The Weakest and the Most Evil Seeker
TN Note: I doubt anyone forgot but when I put a bracketed word right after another, that"s the literal translation of the kanji used. With that, enjoy (ᵔᴥᵔ)
Shadows always appear where there is light.
The imperial capital, that was at the height of prosperity, was no exception. Rather, a stronger shadow was prevalent. In other words, the existence of an illegal organization – Yakuza.
Among them, the Yakuza with the largest scale in the imperial capital, was the Luciano Family. It had branch offices in other countries and while it did behind-the-scene jobs such as prost.i.tution, drugs, gambling, blackmail and murder, it had great influence in normal society as well.
After all, because they had a connection with the royal family, it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the shadow ruler of the imperial capital.
The one who served that Luciano Family as one of the a.s.sistants to the sub-leader, as well as the Don of an affiliated Family, the Bargini Family, was Finocchio Bargini.
His main work was the trading of slaves and the running of brothels. He had a monopoly on slave trading in the imperial capital, so when you talk about a slave merchant in the imperial capital, you"re talking about Finocchio.
Because of that, there"s no one in the imperial capital who doesn"t know who he is.
Refined and vulgar. Cheerful and cruel. Magnanimous and cunning. Non-violent and a genuine s.a.d.i.s.t.
The way of life as a drag queen was a part of it, but he was called the Mad Pierrot because his life was composed of extreme dual-natures.
「Ara~ Mister Noel! Nice to see you again~!」
While making wriggling motions with both hands, Finocchio walked up with an in-toed gait. Behind him were two strong bodyguards.
「You"re late. I thought you"ll be here earlier」
「Boo! Don"t say such disagreeable stuff! I"ve already come as fast as I can! After all, it"s Mister Noel that called, so I came as soon as possible!」
Finocchio puffed up his cheeks and twisted and turned while saying that. He probably thought he"s acting very cute, but all I could see was an eel flopping around on dry land.
I"ve known this drag queen for about half a year. We got acquainted when I was doing a small side job. After that, we had a mutually-beneficial working relationship.
The other people who did not know this, had confused expressions on their face.
「So, it"s about time to talk business~, I a.s.sume you"ve already gotten permission from the two of them?」
「Yeah, no problem. Sell these two, Lloyd and Tania, as slaves」
At my answer, shocked voices could be heard from everyone.
「Noel, don"t tell me… that errand you said you had to run, back before we left…」
I nodded at Walter, who had an expression like he couldn"t believe what was happening.
「It"s as you thought. I had expected Lloyd and Tania to not have the money. In order to get the money back, I joined hands with Finocchio. We had already narrowed down their location, so I promised to hand the two of them over once he met up with us」
The reason why I sent Walter ahead back then, was so I could arrange this deal.
Well, I hadn"t expected that Finocchio would come himself, but I suspose he felt he couldn"t leave the buying of Blue Beyond members to his subordinates, and enthusiastically came in person to handle the deal.
「Stop with the bad jokes!」
Lloyd shouted in tears.
「Why do we have no choice but to become slaves!」
「That"s right! There"s no way we"ll accept that!」
Tania shouted in agreement but her voice was trembling with fear.
「You don"t want to be slaves?」
At my question, both of them replied instantly in anger.
「Obviously!」
「Of course, we don"t!」
「Then, there"s no choice but to hand you both to the military police. As I said before, the punishment for embezzlement is 10 years of forced labor. Do you know the survival rate of the prisoners who aren"t fed decently and are forced to work in the mines under harsh conditions? Only 2 percent」
Lloyd and Tania"s expressions warped with fear when they heard that number.
「Rather than a harsh life like that, I think you"ll be better off being a slave who might be bought by a kind master. The both of you are young and good looking. Whatever happens, you should be treated with care」
The two of them were left speechless, which I took as silent consent. They had an overwhelmingly bigger chance of staying alive as a slave. From the start, there was no other choice for them.
「And there you have it. Finocchio, find good masters for them」
「Leave it to me~! Then, I"ll start inspecting the goods!」
Finocchio felt up every nook and cranny of their bodies, which had been frozen like frogs in front of a snake.
In comparison to Tania"s inspection, which finished quickly, Lloyd"s inspection seemed to drag on for a long time, but I purposely let it pa.s.s without saying anything.
The average price of a slave in the imperial capital was five million Fil. Considering Lloyd and Tania"s value, I estimated that the price of both of them combined should be at least 30 million Fil.
Of course, that"s the price Finocchio sells them to his customers. The customary cut that I would receive was one third, which would be 10 million Fil.
In that case, we would cover our share of 8.4 million Fil that had been embezzled, and even come out slightly ahead after paying the unshaven man the one million Fil reward.
However, considering the costs that we would have to bear until the holes in the party were filled, overall it wasn"t a positive outcome. If possible, I would like to get a better price than expected. Depending on the price, the actions that could be taken in future would change greatly, but let"s see what happens…
「Yup! I knew it, but they both have good bodies! St.u.r.dy and with no deformations. They will live long. But Lloyd is a little injured」
「It happened when we were capturing him. It was beyond my control」
「Beyond your control? They look like wounds he suffered without resistance to me but… Well, it doesn"t matter. About the price, what do you think of this?」
Finocchio took out an abacus, an oriental calculator from his pocket.
There were many small b.a.l.l.s pierced through and arranged inside a wooden frame, and by moving them, you could use that as a subst.i.tute for calculating. I had one too because it was a useful tool.
「…What"s going on?」
I frowned at the figure shown on the abacus.
「Six million Fil? Why is the price so low?」
It was a price far below my expectations. We can"t recover our damages with this.
「So sorry~ But there"s a reason for this, although the official announcement hasn"t been made yet, the Church of the Holy Cross will issue an austerity order. In short, they are saying that if there is any surplus money, donate it to the church, and since the n.o.bles and wealthy people can"t go against the church, they have to refrain from splurging on luxuries」
The Church of the Holy Cross was a religious organization that worshiped the G.o.d of creation, Emeth. Among the many religious orders in the Empire, it boasted the largest number of followers, and numerous emperors and lords had been believers of this religion.
Incurring their wrath was the equivalent of betraying your ancestors and denying yourself, so no believer could oppose them, especially with the royal family, that respected formality and tradition, leading the way.
In some ways, it"s a scarier organization than the Yakuza.
「If you bought expensive slaves during such a period, you know that the church is not going to be understanding, no matter what you say, right? So, my customers have been saying, I"m under austerity~ so my wallet is empty~ and cutting down on their purchases. But if I can"t sell the slaves, I"ll have to keep paying their food costs, so regrettably, I"ve had to temporarily reduce the selling price by quite a lot」
「And the repercussion from that, is why I"m getting such a cheap price」
「That"s right~ Well, your timing was bad. When the duration of the order is over, the prices should return to normal, but it"s impossible for now」
I don"t think Finocchio was lying. Even if you wanted to lie, no one would lie about something that could be seen through straight after. Which meant that what Finocchio said was the undeniable truth. Austerity order… seems like my research was lacking.
「I understand. We"re in the same predicament, after all」
「I"m really thankful that you"re so understanding~ I love Mister Noel! Mwah!」
「So I"ll settle for the price of 10 million Fil」
「Thank you, thank you. If you"ll settle for 10 million Fil, then we can immediately… Eh!? 10 million Fil!? Why did the price jump up by 4 million Fil!?」
To Finocchio, whose eyes had popped out in surprise, I continued matter-of-factly.
「And now, the price just went up to 12 million Fil」
「Huh~~~~!? Just what are you talking about–」
「13 million Fil」
「Wa, waitwaitwait!」
「14 million Fil」
「Hey, Noel!」
「It"s 15 million Fil, after all」
「Hey you, s.h.i.tty brat, look here! For how long are you going to pull this nonsense!? Are you messing with me? Huh!? If you want to become pig food so much, I can mince you up right here, right now!!」
Finocchio was so angry that the clownish mask he usually put on slipped and showed the violent nature of a wild beast underneath. This was probably the limit. I approached Finocchio and whispered.
「If you buy them for 15 million Fil, I"ll make it look like you bought them for 30 million Fil」
「… You intend to raise the value of your product by faking your selling price?」
As expected, he understood my point quickly. Finocchio, who had become calm again in an instant, smiled at me.
Normally, the value of goods in the market was determined by the interaction between supply and demand. But sometimes, prices can determine the value of things. In other words, the higher the price, the rarer it would be thought as, and thus the willingness to purchase it would also rise.
For the slave merchant, Finocchio, to have bought them at 30 million Fil, despite the austerity order, the value of these slaves must be tremendous. If the purchase price was 30 million Fil, then the sale price would become 90 million Fil. In reality, Lloyd and Tania were valuable enough to justify even these jacked up prices.
「True, if an austerity order was issued, most of the rich will try to curb extra spending. But humans are beings that, the more they endure, the more they can"t resist what they want, right? That"s why, when a rare and expensive product appears, there will be those that want to buy it even if they have to strain themselves to do so. That"s why the correct answer is to raise the price of a product that is likely to sell, instead of making it cheaper」
「I"ll speak frankly. If Mister Noel makes sure our stories match, I"m more than happy to work together. If the purchase price is 30 million Fil, the rarity will increase like you said. But, it"s not going to end well for us if the truth gets out, you know?」
「That level of risk is nothing to you, right? Or are there any problems?」
When asked back, Finocchio put a hand to his forehead and looked up at the sky.
「Gah~… I"ve though for a while now that you must be weird in the head, but you are crazy after all. Even if you search the entire imperial capital, you have to be the only one who dares to squeeze money out of me. What do you think, want to join my Family? I"ll welcome you in as an executive」
「I"ll pa.s.s. My chosen profession is Seeker. And, what"s your answer?」
「Yes, yes, I know, I know. …I"ll buy them for 15 million Fil! I think you know, but it"s only just this once! Boo! Stupid idiot!」
Negotiations completed. It went well because Finocchio was a person who could identify profit and loss expertly. With this, I could cover the costs until the party could be reformed.
「Are you serious… That Mad Pierrot, lost in negotiations…」
The unshaven man muttered in shock. Hearing his voice, Finocchio pointed at the unshaven man.
「That dirty, unshaven old man over there!」
「Hiii! W, w, w, what can I do for yo, you?」
「If you ever speak of today"s events, not just you, your family, your lover and your friends, they"ll all~ be fed alive to pigs! You got it?」
「I got it! I"ll never tell anyone!」
「The rest too! Got it?」
「Y,Yes! We got it!」
「Good! Ah, Mister Noel. Here"s the advance of one million Fil we agreed on. I"ll transfer the rest to your account in the bank by tomorrow」
I threw the leather bag, that Finocchio had handed me, towards the unshaven man.
「The reward I promised」
「O, okay」
I had gotten back what was stolen, paid what I owed. There"s no longer any reason for me to stay here. Let"s go back to the imperial capital and think about our plans for the future.
「Walter, we"re going back」
「W, wait, Noel!」
Tania, who I thought had already given up, shouted earnestly.
「A, are you really going to sell us off? Please, save me… we"re allies, right?」
「I don"t call people who gamble with other people"s money, allies」
「I"m very sorry! I thought I"ll be forgiven! But please give me another chance, I"ll pay it back as many times as you want! I beg you!」
「Impossible. I can"t believe you. Bye bye」
Someone who had betrayed you before, could betray you many times more. Leaving someone you couldn"t trust beside you was more harm than good. Seeing that I had forsaken her, Tania changed her target to Walter.
「Walter, I beg you! Save me!」
「…There"s nothing I can do」
When Walter diverted his eyes awkwardly, Tania screamed in a shrill voice that we had never heard before.
「Don"t joke with me! You, you love me right!? Then save me! To be useless at such a critical time, are you a virgin p.r.i.c.k!? Is your head only filled with goblin snot!? Die! Go to h.e.l.l! You incompetent, piece of s.h.i.t, muscle tumbling doll! Even a dying old dog is more useful than you!」
That"s the true form of the holy maiden, how terrible.
With Tania"s curses spewing like a dam had broke, Walter"s gaze dropped as he continued to bear the abuse. Lloyd looked dazed, like his mind wasn"t there.
Was this h.e.l.l?
「Finocchio, hurry up and take them away. I"ve had enough of this」
「Oh, I"m enjoying it though? Isn"t it a splendid show?」
Finocchio shrugged his shoulders as I stared daggers at him.
「Okay, okay, I understand. Then, let"s go, my puppies」
At Finocchio"s signal, his strong bodyguards carried Lloyd and Tania onto their shoulders and put them into the carriage. All the while, Tania"s extensive vocabulary of swears and curses didn"t stop.
「Mister Noel, see you again~! Bye bye~! Mmmwah!」
I twisted to dodge the kiss Finocchio had thrown as he left. I heaved a great sigh as I watched Finocchio"s carriage speed back to the imperial capital.
「Haaa~, I"m so tired… Walter, this time for sure, let"s go back」
「…Yeah」
In that moment, I didn"t miss out on the malicious remarks that slipped out of the unshaven man"s mouth.
「Someone like you, the weakest Buffer, don"t get all conceited just because you know some Yakuza…」
That"s a pretty poor insult. I wish Tania would learn from him.
「That"s right, I"m the weakest Buffer who can"t fight without my allies. Even someone like me can earn money, so shouldn"t you guys, who have proper Jobs, work harder?」
As I goaded them with a full smile on my face, the unshaven man and his allies gnashed their teeth in frustration. This kind of sarcasm was the most effective in bringing down those with inflated prides.
「And so, gentlemen, I bid you good luck」
Towards my retreating back, the unshaven man threw out a few words of spite.
「s.h.i.t! Demon who sold his allies into slavery!」
I wondered what he would say, but he came with『Demon』.
For Seekers, who hunted Beasts(Demons), calling a person a Demon, signified that the person was the most abominable existence.
The weakest and the most evil, that"s perfect.
「Then, using that label, I will become the strongest in the world」
TN Afterword:
Oh wow, that Tania rant… ∑(ﾟДﾟ)
I also wonder sometimes, even though they are called Yakuza, why do they have Italian sounding names?
And with that, it seems like everything is settled… or is it? One more chapter, sorta like an epilogue, to finish up and wrap up loose ends before the next arc begins. Please look forward to it, many small but (maybe) important details are in it. (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)