious clauses.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing, I heard from Armil that Rachel helped. This is the profit report that the Janna merchant guild has made so far.”

“A profit report? I’m an outsider, not a member of the merchant guild.”

Profit reports are one of the things that merchant guilds never disclose. But Janna says she will show me the profit report without asking for anything in return.

“Hey. It’s okay. It’s Rachel. And can you please speak comfortably to me? Rachel is a noble, and I’m a commoner.”

“Hmm. Shall we?”

I’m more comfortable with informal speech than honorifics. So I didn’t refuse.

“Okay. Then I will.”

I read the profit report she handed me.

I didn’t need to receive it, but the Janna merchant guild is the merchant guild I will invest in.

I need to know how the owner of the merchant guild is investing and how far it has grown.

That way, I can increase investment profits and reduce losses.

The profit report was neatly organized with graphs and tables.

With the gold I gave her, she invested in a total of 7 places. Six of them rose, and only one fell.

The overall profit increased from 30 gold to 70 gold.

Considering that it’s been a little over a month since I last met her, it’s a significant growth rate.

I don’t know if it’s luck or skill yet.

But if this luck repeats, it eventually becomes skill.

And Janna already has the fate of becoming a wealthy merchant. It’s probably skill.

“Okay. You’re doing well.”

“I’m glad. I was nervous that I would be scolded.”

Janna accepted the profit report with relief.

When I turned my head, Liela was looking at me with sparkling eyes.

Does she want me to praise her too?

It seems so.

Otherwise, there’s no reason for her to open her eyes like that.

“Ahem. Liela, you did well too. I haven’t read it yet, but when I saw a few parts, you made it easy for me to read.”

Because it’s a book related to alchemy, there are bound to be parts that are difficult to understand.

Liela wrote that part in an easy-to-understand way. It was possible because she has more knowledge of alchemy than I do.

Anyway, after that, I had casual conversations with them.

Then, small conflicts arose on a few topics, and they started to debate for a few minutes.

It was fun to listen to, so I just listened while drinking coffee, as if watching a debate show.

Then the two asked me at the same time.

“”What do you think, Rachel?””

The topic of conversation is about whether to dip or pour when eating soup and bread.

I thought carefully and sided with Liela.

After all, if you soak the bread in the soup, the soup soaks into the inside and it’s more delicious.

“I think Liela’s words are a little more reasonable.”

“Did you hear that?”

“Oh my.”

Liela clenched her fists with a triumphant expression, and Janna made an expression of resentment.

It was funny, like watching a sitcom.

So another day passed.

Meanwhile, at that time.

The Hokko Forest, which can be said to be the southernmost tip of the empire. An unknown tremor began to ring there.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

There were usually many high-level monsters, so loud noises often echoed, but not to this extent.

It’s a more fundamental sound.

As if an earthquake had occurred under the ground, it shook the southern Great Forest.

Kuo-oh!

Kie-eek!

Naturally, the monsters living there were surprised and ran wild.

Minotaurs with huge bull faces and human bodies, Cerberus, three-headed hellhounds, and so on. Just hearing about the terrifying monsters moved away from the center.

Accordingly, other monsters who were afraid of them also moved to the outskirts.

As a result, countless monsters living in the southern Great Forest scattered around without order.

Naturally, they began to encroach on the territories of humans that they could not cross before.

For them, it was inevitable to avoid the crisis in front of them, rather than the death they would face at the hands of humans in the future.

Eventually, the cities bordering the Great Forest began a war with thousands of monsters that appeared out of nowhere.

“Kyaak! Help me! Please save me!”

“Run away from there! Hans! You *******s! Kyaak!”

“Everyone run away! It’s too late here!”

Humans who were soaked in peace and neglected training were all killed.

A place that was peaceful until yesterday was filled with blood, screams, and death.

The news spread to various places around the city, and soon reached the emperor’s ears.

“Your Majesty. The monsters of the Great Forest have begun to attack humans. There are already more than 7 cities that have been damaged. But we stopped them from coming over by properly cutting off the teleport stations.”

“The Margrave who protects the southern Great Forest is currently stepping back and making every effort. But even if he joins, I don’t know how much he will do. The Margrave is already an old man, after all.”

“High-level monsters, including Helverus, are rampant in the front lines. We must send the imperial army now. Your Majesty.”

The emperor hurriedly looked for the hero party. But there’s no way the demon king will just let this opportunity pass.

In the first place, this situation itself may be the work of the demon king, so the emperor immediately summoned the Duchy.

So, the turning point of the story was slowly approaching.