The Munchkin Princess Wants to Run Away - Chapter 8

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

“Expanding the guild might mean they’ve dipped their hands into smuggling as well.”
“I share that suspicion. Recently, they’ve been hoarding high-grade gems and ores.”
Using business expansion as a pretext to purchase ore was a common enough tactic.
Moreover, the recent additions to their inventory included not just gems but foodstuffs as well.
“Just to be safe, make sure we manage our stock carefully so we don’t get tangled up in anything unnecessary.”
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
Cedric tucked the information away and rose from his seat.
* * *
“Ivanna, are you really sure we should be going out like this?”
“The Duke won’t find out anyway.”
Ivanna shrugged at Anthony’s anxious face.
A few days later, with meals still arriving in disarray, they ventured out again.
The Duke’s promise to investigate the food seemed to have been nothing but empty words.
The building they arrived at bore a sign with the name Dandelion and the image of a flower.
“I haven’t laid eyes on this beautiful face in over a month!”
A red-haired woman rushed forward with her hair flowing behind her and embraced Ivanna.
“Congratulations on your marriage!”
“Thank you.”
“This is my gift for you.”
Elisa, who was running the Dandelion Merchant Guild in Ivanna’s stead, handed over a box with a radiant smile.
“It’ll suit you wonderfully.”
Anthony’s face brightened as they opened the box together. Inside lay an Earring and Bracelet Set.
“I don’t understand why, now that you’re earning so much, you have no interest in adorning yourself.”
“We’re not quite at that level yet.”
Ivanna shook her head at Anthony’s plaintive remark.
“But is it really weapon smuggling?”
“Yes. It seems several guilds have been funneling weapons to Tritan under the table.”
Her worst suspicion had come to pass.
The neighboring kingdom really was on the verge of civil war.
“Of all the times for this to happen.”
The guild was in the midst of its growth phase.
They were steadily expanding the scope of goods they handled—luxury ornaments, gems, even food supplies.
“Ugh. We won’t get caught up in it, right? We’ve been purchasing minerals just in case.”
She had already mapped out several escape routes from the Imperial Palace, accounting for the possibility of her Divine Power being discovered.
Should the Imperial Family attempt to suppress her by force, she needed to have means of resistance ready.
She had raised mercenaries ostensibly to guard the guild’s shipments, and accumulated ore and metal for weapons.
There was a real risk of being branded a smuggler.
“We’ll need to manage our stock more carefully. What should we do with the ores?”
“That’s manageable. We can claim we bought them all indiscriminately while expanding the business.”
Elisa, who had already hired a slew of craftsmen just in case, spoke with confidence.
“We can turn them all into ornaments.”
“Who’s going to buy such cheap jewelry?”
“The common people, if nothing else.”
Ivanna nodded at Elisa’s whatever-works attitude.
Steel and alloy steel were fine for weapons, but too inexpensive and poor in quality for nobles to use as ornaments.
“They’ll look too crude even for common folk to wear as jewelry. Why not expand into practical items instead—self-defense tools, decorative pieces, household goods?”
“If it’s cheap, the common people will buy it for lack of anything better. But I do like your thinking, Ivanna.”
Elisa was delighted by Ivanna’s suggestion. She welcomed any method that turned a profit.
“Even if the steel is a bit rough, it’s durable. With careful craftsmanship, plenty of people will buy it.”
“We could also hire struggling craftsmen and create jobs for them.”
At Elisa’s suggestion, Ivanna recalled those she’d seen at the edge of the street, repairing worn ornaments and keys and the like.
“It’s a good direction that will improve the guild’s reputation too.”
“Since we’re just starting out, I’d prefer we take it slowly and not overreach.”
The guild had never been created for the sake of making serious money. It had begun as nothing more than a desperate bid to survive day to day.
Upon fleeing the Imperial Palace, Ivanna found the streets teeming with the poor. It was the first time she had witnessed the raw reality of the empire.
Central Street gleamed with splendor, but the farther one ventured toward the Outskirts, the darker it became, thick with foul odors.
There she had encountered people who barely drank stagnant water from puddles, their eyes utterly devoid of light.
Those she had seen in the streets, living without a shred of hope, seemed to overlap with her own image from before, and she could not simply sit idle.
There had to be something she could do.
That was the spirit in which she’d founded the Dandelion Merchant Guild.
At first, she’d stumbled forward without any real understanding. She’d even been swindled out of every last coin she possessed by confidence artists.
After weathering countless hardships, she’d finally cobbled together a crude purification device and was selling water cleansed by her Authority when she met Elisa.
Elisa had recognized the value of Ivanna’s purified water at a glance and drawn her into the business.
“Copper and Brass—there’s no end to what we can do with those, so there’s nothing to worry about. But Meteor Steel and Deepwater Ore are the problem.”
Elisa, organizing her thoughts, surfaced another concern.
“We can use those to craft your weapons. If we say we’re developing defensive arms for the guild’s master, we’ll avoid suspicion.”
Meteor Steel and Deepwater Ore were rare, expensive ores that didn’t come easily.
Meteor Steel was durable enough to withstand a Knight’s Aura, while Deepwater Ore, which reacted with water, was used in Water-Attribute Magic weapons.
“After going to such trouble and expense to acquire these ores, and all I can do is forge my own weapon with them?”
Ivanna let out a sigh of frustration.
It felt wasteful to use the highly profitable Deepwater Ore just to craft her own weapon, but there was no helping it.
Since she could use a Magic Circle to create the illusion of strength instead of relying on her Authority, it wouldn’t be a complete loss.
She’d planned to develop new weapons and put them on the market, but she’d have to postpone that timeline.
If information this sensitive had reached her ears, then those quick to gather intelligence would already be circulating word of the black market ore trade.
Whatever guild was actually involved in the smuggling would be lying low and looking for a scapegoat to throw to the wolves.
“Do whatever you can to keep us from getting entangled in this mess.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll send the food we’ve purchased to regions suffering from drought.”
“Good. I’d rather it go to those in need.”
Ivanna exhaled softly.
“Any word of rain coming?”
“How could mortals know the will of heaven?”
Elisa’s eyes gleamed with hidden meaning as she smiled at Ivanna.
“If the drought continues much longer, we’ll have serious trouble…….”
“That’s for the high-and-mighty to worry about, not you.”
She shook her head firmly.
“Aren’t I one of those high-and-mighty people?”
“You don’t have any power to speak of.”
Elisa’s nagging that she either expand the guild or build her influence as the Duke’s wife prompted another weary sigh from Ivanna.
She hadn’t yet revealed to Elisa that she’d received the Water Authority. But there was a good chance her friend had already caught on.
After all, she’d said nothing when Ivanna kept bringing back massive quantities of purified water.
Even after learning the truth—that Ivanna was a princess—Elisa had simply held her and said nothing more.
‘Am I making it not rain by refusing to use my Authority?’
The unspoken anxiety rose to her throat.
It was a worry that had plagued her since the day she’d received the Authority—a compulsion to use the power that had been granted to her.
Ivanna had cautiously begun exercising her Authority without letting anyone know.
Since nobody paid attention to the discarded youngest princess, she used her Water Authority freely within her own chambers.
It was convenient—she could use it for washing, for drinking, for everything.
Anthony and Sola had found their work much easier since she’d received the Authority.
“In any case, you needn’t concern yourself with the drought. I’ve heard the mages are already working on ways to create Artificial Rainfall.”
“Artificial Rainfall?”
“Yes. They’re developing magical methods to bring rain. There are signs they’ll succeed soon. Don’t worry.”
At Elisa’s firm assertion that this was the Imperial Palace’s responsibility to handle, Ivanna nodded.
“How are you managing life at the Duke’s Residence?”
“It’s peaceful—nothing to worry about.”
“Would it be difficult to move out completely?”
“Still weighing the options.”
Ivanna nodded to Elisa, whose face brimmed with hope.
All she needed was to convince the Duke, but that was far easier said than done. Despite living in the adjacent chamber, she hadn’t crossed paths with him even once at the Duke’s Residence.
The Duke had no interest in her, after all.
Even if she spent more time at the guild, he’d never notice. He’d never imagine she was here poring over documents in a place like this.
Ivanna turned to the next page with a lighter heart.
At that same moment, outside the guild, a man stood watching the entrance.
Dandelion Merchant Guild, 2:30 PM.
The shadow the Duke had cast over the princess meticulously recorded her every movement.

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