Leave a comment

In a room that was too small compared to those nobles usually had in their homes, although it was still elegantly furnished, Christina was reporting something to her father, Viscount Barnard.

“We’ve confirmed that all the suspicions we had about the Platiboros Trading Company are true, and the investigation revealed that they’re also involved in many other countries.”

After the incident with Plum’s Sorcery Core, Christina had started an investigation into the Platiboros Company. They were really clever in keeping everything hidden, but as she slowly uncovered the truth, she realized it was not something only the daughter of a noble could handle.

“I don’t have any physical evidence, but the Platiboros Company has constant exchanges with neighboring countries. The companies there have different names and are registered under different people, but they’re all part of the same group.”

Seperion was a large country mostly thanks to its developments in magic, but it was also held up by a strong foundation. They had well-developed laws regarding trading, which gave them an edge compared to other countries when it came to economic strength. Taxes for merchants or adventurers entering the country were also low, and they boasted a strong military force, setting them one step ahead of their neighboring regions.

But that had been abused by the Platiboros Company, creating an enormous cobweb of shell companies.

“I have to admit…this is certainly something far from the scope you or I can handle.”

Viscount Barnard slumped his shoulders hearing her report. He was a squirrel demi-human just like his daughter, and had a rather amiable and friendly demeanor, but also struggled to deal with any sort of conflict. He was well aware of that weakness, and how it would impede dealing with the situation his daughter had presented.

He would not have minded to just take care of the incident her daughter had been roped into. But now that he knew the Platiboros Company possessed a network of companies connected throughout various countries, it was a matter of national security. Unless they were all allied countries.

But in reality that was not the case. By tunneling from country to country, the company had managed to connect to Granleuche, which was an enemy of Seperion. And there was a chance the company had started there in the first place.

The situation could lead to various serious issues, like the disruption of the local economy, a decline in the domestic industries, or even leaking of vital information. Those were not things a viscount could deal with, and he felt a responsibility to report it to higher ranking nobles, or even the king. The Barnard territory was located far in the west side of the country, so the chances of such issues affecting him directly were low, but they were not zero. The only problem was that they still lacked a lot of information about the issue as a whole.

“I’m really sorry, Father.”

Christina could feel her father’s worries, so she bowed and apologized as best as she could. If she had never bought that Sorcery Core from the Platiboros Company, her father would have been spared from having to worry about this.

“Raise your head, Christina. This might be an unusual situation, but you did nothing wrong. Rather, it was thanks to you that this came to light sooner rather than later.”

Viscount Barnard was right. If Christina had not been involved in that incident, the network of companies would not have been discovered until an enemy infiltrated the entire country. Christina might have been careless in some aspects, but the result was still positive for Seperion.

“Just leave the rest to adults like us, there’s nothing for you to worry about. It’s not like I’m a Viscount in name only.”

Viscount Barnard said that with a kind smile.

The top floor of a Nekome Store in Ingralowe was used for office work, and now it was filled with multiple people sitting around a table. They were all shop managers of different branches, and their assistants, with the exception of Amy. She was there as the company president’s daughter, since she had already started helping with management.

After a heavy sigh, Amy looked at the topic of discussion again, a book that lay on the table.

It was a collection of notes for a magic theory textbook. That was something they had started selling in their stores since the previous year, and had gained quite a lot of popularity. But that also showed other stores that there was demand, so they came up with their own version to compete against the Nekome Store. They did not present a major threat so far, but since they had published a follow-up for the second semester, it had potential of being disruptive in the market.

“We were able to make up for the lost sales with the sales this year, but it’s still not the most favorable outlook.”
“The other stores have started copying us already. We need to do something…”
“All of this could’ve been avoided if we got the manuscript on time back then though.”

The people in the meeting did not look very pleased. But Amy did not seem as bothered as them.

“The author ran into an unfortunate accident, so she was unable to write that semester’s reference book. Blaming her for something out of her control isn’t very nice.”

The person who tried to pin the blame on Natalia was also the manager of the Western Ingralowe Street branch, who had met Natalia before, which was why Amy made sure to reprimand him.

He looked really awkward and uncomfortable hearing that, so he did not say anything more.

“At the same time, this has revealed the failure point of only having a single author, we’ll need to search for others who can cover for her if anything happens again. Also, that other stores are trying to copy our work also means that there’s clear demand for such books, proving it was a worthy investment.”

Amy said that while looking around the room, and noticed the managers were looking less upset. She was right, it had not been a net loss. They had gained valuable market information as well.

“The students also keep spreading the word about them, and some nobles that came from afar have asked if they can sell them in their land.”
“Wait, does that mean…”
“Yes. Dad has given permission to distribute it outside of Ingralowe.”