* * *

“…Luna is not here?”

“Yeah. She went down to the Peils Estate for a vacation. Haven’t you heard?”

Fersen couldn’t hide his disappointment at the news of Luna’s absence and ran his hand over his face.

She wouldn’t have gone down to the Peils Estate to avoid him, would she?

That thought crossed his mind. It was highly likely. Lately, it had become clear that she was avoiding him. There had even been a suggestion to not meet anymore due to some misunderstanding or something.

He had been doing well all this time, but recently, he couldn’t understand why she was acting this way.

‘Is something wrong? Maybe she’s not feeling well, like she has a headache or something.’

Otherwise, it didn’t make sense. Seira’s excuse was also strange.

Seira, who was known for her kind-heartedness, wouldn’t care about anything.

When he had confronted her about running away in tears before, she replied that it wasn’t anything and that she had just felt melancholic. So it was clear that Luna was needlessly worried and misunderstood.

‘Who could have planted such thoughts in innocent Luna?’

It wasn’t like that before, but there must have been some change in Luna for sure. Fersen’s head throbbed with worry for his dear friend.

“When did she say she’ll be back?”

“Well, I don’t really know. She just said she’ll take a break. Since she doesn’t have much money, she’ll probably come back soon.”

“…I see.”

Peils Estate… there was nothing. Maybe she went to Vincent Estate.

Suddenly, Fersen’s heart grew restless. He turned his steps in the opposite direction of the restaurant where he was supposed to go with Baron Peils.

“Sorry, but I think I have to go now. Something urgent came to mind.”

“Oh, really? That’s a shame, but it can’t be helped. Since neither Luna nor the young master is here, I guess I’ll have to eat alone this morning.”

“I apologize. Enjoy your meal. I’ll take my leave.”

Fersen, along with a light luggage, a horse-drawn carriage, and a few escort knights, returned to the Duke’s Manor. His destination was Vincent Estate, where Luna was heading.

“Sir Fersen, if you’re planning to be away for a long time, shouldn’t you at least say a few words to Miss Seira before you go?”

“Ah…”

At the words of the butler who was seeing him off, Fersen seemed to remember Seira just now and sighed.

“Oh no, I completely forgot. What should I do? Is a letter okay? It’ll take at least a week to ten days for me to go to Vincent Estate.”

On top of that, there would also be time spent searching for Luna, so it was highly likely that it would take over two weeks.

In response to Fersen’s worried words, the butler bowed his head and replied.

“A letter should be fine. Shall I prepare it for you?”

“Yes, please. Write it for me. I’ll be going to Vincent Estate for a short while to meet a friend. Ah! And tell her to expect a gift. So she wouldn’t worry.”

“I understood. I will deliver it along with a bouquet of roses. Please take care.”

“Thank you.”

As the butler deeply bowed, the carriage window closed.

* * *

As promised, the man indeed provided the prestigious guarantee and certification from the Imperial Palace.

Doubting if it was forged, Luna carefully scrutinized the documents, but fortunately, the seal on the papers was clearly visible, and the imposing identification of the Imperial Supervisor attached to it quickly dispelled any doubts.

Thus, a fairly large group consisting of the three hired mercenaries as workers, a man called ‘Captain’, Luna, and finally the guard of the imperial family, set off from Vincent Estate to Peils Estate.

“What are we supposed to do here?”

The supervisor, who had arrived at their destination, crossed his arms and looked around, asking. There was nothing but stones in sight, making it hard to understand why they had to go through the certification process.

The others also wore perplexed expressions, as if questioning the need for certification to come to this place.

In response, Luna shrugged her shoulders as if they were foolish and ordered them to dig into the rocky mountain.

“I’m going to sell what’s buried under the mountain. Until the mountain is completely gone.”

“Well, I don’t have enough energy to keep going like that.”

“Today is just the beginning. After this, I plan to hire people officially to handle the operation, so don’t worry too much. We’ll stop after digging a certain amount.”

So, start digging. With the pickaxe in your hand. We made a promise, remember? As a condition for using informal language.

When Luna nodded, the mercenaries, who still had skeptical expressions on their faces, began to dig into the rocky mountain.

And after a while…

“What is this!?”

“Th-this is gold, isn’t it!?”

Just like in a novel, gold nuggets began to come out one by one. The mercenaries, surprised by the sight, were momentarily speechless, and Luna herself was at a loss for words.

It wasn’t as if she had thought about how Luna Peils suffered more or almost sold the small rocky mountain for a low price. It turned out that it was a massive gold nugget.

“So, that’s why you were so worried.”

The man held up the nugget of gold in his hand and observed it closely. Then, he let out a short exclamation.

“This is a top-grade piece of gold. It’s the cleanest gold I’ve ever seen. And it’s an enormous amount without even needing to calculate whether it will be profitable or not…”

In response to his words, Luna also observed the nugget of gold in her hand.

She had never been close to gold in her past life or present life, so she didn’t know much about it, but the shining golden color was so bright that it seemed to say, ‘Now you can rest, my dear. You’ve struck it rich.’

With this amount, she could shower her friends, including Seira, with bundles of checks. No, she might even be able to buy a large mansion and fill it with checks for swimming.

“Don’t entertain foolish thoughts. Have you forgotten about the guarantees and certifications?”

The supervisor, who was mesmerized by the gold, suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. Fortunately, he seemed to be faithful to his role.

“Don’t say that! We’re not really bad people!”

“You’re going too far, young lady!”

“I have children to take care of. Would I do such a terrible thing? I’m already receiving a decent salary, I don’t have such greed!”

As the mercenaries became increasingly indignant, Luna felt a bit uneasy. They were a Merchant Guild that were associated with villains, and she was operating without anyone trustworthy, making her nerves sharper.

They had been helping her to the best of their abilities, so she apologized sincerely.

“I’m sorry. I’m a bit sensitive because I’m acting alone. It’s a gesture of goodwill, so just fill a certain amount and you can take the rest.”

“…!?”

It was an excessive reward, but after all, the gold mine had turned into a diamond mine. It was a definite windfall.

She didn’t remember the exact locations, but she had a few candidate locations. If she purchased all of them, the main work would be done. Then she could obtain a tremendous amount that couldn’t even be compared to the gold.

Thanks to Luna’s compassion, the morale of the mercenaries soared, and within a few hours, they were able to mine a significant amount of gold. The mercenaries got excited and started taking their share.

“Let’s sell our portion to the Merchant Guild.”

While fondling the gold he had dug with his own hands and realizing how wealthy he had become, the man approached Luna, seemingly uninterested in his share.

“We’re going to sell it anyway, right? We should sell it to the Antares Merchant Guild.”

“Well, let’s check the market price before selling.”

“I’ll offer you the highest price.”

“Let’s see how high that is.”

“We can provide workers without any commission. You need to hire workers to mine the gold, right? And we should also receive investments. We, the Merchant Guild will take full responsibility, so let’s make a contract.”

* * *

“We will provide not only the guarantee from the Merchant Guild but also the certification from the royal family.”

“Do you need anything else? Just name it.”

The man tempted as if he would grant anything just by asking. He seemed genuinely eager, as evidenced by his unnecessary flamboyant smile and urging.

In fact, his efforts were unnecessary because his words alone were sufficient. There was nothing else to ask for. He had promised to take care of all the troublesome matters.

However…

‘This is the Merchant Guild with Antes Vincent… Can we really conduct transactions here? Is it safe? Can we survive?’

As Luna pondered to that extent, she suddenly remembered the moment a few days ago when she handed a check to Seira’s face.

‘…Ah, I was already in a desperate situation then.’

The female protagonist, Seira, and the male protagonist, Fersen, almost seemed like authentic villains.

There was no need to fear the Merchant Guild of villains anymore. It would be better to engage in transactions with them, whether they were villains or not, and earn money to hire knights during that time.

“Okay. Just make sure the documents are clear. Include the names of reliable witnesses. Also, include a clause stating that the contract can be terminated if someone offers to purchase the gold at a higher price than them. The same applies if any suspicious points are discovered. ‘Terminate immediately.'”

Luna spoke her words as she saw fit, feeling a sense of ‘let it be as it may’. If they didn’t like it, they could refuse.

Anyone would be tempted by the leisure of having gold that arouses greed. In response, the man smiled as if he admired Luna’s audacity.

“You’re thorough. Great. This Merchant Guild will build trust. There’s no doubt. Go back and prepare the documents.”

“…And I apologize, but could you provide an advance payment? I have something I need to take care of.”

“If you just make the contract, I’ll give you even a million gold.”

Luna nodded in response to the man’s answer, as if saying she would empty all the checks she had right now. The contract was established in an instant, as if she had decided too quickly.