Episode 27. Cute Rival
It had been a gloomy day since waking up in the morning. The world was entirely shrouded in dark clouds that seemed ready to pour rain at any moment.
It was rare weather for Karl, abundant in sunlight. Of course, regardless of the weather, Adel worked diligently as always that day too.
She had stopped by Carlo Palace from the morning. To negotiate with Treasury Director Mensha. To resolve that long-discussed issue: taxes.
"Wow, Adel. Now that you're on the paying side, is this really okay?"
Mensha raised his voice in disbelief every time, as usual.
"What do you mean by 'side'? Even when imposing and collecting taxes, I always judged expense eligibility based on reasonable standards."
As always, Adel stated what she wanted expressionlessly and calmly.
Mensha drew in a sharp breath.
"Then why didn't you argue the same back then?"
"Back then, there were hardly any Karl-registered ships enrolled in maritime hazard ledgers."
"True... but there still aren't many now! Excluding Gray's ships!"
"Mensha, don't get worked up. Excluding Gray's ships, there are already nine Karl-registered ships enrolled in hazard ledgers. Three more are scheduled within the next half year. That makes twelve total—hardly 'none,' right?"
"Sure. Out of twenty-five ships, Gray's alone number a whopping thirteen. Why exclude them?"
"No need to obscure the essence just because I'm Gray's proxy. Anyway, with twenty-five out of forty-seven Karl-flagged trade ships maintaining hazard ledgers, it's time to treat this seriously as a tax issue. As shown in the materials, in the northern continent where ship ledger enrollment is standard, those costs have long been recognized as expenses. They're expenditures for actual ship safety measures— no reason not to process them as such."
"Wow...."
Mensha let out a large, dry "hahaha." Soulless.
"Adel. I really want to punch myself from two years ago, the one who introduced you to Gray."
"Self-deprecation isn't healthy."
"No, I wanted to brag. That Adel was my subordinate. Didn't expect her to get snatched away like this."
"Then you should have paid me more back then."
"Clerk salaries aren't my domain."
"That's a real shame."
"Sigh."
Mensha rubbed his forehead and shook his head. Adel seized the moment of his loosening resolve and pulled the reins tight.
"Then I'll take that as approval for expenses and prepare the substantiation documents as quickly as possible."
Even as she spoke firmly, Adel inwardly admitted Mensha wasn't entirely wrong. She had indeed flipped sides upon becoming a taxpayer.
Back when she was a palace clerk, Adel would have scoffed at treating maritime hazard ledger expenses as tax-deductible "costs." Honestly, she had viewed them as gambling under a fancy name.
She wasn't alone; most in shipping, maritime, and cruise businesses thought the same.
"What? You pay this company regularly, and if your ship sinks or gets hijacked at sea, they compensate all damages? Who'd believe that? What idiot falls for it?"
Shipping accidents could be unimaginably massive and fatal. All of it? Absurd.
"What if a real accident hits and this company you've been faithfully paying suddenly vanishes or goes bankrupt? With factories and firms collapsing overnight these days—who do they take us for?!"
Hearing that northern continent states encouraged betting on such gambles left everyone dumbfounded.
Yet Adel's stance, more aligned with that common view than anyone, began shifting after becoming Gray's aide.
Precisely, from the day Gray—having inherited two trade ships as family business from the Valoneck Duke—arbitrarily enrolled them in the maritime hazard ledger run by northern magnate Klumte.
True to form, Gray lived like there was no tomorrow, enjoying the present. His love for gambling and quick wins was hilariously consistent even in business.
He unhesitatingly tossed his chips into that rumored gamble—no, financial product (North Sea Merchant Company, parent of Klumte's firms, phrased the odd money game thus)—dismissed as mere exaggeration for lack of evidence.
Of course, the regular premiums weren't burdensome for Gray—an amount he wouldn't miss even if lost.
Anyway.
Then the incident that flipped the mood exploded.
As always, it started with reckless Gray.
When central continent's largest trade consortium 'Good Deal' faced crisis from overexpansion and an unexpected shipwreck, our live-for-today young master outright bought the massive group.
The reason was pure Gray.
"Can't just watch my friend Talian go under, right? Talian's father, Marquis Edn, invested nearly his whole fortune in Good Deal. So I have to buy it before his family crumbles."
Too casual for Good Deal's scale.
Or rather, Good Deal was buyable at thirty percent of original value—because it was collapsing. About to collapse.
Bonus: to compensate its largest ship's prior wreck, the failing Good Deal had to shell out funds double its value separately.
Thus, this wastrel young master was squandering nearly a third of his fortune on trash.
Unknowingly slipping into true aide mode, Adel desperately tried to dissuade him.
But Gray, like when returning from enrolling in hazard ledgers, casually went out, casually signed the acquisition contract, and casually notified Adel.
That day, even Adel was speechless.
"Wow. Such a beautiful, tear-jerking, paltry... no, Alrheim-worthy friendship."
Tears nearly welled up.
Anyway, many then called Gray a "great businessman." Sly mockery from those too timid to badmouth bold Gray to his face.
The Valoneck Duke even threatened to disown him from the family.
Of course, no one was as shocked as Adel Nora. She had to handle all acquisition formalities: ambiguous ship ownership separations in the consortium, compensating the prior wreck—Gray's favored aide, Adel.
Yet Gray's reckless friendship and Adel's meticulous analysis and problem-solving yielded an unexpected, astonishing result.
One chaotic day, Adel declared.
"We'll swap one Valoneck trade ship—out of our two covered by North Sea Merchant for compensation—for Good Deal's wrecked ship."
"Huh?" Gray and Doran, listening, tilted their heads.
"What do you mean?"
Adel calmly pushed up her glasses with a fingertip.
"Then we can claim Good Deal's wreck compensation directly from North Sea Merchant."
"That works? They're that sloppy?"
"Of course not sloppy. But not impossible."
Though forced to handle it for Gray despite distrusting hazard ledgers, Adel hadn't liked it.
Fearing premiums might turn into bad checks anytime, she'd memorized the terms inside out for maximum defense.
Thus she knew: compensation targets were nominally "ships," substantively "owners."
In short, North Sea Merchant unconditionally covered Gray's two owner ships. Vague on when Gray became owner.
Per terms, anyway. So Adel decided to test it.
Hearing the explanation, Gray and Doran exchanged bewildered looks before bursting into laughter.
Doran shrugged.
"Now that's the real gamble, huh?"
Adel replied resolutely.
"Technically yes. Borrowing their phrasing, they sucked up our bets with their absurd terms first—now it's our turn to rake in the pot with those same terms. Fair trade demands taking as well as giving, no?"
Gray's eyes, watching her quietly, sparkled with interest.
"Taking little and giving much isn't fair trade—it's thief mentality, right?"
Adel's expression dulled.
"What are you saying, Young Master? They lured us with 'pay little, get much' then give nothing—that's fraud. Of course, they haven't refused payout yet, so you're not a gullible idiot scammed."
Doran, listening, snorted a laugh.
Suddenly facing "fraudster idiot" charges, Gray pressed his twitching lips to stifle laughter.
Delighted by this unexpected cute rival, he hid his joy and stared at Adel.
His blue eyes, brimming with curiosity like beholding a new species, gradually softened into crescents.
He slid off the table perch, approached Adel, pinched her waiting cheeks, and stretched them sideways.
Startled, Adel flailed.
"Wha, wha' i' i'?"
"Our Adel."
"Ye'?"
"Total con artist!"
Held-back laughter boomed out, Gray's soft silver hair fluttering like dancing.
