Mimosa shrugged. “Well, you have been going up and down the Great River Rune with Calmwinds’s name and logo emblazoned on your sail for all to see—he was bound to find out sooner or later,” she said calmly. Apparently the count’s purported rage hadn’t rattled her in the slightest.
“Still, I’m guessing his meddling is making things pretty tough... I know you’ve gotta put your employees first, Mimosa. If it’s affecting your business, I won’t be upset if you decide to call off the sponsorship deal.”
Mimosa’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t underestimate me, Lenn. I signed up for this knowing this day would eventually come. Everyone at Calmwinds was aware of the risk too, and they were all dedicated to making sure your ridiculous idea succeeded—they still are. No one wanted to quit, but for the ones with families relying on them, I found them new jobs and ‘fired’ them until this whole thing blows over. Everyone left at Calmwinds... Well, they’re willing to risk everything they have.”
The faces of Katzo, Con, and the other tough but kind seafarers from Calmwinds flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t do anything but nod.
“I have a dream—a dream everyone at Calmwinds shares. I told you about it the first night we met, right? Well, if I want that dream to come true, I need the name Calmwinds to be known across the whole of Yugria—and an opportunity like this isn’t gonna come around again. I’m not the type to jump overboard when a big wave is coming, Lenn, not when our goal is just on the other side. I know you could probably replace us without breaking a sweat, but I’m not gonna be the one to back out of our deal. If you want us gone, you’ll have to be the one to say it.”
A dream, huh? Wait, I do remember her saying something about growing the company, making more money, building bigger ships, and sailing out to the open seas... Yeah, it was something along those lines, anyway.
The open seas were dangerous, swarming with mysterious and formidable monsters. However, those monsters—or more specifically, the valuable materials they could be made into—had lured many an ambitious seafarer toward the uncharted seas with a promise of either great riches or a watery grave.
I shrugged. “Well, it seems like your mind’s already made up, so I won’t bother trying to convince you otherwise. But there’s no point fighting back against the count unless you’re sure you’ll win—unless you’re sure you’ll make it over that big wave, as you put it. How do you know you’re not gonna sink, Mimosa?”
She snorted. “Well, because I trust my crewmates. I have faith in them, and in you and Dan, kiddo. If you want a less flowery answer though, it’s because we control all of the shipbuilding and maintenance docks in the entire Sardos County. We won’t go under overnight, no matter what he does to us—and he’s not stupid enough to try either. If Calmwinds goes down, there’d be no docks or ships for his imports and exports. Sure, he’ll keep trying to interfere with business until we either agree to his demands or sell Calmwinds to him, but we can hold our own until you and Dan have graduated, if not longer.” She smirked. “And while he’s trying to wear us down, we’ll be moving our base of operations to Runerelia and making Calmwinds one of the biggest companies in all of Yugria. By the time he’s ready to throw everything he has at us, we’ll be out of his reach. To be honest, I was starting to get bored out in that backwater town anyway—this couldn’t have happened at a better time,” she declared, eyes burning with a fiery confidence.
She’s actually planning to fight the count head-on... She’s even gutsier than I thought.
“And of course, Dan couldn’t be seen helping you, which is why you came to me?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Mimosa nodded. “That’s right. Dan’s mother Vina—my sister—is currently living in the count’s household as one of his concubines. In other words, she’s basically a hostage. Dan’s told me that she’s not being treated very well by the count’s other wives, but she just laughs it off and keeps telling him to follow his heart. She even told him not to worry if she gets cast out onto the street because of it—it does sound like something Vina would say, to be honest.” Mimosa smiled. “Well, as much as I want to, even I’m not bold enough to pick a fight with the Sardoses directly. I just need to grow Calmwinds into a formidable foe, and beat him into submission on the battlefield of business. That’s where you come into it, Allen.”
So Vina’s got a pretty solid backbone too, hey? Well, she is related to Dan and Mimosa, after all—I guess it runs in the family.
I couldn’t help the wry grin that slipped out as I nodded. “You’ve helped us, so I’ll help you however I can. What do you actually want me to do, though?”
“Right now, we’re quietly preparing to open our new headquarters here in the capital. Everything’s going according to plan so far, but sooner or later, Count Sardos is going to find out, and he’ll put pressure onto every ally he’s got here in Runerelia and try to shut us down. Therefore, we’re gonna need a strong ally of our own. Luckily, I happen to know that the Mad Hound has a lot of influence in Runerelia’s underworld—I heard about how you single-handedly stormed the headquarters of those Lotz guys, or whatever their name was.” She grinned. “I’ll cut to the chase. Can you put me in touch with the Red Dragon Syndicate? I reckon I could probably arrange a meeting myself, but they’d turn me down the second they realized that supporting me would mean signing up for a fight with the nobility. If the Mad Hound were to introduce me, though... Well, I’d have a chance, at least.”
I frowned. “I didn’t storm anything—I was invited, so I just went to pay my respects. But anyway, are you sure you’ve got the right guys in mind? The Red Dragon Syndicate runs the eastern part of Runerelia, as far as I know. I’m pretty sure the Continent Corporation is the underworld group with all the shipbuilding companies under its protection, and they’re obviously based near the River Rune to the south.”
Mimosa looked surprised. “Huh? No, the Red Dragon Syndicate would be best... Does that mean the rumors about there being bad blood between the Red Dragon Syndicate and Mad Dog are true, though? To be honest, I still can’t believe you decided to start an explorer’s clan... From what I’ve heard, nearly every promising young explorer in Runerelia has joined Mad Dog, but I still didn’t think you had the strength to pick a fight with the Red Dragon Syndicate already! Besides, the rumors say you don’t actually seem to be involved in the running of the clan...”
What kind of embarrassing name is that...? I sighed. The unimaginatively named explorer’s clan had to be Benza’s doing. He’d probably dragged all of his idiot friends—other explorers I’d beaten up on one occasion or another—into it.
Red said the Lotz family would stay away from the southeastern branch, but if Benza’s running his own group now, does that mean something happened to Gold Rat...? Eh, oh well. I don’t care either way.
“Nope, I’m not involved with it—heck, I didn’t even know it existed until just now. I roped a passing chubby idiot into cleaning up my mess, so I’m guessing he’s behind it. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
Mimosa burst into laughter. “I’m pretty sure I heard something about that too, but still—you sure have a harsh way with words, Lenn.”
I was restraining myself, to be honest... Sure, maybe I shouldn’t have dumped everything onto Benza, but he’s definitely in the wrong here. I told him to follow his heart, not go and start a stupidly named gang.
“Everyone’s saying Mad Dog’s gonna rule Runerelia one of these days, but personally, I think they’ve still got a fair way to go. Of course, if you were in charge, I’d be happy for Calmwinds to become the first business under Mad Dog’s protection...” Mimosa trailed off, looking at me questioningly.
I waved her suggestion off with a tired sigh. “Unfortunately, I’ve got more important things to focus on right now. But the Red Dragon Syndicate, huh...?”
This wasn’t a battlefield for Lenn the explorer. It was too risky. If Runerelia’s underworld found out that Allen—Royal Academy student, member of the Sailing Club, and provisional member of the Royal Order—and Lenn were one and the same, the true masterminds pulling the Lotz family’s strings (likely a foreign power, in Dew’s opinion) would cut their losses and flee, and we’d probably never be able to sniff them out once more. The Lotz family seemed to have a particular interest in the Red Dragon Syndicate, and it was pretty safe to assume they’d be keeping watch.
Mimosa, clearly noticing my reluctance, pressed on. “I’ve been looking into this for months, but the Red Dragon Syndicate is the only group I’d feel right entrusting Calmwinds to... We don’t need business connections or opportunities right now. We just need a strong ally.”
Apparently, Mimosa thought quite highly of the Red Dragon Syndicate. She’d come all this way to meet with me, and she obviously had no intention of considering any other options—or rather, she’d already considered them, and had found them wanting. Clearly, she thought the protection of the Red Dragon Syndicate was going to be essential for Calmwinds’s survival—and if I wanted to achieve my sailing-related goals, it meant it was essential for me too.
“Okay, I’ll help you. I’ll go with you to meet the Red Dragon Syndicate. But...” I lowered my voice. “I won’t be going as Lenn the explorer, but as Allen Rovene, coach of the Royal Academy’s Sailing Club.”
Mimosa raised an eyebrow. “Allen? I don’t know any Allens. I only know Lenn, Mad Hound and up-and-coming explorer.”
I snorted. “Drop the act, Mimosa. You already know exactly who I am, right? You know I’m a friend of Dan’s from school, so it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out what my real name was.”
Mimosa glared at me. “You helped me when no one else would, Lenn. I’m not the kind of woman to go around prying into the secrets of someone I owe so much to.” She paused for a moment and shrugged. “But on the other hand, it’s impossible to walk down the streets in Runerelia these days without hearing the name Allen Rovene five or six times. Even without looking into it, I’d be pretty stupid not to connect the dots.”