"--And you provided him with sponsorship."
Iver said with certainty.
He stared into Grandet's eyes, as if he could see into his heart. "Because you are the 'One Hidden in the Horse's Belly'... aren't you?"
In truth, Iver did not specifically remember Grandet's past.
He only vaguely recalled that Grandet had once suffered a serious illness, and that as a child he had crawled into a horse's belly... Then the illness had been cured, but he had ended up becoming so hideous.
"Yes, just like me."
But Grandet spoke calmly, showing no hint of discomfort over the matter. "Judging from that apprentice priestess called Niya, Hassan clearly had the potential to become handsome. Yet because fate was so harsh on him, he became dark, ugly, thin, and short instead—you've heard my story, haven't you?"
"Mm. You were forced to hide in a horse's belly, and as a result, your appearance became deformed... something like that."
Iver replied vaguely.
"That's right." Grandet slowly nodded. "My parents provoked an enemy—that was the Gold Tooth clan of goblins. They belonged to the Gold Flash Faction and tended to purchase and monopolize all kinds of mining industries within the guild, while the Dead Eye Family came from the Silver Tongue Faction... Our main businesses were investment and fraud."
At this point, he gave Iver an open smile. "To major clients worth maintaining, we are the best investors. Other goblins wouldn't offer prices as favorable as ours. Because we understand what the future is—"
"And when there's no future, you simply switch to fraud and squeeze out their last coin, right?"
Iver chuckled.
He knew about this as well. Even though the game contained no relevant information, the factions within the Goblin Merchant Guild were not secret. A little investigation was enough to uncover them.