“Me? I have to go too? Why me?”

“So, do you expect me to go alone and do business by myself? You need to come with me and figure out how we’re going to sell everything.”

“No way! I have tons of work to do! I’m too busy to go anywhere!”

“Don’t kid yourself. If I’m not around, you’d just lie down and take a break.”

Ghislain knew exactly what kind of person Claude was.

“No! I’ll work hard, I promise!”

“Easy to say.”

Ghislain clicked his tongue and continued.

“Even if what you’re saying is true, you’ll have to see it at least once if you plan to continue selling for the long term. We’re going to be selling across the entire kingdom, starting with the capital. Someone has to know how to manage it.”

“And what about the things I have to handle here?”

“The main structure is already set up. Someone else can handle supervision for a while. Just find someone to take over temporarily.”

“Ugh…”

Claude had no response and clutched his head in frustration.

Even if someone was hired, that wouldn’t reduce the amount of work.

He would still have to check how things went in his absence, which meant more work later.

But he couldn’t refuse to go.

As Ghislain had pointed out, if he was going to be in charge of cosmetic sales in the future, he needed to go to the capital to find distributors and prepare for the market.

Claude was currently handling the role of the head of the Fenris Trading Company.

Although, to be fair, it was more of a ghost company that didn’t sell anything—just bought stuff.

As he twisted and squirmed, trying to avoid the trip, a brilliant idea suddenly flashed through Claude’s mind.

“Wait a minute. Do we really need to sell it ourselves?”

“How else would we sell it if not directly?”

“Why don’t we just sell it to a big, reputable trading company? They’ll take care of verification and sell it to the nobles themselves.”

The cosmetics were that effective.

A large trading company would have no trouble finding people to verify its quality.

But Ghislain looked at Claude as if he were pathetic and clicked his tongue.

“Why would I do that?”

“It’d be easier if we just handed it over to a major company, right?”

“Why hand it over when we already have our own trading company?”

“Our company is just in name. It’s not well-known, and we only set it up to make it easier to buy things.”

“That’s why we need to grow it, starting with these cosmetics. If we sell them ourselves, we can take all the profit. Why would I let another company in? I’ve never handed over what’s mine to someone else.”

Claude let out a dry laugh.

“Wow, talk about greedy…”

“And if we leave it to another company, it’ll take too long. We need to open sales channels and get money as quickly as possible. We also need to grow the company, so stop complaining and come with me.”

“But why are you in such a rush? You’ve got plenty of money, don’t you? There are still plenty of runestones left, right?”

Ghislain responded in a calm tone to Claude’s grumbling.

“It’s not enough. Time and money are always in short supply.”

‘I don’t know when the Duke’s house will make its move. I need to be ready before that happens.’

The Fenris territory wouldn’t be attacked right away.

Desmond would be too focused on taking control of Rayfold as quickly as possible to make up for his loss in the previous war.

Ghislain had to use that time to strengthen the territory as much as possible.

When he considered everything that needed to be done, even the current funds weren’t enough.

‘The runestones are reaching their limit, too.’

Although the runestones weren’t depleted yet, there were plans that required using them in large quantities.

Considering the amount he would need to hand over to the Mage Tower, it was cutting it close.

‘I don’t have the time to go back to the Beast Forest.’

There wasn’t enough power yet to fully exploit the Beast Forest.

Until his strength grew, he had to focus on other foundations.

‘I need to form alliances too. I need people who can at least slow them down.’

Going to the capital wasn’t just about selling cosmetics.

If he was going to go up against the mighty Delphine Ducal family, he needed the power of opposing factions.

‘I don’t need to fight the Duke’s house alone. The royal family would probably love to take a shot at them.’

Right now, the conflict between the pro-royal faction and the Duke’s house was heating up, which made it the perfect time to take advantage.

He needed to meet them and form an alliance.

‘I’ll start the war when I want, where I want. If there’s going to be a war, I’ll be the one to declare it. I’ll make sure I never have to fight on my own land. I’ll destroy their foundation, too.’

Ghislain clenched his fist.

Developing the territory was important, but it was ultimately just a means to an end: taking on the Duke’s house.

But others who didn’t know his true intentions couldn’t understand why Ghislain always seemed so urgent.

Claude was no exception.

The food shortage had been solved, there were runestones, and now they had even developed a specialty product.

Even if they just stayed the course, Fenris territory would continue to grow.

But Ghislain always seemed to be in a hurry, as if he were constantly being chased by something.

‘This guy must’ve made some enemies, for sure. Ugh, this is driving me crazy.’

Ghislain wasn’t wrong.

They had worked hard to develop a hit product, and handing it over to another company would only benefit others.

But Claude hated the idea of personally going around selling the cosmetics.

As tired as he was, having the additional burden of managing the trading company made him feel like dying might be a better option.

Once the cosmetics started selling, they would be busier than ever.

“Ugh! Seriously! When I get back from the capital, I’ll have to check on everything again! How am I supposed to handle it all by myself? And now you want me to manage the trading company, too? No way! I can’t do it! Just kill me already!”

Eventually, Claude practically threw a tantrum, nearly lying down on the floor in protest.

“I told you, hire more people. Share the workload with the other managers.”

Ghislain’s response only made Claude more frustrated as he beat his chest and put on a sulky face.

“Those people are already overwhelmed with their own tasks. They don’t know anything about the other areas and can’t help each other. They don’t even know what needs to be done.”

“Hmm…”

Ghislain agreed that there were too few people capable of handling the amount of work.

Despite bringing Claude in to manage everything, they were still juggling too many tasks simultaneously.

No matter how competent the two of them were, they were still human and had their limits.

Ghislain knew this too, but with time running short and so much to do, he had no choice but to keep pushing Claude.

“There’s no other choice. You’ll just have to—wait, hold on.”

Suddenly, Ghislain thought of someone.

He wasn’t exactly trustworthy, but he could handle most of the tasks required to manage a territory.

That person would make a good assistant for Claude.

Ghislain’s face broke into a gentle smile.

“You’ve been struggling, haven’t you? How about I introduce you to someone? I know someone who could help you.”

“Is it a woman? Is she pretty?”

“It’s a man.”

“…No thanks.”

“Then you can keep doing everything alone.”

Claude bit his lip. His lord always pretended to give him a choice, but the answer was already decided.

With a sigh, he asked, “Who is it? If you’re going to leave him in charge of the territory’s affairs, he’d better know at least the basics.”

Even the help of a cat’s paw would be welcome at this point.

But to manage the territory’s work, the person had to know how to read and do basic math.

“Meet him first and see for yourself. Let’s go right now.”

“…Now?”

“Time is money.”

“Why are you in such a rush… We should at least contact him in advance. What if he refuses? What are you going to do then?”

Ghislain smiled faintly and replied.

“If he refuses, we’ll just kill him.”

Ghislain and Claude headed toward the old Digald Count’s castle.

On the way, as they surveyed the territory, both grimaced at the sight before them.

“Wow, this place is a mess. It’s like looking at our territory before we started fixing things. Actually, we’re much better off now.”

The Digald territory was still in ruins, unrecovered from the aftermath of the war.

Even Perdiem, strapped for both money and manpower, hadn’t been able to do much for the Digald lands.

They were barely surviving with the aid supplies Ghislain had sent, thanks to the runestones he provided.

It was a bitter situation, expanding land only to drain money without getting any taxes in return.

“I guess we’ll have to send some food later. Or maybe it’s better if I just take control of it myself?”

“You’re really a shameless scoundrel, aren’t you?”

“It’d be a waste. Leaving it to Perdiem will take way too long.”

Ghislain decided that once Fenris was fully stabilized, he would annex the Digald lands as well.

Leaving the territory idle felt like a waste, but for now, there was no other way.

Ghislain and Claude arrived at the Digald castle and headed straight for the underground prison.

“Hmm, where would he be? I told them not to let anyone take him.”

Most of the low-ranking officials who hadn’t directly participated in the war had already been taken by Perdiem.

But one man, at Ghislain’s request, had been left in the prison.

“Wow, there’s a lot of new faces here. This place is a real mess.”

The prison was filled to the brim with no empty cells.

Most of the prisoners were criminals who had been captured while causing chaos in the devastated territory.

Ghislain clicked his tongue as he checked each cell until he finally found the person he was looking for.

The man sat in his cell, alone, looking dazed. At least, he had been treated slightly better than the others, as his cell was relatively clean.

It was Lowell, the man who had once made Ghislain laugh with his ridiculous miscalculations and had thus survived.

“Hmm, was your name Lowell? Well, you’re still alive, I see.”

Lowell, who was as thin as a skeleton, looked up sharply at the sound of Ghislain’s voice.

“Wh-Who…?”

“It’s me. Don’t you remember?”

“Ahhh!”

Lowell scrambled back on his hands, pressing himself against the wall.

It was dark, so he couldn’t immediately recognize the man, but how could he ever forget that face?

Ghislain, the one who had stormed into Perdiem and Digald, slaughtering the Count and all his retainers after their surrender.

To Lowell, Ghislain was like the embodiment of death itself.

“Wh-What are you doing here? Are you here to kill me now?”

At first, Lowell had been relieved to survive after being thrown into the prison, but the longer he stayed, the more he became consumed with dread.

Everyone else had been released, yet he alone remained locked up.

That fear grew stronger every day, keeping him awake at night, afraid that they were saving him for execution.

And now, the devil himself had appeared.

“Please, spare me! I didn’t do anything wrong! I just did what I was told! I worked hard!”

Without responding, Ghislain asked him the same question he had before.

“So, what’s 750 times 1,920?”

“One million four hundred forty thousand!”

The answer came out instantly, like lightning.

Lowell had spent every day in prison replaying that moment in his head, thinking, I should have said this back then!

Claude, who hadn’t known any of this, was shocked at the quick response.

“What the—? Why’s he so fast?”

There wasn’t a moment of hesitation.

With a mind that sharp, he’d adapt quickly if we taught him, Claude thought.

He quickly turned to Ghislain and said, “I’ll take him. I can make good use of him.”

“How about it? Do you like him?”

“Yeah… Though he does look like a skeleton soldier. The food here must be terrible.”

“It’s probably because he hasn’t eaten much in prison. If we feed him well, he’ll be fine. That’s not what matters. Are you sure you want to take him?”

Their conversation sounded strange to Lowell.

Like him? Take him? Feed him well and use him?

Lowell instinctively tried to scoot further back, but the wall prevented him from escaping.

Just then, Ghislain grabbed the bars and spoke softly.

“Come work for me.”

“Wh-What kind of work?”

“Before I explain… how about we sign a 20-year contract as a slave? You know, just to show your commitment.”

“Twenty years…?”

Lowell wasn’t in any position to refuse. Twenty years or even thirty years of slavery didn’t sound bad if it meant staying alive.

But the way the conversation had gone left him feeling uneasy, so he didn’t answer right away.

Ghislain clicked his tongue, sighing as if he were annoyed.

“Alright, if you don’t like the idea of a slave contract, I won’t force you. I’ll give you another choice instead. Option 1: Starve to death in this prison. Option 2: Execution. Look at me, giving you so many options. I’m really getting soft.”

Though it wasn’t technically coercion, it felt like there was no other option.