The Rumors Are Too Much

Count Sharofe’s estate.

Gwen paced around the room anxiously while holding a newspaper.

On the desk, letters demanding debt repayment were scattered everywhere.

‘D*mn, I lived luxuriously believing I could sell off Shailyn……’

The pile of debt that had already accumulated grew even larger.

Her bloodshot eyes read through the article.

〈Sasha Magic Mine, an inexhaustible spring of magic stones? Hundreds of magic stones excavated!〉

“Ha……”

A breath mixed with resentment and jealousy burst from her mouth.

At this rate, hundreds of millions of gold in assets would have been formed under Shailyn’s name as the mine owner.

‘But still, this one doesn’t reply to our contact and doesn’t even pretend to help……!’

Heat flared up inside Gwen.

In fact, even though Shailyn had no reason to support her, she was feeling resentful.

As she chewed her lips and crumpled the newspaper with a crunch, it happened.

“Mom!”

Janice burst through the door.

Tears were hanging from her eyes.

“Janice, what’s wrong!”

“Mom, listen. There was a gathering today and that b*tch Callie Turner, well, she embarrassed me in front of people telling me to pay back my family’s debts!”

“What—?!”

Even though it was Janice who was publicly humiliated, Gwen’s face also turned red as if she had been insulted too.

It was true that they had borrowed quite a large sum of money from Viscount Turner’s family, the wealthiest among the nearby territories.

So yesterday she had personally written a letter begging them to wait just a little longer, but they still went ahead and humiliated her daughter.

“Sob sob, I can’t live here anymore! I want to go up to the capital too, like that Shailyn!”

Janice threw herself on her mother’s lap and threw a tantrum like a child.

At other times, Gwen would have scolded her for talking nonsense, but she said nothing.

In fact, she too was having doubts about staying in the territory.

The creditors were making a fuss telling her to do something, while the territory and family were of no help whatsoever.

The only lifeline, Shailyn, was in that distant capital where she couldn’t even reach her.

‘This won’t do.’

She grasped her daughter’s hand and declared resolutely.

“Let’s go to the capital.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes, we need to go catch that Shailyn.”

Gwen’s eyes flashed.

She would make her come back here by any means necessary.

***

After the fourth mission.

I temporarily put aside finding male leads and immersed myself in other work.

That was managing the magic mine.

Sending miners and mining magic stones wasn’t the end of it.

Now I had to decide where and how to sell the magic stones, and what method to use for mine operations.

‘First, I think I need to hire a mine manager to oversee the miners.’

The method I chose was very simple yet reliable.

Hiring someone with experience who had worked at a magic mine that closed last year.

For this, I asked Paul to find executives who had worked at that magic mine.

At the time, the mine manager was unemployed and only frequented taverns, while the assistant mine manager was working as a laborer to make ends meet.

“Magic mines pay higher wages than other mines, but there are fewer of them, making it hard to find new employment,” said Paul, who brought me the information.

He was helping me try to manage the mine alone under Duke Diart’s orders.

“What was their reputation like when they worked?”

“The mine manager was praised for getting along well with all the workers and being generous, while the assistant mine manager was often said to be diligent but overly meticulous.”

“Hmm, really?”

“Wouldn’t it be safer to just bring in the mine manager? He drinks because it’s hard, so he’ll quickly cut back once he starts working again.”

I thought about Paul’s optimistic suggestion but shook my head.

“That mine manager, didn’t he like drinking even when he was working?”

“Yes, how did you know? They said he often drank and played with the miners.”

“Then the fact that the magic mine ran smoothly without major accidents was probably more the assistant mine manager’s doing than the mine manager’s.”

People who like drinking generally find it easy to build friendships, so they don’t have bad reputations and get promoted quickly.

But while he was drinking and playing, there must have been someone to fill the gap, and that would have been the assistant mine manager.

It was the same at the company I worked for.

Instead of the team leader who was a good drinker and nice guy, my supervisor handled various tasks.

But in the end, it was always the team leader who benefited.

I couldn’t recreate that situation again.

“I should only bring in the assistant mine manager. Magic mines have more risk factors than other mines. I think it’s better for a meticulous person rather than a generous person to manage it.”

“Now that you mention it, you’re right. I’ll do that.”

Paul bowed his head.

The very next day, he brought the assistant mine manager before me.

He was an ordinary-looking man with short brown hair.

“Hello, I’m Michael.”

“I’m Shailyn Sharofe. You heard from Paul why I called you?”

The man nodded slightly. I extended my hand to him.

To tell him directly with my own mouth the reason I knew.

“I want to hire you as the manager of my magic mine. Will you work with me?”

“……I’m sorry. It would be better for you to hire someone with mine manager experience rather than me.”

But he refused without taking my hand.

It didn’t seem like he hated working under me, but rather lacked confidence.

“You’ve worked as an assistant mine manager for a long time, so you should be capable of being a mine manager?”

“I won’t be able to work the way you want, Miss. Rather, the mine manager I worked with……”

“I don’t know what you think I want, but I’m looking for someone who can operate the mine safely.”

Magic mines had a higher probability of accidents compared to other mines, and were often attacked by people targeting the magic stones.

Because it was dangerous, strict and careful management was needed, so I needed someone with Michael’s temperament.

“Money is important, but human lives are more important. Right?”

“……That’s right.”

Michael agreed with a surprised expression.

What, did I look like a money-grubber?

Or maybe he thought that since most nobles run mines harshly for profit, I would be the same.

But I’m not that kind of person.

“I have no intention of making you work unreasonably, just properly manage the personnel and environment. Still can’t do it?”

“……”

After hesitation, he carefully took my hand.

“If you’ll have me, I’ll try my best.”

It was the moment my Sasha Magic Mine got a trustworthy manager.

After that, I went around personally looking for magic stone sales companies.

The fact that I was the owner of Sasha Magic Mine had already spread far and wide, so everywhere I went, they were scrambling to catch me.

“If you sell magic stones to us! We guarantee the lowest commission fees, the best treatment in the industry, and high profits!”

“Magic stones are what our Everwood Trading Company specializes in! We also have extensive distribution networks with other countries, hoho!”

“We’ll accommodate your conditions completely! Just say anything, we’ll grant it all!”

But since there was no place that particularly caught my fancy, I just sold the magic stones I brought and mostly left empty-handed.

“Ugh, so draining.”

Dealing with multiple merchants in a row made me feel exhausted.

Carl, who accompanied me as my escort knight, frowned and said.

“Don’t deal with that second trading company from earlier.”

“Which one? Ah, Everwood? Why? I actually liked that one the most.”

The point about having extensive distribution networks with other countries was what tempted me most.

But Carl was firm.

“You might make some money, but that trading company has a shady background. Unless you don’t care if the goods you sell are used for bad purposes, find somewhere else.”

“How do you know their background is shady?”

“……Just a feeling.”

Male intuition, something like that?

Still, I had never lost out by listening to Carl’s words so far, so I decided to accept his advice this time too.

‘Isn’t there anywhere solid to trade with regularly……’

Why do they all give me the feeling that they just want to s*ck out my magic stones and make a quick buck?

For now, I decided to trade with various companies in rotation.

And I pondered while looking at the money I earned from selling magic stones.

‘Since I’ve received a lot of help from the people at Duke Diart’s house, should I buy gifts with this and share them?’

Since everyone had improved their relationship with me at least once, I needed to repay them even more at this point.

Having made my decision, I went around the shopping district picking out appropriate gifts for each person.

Meanwhile, Carl quietly guarded my back.

Then, when I stopped by a weapon shop to buy a gift for Dain, I asked him too.