Chapter 97: Humanoid Self Propelled Computer
"You made a mistake? Fatty, what happened?"
The "Fatty" Yves was calling out to was Kenneth, his childhood friend and longtime business partner. The two had known each other for so many years that they had long since stopped using formal names with each other. Yves was lean, Kenneth was broad and round, and so the nicknames Skinny and Fatty had stuck.
This trip to Matru Island was too important for their business, so Kenneth had naturally come along as well.
Kenneth held a stack of papers in one hand and snorted.
"I already checked it. The flour price on the second sheet is wrong. You copied the figure from the last transaction, not the price prepared for this one. The sorting on the fourth sheet is wrong too. And after that…"
"Wait, wait, wait." Yves hurriedly raised both hands to stop him.
He knew Kenneth too well. Once that man started talking, he would pour out every mistake, every number, every detail, all in one breath. Yves was already drowning in work. If Kenneth really got going, his head would split open on the spot.
"I'll look at it myself."
Without another word, he snatched the papers from Kenneth's hand and lowered his head to read.
The first page alone was already littered with corrections. Whole lines had been crossed out and rewritten. There were marks in different colored ink all over the margins. The deeper Yves looked, the uglier his expression became.
After a moment, he slowly lifted his eyes from the paper.
"So many mistakes?" he muttered. "I copied this from the original ledger. Don't tell me the original was wrong too?"
Kenneth gave him a look full of contempt.
"That's what happens when you don't personally care about every last Berry."
It was a harsh way to put it, but not entirely unfair. Yves had handled the first round of entries, yes, but most of the later revisions and calculations had fallen to Kenneth. In Kenneth's ears, Yves' complaint sounded suspiciously close to blaming him.
Then Kenneth continued, businesslike and unforgiving.
"The soaked goods still need to be excluded. After that they have to be separated into upper grade and lower grade categories. Then the whole plan needs to be redone. I had someone send you the numbers for that already. Did you even read them?"
Hearing that, Yves' tone softened at once.
Because the answer was simple.
He had not.
Instead of arguing, he put on a dry smile and leaned closer.
"Can you help me out, old friend?"
Kenneth raised a brow.
"Who was it that called me Fatty just now?"
Yves almost rolled his eyes.
"Come on, that was just desperation talking."
Kenneth crossed his arms and gave him a look that said he saw straight through every bit of that.
"Skinny, spare me. After all these years, do you really think I don't know what kind of person you are? That act of yours might fool outsiders. It doesn't work on me."
"Then why do you always insist on making me flatter you before you agree to help?" Yves complained bitterly. "Do you only move when your ego's been fed first?"
Kenneth coughed lightly and looked away.
The truth was that yes, he did enjoy that a little.
Seeing his old friend forced to lower himself was, in a petty and deeply satisfying way, one of life's quiet pleasures.
Still, after letting it sink in for a moment, Kenneth finally relented.
"Fine. Since you begged so sincerely, I'll help you this once."
Yves cursed him in his heart, but outwardly, he just handed over the papers.
At that exact moment, a smaller hand stretched out from the side.
"Let me see."
Yves blinked, then turned.
Only then did he realize Axel had wandered over at some point and had already removed the cloth covering his eyes.
Yves had assumed the boy had just been playing some odd little game earlier, so he did not think much of it now either. Seeing him reach for the documents, he instinctively tried to shoo him away.
"This isn't a toy," Yves said, half amused, half distracted. "Uncle's discussing serious business right now. Go play over there for a bit. I'll have someone bring you snacks later, alright?"
That might have worked on an ordinary child.
Unfortunately for him, the one standing there was Axel.
Axel did not move.
Instead, he answered seriously, "I'm not asking for it to play. I can help you correct the ledger."
For a second, Yves just stared at him.
Then he laughed.
Not mockingly, but in the indulgent, helpless way adults laughed when a child said something impossibly innocent.
Kenneth, however, was far less polite.
"What nonsense," he snapped. "He's just a kid. How's he supposed to revise anything? Skinny, you really do have a weakness for children."
Yves sighed.
"And that," he said, "is exactly why you're still single."
The words landed like a cannonball.
Kenneth froze on the spot.
Then his face turned red, all the way up to his ears, like a ripe tomato left under the sun too long.
He opened his mouth, clearly wanting to fire something back, but the cruel part was that Yves was not wrong. Kenneth was not ugly, and his family background was decent enough. But he was already well into his thirties and still unmarried. His terrible attitude toward children had long since ruined his reputation with women back home.
Seeing that he had hit a sore spot, Yves coughed awkwardly and patted Kenneth on the shoulder.
"Alright, alright. I misspoke. Forget it. Once this deal on Maturu Island succeeds, there'll be plenty of girls waiting for you when we get back."
Kenneth did not look fully convinced.
"…Hopefully."
His expression eased a little, though.
After calming him down, Yves turned back to Axel and waved him off again.
"Go play somewhere else."
Seeing the disbelief written all over his face, Axel decided talking was a waste of time.
Before Yves could react, he snatched the sheet from his hand, glanced across it once, and then began rattling off numbers.
Yves frowned.
"Stop fooling around and…"
He reached out to take the paper back.
But before he could, Kenneth suddenly stepped forward.
"Wait."
His voice had changed.
All the impatience from before was gone.
He stared hard at Axel and asked, "What about the numbers on the last two pages?"
Axel lowered his eyes, swept the pages once more, and answered immediately.
Kenneth went still.
He did not speak for several long seconds.
Yves, seeing the expression on his face, felt a sudden chill creep up his spine.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked.
Kenneth slowly turned his head toward him.
"…What he said is correct."
Yves blinked.
Then blinked again.
"What do you mean, correct?"
Kenneth swallowed and said, word by word, "I mean every figure he just listed matches the results I calculated myself."
He sounded as though even he could not believe what he was saying.
Then, unable to hold it in any longer, he burst out, "Those are numbers I spent several days sorting out!"
This time it was Yves' turn to stand there dumbfounded.
He looked at Kenneth.
Then at Axel.
Then back at Kenneth.
"You're telling me," he said slowly, "that something you spent days calculating, this kid solved after one glance?"
Kenneth's expression was twisted into something strange, a mix of shock, bitterness, disbelief, and wounded pride.
"Yes."
Yves' face twitched.
For one fleeting second, suspicion appeared in his eyes.
"You two aren't secretly working together, are you? Did you plan this to ease my workload?"
Kenneth nearly exploded.
"Are you sick? Why would I help a kid make a fool out of me?"
That answer, combined with Kenneth's miserable expression, was enough to tell Yves this was no trick.
Which made the truth all the more absurd.
He turned toward Axel again, this time with genuine astonishment in his eyes.
The child standing in front of him looked perfectly calm, almost indifferent to the storm he had just caused.
To Axel himself, the whole thing really was not worth making a fuss over.
His current calculation ability still fell far short of Accelerator's peak, but even so, calling him a humanoid self propelled computer would not be exaggerated.
For someone like him, this much ledger work was hardly worth mentioning.
.....
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