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“Don’t you need to get friendly with the nobles to sell cosmetics?”

“How many people would actually want to be close to a poor baron? And even if they are friendly, would the nobles really trust it just because of that? They’d probably throw it all away. You didn’t want to use it at first either, remember?”

“Still, if we want to sell to nobles, we at least need to let them know that such products exist, don’t we?”

Ghislain shook his head.

“That’s true, but there’s no point in us going out of our way to promote it. We need to make sure the nobles come to us on their own. First, let’s find a place to stay. We can handle the advertising later.”

Although he still felt uneasy, Claude nodded.

“It might cost a bit, but how about buying a building near the royal palace… in the central district?”

“The central district?”

“Yes, a mansion would be nice. Actually, if we’re trying to sell high-end products to nobles, a fancy mansion might be even better.”

Nobles would never visit a typical shop where commoners came and went.

If they needed something from such places, they would send their servants to buy it.

For expensive, quality goods, they would personally meet and negotiate, just as if attending a social gathering.

“That’s right. Whether it’s a mansion or a shop, if we’re only dealing with nobles, it’s best to make it as extravagant as possible.”

Belinda, standing nearby, chimed in.

It was solid advice. However, Ghislain still seemed unimpressed.

“To get a nice mansion in the central district around here, we’d probably have to spend about a year’s budget from our estate. Don’t you know how expensive everything is here?”

Claude pursed his lips in disappointment and replied, “That’s true, but… we need to set up a place in the capital anyway.”

“Of course, we need to find a spacious mansion with a garden. Somewhere where the staff can stay, and we can store carriages. The cheaper, the better. We’ll look around the outskirts.”

“Then where are you planning to sell the goods?”

“I’m telling you, we’ll buy a mansion. We can sell the goods there for the time being.”

“That just seems too shabby for selling high-end items. Why would nobles trust to buy anything there?”

Ghislain grinned and said, “That won’t matter at all. Soon enough, they’ll be flocking over with wads of cash, so don’t worry.”

“Goodness, for someone with so much money, you sure are stingy when it comes to things like this. Fine, let’s see if there are any properties available. But if no customers show up, it’s not on me.”

From the next day, Claude began scouring the entire capital for a suitable mansion.

The prices in the central area near the royal palace were astronomical, but there were hardly any properties available in the first place.

Even so, Claude couldn’t bring himself to give up and gradually expanded his search radius around the palace, until he finally found a large mansion on the outskirts.

“Just as you wanted—cheap, spacious, with a garden, and a grand-looking mansion.”

The broker smirked as he described the house before them.

But as the group looked around, they couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease.

It was certainly spacious. There was a garden, and the mansion itself was tall and large. Most importantly, the price was cheap.

The problem was… the whole mansion had an eerie, gloomy atmosphere, like a house where a vampire might live.

The flowers in the garden seemed to have withered, drained of all life, turning a sickly gray. Even though it was broad daylight, the dense shadows cast by the surrounding trees seemed to seep with an unsettling energy.

Belinda looked at the broker with a blank expression.

“This is the best you have?”

“This is the only spacious, large, and cheap house in the capital.”

“Why is the mansion in such a state?”

“Haha, it’s probably because it hasn’t been maintained. There are some bad rumors about this place, you see. But they’re just rumors. Nothing serious.”

Apparently, there were stories about the vengeful spirits of those who had died unjustly lingering here.

No wonder there wasn’t a single person in sight around such a large mansion.

Belinda shouted as if there was nothing more to consider.

“Young Master, let’s just look somewhere else! How could we possibly live comfortably in a place like this? It’ll just make you more tired!”

As if responding to Belinda’s words, a flock of crows suddenly fluttered out from the mansion.

Caw! Caw!

“See? Even they agree with me!”

Despite Belinda’s objections, Ghislain carefully inspected the surroundings before nodding to the broker.

“Alright, we’ll take this house. How much? You said it was cheap, right?”

“Young Master! If you sleep in this house, you might get all your mana drained and die!”

“That’s not going to happen. Even if something shows up, it’ll just be a few undead. We can just beat them down, so what’s there to be afraid of?”

Ghislain casually patted the broker on the shoulder.

“Why aren’t you answering? How much is it?”

“A splendid choice, sir. This house… normally, with the land included, would easily go for over a thousand gold. But, considering the lack of upkeep, I’ll offer it to you for just 500 gold.”

The broker’s face lit up with a satisfied smile. He was relieved at the thought of finally selling off this troublesome property.

He had even been bold enough to lower the price, taking into account the loud objections from the side, so he thought there was no way they wouldn’t buy it.

At this price, it was practically a giveaway, but… as long as it sold, that’s all that mattered.

However, the broker had no idea just how unreasonable Ghislain could be.

“200 gold.”

“Excuse me?”

“I won’t buy it for more than 200 gold.”

Ghislain added with a sly grin.

The broker flailed his hands in shock.

“No, that’s not possible! How could you expect to buy a mansion like this for 200 gold? Even 500 gold is a huge discount!”

“What’s the point of a big mansion if it won’t sell? Go ahead and sell it to someone else then.”

“Well, it’s not… It’s just that we’ve been too busy to handle it properly. We could sell it if we wanted to. We could even tear it down if we had to. Do you think we can’t?”

The broker, a seasoned player in the industry, decided to act tough.

But, of course, it didn’t work on Ghislain.

Ghislain smirked as he spoke.

“Who said you can’t do it? Sure, you could if you wanted to. But there has to be a reason why you haven’t done it until now.”

“That’s…!”

“The mansion already has a bad reputation, so you’d have to pay the workers extra if you want to demolish it. Even if you manage to tear it all down, who would want to buy land rumored to be haunted?”

“That’s…!”

“No matter how you look at it, it’s not profitable. That’s why you’ve left it alone all this time, right?”

“Well…!”

The broker, having his intentions completely seen through, could only dart his eyes around nervously, cold sweat running down his face.

Ghislain patted him on the shoulder and whispered.

“Ah, this guy’s not getting it. When it gets to this point, you need to start moving fast.”

“Still, 200 gold is just…”

“Hmm, you’re not desperate enough. Fine. Let’s go look somewhere else.”

As Ghislain turned to leave, the rest of the group followed him without hesitation. No one tried to stop him.

“W-Wait a moment! I’ll lower the price a bit more.”

The broker shouted desperately.

He regretted it the moment the words left his mouth, but it was already too late to take them back.

Ghislain turned around slowly, with a calm expression, and warned him.

“Think carefully before you speak. You only get one chance. If I don’t like what I hear, we’re really leaving this time.”

“…”

The broker, who was about to offer 300 gold, inwardly felt a pang of regret.

He thought he might have caught a fool, but it turned out he was the one being played.

He had tried everything to get rid of this mansion.

He had even attempted to hand it over to a noble for free, hoping for a favor in return, but had been politely yet firmly declined.

He hadn’t been sleeping well lately, stressing over how to deal with this troublesome property.

The recent widening of his forehead wasn’t just his imagination.

‘Just sell it. At least then I’ll be able to sleep peacefully at night!’

After a brief moment of hesitation, the broker finally nodded weakly.

“I’ll sell it for 200 gold.”

“Smart choice.”

Caw! Caw!

As if welcoming their new master, the crows circled above the mansion, cawing loudly.

* * *

The contract was completed in no time.

It was the result of Ghislain’s desire to buy a large mansion cheaply and the broker’s eagerness to sell it off quickly.

Throughout the signing of the contract, Belinda and Claude stood behind Ghislain, sighing and grumbling.

“Why on earth are you buying a place like this? We should’ve bought a smaller but more comfortable house.”

“Who’s going to come to a place like this to buy anything?”

Ignoring their complaints, Ghislain beamed with a bright smile.

“Don’t worry. All that talk about ghosts is just superstition and nonsense. Do you think you’d ever find a mansion this big and spacious for this price? We need to be frugal.”

“Oh, who could ever stop you when you’ve made up your mind, Young Master?”

“Alright, let’s head inside.”

Ghislain energetically pushed open the door.

Creeeeaak!

The door emitted a sound like a scream, causing Claude to shrink back. Even the creaking of the doors in this creepy mansion was unnerving.

Ghislain glanced around and nodded approvingly.

“Wow, it’s really spacious, isn’t it? Just needs a bit of cleaning and some repairs. If we decorate it properly, it could be really nice—”

“Aaaah! What is that? It’s a monster!”

“Kyaaa! Attack! Attack!”

Suddenly, Belinda and Claude screamed and staggered backward.

“Damn it! What now?” Ghislain snapped, irritated, as Claude pointed frantically at one corner of the lobby.

Something with long, flowing hair was standing in the shadows.

Ghislain instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, but after a closer look, he let out a hollow laugh.

“What the… it’s just a suit of armor.”

An old suit of armor had a dust mop draped over it, and in the dark corner, it had perfectly resembled a person.

Now that they realized the “monster’s” true identity, the rest of the group let out embarrassed laughs, relieved.

“Alright, now that we have a place to stay, let’s start with cleaning and repairs. We’ll also hire some workers. And get rid of all those damn crows inside.”

Caw?

At Ghislain’s command, everyone sighed and started moving.

A while later, a few mercenaries who had gone out to find workers returned with troubled expressions.

“It’s not easy to find laborers.”

The rumors about the mansion being haunted were so widespread that even with extra pay, no one was willing to come.

Unless someone was truly desperate for money, they all just shook their heads and refused.

Left with no other option, they had to buy the materials themselves and have the mercenaries and the staff do the repairs.

Fortunately, thanks to the number of people who had come along with Ghislain, the mansion repairs were completed within three days.

Of course, it wasn’t as flashy and elegant as other noble mansions.

They just stocked up on essentials and did a thorough cleaning so that they could live there for the time being.

Still, it felt much less gloomy than when they first arrived.

If they could completely redo the garden, which had turned into dull gray, the mansion’s reputation as a haunted house might finally disappear, but garden maintenance wasn’t something that could be done in a short period.

“We’ll fix up the garden later. We can deal with those guys then, too. For now, we’ll have to live with them.”

Caw! Caw!

Unfortunately, they couldn’t completely chase away the crows.

After getting rid of the ones inside and installing new windows, no more crows entered the mansion.

However, the evicted birds had simply settled in the garden, refusing to leave.

“Anyway, now that we’ve made the place somewhat livable, let’s start promoting the cosmetics. We need to sell them quickly.”

“And how exactly are you planning to do that? You said you weren’t attending any social events.”

“We’ll send gifts to every noble mansion in the capital.”

“…Cosmetics?”

“Yup.”

Claude barely managed to hold back a shout, taking a deep breath instead.

“So… you’re saying that just giving them out as gifts will work as advertising?”

“Exactly.”

Claude couldn’t hold it in any longer and finally burst out.

“Are you kidding? Even if you begged them to use it, they’d still hesitate, and you think they’ll use it just because it’s a gift? They’ll just throw it away because it’s too suspicious!”

“Of course the nobles would.”

“And yet you’re still going to do it!”

Ghislain stroked his chin and flashed a sly grin.

“We’re not sending them to the nobles. We’ll give them to the staff working under the nobles.”