Alfina followed along perfectly. She really is a good student. I didn’t think we’d get this far in a single lesson. Now then, what to talk about next?
And as I thought this over, I could hear the sounds of a carriage pulling up outside. It wasn’t the time-limited use pumpkin carriage, but a full-on luxury one. It was time for the apprentice assistant to return to the castle, like some sort of reverse Cinderella.
“We got to a good stopping point anyway. Let’s call it here for the day.”
“Understood. Thank you very much... Um, can I perhaps ask one last thing?”
“By all means.”
“What you talked about just now was simple to understand. By converting everything into money, many things can be seen as a single flow, right? But... that’s exactly why it feels somewhat frightening. Um... Is money truly everything?”
And right to the very end, she followed along to the very essence of the problem. Now then, how should I answer?
“And what do you think, Princess Alfina?”
It’s foul play to answer a question with a question. But this is a necessary step when the person in question doesn’t have a clear vision of their doubts. I remained quiet and waited for Alfina’s reply.
“...I don’t think... it’s everything.”
“In fact, I agree completely. Without money, you can’t feed yourself. But you can’t feed yourself with money. If there were a true shortage of food, you would no longer be able to purchase food with money. If a hoodlum were to point their sword at you, even if you offered them money, they may just take both your life and your money. And furthermore, say you used money to hire a guard; you can’t use money to judge whether the guard is trustworthy.”
If there truly was some sort of omnipotent power out there, it would likely be the ability to completely see another person’s abilities and character. It didn’t really need to be said, but it’s far more difficult to obtain such an ability than it is to obtain money.
There are things you can’t buy with money, and normally, such things are just that much scarcer and more important.
“I-I see.”
“Now then, in terms of restricting it just to the range of business, let’s think of money as the number one priority. A business spends money to earn money. So, would that mean the goal of business is to obtain money?”
What one gained from conducting business was profit, in other words, money. And if one doesn’t possess money, one cannot conduct business. When everything is interpreted as money, then the means is money, and the goal is money. That constant cycle makes it harder to understand the meaning behind it.
“I don’t know... Um, what do you think about it, Ricardo? I mean... What is your goal...?” Alfina asked me with upturned eyes.
She had long eyelashes and beautiful eyes. They somehow seemed even more earnest than ever before. I could tell that next to her, Mia’s body had stiffened up.
Now what to do? I don’t know what Alfina’s goal is, and she’s cutting to the chase before I can.
My goal, were it to be spoken aloud right now, is nothing but a pipe dream at this stage. Mia said it was something like creating an entire country, but the scale of the economic activity required to realize my goal would surely surpass the entire Kingdom.
Setting aside Alfina herself, how would Euphylia interpret such a thing? Just thinking of it made my head ache. This isn’t the stage where I can test the stool beneath my feet as I stand here with the noose around my neck.
“The contents of our lessons so far are insufficient for me to explain my goal. You’ll have to wait to hear my answer another time.”
“Understood. I will try my best to better understand y... business, so that you can tell me. Please take care of me from now on as well.”
After I dodged the question, Alfina declared her enthusiasm towards continuing her studies. Huh? Did that sound like some sort of promise just now?
“R-Right. Then we’ll continue tomorrow...”
“Unfortunately for you, sir, Princess Alfina is off starting tomorrow. Incidentally, both you and I must go to the Academy the day after tomorrow. We’ve been summoned by the director.”
“Is that so? Was that when his laboratory was supposed to get done?”
There was no mistaking that he wanted to show off his new lab. So, we’re going to school in spite of it being summer break? I don’t have much of a choice considering the matter of mana measurement, but I wanted to have a little bit more time for leisure.
“My, are the two of you also going to be at the Academy? As a matter of fact, I have also been summoned by the Student Council President Hilda regarding the Academy Festival.”
Alfina had both her hands together in front of her chest as she smiled, implying full well how happy she would be if we met there.
I’ll need to be extra careful with my choice of words the day after tomorrow. If I accidentally call her Fina at the Academy, I’ll be in for all sorts of hell.
We headed towards the entrance of the shop, and found Alfina’s maid standing before the carriage. Now that I think of it, my foster father, who usually traded places with Alfina, wasn’t here this time.
“The Archduchess has yet to break. My heart feels like it’ll break any time now.” The maid handed me a letter containing a rare show of whining from my foster father.
And as I thought of our dear president, held captive within that large mansion, Alfina suddenly turned around to face me, as if she had just remembered something.
“Ricardo. There’s one thing I’d like to ask of you. It’s about Clau...”