Chapter 120: Banquet at Silas-san’s Mansion part 1
It turned out Silas-san’s mansion was swarming—crowds of townsfolk pressed in outside his gate.
「Many citizens of Gantz come to petition me, and today as well, people have gathered hoping to catch even a glimpse of everyone here,」 Silas-san explained, saying that as a longtime power in the city—a man who could speak his mind even to a margrave—he drew attention.
「Power profits those who linger near it more than the one who holds it,」 Lord Leister murmured.
Even in a city like Gantz, it seems that rule holds.
「Letting the public see us arrive will inflate expectations for Silas-san. A calculated move, that. The man’s a tricky one,」 Leister added.
「I see.」
As expected, Silas-san is more cunning than his outward frank personality lets on. Personally, I’d rather have a shrewd ally than a useless one. Maybe that is already proof that I’m getting used to his way of doing things.
「Welcome, and thank you for coming, everyone.」
We were greeted by Arista-san, perfectly turned out. I’d heard she had the education to marry into a noble house without raising eyebrows. Watching her receive us, poised as any lady, even Lord Leister looked satisfied with her touch.
Leister’s eldest, Abel, was… staring. He was in the market for a bride, and if he failed to produce heirs the line would end. No surprise he looked dead serious.
Ria and Elna had apparently agonized over today’s seating chart.
「We cannot reveal Ria-sama’s rank yet, but we can let her stature be felt. That is the contest tonight,」 they had told me at length beforehand.
According to this planet’s etiquette, the hosts sit at the center and the seats then alternate male–female outward. So the hosts—Silas-san and Arista-san—sat opposite each other in the middle. At Silas-san’s right and left: Ursula and Ria. At Arista-san’s: Lord Leister and me. Right–left order meant Ursula faced me across the table.
For tonight, Ursula and Lord Leister were placed at the top seats. If Ria’s status were public she’d be a princess, and Leister has sworn his fealty to her, so this seating was a protocolary faux pas, but we were hiding Ria’s status. As comrades-in-arms, Ursula and Lord Leister were treated as guests of honor, and Ria and I took the next rank. Leister, Abel, and Katolle had been told in advance to keep Ria’s status under wraps.
Beside Ria sat Elna with Viscount Prell between them. Beside Ursula sat her cavalry captain Roberta with Viscount Barten between them. I was told it was proper to group those with close ties on the same side of the table—Ria & Elna, Barten & Prell, Ursula & Roberta. (Viscount Zeifried had already departed and was absent tonight.)
On Leister’s side sat Abel with Serena between them. On my side sat Katolle with Sharon between us. Those pairs—Leister & Abel, Serena & Sharon, me & Katolle—made up the other flank. The seats facing Roberta (Katolle) and facing Abel (Elna) were the far end, apparently.
「If Elna guards Ria, Roberta guards Ursula, and Abel guards Lord Leister… then Katolle is my guard?」
「Oh, I—I couldn’t possibly guard you, Alan-sama…」
「It’s fine. Nothing’s going to happen, and if it does, I’ll be the one guarding you.」
「Then, a word for the toast, if you please.」
While I was joking with Katolle across Sharon, Arista-san—chatting with Ria as if in passing—subtly cued me. But there was someone far more suitable to speak first tonight.
「In fact, Lord Werner Leister here will be taking office as Magistrate of Gantz. We are here in part to present him. Please consider Lord Leister our guest of honor this evening.」
「My!」
「But of course—our heartfelt congratulations.」
Silas-san smoothly elevated Leister. Well then, the star of the banquet is decided. For Silas-san, deepening ties with the man who will handle Gantz’s day-to-day and his heir is a precious chance. Former prime minister of a realm—under other circumstances Silas-san might never have shared a table with him.
Then again, as the man running Gantz’s economy, perhaps he would. Either way, these two will be pillars of the city’s governance going forward. Best to build rapport.
Light, harmless conversation radiated from Leister and Silas-san. It had been a while since we’d dressed up and simply enjoyed good food and talk. Our control over Gantz was steady, the tension had let up, and everything tasted better for it.
「Oh—tonkatsu.」
「We learned the recipe from your base’s cooks,」 Silas-san admitted cheerfully.
「Surely there’s no harm in swapping recipes.」
Right—the base staff was hired via the Commercial Guild. He must have traced the line back that way. Thorough, as always.
After the meal we split into three groups for after-dinner talk. I planned to talk about guild business with Silas-san, and everyone knew it. Leister and Abel, along with the two viscounts, broke out a deck of cards and started gambling. Roberta and Katolle went to watch. The other women moved off with Arista-san for tea and sweets.
In Silas-san’s study, he handed me a glass brimming with his prized drink.
「Silas-san, I’m thinking it’s time we attract the Commercial Guild to Ares.」
「A coincidence—I meant to raise that with you as well, Alan.」
「Will it be difficult to bring them in?」
「Not at all. Any city over ten thousand can be approved. They’ll usually bow to you. There are, however, a few problems.」
「I figured.」
「First, you need someone who can run the guild. A merchant of name. Someone trusted not to steer profits crudely. Often, a famed merchant will let a child inherit the business and then take the guildmaster’s seat.」
「Makes sense.」
Silas-san still has his own trading company, even if Arista-san handles much of it. That doesn’t quite fit the ‘retired grandee’ model, but that’s a minor issue.
「Second is the artifact. Most guild functions depend on artifacts.」
「Right—the inter-guild communications. We need that in Ares.」
「Naturally. But guild artifacts are top secret. Expensive, heavy screening, and years of waiting. Even if you apply now, who knows how long. Not ten years, perhaps, but count on five.」
「As I feared.」
「That said, every rule has its exception. You also wondered how I ended up guildmaster in Gantz despite not letting go of my company, didn’t you?」
「I wouldn’t say ‘wondered,’ but…」
「No need to pretend. The Silas Trading Company grew by steering the Commercial Guild—but there is a reason I can run it. A secret, but between us, I could tell you. Not for free, of course.」
「Information fee, is it?」
「Ugly phrasing—but yes. I’d like to build a Silas Trading House branch in Ares.」
「That much is fine.」
「There’s more. I want the guildmaster’s chair in Ares as well as Gantz.」
I went quiet. We let the air between us do the reading. At length I made up my mind.
「I was thinking of having Katolle do it. If you’d step down as guildmaster of Gantz, I’d consider it—but then who would run Gantz?」
「Katolle is young. He needs more seasoning. For now, he’s not guildmaster timber. My thought is to station Arista near you and have her act as Ares guildmaster.」
I see.
「While simultaneously serving the Silas Trading Company?」
「Exactly.」
「I can’t accept that. I don’t want both cities to look like they are under your control. Merchants avoid places that don’t look healthy. You said so yourself: guildmasters should be seasoned. If you were guildmaster, no one could complain, but Arista-san—however capable—doesn’t meet that bar yet.」
「True enough. But I can teach Arista a great deal. Either way, the guildmaster’s a post for a veteran magnate.」
Listening to him, an idea surfaced. Should I confirm first? No—worth floating now as a proposal, with a caveat.
「I have someone in mind for Ares guildmaster.」
「Oh? You have ties to a big merchant besides me?」
「Katolle’s father—Tarus-san. He’s a major merchant in Gotania. Smaller than Gantz, but he’s no lightweight.」
Silas-san frowned, thinking.
「Tarus… yes, he would do.」
「Silas-san in Gantz, Tarus-san in Ares. That balances nicely. Two trading companies standing side by side looks like healthy competition to other merchants.」
「And Arista?」
「Like Katolle—she can serve under me in Ares in some fitting post. There’s precedent.」
「If you’ll take Arista under your wing, I’ve no complaint. Then it’s settled.」
「All right. Then how do we get the artifact?」
「Simple. There are guilds in depressed towns on their last legs. You go to them and offer to buy their artifact.」
「That’s a thing?」
「Guild artifacts only function for a Commercial Guild. They’re not meant for sale. But when you’re founding a new guild, it’s different: those in a hurry can buy one, and the seller waits their turn for a replacement. In other words, you buy their place in line.」
「Do you have any towns in mind?」
「Towns struggling in hard times? Plenty. I’ll give you a list later. If you bring cash, you can deal. Officially, those towns will say ‘our artifact broke,’ but artifacts hardly ever break. Every merchant knows it means debts up to the neck.」
「What happens to that town?」
「They were already sinking. But for replacements, the screening is waived. If they endure until the new artifact arrives, they’ll manage. If it’s a sizable town, it’ll be prioritized. Even so, count on a year.」
「Then we’ll proceed on that track.」
「Good. And take care of Arista for me.」
Leister and Abel and the two viscounts were still locked in a heated card game and showed no sign of leaving. The rest of us took our leave of Silas-san and Arista-san and headed home. We had three carriages, so we had to split into fours; we shuffled who rode with whom and made it work.
My carriage had Serena, Sharon, and Katolle. Ria and Elna were together with Ursula and Roberta. I thought Ria and Ursula were still prickly with each other—so hearing they shared a carriage is a relief.
We were, admittedly, the ‘leftovers’, but I wanted to share the Commercial Guild plan with these three anyway.
「So, did the attraction plan go well?」
「Yeah. Silas-san says we’d wait years for a comms artifact if we used the official route—without it, a guild can’t function—but there’s a way to purchase a device from a depressed city under certain conditions.」
「I see. So that’s the trick he used.」
Katolle, raised as a straight-arrow merchant, looked stunned. Gray-zone maneuvers weren’t in his toolkit.
「He gave you that for free? He didn’t milk you for a price, Alan-sama?」
「He did. He wanted me to make him Ares’s guildmaster.」
「What!? Run both Gantz and Ares? Surely you refused, Alan-sama?」
「I did. He floated a setup with himself and Arista-san as guildmasters—but that wouldn’t look fair to merchants. So I turned him down.」
「Good. As expected of you, Alan-sama.」
「We can’t let the Silas Company monopolize both guilds. So I thought of asking Tarus-san to be Ares guildmaster. Thoughts?」
「You’d ask my father? I’ll write him at once—he’ll be over the moon!」
「Time matters. Use the guild artifact; I’ll cover costs if needed. We already prepped a building for the Tarus Trading Company in Ares, right? If he can come, I have Silas-san’s consent: Silas-san in Gantz, Tarus-san in Ares—peers side by side. No one can run both cities at once.」
「If there’s already a warehouse with our name on it, Father won’t be able to back down,」 Katolle said, delighted.
「We’ll also present him with a proper residence. As usual, craftsmen can finish the details. Ares should be mature enough now that Tarus-san can turn a profit.」
Katolle looked genuinely happy that I recommended Tarus-san for the position of Ares guildmaster.
「Still… I’m surprised Silas-san accepted. No strings?」Serena cut in.
「There were some conditions: we’ll have to build a building for Silas Company of the same size and grandeur as the one for Tarus Company, and we’ll take in Arista-san like we did with Katolle—she’ll work under me. That satisfied him.」
「「What!?」」
Serena and Sharon shouted in unison, making Katolle jump.
「Alan, Silas-san got you.」
「It’s a setup to plant Arista-san with you. The guildmaster talk was the lead-in. Don’t you see?」
Katolle and I traded a look as the two bore down on me.
「If Silas-san starts telling people he ‘offered his unmarried daughter Arista to Lord Corinth,’ that only means one thing to the town.」
「Katolle is a man. Arista-san is an unmarried woman. ‘Taking responsibility’ includes marriage in this context, Alan.」
「H-hold it—I never said I’d marry her.」
「Say ‘I’ll take her in’ and that’s how it’s read. Nobles take commoners as concubines or in de facto marriages all the time.」
「And nobles are allowed multiple spouses. He wanted Arista-san in place before your principal wife is decided.」
Cornered by their momentum, I looked to Katolle for rescue. Beaming, he said:
「Alan-sama, if you ever feel like marrying my sister Tara too, please tell me. I’ll talk Father around.」
Not what I meant.
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