Betrayal Knight's Joyful Faith

Chapter 252

“…”Drayton was quite confident in his instincts.

He had no doubt that it was his innate intuition that allowed him to grow to this extent as a merchant while working under Count Eckhart.

The extraordinary intuition that had guided him until now was sounding an alarm.

“Would you like to answer it?”

Arendt urged him gently once more.

Drayton unconsciously clenched his fist, glared at him, and answered the communication port.

As soon as he connected, he heard his secretary’s urgent voice.

– Sir! Are you available to talk right now?

“…What’s going on?”

– It’s regarding the shop you are taking over. Several merchant groups have suddenly expressed their intention to withdraw their investments and deliveries.

. Drayton’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Why all of a sudden?”

– Well, I don’t know. They didn’t give a proper reason, they just said it was an internal matter in their groups…

The hand holding the communication tube tightened with such force that it started to tremble uncontrollably.

The secretary, who had no way of knowing the boss’ condition, hurriedly continued speaking over the communication port.

– Except for a few, most had only expressed their intention to trade verbally, so they think that withdrawing their intention isn’t a big issue. I tried to persuade them, but it didn’t work. You’ll need to talk to them directly, Sir… Sir?

“…”

The secretary, who had sensed something odd about the long silence, called out to him in confusion.

But Drayton did not answer.

No, he couldn’t answer.

His gaze had been fixed on Arendt from earlier.

His shoulders rose and fell heavily, unable to control his breathing that was growing ragged with anger.

His wide eyes began to become bloodshot.

Despite that, the reason he wasn’t erupting with anger immediately was because Drayton was showing the best patience he could muster.

A voice, like the growl of a beast, flowed from Drayton’s throat.

“…What on earth have you done?”

“I’m not exactly an expert in business, but I think I’m a bit better than you, so let me give you some advice.”

Arendt burst into laughter.

“First of all, you should pay more attention to your facial expressions. How can a merchant let their emotions show so openly?”hing.”

His golden eyes, curved like crescent moons, gave off a subtle smile.

“But by pure luck, that one thing happens to be in my hands.”

Drayton looked dumbfounded, not understanding Arendt’s words.

Arendt burst into laughter.

“So I tried using a little bit of influence. I thought it might be of some help to my poor brother and Lord Henry. But it wasn’t enough, so I think Lord Neumann did some more publicity.”

Oliver, who had been huddled in the corner, muttered as if possessed.

“No way… a business partner?”

He remembered what Henry had said in passing earlier, that he had found a new business partner.

But no matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn’t think of a way that the Union could use to turn the tables right away.

After all, no matter how great he was, Arendt was just an apprentice knight.

However, Drayton seemed to sense that something was off.

Drayton, who had been silent, suddenly turned pale, like someone being strangled.

But he seemed to want to somehow deny the slight possibility that he had thought of.

“No, wait. That can’t be…”

“Oh, since you’ve come all this way, should I show it to you? I just happened to have a sample of the item that was supposed to be delivered this morning, so I brought it with me.”

Arendt took a small pouch out of his pocket and tossed it to him.

.

Drayton’s pupils began to waver as he looked down at the pouch that had fallen on his lap.

The subordinate who had been watching quickly picked it up and handed it to Drayton.

Drayton, glaring at Arendt with bloodshot eyes filled with anger, snatched it and opened it.

As the pouch opened slightly, a unique scent that stood out even among the various teas on display, one that he had never smelled before, wafted out.

“This is…”

“These are tea leaves from the Second Elven Kingdom, but so far they have only been distributed to a small extent within the Everan Kingdom. I have received a definite answer from the Everan Kingdom that for the time being they will only export them to the Caerleon Empire through the Khan Union.”

Drayton’s hands began to shake slightly.

Only merchants with the Emperor’s permission were allowed to directly import elven goods.

Even that was only in very small quantities, so all the items that came from the Elven Kingdom were priceless.

Even the merchants who directly imported them were in that situation, so it was by no means easy for other merchants to obtain goods through them.

However, the situation was a bit different in the Everan Kingdom.

The Everan Kingdom was a country with relatively active exchanges with elves due to the activities of Prince Llewellyn.

Although there was a shortage of items, it was not like in the Caerleon Empire where you couldn’t find anything for sale no matter how hard you searched.

So it wasn’t entirely unreasonable to say that they got the stuff through them.

The cheerful voice of the apprentice knight penetrated into his blank mind.

“What do you think? Do you have something like this over there?”

“…”

Drayton, who had been standing there dumbfounded, barely managed to find a rebuttal and stammer it out.

“Ha, but from the Everan Kingdom… why from there?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to take action yourself rather than just chatting here? Since the facts have already been confirmed, why does the reason matter? They even said they would cancel the contract.”

But all that came back were words that sounded like mockery.

“The tea shop you bought. It’s probably losing value right now. Shouldn’t you hurry and run to the East Merchant Group, your Merchant Group, or at least Count Eckhart?”

The apprentice knight, with his pleasant smile on his face, whispered every word, making his stomach turn.

“You need to quickly find out what kind of sweet talk the other person fell for and what kind of tricks we used, and then respond accordingly.”

At first, it sounded like a soft tone, but what was contained within was blatant mockery.

After a long pause, Drayton, who had clenched his lips tightly, spat out with a biting tone.

“I will never forget this, Lord Arendt.”

With that, Drayton stormed out and left the Union.

“Now, please wait a moment, Sir!”

His subordinates, who had been standing there blankly, followed him in a hurry.

!

The door slammed shut, and a silence filled the room, a stark contrast to the commotion from just moments ago.

Among them, the one with the most corpse-like face was Oliver, who got caught up in the sudden commotion.

Arendt spoke to his precious audience.

“Hey, there’s a guy over there whose name I don’t know.”

“Yes, yes?”

As Oliver jumped up in surprise, Arendt added wryly:

“Did you see everything?”

“Yes?”

“You must have seen and heard it all with your own eyes. From how Count Eckhart brought in the East Merchant Group to try and clean up the mess in his house, to what the Khan Union is planning to sell from now on.”

Oliver just nodded blankly at the following words.

Arendt clicked his tongue and frowned.

“Then what are you waiting for? You should report to your superior right away. You know I’m not lying, so I’m sure they know it too.”

“…”

“It’s not just the tea. Other items will be released slowly over time.”

Drayton and Count Eckhart had already finalized the contract to take over the shop.

This was the moment Arendt had been waiting for.

It shouldn’t end with just excluding the East Merchant Group.

Only by somehow giving Count Eckhart a terrible sense of defeat could it be called a complete victory.

“It seems like the East Merchant Group wanted to finish it quickly, but I have no intention of doing that. I prefer to drag it out and slowly tighten the noose.”

“…”

Oliver couldn’t bring himself to answer.

It was because he felt an indescribable eerieness from a young man who had not even lived half as long as he had.

“For your information, the transaction will be mediated by Lord Neumann. I don’t think you should try to swindle a small Union run by two people.”

“What? Swindle, swindle you say! That can’t be…”

“You said that the most despicable people in the world are merchants, right? Aren’t you a merchant too?”

Oliver, who had been stammering in surprise, quickly closed his mouth.

Arendt casually waved his hand.

“So you too, go do your work now.”

“…Are you saying there’s something to be done?”

Oliver’s eyes began to gradually come into focus.

“Yes, I believe the value for your petty favor has been sufficiently paid with the spectacle I just showed. Instead of giving me change, please spread the word far and wide.”

Arendt met his gaze.

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“…!”

.

Oliver, as if possessed by something, jumped to his feet.

His chair tumbled across the floor, but he didn’t even seem to notice.

“Union Leader. I’m sorry. I’ll go first.”

Oliver nodded repeatedly toward Henry as he hurriedly packed his bags.

“I’m sorry. I’ll see you next time. I promise. I really promise.”

“Yes, of course. Please make sure to go carefully.”

Henry nodded with a bitter smile.

Oliver didn’t respond to those words and left the union just as quickly as Drayton.

The last actor playing the role of the audience exited the stage as per the script and the door slammed shut.

It was the moment when the play set in the empty hall of the Khan Union came to a successful conclusion.

It was a bit disappointing that there was no applause, but instead Arendt shrugged his shoulders at Henry, who was giving him a complicated look.

“How was it?”

“What do you mean ‘how was it’…”

Henry couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile at those nonchalant words.

Count Eckhart’s efforts to bring in the East Merchant Group to pressure the brothers were clearly excessive.

But as he watched Arendt, who had been relentlessly nagging the prince of the Everan Kingdom for this whole theatrical performance, that level of manipulation actually started to feel rather cute.

But instead of saying it out loud, Henry gave a brief nod.

“Thank you for your hard work, Sir Arendt.”

“Don’t thank me yet. This is just the beginning.”

But the haughty apprentice knight didn’t seem to have any intention of accepting even that brief thanks.

“Just get ready to watch. It’s going to get quite interesting.”

A picture-perfect smile spread across Arendt’s lips.