'The guild master once visited our house.'
I remembered secretly seeing his face at that time.
The current Keelevelt Guild Master was not someone to be messed with.
Contrary to the general image of the Guild as money-obsessed misers, they never engaged in dirty deals and particularly abhorred the slave trade.
Even before the current Emperor officially abolished the illegal trade of non-human races, the Kelvelt Guild had never touched the black market.
For this reason, Kellefelt was seen as inflexible for a union of its era.
However, this also gave them the image of a sophisticated guild that dealt in high-quality goods, without the stigma of selling stolen or low-quality goods.
This has brought them great benefits in the long run.
This perception of trustworthiness grew around Kelleyfeldt.
Trust is the most important aspect in commodity trading.
For novice merchants who could not guarantee the quality of their goods, Kellyvelt became the most trustworthy trading partner.
'Being a large guild, they also settle scores quickly.'
I wondered if there was any other information about Kellyvelt.
I went to my office and looked through the papers.
There was a newspaper that I had not noticed earlier.
As usual, the newspaper did not contain the information I had hoped for.
'And this... oh?
Did Emma send a message?
When did this arrive?'
The letter was tucked neatly in a corner of the mailbox, so I hadn't noticed it before.
'Why a message suddenly?'
[Miss, how are you?
Emma feels lonely and sad without you.
By the way, you mentioned that the mercenary you're with is incredibly handsome, right?
After thinking about it, wouldn't it be better for you to settle down there with that handsome man…].
I folded the letter in half and read it again.
[...it seems like a big deal].
Big order?
As soon as I opened the letter completely, my eyes widened.
[Duke Lockhart plans to inspect the supplies arriving at the port, and it appears he will be traveling by land.
I heard he mentioned that he would visit properties he had not visited in a while on his way to the port].
A shiver ran down my spine.
Who visits where? impossible.
[Grunwald happens to be along his route, so there is a high probability that the Duke will stop in the land you are in!
So, if you've settled down with that handsome man, maybe it's time to go back…].
I immediately ran into the house.
This was an unexpected development.
Maybe my father would have passed through this area?
Why choose the land route when there is ease in teleportation magic?
‘Grunwald is vast, so as an ordinary citizen here, I probably won’t have to face the Duke…’
But I had a bad feeling about it.
I went straight to the lord's castle to confirm the facts.
“Lord, is it true that Duke Lockhart will visit Grunwald?”
“Yes indeed, but how did Miss know about this?”
So he's really coming.
I paced back and forth, lost in thought.
My father is coming to Grunwald.
If we happen to meet...
It was reasonable doubt.
All of my father's actions had meaning.
'..what day is it?'
Back home, I tried to think calmly.
If it was certain that my father was coming, to remove as much risk as possible…
'There is only one way.'
At that moment, the door opened and Dale entered the house.
“Dale, I have something I want to tell you.”
He looked at me with a tense expression, his golden eyes wavering strangely.
“Shall we go to DC?”
Dale tilted his head in amazement.
“Isn't this the place you should be most careful, Enya?”
“The thing is, Daddy is coming.”
“My father-in-law is coming?”
Dale still looked surprised.
“When it's just the two of us, you don't have to call him that.
Just call him Duke Lockhart or the Duke.”
“……”
Dale's expression darkened.
“So, we were thinking of going to the capital in the winter, why not go a little early?”
I said, looking at the calendar.
It was close to the start of winter training.
The Emperor would be with the knights at the beginning of training to raise their morale, and then return to the capital around the middle of the year, when the real mock battles would begin.
“When my father leaves the capital and when the Emperor vacates the Imperial Palace.
It's almost the same time.”
I drew a circle on the calendar.
“We can stay in the capital during this time, it's safer that way.”
“But you might run into some people you used to know, Enya.”
“Don't worry about it, I have a disguise potion.”
I had a disguise potion that I carried with me all the time.
“No one will suspect it.”
“Are you sure you want to go to the capital?”
“Don't you like that, Dale?”
He hesitated to answer, and there was a troubled look on his face.
Draw the thick curtains to block the breeze coming from the window.
“I feel like winter is coming now, and the weather is getting very cold, and this house has no buildings next to it, so it will be very cold.”
The house on the hill was beautiful, but that was the problem.
It will not be well protected from the wind.
“It would be better if we let someone else take care of the house for a while, wouldn't it?”
I convinced Dale.
"Right.
There's a big tree decorated in the capital at the end of the year.
Has Dale ever seen it?"
“……Yes.
Once or twice.”
“And that tree is decorated with glow-in-the-dark stones, right?”
“Mostly.”
At the end of the year, it is customary to decorate all the trees in the shopping areas and busy streets of the capital with illuminated stones to celebrate the safe arrival of the last season of the year.
But glowing stones will be in short supply this year.
“It rained so heavily that the glowing stones needed to stay in the groundwater, which they did not.”
However, there is a large amount of glowing stones buried in Grunwald.
Viscount Kydland was extracting glowing stones and selling them for a lot of money.
The glowing stones were not particularly valuable.
However, today it is worth 1.5 times more than it was before.
Then there is winter.
Who cares about farming equipment in winter?
It's time to focus on warmth and food storage.
Farming tools that work in the fields, such as the shovel, are only useful in the spring.
The supply of luminous stones for the entire capital was now in Kilovelt's hands.
It was the current Emperor who elevated Kilovelt to undisputed first place.
Among all the guilds, the Kilovelt Guild was one of those who did not swear allegiance to the former Emperor.
I looked at Dale.
“If there is a shortage of Luminous Stones, the Kilovelt Guild will attempt to import supplies from abroad.”
“They will bring it at a higher price.”
“They will start preparing to decorate the streets in about ten days, and everything should be ready by then.”
I looked at the calendar.
“The deal should be done in about 8 days.
I must inform the lord quickly.”
“Enya.”
Dale called me then.
He looked at me with a worried expression.
“That's a good idea, but it won't do any good to Enya.”
Dale didn't seem to understand why I wanted to help Grunwald so badly.
“Enya’s health is important to me.
I hope you don’t overdo it.”
“Thank you, but I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart.”
"then……."
“In the place I sometimes dreamed of, I had a way of selling worthless things.”
Dale's eyes narrowed at my words.
“When you sell something of great value, you tempt the buyer into buying something they don't need.”
Dale's eyes widened as if he'd never heard this before.
“Was there a way to do that?”
“When glowing stones are traded in the dark, the shovel will be quietly introduced.
If no one buys the shovel, the glowing stones will not be sold.
Instead, the price of the glowing stones will be reduced.”
I laughed a little.
“It's a lucrative deal, isn't it?”