Chapter 15. But isn't this child exploitation? (1)
"Th-that, 'I see you in a new light,' expression, can you stop that?"
"Ahem, my apologies."
Lawrence straightened his expression, put on a serious face again, and said.
"What you mean to say, Young Master, is that you plan to go to a city where many people want our goods, make the merchants compete, raise the price of the goods, and then sell them. Is that correct?"
"Ooh, you're quite eloquent, butler?"
"Thank you for the compliment."
Patrick nodded and said.
"Aside from everything else, if you want to make a lot of money, you have to go where there's a lot of money. How much money could the small-time merchants who come all the way to this remote fiefdom possibly have?"
"Hmm, that is certainly true."
Everything Patrick said was correct.
And Lawrence looked at Patrick as if it were a new revelation and said.
"You certainly have a knack for business, Young Master."
"Hehehe. Of course."
To the smug Patrick, Lawrence said with pure admiration.
"Hahaha, anyone would think you're a person who has done a lot of this kind of business."
What Lawrence said was just a joke.
But just as a frog can be killed by a carelessly thrown stone, Lawrence's joke brought back Patrick's painful memories.
Patrick's expression darkened rapidly, and he looked up at the ceiling, let out a deep sigh, and said.
"If I… if I don't make money… the kids will all starve to death."
"…Yes?"
"There are swarms of freeloaders who don't know how to earn a single penny. And in the midst of that, that pushover of a man can't stand to see the orphans and the poor around him go hungry."
"…Yes?"
"I… I… if I don't get my act together… keuk…."
Huh? Is he crying?
Is he crying right now?
Did I just see something like a tear in that Young Master's eye?
Nah, I must have seen it wrong.
He didn't know what he was talking about, but he could feel the sorrow of a household head who had suffered a lifetime of hardship on the face of the ten-year-old Young Master.
And he said with a strong face.
"Just trust me and leave it to me. I'll sell it for the highest possible price."
Patrick's appearance, patting his chest and making a promise, looked extremely reliable, belying his ten years of age.
"Yes. Then I will trust you, Young Master."
* * *
Five cargo wagons.
It came to that as they packed them full of the byproducts of the monsters Patrick had hunted so far.
Of course, Patrick couldn't take this all by himself.
The butler sent along some village servants to act as laborers.
"If possible, I would like to go with you, but…."
"No. The butler has to manage the fiefdom."
Patrick said firmly to the disappointed Lawrence.
"If you're not here, what will happen to the fiefdom's internal affairs? You must stay in the fiefdom."
Lawrence was the person who had somehow maintained the form of this Schneider fiefdom by making the most of its meager budget.
If he were to be taken away, Baron Schneider would have to manage the fiefdom's budget alone, and….
‘Leaving aside whether Father is competent or incompetent, you shouldn't rashly entrust money to a pushover.’
It was a fact he had learned the hard way in his past life.
[No, Master, what happened to the personal funds I gave you?]
[Hohoho, I'm sorry. A certain child's father said his child was gravely ill, but he had no money for medicine….]
‘Ah, just thinking about it makes me mad again.’
On top of that, he later found out that what that bastard said was a lie.
He didn't even have a sick child and had just lied to get the money.
Afterward, when he caught that swindler and brought him to his Master, what he said was….
[That's a relief. Then that means there is no sick son.]
[Master-uuuuu!]
[Ahem, aheeem…. Don't do it again.]
[Ah, really!]
At that time, Patrick realized.
Entrusting money to a pushover was like entrusting a child with gunpowder and a spark.
Patrick shook his head as if he was fed up, firmly gripped Lawrence's shoulders, and said.
"Butler, I'm counting on you. I'm counting only on you."
At the gaze filled with an almost burdensome amount of trust, Lawrence made a slightly reluctant expression for a moment, then said.
"I understand. Instead, I will assign this friend to assist you, Young Master. Chandler."
"Yes, Butler-nim."
The one who appeared at Lawrence's call was a neatly dressed male servant who looked to be in his late teens.
"His name is Chandler. He is a friend I have been training to be my successor for the past few years. He can both read and write, and he can also manage the ledgers."
"Hoooh, a high-class talent."
"This friend will be helpful in conducting business."
At Lawrence's words, Chandler bowed his head towards Patrick and said in a polite and courteous manner.
"My name is Chandler. I look forward to working with you, Young Master."
"Right. I'm counting on you."
From his etiquette and attitude when greeting, one could tell that he had received strict training.
"Then I'll be off. Please take care of things while I'm gone."
"Yes. I understand, Young Master."
And Patrick also left words of advice to the others who had come out to see him off.
"Sanson, make sure the kids have their footwork down by the time I get back."
"Yes. I understand."
"Rookie."
"Yes, Young Master."
"If even one of the fiefdom's residents gets hurt or killed by a monster while I'm gone… you know what'll happen, right?"
"I… I will do my best to stop it."
"Right. You'd better. For your own sake."
After leaving words of advice to each of them, he finally went to Baron Schneider and his mother, who had worried expressions, and said.
"Well, I'll be back with a lot of money, so just wait."
"Your safe return is more important than money. Absolutely do not do anything dangerous."
"Yes. Well… we'll see."
"Keeeung…."
It was Baron Schneider, whose stomach was starting to hurt.
Finally, he bowed his head to his mother, who was full of faith and trust, and said.
"Then I'll be on my way."
"Have a safe trip."
"Please go and come back safely, Young Master."
"Please earn a lot of money."
Thus, the ten-year-old Patrick, leading five cargo wagons, set off to earn money.
As everyone sent him looks of faith and trust, Patrick smiled contentedly and thought.
‘But isn't this child exploitation?’
Let's move on.
* * *
Even if it was a carriage, it wasn't the kind of carriage that nobles ride in.
Since it was a cargo wagon prepared to carry the byproducts of monsters, it meant there was no space to sit comfortably.
‘Will it be okay?’
Chandler, who was accompanying Patrick for the first time, was concerned.
No matter how poor the Schneider family was as a baronial family, wasn't Patrick a Young Master who had been raised delicately like a precious gem inside the mansion?
He wondered if such a Young Master could endure a journey pulling an uncomfortable cargo wagon.
Fortunately, the Young Master had no such problems.
Seeing him lying flat on his back on top of a wagon full of monster byproducts, snoring away in his sleep….
‘He looks very comfortable.’
“Ehehehe. Money. Money….”
Of course, his sleep-talking wasn't very childlike, but that could be overlooked.
In any case, as long as the Young Master was like that, Chandler, who considered himself the person in charge of this journey, carefully took care of the procession.
"Let's rest here for today."
"Yes, Chandler-nim."
Although it was a bit early, Chandler found a stream and decided to rest there.
People needed to rest, but since they also had to give water to the horses, he thought it would be good to rest here once.
They unharnessed the horses, let them drink water and graze, and in the meantime, they also started to prepare food for the people.
After boiling soup and preparing jerky and bread, he woke up Patrick, who was sleeping on the wagon.
"Young Master. Please have your meal."
"Huh? Mmm…. is it morning?"
"It's evening."
How long was he planning to sleep?
Chandler carefully offered the prepared meal to Patrick.
In fact, he had taken a little more care to pack some jerky for him than for the others, but he was anxious.
This kind of rough meal was precisely the kind of thing a delicately raised Young Master would find hard to stomach….
Nom nom, munch munch.
"Oh, this is delicious. What kind of soup is this?"
He was a Young Master who ate very well.
"It's carrot soup."
"Mmm, it's delicious. It's sweet and warm, perfect for eating while camping."
"Thank you for recognizing that."
"Hahaha. Actually, there's something better to warm the body, though."
"Yes. What… yes?"
Chandler saw it.
The gaze of the ten-year-old boy named Patrick was fixed on the bottle of strong liquor that the laborers were drinking.
"Actually, that's the romance of camping. Building a bonfire, roasting a wild boar, and having a bottle of that…."
"That is not allowed."
"Aww…."
"It is not allowed. If you drink alcohol, Young Master, the butler will kill me."
"It's fine. I'll cover for you."
"The Lord will kill me too, not just the butler."
"How could that good-natured man do that? And even if he does, I'll cover for you up to that point."
"I will also tell the Baroness."
"...That's really cheap."
As Patrick frowned, Chandler let out a sigh of relief.
‘The Baroness works.’
Chandler said to Patrick.
"As long as there is dust in my eyes, I cannot stand by and watch you engage in underage drinking, Young Master."
"Really?"
"Yes. As the next butler of the Schneider fiefdom, I…."
"So I can drink if I put dust in them?"
“…….”
Uh, you can interpret it that way.
Normally, people don't interpret it that way, but the words themselves do make sense.
On top of that, the way he was grabbing a handful of dirt from the ground with one hand made it seem like he was serious.
"Y-… Young Master? Please calm down for now…."
At that moment, Patrick's expression changed, and he shouted.
"Everyone, gather behind the wagons!"
Patrick, who had shouted, was already on top of a wagon with a sword in each hand.
And right after Patrick spoke….
-Kwoooooo!
The forest rustled, and three trolls came rushing out.
The trolls, which are large-type monsters that live in groups, had ambushed the party.
"Ugh…?"
"Ah, nooo!"
The panicked laborers were so surprised they fell to the ground.
As men of the Schneider fiefdom, where monster attacks are a daily occurrence, they had faced goblins or kobolds before.
But trolls were different.
That monster, a large-type monster that could tear a person apart alive, was a disaster beyond what an ordinary person could handle.
"Uh…. uh uh uh…."
Seeing the giant green monster reaching out to him, the laborer tried to run away.
But his legs, which had lost all strength, wouldn't listen, and tears and snot flowed endlessly.
Just as the troll's hand was about to reach him, who was facing the fear of death….
Swiiiiiish!
He saw nothing.
His eyes could not see anything.
However, he could tell that something had brushed past his ear, cutting through the wind.
And what he saw next was….
Puhwaaaak!
The troll that had been reaching out to him had become a headless corpse, spewing a fountain of blood from its neck.
And in his ear, he heard the irritable voice of Patrick, who was now standing in front of him.
"Hide behind the wagons! You're in the way!"
"Yes? Yes!"
The laborer scrambled back in a hurry, and Patrick licked his lips and said.
"Looks like I've got some unexpected extra income."
-Grrrr….
-Kraaaang!
The two trolls, having lost their comrade in an instant, growled and roared at Patrick, threatening him, but….
"You little punks, you're cute. So cute."
Who was their opponent?
Even seeing the trolls' threats, Patrick did not flinch in the slightest.
The laborers all swallowed hard at the unrealistic sight.
The Young Master, who was barely ten years old, had blown off the neck of a troll in an instant and was smiling at the remaining two.
And then, beckoning with one hand, he said….
"What are you doing? Come at me."
-Kraaaang!
-Keoheong!
The trolls simultaneously charged at Patrick as if having a seizure.
One of them, holding a giant club in one hand, raised its arm high as if to crush Patrick.
And before the powerful blow that could shatter even a rock could fall on Patrick's head….
"Too slow."
Patrick, without any preparatory motion, immediately closed in on the troll.
And then, a flash of swords crossing in an 'X' shape in an instant.
The point of intersection passed precisely through the center of the troll's head.
No matter how good a troll's regenerative ability was, there was no way it could survive having its head cut into four pieces.
Kuuung!
The troll's massive body collapsed as it was.
-Kwoooeong!
And the remaining one gave up on fighting any longer and turned its back to flee.
But before it could take even three steps, Patrick charged at it like a flash of lightning and kicked it in the back.
Ppeoeok!
Even though it was kicked by a mere ten-year-old child, the large-type monster, over three meters tall, fell forward.
And Patrick placed his foot on the head of the fallen troll and crushed it as it was.
Kwajik!
-Keoheoeong!
Although it was the force of a ten-year-old child pressing down, the troll groaned in the pain of its head being crushed.
It struggled with its hands and feet, trying to get up, but Patrick's foot, pressing down on the troll's head, did not budge.
"What? What is that?"
"No way. Is that even possible?"
“…….”
The laborers, their fear now gone, were looking at Patrick with only a sense of pure astonishment.
They had heard he was strong.
They had also heard the rumor that he was a genius of the sword.
They even knew that it was Patrick who had caught the monster byproducts they were currently transporting.
But knowing it in their heads and seeing it in person were, after all, different.
Wasn't he just toying with that large-type monster, which was said to be on par with a 3-star knight?
Patrick's strength was far beyond the common sense they knew.
"Farewell."
Kwajijik!
And Patrick, adding his inner energy to the Thousand-Pound Drop, crushed the last one's head by stepping on it.
After finishing the situation like that.
"Ugh…. I ruined my shoes."
He grumbled, rubbing the blood off his shoes on a nearby rock.
And he said to the dumbfounded laborers.
"What are you doing? Are you just going to watch?"
"Ah…. Yes. I'm sorry."
Chandler was the first to come to his senses and said.
"Quickly, prepare a change of clothes and water for the Young Master to wash…."
"No, not that."
Patrick shouted as if he was frustrated.
And then….
"Shouldn't we be dismantling that thing quickly. Skin it, draw the blood, move quickly!"
“…….”
Ah? That?
The troll corpse?
Yes. So that's what you were in a hurry for.
"Aigo, look at the blood over there. The blood is flowing everywhere. Money is flowing everywhere."
Seeing Patrick's genuinely regretful expression, Chandler realized two things.
Our Young Master is really strong.
And he's really serious about money.
‘I'll remember that.’