Dimensional Merchant (2)
A massive logistics warehouse where countless employees were moving busily about.
At its center, as Hubert stood quietly surveying the bustling scene, an old man approached him.
“Hohohot, the rough sorting is finished now, so I believe we can begin sending the next shipment.”
An elderly gentleman dressed from head to toe in a pure white suit, utterly out of place among the surrounding workers in their work clothes.
It was Frances, a viscount-class demon dispatched from the Demon Realm General Branch of the Hubert Trading Company to the continental main office.
“You’ve worked hard. As expected, with Sir Frances lending a hand, the work becomes much easier.”
“What is this much, really? It is a task Lady Hella personally commanded. This is no harder than cracking goblin skulls, is it? Hohoho!”
At Hubert’s praise, Frances, a demon specialized in mental abilities, laughed as if it were nothing and stroked his chin.
Hubert still had not grown used to those Demon Realm proverbs, but there was no denying that Frances was a tremendous help.
Since trade with the Demon Realm required strict security, even the use of workers had to be handled with care. ‘No matter how much magical engineering we mobilized to set up an automated system, the final confirmation process is absolutely necessary. In that sense, Frances, who excels at crowd control, is the right man for this job.’ Hubert turned his gaze again and looked at the employees in work clothes busily moving about.
Or, to be more precise—
At the demons disguised as humans, who had been dispatched to this main office together under Frances’s control.
“To think they can work with this level of efficiency without resting or eating. They truly are the finest workers, beyond anything humans can compare to.”
“...Well now, hearing admiration over something like that puts me in a rather subtle mood. In any case, even so, it would be best to give them at least some rest time. Since I am here, they will not cause any major accidents, but if dissatisfaction continues to build, the possibility of deliberate slowdown will only increase.”
“Do not worry. I’m not so rotten as to be that kind of wicked businessman.”
Hubert’s answer was nothing if not confident.
At that, Frances turned to look at him with an awkward expression.
His gaze seemed to be looking at a “bloodless, tearless merchant of darkness who not only traded with demons but even exploited them without pay,” but there was absolutely no way that was true, so it was probably just his imagination.
After all, Hubert was paying them more than enough compensation for the work they did. ‘Of course. Since they’re employees dispatched from the Demon Realm, I’m making sure to compensate them properly by Demon Realm standards.’ On top of that, he had even prepared employee quarters and a cafeteria on one side of the warehouse so they would not have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter. At this level, could he not be called a conscientious businessman rarely seen even in this world?
The fact that they could not leave the premises was an unavoidable matter for security’s sake.
“...Ahem, I can see why Lady Hella chose you... Ahem! In any case, this truly is impressive. I have long heard of the Hubert Trading Company’s reputation, but I did not think you would be able to handle this much volume so smoothly.”
Perhaps because even Frances could not quite find anything to say to that, he trailed off and changed the subject while looking around.
The amount of goods moving through this place was by no means small.
A hub of interdimensional trade, where supplies arriving from the Demon Realm and goods being sent to the Demon Realm crossed paths.
The items piled high throughout the warehouse were being steadily sorted and moved through the automated system and the labor of demons.
Like a logistics center one might see on Earth.
“Well, this logistics hub was prepared quite some time ago. If it were inside the city, transporting goods in bulk would be troublesome in many ways.”
Hubert chuckled and shrugged.
This enormous warehouse was the most carefully constructed building among the logistics hubs of the Hubert Trading Company, built on the southern grounds outside Tarak.
Not only was its interior large enough to fit an entire average village, it was also surrounded by strict guards and security devices, making it an ironclad fortress that no unauthorized person could enter. ‘Still, trade with the Demon Realm, which ends inside this warehouse, is on the convenient side. Even at this very moment, carriages that departed from all over must be constantly coming and going from the other warehouses.’ Naturally, from the city’s perspective, which had to collect taxes according to the movement of goods, this was not a very welcome situation. However, convincing them was not difficult for the Hubert Trading Company, which had gone beyond dominating the area and had most of the territory’s economy under its control.
The crumbs needed to keep their mouths shut were not much to begin with.
“Isn’t this opportunity all thanks to Lady Hella? As expected, it was worth working so hard all this time.”
At Hubert’s sly words, Frances looked at him with a peculiar gaze.
His paltry martial strength could not even compare to Frances’s own, but he was by no means someone who could be easily dismissed.
Rather, he could be called an extraordinary figure, enough for Frances to understand why Hella had chosen him. ‘Exclusive trade in Demon Realm goods. And now that has fallen into the hands of the man who leads the number one trading company on the continent in both name and reality...’ At this very moment, a monster of the commercial world that might truly swallow up all the world’s markets was beginning to stir.
If they had not served the same master, Frances would probably have first thought of removing him somehow before he grew any larger. ‘...He too is Lady Hella’s servant, so the better he does, the better it is. To begin with, this very situation is also her will.’ With a short sigh, Frances looked away from Hubert and turned his gaze toward the purple gate through which goods were constantly coming and going. ‘In any case, that truly is remarkable. To think the Demon King’s authority could be used in such a way.’ Every time he saw it, awe welled up from deep within his heart.
In truth, no matter how outstanding Hubert’s abilities were, without that gate, the trade itself would not have been possible in the first place, so it was only natural. ‘Of course, perhaps for long-term maintenance, after a few lowly fellows to be used as workers crossed over, only nonliving goods have been going back and forth...’ Even that alone was remarkable enough.
After all, this was not yet a time when an “invasion of the continent” was possible.
In truth, opening a passage like this was not an easy task even for her, but it had become possible thanks to the privilege 「World Invasion」, which drastically lowered the cost required to pierce the barrier between dimensions.
Though the funny part was that she was not using such an ability for invasion, but for trade.
“Then I shall be going now. I will leave the remaining work to Sir Frances. If anything troublesome arises, speak to my secretary, Diana.”
“Hohohot, what could possibly be troublesome? We merely exchange the goods that pile up periodically. Even if a problem occurs, I shall handle it properly so that no great commotion arises, so do not worry too much.”
Indeed, his mental manipulation would be difficult to escape unless one was at the level of a transcendent, so it was needless concern.
To begin with, Hubert had made him the person in charge of this warehouse while expecting exactly that.
With him here, not only could goods be exchanged with the outside without the slightest sense of incongruity, but even if there was an outside intrusion, he would be able to resolve it discreetly.
Hubert slowly nodded and passed through the strict security facilities before emerging from the warehouse.
Clatter! Clatter!
Murmur, murmur—
Neighhh—
“Huh...? The horse is getting worked up! What are you doing? Grab the reins already!”
“Hey! Move that over here! It’s valuable, so be careful!”
“You are the people from the Michael Merchant Group from the Kingdom of Thalia, correct? Let’s see... Please come this way.”
As soon as he left the warehouse, with the guards who had immediately attached themselves to his side in tow, Hubert passed beyond the security zone, and countless people moving busily entered his field of vision.
Large and small buildings standing wherever his gaze reached, broad, well-maintained roads, and the various carriages and merchants moving back and forth along them.
This was the true appearance of the large-scale trade complex built under the leadership of the Hubert Trading Company, the number one trading company on the continent.
“Whew—magnificent.”
After standing still for a moment and gazing at the scene, Hubert let out a breath filled with satisfaction.
The sight before him was a splendid achievement brought about by mobilizing everything: rare products handled exclusively, funds that seemed to spring forth without end, the shadowy military force known as vampires, overwhelming intelligence power that was like having unified the continent’s major intelligence organizations into one, and even top-tier connections established all over the world. ‘It’s been a long road. It’s been several years at least since I founded the Hubert Trading Company. No, if it became the continent’s number one in only a few years, should I instead say it was short?’ A chuckle escaped him without his realizing it.
Of course, this was not the end.
Now that trade with the Demon Realm had begun in earnest, the influence of the Hubert Trading Company would only grow further from here, never shrink.
Because he would make certain that it did.
‘That is the path I, Hubert, the world’s greatest magnate, must walk.’
However.
As if to cheer on his resolve. 《The karma accumulated by the individual has reached a certain value, causing potential to bloom. You have acquired the special skill 「Dimensional Merchant」.》 A sudden line of text appeared before his eyes just as he was about to take a step.
A message announcing the acquisition of a merchant-type skill, something he had never possessed beyond 「Analysis」 and 「Cryptanalysis」.
And something he had thought he would never have in the future, either. ***
Awakened Ones transferred to another world with the system acquire skills befitting their achievements.
Training the body, swinging a weapon, practicing magic, eating poison to build resistance.
Or, if not that, engaging in battles that cross the threshold between life and death—or even, at the very least, obtaining some special item or consuming a precious elixir would do.
Unlike the natives of the other world, those who received the system’s corrections were granted the possibility of growing quickly in any situation.
“「Dimensional Merchant」, huh... That’s quite the grandiose name. Though I suppose it isn’t wrong.”
In that sense, there was nothing particularly strange about Hubert, who even had the added correction of 「Avatar」, acquiring a skill.
Aside from the fact that it was a merchant-type skill that emerged after several long years of commercial activity, one he had wondered might not exist at all. ‘Still, it seems related skills weren’t completely nonexistent. Seeing as it only appeared now, the acquisition conditions must have been far more difficult than ordinary skills.’ Sitting in the massage chair placed in one corner of the living room, I examined the skill Hubert had acquired and made a subtle expression. There was no need to ask what had triggered the acquisition of 「Dimensional Merchant」.
As the message window had stated, by going beyond bringing and selling goods from Earth and beginning to reach even into the Demon Realm, the related karma must have exceeded a certain value.
And, just as I had previously guessed, unlike ordinary commerce, where supernatural abilities had no room to intervene, this was clearly far beyond the realm of “commerce that could normally be conducted.”
Yes, literally to the point where it would be absolutely impossible without the influence of supernatural abilities.
“Honestly, the skill system is something I understand and don’t understand at the same time. Things related to using the body can be acquired with a certain amount of training, but something like this has to be connected to supernatural ability to acquire a new skill.”
Perhaps the story would have been different if he had possessed a related unique skill from the start.
Something like a mental manipulation ability that raised the other party’s favorability, or an ability that greatly increased his own luck.
Of course, that had nothing to do with Hubert, who had started with only 「Appraisal」 as his initial skill and had easily grown his trading company on the foundation built by the other avatars.
Until now. ‘The effect of 「Dimensional Merchant」 is... I see. Perhaps because it’s a higher-rank skill obtained by satisfying difficult conditions, it has all sorts of additional abilities attached.’ Starting with an increase in favorability from someone meeting him for the first time, charisma correction, improved discernment for understanding the value of goods, a rise in physical ability whose reason for existing was unclear, and so on.
But among them, the most important was... ‘Interdimensional commerce correction.’ With a considerably more serious expression, I stroked my chin.
The surest way to understand a skill’s limits and usage was to learn by using it directly.
Still, through the changes, I could roughly gauge what it would be capable of—
“This... maybe Hubert really can cross dimensions all by himself?”
The result was quite drastic.
Not only could he further stabilize the passage to the Demon Realm that Hella had opened, he could even pioneer new trade routes.
If 「World Invasion」, which reduced the cost required to cross dimensions, was added on top of that? ‘…Of course, there’s the issue of proficiency, so it won’t be easy, but the possibility is open now. I’m feeling complicated about this.’ To think Hubert, who had been an ordinary merchant avatar, would come to possess such an ability.
Even “returning to Earth through his own power without using the Karma Shop”—the feat that had been the cause of obtaining the 「Summon Otherworld Transfer Circle」 perk, the foundation of his growth, and the very first achievement he had accomplished—might actually become possible, so it was only natural that his feelings were complicated.
“Well… getting used to the ability comes first for now. In any case, the more good things, the better.”
There was no need to agonize over it right away.
When it came to abilities, the more he had, the better, and the abilities he gathered one by one like that would surely help him someday when the need arose.
There was a different matter he had to pay attention to now.《Unused Karma Points have exceeded twenty million. Perk 「Karma Shop Ver.2 Update」 has been changed to 「Karma Shop Ver.3 Update」.》Perhaps thanks to the commerce still ongoing even now, his karma had rapidly increased.
At last, it reached the number he had been waiting for, and another change came.***An office filled with all manner of odds and ends.
“Whew. At this rate, all my hair is going to fall out.”
A man with dark skin carefully wrapped his hands around what little hair he had left.
It was a cautious touch meant to soothe the hair roots damaged by the stress that had been pouring down on him recently, but naturally, an act that held no mystery whatsoever had no effect at all.
“Please, let today pass safely without any incidents…”
It was a wretched prayer that anyone who knew his usual self would never have believed.
For someone who had easily melted a four-digit number of people alive with deadly poison to be praying so helplessly like this.
But he had something to say in his own defense.
“Please… This isn’t Africa, where information control is easy. If you cause trouble, we’re the ones who have to clean it up…”
A colleague who had come from the savage land of Africa was causing incidents almost every other day, so he, who already had plenty to do as the person in charge of this region, could hardly attend to any other work.
He had expected things to turn out like this to some extent, but when it actually became reality, he couldn’t help feeling as if everything had gone dark before his eyes.
Ding.
—But as if to render his prayer meaningless.
A signal sound he had already heard several times rang softly through the office.
-Branch Chief! We have a serious problem! The Executioner has again…!
“Ah.”
At the urgent voice of his subordinate coming through the communications network, the Southeast Asia branch chief of the Beoncheon Society squeezed his eyes shut.‘At this point, I don’t care if it’s Hahoe Mask, the Saint, or anyone else. I just wish they’d hurry up and come.’He slowly lowered the hand that had been clutching his head.
Though he had moved as carefully as possible, the number of strands of hair tangled around his fingers was far from ordinary, but that was probably just his imagination.…Because if it wasn’t, he felt like he would truly burst into tears.