Chapter 25: Let’s Work Together (4)

In the Lillian Kingdom, commoners weren’t even allowed to look directly at a high noble without permission. That was the strict law of the land. Although Ultima was an upper-class citizen, just one step below nobility, he was still merely a citizen. Therefore, he had to show the utmost respect to Keter, who was a blood relative of a high noble family.

Tap tap.

Keter lightly kicked Ultima’s knee with his foot and said, “Let’s skip the formal titles between us and talk business.”

“Business...”

Though Keter called it business, it had already turned into a relationship of absolute power and submission.

“First, let’s settle the score for that little scam you pulled.”

Keter jumped straight to the conclusion, skipping any preamble. Ultima felt dizzy right from the start.

“Keter, if it’s money you want, just name your price. If you let me go, I’ll make sure to pay for my life.”

“Why are you in such a hurry when this is where your fate is going to be decided? Are you also going to return if you die? Is that it?”

“What are you talking about now?”

“Or, you can just repay everything you stole from the Sefira family.”

“...If I admit to fraud, the reputation of my company will be ruined. It would be the same as killing me.”

“Oh, come on—this isn’t your first business deal, is it? Just blame it on a subordinate and say it was their mistake. If you’re the one to admit it and pay compensation, your reputation might actually improve.”

While that made sense, Ultima couldn’t figure out what Keter stood to gain from it. If Keter was really a member of the Sefira family, it was odd why he hadn’t reported Ultima’s fraud to them. Ultima decided to stop pondering questions that had no clear answers.

“Fine, let’s say I admit my mistake, reduce the debt owed to Sefira, and pay compensation. What then?”

“I’ve got some things to dispose of. Buy them from me.”

“Dispose of?”

Ultima’s nose twitched. Even in this awful situation, his instincts as a merchant kicked in, and he sensed the opportunity for profit.

Just then, a voice called out from a distance.

“Master Ultima! Master Ultima! Where are you?”

“Butler Hans is looking for you!”

Ultima glanced at Keter, as if to ask what they should do.

Keter took the lead and said, “Let’s go. And smile a bit, will you? You look unpleasant when you don’t.”

“Hmph, fine, let’s go.”

Now Ultima understood why the people of Liqueur feared Keter so much. Keter’s intentions seemed clear but were elusive, and while it felt like one could reason with him, they really couldn’t. On top of that, he was a battle fanatic who disregarded pain and death, which meant he had no weaknesses.

Ultima, who recalled the nightmare of Liqueur, shuddered in repulsion, but he had no choice but to follow Keter toward the main gate of Sefira.

* * *

“You’re back, Mr. Ultima! Hm?”

The person waiting for Ultima at the main gate was Hans, the butler in charge of Sefira’s finances.

Hans was surprised to see Keter, who was standing beside Ultima.

“Lord Keter? What are you doing here...?”

“What do you do, Grandpa?” Keter asked.

“Oh, I am Hans. I take care of finances for the Sefira family.”

“Grandpa Hans, I see. It seems like the two of you had something to discuss. Please, go ahead and finish.”

“Oh, thank you. It is indeed an urgent matter.”

Hans glanced back at Ultima and was startled.

“Why are you sweating so much, and why are your cheeks so swollen?”

Ultima gave an awkward smile and made an excuse.

“I went into the woods to take care of something and got bitten by a bug. The sweat is from the nerves. I might not look it, but I’m fine, so don’t worry.”

“Ah, I see. Elder Reganon has granted you an audience. Let’s head to the reception room now.”

Meeting a Sefira elder was Ultima’s primary goal, but he had no intention of doing so with the ticking time bomb, Keter, by his side.

“No, I’m afraid something urgent has come up suddenly, so I must be going. My apologies.”

Just then, as he listened quietly, Keter placed a hand on Ultima’s shoulder.

“You were going to meet with Elder Reganon? Why?”

“It’s nothing. It really isn’t anything important, so you don’t have to worry, my lord.”

As Ultima denied it enthusiastically, Keter glanced at Hans.

Hans chose to remain silent as he didn’t particularly like Keter; in fact, he was wary of him. But Keter wasn’t the type to tolerate silence.

“Grandpa Hans, why are you keeping quiet? It’s obvious that you caused the family’s finances to be in complete shambles.”

“...!”

Keter had hit the nail on the head even though no one gave him a hint.

Hans looked at Ultima, his eyes reproachful as if he was asking why he told Keter about this. Ultima avoided Hans’s gaze.

I had nothing to do with it.

Keter, inserting himself between the two, spoke up.

“Enough with the staring. You’re going to give people the wrong idea.”

The two couldn’t withstand Keter’s pressure and finally headed to the reception room where Reganon was waiting.

* * *

Reganon was one of Sefira’s elders. He was the father-in-law of Besil, living deep underground. But now, after many years, he had come up to the surface because of the earnest request of Hans. Hans had pleaded with him to meet with Ultima, the creditor, and convince him to extend the grace period as the Sefira family’s financial situation was dire.

“...”

Reganon, seated in the reception room, appeared frail. Age had already dulled his skin, and his thin frame resembled a patient on the brink of death.

Two people sat before him. On the left was Ultima, the head of the Ultima Merchant Company, whom Hans had requested Reganon to meet. The man seated on the right needed no introduction; he was the spitting image of Besil in his younger, more vigorous days—Besil’s illegitimate son, Keter.

But why is he sitting beside the head of the Ultima Merchant Company?

Reganon turned to Hans, who was standing behind him, and asked, “Hans, why is Keter here with them?”

Before Hans could answer, Keter said, “I wanted to see what our elder looked like.”

“Now that you’ve seen me, you can leave,” Reganon replied curtly.

“Oh, come on, why so stingy, Grandfather?”

“You and I share not a drop of blood. Don’t fool yourself.”

“Does blood need to be shared to be family? Living under the same roof makes us all family.”

Keter’s brazen and friendly manner of speaking shocked not only Hans but also Ultima. Such disrespect toward a family elder was unforgivable, even for the legitimate heir of the family. Depending on the strictness of the punishment, it could even lead to the stripping of the Sefira name and expulsion from the family.

Keter, you’re breaking the record for how mad someone can be every minute.

Is he... insane?

Ultima shook his head, once again awed by Keter’s madness, while Hans, who had only heard rumors about Keter’s craziness and was now witnessing it firsthand, felt lightheaded. Even Reganon should have been no different.

“They say you were born in the lawless city of Absinthe. I can see you never learned proper manners.”

However, instead of getting angry, Reganon calmly scolded Keter with an air of ease, as if he were dealing with a child. But Keter was not one to be easily intimidated.

“Well, it’s true, so it doesn’t hurt much. You are the father of the late Countess Olive, aren’t you?”

For Reganon, Olive was a sensitive subject. Anyone who dared to hit that nerve was committing an act of recklessness that could lead to death—yet Keter, unfazed, calmly thrust his head into the lion’s mouth.

“That’s right. Who is your mother?”

“I don’t know either. I have to ask my father.”

“We took you in after your mother abandoned you. Don’t you feel at least a little gratitude?”

“Maybe I would have been grateful if you’d taken me in a bit earlier.”

“You’re certainly Besil’s son, given how you don’t let a single word slip by. So, Mr. Ultima, why did you wish to see me?”

Reganon smoothly shifted the conversation to Ultima. Keter couldn’t help but be genuinely impressed.

I dismissed him because I never saw this old man in my previous life, but he’s quite something.

It wasn’t just about his way with words; the calmness with which he maintained his composure was especially admirable. Like how strong warriors could gauge each other’s strength with just a single clash of swords, Keter felt this in their brief conversation.

This old man is worth observing.

It was a retreat for the sake of advancement. Keter quietly relinquished control of the conversation to Reganon.

Meanwhile, Ultima, who was meeting Reganon’s gaze, felt his back grow damp with sweat. His original intent in meeting Reganon was to use the family’s debt as leverage to pressure and humiliate him. Through that, he was going to tarnish the Sefira family’s honor and spread distrust within. But now...

That guy ruined everything. And now, he’s having a verbal fight with Elder Reganon while I, an outsider, am here?

It was impressive that Reganon maintained his dignity despite Keter’s rude behavior, but it was also clear that his mood had soured because of it. Having a conversation with someone who was in a bad mood was difficult enough, but when that person held all the power, it was extremely troublesome. The situation had turned entirely against Ultima.

The only silver lining was that this meeting was intended for him to admit his mistakes and apologize. He had the chance to strengthen his relationship with the Sefira family by disguising the fraud as a mistake. If Keter had insisted that he reveal it as fraud, Ultima would never have come here, as it would have given the Sefira family the justification to not repay the debt.

Ultima couldn’t make sense of Keter’s motives at all.

He says he wants to make the Sefira family the greatest on the continent, so why is he helping me?

Lost in these thoughts while dragging out the conversation with small talk, Ultima snapped back to reality when Reganon spoke.

“Mr. Ultima, you’ve been holding back from saying what you came here to say. Don’t you think it’s time to speak up?”

Ultima took a deep breath, buying himself a bit more time, then said in a serious tone, “First, I must apologize.”

“About what exactly?” Reganon asked.

Ultima started explaining the fraud he had committed against the Sefira family, framing it as a mistake made by a subordinate.

“It seems that one of my subordinates has been making accounting errors for some time. I discovered it late, but I intend to correct the mistake now.”

The mistake Ultima described was this: a subordinate responsible for accounting had been manipulating the quantities of goods supplied to the Sefira family and embezzled the payment. Ultima claimed to have discovered this only recently and now wanted to apologize.

He promised to send a detailed report on the financial loss inflicted upon the Sefira family and would deduct that amount from the debt owed. Furthermore, though it was the subordinate’s error, Ultima admitted that he was also responsible as the head of the merchant company for not noticing it sooner. Therefore, he offered to deduct an additional fifty thousand gold as compensation from the debt.

“The subordinate who embezzled the goods fled in the night, but we will track him down and ensure he pays for the crime of deceiving the Sefira family.”

Reganon remained silent after hearing the entire story, his gaze fixed on Ultima. Ultima, in turn, met Reganon’s stare without wavering.

Though he had been thoroughly shaken by Keter earlier, Ultima was still a seasoned veteran with considerable experience and a warrior who did not fear death.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Ultima managed to withstand Reganon’s silence, which Reganon was using to determine his true intentions.

“I suspected that the family was in debt. However, I didn’t realize that we were indebted to even a mere merchant like yourself. How much is it?”

“Originally, there was a debt of five hundred seventy thousand gold, but after excluding the promised compensation of fifty thousand, the total would be five hundred twenty thousand. The amount for the missing quantities will need to be investigated in detail, but I estimate it to be around one hundred thousand gold. So, the approximate total debt is four hundred twenty thousand gold.”

Reganon sighed at the mention of four hundred twenty thousand gold.

“Our Sefira family is really in debt because we don’t have a mere five hundred thousand gold? What a pitiful situation.”

Five hundred thousand gold was by no means a small amount. It was a significant sum, even for a high noble. However, it was different for a master family. It was normal for their finances to be robust enough to handle using one million gold spontaneously without blinking an eye.

The Sefira family’s poverty was not solely due to the lack of support from the royal family; the absence of private sources of income was a major factor in their financial difficulties.

State allowances were usually enough for nobles to live on, but no noble was content with just that. It was normal to want to expand one’s influence, so nobles usually sought out additional sources of income to ensure growth.

However, the Sefira family had no particular ambition for power or expanding their influence. They could do everything with the allowances provided by the royal family, so they didn’t have a pressing need to expand their finances.

Reganon, who had lived in those times, smiled bitterly at the current state of the Sefira family.

“Regardless, I must thank you, Mr. Ultima. Acknowledging your mistakes and accepting the losses—truly, you displayed a dignity equal to that of a noble.”

Just as Ultima’s lips began to curve into a smile from the high praise, Keter pinched Ultima’s waist and whispered very softly, “Who told you to be happy?”

Ultima immediately wiped the smile off his face and said, “No, my lord. I am not deserving of such praise. Elder Reganon, you need not forgive me for my mistakes.”

“Not at all. I forgive you. Compensation has already been made, so there is no reason for me not to forgive you.”

“You are too kind.”

“Then, is there anything else to discuss?”

“Oh...”

Ultima glanced at Keter, paused slightly, then said, “Yes. Keeping a busy elder for too long is clearly bad manners.”

Reganon quietly stood up and extended his frail right hand.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Ultima.”

Ultima held Reganon’s hand with both of his own and kissed the back of it.

“It was an honor for me as well.”

Just before leaving the reception room, Reganon turned back to look at Keter. Since Keter was also looking at Reganon, their eyes met.

“...Behave yourself. It will be beneficial for your well-being.”

With that, Reganon just left. Ultima felt a sense of anticipation, while Hans felt uneasy.

Will Keter stay quiet?

Fortunately, Keter did not respond with words. Instead, he threw up a long middle finger at Reganon’s back.