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Secret of the Wealthy
To my right is the darkness of the night. Although I could not see it, there was a small grove beyond that and the deep blue sea spreading out. A small inland sea separates Forestia and Saharia. However, if you go further east from here, you will reach a large inland sea. It is the sea that connects Cheerem Island with the various Western countries. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
And on my left is the shining gold, pendulum clock set up there. It was the most valuable item in this reception office. Similar to my home planet Earth, twelve hours are marked there. Jewels were decorating the face of the clock. They shone with dazzling light, in contrast with the darkness of the night.
And when Myluc and I had nothing to say, the only sound in the room was the sound of the ticking clock.
「Life is a strange thing」
Pulling the bottle beside him closer, he poured the liquor into the glass at hand.
「Leaving my hometown and quietly living in such a remote countryside in another country.....I didn’t think anything would happen to me again」
He took a sip of the red, muddy liquor.
「Perhaps, the reason I was born, is to be here right now」
「……what, does that mean?」
「It means exactly what I said, Noor.....no, it is okay if I call you Fals?」
He broke his own rule again. For him, calling slaves by their real name has a special meaning.
「Or, do you have another name? Fals is a common name in this world after all」
He continued, ignoring my widened eyes.
「You were yelling something when I found you in the stable. It was some kind of words. I don’t know them, but maybe it was Hanfan or Wanonoma? But, there is no way someone in Linga village can teach you that. Well, you have black hair, so even if your parents were from Hanfan and they drilled the language of their hometown.....that doesn’t explain your calculation ability. You also formed your thoughts based on all sorts of ideas I didn’t know of, right? In short, your thinking ability is obviously that of an adult. So that means.....」
He said while leaning forward.
「……if you can become an insect, so you can actually turn into a child or an adult, right?」
「You have a rich imagination」
「Well, there was plenty of time after all」
Placing his glass down, he suddenly stood up and looked out of the window. The iron door is not lowered tonight. Even so, it was pitch black outside the window, so you could not see anything unless you strain your eyes.
「When you disappeared and were found again.....at first I thought you might be a magician. And a first-rate magician, the kind that goes down in history. But, that should not be the case. How could a human possibly turn into an insect, without using a large-scale ritual or the use of a valuable catalyst and an ancient magic tool? So, you are something else entirely.....」
Turning around quietly, he announced his conclusion. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「An existence coming from far away, something extraordinary, beyond human understanding」
That’s half-correct, but still incorrect.
If you are asking where I am from, then it is exactly as he said, but the inside is just that of an ordinary person.
「I thought perhaps, you were being sent by the Goddess to protect someone special」
「You overestimate me. You were watching closeby, right? I certainly have my strong points, but I’m just an ordinary person when it comes to studying and working, wasn’t I?」
「Right, there it is」
Myluc nodded as he pointed at me. Then, he excitedly sits down opposite me again.
「I was wondering what I could do for you」
「What do you mean?」
「Right now, you’re poor」
Myluc declared with a serious look.
Poor. He said it so bluntly but that’s just obvious. I am a slave, and thus I have nothing. Where in this world is there a slave who is not poor?
「I’m a slave, so that’s normal right」
「No, that’s not what I meant」
He folded his arms and stared at me.
「Let me tell you about the difference between the wealthy and the poor. The wealthy do not have money illusion. Of course, they know it is an important thing and will use it when it’s meant to be used, but they know exactly what it can get them or how much happiness it can give them. But, the poor are different」
I feel like what’s being said is nothing more than common sense. In that case, I don’t intend to have any illusions about money, either.
「Poor people.....think they can get anything as long as they have money. Well, that is partly true. But, because of that way of thinking, no matter how much time passes, they will never become rich. They will complain about the wealthy like me at every opportunity. Saying things like, ‘You’re rich because you have it from the start’. I won’t deny it, but that’s not all」
「Umm, but, I don’t have any illusion about money? Look, even when you offered me your prized possession, I refused, right」
「Right」
Myluc pointed at me while saying that.
「Of course, I was depressed at that time, but somewhere inside my heart, a calm part of me was screaming. ‘That’s absurd’」
「What do you mean?」
「You did not want money but the way you act - no matter how excellent - looks like that of a poor person to me. Noot, the wealthy have dreams, and they pursue them. But it’s the opposite for the poor. Although they say they are pursuing their dreams, in actuality, they were being pressured from behind by their goals and forced to run.....that’s why they can’t run a straight path, they should be taking」
It felt like an arrow had hit deep into my heart. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
That’s right, it truly is like that. My goal has not changed at all. I found out what happens after death. So, I have to obtain eternal life in this world. Fortunately, I have the Piercing Hand ability, and this is even a world where there is magic, so the chance of achieving that is probably not small at all.
But, I have to hurry. Even if I gained immortality, what would happen 50 years from now? It would be great if I could become immortal after switching to a young and healthy body, but what would happen otherwise? Even though I have only reached my late 30s in my previous life, suffering from stomach pain and allergies each day.
In short, my goal has a time limit. At most another 20 years. During that time, I have to secure eternal life. Can I do it, I wonder?
「Noor」
Myluc stares intently at me while gently putting his glass on the table.
「No matter what your goal is, only achieving that will not make you happy. That is a fantasy」
Deep in my heart, I shout, ‘That’s not true!’.
Myluc didn't know. He had no memory of his previous life and he didn't remember what is after death. But I saw it. We repeatedly live painful lives, over and over again.
Life is painful. My first experience in this world further strengthened that belief. Poverty, abuse, hunger, and murder. Even if you go through all the trouble of doing your best and escape, you will eventually die if you stay as you are. And then, you will be thrown back into the world once more.
「A lot of poor people think that someday, somewhere, something will drop from the sky and give them the things they love. And yet, they can only suppress their feelings and do the job they hate every day. In the end, here too, your mindset will determine whether you can be happy or not. The wealthy are successful since they can afford to have various interests. That may be the resul,t but that is not the essence
「So」
I decided to ask.
「What do you think we should do to make us happy?」
Myluc thought for a moment while stroking his beard when I asked that. Then, he softly answered.
「It’s to make a proper deal, right」
「Deal, is it?」
「Right」
He said while staring at me. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Noor, what is a ‘deal’?」
「What, you say.... it is the act of exchanging goods. And sometimes it is about money」
「That’s right, but does this make sense? Deals are, by nature, something that causes deficits」
I was confused for a moment.
Myluc is a merchant. And, he is a fairly successful merchant and he can live without having to worry about money. And such a person made mistakes in his dealings.
「Then let’s do it like this. I bought a Saharian ruby in Pyris (ピュリス). What would happen if I were to sell that ruby in some gem dealer?」
「That’s, not profitable. I mean, you sell it just after buying it, right?」
「That is so」
「Then, obviously, the selling price will be lower than the purchase price」
「Why so?」
I can’t help but feel like I am being told something obvious.
「That is, that’s because the gem dealer won’t make a profit otherwise, right?」
「That’s right. So, let’s sell it to an ordinary person instead of the gem dealer this time. Do you think we can earn money with this?」
I answered after thinking about it a little.
「It may earn us money, but the efficiency seems poor」
「Right. Even if they don’t buy it from us, they can obtain it from the same source from the gem dealer. For that reason, we can sell it higher than them. So we can only sell it at a low price after running around all over the city. Considering the effort, this is also a deficit」
I am completely clueless about what he is trying to tell me.
「So, does that mean we should not make a deal?」
「You can say that, but it’s not impossible. Most of what humans do is basically some kind of a deal. Whether spending time studying or raising crops in the field, it all comes down to making a deal, investing resources to get another」
「In that case, does that only seem like everyone will become increasingly poor?」
「Is that so? Everyone dies in the end, right? We use up our resources like health, youth, and time, losing our wealth」
It was a hopeless way of thinking, but you could also call it realistic.
But, in that case.....
「So, what is the correct deal?」
「Conversely, let’s think about the incorrect deal. That way it’s easier」
Clasping his hands in front of me, Myluc continued to speak with eyes shining with drive.
「Just as I said before, people always make a deal. Dealing itself is an essential human activity. The Forestian nobles say that farming is the key, but those fools know nothing. It is one thing if it’s the farmer who tills the land, said that, but those people just take a cut」
A confident smile spread across his face. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「So, those kind of people often makes bad deals. They use the tax revenue from their territory to live in luxury. They buy fine jewels for appearance’s sake.....then keep a slave to replace their lover to fill their own emptiness. They were profitable customer for my past self but.....the exchange efficiency of resources and wealth is extremely poor. Do you understand?」
「Yes」
「That is poverty. That which ruins wealth is poverty. You understand? A sick body, an uncooperative character, they can all become part of your resources. Each and every single one of them can interfere with your deal. People who want to be rich always make money their concern, but that is a mistake」
While saying that, he raised a finger in each of his hands, 1 on his left and 1 on his right hand.
「There are 2 merchants here. Both are pretty much similar in business ability. But one of them gets along well with their parents and siblings, is blessed with friends, a kind wife, and lively children. The other one, although he is a very hard worker, does not get along well with his parents, his siblings have debts, and whether his environment is bad, he only has thugs-like friends, a spendthrift wife, and children who are prone to be ill. Now, what do you think happened?」
「That’s obvious, right」
「Right, just as you said. The unfortunate man has to support his parents, but have to pay unnecessary money to live separately. He is also being forced to pay off his siblings' debts. And he will end up suffering if he doesn’t cut off his ties with his friends quickly. The cost of his child’s medical expenses is also high, and no matter how hard he tries, his wife spends more and more. Her children were sick, and she was unable to build the ideal family, so she tried to solve that dissatisfaction with money」
It was a story I felt like I’ve heard about somewhere, or rather, something I actually experienced myself. It’s painfully true.
「On the other hand, the happy man. He lives happily with his parents and cooperates with his siblings. He can spend happy times with his friends and have a kind wife, so he doesn’t need to incur unnecessary expenses. So, the difference between their wallets gets increasingly bigger」
「But, there’s nothing we can do about that. He ended up born like that」
「That’s right. This is why the poor get poorer. Furthermore, it is exactly laughable that those kinds of people cling to money and try to find happiness through its power...in a sense, money is similar to a woman. A foolish man, when courting a woman, will only think about how much they will enjoy themselves in bed or how she will serve him. Women will give up on men like that」
That’s ruthless.
However, Myluc must have seen a ton of such people over the past few decades. The wealthy who went bankrupt.....
「Wealth is essentially unequal. Money does not spread on its own. It will gradually start to concentrate in one portion of people if you leave it alone and do nothing. So, if a single person in this world had all the money.....what would happen?」
After thinking for a moment, I answered.
「There will be no meaning to money」
If only a single person had money in the world, that means it would be a situation where it can not function as currency. And in the process, public order would start to collapse. That was because some class of people who don’t have money will appear. They would be left out of any transactions. In that case, they could only become self-sufficient.
And being self-sufficient meant that there would be no division of labor. Division of labor meant specialization, and through that, greater efficiency could be achieved. Meaning, a self-sufficient society is not efficient in this world. Each individual’s productivity is low, which naturally leads to poverty.
In such a situation, an order over a wide area is going to be meaningless. In other words, the areas where a monetary economy can not be established will continue to expand. And the entire world will become poorer like this.
……as someone who was obsessed with reading back in modern Japan, it was a discussion I could barely keep up with. Just how intelligent must Myluc be, to have reached such a conclusion just from doing actual business transactions? www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「That’s right. That means, money will die. I said before that money is a living thing, and that was the reason」
Then he folded his arms, and stretched.
Eh?
But I still have not been taught the important part.
「So, what is a good deal」
「How about you try thinking about it?」
「Ehh?」
No.
I have now learned what a ‘bad deal’ is.
So, a ‘good deal’ should be the opposite of that, right?
「……if clinging to money is a bad deal.....then, should we devote ourselves to money, instead?」
「That’s right」
Myluc nodded.
「Throw away any ulterior motives of trying to get something out of money. I said it earlier, didn’t I, the wealthy chase after their goals. But the poor are being chased by their goals. The difference on that side also appears here. The more you think of getting something out of it, the more impatient you will become. And you will overdo it. Then you will use money again to alleviate the fatigue from overdoing things. The poor are always running, and yet they can not find a bit of happiness. But, people who are already satisfied will not go through the trouble of doing that」
I thought about it for a moment.
「So there is no saving grace to it all」
I was also feeling a little irritated.
「It seems like the poor have to endure it the poorer they are. But that may be true 」
「You won’t see any result as long as you think that it is something you have to be patient for」
「So, that just makes it an even more terrible story isn’t it」
「Not exactly. Noor, don’t think that people who are happy or wealthy are special. It doesn’t mean that they don’t feel the fears and worries of the poor or that they don’t know about what suffering is either. Although there are many things people like, those are not something they like by nature」
Myluc smiled. Then he said, in a slow tone as though to make me understand.
「Their greatest asset is knowing that love requires effort」
「Effort, to love?」
「That’s right」
He spread out his arms wide and made a motion as if scooping out something falling from the sky.
「Even you have something you like and hate, right? So, you end up trying to catch something you only like. If you do it poorly, that will be all you can see. But what is falling from the sky, whether good or bad, doesn’t discriminate. However.....just a little, you can try to change your perspective just a little. It’s not a matter of like or dislike, but how you come to like it? .....you see, isn’t it pretty passive to have the things you like and dislike from the start in your life, only chasing after the things you like?」
As he said that, his eyes sparkled just like a young boy.
「That’s……」
I was at a loss to answer. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
The things I like. The things I dislike. I think those are obvious. It’s because I am who I am, that’s how it is. Even so.
「Don’t look for the exit. Look for the entrance. .....fufufu, I’m just repeating what my father said」
He chuckled as he said that.
「I am a merchant after all, so I can only teach you about money. But, I think this is the truth. And, you shouldn’t separate money from life in your mind. Wealth is something general. It will not work if you try to grasp it tightly and if you naturally let go of it, then that person will already be wealthy. Yes, a ‘good deal’ is not about getting something, it’s about letting go」
He let himself relax and leaned against the sofa as if he had finished saying everything important.
「I hope you will also be able to make a good deal someday」
That was probably his way of wishing me good luck.
But, I felt the urge to slip in a mean question at that moment.
「So, master, are you making a good deal」
「Aah, stop calling me master. Myluc is fine」
He said while waving his hand at me.
「A good deal, huh.....haha, that sounds like a great thing to say, but even I lost a huge deal before. I am cleaning up the aftermath right now」
But, I could not see a pessimistic look on him despite him saying that.
「You must have a lot of money」
「Yeah, so much that I will not be able to exhaust it before I die. But, it is mostly useless to me」
Huh.
It’s now. I decided to throw in the question that had been bothering me.
「Um, Myluc-san. So, what are you spending money on? I have never been taught this, before」
He turned serious when I asked him that.
「Also, there are other strange things too. You are the son of the previous head of your family, right? Why are you holed up in such a remote countryside in a foreign country?」
At those questions, his smile appeared on his face again. He looks a little embarrassed.
「I guess it’s fine to tell you. I’m using money as a form of atonement. The reason I’m here is to protect a secret 」
「A secret?」
「Hiding the daughter of the War house」
「……!」
He admitted it.
I knew it, Jill is a survivor of the Wartock Baron house. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「……what is that atonement?」
「The one responsible to attacked and devastating the Tock Barony in the southeastern part of the Esta Forestia kingdom a few years ago was the Necamel clan」
He was even smiling, but I ended up frozen from that information. It would result in a great disaster if this leaks outside.
「Is it, a retaliatory attack?」
「That’s right」
So, Myluc is.
The person who betrayed the Necamel clan? This is a fact that directly connects to his life. If this were to become public, then he would become a wanted person by both the Esta Forestia kingdom and the Necamel clan.
「So, Jill.....? Eh? But, her skin color」
「Her father is a Saharian」
「Then, Myluc is married to Jill?」
「No way. Where would there be a father who marries his daughter」
I was dumbfounded and at a loss for words.
Daughter?
But, with his daughter.....
「You also saw it, right. My relationship with Jill. Is it bad?」
Even if you say that, I could not find the words to say.
I can only open and close my mouth, like a goldfish gasping for air.
「The, then.....Jill is your daughter, lover, and you hide her, but, she is also Myluc-san’s bodyguard?」
「It’s a bit different」
He calmly asserted.
「Jill is not a bodyguard. She is someone like that, more or less, but the reason she has a weapon on her is so that she can kill me anytime」
「Eh!?」
When I avoided meeting his eyes, the smile returned to Myluc’s face
「Fufu.....hahahaha! Well, this has nothing to do with you, but if you’re interested, right.....」
After slowly standing up, Myluc drew back to the back and soon returned.
He had a silver ring, a pen, and paper in his hands.
「Let’s use this ring. If someday you gain your freedom, you can go and see my younger brother - Tiz(ティズ) - and the head of the Necamel clan, and serve him. Only, it is best if you don’t tell anyone else besides Tiz about my name. This ring will become proof of your identity at that time」
I feel a solid weight in my palm. On the ring’s setting, instead of a gemstone, there is something like a seal engraved.
「That is a valuable thing. Don’t sell it by mistake, alright?」
「Ye, yes」
After saying that, Myluc spoke again with a solemn expression.
「Also, this is.....how should I put it…I have a favor to ask of you, but it depends on how you feel」
「A favor, is it?」
I stared at his face in blank confusion. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Yeah. Noor, you can also refuse it if you find it impossible but.....can you tell me your name?」
Name. Of course, I probably can not answer his question with ‘I am Chocos from Shuga village’ or Fals.
But, I had touched on his biggest secret. Perhaps, he too, may want to know a part of my secret.
「What are you going to do, with that?」
「Nothing. Just for my self-satisfaction
「It won’t make any money and you can’t do anything to me with that, you know?」
「That’s okay.....even so Noor, this is also a 『dea;』. Now, what are you going to do?」
He sounded really happy when saying that.
I thought for a bit and said.
「……fine」
I took the pen and paper from his hand and wrote the name I used to have when I was a Japanese there. It’s a kanji that says 『Saiki You 佐伯 陽』.
「This is, how do you read this?」
「Saiki, You」
「Hmm. So, your name is Saiki」
「No, that is the family name. My name is You」
He stared at my name written on the paper, looking puzzled.
「As expected, so it was like that」
「Yes?」
「You are, someone who transcends the principle of this world」
That was right. With this, now he obtains evidence. Even if he doesn’t know that I am a reincarnator who came from another world.
「Don’t worry. This secret, will never be revealed to someone else」
Carefully folding the paper, he tucked it into this pocket.
Well, an ordinary person probably wouldn’t understand it even if they only see the paper.
「Is this a 『good deal』?」
I sarcastically asked.
For a moment, Myluc looked as if he had been caught off guard, but he soon put on a gentle smile. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
「Now, I wonder about that?」
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