The Regressed Mercenary’s Machinations – 116



116th Chapter: Should I Walk Life Again? (4)

As life got busy the day of the feast approached swiftly.

Today Ghislaine decided to forget about work and relax.

“I wish I could just play around without a care sometimes.”

Ghislaine liked to have fun too.

During his mercenary king days he left all the annoying tasks to his followers and only chose the fun bits for himself.

But now there was just too much to do and even if he wanted to play hard he didn’t have the leisure for it.

“Tsk I need to clear everything out faster to relax my mind.”

Ghislaine grumbled but still walked slowly toward the banquet hall with a smile on his face.

The banquet hall of Penris Castle wasn’t that big but with fewer retainers and servants there was no problem hosting the feast.

Some retainers opposed letting servants in saying it lowered their dignity but Ghislaine pushed through without caring.

He believed that when it’s time to have fun everyone should party together loudly.

“Later it’d be fun to make a huge plaza and gather all the territory residents.”

He wished he could invite the territory residents again this time.

But even if it was a small territory he couldn’t let all the residents into the castle.

Feeling a bit disappointed Ghislaine distributed alcohol and meat to every household.

The territory residents who received free food and drink along with the servants who got to experience the feast that was usually reserved for nobles praised their lord with joy.

In a poor territory with no entertainment everyone looked forward to the feast day young and old alike.

Except for one group.

Claude and the mages huddled together in a corner of the banquet hall whispering among themselves.

Their faces looked pallid and grim.

“Just one person please…”

“There must be someone who experienced side effects.”

“We can’t miss a single one. We have to find them and draw them into a stalemate.”

With desperate fervor they searched for anyone who might be suffering side effects.

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Such behavior wasn’t typical for those who always pursued reason and logic which showed just how anxious they were.

‘The goddess may not have sent a demon lord but she might have sent at least a pimple or something.’

Claude stared wide-eyed at the entrance of the banquet hall.

He planned to scrutinize the faces of anyone entering.

*

As the basic food set up was completed and a hastily assembled band took their places Ghislaine entered the banquet hall.

“Hasn’t it started yet? Just start casually. What’s with all this fuss about having fun?”

It’s customary for the highest-ranking person to appear last but Ghislaine didn’t care about such things.

As the lord plopped down in his chair and began tearing into the meat the retainers cried out in panic.

“Start already!”

The band hurriedly began to play.

Beep! Beep! BEEP!

Since they had assembled in a hurry their skills weren’t that great.

Struggling to hit the notes correctly and with no time to prepare they started playing rather off-key.

Clatter!

As soon as the door opened the people who had been waiting for the banquet to start rushed in in droves.

As soon as the door opened the people who had been waiting for the banquet rushed in like they were on some kind of amazing adventure.

They weren’t decked out in noble finery but everyone wore clean clothes that made it clear they’d put in some effort.

One common feature was that everyone’s faces were shining like they just found a secret stash of gold.

“Ah ah…”

Claude quickly turned his head away.

It’s definitely the lighting that’s making his eyes sting not tears of defeat!

“Ugh… damn it.”

Claude bit out a curse scanning the banquet hall for incoming guests with fierce determination.

Clean here clean there smooth everywhere.

Though there were differences in skin tone and wrinkles there wasn’t a single person whose skin looked bad.

The only ones looking worse for wear were the wizards beside Claude nervously glancing around.

Just as most of the guests had gathered Ghislaine raised her hand to stop the music.

Honestly it was hard to listen because it was painfully loud.

“Thank you all for your hard work in managing the busy affairs of our territory. We’ll keep being busy so make sure to relax until tomorrow.”

It was a pretty straightforward speech but everyone nodded along because well it was just Ghislaine being Ghislaine.

Ghislaine shot a strange smile towards Claude and the wizards.

“Everyone must know that the Chief Officer and the wizards made a bet with me.”

As soon as cosmetics were mentioned the room grew silent as a mouse.

It was finally time to check the obviously clear outcome of their bet.

“The evaluation of the cosmetics is bound to be subjective. I believe most of you have used them.”

Leaning back in her chair Ghislaine spoke in a relaxed tone.

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“Those who experienced side effects step forward. I promise you sufficient compensation.”

No one dared to step up.

After all who would go in front of the Lord and admit to side effects?

The fortunate thing was that there really weren’t any side effects.

“Well it looks like there aren’t any. I’ll leave the judgment of the bet’s outcome to everyone here. Please speak honestly about the cosmetics.”

At first people hesitated but then one by one they began to speak up.

“They really work wonders. I’ve never seen a product quite like this.”

“My skin is way better than before. There’s definitely an effect.”

“I had no side effects! This is the perfect cosmetic!”

“Could I get just one more? Please!”

Once a few people started speaking soon everyone erupted into a cheerful chatter praising the cosmetics.

With how well the product worked many voiced concerns that they might not be able to get it next time.

Eventually the praise for the cosmetics turned into praise for Ghislaine.

“This is truly amazing! When you showed us the new agricultural methods we were in awe but to create a product like this as well?”

“This is going to be a huge success! It’ll become our territory’s signature product!”

“Please make more! I’ll believe in anything you create now!”

The compliments kept rolling in.

Ghislaine lounged back in her seat her expression smug as if inviting more praise.

As the compliments began to dwindle and people grew tired Ghislaine looked over at Claude and the wizards.

“Well? Looks like we have a result huh?”

“Uh uh…”

Claude and the wizards’ faces turned pale in an instant.

They prayed yet not a single pimple appeared on anyone!

Who would have thought she’d make cosmetics that actually work?

There was no way out of this now.

Claude looked around with trembling eyes. Everyone in the banquet hall seemed to be waiting for him to announce defeat.

“Ha…”

He sighed while staring at the ceiling for a moment and then let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Well there’s nothing I can do about this. The Lord succeeded again. Where on earth did she learn such things?”

Regardless of the reasoning he had to accept defeat.

Anyway I had to accept my defeat.

That’s the nature of a ‘gambler.’

Of course it was nonsense.

“Alright I lost.”

Now I was a slave for 20 years.

Well it was the obvious result of a gamble I had put my life on the line for.

Claude readily nodded admitting defeat and everyone around burst into admiration.

To accept a 20-year slave life so calmly he was indeed an extraordinary person worthy of being the Chief Officer of Penris Territory. It meant he was not in his right mind.

Claude shook his head laughing helplessly.

He slightly nudged Alfoy with his fist and said “I lost but I fought well. It was a really great match right bro?”

Alfoy standing there dazed slowly turned his head.

The sight of Claude’s face bright and smiling as he acknowledged his loss caught his eye.

“Kick.”

Alfoy smirked and brought his fist toward Claude’s fist… then suddenly spread his fingers wide.

Whoosh!

Flames erupted from Alfoy’s palm dancing wildly.

“Gah!”

Wendy quickly grabbed the back of Claude’s neck as he nearly had a heart attack.

Though he avoided getting burned he ended up plopping down on the floor.

“Hey bro! Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”

Claude looked up rubbing his behind.

The faces of Alfoy and the mages were eerily cold and hard.

“W-wait are you trying to attack? It’s in front of the Lord you know? Today’s supposed to be a fun day!”

“I’ll kill you.”

Alfoy and the mages summoned their magic power.

Realizing the situation had turned serious Wendy swiftly grabbed Claude and ran out of the banquet hall.

No matter how capable she was she couldn’t take on twenty-six mages head-on.

“Catch and kill them!”

Alfoy and the mages rushed after them.

The sudden turn of events left the onlookers stunned.

Ghislaine waved his hand lightly and said “Don’t worry about that side just have fun. I’ll go catch those guys.”

With the Lord getting involved people relaxed and enjoyed the banquet.

Wendy grumbled internally about missing the feast as she carried Claude and dashed around the territory.

“Run! If we get caught we die!”

“Shut up.”

The enraged Alfoy and mages relentlessly pursued the two.

The chase only ended once Ghislaine intervened and subdued everyone.

*

“We have a problem.”

Now a slave for 20 years Claude spoke with a serious expression.

He looked a mess as if he had been beaten up somewhere.

“There is never a day without a problem for you huh? What’s the issue this time?”

“The success of the cosmetics is indeed something to celebrate. Anyone who tries them won’t be able to hold back their admiration. Please give me a few. I’ll send them to Anna.”

“If it’s successful what’s the problem?”

“The cost of raw materials is too high for mass production. If we produce in small quantities it’s too slow. That’s the issue.”

This cosmetic contained numerous herbs.

The most expensive ingredient was a flower known as the ‘Blessing of the Fairy.’

The same flower used to treat Gillian’s daughter more costly than gold by weight.

While only a small amount is actually used the production cost was still considerable.

“It’s fine. We can sell it to the nobles at a higher price. Those products are primarily aimed at the nobles anyway.”

“Good strategy for premium pricing. But the nobles need to buy it for us to make a profit right? Even the castle servants turned it down. Gillian used it out of loyalty; the nobles won’t be the same.”

“Now we need to promote it.”

“How? This is a rural territory with no nobles around.”

Ghislaine nodded as if he had a plan.

“I’ll go to the capital.”

“Huh?”

“All the nobles who enjoy socializing are gathered in the capital right? I’ll build connections there and sell the cosmetics.”

“Sigh… The capital nobles are notoriously picky. What makes you think they’ll buy the Lord’s product? If it doesn’t sell properly we’ll only incur losses and won’t even break even.”

“The capital nobles are known to be quite picky right? What reason do they have to trust and buy a lord’s product? If it doesn’t sell properly we’ll only incur losses and won’t even break even.”

“What if we make it mandatory?”

“Excuse me?”

Claude’s eyes widened. Forcing a noble to do something right—could that even be done?

“We kidnap them for about two weeks lock them up and then release them once their skin improves.”

“Are you insane?”

“But wouldn’t they be grateful if their skin got better?”

“Grateful? Yeah right… No no they’ll probably think about it only after they’re dead. It would hit them later like ‘Oh? This wasn’t poison after all?’”

“Hmm is that really not a good idea?”

“Of course not. Let’s at least try to be sensible.”

In fact Ghislaine realized during this ordeal that there were significant issues at hand.

Unless they had the same reputation as the Delphine family selling to nobles would be extremely difficult.

“Let’s just think about that later. We have to keep producing the products anyway so continue ordering materials.”

“Well… I can’t just develop this and not sell it.”

Claude wasn’t opposed to the idea of selling outright.

With such a reliable product there was nothing like it anywhere on the continent.

The best scenario would be for it to gain word of mouth among the capital’s nobles.

They were indeed the trendsetters of the kingdom.

Once they started buying they would be sitting on a mountain of money.

If just one or two people used it that would set everything in motion. Once that happened everyone would come flocking with money but initiating that was the problem.

“It’s clear that sales will be slow at first so how about we produce less until we gain some word of mouth?”

“No way let’s stock up first. Once someone uses it it’ll sell like crazy. It’ll take too long to prepare if we wait.”

“That’s true but… the more it doesn’t sell the bigger the loss. The cost per unit is too high. If it doesn’t sell well we won’t even recoup our investment. There are limits to how much we can store too.”

“It’s fine. If we go to the capital and face them directly we’ll figure something out. If not we can at least try door-to-door sales. Isn’t that a thing?”

“…This sales strategy is all over the place.”

Who would buy cosmetics sold by a rural bumpkin? If he just promoted them nicely it would be fine but Ghislaine seemed more like someone who would threaten them with a knife saying ‘Buy this!’

If this spread as a rumor not only would Ghislaine’s face be at stake but the reputation of those around would be too.

“Let’s reconsider door-to-door sales for now. It’s better to build relationships with the nobles.”

“I’m considering that method as well. Sigh making friends isn’t easy.”

“…Right. It’s not easy.”

Claude didn’t bet on this matter.

The product was effective; sooner or later it would gain word of mouth.

Eventually some nobles would surely stick around and connections would form.

But since it wouldn’t happen right away the concern was the losses incurred from accumulated stock until then.

“So when will you be leaving? It’s going to take some time to meet a certain quantity.”

“I’ll leave once I have enough stock to sell. I’ve been making them continuously even while testing so it shouldn’t take long.”

“Sigh understood. Have a good trip. Make lots of good friends. Ugh I hope it sells well.”

Claude tried to hide his joy and wore a pitiful expression.

Just going to the capital would take a month.

Considering the time needed for promotion the lord would be away for quite some time.

Claude thought of taking a breather and rejuvenating himself while Ghislaine was absent.

‘Please just take off already.’

But Ghislaine’s response was like a thunderbolt.

“Why take off? You’re coming with me.”