Chapter 124 · The Vanished Princess (2)

“That can’t be.”

I tried to laugh it off, but this sharp woman seemed to have no intention of letting it go.

「They say that princess had emerald eyes, and your eyes are exactly that color. Like the sea of Eldina.」

Phew, I could do something about my hair with dye, but why is there no magic to change eye color!

“Was that princess’s hair brown?”

「I heard it was white, but…」

She smiled a charming smile.

「Your hair has a few white strands here and there—don’t tell me premature aging has already set in?」

Damn it! Has the dye already faded?!

Startled, I gathered my fluffy hair. It had only been a month since I dyed it light brown. Should I use a stronger dye? No, Cyrus and Emet should have told me if they saw white hair!

The guild leader watched me flustered and let out a small laugh.

「I was joking.」

“…!”

I bit my lip slightly and glared at her. It had been a long time since I met such a formidable opponent. Ugh, at this rate she’ll take the initiative! I cannot tolerate such humiliation in my life!

「You do know there’s an enormous bounty on the Santran princess’s head, right?」

At her words, Emet’s face turned red and blue by turns, and she sprang to her feet.

「Where does this human get off threatening us! Let’s just leave. We don’t need to do business with someone like this.」

I was also furious, but I signaled Emet to calm down for now. Because this was a client I absolutely wanted to secure.

In the undersea regions of Batias, a magic stone called moonsu stone is mined, and it is especially efficient for water-related elemental magic. With it, I could mitigate Santra’s terrible droughts going forward.

However, moonsu stone could only be traded through guilds officially authorized by the Batian royal family. They all demanded enormous sums, and even so, this guild had presented the most reasonable terms.

Why is it that Batias, of all countries—which has poor relations with Santra—has so many things Santra desperately needs? That country is so vast that it has everything, I suppose.

“I heard the Santran royal family is suffering because there are hundreds or thousands of false reports about that princess. I also heard they’re going to start imposing fines for false reports now?”

I responded calmly.

“Well, whether your side loses money or not is no concern of mine, but I detest troublesome things. I suppose the deal never happened. There’s more than one guild in Batias, after all.”

The ease faded slightly from her face.

「Calm down, cute little lady. I never said I’d report you.」

“Then why do you keep probing me with the same topic?”

「I just wanted to check, that’s all. Shall we get to the deal now?」

The guild leader switched her stance in an instant.

Rumors about my magical tools had spread among the nobles and wealthy of every nation, and any rich person without mana coveted them. Doing business with me would yield great profits, and she would not want to miss out on a goose that lays golden eggs.

「About the conditions you proposed—our side seems to be losing too much. We’ll need to adjust them.」

Emet frowned sharply. Emet hated losing even the slightest bit, which made her a perfect match for me. Cyrus would shake his head at the two of us, who burned day and night trying to squeeze out even one more coin.

「Moonsu stone is very expensive even in Batias. Forty pondo (about ten kilograms) of moonsu stone for one magical tool is truly an absurd demand, you know? Besides, since it’s smuggling, we have to take enormous risks.」

“How far are you asking to lower it?”

「Twenty pondo.」

“That won’t do.”

When I cut her off immediately, she groaned.

「Then at least thirty pondo.」

“Hmm…”

Not even a second passed before Emet cried out sharply.

「The current market price of an image magical tool is twenty thousand danir in Batian currency, and the market price of moonsu stone is twenty-three thousand danir per forty pondo. But our agreement included us bearing the transport costs. If we calculate the shipping cost, this deal means we lose about two hundred danir per magical tool. Further adjustment is impossible!」

「…The transport cost really comes out to that much? How did you calculate it?」

Emet quickly wrote the transport cost formula on the paper before her and showed it. Her foreign language skills were somewhat lacking, but her calculation ability was tremendous. She could do mental arithmetic up to the hundred-thousands, making huge contributions whenever quick judgment was needed.

With a language expert on my right and a math expert on my left, there was nothing to fear. They were truly a treasure of a sibling pair.

「…I want you too, young lady.」

The guild leader murmured languidly, looking at Emet. As expected, a jewel is beautiful in more than just my eyes. Don’t covet Emet!

「Haa, there’s no helping it. Let’s proceed as is.」

“Thank you.”

Yay! The moonsu stone problem is over!

「However, I have one condition.」

“?”

When I looked at her curiously, she spoke in an earnest voice.

「Let me hug you just once!」

“…”

“This person is truly shameless to the end!”

Emet screamed, but I was in a good mood from successfully concluding the deal, so I smiled brightly and agreed.

「Kyaaah! So cute! How is your hair this fluffy? Why are your cheeks this soft?」

She lifted me up in one swift motion and rubbed her face against my cheeks. I was a little suffocated but endured it and mumbled.

“The moment any rumor about me spreads anywhere, the deal is void, so please be especially careful.”

「I understand, genius little lady.」

Hmm, there shouldn’t be any trouble, right?

But this sister, her eyes look familiar somehow…?

◇ ◆ ◇

After Anastasia and her group left, the guild leader crossed her legs and took a communication stone from her pocket.

“Annéxĭo.”

The moment she recited the activation word, it lit up.

“Prince Basileo, this is Hashita. I just finished the deal.”

She naturally used Kalisan, that is, the central continent language.

—Did she look healthy?

A boy’s voice flowed from the communication stone.

“Very much so. But she was an incredibly cute person, you know?”

Hashita said teasingly.

“I understand why the prince is so smitten. Pretty, clever, and bold.”

—…Are you going to keep saying useless things? Please tell me how the matter progressed.

“I attached people as you requested, so we should know her residence soon. I also took a great risk and concluded the deal.”

—Thank you for your work.

“What will you do for me, Prince? If the King of Batias learns that moonsu stone is flowing into Santra, I’ll be expelled on the spot.”

—What do you wish for?

“Hehe, material compensation is unnecessary. I want to see the prince’s face after so long. I saw you as a newborn but haven’t since—I need to confirm how handsome you’ve become.”

—I will visit to express my gratitude before long.

She pouted at Basileo’s stiff tone, which had no trace of affability.

“But Prince, I hugged the princess.”

—What?

“I rubbed my face against her cheeks and touched her hair too. Jealous?”

—…I’m hanging up.

At the same time as his cold voice, the connection cut off with a click.

“Tsk. So prickly.”

Hashita’s mother was the younger sister of the Kalisan king who had married into the Batian royal family, making her and Basileo cousins.

Since the war, Kalisa had severed ties with every nation, so naturally they had not been in contact for a long time.

Yet the first contact from Kalisa after ties were restored was not from the king but from his son, whom she had never even spoken to. And his secret request was even more surprising and strange. He wanted her to open trade with the owner of a company secretly selling magical tools.

Basileo had guessed the identity of the person who made the strange magical tools that operated without mana. None other than the missing First Princess of Santra!

She wondered if he intended to kidnap her and use her as a hostage. If he could get his hands on the princess Santra was desperately searching for, he could repay the suffering he had endured.

But Basileo said he had no such intention. Rather, he asked her to help the Santran princess obtain moonsu stone. To help the princess of an enemy nation—she simply could not understand it.

“Now that I’ve seen her today, I get it. She’s just too cute.”

She smirked and took a water pipe from her handbag and smoked it.

“My cousin is trying to have a difficult love. And he’s still just a little kid.”

Hashita came to her own conclusion and offered her condolences for Basileo’s barren future. And also for the Kalisan king, who would suffer because of his son.

◇ ◆ ◇

After safely completing the deal, we entered a high-class restaurant for my birthday dinner.

「Wow, meat… MEAT! Meat meat!!」

With every menu item that appeared, Emet grew more excited, gripping her fork and pounding the table. It was table manners that would horrify any Santran.

「Compared to the old days, we eat it ridiculously often, and yet she gets like that whenever she sees meat. Like she’s been starving her whole life.」

Cyrus said in disgust.

「We couldn’t even glimpse meat for years, so of course it’s like this. Even eating it, eating it, it feels new every time.」

I felt sorry for her and ordered five more portions. Emet had a slender figure but was a tremendous glutton. She had always gone hungry because of debt, so her obsession with food made sense.

I too was drained from negotiating with a difficult opponent, so I shoveled food into my mouth hurriedly.

The southern continent’s food is very different from Santra’s, but it has its own charm. Perhaps because I had eaten a lot of greasy food since coming here, even my tiny height had shot up noticeably over the past year. Still, I missed the sweet hotcakes that used to appear sometimes in the temple dining hall. Strangely, I couldn’t get that taste here in Eldina.

“By the way, Princess. When are you thinking of going back?”

Cyrus asked abruptly while tearing into lamb.

“You’ve saved an enormous amount of money. With this much, you could buy a decent small country.”

“It’s not time yet. I need to grow the Pakula Company a bit more.”

He looked at me with aghast eyes.

“More than this? Back then when you said you’d become an international player, I thought it was nonsense, but now it’s becoming reality.”

Emet paused her frantic shoveling for a moment and shot back.

「Pathetic, ungrateful Cyrus. Nonsense, you say! You don’t know the princess’s greatness! Our Princess Anastasia is someone who can go beyond being an international player and conquer the world!」

No, I don’t intend to go that far… Becoming king of Santra alone is overwhelming!

We finished eating and came out patting our bellies, when a boy was scattering papers while shouting, “Extra, extra!”

Cyrus snatched a flying paper and glanced at it, then spoke.

“It says a delegation from Kalisa has come and is holding a welcome festival in the capital, Ashinak.”

I looked up in surprise. Kalisa had opened exchange with Eldina? With a country that has nothing much besides tourism?

“It says the Kalisan prince is coming too.”

“What?!”