Let’s Make Saving a Habit - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10
Whoosh—!
“I believe some explanation is in order for what this is, Tania.”
I pushed the sack I’d set down on the Merchant Leader’s office floor toward him.
It was so heavy I couldn’t even lift it—I’d barely managed to drag it here.
“Merchant Leader of Ageratum, shall we make a contract?”
“A contract?”
The Merchant Leader, who’d been wearing a dazed expression moments before, straightened up with a glimmer of interest in his eyes.
“How much have you investigated, customer?”
Even knowing my ability was no ordinary thing, it couldn’t be easy for him to adopt such an attitude toward a child.
The Merchant Leader seemed to possess the natural qualities of a businessman.
“I’m talking about purchasing grain in preparation for the famine that will occur next year. I didn’t want to miss this opportunity either.”
“Well, if you’re willing to invest, the credibility of the information increases, and I have no particular reason to refuse. But where would the money come from…?”
The Merchant Leader’s eyes carried a look that asked, “Surely you didn’t take this from the house where you’re staying?”
I gave a light shrug and pointed to the sack on the floor.
“I gathered this myself over the past few weeks by traveling through the nearby Mountains. Please open it and see.”
“Ho, I’m curious what you’ve gathered to be so confident about it.”
The Merchant Leader, who’d been making light conversation, opened the sack and his eyes widened in disbelief.
“Mana stones? Good heavens, and the purity is top-grade! How on earth did you…!”
“The applications of my ability are truly limitless.”
Receiving a satisfactory response from him, I curled my lips upward in a satisfied smile.
It had been three weeks since Aiden left to handle an urgent matter.
During that time, I’d obtained high-purity mana stones from a mana power spot that would later be discovered in a place teeming with monsters.
I remembered the location because the Empire would later conduct a large-scale monster subjugation operation to obtain the mana stones there.
Fortunately, there was a spot close to the Capital, so I was able to make the trip quickly.
Ah, you’re wondering how someone like me with virtually no combat ability managed to mine mana stones in the Monster Forest filled with creatures?
Obviously, I repeated save-load obsessively to avoid every location where monsters appeared.
I parted my lips with an easy smile.
“So, are you willing to make this deal?”
The Merchant Leader’s eyes had already rolled back halfway, but I asked out of courtesy.
“Tania, I’m not foolish enough to kick away fortune that’s rolled to my feet.”
“Ah, by the way, I’m not asking to trade these mana stones.”
“…What? Then what?”
“The place where I mined these is actually Private Land, but because monsters appear there, even the landowner can’t do anything about it and is stuck with a headache.”
On Earth, it would be equivalent to a place crawling with all manner of ferocious beasts.
In other words, from the owner’s perspective, it was worthless land that wouldn’t sell and only bled them dry with annual property taxes.
“If you bring up the monster byproduct business and say you want to buy the land, they’d welcome you with open arms.”
This approach might put me at a disadvantage in price negotiations, but it would still allow me to avoid suspicion that something exists on that land.
“I’ll tell you where that land is. Once you confirm it’s land with mana stones buried in it, you can resell it or mine it yourself.”
“Y-you’re saying you know of land where such high-purity mana stones are buried…?”
“Yes. In exchange, please use the profit margin from this deal to purchase grain and give me a percentage cut.”
A big catch!
That expression bloomed vividly across the Merchant Leader’s face.
I seized the moment and smiled brightly, sliding the mana stone I’d brought forward across the table toward him.
“This is on the house.”
After all, I’d brought it partly as proof that I knew where mana stones were buried, and partly as a goodwill gesture toward the Merchant Leader.
Sure enough, honey was practically dripping from the Merchant Leader’s eyes as he gazed at the mana stone.
I’d need to negotiate before his enthusiasm waned.
“So, what ratio does the Ageratum Merchant Company’s leader have in mind?”
“I’ll have quite a lot of work to do. Purchasing the land where mana stones are buried. Converting mana stones into currency. Buying grain. Storing grain. And so on. Especially the monster subjugation costs….”
He was going on and on.
I knew that the longer he talked, the less likely the terms would favor me, so I cut him off mid-sentence.
“So, what’s the ratio?”
“Tania, this isn’t something I can decide on the spot….”
“The ratio.”
“…You’re relentless. How about we split the net profit fifty-fifty, not the gross revenue?”
See? Push a few times and it comes right out.
He’d already had a ratio in mind the moment he heard my proposal.
I asked him with the utmost seriousness.
“Which five is that?”
“….”
I shrugged as I watched his face go blank.
“I guess you can’t take a joke, sir.”
“…Anyone would’ve been fooled by that youthful face of yours.”
“Hehe.”
Still, fifty percent of the net profit was far more generous than I’d expected.
“I thought you’d start at a minimum of seventy percent for yourself, given that I’m delegating full authority.”
The Merchant Leader laughed heartily, stroking the mana stone.
“Ha! I’m not foolish enough to slit open the belly of the goose that lays golden eggs.”
“That’s a fine principle.”
Truth be told, I’d been prepared to squeeze him for all he was worth. But seeing him willing to compromise made me reconsider.
“Alright. Let’s draw up a contract based on what you just said.”
“Wait! What if, by some chance, that land has an excessive concentration of monsters, and the subjugation costs result in losses instead of profits?”
It was true—since that land was included in a large-scale monster subjugation in the future, such a possibility wasn’t entirely unlikely.
“As I mentioned earlier, there’s always the option of reselling the land at a premium. And….”
I narrowed my eyes into crescents with a smile.
“Minimizing risk may be a merchant’s virtue, but if you can’t stomach that level of danger, you can hardly call yourself a merchant.”
In other words: if you’re scared, back out.
I could always find another trading partner if needed.
Reading the undertone hidden in my smile, the Merchant Leader quickly continued, eager not to lose this deal.
“Haha, that’s right! You’re absolutely correct. Shall we draw up a contract then, customer?”
The Merchant Leader smiled warmly and began writing out the contract in one fluid motion.
I worked through the details with him, drafting the contract terms together.
Thanks to his easy manner of conversation, we finalized the agreement in no time.
“Now that I think about it, you’ve become so much more beautiful in the time we haven’t seen each other, Tania.”
Perhaps it was only natural.
Nearly two months had passed since I arrived in the Capital.
In that time, my once-gaunt frame had filled out somewhat, and my dull hair had begun to shine with luster after being combed daily with an oil-treated brush.
My pale pink long hair fluttered like cherry blossoms with each step, and my clear, bright eyes gleamed with a vivid amber hue.
I looked nothing like the street orphan I had been treated as before.
I made no effort to hide my pleasure, breaking into a bright smile.
“I suppose it’s because I’m being cared for.”
“Heh, your words are certainly prettier than those of my son… I really should have had another daughter.”
The Merchant Leader muttered to himself about how he should have had another daughter, then seemed to remember something and continued speaking.
“That’s right! What were you talking about with Ron last time?”
“Ah… I don’t really recall having any particularly meaningful conversation with him. Is something the matter?”
He shook his head as if to say there was nothing to be done about it.
“Ever since you visited, the boy hasn’t been able to focus on anything. He keeps asking where you live and who you are.”
“Haha, it seems I’ll need to stay out of Ron’s sight for a while until his mood settles.”
“It’s not that he’s upset. It’s quite the opposite, actually.”
“…The opposite?”
That was when the office door suddenly burst open and someone entered as if to lodge a protest.
“Hey! If you came here, you should have told me!”
Oh no. Ron had found me out.
I was turning around, thinking there was no way to slip past this quietly, when—
Ron’s eyes widened in surprise as our gazes met, and he rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
“…Who are you?”
Who am I? What kind of question was that?
I blinked for a moment before a certain hypothesis occurred to me. I asked with a tentative expression.
“Pretty boy, you don’t recognize me because I’ve changed so much?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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