81漫画

An arrow shot out with a sharp piercing sound, reaching the target in an instant. However, it struck a stone target carved from a large boulder, not an ordinary wooden target.

Shluk!

Count Terion’s arrow in the center of the target was not imbued with Aura. However, it was a little thicker and longer, with a sturdier arrowhead, than ordinary arrows.

He had already shot hundreds of arrows. His archery practice had started in the morning and was proof of his diligence.

Shluk!

Just as he shot his last arrow…

Crack crack!

Thud!

The stone target finally shattered, unable to withstand Terion’s arrows.

“Ha…”

Terion let out a long sigh.

Sweat dripped from his body and his eyes radiated a sharp light, like those of a hawk.

The Falcon family’s butler by his side said, “Count, there’s a guest waiting for you in the reception room.”

“A guest?”

“Yes, Lord Henry from the Shonan family has visited.”

“Henry? What is the Shonan family’s vassal doing here?”

“He said he had something to tell you and asked to have a cup of tea.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“He said he didn’t want to interrupt count’s training.”

“...Alright.”

Strange.

Why did the Shonan family need to see him?

In particular, wasn’t Henry the hidden hand who had made Eisen a marquis?

‘What do you have in mind this time?’

Other people might not know, but those who had participated in the subjugation knew about Henry’s performance. Terion also heard that Henry did not want to draw attention to himself and thus had kept a low profile during the last imperial palace party.

Thanks to this, Terion had grown curious. After losing the marquis position, he couldn’t imagine what kind of ulterior motive Henry might have during this visit.

With the help of his maids, Terion quickly got ready to welcome his guest. He went to the reception room.

“You’re here, Count Terion.”

As soon as Terion entered the room, Henry, who was leisurely drinking tea, stood up and greeted him.

Terion responded with a courtesy nod.

“...It’s been a while.”

Now that the status of the Shonan family had risen, he couldn\'t treat Henry as casually as he had done before.

“Have you been well?”

“I\'ve been so-so, but what brings you here today? I never thought the Shonan family would have personal business with me.”

“Haha, it is personal, indeed. I’m not here on behalf of the Shonan family.”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like you have become very impatient since the last time I saw you. How about we sit down and talk?”

“...Alright.”

Terion sat across from Henry.

After drinking a glass of cold water, Terion calmed his excitement a little. However, as soon as he’d done so, Terion noticed that Henry had subtly changed.

‘Huh?’

The change was as minute as a speck of dust; however, it made Henry look like a completely different person from when Terion had last seen him at the subjugation army barracks..

‘What has changed?’

It was not an external or superficial change, like a rise in status from the vassal of a count’s family to a marquis’ family.

It was more of a change from deep within.

However, it wasn’t easy to see the change, even for Terion, who had sharp eyes. When Henry had become an Archmage, he intentionally concealed his energy from others.

‘Well, it’s not important anyway…’

He could only observe the change in more detail over time.

“Let’s hear it. If you’re not here on behalf of the marquis, why would the vassal of the Shonan family come see me?”

“Your words are full of thorns. Alright, let’s get straight to the point.”

Henry hadn’t expected a warm welcome. Terion was a rival who had been competing for the title of marquis only recently. Also, Count Terion also had a history of forcibly expanding his private army, just like Count Oscar.

Therefore, the Falcon family’s current financial state was not so great.

‘But that doesn’t mean he’s poor.’

Count Oscar had suffered the most financially since he had even prepared the siege tower scroll. Count Terion, on his part, had only done as much as his family could handle. Still, they had to tighten their belts for a while. The Falcon family had never been this poor in their entire history, and their soldiers were absolutely penniless as well.

“Count, did you know that the Shonan family and the kingdom of Shahatra have been trading with each other recently?” said Henry.

“...Shonan family and Shahatra?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, how did the reclusive Shahatra make such a decision…”

He was very surprised because even though Shahatra was tributary to the empire, it had never opened the desert to the empire except for special occasions. It was the first time the Shahatra had broken their decades-long reclusiveness.

“So, the Shonan family took this exchange as an opportunity to start a merchant company.”

“The Shonan family is running a merchant company?”

“That’s right and I’m completely in charge of its management. I plan to distribute the local specialties of Shahatra as our first batch of goods.”

“Local specialties like Shahatra silk and spices?”

“That’s right. Our goods are the same ones that get sent every year as tribute to the imperial family.”

It was one surprise after the other.

The local specialties of Shahatra were considered to be the top luxury goods among the nobility. However, the tributes were so paltry that no one ever got their hands on the specialties unless they received them as royal gifts.

In addition, the amount sent as tribute every year was so little that no one could ever get their hands on those unless they were received as royal gifts by the empire.

‘Trading the same products sent as tribute… As expected, this man is…!’

Terion admired Henry’s skills once again and his covetousness for Henry grew even more. At the same time, it made it more difficult for him to understand why such a talented person was working under a powerless old man like Eisen.

Terion swallowed his covetousness and continued calmly.

“...Well I should congratulate you first since you’ve done something that no one else has done.”

“Thank you, count. I actually prepared a small gift for you after completing my first trade successfully.”

“A gift…?”

The word made Terion’s hopes shoot up despite himself. His family finances were deteriorating, and he couldn’t even hold banquets, let alone enjoy luxuries.

Henry put his Subspace Pouch on the table and took out a fancy wooden box.

Click.

There were twenty neatly arranged Pink Swamp cigarettes inside the box. Henry turned the box and held it out to Terion.

Terion swallowed hard.

“This… Aren\'t these cigarettes?”

“Count, do you like to smoke cigarettes?”

“Of course, very much so.”

“Haha, I knew it, which is why I prepared some.”

“...Are these Shahatra’s cigarettes by any chance?”

“That’s right. This is called the Pink Swamp and it is the second cigarette developed by the Shahatra royal family.”

Gulp.

Terion swallowed once more when he heard it was from Shahatra.

It was a smoker’s dream to taste the special cigarette from the Shahatra royal family. Unfortunately, the cigarette was so rare that they might not taste it in their lifetime unless the emperor gave them one himself.

But that very same Shahatra royal family had developed another type of cigarette?

A heavy smoker like Terion could not miss out on it.

Henry offered a cigarette with a smile as he looked at Terion licking his lips.

“You don’t need to hold back. This is a gift from me, so you can smoke it right now.”

“N-now?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, then I will smoke just one.”

He pretended to be calm as he accepted Henry’s offer, but deep down he was ecstatically grateful.

Terion quickly picked up the Pink Swamp and lit it.

“Shh…”

He inhaled the cigarette smoke deep into his lungs and…

“Haa…!”

When the pink smoke spewed out, Terion couldn\'t help but widen his eyes.

‘What the hell…!’

It was a taste that he had never expected and was way beyond his expectations, even though he was a heavy smoker.

For some time, the pink smoke filled the reception room like fog.

When Terion had finally smoked the entire cigarette and rubbed the butt out in the ashtray, Henry asked with a light smile, “How was it? This is the second masterpiece by Shahatra’s cigarette artisans.”

“Hmm…”

Before answering, Terion rolled his tongue to taste the lingering cigarette smoke in his mouth. Only after the taste had completely disappeared did he begin speaking, biting his lips with an unsatisfied expression.

“...It’s incredible!”

“Is that all?”

“Of course not. It would be an insult to Pink Swamp if that was the only word I could come up with after tasting it!”

The cigarette had completely changed Terion’s rough and crude demeanor. Because of this, Henry had no choice but to listen to Terion’s boring love for this cigarette for a while.

“In the past, I tasted one of His Majesty\'s cigarettes, but… this tastes so good that it can’t be compared to that one.”

“Is it really that good?”

“Yes. When I inhaled it, my head became clear… I’ve tried many cigarettes in the past, but I’ve never heard of a cigarette of this kind.”

“I’m glad you like it. I’d like to share another piece of good news and that is, we plan to make Pink Swamp our main product.”

“R-really?”

“Yes and in fact, I wanted to meet you today because of this Pink Swamp.”

“Because of this cigarette…?”

Terion cocked his head.

“Yes. The Pink Swamp will be a product, not a tribute.”

“And?”

“There’s no doubt about its marketability since a smoker like you acknowledged its quality, but… The problem is that there aren’t many cigarettes.”

When he heard about the rarity of the cigarettes, the unique desire of a smoker glowed in Terion’s eyes.

After calculating it, Terion quickly gave an answer.

“I understand what you mean. If you secure the goods, I will do everything in my power to help.”

“As expected, you\'re amazing, count. Then I will leave it in your hands and give you some of the extras that I’ve brought.”

Henry took out three more wooden boxes and gave them to Terion.

It was a bribe given to Terion that he could also share with others around him, and Terion now had the biggest smile Henry had ever seen on his face.

‘It worked!’

The smarter you were, the more likely you were to fall for simple bait like this.

After his failed bid to become marquis and his faltering finances, there was nothing better to help him get attention than the Shahatra cigarettes.

Terion praised Henry with a wide smile.

‘What a brilliant guy.’

Terion had completely misunderstood Henry’s intentions. He believed that Henry wanted to form a slush fund without Eisen knowing. Of course, whatever Terion thought about Henry’s plans, it didn’t change anything for Henry.

‘Next is Oscar.’

After trapping Terion perfectly, Henry set Oscar as his next target.

Henry had no worries this time as well because Oscar had suffered significantly more losses than Terion and was in serious financial trouble.