I'm Done Being Your Best Friend

“Nice to meet you. My name is Baho Cusco.”

“Thank you for inviting us. I am Fabian Harrison.”

Logan shook hands with him and I bowed slightly to him.

I thought since we were to start such a big business, everything must be formal and immaculate but the first impression was better than I thought, as the owner seemed to be a nice and easy-going person.

“Now, let’s not do this here. Let’s all eat inside.”

As far as I knew, Brew had its own language. That meant he usually used Brew language, but he was quite fluent in our language.

Could it be because he was a businessman?

Upon entering his office, a man who appeared to be a worker served tea to our table. An orange liquid slithered in the clear glass.

What kind of tea is this?

Seeing me looking at it closely, Baho said.

“It’s apple tea. We always drink apple tea in Brew.”

“It smells really good.”

I couldn’t believe there was such a fragrant tea. He smiled when I admired.

“It tastes good too.”

“Thank you so much for your hospitality.”

It was Logan who spoke to Baho.

I put the tea down and turned to look at Logan sitting next to me. He put the paper bag he had brought on the table and pushed it toward Baho.

“This is about the performance of my previous businesses.”

“I already know about the businesses the duke has been working on.”

He was also a businessman. Baho seemed to have investigated in advance what kind of business Logan was doing in the Beland Kingdom before his visit.

“Most of the businesses the duke runs are making decent profits.”

“I’m just funding the business. Actually, my aid is the one in charge of the overall management.”

“But don’t you have such a thing as discernment? Knowing where to invest is also the duke’s outstanding ability.”

Baho praised Logan for being humble. He took a sip of his tea, quenched his throat, and opened his mouth again.

“So I wanted to invite you like this to hear the story on your part. Brew and Beland don’t have much interaction, so how did you become interested in our business?”

At that, Logan turned his head to look at me and said to Baho.

“It was Lady Nelson who came up with the idea of doing business with alpacas’ fur, not me. She happened to find a piece of fabric made of alpaca fur in Beland Kingdom, and after seeing that, she made a business proposal.”

“Oh, you mean the young lady here?”

I nodded and opened my mouth.

“Yes. In Beland Kingdom, clothes are made with various animal fur in the winter, but there has been no information about alpacas yet. It is warm and can still be used in summer, so I thought it would be good to commercialise it in the Beland Kingdom.”

“I see. Alpaca fur is indeed useful even in summer. Unlike other furs, every single fiber is empty on its inside, so it creates thermal insulation.”

So it seemed that it could really be used even in summer. It was vague at first, but since I got meet an expert, I definitely got accurate information.

That aside, Baho seemed to have an open mind. Even though I was the one who thought of this business, he took it seriously. Not to mention I was a woman much younger than him, yet, there was no sign of ignoring me.

Maybe it’s because I was a noble, but…I encountered opposition at home. Thus, meeting someone like this gave me a new strange sensation.

Baho looked at us alternately and asked.

“If a business deal is to be made with the duke and the young lady, I would like to ask what the business direction will be.”

To which, Logan answered.

“First of all, I would like to import thread and fabric from a local factory and sell them through our merchant, which I run myself.”

“About the import, how much do you have in mind?”

“As far as I know, the amount of alpacas fur being exported to the empire is not sufficient…but I would like to hear first how much it is possible to trade.”

“As you may know, there are difficulties in exporting to the Empire. Given the distance, it is not easy to export a large amount at once.”

In the end, it was because of the distance. The distance between Brew and the Empire was truly not of convenience. But Beland Kingdom was definitely closer to Brew than the Empire. If so, we would be able to trade more than that.

After some thought, I parted my lips

“For now, we want to check the marketability by importing only a small amount. I’m sure it will do well. After that, our goal is to import more than what the Empire can.”

And one more important thing left.

I said to Baho while recalling the memories before my return.

“And I’d like you to keep the deal with the Kingdom of Beland exclusive to us.”

Monopoly was very crucial. The more one could monopolise the market, the bigger profits they could gain. Even for me, an outsider in the business world, this was obvious.

Take how much alpaca fur had swept the Kingdom of Beland in my past life as an example, it had created a fever. As Earl Moore officially imported alpaca fur, it quickly emerged as a high-quality material. If he hadn’t had a monopoly on income, other nobles would have jumped in, too.

When there was competition in the market, the value would go down. Knowing that, Count Moore monopolised it in advance.

Baho stroked his beard, surprised by my words.

“Even with the Empire, we’re only doing business with one place… but Alpaca isn’t in that much spotlight, that’s why we have a steady deal with one place without having to monopolise it.”

It was because there were not many people in the Empire who knew about its existence, as they did not have the ability to import large quantities. In the first place, since the quantity brought in was small, there was no choice but for it to mainly enter the imperial family. Thus, others had fewer opportunities to come in contact with it.

However, in five years, alpaca fur would be available throughout the Empire. The alpaca fur clothing that started with the imperial family gradually spread to the nobility, and more and more people jumped into this business.

“Still, just in case you don’t know, if you sign an exclusive contract with us, we will try to sell it as a high-end product. It seems to be a popular material here, but it is definitely rare in the Beland Kingdom.”

“High-end… That’s great!”

We talked more with Baho and decided on an exclusive contract.

Things went more smoothly than expected. I had yet to take any particular measure properly, but I felt like I was already halfway done.

Baho, who signed the contract, invited us to stay until early evening.

“You’re my guest, I can’t just let you go like this. I’ve specially prepared young alpaca meat. Let’s eat before you go.”

“Alpaca meat…”

I muttered with a sad face and looked out the window. In the distance, alpacas moving freely in the ranch were clearly visible.

I liked it yesterday because the taste was mild and tender…But after seeing the real deal, I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

How could they eat such a cute animal?

Hence, I didn’t touch any alpaca meat on the table that day.

***

The next day’s schedule was another purpose of coming here, a tour.

Though I was already thinking about traveling, Baho also highly recommended it.

“You’ve come a long way, so you should look around!”

He came all the way to our accommodation just to disappear leaving behind one of his employees. He said that person would guide us around Brew.

With a guide, I started to travel more earnestly than I thought, and Logan looked as satisfied as he did when he signed the contract yesterday.

“This is the first trip together for us two.”

I don’t think it’s just the two of us though?

There was a local worker who would act as a guide, Nancy, and Logan’s knights who would escort us, though they’re hidden and couldn’t be seen.

As I was puzzled by him, all of a sudden, Nancy exclaimed excitedly next to me.

“Wah! You have no idea how bored I was yesterday, having to stay indoors all day long!”

“We have to take a proper look around since we’ve come this far. Let’s go.”

I didn’t know exactly how many there were in total, but four people were currently in sight. But Logan was only staring at me.

Why is he like this?

I opened my mouth.

“Do you have something to tell me…?”

At that moment, Logan leaned over. It made me feel strange as I was suddenly reminded of the day Logan visited me not too long ago. He whispered in my ear.

“Does Lady Nelson’s lady-in-waiting know that we are friends?”

“Yes.”

I said softly and nodded.

So he was just going to ask me this. That startled me.

Logan then backed away from me after saying ‘I see’.

Nancy caught sight of it and looked at me with twinkling eyes, which made me a little embarrassed.

The skinny male employee looked at us with an unreadable expression and asked in the imperial language with an unusual accent.

“There is a comfortable route and a more strenuous route. Which one would you like to take?”

When Nancy heard that, she asked the man.

“Is there no medium option?”

“None.”

Oh dear.

As I exchanged glances with Logan and Nancy, we did not have to wait long before Logan sorted things out.

“There are two ladies with us, so let’s go somewhere comfortable.”

That said, we headed to the place where an elongated boat was waiting. The guide got on the boat first with the help of the boatman, followed by Logan.

But is this what a boat supposes to be like? If one stepped on one side, it would lean hard in that person’s direction, it was to the point that I became anxious just seeing it.

With similar a thought, Nancy whispered behind me.

“My lady, I think my stomach is about to overturn.”

“It seems so to me too…”

After Logan was me. The boatman held out his hand to help me get on, but at the same time, another hand extended to in front of me.

“Take my hand.”

Logan held out his hand to me, as if to say ‘come on’.

How nice. I smiled and took Logan’s hand so he wouldn’t feel awkward. His large hand, holding on to mine, pulled me in lightly. And when I stepped on the bottom of the boat, the boat tilted sharply again.

“Oh my!”

When I exclaimed in surprise, Logan wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Are you alright?”

Him wrapping his hand around my waist was quite natural and seemed unaffected, so I also acted normal and smiled back at him.

“Yes, I’m okay, thank you.”

After me, Nancy climbed into the boat with the help of the boatman. This was officially the beginning of our tour around Brew.