WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 233

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Gaon calmly watched me as he tapped the table in a steady rhythm. He gestured with his chin toward the file folder in Isabella’s arms and spoke.

“There’s something strange about that.”

Something strange? Was there some additional detail I did not know about? Puzzled, I looked at Isabella. But she merely gave a slight shake of her head.

“What do you mean, something strange?”

“The negotiations are not being conducted in your name.”

Gaon narrowed his eyes as he answered. Ah, that was what he meant. I lightly nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. Isabella is handling all of it.”

Gaon was right. These negotiations had proceeded entirely according to Isabella’s wishes, without consulting me. Naturally, my name could not be included. This was entirely her achievement.

And the reason I had put Isabella forward like this was because she was not simply going to run the shop. She was going to take charge of my entire puppet business. I wanted to reveal her to the outside world through these negotiations.

I had come to that decision after personally watching Isabella run the shop. Over the past years, she had expanded the business smoothly without causing a single problem.

Her skill in dealing with customers and providing them with puppets suited to their needs was something even I could not easily match.

I briefly counted the time since I had met Isabella. I had saved her during the last competition, so around eight years seemed to have passed. It had been about fifteen years since I entered the university, meaning we had spent roughly half that time together.

A great deal had happened over those years. The tower had fallen into chaos, and disturbances had arisen while we conducted business in the city. And through it all, Isabella had consistently given me confidence.

The fact that Isabella was accompanying me to this city was the result of that trust. The abilities she had demonstrated over the years were more than enough for her to oversee this entire business.

Gaon tapped the table as he listened to me. Quite a long time passed before he spoke again. His narrowed eyes stared directly at me.

“You cannot be unaware that this will become a problem.”

“A problem?”

I tilted my head, showing my confusion. There was nothing here that could be called a problem. I had chosen Isabella based on perfectly rational thinking.

The reason I had decided to entrust this business to Isabella was also because it would be far more beneficial for her to stand at the forefront rather than me. I glanced at Isabella. She held a gentle smile and gave me a slight bow.

I had only spent around fifteen years at the university. I was nothing more than a fledgling. I had reached the third floor fairly quickly, but aside from that, I was a mage with nothing especially remarkable about me.

Among puppeteers, people said realm was not important when making puppets. But mages judged things differently from puppeteers. The only standard they could use was realm.

Those who reached higher realms were naturally respected. From that perspective, it was difficult for me to earn great trust from others.

That was why there were always people who looked at me with suspicion when I revealed myself as the owner of the shop. No matter how excellent the puppets I made were, that prejudice was something I could not erase.

There was only one way to resolve that prejudice. Raise my realm higher. But that was not something I could accomplish quickly, no matter how hard I worked.

So I needed to change my approach. I needed to put forward someone customers and partners could trust as the public face.

Isabella was the most suitable person for that role. She was a mage who had completed the university’s basic curriculum, and she had reached the realm of extending branches beyond completing her tree.

Of course, her realm had fallen somewhat during the process of dying and returning to life. Still, there was no doubting that she had once extended branches.

If a mage like that became a puppet and sold puppets herself, it would naturally inspire greater confidence. Simply by standing there, Isabella increased my shop’s credibility.

So Isabella was more suited to attending negotiations like this than I was. That was why I entrusted her with all business authority. I had planned this from the moment I first put her in charge of the shop.

Of course, there was one concern. It involved the problems from Isabella’s past. In Icewall City, there were people who could be called her enemies. Gaon was one of them.

If Isabella had wanted to refuse this trip to the city, I intended to listen to her. Carrying out my plans was important, but considering the wishes of my puppets was even more important.

But Isabella said she would fulfill her responsibility. I was simply proceeding with this matter according to her will. If I could not trust my own puppet, what could I trust?

So there was nothing that could be called a problem. I smiled as I looked at Gaon. He met my gaze and lightly clicked his tongue.

“When you play innocent like that, you really take after that bastard Mauro.... Now then, tell me what you intend to do with the coin.”

Gaon waved a hand. It seemed he had no intention of discussing the negotiations any further. Seeing that he did not press the matter, perhaps my guess had been right. I gave a small laugh and spoke.

“Three years from now, we plan to hold an auction at Professor On’s tower. Everyone will be able to come there without concern. We have already received agreement from several people.”

Gaon’s hand, which had been tapping the table, paused. A flicker of disbelief appeared in his slightly furrowed eyes.

“An auction? The others could not have accepted that so easily.”

I quietly nodded. Before coming here, I had contacted the associations in other cities and told them I would hand over the coin through an auction. And as Gaon said, they had not been particularly pleased with that method.

That was only natural. If an auction were held, they would have no choice but to compete against association heads from other cities. To obtain the coin amid such competition, they would have to accept significant losses.

It was certainly not an attractive choice from the association heads’ perspective. There was no reason for them to take such a difficult path. There was a far easier way to obtain the coin than participating in an auction.

I was only a mage on the third floor. If they could take the coin directly from me, there would be no need to spend a great deal. Why would they leave an easy path alone and take the long way around?

Even so, the association heads had not touched me because of Gaon’s actions.

Earlier, Gaon had tried to strike at me once. He had begun selling corpse puppets through Jegang. It had been quite a serious crisis for me.

But I had shaken off all of Gaon’s grasp and, instead, used it as a stepping stone for my growth. Through that, I had protected Professor On’s coin as well.

After seeing that entire process, the association heads had no desire to target me further. They must have judged that the same could happen to them. In that sense, Gaon attacking me had actually helped me.

Of course, that was not the only reason the association heads agreed to my proposal. Even if I had escaped Gaon’s grasp, targeting me was still easier than participating in an auction.

I had been able to gain agreement from several association heads in that situation because I offered them sufficient benefit.

I glanced at Gaon. He was moving deliberately in pursuit of Professor On’s successor position. Inheriting a tower was practically an enormous opportunity, so it was only natural.

But not every association head wished to follow Professor On. In the end, only one person could become the successor. Some would inevitably recognize their limits and withdraw in advance.

Those were the people I had targeted. I looked at Gaon, lightly placed a hand over my chest, and smiled.

“I said I would hand over the coin through an auction, but I am merely keeping it. Therefore, I intend to distribute all profits generated during the auction to the other association heads. They are the core of our puppeteer associations, after all.”

Gaon clicked his tongue at my words. It seemed he immediately understood what I was thinking.

The association heads disliked the auction because they did not know how much they might lose in the process. But viewed from the other side, that also meant someone would gain that much profit.

That someone could have been me, the person hosting the auction. But if I tried to keep all of it for myself, the association heads would surely refuse to agree to the auction in the first place.

I gave a small smile as I watched Gaon sink into thought. This was too large a prize for me to keep alone anyway. I needed a shield to spread out my risk.

That was why I gave the profits to all the association heads. I wanted those who had already recognized their limits to become interested. And just as I expected, several of them accepted the proposal.

From their perspective, there was no reason to refuse. Simply participating in the auction would bring them considerable profit. Why would they reject such an arrangement?

And from the moment they accepted my proposal, this auction was bound to happen. It would have been different if it had never begun, but once someone declared their intention to participate, the others could no longer avoid it.

Nor could they take the coin from me. Some association heads had declared their intention to participate in the auction because I intended to share the profits with them.

Trying to take the coin from me would therefore mean provoking them as well. It was no longer a matter of dealing with a third-floor mage alone. The other association heads surely would not be able to touch me anymore.

I quietly pressed my lips together. This was the best move I could make at my current level. My realm was far too shallow to gain any greater profit than this.

Still, it was a rather satisfying result. I would only receive part of the auction profits, but that was not the only thing tied to this coin.

I touched the coin in my pocket and looked at Gaon. It was both a token representing Professor On’s successor position and a kind of wish right. It gave me the authority to request anything from the association heads.

That was one reason the other association heads did not easily target me. If I came to hold ill feelings toward them, I could make excessive demands of them, so they restrained their actions somewhat.

And the same was true for me. If I requested too much, they might come to resent me instead. That was why I had always been cautious about using the wish right.

But now that I could sell this through an auction, I would be free to use its function as a wish right. There was no problem with asking them for a little profit before it left my hands, was there?

“...Fine. It seems the tide has already turned, so I will accept it as well.”

Gaon nodded as he tapped the table. I gave him a slight bow. Since he had agreed, the others would surely come around quickly as well.

“Then I will be going. It seems I have heard everything I needed from you.”

Gaon waved a hand. Magical power extending from his hand wrapped around us. When I blinked, we had already returned to our previous location, the entrance of the puppeteer association where we had met Ugo.

[At least I am glad the conversation seems to have ended well.]

I nodded as I read what Isabella had written. Obtaining the signatures had gone smoothly, and we had secured an intention to participate in the auction, so it was an enormous success.

“Then let us return. We will have to move frantically from tomorrow onward.”

I left the puppeteer association with Isabella and headed for Ailey’s villa, where Mira was staying. After walking for a while, I turned my head and looked toward the upper floors where Gaon was.

Every discussion with the other association heads had been conducted in writing. There had been no need to seek Gaon out and raise this subject with him.

After all, the auction taking place was already a foregone conclusion.

Even so, I had come to see Gaon because I wanted to understand his intentions.

The other association heads had stopped targeting me as a result of Gaon’s actions. Because he judged dealing with me to be a loss and withdrew, the others had acted the same way.

Now that I thought about it, that was somewhat strange. If Gaon desperately wanted this token, he should have obtained it regardless of whatever losses he had to bear.

But Gaon had not crossed a certain line when dealing with me. That was why I judged it possible to cooperate with him and came here. In that sense, Gaon might have achieved everything he wanted.

By moving first, Gaon had changed how the other association heads approached me, and in the end, I had naturally been made to give up the coin like this.

Moreover, this might have been nothing more than a side benefit for him. I had clashed with Gaon twice before. Once at the competition, and once through Jegang.

I had gained sufficient profit through my confrontations with Gaon. And the fact that I had gained profit meant someone else had suffered losses of the same measure. Profit and loss always came together.

Then who had borne those losses? I narrowed my eyes and looked toward where Gaon was.

I did not think Gaon had borne them all alone. Naturally, he would have wanted to push them onto someone else. And I had a rough idea who that might be.

But after considering it, I slowly shook my head. It was still only speculation.

For now, I needed to focus on what I had to do.

Bleed dry the other competitors trying to encroach on my territory.

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