A high-grade blue mana stone.
That is the object I took out of my bag.
Because blue high-grade mana stones, are the top ranking item in the Wizardry Association,the blue mana stone was like a symbol of my support from my father,the Lord of the Association.
'I'm glad I stole one,just in case.'
In addition to my financial power, I had an important supporter named,Duke Seymour.
"Now it is your turn to show your creativity."
He hesitated for a moment,but in the end took out a crimson pouch from a drawer.
Three small high-grade mana stones where attached to the string that tied the pouch.
"I hope it is to your liking, Princess."
"What is so special about this pouch?"
"It's a pouch that combines space expansion magic, lightweight magic, and summoning magic."
No matter how much I searched Deborah's memory, there was no information about an item with such an amazing function.
'Is it a new artifact that only I've heard of?'
"You can store 50 large vaults of gold coins in this pouch.
There is no risk of losses. You can summon it by assigning the palm of your hand to coordinate your values. It weighs about half a kg when completely filled with gold coins."
"Master,don't tell me, you made this yourself?"
"Exactly."
The convenience of this pouch is to be admired,this one pouch feels like I was owning a small bank.
"This pouch please give it to me."
I spoke sincerely from my heart.
"Alright."
The Blancia Master started to write a contract for the magic pouch.
However, there was a clause in the contract not to disclose any information related to the pouch to anyone.
'He doesn't seem to want the idea of using magic to manage secret funds to spread to the outside world.
He must be using this pouch for tax evasion.
The Blancia Master must be hiding the black money he made from illegal transactions in such magic pouches.
So,he wants me to keep it a secret.'
"But is there a special reason why it is a pouch?"
The Blancia Master tilted his head when he heard my question.
"Because of the convenience."
"It is good that it's convenient,but the amount of gold you can hide is limited so in time it seems to be less efficient."
The moment I spoke, the Blancia Master's mouth stiffened,and a cold atmosphere flowed again between us, like when I first met him.
'Why?
He told me to keep it a secret, so I gave him a hint that I was aware he was using it to evade tax.'
I should have pretended that I didn't know, but it was already to late so I continued, barely managing to keep my cold facade.
"If I had knowledge of spatial magic like you do, instead of a pouch like this, I would have bought an island in a country that has the lowest tax rate and there set up a ghost business."
I spoke as though my purpose for buying the magic pouch was also tax evasion.Acting like an accomplice can lower a person's suspicion.
"Since it is easy to come and go by using a teleport circles, you can manage the gold bars on a remote island,and with the fake business you set up on the island,you can complicate the flow of money.
It won't be easy to go forward with a tax investigation on an island, so isn't it a good ideea?"
If teleport magic was added, even the chaebols in the 21st century would likely cry and create a tax refuge.
The Blancia Master's eyes sparkled at my words and tapped his fingers on the table for a moment,with a troubled expression.
"The ideea is amazing, but it is currently impossible to travel long distances, such as crossing the ocean, with teleport magic,the only way possible is with a 9-class wizard."
"Ooo,I see."
Even Duke Seymour, the greatest wizard of the Empire is an 7-class wizard.
'So,he means it is impossible unless someone is a genius wizard.'
"But I must say that is a creative ideea much more than the pouch I made."
The Blancia Master surprised me because he said he would not accept my money for the pouch in return for the 'creativity' I showed him.
'I've got really lucky.'
I realized that the broad and superficial knowledge I had accumulated in my previous life while doing articles on all sorts of liberal arts subjects, could be an expensive information to trade with the Blancia Master.
The price of the magic pouch, which sent shivers down my spine when I found out how much it costs, was earned in an instant through the 'tax refuge' ideea.
From the pink diamond that fell in my hands, to the deal with the Blancia Master,luck continued to explode like a jackpot and an unexpected confidence burst trough me.
"It will be difficult for you to find a client like me who has money, power and creativity."
The Blancia Master laughed at my bluff.
"Even humor,you have all four elements.
No,it's five elements...?"
The Blancia Master said something in a low voice.
"What did you say?"
"It's nothing."
The Blancia Master put the contracts for the three requests in an envelope and began to melt the black sealing wax with a flame that came from the tip of his finger.Then, he picked up one of the many stamps lined up on the desk, put it on top of the dripping wax and seald it.
The picture imprinted on the sealing was a black swan.
'What does the swan mean?I'm confused.
Not using the stamp cat with the long tail means that he wasn't satisfied with my deal.
I don't know how I should interpret it, in a good or bad way.
It could mean that I earned more deals, or it could also mean that he won't continue dealing with my future requests.
If he's dissatisfied with my requests, I have no way of coming here.
This place is connected by a teleport, so I can't even guess the location.'
"Princess."
"Yes."
"When you want to know about the progress of your requests,don't come all the way to Astra district, go to the informant in Yones district instead."
The Blancia Master wrote down the address of a store located in the district where moust of the high ranking nobility resided.
'Is that Maisond?'
The name surprised me,because is very famous business name.
Maisond was the most popular dessert shop in the Yones district, which Deborah also enjoyed.
A place where the servants of noble families lined up from 3 in the morning to buy the top-quality desserts made by a master artisan that used to work for the Imperial Family.
'I felt very satisfied when I ate the 77 desserts from that shop during teatime,thanks to that,I'm very lucky.
Diana and even Maisond,I did not expect them to be stores managed by the Blancia Master.
I thought he was just an informant, but he is really rich.His business skills are out of the ordinary.'
I clicked my tongue while I got up from my seat, holding my bag that contained only the contracts.
"If I want to make a request in the future, can I come again?"
I asked timidly, as I walked through the door.I was concerned about the swan shaped stamp.
At my question,the Blancia Master narrowed his eyes in a half moon shape.
"A rich client is always welcomed here."
I was relieved.
'I managed to get the Crown Prince's most important cheat......wrong, schemer.As a stranger with no one to trust, the Blancia Master's existence is very reassuring to me.'
I was struggling to mantain the dignified expression I had so I hurriedly turned around and walked away at a fast pace.
...............
'If I want to make a request in the future, can I come again?'
Isidor stared quietly at Deborah's beautiful eyes like rubies, and opened his mouth.
'A rich client is always welcomed here.'
For a moment, it seemed that her red lips, which had been firm as ice all the time, had a faint smile.
However, she turned around quickly and walked away, as if to hide that faint expression, so he wasn't sure if she really smiled.
Soon the princess disappeared from his sight.
Isidor looked at the tightly closed door and leaned against the back of his chair.
'Now only my questions remained.'
He mumbled while fiddling with the swan seal.
A black swan.
It was completely unexpected,but since she somehow appeared in front of him, he had no choice but to accept her requests.The moment he faced the princess, who caressed Cookie and looked at him with her red eyes, a shock came trough him and he was shaken, as if he had seen a black swan.
'She's different from the rumors I've heard.'
Deborah Seymour had that,peculiar air around her?
From what Isidor understood through the information he gathered, the Seymour Princess was a vain,violent and incompetent person, her sense of inferiority was so extreme that her reputation was hitting rock bottom in the social circles.
However, the Deborah in front of him felt completely different from the person he imagined in his head.
'It must be because of the atmosphere around her,that Cookie showed interest in someone other than me for the first time.'
However, the longer their conversation lasted, the more he realized that he misjudget her.
Of course, as the rumors said, it couldn't be said that she had a good personality.She had a cold expression like frost and she stared at him fiercely whenever she wasn't satisfied with a deal and even sarcastically said she would tell him how she tamed Cookie for 99 gold coins with a 1 gold coin discount.
Suddenly, a burst of dumbfounded laughter escaped from Isidor,he never expected that he would receive back the wordplays he used on his clients.
'That aspect makes her so attractive.....'
He never felt bored for a single moment, Deborah Seymour made sure to keep him in suspense whenever she had the chance and above all, the final request caught him off guard.
Because it was like she was asking for one of his business secrets,at that time he was hesitating because a mana stone appeared from her bag.
'Intelligence and wealth, creativity and power,what a combo.'
Isidor without thinking,taught her how to use the pouch to manage her secret funds,because the cleverly retaliating princess was incredible interesting.
But, that wasn't the end.
'To buy an island in a country with low taxes and set up a ghost busines there.
Should I say that she is the best wicked women in the Empire?'
The tax evasion method she proposed was both ingenious and vicious and above all,her way of thinking was extensive.
Even if it wasn't an island, if dozens of ghost businesses were to be erected in the temple ruled and self governed Dominion of Helleia, and the ledgers manipulated in a way that drives profit, it would be difficult for the Emperor of Azutea to keep track of their taxes.
A tax evasion method much larger and more intelligent than using spatial magic to hide gold bars.It was the first time he felt a strange sense of defeat while doing business.
His curiosity about this client grew even bigger, as Deborah wanted.
Normally, Isidor's clients moved and reacted as he anticipated, like a piece on a chess board,however, Deborah Seymour broke in that chess board without warning and left suddenly, leaving him only with questions.
'How did she find me?
How did she tame my cowardly Cookie only in a second?
Why was she trying to make a secret fund?
Why does she want to sell the pink diamond?'
He was curious about so many things.
Even if he is curious, he couldn't even ask her questions because he is an informant...so he should know all of that already.
"I can't stand it I'm so curious!"
At Isidor's voice a man that had been waiting in the shadows slowly stepped forward.
"Master,shall I go ahead and investigate Deborah Seymour?"
Isidor shook his head at the question made by Miguel Drein, one of the Visconti family's vassals.
"I'm having so much fun after a long time, why do you want interfere?"
"Master,don't tell me you are going to investigate her yourself?"
"The Academy is opening soon,even if we don't want to, we will still run into each other often."
His Master, who always said that he had nothing to learn at the Academy, even went around giving bribes in order for people to turn a blind eye to his absence last semester,now wanted to go back to school of his own free will and often.
"Are you going to attend the Academy?Then why did you spend your money like that last semester?"
"No harm will come from forming a connection with Duke Seymour's famous daughter."
"Didn't you say you already had all the connections you need? You said that you are focusing on your relationship with the Crown Prince for the time being."
Isidor pretended not to hear him and petted Cookie's head gently.
"I'm going to find out how she tamed my cute Cookie,without spending even 1 copper coin.
This is a matter of my informant pride."
Looking his Master, who seemed to hold a small grudge, Miguel had no choice but to swallow his dumbfounded feelings.
Miguel,didn't know why his Master suddenly wants to be close to Deborah Seymour,because his Master has mysophobia and usually he doesn't want to be in touch with women due to his extreme aversion to them.
'It is a little suspicious but she's just a princess anyway.
She doesn't seem important enough for Master to take action himself and waste his precious time.
Somentimes,he is quite unpredictable.'
Even though his Master was usually calculated to the extreme,there where times when he was impulsive and behaved as he pleased.
He was a human being that could not be understood.
Convinced that his Master could have a big goal un his mind that he wasn't aware of, Miguel opened his mouth.
"But how will you approach her?"
Isidor shrugged his shoulders
and took off the bracelet with polymorph magic.
Then, his grayish brown hair turned blond like the sun,and his ,wax like face turned into a handsome one with gorgeous appearance that is hard to forget once you've seen it.
When he was working with the intelligence guild, Isidor wore a bracelet with magic that transformed his appearance and voice.For that reason, no one but Miguel knew that the Master of the secret organization was the heir of the Visconti family, one of the country's founding families.
"How will I approach her?
Do I have to worry about something like that when I have this face?"
Isidor asked back while pointing with his finger to his beautiful face.
Miguel mouth started to tremble and his expression was like he wanted to curse someone,but he immediately lowered his head in acknowledgment.
"I apologize,I asked the most unnecessary question in the world."
He felt bitter, but he couldn't help it, using that handsome face to attract his opponent was foul play.
Isidor had a handsome appearance that was difficult to describe in words.
Even the portrait painters that dashed out, crying, saying they could not express his remarkable face with brushes and paints, were more than ten.
But that is not all,hundreds of wigs could be easily made with just the hair pulled out from the ladyes heads, who fought head-to-head over Isidor at parties.
Even his legs were long and his shoulders wide,he had both delicate beauty and strong masculinity at the same time.
Isidor's presence made the men around him invisible, Miguel felt sad because it was like he was hiding in the shadows even when he wasn't.
"Miguel, you look scornful,do you have something to say?"
"No,I have not my Lord."
"Good,then prepare to go to the Academy soon."
Miguel only nodded, depressed.
"Haaaa..."
Isidor, who had returned to being the Visconti heir and not the guild Master, hesitated to put on the bracelet again.
'I need to modify the diamonds color grade an quantity.'
He was planning to bring a total of three different colored diamonds to the auction house.
Pink, blue and green.
Among the three colors, pink was the one that was going to be released in the smallest quantity,but the moment he received Deborah's second request, he quickly changed his plans.
As he unconsciously recalled her purple hair, flowing down like the night sky above her white face, he tapped his fingerscon the table lightly.
"Miguel,I'm adding a new diamond color,call the guild manager."
"What color?"
With his hand on his chin, he smiled slightly with narrowed eyes.
"The color of lavender."
......................