Chapter 777: The Neko Gets A Jackpot
After a quickie with Lisa in her class after school, I went back home feeling rather exhausted.
Katsuki was there to greet me as usual at the entrance.
“Welcome back, Mistress. Would you like dinner first or a bath?”
“Mmm… I think I’ll eat first… Is dinner ready yet?”
“It is, Mistress. Emilia is also there as well.”
I perked up, “Oh~ I’ll go join her then~”
“Of course, Mistress. Right this way.”
She then led me to the dining room and sure enough, Emilia was there as well.
Ironically, her food was seated on the table completely untouched and no doubt already cold. As for the reason why, it seems like the Nekomata was currently absorbed in looking at what looked like letters and documents she was currently sifting through.
“Emilia?” I called out to her.
She jumped a little in surprise at my voice, only to relax when she saw me.
“Boss! Welcome back! Sorry for not noticing you.”
I waved at her, “It’s fine. Although I do want to know what you are doing?”
She turned back to the papers, “I’ve been gathering my contacts and sending letters and proposals ever since you employed me, boss. Right now, I have to admit that I’m in a rut.”
I went over to sit beside her, “What kind of rut?”
She sighed and placed a few of the letters aside, “I underestimated how far my family would go just to make my life miserable for burning their prized ship. No… For burning MY prized ship. They already knew that I would most likely try to make a comeback and sought out my past contacts to prevent them from helping me…”
I frowned, “What did they do? Don’t tell me…”
She waved her hand, “Oh, they didn’t kill them if that’s what you were thinking, Boss. They just made some threats here, bribes there, buyouts elsewhere and maybe some kidnapping and coercion somewhere. It’s also bad for business when suppliers go missing and the supply chain gets cut when you’re not ready to take their place after all.”
I blinked at her, “That… Actually sounds pretty serious… Not to mention illegal?”
“Nothing that we have proof to use against them. They’re quite careful. The good thing is that I still managed to secure a few of my secret contacts that they are unaware of and also a few more that they did not get to before me so there’s that at least. The bad thing is that the help they can give me is quite limited and not what I need at the moment.”
“Aren’t you making use of the dragon materials to buy over and bribe people or something? What happened to that?”
“That was how I secured those contacts, Boss… Without the bones… I might not have even secured anyone at all…”
“Your family holds that much influence, huh…”
“Boss… I did tell you that our company was one of the largest in the entire World, didn’t I?”
“Uh-huh… I mean… I thought they were a legitimate company so they would be above doing such things…”
Emilia blinked at me before giving me a serious look, “Boss… No… Aster… No one gets to a position like that without blood on their hands.”
Umm… I mean… I kind of know that some people might have gotten there because of that… But for everyone to be like that seemed a little too big of a stretch, isn’t it?
Ok, that’s a lie. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if that was really the case… But I was just hoping that this might not be the truth of this World…
Especially when I already know what kind of things my own family does behind the scenes in the first place…
Hey, I can dream, can’t I?
I turned to her, “Putting that aside for now… What do you need to do? It sounds like you’re in quite a bit of trouble.”
Her ears twitched slightly, “I would not say that I’m in trouble… Ok, no… I am in a bit of trouble because I might not be able to fulfil my promise to you, Boss…”
“The promise that you can return me the money three fold or something?”
“Within the time limit… Yes…”
“I mean… I’m not really that particular about it anyway. Plus, I would still be in school so it’s not like I need that much money to be returned by then… How long do you need?”
She paused for a moment to think, “I believe… I should be able to get it back for you either before or on the year of your graduation, Boss.”
I shrugged, “That’s not bad? I don’t mind.”
“Ughh… I can’t accept this though… This completely hurts my pride as a merchant, Boss! To be unable to fulfil a contract… And all that potential money I could have earned if it weren’t for them!!”
Ah… I have a feeling she’s more upset about the latter than anything else…
“Hmm… What are you missing then?” I asked, right as Katsuki returned with a trolley that had my dinner on it.
Emilia sighed, “I’m missing a distribution channel… Those damned leeches of a family have all of my suppliers kept on watch and I can’t even sell or buy anything without alerting them… Even if I were to get a third party to buy and sell to them on my behalf… What I need now is a company that I can trust to buy and sell for me that is outside of my family’s sphere of influence…”
I gasped, “Oh! Do you know about a company called Tiara Merchant Company?”
Emilia raised an eyebrow at me, “The princess has a company?”
I shook my head, “No, no… It has nothing to do with princess Tiara.”
“They are a trading company primarily dealing in trading daily necessities including foodstuffs, furniture, household items and also slaves,” Katsuki explained without prompting.
Emilia turned to look at Katsuki, “You’ve done research on them? Does that mean they were a target of the Nilm Family?”
“No, I had to research on them before I became Mistress’s slave. Their heir was my assassination target back then.”
The Nekomata turned to look at me and I just shrugged.
“It’s a long story…”
Emilia seemed to think about it for a moment, taking the opportunity to use her spoon to scoop up some of her soup to bring it to her lips.
She then realised that it was stone cold and winced, dropping her spoon back inside the bowl.
“I shall reheat it for you, Miss Emilia,” Katsuki offered, swiping all of the Nekomata’s dishes off the table before she had a chance to say anything.
My Inugami maid then rolled the trolley back inside the kitchen, leaving us alone again.
Emilia suddenly gasped, “Oh! Wait! Is the daughter of that company named Linette or something?”
I nodded, “So you do know them?”
“Oh, I don’t, I just know of them. But why bring them up? Are you asking me to work together with them? It’s not that simple, Boss. I would need time to vet them to see if they are trustworthy. There’s a lot of cut throats out there who would take advantage of us if they were given the chance.
Right now we’re not in a position to threaten anyone or make demands so there’s limited options for us.”
I smiled at her, “What if I told you that I saved the life of that very person not just once but twice and that they are indebted to me?”
Emilia’s eyes shone the moment she heard that, “Does that mean… We can make use of her?!”
I grimaced, “Well… I wouldn’t say make use of her… More like work together because we can trust her?”
“Pfft, you can’t trust anyone in this business, Boss.”
“Didn’t you just say that you need to vet people to see if they were ‘trustworthy’?”
“That was just a figure of speech. There isn’t a single merchant out there that you can trust as far as you can throw them.”
I can throw people pretty far though… But I think that I’ll just keep my mouth shut about that.
“So I can’t trust you?” I asked.
“Definitely not, Boss. Always assume that I’ll stab you in the back if someone pays me enough money to do it. I’m only not doing it because–“
“Because what?” Katsuki asked, suddenly appearing out of nowhere while pressing a dagger against the Nekomata’s throat.
Emilia didn’t even look surprised at her appearance and raised her hands in surrender, “Because there’s not enough Creas in existence to make it even worth it to betray you, Boss. Case in point… I’ll get killed immediately. So… Could you ask your maid to stop threatening me?”
I looked at Katsuki and nodded.
She released Emilia and sheathed her blade before starting to serve the reheated dinner for the Nekomata.
Unperturbed, Emilia continued our conversation, “So are you able to set up a meeting between this Linette and I, Boss?”
I nodded, “She said that she would be coming to Crown Capital City soon and she should be looking for me as well. I can set up a meeting then.”
“Jackpot! You’re the best Boss! Now we can really make some money!!”
Of course it’s always money with her…
She’s still cute though.