Monmider frowned slightly as he felt his stomach begin to hurt. “So, what brings you here?”

“Ah. Actually, I have an urgent matter to discuss with the seigneur.” Hallas cleared his throat before continuing, “The gates to the seigneur’s house are shut right now… Is there any way that I can see him?”

It was just like Davey had mentioned to Monmider; people were going to try every possibility to make contact with him. And in such a scenario, Monmider knew exactly what he had to say.

“That is… I’m afraid that’s going to be difficult. The seigneur isn’t well due to overwork. You did come all this way to see him, but…”

“Ha… What a shame…”

“I am very sorry. The territory’s business is important, but the seigneur’s wellbeing is of paramount importance to us.”

“I understand. A leader’s health is always important.” Chuckling, Hallas stroked his beard. “However, the Green Tower isn’t in a very good situation either… Would there be any way?” He pulled out a small pouch from his chest and placed it in Monmider’s hand.

Monmider could tell that the pouch was filled with gold nuggets, just by looking at it. ‘These wizard towers are on another level. They’re filthy rich.’

“Ahem! What is this?! We don’t take bribes!”

For a second, Monmider wanted to take it for himself and pretend like nothing happened, but he shook his head in the end. Davey, his master, was the one who ordered him to take the bribes. It was money that would come to him eventually; he didn’t have to do anything that could catch up with him later.

“Haha. It’s just my way of showing gratitude. Consider it a gift, since it’s not that much anyways. I prepared it so that I could get closer with you, Captain Monmider.”

“Haha!” Monmider looked around and let out a sigh, as if Hallas’ actions put him in a difficult position.

Hallas simply shoved the pouch into Monmider’s pocket, forcing him to take it. “It’s just a little sign of gratitude. A little sign. Ahem! I don’t expect anything in return.”

“Phew… I usually don’t take these kinds of gifts…”

“How could I just disregard all the hard work an exceptional knight like you has done for us?” Hallas chuckled and spoke insincerely. His expression truly looked like he had no hidden intentions, but…

‘Everything that the seigneur said is true…’ Unlike Hallas, Monmider chuckled while thinking of what Seigneur Davey, his new master, had told him.

‘Several organizations are going to reach out to you, and they are going to be desperately wanting to meet me. You will most likely get to you first, since you are my entourage and someone they can meet easily.’ Davey had told Monmider. ‘They might hand you bribes or scream at you. Sort them out wisely. Give me the list of names of the authoritative ones that scream at you, and just take anything the bribers give. That’s how life works.’

Everything was just a part of the bigger picture. As everything Davey predicted was happening, Monmider grew suspicious of whether the boy, who had just turned seventeen, was really only that old.

* * *

“Ha… I really shouldn’t…” Looking around, Monmider cleared his throat and hid the pouch as he looked around him. “Ahem! I will take it, since you say it’s a gift…”

“That’s all I want. I expect nothing from you, Captain.” Although Hallas said he wanted nothing in return, his eyes were full of yearning.

The Captain of the Royal Guards of a single territory was a low-rank position, and usually wasn’t good enough to meet a mid-level mage such as Hallas, but this situation was different.

“Haha… But how could I just accept this? Anyway, you said that you wanted to see the seigneur for something related to the moon grass, right?” Monmider asked.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Hallas replied.

“Sigh… Well, I can’t let you see him because he is sick, but…”

“Honestly, it’s a bit of a problem. It’d be nice if I could at least get some information about the product and its availability.”

“Hm…”

As Monmider started to be persuaded, Hallas said with a grin, “Actually, the Tower is also looking forward to the business of the Heins Territory. Isn’t this the first and only attempt to harvest moon grass in the eastern continent? Perhaps the Tower will provide an appropriate gift…”

As he heard that, Monmider slurred the end of his words while pretending to contemplate. Then, he slightly widened his eyes. “I am only the vassal of the seigneur. I do not desire any individual gain.”

“I believe that, since I have a pretty good judgment of character. I simply did not say anything because I can see that you are a brave and honorable person, Captain Monmider.”

“Haha, you flatter me too much. Hm, right. Take a look at this.” Chuckling, Monmider pulled out a small case as if he had prepared it in advance. “Actually… We have finished harvesting and packaging the product. Well, since the seigneur is going to sell it anyway, I don’t think it’ll be a problem for him if I just show it to you.”

“Huh… This is it.” Hallas’ eyes sparkled, and then, he started to think to himself, ‘This is top notch! It’s a high-quality product that is extremely rare in the east! This would be far more efficient than the ones from the western region!’

Moon grass wasn’t harvested that much in the west either. It was already common knowledge that even the same product could vary in the number of uses, depending on the quality. Since moon grass leaves were valuable in both the east and west, the western region had no reason to export good quality leaves to the east.

‘It’s high-quality. If it’s this good, I must gain priority access to it even if I have to bribe him!’ Hallas thought.

“Ahem!” However, Hallas couldn’t let his true intentions show. “It’s emitting a faint light. It’s amazing how high-quality this is!”

As if flattered by Hallas’ honest astonishment, Monmider began chattering. “That’s right. It was cultivated with the seigneur’s care. Most of the ones we have are similar in quality to this one. Those in worse condition…” As Monmider trailed off, Hallas looked at him in confusion. Monmider added, “…Unfortunately, were all thrown away and composted.”

“Oh my… Something that valuable…”

“We have prepared around ten thousand leaves to sell.”

Hallas thought that that was unfortunate. The amount Monmider told him about was also quite a lot, but the seigneur had boldly decided to throw away half of it. It was shocking how decisive Davey, the 17-year-old seigneur of this territory, was. After all, the product was moon grass, which could still be quite expensive at a poorer quality.

Since no one knew that moon grass was the best compost for growing moon grass, they could only think that Davey was quite bold in his decision-making.

“As the seigneur’s entourage, I’ve heard a few things, such as how he is planning to put these up for auction.”

‘An onsite auction,’ Hallas thought. Such auctions were common in produce and seafood markets, and it meant that the moon grass was going to be sold to the highest bidder.  

“A… An onsite auction, you say.”

Moon grass was a luxurious product, being sold like items from a classy brand. It was bizarre to sell off something this exquisite like a fish at a seafood market.

“Well, I don’t know all of the details, but his intentions are to minimize the costs incurred from the distribution process. It also means that he is going to sell it in the future as well.”

“Is… Is that so? Then… There must be something like priority access.”

“Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything about that.”

“That’s fine. How could I expect more when you have already given me such valuable information? The Green Tower will most definitely thank you.”

“I appreciate that.”

‘What’s Hallas thinking?’

As Hallas, the Class 4 mage of the Green Tower, stood up looking satisfied and offered him a handshake, Monmider awkwardly smiled and shook the offered hand. As soon as Hallas left, Monmider let out a deep sigh. Then, he completely erased the look of greed and naïvety he previously had on his face. “Wow… I can’t believe that actually worked.”

* * *

There were several different types of wizard towers; there was the Red Tower, which studied fire, and the Blue Tower, which dealt with water-related magic. There was also the Green Tower, which studied wind power, and this was the tower that Hallas, the mage who tried to bribe Monmider, was part of. It could be said that there were quite a few wizard towers known to the public.

Starting with Hallas from the Green Tower, Monmider had met with many other people. Of course, none of these organizations would come down to this boondock without any confirmation, even if the moon grass leaves were said to be high-quality.

A total of three wizard towers and four schools of alchemy had reached out. In addition, seven large merchant companies and a few other small organizations had contacted Monmider as well. Since they all had an unimaginable amount of money, he had also received a huge number of bribes from them.

“That’s how life works,” Davey said simply.

Monmider, who was resting with an exhausted face, smiled awkwardly. “How did you know, seigneur?”

“Know what?”

“That they would act like that.”

“It’s obvious. That’s how it works. There’s nothing that money can’t solve here.”

‘Worship money, which prevails regardless of generation or dimension.’

What Davey had done wasn’t anything astonishing at all. By putting an item that the people couldn’t obtain by temptation or interference in any way, he just naturally made the situation happen. ‘They say to strike when the iron is hot, right? There was no way a blacksmith wouldn’t know how to maximize such a strike, then.’

“What are you thinking so hard about? Where are the bribes you received from them?”

Monmider looked puzzled. “Th… That is…”

“You’re not thinking of taking it all by yourself, right?”

“Of… Of course not!” As Davey glared at him, Monmider gave him the box of bribes with a terrified expression. He said, “Here it is.”

“Split it and take it as a bonus.”

“Pardon?”

“All the hard work was done by the royal guardsman and the captain. Split it fairly and keep your share,” Davey replied.

“You’re not going to take it?”

It was a huge amount of money. Considering the financial situation of the people who gave it to Monmider, each small pouch was probably pretty valuable, even if it was a small bribe. Monmider looked bewildered as Davey just willingly gave it to him.

“It would be a good use of that money if I could win the favor of the residents.”

“You… Your Highness!”

Davey felt a little uncomfortable as Monmider seemed very touched by his gesture. It wasn’t really necessary for Davey to do this, since the residents blindly trusted him already, but he didn’t need the money; most of the profits from selling the moon grass were his anyway. He commented, “There’s nothing to be moved about. You’re just being rewarded for your hard work.”

“Y… Yes, sir!”

“Don’t take it all for yourself but split it fairly, so that everyone’s happy.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Davey saw Monmider bow his head and leave the room, he smiled and then stretched. It would be nice if he collected all the bribe money, but he wasn’t in desperate need of the money. ‘If I don’t win their favors with money now, when can I do so then?’