The Adventure of a Boy with the Mind of a Middle-Aged Man
Vol. 1 - Ch. 5 - A Commission and a Discussion -- Giresse Carreras

Giresse Carreras visited the man known as the number one blacksmith in Straheim.

"Oi, Giresse...Where the hell did you get this!?" the blacksmith shouted, spit flying from his red face. The short, bearded man grabbed Giresse by the collar.

He was Leroy, known to be one of the best blacksmiths in Straheim.

"An eight-year-old client of mine drew it up," Giresse said.

If you carelessly lied to this guy, you'd definitely come to regret it---he had a way of sniffing out lies. Even if it was just for a moment,  Leroy was definitely shaken up. It seems I hit the jackpot.

"Lies! The theories behind this blueprint are the same as the ancient documents dug from the ruins," Leroy said.

So it's just like stuff from the ruins... I kinda felt it would be that way. Grey explained how everything worked, but I only understood one thing: the theories behind the apparatus relied solely on forces outside of magic.

"What more can I say. It's the truth," Giresse said.

Leroy stared at the blueprint with eyes like saucers, letting out almost beast-like groans.

"Bring him here..."

"What?" Giresse said.

"Bring him right now! He'll get to meet with me as his reward. Until then I'm not losing a single gold!" Leroy shouted

Well... that's a tough one to do...

Once he becomes like this, there's no changing his mind.

"I understand. However, he still has some urgent business to finish up. In the meantime, what do you say we pay you upon completion?"

In any event, selling the 『Hand Pump』will require some paperwork. Once it's completed, I can deliver the product to Grey and have him come back with me to Straheim. About that greedy lady. If I hand over some money and only say I want Grey to accompany me in my travels, she'll surely be overjoyed and approve.

Leeroy nodded. "Fine. When it's done I'll send a messenger."

"And please keep this a secret too," Giresse added.

The only problem left was the question of who would patent the 『Hand Pump』. If the apparatus worked as Grey had explained, it would surely bring about a great change to the world. I could see  a torrent of orders coming from across the empire, no, the entire world. We would be swimming in an astronomical amount of money.

The other merchants(hyenas) in my guild would surely be eyeing this blueprint, and it would be a huge disaster if one so much as glanced at the blueprint.

"Don't take me lightly. I'm not foolish enough to betray your trust," Leroy said, glaring angrily.

Flustered, I waved my hands in defense. "I know. I asked you to do this because I trust you."

"Then there's no problem," Leroy said bluntly. He then grabbed the blueprint and went back into his workshop.

A handsome young man with blonde hair stared at the parchment that Giresse had transcribed. "You're telling me an eight-year old child drew this up?" His usually calm face, known to be an iron mask, was warped in ecstasy.

The young man was Straheim's Commerce Guild's Branch Leader, Raina Owenheim, one of the few who handled money across the world.

"Yes. I've just put in an order to a blacksmith friend of mine. He should contact me when he's done," Giresse said.

"How much will the guild get?" Raina asked.

"30%. However, if you accept a few conditions I don't mind boosting that up to 45%."

With just a mere 15% lies an enormous amount of money. The following conditions were important enough for Giresse to abandon that money.

"Name it."

"Don't publish the name of the inventor, Grey Millard."

"You know it's mandatory that we list the inventors' names in our patent book, right?"

"Yeah. I don't mind if you do that once he turns 13. Until then, I'd like the guild to take care of things. Nobody will think twice about giving a special exception for this amount of money," Giresse said.

Dealing with such vast amounts of money there was bound to be accompanied by robbers, con men, and other dangers, so I wanted to stay quiet about Grey as a preventative measure.

"In special cases like these, we need the patent office's approval as well. You're saying I need to get that?"

"Yes."

"What's in it for me?"

"I'll say that you, the branch leader, commissioned the production of the 『Hand Pump』from Grey Millard, with me as an intermediary.

Branch Leader Raina was currently running to be the next Guild Leader. If he were to accept my terms, enormous amounts of money would flow into the guild. With this achievement behind his belt, Branch Leader Raina's lead would be unshakeable.

"Let's talk about the specifics," Raina said.

"Grey Millard, the inventor, would receive 50% of the royalties. I would receive 5% as the middleman, and the Commerce Guild would receive 45%. How does this sound?"

"Honor for me and profit for you, I see. You're shrewder than I thought. Okay, I'm in."

"Thank you very much."

Branch Leader Raina spread the blueprint over the table and said, "Now, the specifics."

Two days later, Leroy set up the 『Hand Pump』in the workshop well in the presence of the executives of the Commerce Guild.

It was testing time.

"Let's start," Leroy said, and with a simple movement of the handle, a burst of water surged out of the thin pipe.

The executives raised their voices in admiration and applauded in unison.

"Just amazing. It's a revolution in the way we draw water, Giresse-kun," Raina said with a refreshing smile as he heaped on the praise.

"Thank you very much," Giresse said.

One executive smiled. "The Commerce Guild will profit greatly off of this."

"Congratulations. So about keeping his name a secret, " Leroy said.

"Don't worry, it won't leave this room," another replied.

The Commerce Guild's patent office has a few who are quite stubborn and inflexible. They won't make any hasty decisions just because profit would follow. The executives would probably have to use a bit of force.

Still, everything went without a hitch. Next was---.

"Remember to keep your promise," Leroy rushed into the workshop, still in high spirits.

"Of course. Make two complete sets as soon as possible. I will definitely bring him to Straheim," Giresse said.

"Yeah!"

Giresse left to the marketplace to gather the ingredients Grey had asked for.