“D-D-D…”
Is she trying to cast the Diacute spell?
“D-D-Did you hit your head or something?! You can’t go after a noble! That would be suicide! We’ve accomplished enough already!”
Huh? Is it really that bad of an idea?
Larusia then carefully admonished Mitsuha in the kindest way possible. She believed that Enoba Company’s owner most likely attacked her company of his own accord, not because of any specific orders from the nobles he served. He was acting alone, hoping to obtain exclusivity over Yamano County goods. If the nobles did make a demand, it was probably nothing more than a vague request like “Acquire me a larger amount of Yamano County goods.” From there, Enoba Company’s owner came up with the idea of seizing the distribution rights and using the goods to make massive profits. That much was predictable.
It certainly wouldn’t be hard to get filthy rich after obtaining an exclusive deal over Mitsuha’s goods. She supplied her business partners with luxurious alcohol and delicacies, and limited quantities of cosmetics. The wives and daughters had been pestering their husbands and fathers to obtain the latter at all costs. Creating a monopoly over those items would put one in a position to become the primary supplier for many powerful nobles, and potentially even the royal palace. Massive profits, greater social rank, and fame would be guaranteed.
In theory, at least. I don’t allow my partners to set excessively high prices, and I would never supply my goods to the merchant who attacked Larusia Trading. His plot never had any hope of succeeding.
In short, Larusia convinced her boss not to mess with the nobility. Mitsuha wasn’t keen on gaining more enemies or starting more fights in this country anyway. It’d be inconvenient if the Entrepreneur Girl International Network gained a reputation for being antagonistic toward nobles.
I guess I’ve got no choice but to listen to her. It’s one of those moments where you just have to step down and say, “That’s enough chaos for today, mwahahaha!”
Nevertheless, I am gonna take one more precaution. I want to make sure no one else─whether it be the remaining accomplices at Enoba, relatives of the owner, nobles, or merchants─tries to harm Larusia or her business
That shouldn’t be a challenge. All I have to do is visit the nobles who assisted us to show my appreciation and warn, “If anything happens to Larusia Trading or Larusia herself, I’ll deem this country too dangerous to do business in and move out entirely. I’ll also forbid my partner stores in other countries from trading with any merchants from this land.” That’ll be even more effective if I add, “Please share the word with all the merchants you associate with.”
It’s easy enough to find another merchant who sells general goods, but there’s no replacement for Larusia Trading. Any merchant who couldn’t figure out which of the two is more expendable is unfit for their job.
Oh, I need to make sure enough of the indemnities are paid to the family of the deceased guard…
“Lady Mitsuha, do you want Enoba’s former storefront property?” Larusia asked.
“Huh? What the heck…?”
It’d been a few days. Mitsuha was visiting Larusia Trading to let her partner know that she’d be returning to Vanel soon, figuring it was time to return to their normal working relationship. They were drinking tea when Larusia made the sudden offer.
The girl elaborated, “The individual stores of the other five companies are going to remain in business, but Enoba Company is being dissolved. They were the main culprit behind the attack, so that’s not exactly surprising…
“Even if Enoba were to continue under new management, they couldn’t possibly maintain a store in the same location. They wouldn’t be able to attract customers. The potential buyer would have to use it for a completely different type of business or just convert it into a private home or a warehouse… Unless that buyer is someone who obviously has no friendly ties to Enoba, like a former victim of theirs. Someone like me…or you.”
I see where she’s going with this…
Mitsuha responded, “So what you’re saying is that no third party wants to touch that property no matter how low the price is because it’s now associated with the scandal. If the current owners do manage to sell the space, it’ll be for pennies. Their only hope of fetching a decent price is by selling it to someone who won’t be negatively affected by it. Is that right?”
“Exactly!”
I knew it…
“Buying the building would be a waste of money for me,” said Mitsuha. “To put it bluntly, my home base isn’t in this country. I’d have no use for it. If one of us is going to buy it, it’d have to be you.”
To Mitsuha, Voftress was nothing more than one of the many lands that had a partner store in the Entrepreneur Girl International Network. She only made an appearance because of the attack on Larusia Trading. She had to protect her friend and prevent similar incidents from occurring in other countries by showing that she and the girls in her network were not to be messed with. She had no attachment to this country or any reason to establish a warehouse here.
Mitsuha had told all her partner store owners that her distribution center was on an isolated island not far from the continent. There was no other way to explain how quickly she was able to deliver her goods. Besides, trade within the continent was subject to taxes.
In truth, she was sneaking in her goods to each store with her world-jumping ability. The Entrepreneur Girl International Network partner stores sold far more than just her products, however. They also sold goods from other countries in the New World, and the distribution hub for them was Lephilia Trading in Vanel. Lephilia recently acquired a new storehouse, and she’s putting it to good use.
The general goods from this world made up most of the partner stores’ stock. Yamano County goods were a limited luxury used as negotiating chips for dealing with nobles and other merchants. As a result, the partner stores received most of their goods via caravan, and only a small fraction was from the viscountess.
Mitsuha had no need for a plot of land in Voftress.
Oh, I know what she’s doing!
“Larusia, are you by chance trying to get me to settle permanently here?” Mitsuha probed.
“Grk…”
I knew it… I mean, I get how she feels. If I lived here, it’d be convenient for Larusia. Plus, she’d feel safer. But I can’t do that. I can’t give her special treatment over the other girls in the Entrepreneur Girl International Network.
Lephilia was just lucky. Vanel was the reason I came to this continent in the first place. I made it my base out of necessity. Lephilia became my first prey─er, business partner─because she happened to be from Vanel.
And now that I have a home in Vanel, I have no need to establish another one.
“I doubt anyone is going to meddle with your company again. We can consider this case closed. I’ll come running back if anything else happens, okay? So you don’t need to worry,” Mitsuha reassured her friend.
“O-Okay…”
Larusia didn’t really think Mitsuha would move her base here. It was a long shot, but she at least had to try.
Mitsuha didn’t actually spend much time in Larusia’s country while working on the case. She only jumped here for a few hours whenever her presence was needed or when she had an errand to run. The rest of her days were spent in Yamano County or in the capital of Zegleus.
Larusia didn’t know that, and therefore thought that Mitsuha was here the entire time for her sake. That probably got her hopes up a little that she’d stay forever. That wasn’t unreasonable, given the time and money Mitsuha supposedly spent to travel and lodge until the brutes behind the attack were punished. It looked like she put herself in real danger to ensure Larusia’s safety.
Larusia’s young, but she’s considered an adult in this country. She’s also one of my hand-picked members of the Entrepreneur Girl International Network, and a fierce and independent she-wolf. She’ll be fine on her own. I believe in her!
Mitsuha was certain that no one else would attack Larusia Trading. The nobles and merchants throughout the continent knew that she wasn’t on good terms with the Vanelian royal family, which could be interpreted as having no special attachment to Vanel. Half of them were probably scheming to recruit her to settle in their country, while the other half was content to leave her alone, trusting that she wouldn’t let Vanel hog all the benefits from her trading business.
The earnings from Mitsuha’s goods were sizable for her or for a small, budding company, but they were paltry compared to a major company’s sales, a noble’s income, or a country’s national budget. The nobility and royalty throughout the continent didn’t want Yamano County goods because of their earning potential; they wanted them because they were simply hooked on the delicious alcohol and food. They were also under constant pressure from their wives and daughters to get a hold of the beauty products and sweets.
Trying to obtain exclusive distribution rights over them wasn’t worth the risk of harming international relations. Aggressing a partner store could be met with a full-force counterattack; maintaining a normal, healthy business relation guaranteed the lavish goods. The partner stores were all on good terms with Mitsuha, and any merchants who tried to buy them out were sure to get burned or put out of business.
The partner stores would all become a little safer once news of this incident spread.
Larusia dropped the idea of getting Mitsuha to purchase the former Enoba property. She gazed at the viscountess and said softly, “You’re so young, yet you helped establish so many businesses all throughout the continent. You’ve created a network to connect them across borders, and you’re fearless in the face of violence and people in power… Just who are you, Lady Mitsuha?”
There’s only one way to answer a question like that. Here’s my chance!
“I’m Mitsuha von Yamano, just an ordinary viscountess! You can find me anywhere in the world!”
Whoops, that made it sound like I exist everywhere in the world at once. I’m not omnipresent─that’s Yog-Sothoth. I meant that you could find viscountesses like me anywhere in the world.