Chapter 42

(Long)

■■■ ＜Red Lock＞Cherina Veriello (2) ■■■

I did not want to meet Baron Rettel.

His Excellency also has feelings for me. Although not as obvious as His Majesty, he makes advances at every opportunity. Indeed, considering the power dynamics of this country, it would be beneficial for the Rettel family and the Veriello Trading Company to have a connection. The various privileges the Baron possesses are all very attractive.

Therefore, I have no choice but to regularly accept his invitations to dinner.

Before I knew it, I had involved Akira in the dinner.

What do I expect from him?

Introducing him to the Baron would yield nothing. Rather, it would only bring negative consequences.

I couldn't even understand why I had brought him along.

His Excellency the Baron was still a repulsive person.

It was difficult to suppress my disgust.

His conversation was nothing but boasting, which was not interesting at all.

However, Akira became increasingly engrossed in the Baron's boasting. Initially, the Baron seemed annoyed by Akira, but perhaps he was happy that someone was listening, and as time passed, he began to enjoy the conversation with Akira. Eventually, he stopped talking to me and started chatting with Akira alone.

Having a connection with the Baron as a merchant is a very meaningful thing. Normally, such a connection would be impossible to achieve. To form a bond with the notoriously difficult Baron Rettel in just one dinner is simply unbelievable.

Despite this, I wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Yet, Akira tried to leave without me!

It was an unbelievable act!

I somehow managed to decline the Baron's invitation and got into the carriage to go home. Of course, Akira was with me, but I couldn't bring myself to speak to him.

When we got off the carriage at the trading company, I could only mutter curses.

---

The next morning, when I went to my usual spot, Akira and an elf were together.

He had a very muscular body, which was unlike any elf. I immediately realized he must be Yararai of the <Black Needle>.

Akira seemed to know him. How could he form connections with the Veriello Trading Company, <Black Needle> Yararai, and the Baron, as well as the Church of the Earth Mother, in just a few days? Perhaps it was divine providence.

While chatting with Akira, I was letting my guard down.

"What kind of relationship do you have with the Baron? And what do you want from me?"

I didn't understand.

Could he possibly think that I have a romantic relationship with the Baron?

That's a ridiculous misunderstanding.

I explained the situation, but he didn't understand. We went back and forth a few times.

"Finally, I get it. You're not clear about your own feelings, so your actions are inconsistent. First, you need to clarify your feelings."

I was speechless at Akira's words.

My feelings.

Has anyone ever asked me about them? My feelings are not necessary for the development of the trading company.

But I finally understood. My actions were inconsistent because I couldn't let go of those feelings.

I gathered my thoughts and expressed them.

"An ambiguous attitude is bad for the other person. You should make it clear soon."

He started walking without looking at me.

I couldn't take my eyes off his back.

---

After that, it was just routine work for a while.

Occasionally, Akira's suggestions were revolutionary, though he himself didn't seem to realize it.

The way people in the trading company looked at him worsened day by day.

But Akira took it all in stride. If it were a normal person, they might have gone insane. What kind of life has he led?

When I read the parchments flying around, I found myself following him with my eyes.

But when he noticed and met my gaze, my heart pounded, and I quickly looked away. If I didn't want to look at him, why did I keep sneaking glances at him?

This was a first for me. What was happening?

When he praised me as capable, I felt like I could fly. Maybe I was sick. I should call a doctor soon.

"By the way, I want to talk to you while no one else is around."

His serious face made me finally focus.

It seemed he was trying to create something new again.

He took out a technical book, just like yesterday.

It was a bit thin, but the content was very dense.

As I read on, it seemed he was trying to create something similar to coal.

Specifically, charcoal, which seemed quite difficult and the quality depended on the skill of the craftsman.

I didn't understand the point of creating something similar to firewood with so much effort, but Akira's proposal alone was worth trying.

I called Dauro, and he arrived by lunchtime. He must have come quickly on horseback. I instructed him to make the charcoal and he smiled, copying the diagram.

I could trust Dauro. He was the one who helped my father grow the Veriello Trading Company. His skills were top-notch.

After negotiating with a few merchants, the long-awaited prototype of the aetheric device arrived.

Halogene, who could create prototypes in such a short time, was an excellent person. I had tried to recruit him to Veriello several times, but he stubbornly refused, saying it was a store with memories of his late wife, a romantic story.

The prototype he brought was already the seventh version. This was impressive in such a short time. The thickness was a bit more than expected, but it wasn't bad.

Akira pointed out the flaws, but it was good enough.

Just as we were about to start mass production, Akira tested the prototype.

At that moment, Akira gave me a second shock, a major blow since the talk about the economic free city.

When Akira used the aetheric device for lighting, the room was filled with light ten times brighter than usual. Moreover, it was a difficult-to-imagine white light, brighter and whiter than the aetheric devices used by the Baron's excellent alchemists.

The three of us in the room were speechless, as if time had stopped.

He didn't seem to realize what he had done, and he looked at me with a silly smile. I felt a slight anger at his expression. I couldn't leave this extraordinary person alone.

This place was not sufficient to make him understand the abnormal situation.

I warned the two present not to speak of it and put the matter aside.

Akira seemed unsatisfied, but I ignored him and continued the discussion about mass production.

However, Akira then suggested using "washi" (Japanese paper).

While the concept of washi was still hard to grasp, it felt like a good idea if it was similar to parchment. If washi didn't work, perhaps the highest quality thin parchment could be used.

Since we didn't have a sample of washi, we decided to delay the production of the aetheric device.

How deep is Akira's creativity?

---

I needed to make Akira understand the gravity of the situation.

I took Akira and Melvin outside the city.

There, I handed Akira a "light sword" aetheric device to the guard.

He looked at it curiously, but I instructed him to use the light sword without giving him any preconceived notions.

He thought for a moment with a silly expression and aimed the aetheric device at a large rock.

And in the next moment.

It wasn't a light sword, but a barrage of short light arrows rained down continuously.

The large rock was instantly reduced to powder.

I had imagined it, thinking that if Akira used the light sword, it would have an unbelievable power.

I thought the light sword would exceed ten, and the large rock would crack... or maybe split in two... or that was too exaggerated. But it would certainly have the power to significantly erode the rock.

Who could have imagined this? Probably hundreds... I couldn't tell how many, but perhaps thousands of light arrows were fired, not just splitting but pulverizing the rock. It was beyond imagination.

My thoughts stopped, and I'm sure you can understand that the usually calm and composed Melvin was on the verge of tears.

When I came to, I was being carried by Akira. It seemed I had fainted.

Leaning on him, I felt strangely calm. So when he hurriedly let go of me, I felt strangely lonely.

I had a somewhat silly conversation with Akira but regained my composure and showed him Melvin's light sword, which was supposed to be more powerful.

Did he understand his abnormality?

"Tell me that before."

Looking at his face as he received the aetheric device from Melvin, I was certain he didn't understand. And this was proven a few seconds later.

He changed the trajectory of the light sword, launched it into the sky, and made it scatter beautifully. My head hurt. He understood nothing.

I realized something.

"Akira... common sense doesn't apply to you."

I stated it. Melvin nodded.

Looking at Akira, I almost forgot what common sense was.

And I added more.

"By the way, if you don't mind, I want to see how many you can launch at once."

Akira's casual suggestion. In less than a second, I decided it was better to check. The aetheric device for the light sword would probably be destroyed, but...

He lightly held the aetheric device, and light swords appeared, three, four, five, and then rapidly increased to five, ten, fifteen. What was he doing?

If this was discovered by alchemists, they might dissect his brain.

I didn't have the confidence to see more light swords. Just as I wished, the aetheric device finally broke with a sound.

Akira, who was not a professional alchemist, had the "power" to break an aetheric device.

I didn't know how to handle him.

He seemed to take the situation lightly. When I consulted the elf, he easily dismissed my concerns with a wave of his hand.

I was worried.

---

The next day, the morning conversation was not pleasant.

We talked a bit about the country, and I re-realized the hopelessness of the future.

No, I need to work hard.

When my father returns, the situation might change a bit?

---

The next two days passed without incident.

Occasionally, Akira's offhand suggestions were revolutionary, and he didn't seem to understand at all. Merchants who accidentally heard the secrets of the world pretended not to notice and left their seats.

Everyone, hoping I wouldn't notice, went through the motions of harmless negotiations, which I found amusing. I was already short-handed, so if they could produce something and bring it to our trading company, it would be enough.

They would surely put their best efforts into realizing the revolutionary ideas they had touched upon.

Akira, who came up with such ideas, yawned and looked sleepy when we were alone.

If one of my subordinates acted like this, they would be fired immediately. What was wrong with me?

Finally, I received word that the prototypes of the charcoal and washi were complete.

I canceled all my afternoon meetings and headed to the location.

It was one of our experimental grounds, where we usually conducted agricultural research and various studies using rivers. It was a perfect place for the current prototypes.

I saw the samples from Dauro, a craftsman and enthusiastic researcher.

First, the washi. When I saw the actual product, I was immediately enchanted.

This was an incredible product.

I decided to make it a pillar of our trading company.

Land transport was under my father's jurisdiction, but I would discuss increasing the number of cargo wagons as soon as he returned. Until then, I would focus on establishing mass production.

Following Akira's advice, we decided to produce washi for aetheric devices, documents, and an unbelievable use as a cleaning paper.

It would likely sell well to slightly wealthy merchants and nobles, even if not to the general public.

Akira determined that the charcoal did not meet the minimum quality standards, so it was postponed.

Perhaps because it was not complete, I didn't fully understand the advantages of charcoal. I would leave it to Dauro.

I was enjoying a casual conversation with Akira on the way back in the carriage, but we were interrupted.

The carriage stopped suddenly, and I found myself clinging to Akira. For some reason, I didn't want to let go and clung to him.

The intruders were bandits, but the guards could handle them.

I wanted to maintain this position, but it was strange.

I immediately realized it was a diversion.

There must be another group targeting the carriage directly.

I was in a bad mood from having my pleasant time interrupted, so I got out of the carriage.

As expected, there was a hidden lunatic.

Since I was in a bad mood, I decided to take it out on him.

Despite the elaborate diversion, there was only one person waiting in ambush. They should have used their heads more.

I used the Red Lock to knock the lunatic down. There was no resistance or challenge.

When I saw Akira's surprised face, I felt a sudden relief.

But that was a complete mistake.

Perhaps it was a plan to get me out of the carriage.

As I was stomping on the bandit, Akira suddenly lunged at me. For a moment, I didn't understand what was happening, but the scratch on his cheek made everything clear. Another bandit must have been hiding and aimed a crossbow at me. Akira must have noticed and protected me.

I had never been pinned down by a man before. Well, I had been protected by guards many times, but it didn't leave much of an impression.

Akira's face was right in front of me.

My heart beat wildly.

It seemed I was sick.

---

When we returned to the trading company, "Shadow" had returned.

Since Akira was with me, I had given him another task.

"They want to meet you."

Shadow said quietly.

"Them...?"

Honestly, I didn't want to. I agreed with their ideology in many ways, but I couldn't bring myself to act with them.

"Let's provide them with moderate funding to keep them at bay."

"They insist on speaking directly this time..."

"That's unusual. They usually back off at this point."

"Should I eliminate them?"

"It would be meaningless."

Indeed, eliminating their leaders would temporarily stop their activities, but they operate on a different ideology from the country. Someone else would likely take over and restart their activities.

And they were increasing in number, to the point where they couldn't be hidden anymore.

"...Understood. Provide them with an escort."

"As you wish."

As I stood up, I suddenly remembered Akira's face and words.

--- Economic Free City.

I shook my head and walked out.