29
‘Mr. Harper had such a good reputation that things worked out easily.’
Distribution is an industry where getting one step ahead of others can bring thousands of times the profit. In that regard, the ‘high-quality information’ Eliza knew was a great help.
Some cultures spread from the nobility to the commoners, and from the capital to the provinces.
Humanity’s admiration for those above them often becomes a good means of making money. Eliza passed precisely that kind of information on to Jenia’s parents.
What the nobles in the capital were enjoying at the moment, and which of those things had already lost their demand.
Things that were certain to soon be sold cheaply as surplus stock on the market, but were still sufficiently expensive and valuable to commoners.
Fortunately, Harper had a wide network of connections and was moderately ambitious, so he succeeded in getting ahead of the trend and securing the luxury goods Eliza had hinted at.
As the scale of the business gradually grew, they finally established a small trading company.
“How’s Mr. Harper these days? I mean the trading company. Isn’t he busy?”
“He was a little overwhelmed for a while, but now his business partners have been sorted out. Father looks so happy these days. It’s all thanks to Miss Eli. You really are a lucky charm.”
The Bennett family all knew that Eliza had contributed the most to Harper’s creation of the Bennett Trading Company.
It was still little more than a crude merchants association, but it was sufficient for Eliza to operate through.
The Bennett Trading Company, which had only just begun to spread its wings, would soon make its name known across the continent.
As the sole channel for distributing the new substance Eliza had discovered.
‘Jenia has done so much for me. I can at least do this much for her.’
The things she would be undertaking from now on would be beyond what the past of ‘Eli,’ who was supposedly merely a maid, could possibly explain.
However, even if Harper found her suspicious, he would not question her closely. If he did, the goose that laid the golden eggs might run away.
The helper Eliza had chosen was that sensible as a merchant.
“There’s something I’d like to discuss with Mr. Harper. Could you arrange a meeting?”
“Of course. I’m sure he’d welcome you anytime, Miss Eli. Feel free to come whenever you like. We could even have dinner together tonight. You haven’t lost even more weight, have you? I’m worried about what on earth you’ve been eating-”
“Jenia…….”
“Oops, I almost started again.”
Jenia clapped a hand over her mouth. Her chatter was endearing, but the closer she became to someone, the more likely she was to keep talking without end.
Jenia was also aware that she was rather talkative, so she awkwardly scratched her cheek.
“Anyway, come anytime. If it’s urgent, how about tomorrow?”
“Thank you, but tomorrow will be difficult. I have to go to the transport office.”
“The transport office? Ah, have a safe trip.”
Jenia nodded. She could tell that Eliza’s trip to the transport office had something to do with her past.
Eliza was grateful for Jenia’s consideration in not asking, even though her rolling eyes made it painfully obvious how curious she was.
“And tell Mr. Harper that I’d like to talk to him about a new product when we meet next time.”
“Wow, can I ask what it is this time?”
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you yet.”
“Father will be curious. Can’t you at least give me a hint?”
“Hmm…….”
Noticing Eliza’s hesitation, Jenia suddenly folded her arms.
Then, as she escorted her to the entrance of the building, she coaxed her affectionately.
“Then I’ll keep it a secret from Father. Just tell me. Please? Please?”
“It might sound funny. Because it’s a name I came up with myself.”
“How could anyone compare to Miss Eli’s aesthetic sense?”
“Still, it’s a little simple…….”
Eliza hesitated. While deciding on the name of the new product, she had lost count of how many times she had lamented that this was all she could come up with when it came to naming things.
In the end, the name she finally chose was one that kept reminding her of him. That was why she had hesitated, but it was the only name she liked.
“Luo (lŭo).”
Though it was her first time saying it aloud, the pronunciation felt familiar and smooth on her tongue. As though she had called it dozens, hundreds of times before.
Eliza chose this name so that she would never forget the wrong she had done to him.
‘It’s something to save you. Leopold.’
Eliza’s gaze drifted wistfully toward the blue sky. By now, Jenia thought that this was simply one of her habits.
***
“Ah- I think I’m really going to die at this rate.”
Leopold muttered as he tore off the arm of a monster. A soldier who had fallen hard on his backside and been drenched in its blood shouted.
“Y-you, c-crazy bastard!”
“Yeah, sure. If you’re not going to fight, then get out of the way.”
Leopold personally grabbed the soldier by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Then he threw him far away as though tossing him aside.
“Aah! A, ah?”
The soldier, who had squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of the agony of hitting the ground, opened them when he felt a warmer sensation than expected.
Then his eyes widened when he discovered that he was being held by a red-haired woman.
“I-Inquisitor?!”
“Stand back.”
Urhel set the soldier down and looked ahead with a frown.
Apparently, he had not even heard the trumpet announcing the end of the operation, as Leopold was truly fighting like a dog.
He swung his sword, kicked away anything that came within reach of his feet, and when his sword became lodged somewhere, he did not hesitate to bite and tear at the monster with his teeth.
Covered in monster blood from head to toe, the man himself looked like a monster.
Regardless of how well he fought, it was not a pleasant sight to behold. Urhel clicked his tongue, rushed in, and cut off the head of the monster Leopold had been fighting.
“Did you not hear that you were to return?”
“What, Inquisitor?”
“Urhel.”
“Yeah, Inquisitor.”
Only then did Leopold stop moving. His eyes, clouded by the excitement of battle, blinked as he looked around.
There were still a few people around, but the monsters in this area had more or less been wiped out. After confirming that the frontline had been pushed back to the targeted point, the command had announced the end of the operation.
His ears had been deafened by the battle, so he had not heard the trumpet, and only now did Leopold notice the flag being waved.
“Ah……. When did it end?”
Leopold wiped away the blood that was about to get into his eyes and began walking.
As the excitement of battle faded, his nerves tightened again, and a foul feeling began to pool inside him. His expression immediately hardened in irritation.
A tingling sensation surged in the palm of his hand. Leopold clenched his fist to conceal his palm and walked ahead of Urhel.
“I distinctly remember telling you to stop fighting like that.”
“What kind of method is there to fighting? Fighting is just fighting.”
“This is not a fight you wage alone. It is, first and foremost, a military operation. Your method of fighting causes anxiety among your allies.”
“Allies?”
Leopold scoffed. He wondered if there was even a single person among those who glanced at him as though he were a spectacle who actually considered him one.
The soldiers who had already withdrawn were staring at Leopold as though he were a monster. It was understandable that the soldiers would feel that way, considering he fought far too well.
Before Leopold had been assigned to his squad and gone into battle, the soldiers had assumed that he would be careful because he was of noble birth, but that expectation had quickly gone out the window.
Leopold actively threw himself onto the frontline and cut down the monsters. At times, he tore them apart and even bit them.
The sight of him completely absorbed in the fight itself, alone, sent chills down the spines of those watching.
Those who had directly experienced him swinging his sword and throwing punches regardless of whether an ally was standing in front of him could not help but call him a madman without even realizing it.
And whenever Leopold heard that, he would often reply like this.
“I’d rather be a son of a bitch than a madman.”
Urhel disliked everything about him—his fierce temperament, his nonsensical rambling, and even his handsome face.
But more than anything, what he could not trust was the fact that Leopold had not died.
There was something deeply suspicious about where his extraordinary strength came from, and the fact that he had failed to uncover the reason irritated him.
Because of that, while Urhel remained to monitor Leopold, the survival rate of the unit he belonged to was gradually increasing.
“Do you enjoy fighting?”
Regardless, Urhel devoted himself to interrogating Leopold whenever he had the chance.
He would ask questions, and if Leopold’s answer deviated even slightly from what he considered proper, he would not hesitate to punish him.
He called it correction, but Leopold did not find it amusing in the slightest.
Even the name of the Great God could not influence him, so it was obvious that he was simply acting out of spite.
