Pride and Sanctimony

Chapter 70 │ Commerce

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The Translating Mech

[ This chapter has not yet been fully edited, so please excuse any typos you may find  I’ll be going back and making changes later, but please enjoy the unedited version in the interim — astralmech ^^ ]

The Translating Mech

[Lena] “Valencia!”

After taking Elijah to the center and heading off to work, the first thing she heard was Lena, rushing to call out her name. She had a rather panicked look on her face, which meant something happened, and Valentia didn’t have any good feelings about it.

[Valentia] “Good morning.”

[Lena] “Ah, yes. Good morning.”

[Valentia] “First, let’s go inside.”

The rough situation was easy enough to guess based on how frantic she was, but Valentia quietly calmed her down, ushering her inside the guild.

If this was as serious as she thought it might be, then no good would come from loudly discussing this somewhere they could be heard by outsiders. Once they were away from any prying ears, Valentia calmly whispered to Lena.

[Valentia] “What’s going on.”

She wondered what could’ve happened overnight.

All was well when she left work last night, so there was the possibility this related to something outside of the guid.

[Lena] “This is bad! It’s about the Michel Hotel!”

The Michel Hotel was the largest hotel in the entire city, and was one of the biggest, most valuable clients of the Richsi Commerce Guild.

They traded in many different kinds of goods, ranging from food, bedding, disposable items—the Michel Hotel required all of these and it was up to the commerce guild to find a way to get them for them.

Considering she was hearing the word ‘bad’ in the same sentence as the Michel Hotel, this clearly was an unprecedented circumstance, and it would be important to know if whatever was wrong could be fixed or not.

[Valentia] “Yes, what is it?”

[Lena] “The owner said he wanted to close his dealings with the guild.”

[Valentia] “All of a sudden? Let me take a look at the contract.”

[Lena] “I have it here.”

Ready with it in hand, Lena passed off the contract. Ever since she started working with Valentia, her work had steadily improved, and now she was proficient enough to have something like this prepared in advance. Even through the tense atmosphere, it made Valentia smile.

For now, let me take a look at the contract. It’s still valid for a while, but he plans on reneging on the terms he agreed to? And so suddenly, too?

[Valentia] “Does the Lord know?”

[Lena] “No. He hasn’t come in yet.”

[Valentia] “Once he comes in, we’ll tell him to stay here. I will go to the Michel Hotel. You will be coming with me, Lena.”

[Lena] “M, me?”

[Valentia] “Yes.”

[Lena] “Alright, understood!”

It didn’t take long for Lena to straighten out her stunned expression. Valentia alone would be enough for the task, but going together and taking the chance to learn would be a great opportunity for Lena.

And then, nearly as soon as she arrived at the guild, Valentia went out once more.

The hotel was located directly on the city thoroughfare, so it wasn’t hard to get there. With an amicable smile on her face, Valentia walked through the main room and up to the guest check in with a smile on her face.

[Valentia] “Hello. I am Valencia Reid of the Richsi Commerce Guild.”

[Lena] “Lena Hill, Richsi Commerce Guild.”

[Manager] “M, Miss Reid. Hello. And it’s been a while, Miss Hill.”

It was they who one-sidedly decided to terminate their contract, but getting angry right now could only serve to worsen an already messy situation.

And so all Valentia could do was smile, no matter how much she could feel the rising tension of her anger. The Valentia of today was very different from her past self, the one who slapped that handsome and arrogant Prince in the face because she couldn’t contain her fury.

The manager of the hotel was trained to greet incoming guests with a smile, but even he could not muster such duplicity in the presence of those from the guild. It was clear he’d already been made aware of the issues with their contract.

[Valentia] “There have been some concerns over the contact this establishment has with the guild, so I’d like to meet with your director to discuss it.”

[Manager] “Oh, the contract.”

[Valentia] “Yes. The one sided……contract with the Michel Hotel.”

She looked him dead in the eye, as if asking if it would be alright if she could say these words out loud.

[Manager] “The director is busy right now, so I’m afraid he’s not present at this time.”

[Valentia] “Is that so? Then I will wait.”

[Manager] “P, perhaps if you just came another day…”

[Valentia] “No thank you. Don’t worry, I won’t cause a disturbance. I will wait right here.”

Obviously the director was inside, hiding himself away in the drawing room while hoping if he kept them waiting long enough, they would just leave.

In a city like this, knowing everyone’s faces to some extent was a little unavoidable, and so having her wait in the main room like this without even inviting her to the drawing room would clearly be seen as some form of feeble protest. Naturally, something like this would make people talk.

And that’s exactly what Valentia wanted.

[Manager] “Then I will go and inquire as to the director’s whereabouts.”

In other words, he was going to go ask him what their next move should be.

Before long, the manager returned with a smile that made clear the cold sweat that was running down his back.

The Translating Mech

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The Translating Mech

[Manager] “The director just returned as is waiting inside. He will invite you in.”

[Valentia] “Hello, director.”

[Michel] “Oh, sure. How have things been going?”

Such an inappropriately casual attitude to have towards a member of the guild who facilitated his contact with customers. One might even call him rude.

[Valentia] “I suddenly heard something very strange this morning, so I came to have a little chat about it.”

[Michel] “Strange?”

[Valentia] “News is that you have suddenly taken all your contracts with the guild and attempted to terminate them. Or was I perhaps mistaken?”

With those words, she was giving him a chance to take it all back. All he needed to do was agree that she was mistaken and all this would go away. The implication was also that she and the guild would allow this slight to be water under the bridge.

[Michel] “It’s all true. I am a business owner, so what do you expect me to do when another guild offers us the same goods at a better price? You understand, don’t you, Miss Reid? Perhaps it is time I closed the door on the relationship between Michel and Richsi.”

[Valentia] “That is a violation of your contractual terms with us.”

The director scoffed. Clearly, he held no care for the word ‘violation’.

When it came to negotiations, the client was always right, while the guild was secondary. Even if the contract were to suddenly be terminated, the client would hold no fiscal loss as a result.

As per his terms with the Richsi Commerce Guild, they always supplied high quality goods on time, never once mistaking the date or sending a late shipment. Whatever his business required, they would find a way to supply it without fail.

But the price was the problem. They were more expensive than other guilds.

There were countless guilds to choose from, and no one would say anything whenever one or two ended up failing. Miss Reid wasn’t stupid. She must’ve understood what he was trying to get at—Your prices are too expensive. Lower them for me.

Maybe it was because the Richsi Commerce Guild had grown exponentially in the past few years, but they’ve been keeping their chins up way too high. He was thinking it was about time he reminded them of their place and knocked them down a few pegs.

[Michel] “Oh, but another guild agreed to offer me the same goods at a better price, so you cannot expect me to say no. Or…..perhaps if the Richsi Commerce Guild agreed to a lower fee, I may reconsider the termination of our contract.”

Of course Valentia understood that’s what he wanted. However, at the Richsi Commerce Guild, never once did they maintain a contract by negotiating prices to an even lower fee, and they weren’t about to start now.

So, he likes to play dirty.

But to be honest, keeping his contact alive didn’t seem appealing to her anymore, not even if they could feasibly raise his fee. This wasn’t the kind of courtesy one should be showing to their business partners, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t try this again.

[Valentia] “That would be difficult.”

[Michel] “Then I think our conversation is done.”

[Valentia] “In that case, should we start the formal proceedings of terminating your contract?”

There was nothing left to be gained by speaking with him any further.

[Michel] “Oh, but of course.”

[Valentia] “Very well. The penalty for early termination of one’s contract……”

[Michel] “Penalty? Do you really want me to make it so that you can never do business here ever again?”

Just like Valentia thought—talking truly was useless.

[Valentia] “I see. Then I wish you the utmost success in the future.”

If that’s even possible for you, Valentia thought, standing up from her seat and giving the director a very simple farewell.

[Michel] “Damned women. Vile things, foolishly thinking they can do what men do. Tch, just go home and watch your kid.”

[Valentia] “I will say my goodbyes here, Director.”

Completely ignoring his hushed whispers, Valentia kept up her smile right until she turned her back to him.

After that, Valentia’s expression turned entirely stiff. Leaving the director’s office, the manager they spoke with before was interfacing with a guest, his face betraying the anxiety he must have been feeling.

As he spoke with the guest, he began to usher the woman directly into the director’s office. Whomever she was, she must’ve been a very important person to be led straight there like that. Behind the woman stood a maid, along with three other men, whom Valentia assumed to be knights of some sort.

Even if it weren’t for that, the woman was wearing beautiful clothing, and had a straight and well adjusted posture, so it was obvious she was a well bred young lady who had been well educated, coming from a rich and good family.

I suppose the director’s office must not be that soundproof, Valentia thought.

As the hotel gradually expanded, the director’s office was expanded alongside it. However, in the interest of saving a little bit of coin, corners were cut during construction, and so walls that allowed for the greatest amount of privacy were not installed.

This guest likely heard the entirety of their conversation, which was likely why the manager was at a bit of a loss. The poor man would’ve had no way of knowing just how little the walls of the director’s office could hide.

But even so, it would be natural to take such a guest into the drawing room for reception, but considering they were still lingering in the hallway, it was clear the guest herself made the decision to remain to avoid eavesdropping on their conversation.

Awkwardly, Valentia started moving down the hallway, inevitably bumping paths with the manager and the guest they were attending to.

She was a very beautiful woman—the sort that would unavoidably attract attention wherever she went.

Valentia gave a quick and silent bow of her head, though it wasn’t because she had met the woman’s eyes. In fact, she tried to look away almost immediately, but the woman herself kept looking right at Valentia without even trying to avoid her gaze.

[Valentia] “The room is yours, my lady.”

Valentia said a very simple greeting before leaving the Michel Hotel.

However, strangely enough, she felt as though she’d seen that beautiful woman somewhere once before. But where could she have seen her? Certainly if she had ever run into such a visionary beauty, she would have remembered it.

But Valentia quickly chased those thoughts away.

Right now, she had a bigger problem. She was unable to salvage the broken contract, which meant she needed to find a way to fill the deficit that such a big client would leave behind.

[Lena] “What do we do now, Valencia?”

While they were in the director’s office, Lena managed to stay her tongue and remain completely silent during the conversation, but now that they had left, she couldn’t hide just how anxious she was because of this.

But her worry was understandable. The Richsi Commerce Guild had just lost one of their biggest clients.

[Valentia] “There’s no need to work yourself into a tizzy. If we’ve lost one contract, then we merely need to sign a new one.”

[Lena] “A new one?”

[Valentia] “That’s right. Shall we set off now?”

[Lena] “Ah, but where?”

From the moment she stepped into this building, she had a feeling this would be the unavoidable outcome, and so Valentia already had another destination in mind.

The Michel Hotel was the best in the city, but coming in first naturally meant there was a second, narrowly chasing you from behind. And so Valentia set out for the place that took that ever frustrating number two place—The Bolheim Hotel.

The Translating Mech

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T/N: Korean publishers are bringing the hammer down on fan translations for manhwas and novels alike in recent days. If you are not reading this on my site, you are putting me at risk of shutting down entirely. Be a friend to me and your fellow readers!

astralmech t/c: This chapter was a monster to translate because of all the business lingo that I had zero clue how to read *cry*

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