How to Live as a Hero in a Magical World (51)
Settling Accounts Is Fun ($)
Madam skipped any formal introduction and went straight to the point.
"First, I should thank you."
Neither of them could reveal their true names anyway.
So it was a reasonable approach.
Madam continued in an elegant voice.
"Among the heads you brought in, there was one unexpected prize."
"It wasn't something we expected, but..."
She smiled.
"You seem to have handled the aftermath well too."
"In the end, it helped us greatly."
"Thank you."
Kaian immediately knew she was talking about the dark elf leader.
"You knew that bastard?"
"His name was Sarvel Gratin."
Madam replied calmly.
"He was the young leader supported by the dark elf elders."
"He was also the main person responsible for restarting the human hunts."
She sighed.
"We suffered quite a few losses because of him."
Kaian frowned.
"Then you could've dealt with him yourselves."
Madam noticed the sharpness hidden in his words and smiled bitterly.
"If we'd attacked first, Sarvel would've happily started a war."
"That would've caused far more casualties."
"The Exchange Union has only recently established itself."
She shook her head.
"We wanted to avoid a serious conflict."
"So thank you for solving the problem on our behalf."
Kaian took a sip of sparkling water and answered bluntly.
"On your behalf?"
He looked at her.
"Are we really talking about the Exchange Union?"
Madam laughed, releasing an even stronger floral scent.
"What else would I mean?"
Kaian gave her a crooked smile.
This was exactly why he hadn't wanted to meet Madam.
People apparently described her as a daring woman who had built an exchange directly beneath the Silvaris border.
Kaian didn't believe that explanation.
Would Silvaris really not know about a massive exchange stretching directly beneath its own border?
They knew.
They simply allowed it.
Or Silvaris created this exchange from the beginning.
Administratively, Vernas Forest belonged to Silvaris.
But dark elves and magical beasts had settled there.
It had been abandoned as a lawless region.
Silvaris also had a painful history of attempting to wipe out the dark elves and failing.
But because the forest was so dangerous...
It served as a natural buffer zone between the Silvaris Federation and the Valancia Empire.
Maybe Silvaris intentionally created the image of Vernas Forest as a lawless region.
It was entirely possible.
Cleaning up and maintaining the forest would require enormous money and manpower.
Perhaps they decided it was better to leave it lawless while secretly controlling it from behind.
If so...
The northern entrance may have been created for exactly that purpose.
But did the exchanges really not understand Silvaris's intentions?
Of course they did.
They probably decided the profits from the northern entrance were good enough.
F&F and the other exchanges had never wanted to become rulers of the forest.
As long as business continued, they didn't care who acted as owner.
They merely preferred a kinder owner.
Their interests overlap, which is probably why they created the ⟨Vernas Exchange Union⟩.
But Kaian was different.
What if Madam really is connected to Silvaris?
If he joined hands with them simply because it benefited him now...
Who knew what consequences might appear later?
Kaian set down the sparkling water.
Let's figure out whether what's coming out of her mouth is shit or a brownie.
Madam immediately presented something that looked like a delicious brownie.
"Shall we discuss the most important matter?"
She smiled.
"Your settlement."
Madam clapped once.
Clap!
A golden balance scale appeared in the air.
Sparkle!
A magical tool?
Kaian studied the floating scale.
Then his eyes widened.
He'd seen the goblin symbol engraved on the pans in a book before.
He nearly screamed.
"Don't tell me..."
"Is that [Gold Digger]?!"
Madam looked pleased.
"Oh my. If you recognize it, this will be much easier."
She gestured toward it.
"It's one of the reasons clients trust our northern entrance."
"Wow..."
Kaian finally understood how ⟨Saint Dust⟩ had gained the trust of the other exchanges.
[Gold Digger] was a magical tool that calculated the value of an achievement while taking real-world conditions into account.
It had been created using lost goblin magic.
Perhaps because it contained the powerful desire of goblins who refused to let anyone cheat them out of their rightful share...
No magic other than its activation spell could interfere with it.
Because of that...
The image of a "golden balance scale" had become a symbol of honest trade without deception.
And this dream magical tool of merchants everywhere...
[Gold Digger]...
Belonged to Madam of ⟨Saint Dust⟩.
"Seriously?"
Kaian stared at it.
"I heard it disappeared during the Age of Chaos."
"So it was actually hiding at the deepest part of Sector 1 all this time?"
Madam responded to his crooked question with an elegant smile.
"Please don't misunderstand."
"It came into our possession through an entirely legal and reasonable transaction."
She put on the gold-rimmed glasses she'd removed earlier.
Then she pulled a document toward herself with a gesture.
Rustle.
"[Let's see what share belongs to you.]"
Mana entered her voice.
Apparently that was the activation command for [Gold Digger].
The golden scale floating in the air trembled.
Then it shone even brighter.
Hummmm...
"First, the fee for the highest-grade logistics escort request."
Madam read from the document.
"The original fee was two gold."
"After subtracting the 33.3 percent commission..."
"That is, thirteen silver and thirty-two copper..."
As Madam read the figures, the letters rose from the paper.
They floated toward the right pan of [Gold Digger] and curled there like a snake.
Rustle-rustle...
"The final escort fee is twenty-six silver and sixty-eight copper."
She continued.
"I also confirmed that F&F covered the three-silver cost of the temporary shelter."
Kaian could feel mana coming from Madam's gold-rimmed glasses while she spoke.
They were probably a magical tool that assisted with calculations.
"That money now belongs to you."
As if [Gold Digger] understood the weight of the writing sitting on its pan, it vibrated once.
Hummm!
Then...
Silver and copper coins began appearing on the left pan.
Twenty-six silver coins.
Sixty-eight copper coins.
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
Clink!
Kaian's mouth dropped open as he watched actual money appearing in real time.
His heart pounded wildly.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
Madam, meanwhile, looked completely accustomed to the sight.
She calmly continued reading.
"Next is the bounty on Sewer Rat Pett."
"The person Pett murdered was a fairly wealthy merchant, so the bounty was unusually high."
"The wanted poster lists forty-five gold."
She adjusted her glasses.
"But because you've solved a long-unsolved case, there's an additional reward of one gold and ten silver."
Madam almost sang the details.
The letters danced through the air in response.
Rustle-rustle...
More dazzling gold coins appeared on [Gold Digger].
Clatter! Clink!
Kaian didn't know what to do as the pile of money grew larger and larger without spilling.
Seeing coins appear directly before his eyes was completely different from seeing numbers written on a settlement paper.
For a moment...
Kaian genuinely thought his heart might stop.
But Madam wasn't finished.
"You already checked the dark elf market rate, correct?"
"Ten silver per individual."
"So for seventy-five..."
She smiled.
