Chapter 35
“Yes!”
Geru explained that before he left the Fedwick Trading Company, Vaggis Fedwick had constantly picked fights with him and made his life difficult.
Ariella tilted her head.
“But that alone doesn’t seem like enough reason to kill you. If his goal was to get rid of you because he didn’t like you, he already succeeded.”
“No. He had… a clear reason to remove me.”
Right before Geru was killed, some of his old colleagues from the company had contacted him.
After his retirement, they had grown very unhappy with the new company head’s way of running things. Over time, their frustration had built up until they could no longer stand it.
“They were… hoping I would… start a new company.”
Geru had been well known and trusted by many important clients during his career.
Before becoming finance chief, he had spent years traveling all over the southern Demon Realm, buying good products and finding ways to sell them.
“If some random person started a new company… their chance of success would be small.”
But if Geru started one, his colleagues thought it could succeed. His name was that respected in the southern trade world.
They even believed he could steal all of Fedwick’s old clients.
“So, did you agree?” Ariella asked.
“No.”
The answer surprised her.
Geru had sent them all away. He said he was already retired and was happy just running his small shop.
Also, the Fedwick Trading Company was the place he had worked his whole life. Even if he didn’t like the current boss, he didn’t want to betray the company he owed so much to.
Geru had tried to keep his loyalty to the very end.
“But… Vaggis Fedwick thought differently. Looking back… that’s what happened.”
It seemed Vaggis found out that the so-called “troublemakers” in his company had contacted Geru.
Even though Geru refused, Vaggis still couldn’t shake his unease.
What if Geru did start a new company someday?
In the end, Vaggis decided to remove him — the man who could become the center for internal traitors.
“Most of my old colleagues… were probably kicked out too.”
That’s why Cecile’s shop lost its supply deals after Geru’s death.
Gnash!
The zombie ground his teeth.
He had buried his past conflicts and tried to do the right thing… but what he got in return was an assassin’s blade.
“I’ll never forgive the one who killed me!” he growled, his broken speech filled with rage.
“Vaggis Fedwick! Deal with him, and I’ll work for you for 10 years, 100 years — whatever it takes!”
Vaggis Fedwick had recently heard two surprising pieces of news.
“Bephar… that vampire… is dead?”
Bephar had been a secret partner of the Fedwick Trading Company, sharing profits from shady deals. Now, suddenly, he was dead.
“Did they find out what he was doing?”
“It’s very possible,” his secretary said.
Vaggis tilted his head.
“Then they probably realized we were doing illegal deals with Bephar.”
But Vaggis wasn’t worried.
After all, Ludwig’s Demon King’s Domain was poor and weak.
“In that poor, remote place, the only way they can get supplies is through us. We just deny everything about Bephar, and that’s it.”
It was arrogant thinking.
Even if Ludwig hated the Fedwick Company for this, so what? Would he really try to fight back?
“Hmph.”
With Bephar gone, the only one in that territory with brains was gone too. The rest were fools.
The Fedwick Company completely controlled southern trade. Even if Ludwig tried to find another supplier, no one would agree.
“No matter how much they dislike us, they’ll come back begging us to sell them goods. No need to worry.”
Revenge, in his eyes, was only for those who could afford it. For a poor Demon King, even pride was a luxury.
So Vaggis didn’t take the matter seriously — he only felt a little regret that Bephar’s profitable schemes were gone.
But then came the second piece of news…
“What?!”
This time, the information also came from Ludwig’s domain — but it shocked him far more than Bephar’s death.
It was about a strange material used to repair the library.
“A compound? Made from slime? Wait… but this effect…”
Reading the report, Vaggis’s eyes widened.
“This material… isn’t this the same as the one they use in the north to build houses?”
“According to rumors from locals, it seems very similar,” the secretary replied. “The details are messy, but from what we’ve gathered, the similarities are strong.”
It was amazing.
In the southern Demon Realm, almost no one knew about this incredible adhesive used in northern construction — it wasn’t distributed there at all.
The north kept the formula secret and only sold it through their own trading companies, at a very high price.
Only a tiny few in the north even know the recipe!
Vaggis was stunned.
Even though southern merchants didn’t know it well, a major trading head like him had heard of it.
But the Fedwick Company couldn’t bring it south — the northern companies’ conditions were unacceptable.
“They wanted to set up their own distribution network in the south,” Vaggis recalled.
Of course, he had refused. That would mean giving up the market he already controlled.
As a result, this revolutionary construction material had never reached the south — all because of merchant rivalry.
But… what if we could make it ourselves?
A sly smile appeared on his face.
“This came from the Demon King Ludwig’s contractor?”
“Yes. They brought a human from another world under contract,” the secretary said.
Rumor had it that the human had made this material.
How a human knew such a thing was unclear… but…
“They took Bephar’s place? Even better,” Vaggis said, his mind forming a plan.
“Any ideas on how to deal with Vaggis Fedwick?”
In Ludwig’s castle meeting room, the top aides were gathered.
“Hmm…”
After the strange “job interview” at Delrak’s graveyard, Richmond had released his magic and Geru returned to being an ordinary corpse.
As agreed, Ariella’s group had brought the body back to Ludwig’s domain. The grave was restored to its original state so Cecile wouldn’t suspect anything.
They hadn’t brought Cecile yet — Geru’s hiring wasn’t finalized until his second condition was met.
Ludwig spoke casually.
“It’s simple. I just go to his headquarters, kill him, and leave.”
Ariella grabbed her head.
“…It’s not that simple.”
“Such a headquarters would have heavy security. If the Demon King is caught…”
“Then I just kill everyone there,” Ludwig said.
Ariella felt a headache coming. How could his thinking be so simple?
Oblivious, Ludwig grumbled, “He was Bephar’s partner, right? That makes him my enemy too. I was going to get revenge eventually — this is my chance.”
“That’s exactly the problem!” Ariella said.
The company head never traveled — he stayed in the main office. How could they reach him?
Just then…
“A letter for you, Lady Ariella,” said Gruve, the kobold head butler, entering the room.
“Who sent it?” Ariella asked without looking up.
“The company head of the Fedwick Trading Company, Vaggis Fedwick.”
“What?”
Ariella shot up from her seat, tearing open the envelope and reading quickly.
Richmond leaned in to read as well.
Only Ludwig, who couldn’t read, stayed slouched in his chair. “What? Why’d that bastard suddenly send a letter? Did he find out our plan?”
“No, that’s not it,” Ariella said, frowning deeply, still in disbelief.
“Vaggis Fedwick… says he’s coming here. To Ludwig’s Demon King’s Domain.”
“…?”
“…?”
