Kane will do well no matter what I ask him to do.
The problem is me.
What's the use of knowing where the scattered ancient-grade artifact items are and how to obtain them?
Looking at me now, it's obvious I won't be able to get that far.
Considering the original Adelian's stamina and such, the journey of following Kane itself would be a shortcut to an early death.
After sending Kane to his room, I lay face down on the bed, holding paper and a quill pen, and pondered.
"What can I get with money right away?"
The Fairy Shoes are still with their owner in the fairy realm, so we can't even take a look at them yet… And the Wind Scale Cloak is too far away.
After drawing an X over two words, I tapped them and sank back into thought.
'Whether it works out or not, I have to start with me, Kane, and Luna.'
The places to go around with Kane will be mazes and places of human sacrifice, there will be many such places, but I can't hire ordinary people, and mercenaries are troublesome.
In the end, because my abilities are limited, I have no choice but to wear artifacts to supplement them…
It's like a low-level wallet warrior wearing high-grade weapons bought with real money. Plus, PK is possible. Moreover, all party members are either ignorant of the ways of the world or have communication disorders.
If I were them, I'd run away with the items or sell them somewhere. Or aim for a big PK.
At least with low-grade mercenaries, we might have a chance to resist if we get backstabbed.
High-grade mercenaries with tight lips and high credibility are that much stronger, so it's not impossible for Kane and Luna, who haven't finished growing, to be wiped out the moment they fall victim to that person's greed.
Even if we hire them in the name of the family, the places we go to should be a bit dangerous. If they say we just died from traps or monsters, how would anyone know? My corpse is expected to have a lot to loot anyway.
We can't waste the Divine's Contract either, as it's originally hard to obtain.
"I guess I'll have to go to the auction house first…"
And I need to practice horseback riding too. The original Adelian would probably be able to ride decently as part of his education, but I have no experience.
Should I have Luna teach me a bit about horse maintenance? For now, Luna is the only available unit, so there's no choice.
This time, instead of the light warrior tree., I'll have to raise her as a jack of all trades.
I wrote on the paper with the quill pen, 'Mode of transportation: Horse? All-purpose jack of all trades.' and drew Luna next to it, then drew circles and lines to draw myself.
It's time for an objective self-assessment.
I'm a player, but no different from a non-player. In game terms, I'm a useless number that just acts as a guide and commentator while not being picked up as an actual combat unit.
'Nevertheless, I have to be needed.'
How nice it would be if I could just give money and eat popcorn from a safe place.
'No, that's not it.'
I am the bus driver, and Kane will be the bus.
And I will run over everything that threatens me with the bus.
I drew a large bus next to the paper with one stick figure with rabbit ears and one without.
Gadia is the thorn bumper, and Rachel is the modified engine. Luna is the mechanic, and other heroines are capable of stealth, high beams, and so on…
'Isn't this an all-purpose bus?'
It seems majestic enough to survive even if dropped into a zombie apocalypse…
"By the way, this is amazing."
After roughly organizing my thoughts, I stretched my arms and legs freely and traced the mural painted on the ceiling with my eyes, muttering softly.
Charuk―
In the silence all around, the sound of turning the ring echoes clearly.
Rotating the ring several times using just my fingertips, I simultaneously read the information of the subspace that forcibly entered and left my mind.
"Six."
Six of the 12 symbols engraved on Kruger's ring are filled with gold.
Moreover, the rest were each filled with different items, with only one symbol empty.
The size of the subspace allocated to each symbol of the ring is not small, even to my eyes which find it difficult to estimate the size and to think of all those gold coins.
How many years of gold coins have been sucked from the continent?
But with all this money and various rare items freely available, why is only one space of subspace empty?
'What could be so precious that they left only that out?'
"Young Master. It's Alkaido."
While trying to gauge what it might be, Alkaido's voice flows in from behind the door at the far end.
'Every time I meet Alkaido, something troublesome happens.'
Reflexively frowning slightly at this, I sighed, cleared my throat, and then opened my mouth.
"Come in."
Getting up on the bed and nervously running my fingers through my hair, I glared at Alkaido's gray head bowing in greeting.
"What is it?"
"It's presumptuous of me to say, but Harlon was handling family business affairs. Was this by your order, Young Master?"
"Isn't that obvious? Or did you think Harlon stole the documents and was stamping them on his own?"
As I speak with a slight laugh, I feel like I can see veins popping on Alkaido's forehead.
"Young Master. The documents that have come up to the mansion from all over the continent are not toys. The fact that they come to the mansion among the numerous affairs and issues occurring under the Kruger family means they are the most urgent or equally important documents."
"Keep it short, Alkaido."
"Please read and approve the documents yourself, Young Master. And I humbly advise you to withdraw the matter you issued as a continental notice last time."
Right, Alkaido. I was thinking of causing a bit of trouble, but this works out well.
"Why should I do that?"
"Operating the merchant group with credits instead of gold coins not only gives a sense of belonging to the subordinate merchant groups but also the continental commercial rights and…"
"Ah, I get the gist of it. In the end, it's a weapon of our family, isn't it? Right? Sometimes giving out more or less than the same amount of gold coins to create loyalty rankings, or using non-existent credits as rewards to extract ideas or to control, right?"
I cut off Alkaido's words midway and continued speaking with a sneering smile.
"The value of gold coins fluctuates depending on whether they're imperial gold coins or gold coins from a small kingdom, but credits are not as fluid in value as gold coins, so they're safer or something. You're trying to tell me something like this, right, Alkaido? But you know what? It's too stagnant."
"…What do you mean by that?"
I slowly opened Alkaido's trait window and checked his traits.
[Alkaido Heyman―Iron-Blooded Butler]
Representative Traits: [Loyalty(A)] [Composure(C)]
Hidden Traits: [Negotiation(C)] [Obsessive-Compulsive(A)]
'Was he a bit surprised by my words? His composure dropped a level.'
The important thing isn't composure, and I checked the loyalty at the front of Alkaido's traits once more and smiled.
"The previous family head's idea of making credits the key currency was excellent. That's why things have flowed as we wanted until now. But you know, Alkaido. What if a war breaks out? And a really big one at that?"
"That's impossible. The continent is closer to its most stable period than ever before."
"It might seem that way on the surface. But what if a war really breaks out? If sea and land routes can't be relied upon, merchants can't move across countries, and the imperial and royal families restrict and requisition the distribution of goods?"
"That's…"
Alkaido is not dull. He seemed to have grasped the point of my words and looked at me with a slightly shocked expression.
"The Kruger merchant group is not a single entity, Alkaido. It just looks like one because numerous points are gathered together. And if those points become disconnected from each other…"
Even if you pour water on numerous grains of sand to make them look like one lump, in the end, when the water used as adhesive evaporates, it crumbles and scatters bit by bit even in a passing breeze.
"Well, the main body like the mansion will be safe, but the small merchant groups that are like fingertips will crumble one after another. Credits can only be exchanged for gold coins at the mansion, but if they can't even reach the mansion and are tied up without any gold coins in hand…"
"…That's a scenario assuming a war that encompasses the entire continent breaks out."
"There are no absolutes, Alkaido. Anyway, I'm not just insisting blindly, I'm saying let's loosen it up a bit. I'm not saying let's change it for 10 years, or 20 years. How about just 1 year, 1 year as a trial?"
If Alkaido's loyalty was directed towards Caiman, this would never be accepted. But Alkaido's loyalty trait had a different owner.
"…Very well, Young Master. How can I, as a servant, only oppose your insistence? If it's just for 1 year, I will accept it."
It was me, the very embodiment of the Kruger family, and since I was so adamant, he probably thought there might be information he didn't know and took a step back.
The fact that I said just 1 year was probably a major reason too.
"Good. Then you may leave."
I smiled triumphantly, reveling in the joy of victory.