CH 87

The next day, I woke up thirsty.

I stretched to wake my sleepy body and opened the curtains to let the sun shine in. The sky was red, glowing from the low sun that had just begun to rise, and was about to overtake the blue sky of the night.

I opened the window and let the cool air enter my lungs, making it hard to breathe but pleasant.

“Another day begins…”

Just as I was mumbling to myself, the door behind me opened with a clatter.

“Master Chris! Come to the conference room right now!”

When I saw Hal hurriedly enter, I felt terribly sleepy, thinking that another day was about to begin.

“This is no time to be sheepish, Chris!”

“Yeah. All right, all right.”

I followed Hal’s lead and came to the meeting room with heavy steps. There was Yulis, rubbing her eyes sleepily like a cat washing its face. I understood that the usual meeting was about to begin with the usual group of people.

When Hal saw me take my seat, he opened his mouth.

‘Well then, I’ve asked you to gather here because we need to urgently figure out what to do.”

I wondered what had happened to Hal to make him so flustered. My sleepy brain started to wake up and I asked.

“What did you mean by countermeasures?”

“The morning guard spotted a merchant squadron in the distance from the lookout.”

“Merchants? Isn’t that all right?”

“Not good! The carriages of the merchant troops have the emblem of the Marquise of Alcala on them!”

Hal shouted loudly.

Oh, the Marquise of Alcala is…….I looked back at the bad memory of yesterday. If only I could lose my memory.

“While we have to concentrate on dealing with the Orrard family’s business association, it’s going to be very tough if we have to consider the Alcala family as well.”

“That’s right.”

Hal nodded his head and continued.

“I heard that the trading company came with a string of wagons. I think they will probably report to us in the morning. So it’s important to find out their intentions at that time.”

After that, the meeting continued, and we discussed what their intentions were and how we should deal with them, but in the end, no conclusion was reached.

I had no choice but to go to the parlor and wait for the Alcala Chamber of Commerce. At any rate, I had to succeed in seeing through their intentions.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and it opened.

“Well, well, well, Viscount Dreschord. My name is Calito, head of the Alcala family business association.

The man who introduced himself as Calito bowed his head. He had a well-trimmed, curly beard and narrow eyes. From the fur clothing that looked expensive at first glance, even though there were no ornaments attached to it, I understood that he was the head of a very large trading company.

He had this relaxed attitude in front of a viscount. I’m sure that if I were to probe such a person, he would just shrug it off so I decided to ask him straightforwardly.

“As you may know, I am the Lord of this domain and my name is Chris Dreschord. What brings you here this time?”

“I would like to distribute goods to the Alcala family’s store. These are the goods I bought this time.”

He handed me a piece of paper with an unchanging grin on his face. It was a list of clothing and other necessities, things that were in demand in this area.

I was convinced. Oh, so this guy is using the same methods as the Orrards to corner me. And if he’s going to give it to me directly, he’s probably trying to intimidate me.

I asked him for confirmation.

“Will you continue to supply products like this?”

“No, not really. Someone gave me some advice this morning, and I’m thinking of dealing mainly with large quantities of food products for a while.”

I was astonished by Calito’s unexpected words because dealing with food products meant competing with the Orrards on price. As far as I’m concerned, since the two families are in competition, if one of them leaves, the other one stays. In other words, it gives me time to improve my food self-sufficiency.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s no fun for us to watch them monopolize our business.”

Calito opened his mouth wide and smiled. Apparently, he understood the whole situation. After that, we had a chat, and then he left.

When I thought about it, I broke out in a cold sweat.

Huh? Wait a minute. We managed to get rid of the food crisis, but didn’t it get worse? A solemn knock sounded, and the door opened for Yulis to enter.

“Master Chris. Do you understand?”

“Uh-huh. I heard that the Alcala family’s trading company deals in food products.”

Yulis raised an eyebrow at my words.

“That’s strange. It’s not in the best interest of the Alcala family to do that.”

“I don’t think they have such deep intentions, they’re just trying to help the house. Hahaha…….”

“No, of course not. I mean, Chris-sama. There’s something fishy about it. Don’t you have any idea what it is?”

“Actually, the Marquis of Alcala happened to be at the restaurant yesterday…….”

I was determined to tell Yulis what had happened yesterday. As I talked, she became more and more unhappy, and when I finished, Yulis let out a cold voice.

“So, you’re saying that he supported his future son-in-law?”

“I think so…….Haha.”

I can’t help but laugh dryly from exhaustion.

Earlier, Calito had said that he had received advice from someone this morning. From the fact that it was this morning, it can be assumed that he received advice from someone who was in the territory since he came today. The Marquis of Alcala is probably the only person who can give such important instructions because of the content of the advice.

The Marquis of Alcala had probably decided to link Claire and me, then today’s action was a clear aid to the house but this is a big problem.

“I’m sorry to say that you’re getting excited about being liked by the daughter of the Marquis of Alcala, but no. It’s not about me at all, but I think it’s too early to say, since we haven’t figured out which power will win yet. It’s not personal at all, but I think it’s too early for Chris, or rather too late.”

Yulis was saying things I didn’t understand, but I didn’t have time to worry about it.

I want to avoid marriage, but why is it getting harder and harder? How on earth am I going to get through this?