<h4>Chapter 346</h4>


    To head to the Edina Archipgo, I needed Lucinil. Although things weren’t urgent, there was no reason to dy, so I entrusted a letter to the Rotary Club to be delivered to Count Argon Pontius.


    I had to be cautious when it came to my movements, so even though I had Sarkegar’s ring, I had no intention of visiting Count Argon Pontius’s house directly.


    I left the Rotary Club headquarters and headed to the predetermined meeting ce. It would take some time to make contact, so I waited untilte at night.


    The meeting ce was a secluded spot located within the lower Irine area, slightly outside the capital.


    While I could afford to wait around like this when I had time, it would be troublesome in urgent situations. For the moment, Lucinil was staying at Count Argon Pontius’s mansion, but I probably needed to find a more convenient way to contact Lucinil.


    How much time had I wasted by the riverside in the darkness?


    <i>Swish...</i>


    A faint mist drifted over and coalesced together, soon forming the shape of a silver-haired girl.


    The girlnded lightly on the ground and looked up at me. “Hello, Archdemon.”


    “You have arrived,” I said.


    “Yes, I have.”


    “But what was that just now? Is it like teleportation?”


    “Oh? Ah... this?” Lucinil briefly turned her entire body into mist and then re-materialized. “It’s a vampire ability, or something like that. It’s not teleportation, but it allows me to move quickly, though.”


    The ability to turn into mist... Eleris had never shown such an ability.


    <i>‘Was it something only the n of Wednesday could use? If so, did each n have its own unique abilities?’</i>


    While I was pondering this, Lucinil ced her hands on her hips. “Anyway, you needed me?”


    “Yes, I need you to apany me somewhere right now.”


    “Where to?”


    “It’s a ce called the Edina Archipgo, in the southern part of the empire. Do you know it?”


    Lucinil crossed her arms, seemingly incredulous. “Where do you think I’ve spent all my years? I’m well-versed in the geography of this world. Of course, sometimes the countries I knew have disappeared, but still.”


    She seemed to feel like that question had belittled her, given her advanced age. Lucinil tilted her head and looked at me. “But why the southern inds?”


    “There’s someone I need to meet there.”


    Even if I exined the details to Lucinil, she probably wouldn’t understand, so I left it at that. Lucinil didn’t seem to care much about what I did, and it didn’t seem like she would feel strongly enough to oppose me.


    Lucinil looked around. “Alright. It seems there’s no one around to see us, so shall we go right away? It’s quite a distance, so I’ll have to teleport us several times in session.”


    “Yes, let’s go.”


    Lucinil began to concentrate before casting Mass Teleportation.


    Lucinil and Eleris had rather different personalities, yet both were equally reliable.


    ***


    The Edina Archipgo was located at the southernmost tip of the empire, far enough from the maind that it was beyond the range of even thergest warp gates.


    Conventionally, one would have to take a ship to reach it. Although the archipgo had its own warp gates that could be used for inter-ind travel, they weren’t connected to the continent’swork.


    <i>Thump!</i>


    Lucinil teleported us several times consecutively, and we arrived in Rajak, the main port city of the Edina Archipgo, where the Granz ducal vi which I had previously visited was located. As soon as we arrived on the outskirts of Rajak, Lucinil’s eyes sparkled.


    “Wow! It’s snowing here?”


    The Edina Archipgo wasn’t a tropical region, and winter hade to the inds as well, with heavy snow falling around us. Lucinil stepped across the snow, enjoying the crunch beneath her feet.


    “... You already saw plenty of snow during the Council meeting.”


    <i>‘Hadn’t sheined about the snow being tiresome back then?’</i>


    “Archdemon, is the snow being blown about in a ce where it feels like the wind is tearing your cheeks right off the same as this gentle, fluffy snow falling in a cozy-looking port city?”


    “What’s the difference?”


    “Oh, it’s quite refreshing to see someone much younger than me acting like an enlightened old man.”


    It was indeed peculiar that Lucinil, despite having lived for so long, hadn’t lost her sensitivity. Anyway, we stood on the outskirts and looked down at the snow-covered port city of Rajak.


    “So, who do you need to meet?”


    “There’s someone who runs a tavern in this city... A friend, should I say? A colleague? Something like that.”


    Honestly, I barely remembered anything about Airi except that she had pink hair. I could have visited thest time I was in the city, but didn’t.


    Lucinil tilted her head. “A tavern? What’s the connection between your grand vision for the reconstruction of the Dark Land and your colleague running a tavern at the southern edge of the continent?”


    “It was supposed to be the first step towards gaining financial control over the empire, but the internal details are a bitplicated and hard to exin.”


    “... Is that so? Then I’ll just assume that’s the case.”


    “Sounds good.”


    Lucinil seemed to ept my exnation as she absentmindedly watched the falling snowkes. She was the type to help with everything but in a hands-off manner, leaving things to take their own course. Eleris, on the other hand, was always curious about my intentions.


    It was as if Lucinil was saying, “I’ll help, but if you end up dead, it’s not my fault.”


    I wondered if Eleris had been referring to this when she described Lucinil as being versatile.


    “Anyway, please don’t call me Archdemon anywhere. I’d rather avoid attracting unwanted attention.”


    While I knew there wouldn’t be anyone here who could recognize me, I had still changed my appearance from Reinhart to something entirely different.


    “Got it. Arch—um, Reinhart.”


    “Let’s go.”


    I wasn’t in Reinhart’s form, but I was still Reinhart. It wasn’t exactly a rare name, so I let it slide.


    ***


    We entered Rajak and inquired about Airi’s tavern. I didn’t know the name of the ce, so I simply asked if there was a tavern nearby with many barmaids.


    When I had visited before, the tavern was so famous that it had almost caused family breakdowns throughout the city, so I thought I could find it just by asking around.


    However, when I asked a passerby, they frowned at me.


    “Huh...? What are you talking about? That was ages ago.”


    “... Pardon?”


    “That tavern closed down quite a while ago.”


    With that, the passerby walked off briskly.


    <i>‘Closed down?’</i>


    n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    I had been busy with matters in the capital, so Eleris probably hadn’t been able to keep up with the situation in the Edina Archipgo.


    <i>‘Had something happened to Airi in the meantime?’</i>


    “It seems like the situation is a little strange,” Lucinilmented.


    “... Indeed it is.”


    Lucinil and I stared at each other, but neither of us knew anything, so staring at each other wouldn’t provide any answers to this situation.


    I continued walking down the street, stopping passersby to ask questions. Most of them knew about the tavern but said it had been closed for some time, so there was no point in going there.


    “Oh, that tavern? What a shame. I used to go there quite often...”


    This man was clearly inebriated. He smacked his lips.


    “Are the staff or... Are those people safe?”


    He frowned at my question. “Safe? Safe, you say? Ha, hahaha... hahahaha...”


    Heughed as if he had heard the most ridiculous question and brushed past me. It seemed he was too drunk to provide any more answers.


    <i>‘Has something happened to Airi and the subi? Were they discovered to be subi, and subjected to severe consequences or even death?</i>


    <i>‘The business seemed to be doing well, but they seemed to be causing several family breakdowns. Did that be a growing issue and lead to public dissatisfaction?’</i>


    These dreadful possibilities swirled about in my mind as I stopped another passerby. This time, it was a middle-aged woman.


    “There was a famous tavern in Rajak with many barmaids, but it seems to have closed down. Do you know what happened?”


    The middle-aged woman frowned deeply at the unfamiliar person who had stopped her. “Why do you ask?”


    I got straight to the point. “Did they get hurt or... did something happen to them?”


    “Hurt? Hurt, my ass.”


    “... Excuse me?”


    “Those women are so tough even ghosts wouldn’t dare take them on. Hurt? I’d rather they just drop dead!”


    The middle-aged woman spat on the ground disdainfully and turned away, going on her way.


    <i>‘What’s this? What on earth is happening? From what she said, though it seems they’re safe.’ </i>


    The true answer came from the next person I asked.


    “Oh, those women, you mean?” This person didn’t seem interested in alcohol, and didn’t seem to regret the tavern’s closure. “They left the tavern business and switched to moneylending quite some time ago.”


    “... Moneylending?”


    “Usury. You know, loan sharks.”


    <i>‘What on earth is this person talking about?’ </i>


    The old man I was speaking to pointed to arge stone building further inside Rajak, prominent even from a distance away.


    “They don’t deal with small fry like us anymore. They mainly lend to shipowners leading trade fleets or nobles, and it seems quite profitable. They must be doing well if they closed their old business.”


    It wasn’t that they’d failed. On the contrary, they were doing so well that they no longer needed to run a tavern.


    As the passerby walked away, Lucinil grabbed my sleeve with a bewildered expression. “Is this that thing you mentioned earlier about controlling the empire’s financial power?”


    “It... seems like it.”


    “Why do you look like you didn’t expect this either?”


    I had only casually suggested trying to gain financial control over the empire.


    <i>‘Did they really close the tavern and switch to moneylending within a year? How much money have they made?’</i>


    Lucinil and I walked towards the stone building the passerby had pointed out.


    ***


    Airi’s tavern had been quite sessful. Regr patrons seemed to regret their switch to moneylending. Usury, loansharking, moneylending—whatever it was called, the stone building in front of which we found ourselves in the middle of the night wasrge enough to seem like a legitimate financial institution.


    When the scale of a moneylending business grew, how different was it from a financial institution? I hade to Rajak expecting to see a bustling tavern, but instead, I was confronted with a massive stone building that was lit up even at this hour.


    It was built in a grand and elegant architectural style, and seemed more like a temple than a bank building.


    <i>‘When did they build such a structure?’</i>


    The name of the business was embossed at the entrance of the towering building.


    [Angel Capital]


    “...”


    I was at a loss for words.


    “I don’t know much about finance, but I think angels and moneylending are a really mismatchedbination,” Lucinil muttered, seemingly incredulous.


    “... I think so too.”


    Even at night, the building wasn’t closed, and bright lights streamed from inside. There was amotion going on at the entrance.


    A young woman in a ck suit and a middle-aged man with a protruding belly were standing there. Though it wasn’t Airi, she seemed to be one of the subi I had rescued.


    “Come on, let it slide just this once, won’t you? I’ve told you over and over that my funds are tied up.”


    “Hey,e on now, Captain, I’ve told you several times. Please adhere to the interest payment deadlines. Our finances are tight as well, so if our deadlines aren’t met, we run into a lot of problems. I even lowered the interest rate for you, but instructed you to strictly adhere to the deadlines and warned you about the penalties for not doing so, didn’t I?”


    “Of course, I know. But how was I supposed to know things would turn out like this? Just give me one week, and I’ll pay double, no, triple the overdue interest. Seriously, my funds are just suddenly andpletely blocked. This has never happened before.”


    “Captain, please, I really want to help you because of our past rtionship, but I can’t decide this on my own. I’ve been strictly instructed to follow the guidelines. It’s not about the amount of interest. We once allowed a customer to dy their interest payments, but that messed up our cash flow, causing a major business deal to fall through. Therefore, we can’t make exceptions. I’m really sorry, Captain.”


    “Yuria... I’m begging you. Do I look like the kind of person who balks at paying a few pennies in interest? I’m the captain of a Renos-ss trade ship. You know I wouldn’t make a fuss over such a small amount. I’ve never had to beg like this in my life. Please, for old times’ sake, huh? Can’t you do something? Do you think it makes sense to go bankrupt over such a small amount?”


    I felt a headacheing on as I observed the ongoingmotion.


    <i>‘What on earth are they discussing?’ </i>


    The middle-aged man’s persistent pleading made Yuria, the subus, sigh deeply.


    “I suppose there’s no choice. Captain, you and I have known each other for quite some time. But please remember, this is a one-time thing, okay? If you’rete with the payment again, it’s not just you who will be in trouble; my neck will be on the line too, got it? Please, as much as you value me...”


    “Of course! When have I ever broken a promise to you, huh? Except for this time, of course! Haha!”


    “I’ll extend the deadline by a week then, but please be ready with the money by then. You know it will be difficult for me to do this on my own authority again, right?”


    “Of course! In a week. I’ll pay back not just double the interest, but the principal as well!”


    The middle-aged man, reassured by the extension of the interest deadline,ughed heartily and left. The subus, presumably named Yuria, who was working with the money lending firm, looked over at the two of us who were standing idly by the entrance.


    “Are you visitors?”


    “You could say that...”


    At my words, Yuria scratched her cheek apologetically.


    “I’m sorry. Angel Capital provides financial services only to selected VIP clients, so we do not ept new customers. If you don’t have a rmendation letter from an existing member, we cannot extend our services to you.”


    Usury... But a business that did not target ordinary citizens.


    I didn’t know how they went from running a tavern to this, but judging by the scale, they had certainly made a significant leap.


    I wasn’t in the form of Baalier or Reinhart, so they wouldn’t recognize me.


    “Tell the boss that thest remaining family member is here. She’ll understand.”


    “...!”


    There were many ways to summon Airi. Not by blood, but as thest remaining family member.


    The royal family of the Dark Land... Airi would understand that, aside from herself, the only other one was me.


    “... Please follow me. This way.”


    And if Yuria was a subus, she would understand what I meant as well.