## Chapter 1902 – 1902. Dark Moon
“The previous owner left the city in a hurry. To give you a rough idea, you could say he made a lot of enemies. Enough to make him flee in the middle of the night. He told us to take care of these machines ourselves. Well, it’s a common occurrence in Neo London.”
I stared intently at the machines. They were made with pure science and technology, not magic engineering. There was no reason to use magic engineering machines to produce simple goods. The problem was that, since they weren’t magic engineering, I had no idea what kind of machines they were.
-They’re beverage production machines. They seem to be making something based on grape juice, mixed with various chemicals.
Yuria provided the answer. Why was she telling me this now?
“…So, they’re beverage production machines based on grape juice.”
“Oh. You got it right away. How did you know it was based on grapes?”
-I could smell the grape scent.
“I could smell the grape scent.”
I repeated what Yuria had said. I couldn’t smell anything at all.
Marik looked at me with admiration.
“Your senses are amazing. You have a unique eye for things. This was a beverage factory. The drinks themselves were sweet and tasty, but I wouldn’t say they were popular.”
-The machines are too clean. It doesn’t seem like they produced many drinks.
I checked the machines after hearing Yuria’s words. As she said, the machines were too clean. A typical factory would try to run all day long. That was the natural thing to do to make a profit. There was a reason why there were two-shift and three-shift systems.
“This place wasn’t just producing beverages. The beverage production is a smokescreen?”
Gillian said. He was looking at one side of the factory with interest. A place that was particularly clean and empty. A place where, normally, beverage ingredients would be piled up.
“Haha. Mr. Gillian, you’re sharp. That’s right. The previous owner manufactured counterfeit goods here.”
“Counterfeit goods? Drugs?”
“Not drugs. You could say they used chemicals to make fakes that looked real.”
Grape juice drinks. Fake. Not drugs, but just as profitable. At this point, I couldn’t help but realize.
“Fake wine, then. That would have made money. I see why the previous owner ran away so quickly. There must have been some nobles among those he scammed. The previous owner wasn’t in his right mind either.”
Gillian chuckled.
Marik didn’t particularly respond. He naturally wandered around the inside of the factory.
“As it’s a beverage factory, water is important, but unfortunately, you’ll have to find your own water. The quality of the tap water isn’t very good. Otherwise, you’ll have to order and install a water purification machine.”
“How did the previous owner get water?”
“I don’t know about that. Seeing as there’s no water purification machine, he probably got it separately.”
“Would that swindler have done that? He probably just used tap water as is. If you bribe the public officials who come for inspections, they’ll keep their mouths shut.”
I agreed with Gillian’s opinion. On the surface, since they were running a beverage factory, the cost of purified water would be considerable. From the public official’s point of view, it wasn’t too late to take action when a problem arose.
“This is the control room. You can operate all the machines in the factory from here. That generator over there is also the latest model. It’s a bit small and cheap, but it should be enough to run a factory.”
We also checked the bathrooms and the warehouse.
I decided to buy this factory. I liked the structure of the factory, but what I liked most was that it was clean.
Gillian and I made eye contact. He seemed to like this factory too. While we were having a staring contest, Marik, who was caught in the middle, smiled brightly.
“Well, the price of this factory is 400 million credits. It’s a low price because it’s a quick sale. I don’t need to tell you the reason for the quick sale, do I?”
The house in Sector S where I was currently living cost 48 million credits. In that case, I wondered if it would be better to buy a house and convert it into a factory, but according to Neo London’s laws, factories had to be built in factory zones.
“I’ll buy it for 430 million.”
I said. With a competitor, it was impossible to buy it for 400 million credits.
“450 million. I’m sorry, but I have to take this factory. Isn’t 450 million or more a burden for you? You could buy another factory with that money.”
“I’d like to return those words to you.”
“I’m quite in a hurry, you see.”
“460 million. You’re not the only one in a hurry.”
I didn’t back down and raised the price. In my head, a calculator was running. My budget was 300 million credits. I was planning to borrow the remaining 100 million. I could borrow up to 200 million without any trouble. Even though I looked like this, I was a 5th-grade mage.
“You know it’s stupid to go up to 500 million, right? Let’s do this. I’ll give you 10 million credits. Let me have the factory. I’ll be happy to buy it for 400 million, and you’ll be happy to get 10 million credits for free. It’s a win-win strategy.”
Gillian’s offer was tempting. No one disliked free money. Marik next to me frowned, but he didn’t interfere and watched quietly.
“I’ll make a counter-offer. I’ll give you 20 million credits to give up.”
“…Ha. So, you want to try it after all? A battle of pride is never good…”
“Why? Are you going to fight?”
Mana accelerated through 52 mana rods. After repairing the broken mana rods, there were 50 mana rods, but I had created 2 more through training. The feeling of all my mana rods operating normally was amazing.
Gillian’s maid, Barbara, gripped her spear. The moment I opened my astral, she would stab me with her spear. The distance was too close. I was already within Barbara’s range. But if I used a split second, I could respond sufficiently.
“Stop. Let’s not do this here. I misspoke.”
Gillian raised his hand. I exhaled and calmed my mana.
“This is troublesome. Let’s back off for now. We need time to sort out our thoughts, don’t we? How about we meet later and discuss it?”
“Not a bad offer. Let’s do that.”
I readily accepted Gillian’s offer.
The reason was simple. I had no information about Gillian. It was foolish to negotiate here just to save face. And Gillian would have thought the same.
We both turned our heads and looked at Marik.
“Our company wants to sell this factory right away, but since you two customers are like this, there’s nothing we can do. Three days. Please give us an answer within three days. We can’t wait any longer than that. If you don’t give us an answer within three days, we’ll put it up for auction.”
We each took our carriages and parted ways.
Afterwards, I used my connections to find out about Gillian High-Tech.
He, who was said to be in the transportation business, was indeed a smuggler. He wasn’t particularly part of a criminal organization. He was a mercenary, a summoner, and a tamer. He was kicked out of the mercenary group for making a chimera out of his comrades’ corpses. Since he was kicked out, he had been smuggling with a female mercenary named Barbara. Barbara. A maid with ash-gray hair. She was a 4th-grade mage at the time.
‘This is information from three years ago. It wouldn’t be strange if she’s a 5th-grade now.’
It wasn’t that easy to raise one’s magic grade, but it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
‘He’s similar to me in that he hasn’t been in Neo London for long.’
His reputation in Neo London wasn’t good. It seemed he had ripped off quite a few people while smuggling. I looked into whether he had any backing, and he was related to a few nobles. But he wasn’t close enough to those nobles for them to be his backing.
‘He has no backing. That applies to me too. Gillian would have investigated me and know that.’
How would Gillian react after getting information about me?
Wooo-wooo-woong.
My watch vibrated. Yuria was preparing tea in front of me, so the caller was limited.
‘A number I’ve never seen before.’
I answered it anyway.
“Who is this?”
-It’s me. Gillian. No matter how much I think about it, I don’t think I can give up the factory. I’ll give you 30 million credits. I’ll take the factory.
“You want me to take 30 million credits and get lost? That’s absurd. I’ll give you 40 million credits, so get your hands off the factory.”
-Our opinions keep clashing. It’ll be the same even if we negotiate later. Let me give you some advice.
“Advice?”
-If you don’t want to die, just give up, you moron! Go sell chicken or something! If you get in my way again, I’ll put you in an oil drum and fry you! How was my advice? Did you understand it well?
“Ah, of course. You’re telling me to fry you crispy, right? I’ll fry you crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside with electric light. Even though I look like this, I’m a chicken shop owner. I’m confident in frying.”
-Ha. Be careful at night. Dangerous beasts are mostly active at night.
“It’s better to be careful of the sky both day and night. Lightning doesn’t distinguish between day and night.”
Click.
I hung up first. I could never forgive that bastard for hanging up before me.
I got up from my seat and straightened my clothes.
‘I’ve already found out where Gillian is. On the outskirts outside the district. A perfect location for smuggling, not too far from Neo London, but not too close either.’
In other words, a place with no security. A place where I could fight without any restrictions.
‘I’ll go kill him right now. If he’s smuggling, he must have some good stuff. I’ll get lucky.’
“Yuria. I’m sorry, but we’ll have to drink tea later.”
“I’ll go too.”
Yuria, who turned around, was already wearing her maid outfit for going out.
“…What?”
“I obtained a 2nd-grade knight certificate from the Knight Training Center. I won’t cause any trouble for you, Master. My certificate was suspended when I left the Knight Training Center, but my skills haven’t gone anywhere.”
I hesitated for a moment and then nodded. It was because I remembered Gillian’s maid, Barbara. Gillian, who was presumed to be a 5th-grade mage, and his mercenary maid, Barbara. It seemed difficult to face them both alone. Yuria would be helpful.
“…This isn’t a righteous thing to do. It’s a crime. There’s no need for you to dirty your hands.”
“I can do anything for you, Master. Dirtying my hands is nothing.”
Yuria said without hesitation and smiled. It was a reassuring smile.
