“Then, I am counting on you.”
A single gentleman comes out from the Adventurer Guild.
Guild staff members match his movements and line up in front of the entrance, seeing him off with a deep bow.
The carriage at the plaza in front of the guild had the emblem of the Rembrandt Company.
The name of the gentleman that would have adventurers make way is Patrick Rembrandt.
There was a period when the relationship between the Rembrandt Company and the Adventurer Guild was close to being the worst, but that’s already a story of the long past.
You can’t see much negative emotion from the eyes of the guild staff members and the adventurers that make way.
There may be fear towards the massive assets, power, and achievements of Rembrandt, but most of the impression he gives is a positive one.
The feet of Rembrandt stop as the subordinates come out from the carriage, moving somewhat hurriedly in order to welcome the representative.
A number of street stalls are packed up closely together with decently good conditions at a section at the side of the water fountain.
“Isn’t that the master painter Rinon? So your store was open today.” (Rembrandt)
“R-Rembrandt-san, it has been a while. My sister has been under your care the whole time!!” (Rinon)
Rembrandt speaks to the owner of the street stall that mainly draws portraits of tourists.
The one who spoke frankly but nervously to the representative of the big company that leads Tsige and is the chairman of the Free Congress is Rinon.
A girl that still has her youth showing.
That said, she has the experience of living in the most rough of environments that was at the depths of the wasteland and is managing a street stall on her own, so she is more mature than her looks let on.
“I am the one who has been in the care of your older sister. I even feel bad for relying so much on her.” (Rembrandt)
“No, we are being helped out greatly by your nomination requests. But, uhm…” (Rinon)
“Hm?” (Rembrandt)
“Please stop calling me a master painter. I am still unskilled…” (Rinon)
“Was it better to call you a sensei?” (Rembrandt)
“?! B-Both are a no!” (Rinon)
Rinon was being overwhelmed by the teasing of an adult.
But Rembrandt is half joking and half serious here.
“But…rather than the artists that I pay ten times more to come all the way here, your paintings are more popular for my wife and daughters. Then, instead of going for stupid artists or painters, it would be far better for me to go for you, Rinon-kun.” (Rembrandt)
“Your wife and daughters are also joking around…” (Rinon)
“Even my butler Morris has the same opinion. It goes without saying that I also hold the same opinion.” (Rembrandt)
“Spare meee.” (Rinon)
“Fumu, I think you should hold more pride about this. You might have been influenced by Raidou-dono in that area. He is also strangely humble. Anyways, I will be paying you the amount you deserve the next time, so I would like to order a drawing of my family in the near future. What do you think?” (Rembrandt)
“Ah, alright, I will accept that request. I will be intruding on the day when all of you have time and I have been called, okay?” (Rinon)
“…Alright. Counting on you, Master Painter-dono.” (Rembrandt)
“Rembrandt-san!” (Rinon)
“Haha, you will eventually be called that by everyone. Then, see you later.” (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt raised a hand elegantly and returned to where his carriage was.
He then got on the carriage urged by his subordinates.
Morris was nowhere to be seen.
The coachman and a subordinate sitting opposite to him were the only people with him as the fancy carriage runs through the busy city of Tsige.
Rembrandt normally doesn’t have bodyguards.
In the past, he would take a number of personal bodyguards and adventurers, but since the time a defense force was made in Tsige, he has kept this style.
“…It seems the sudden price jumps of the land continue on. How’s the area around here?” (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt speaks to the subordinate sitting opposite of him.
“! Yes, the old divisions are currently part of the central area, so it is most likely an increase in land price as it is considered top class.”
“…So you are not sure about it.” (Rembrandt)
“There’s only a really limited amount of land that is either keeping the same price or lowering, so I have been checking those mainly. I will be careful from now on.”
The place the carriage is currently crossing at is the land that has been bought by the congress of Tsige to serve as political grounds.
Rembrandt internally sighs at the subordinate that apologized with a classic excuse when his important coverage is still low.
That’s right, this is not a place for chit-chat, but evaluation.
The young man that was spoken to of course understood this as well, thus was more nervous than normal.
“Any member of the Kuzunoha Company would have been able to respond to this even if their way of answering differed by individual. If I remember correctly, didn’t you say you wanted to specialize in the trade of land at our place?” (Rembrandt)
A correct answer or an amusing answer.
For example; the Forest Oni Akua would accurately talk about the difference of the views in the plots of land, and would point out that there’s no rise in price.
As for her partner Eris, she would first remember Rembrandt speaking to Rinon, would sing praises about the new form of expression called ‘manga’ which Rinon had begun recently, and would try to escape from the question.
Rembrandt still doesn’t know about the existence of manga, but if he were to hear about manga from Rinon, there’s no doubt he would instantly become her patron, and would raise a new project.
Unbeknownst if it was a fortune or misfortune, Rinon’s shocking debut was avoided today.
Excuse my words, but aside from the representative Raidou-dono, t-they are all a bunch of demi-humans. They have to work their cut or they would be…”
“Are you saying hyumans would be superior on the same field?” (Rembrandt)
“It is true that there are those that are diligent or exemplary among the demi-humans. However, when it comes to which side you would like to be served by, most would choose hyumans. As proof of that, that style is only working for the Kuzunoha Company.”
“…You can hire demi-humans for cheaper than hyumans despite having the same ability, and depending on the industry, they could prove to be a big boon, you know? In that case, wouldn’t your way of thinking be outdated?” (Rembrandt)
Contempt towards demi-humans.
This is one weak point of him who is decently skilled and is counted as a candidate for an executive position.
In the current Rembrandt Company, the standards for the ability evaluation between demi-human and hyumans is changing.
There are those who can deal with that flexibly, but there are also those who can’t throw away their hyuman elitism.
If the former were exemplary and the latter were incompetent, Rembrandt would have just cut them off and that would be the end of it, but the current state is that there are exemplary members within the latter ones whose sense of worth are unchanging.
That’s why he would leave them by his side for a period of time to observe them, and would at times admonish them for this while ascertaining how to deal with this.
“I do believe they are really competent as slaves. However, the treatment of slaves has been delineated to the finest details in Tsige, and I have heard that it is pretty hard to get profit from it like that. If the law proposals for the social hierarchy goes well, there might be a high rate of employment for demi-humans as a loophole for it, but the risks would still be high. I would say that raising hyuman personnel would be the most accessible option.”
“…I see.” (Rembrandt)
‘Failed’, is what Rembrandt assessed.
Tsige is the city of merchants and adventurers.
There’s a lot of demi-humans as adventurers, thus, the rate of demi-human residents in this city is one of the highest in the world.
Demi-humans have no issues with being serviced by demi-human clerks.
Right now, Tsige is the nation of adventurers and merchants.
Making a man, who sees the demi-humans in contempt and brings out talk of slaves with extreme logic at the difference in salaries, into an executive would be way too dangerous since it clashes with his vision of the future.
The Rembrandt Company does business with a wide variety of people, but he mostly doesn’t do unlawful business.
They have enough power to not rely on that.
From here on, Rembrandt feels like he won’t be able to raise the people, who can’t lower their heads from the bottom of their hearts and serve demi-human customers, to a certain rank.
He even went through the trouble of bringing out talk of the Kuzunoha Company, but that ended up missing, and his interview with him was about to end.
“…Representative, can I ask one thing?”
“? What is it?” (Rembrandt)
Seeing that the young man, who Rembrandt was already losing interest in, spoke as if he had resolved himself about something, Rembrandt urged him to continue on.
“Isn’t it about time to seriously think about the church?”
“The church?” (Rembrandt)
Being caught off guard by the sudden word that came out, Rembrandt ended up asking back dumbfounded.
Church.
The facility for the believers to worship the Goddess, and also a general term that refers to them.
“…Yes.”
“What exactly should I be thinking about?” (Rembrandt)
“Cooperation with the church. We can’t look away from the make-up products and esthetics that they specialize in.”
“…”
(No, thanks to the cooperation of the Kuzunoha Company, the situation is that we won’t be needing the church for several years though.) (Rembrandt)
“Even though you have obtained a great deal of land as a nation, the congress continues ignoring the demands for land donations from the church. It wouldn’t be strange for this to be considered an antagonistic stance against the church.”
“…”
(No, if you want land, you can use the coin donations you rolled up from your believers to buy it. There’s no way I can provide land for free to the church only. Allowing them to keep their current place as it is is already plenty benevolent.) (Rembrandt)
“The church has connections with all the 4 major powers. It is clear that the disinterest of the Rembrandt Company is creating a dicey relationship between the current church and its residents. Representative, please open your heart and have a talk with the church. I don’t mind taking the lead in the practical businesses of the company.”
“…”
(I plan on eating the Aion Kingdom in the future, and we already have a thick pipe with Lorel. Limia and Gritonia are not looking at us due to their hate towards the demons. No matter what they think of us, I have no interest in the church anymore. Why do I have to be the one giving in and opening up a space to talk? Also, you are on the verge of being demoted, so I definitely can’t put you in a position where large sums of coin are moved. Also, it is evident that his alignment with the church is…aah.) (Rembrandt)
Rembrandt kept silent and was listening to the petition of his subordinate for a while, and as he was retorting internally, he reached a conclusion.
That he is a fervent Goddess believer.
“The power and importance of the church, huh.” (Rembrandt)
“It is also the heart’s bastion for the people living in this land.”
“The religion of the Goddess, huh. It certainly is a complicated problem that I can’t continue ignoring.” (Rembrandt)
If it is to use it, it would be a different story, but being swallowed by religion is unacceptable.
“! That’s right! That’s exactly it!”
Not a single hint of his real intentions were being transmitted to the young man that is happy from the bottom of his heart.
The number one problem here is that they managed to slip in a believer, or have brainwashed one of his employees.
Rembrandt thought this with cold eyes.
‘Aah, it has been a while since I have had a fight’, is what he thought.
“Representative?”
“It must be dealt with at once. Can you please gather the executives and Morris?” (Rembrandt)
“Yes, at once!”
Or maybe he was simply bribed or seduced.
If it is those possibilities, then that would make it simpler in a sense.
The young man was promptly preparing the magic tool.
Rembrandt was thinking of a countermeasure while feeling a headache on his way back.