584 - 590
Malek's Defenses
"Your Grace, Lord Malek and Lord Potterfang are waiting for you in the meeting room," hurried Jinolio.
"Alright, let's go. Anderbael, practice the basic sword moves a few more times before going to take a shower. Don't catch a cold now."
Lorist tapped Anderbael's head with a wooden sword before turning to leave.
Anderbael was getting more naughty than ever and didn't like academics. So, Lorist had no choice but to start teaching him swordsmanship to ensure that he had a good foundation. Surprisingly, the child showed great talent and keen interest and patience for martial arts. That attitude was a stark contrast to the one he had for studies; he would often slip away to play. Lorist spent only three days to teach him 28 basic sword moves, causing his pride to swell. He didn't think the bearish child would actually make him proud one day.
Potterfang and Malek had come to talk about the defense in Montside. The setting up of the defense lines around the borders of Magical Dragon Mountains and the wildlines was integral for the safety of the province, but due to the terranean restrictions, the survey team spent one year to discover that the complicated hilly and forested terrain made it really hard for the Norton forces to make a complete defense line to secure Montside's borders.
The border separating Montside from Magical Dragon Mountains and the wildlands stretched 236 kilometers long. Even though Firmrock had 45 thousand members, they wouldn't be able to spread themselves across the whole border. They would only be able to station a hundred-man unit for each half kilometer and not only would they lose the initiative to act, they would also have to rely on others behind them for logistics support.
Lorist wouldn't allow a main open-field battle legion to be stationed at the border either. But having only 45 thousand men securing the border to defend the new citizens of the province was not feasible. The thin defenses only invited attack and the slightest push would cause the defense line to lose all effect. While the trenches and sentry towers could hold the barbarians off, they might not be able to fend off magic beast attacks.
"Your Grace, those involved in the survey had a month-long discussion and concluded that if we want to satisfy Your Grace's wish to hold the defense line for the long term without using too many soldiers, the best solution is to dig a manmade river to stop the magic beasts from crossing. It'll also prove to be a good obstacle for the barbarians trying to attack. We'll have enough time to sound the alert and come up with a countermeasure as they cross the river," reported Malek.
The map of Montside was laid on the table and a thick, red line could be seen drawn across it.
"A man-made river?" Lorist mused with intrigue, "Tell me more about the plan."
"Understood, Your Grace. This river starts north from Azure River and will flow along the border of Montside all the way to Lake Tarinloz in the Black Forests, stretching for about 250 kilometers. We planned for the river to have a width of around 50 meters and a depth of ten. After some surveying by the Ministry of War, we confirmed that the area in the vicinity is suitable to be turned into a man-made river like that."
Lorist felt a headache coming. He thought they were only going to dig a river around ten meters wide and six meters deep, but he didn't think those of the ministry actually planned to make it 50 meters wide and ten meters deep. Can this still be considered a river? It's a whole water highway...
Malek's voice also sounded a little deep. The scale of the construction was a little too large. It meant that the house would have to invest large amounts of funding to complete. Even Lorist couldn't ensure whether the house could finish the project. Malek took out a few designs and showed them to Lorist.
"Those sent to survey the land and the designers of the engineering department made an estimation and found that only a river this wide can properly prevent the magic beasts from attempting to cross the river and wipe out any ambitions the barbarians have. Given the technical prowess of the barbarian military, it would take them at least three hours to send a thousand men over a 50-meter-wide river. That's enough time for our forces to call for reinforcements."
Malek pointed at the design and said, "The designers intend to use the mud unearthed from the construction to make mud bricks, which can be stacked up to form a stair-like embankment, on which sentry and alert towers can be built. That way, we would only require a small number of personnel to keep watch of the border. Both magic beast and barbarian would definitely be noticed if they approach the river. The guards can then warn the others with smoke signals and start attacking the incoming threats from the sentry towers while they waited for reinforcements to arrive."
The headache Lorist felt grew more intense. This is not even a water highway... It's the great wall... He could see countless gold Fordes grow wings and fly away as well as Spiel's angered expression. The proposal, however, did seem to be one of the most reliable methods to rid the province of the threat from the barbarians in the Magical Dragon Mountains and the magic beasts in the wildlands for good.
If there were no natural barriers, they could always build one. That was the train of thought of the designers in the engineering department and the surveyors of the Ministry of War. Fortunately, the river and wall stretched only 250 plus kilometers long. Lorist believed that the house would be able to barely afford such an undertaking instead of going bankrupt because of it.
After the construction of the embankment and river was completed, it would bring Montside and the house much benefit. Other things aside, Firmrock could be released from guard duty and taken back to become a main fighting force of the house. Not only that, Montside would be spared from the barbarian and magic beast threat and could even use the river as a transportation facility. That could allow the new desolate province to be developed into a thriving settlement.
"Pog, do you really think there's a need for such a large project like this?" asked Lorist to the quiet Potterfang.
"Your Grace, I really don't know what to say," Potterfang spoke with an awkward chuckle, "Theoretically, I should be against the project because this project will decrease the morale of our forces as it makes us out to be a turtle shirking back into our shell we built for ourselves instead of being courageous enough to face the threat of the barbarians and beasts directly. As it stands, we're going to be passively defending instead of launching counterattacks.
"But in fact, I can't wait to see this project completed. Though Firmrock will only have to be stationed here for another year, the casualties we suffered reached more than 1200 men. These casualties weren't incurred in battles or skirmishes, but rather guerilla attacks by the barbarian hunters or carnivorous beasts during patrols.
"And due to the complex terrain, and the lack of experience fighting in the mountains, we aren't able to properly face off against our foes. It's not that our equipment aren't good enough or we lack the will to fight our enemies, but among the seven hundred or so sacrificed troops, less than 200 died from an actual fight. Most of them lost their lives to poisoned arrows, traps, and encounters with magic beasts. When a squad calls for reinforcements, the enemy will be long gone by the time any arrives.
"The morale of Firmrock is a little on the low lately. Our troops are used to facing enemies head-on and won't even fear when they are outnumbered. What the troops aren't used to is the elusive enemy and the high rate of accidents and injuries from patrols. To the troops of Firmrock, digging the river and building a wall or embankment is a thing that'll raise their spirits."
Lorist slapped his forehead. He stationed Firmrock at the border of Montside because of their reputation for great defense, but he had forgotten that the enemies the legion wasn't wasn't tens of thousands of enemy troops. Instead, they had to man the 250-kilometer-long defense line of Montside and navigate the complex terrain, which weren't easy tasks for them. Had it not been for Potterfang's report, Lorist would still be unaware of what sort of trouble Firmrock ran into.
Looks like this project must be undertaken. Lorist turned to ask Malek, "Since the project has been planned, what is the budget and time it will take to complete it? Tell me how many gold Fordes I'll have to spend."
Malek, looking a little embarrassed, said, "Your Grace, this project to build the river and embankment is estimated to require 100 thousand laborers. At a rate of 50 kilometers per year, it would take five years at least. The initial budget is estimated to be around two million gold Fordes each year."
House Norton's frequent undertaking of huge development projects made them rather good at estimating costs. Without captives, they would have to recruit laborers from the dominion, and each youth could earn up to eight gold Fordes per year, meaning that 100 thousand of them would require around 800 thousand. Their food, drink and other bonuses would have to provided as well, not to mention the tools required for the project, vehicles, tents for accommodation and so on. Two million each year was a reasonable amount.
"However, given that the construction site is near Magical Dragon Mountains and the wildlands, we will need to mobilize our forces to keep the project safe. The house needs to deploy around three main legions to push the border 15 kilometers further and hold absolute control in that area. Only then can we ensure absolute safety for the construction site. The Ministry of War estimated the costs for each legion to be deployed would require an additional one million gold Fordes annually," said Malek as he closed the folder and concluded the report.
Lorist was quite satisfied with the ministry's effectiveness. They had a clear grasp on the spending required for such operations. That way, there would be a clear indication of how much they're expected to spend and the accounts wouldn't end up becoming a mess.
Deploying one main household legions for only an additional one million per year was already rather savvy. The bonuses given to the soldiers, repair and replenishment of used equipment, medical fees for injured soldiers and pension for dead soldiers all amounted to quite a large sum. That was why even though 100 thousand workers only had to be paid two million gold Fordes annually, a legion of 45 thousand men alone needed one million.
According to the proposal Malek brought out, the construction project would cost ten million gold Fordes and take five years and free Montside from the threat of barbarian and beast attacks. House Norton would gain a secure province to rule over, so the huge spending would be justified. The issue was that to ensure the safety of that project, three main household legions had to be deployed and would cost three million gold Fordes each year. Five years would bring that figure up to 15 million gold Fordes, so the total project would cost a staggering amount of 25 million gold Fordes.
The cost of deploying three legions and Northsea Fleet in the war with the Trade Union in Falik Plains cost the household an additional ten million gold Fordes. But House Norton didn't make a loss from that war and instead managed to establish a trade route to the south of the continent, took control of the sunshine seas and Golden Coast, and invest in the reborn market in Morante. The money earned far eclipsed money spent and it was definitely a profitable war and deal.
But the deployment of three legions to patrol the border and keep the project safe for the next five years added three million gold Fordes to the house's spending annually. The investing of 15 million gold Fordes for security wouldn't guarantee a return, and the cost might rise depending on how aggressive the conflicts with the mountain barbarians were.
As expected, the proposal for the project in Montside was greatly objected to among the house administration. Spiel was the strongest critic of the project, being the man who was stingy with military spending as always. He declared that he'd rather the house form two new legions to guard the border of Montside than to agree to go with the project for the province's defense.
Lorist had no choice but to hold a meeting among the top household officials to discuss the matter. This time around, one detailed analysis presented by Lorist changed Spiel's attitude towards the project completely. The staunchest objector became the strongest supporter right away. Lorist told him that if such a strong barrier was constructed, it could ensure the safety and stability of Montside for at least five decades. In other words, it could be considered an upfront payment for the defense of the province for the next fifty years, which would break down to about 500 thousand gold Fordes per year. Forming two new legions to defend Montside on the other hand not only increased the budget by one million gold Fordes on a yearly basis, additional costs would be incurred in the event of large conflicts with the mountain barbarians. The spending in five decades would definitely soar above 50 million gold Fordes.
After converting Spiel, the other officials soon achieved a consensus and decided to go forward with the undertaking of titanic proportions. The project was to be presided over by Malek. As such, Lorist jokingly suggested for the defense line formed by the river and the embankment to be known as the Malek Defense Line, but to his surprise, they actually adopted it as its proper name.
Taking a Few Steps Back
The decision that was made on Malek Defense Line meant that yet another huge matter of the house had been solved and Lorist could finally return to his days of tranquility. As for the whole effort to dig a man-made river and build the embankment as well as the mobilization of three main household legions to guard the border of Montside, the Ministry of War and engineering department would take care of them.
Lorist was quite assured that Malek was appointed as the supervisor of the project. All he did was personally talk to him about the details of mobilization and the schedule. Lorist believed that there would be no need to bring all three legions on site at Montside. Only the area being worked on had to be guarded after all. That way, they wouldn't have to guard the whole border. NOt only did that save much manpower, the legions could also guard them in shifts. In terms of funding, it would save up to five or six million gold Fordes in five years.
He had no choice but to make such an arrangement as Ironguard was still busy at Yungechandler with the renovation of Lichtana Citadel, which would only be completed by next year. Jaeger was stationed at Wild Husbandry and was the only mobilizable legion of the house. Firmrock and Tigersoar on the other hand were moved to Montside, leaving only Terman's Ragebear Knights in THe Northlands. They would be the first responders to any emergencies and buy time for the house to come up with a response.
Though Lorist believed that there wouldn't be any huge issues in the dominion, or the empire, for that matter, for the years to come, the completion of Lichtana Citadel and the relocation of Ironguard to Montside was the time when the house's forces were at their thinnest. The three provinces of Winston, Delamock and Yungechandler could only rely on their newly formed local garrison legions for defense.
Hopefully, the wary Auguslo doesn't cause me any trouble during the next few years... Lorist already made up his mind to not mess around with the emperor and spend his days in peace within the dominion. No matter what happened within the empire, as long as it wasn't a threat to the house's interest, Lorist wouldn't show up to solve it. Those responsible for instigating the matters would have to take care of their own ess.
It was currently the 10th day of the 8th month and Lorist would be traveling with his wife and four concubines and children to Northsea before taking the ferry to Platinum Beach for a vacation. That was in tandem with Kenmays's efforts to restore life to Platinum Beach. It was said that he invited many imperial nobles there to hold an exciting summer party.
Little did Lorist expect that he would hear news about Auguslo after just hoping that he wouldn't cause any trouble. Kenmays sent an urgent letter that Auguslo had accepted the invitation and showed up there. It was said that he wasn't there to join the fun, as stripping down on a beach to play around didn't really fit the image of an emperor. Initially, Auguslo refused to join the festivities using his busy schedule as an excuse, but surprisingly, he changed his mind in two days and replied to Kenmays that he would be going on a vacation as well.
So, Kenmays wrote Lorist an urgent letter to pose the question whether Auguslo had other intentions for going and asked him to be prepared for it.
Auguslo's going to Platinum Beach as well? Isn't that like the emperor wanting to have fun with commoners? I doubt he'd do something that meaningless. I'm sure he should be busy with all sorts of other stuff. How could he be in a mood to have fun? Lorist's eyes rolled; he more or less had a grasp of what was going on. "Jinolio, inform the matron to bring the four concubines and children to Platinum Beach. I won't be joining. If anyone asks, say that I'm busy dealing with a barbarian invasion in Montside."
"Is... is Your Grace intentionally avoiding His Imperial Majesty?" ask Jinolio with shock. The way he saw it, there was no reason to do so. Wasn't that intentionally causing House Norton's reputation to
Lorist could tell right away what Jinolio was thinking and gave him a pat on the head. "Kid, didn't you read about the secret report we received a few days ago? Ever since Jillin Harbor raised the purchasing price for ores and other raw materials, Andalou was forced to raise theirs as well, but that also means that they'll suffer even larger losses. That young master, Selik, went to see the emperor a few times possibly to discuss the matter.
"And now, His Imperial Majesty is coming to Platinum Beach for a vacation. I firmly believe it has something to do with a suggestion for me to lower the purchasing prices at Jillin Harbor so that the both of us don't end up battered. After all, the emperor invested 800 thousand gold Fordes in Andalou from behind the scenes. Since it has to do with His Imperial Majesty's investment, he has no choice but to come and settle the matter personally. I don't want to be forced to give face to him and yield to this request, so I've decided to avoid him. Let Andalou continue to suffer the loss."
"Will it really end like that?" asked Jinolio doubtfully while scratching his head.
"Of course," Lorist replied with certainty, "the empire's borders have been rather peaceful as of late and nothing huge worth paying attention to has occurred. Apart from the fact that Whitelion is still entangled with the bandits in Phapsia, the only other thing worth paying attention to is our commitment to build Malek Defense Line. His Imperial Majesty will definitely not allow us to help Whitelion out, and there wouldn't be anything anyone can do about Malek Defense Line. The only thing left must be the raise in purchasing price by our house. His Imperial Majesty made the excuse to go on a vacation to meet with me so that nobody else will make a big fuss out of this."
"I understand. Since His Imperial Majesty said that the merchants stopping at the new trading point at Flowater Creek is part of free market competition, then our house's act of raising the prices is part of that as well. Since His Imperial Majesty and Andalou can't do much about that, they have no choice but to come to Your Grace personally to negotiate the matter to prevent a long term trade war.
"Even though it has only been a month, Andalou is already unable to hold on, so our emperor decided to come personally for negotiations. And Your Grace is avoiding the meeting because Your Grace wants to extend the trade war. As Your Grace mentioned, House Norton has the advantage of transport by sea, so we can break even or even make a small profit even with the high prices while Andalou has to suffer more losses the more they purchase because they have to pay a huge price for transport to maintain the trade route with the Trade Union," summarized Jinolio with understanding.
"That's the idea. His Imperial Majesty initially refused the invitation, only to turn around two days later. It's obvious that the emperor wants to use this chance to meet with me and discuss the prices. You know our emperor has always loved to consolidate power and is all too busy doing other tasks on a daily basis. If it weren't because of his personal investment in Andalou, he wouldn't be in the mood to go to Platinum Beach for a vacation.
"I'm guessing that His Imperial Majesty wants to discuss boundaries on who is allowed to sell at which places. For instance, perhaps Jillin Harbor's market could handle sales from the northwestern area of the empire while Andalou can take care of the two southwestern provinces. That kind of compromise will help lower prices. It's too bad that the goal of our trade war is not to reach an agreement with Andalou, otherwise those terms would be rather appealing.
"The reason I don't want to go to Platinum Beach to meet His Imperial Majesty is because I can't be bothered to negotiate the prices. Andalou and His Imperial Majesty's investment is not the most important. What I'm concerned about is cutting off trade to the Trade Union altogether. For our house, any act that helps the Trade Union recover must be stopped. Before our emperor and the person in charge of Andalou, Selik, are aware of that, I refuse to negotiate with
"Jinolio, write Duke Kenmays a letter and tell him to receive His Imperial Majesty as usual. Don't need to make any fuss over it. Apologize on my behalf that I won't be able to be there," instructed Lorist.
"Understood, Your Grace."
Though Lorist wasn't going to spend his vacation in Platinum Beach, he still had to send Sylvia and the four concubines as well as the children to Northsea for them to take the ferry there. He would have Sylvia deliver the letter of apology to Kenmays on his behalf. After the ferry left, Lorist turned back to the docks and headed to Nico Academy with Jinolio and his guards.
He was going to visit many people on this trip of his. First, he would see his lover, Telesti, and the two princesses she birthed him. He would also have to visit Dilianna's eldest son, Slophenk. Other than that, he would be bringing Charade's second son, Freilyde, to replace Jinolio as Lorist's attendant. If he performed well, Lorist might take him as his fourth disciple.
However, only two days into his visit at the academy, he received a secret report from Northsea that Auguslo had arrived with a light cohort of a hundred guards on House Kenmay's trading vessel at Northsea and was on his way to Ragebear.
Looks like he won't rest until he sees me. Guess he decided to come knocking after not seeing my at Platinum Beach. Lorist sent an eagle message to task Charade with handling the emperor and tell him to inform Auguslo that he was in Montside. If Auguslo really went to Montside, Potterfang, Loze and Malek would inform him that Lorist left urgently to Silowas to deal with a trade conflict.
Lorist brought Jinolio, Freilyde and his guards to Northsea to take a ferry that was heading to Silowas. Even though The Northlands was the dominion of the Nortons, Lorist couldn't be sure whether Auguslo had spies within it. If it was discovered that he was hiding in Nico Academy and refusing to meet Auguslo, it would turn out really awkward if he was cornered, so he decided to make an actual trip to Silowas and believed that Auguslo wouldn't go so far to chase him down.
He was the emperor after all, and it was only custom for the duke to receive the emperor personally instead of playing hide and seek like he did. However, that wouldn't be the case if he really was at Silowas. Lorist couldn't do much to Auguslo since he was an emperor anyway. Auguslo wanted to seek him out for a private chat about trade instead of summoning him officially for a negotiation on prices as that would be hugely embarrassing for an emperor like him.
Surprisingly, Lorist didn't think that Auguslo would be that persistent. After six days in Silowas, Lorist received word that Auguslo ordered the people of the house to provide a ship for him to travel to Silowas once he heard that Lorist wasn't there.
What kind of person would be that thick-skinned? Lorist felt that he was defeated by Auguslo in some capacity. He's going to meet me no matter what? Since he's being so persistent, I'll go to Mornate. I doubt he'd actually follow me there. The current situation wasn't like when House Norton controlled the city and Auguslo was able to travel there as he wished. Currently, Morante was the territory of the Free Union and an emperor like Auguslo couldn't travel there with just a light guard.
Five days later, Auguslo arrived at Silowas on the ferry, Whitebird. Governor Hector and Jillin Harbor Chief of Finance Camorra politely welcomed Auguslo and informed him that Lorist had traveled to Morante to resolve a trade conflict ss the matter involved trade with Jigda in the south of the continent. As that would require quite some time, it wasn't certain when Lorist would return to Silowas.
It was then when Auguslo knew for sure that Lorist was avoiding him. After staying at Silowas for five days he prepared to leave for the imperial capital. Before he left, he had a deep discussion with Camorra and criticized House Norton's raising of prices was only harming others and themselves and wasn't sustainable in the long run.
But Camorra's reply almost caused Auguslo to spew blood in rage. He said that even though the high purchasing prices caused the house to lose a lot of profit, it also resulted in the imperial nobles having more money and that raised demand for the luxury goods sold at Jillin Harbor. They were more willing to spend even more money to purchase things. In terms of revenue, it rose by fifty percent compared to the previous year and increased House Norton's profits even more.
According to the agreement between Lorist and Auguslo, Jillin Harbor would be given to House Norton for management and a market would be formed there. The profits from that market would be split in two between House Norton and Auguslo. However, the Norton-produced goods were not part of that deal. The deal only applied to profits made from the sale of ores and raw materials purchased from Jillin Harbor.
In other words, Auguslo's support of Andalou from the background to wrestle trade from Jillin Harbor only harmed his own profits. House Norton was able to earn even more through the sale of their own luxury goods and products and make up for the losses at Jillin Harbor. How could Auguslo remain calm after hearing that news?
In the end, he left Silowas in low spirits. Camorra calmly instructed, "Write His Grace an eagle message to inform that His Imperial Majesty has left for the imperial capital. His Grace can come back now."
Auguslo's Handwritten Letter
How can anyone be so shameless, especially the emperor? He actually treats his word like nothing but a fart! thought Krilos as he held the written order Auguslo sent him, shaking from the anger. Auguslo just reinforced Krilos's belief that the father-and-son duo were shameless to the bone.
During the 7th month, House Norton raised the prices they were buying goods at Jillin Harbor greatly by up to thirty percent. Krilos didn't hesitate to get Andalou to meet that price. However, House Norton raised it once more, almost doubling the original price.
Andalou was in a tough position. Krilos was incredibly troubled as purchasing goods at that price not only didn't bring any profits, the more they purchased, the larger the loss.. The spending for a thousand-man trading convoy during their travels from the imperial capital to the Trade Union was no small amount either. Krilos realized that each trip would cost him around 80 thousand gold Fordes.
If the prices hadn't been raised, each trip would earn him around 500 thousand gold Fordes. But with the purchasing price doubled, transporting goods worth hundreds of thousands to the Trade Union wasn't only a loss, they couldn't even make enough to cover the cost of transportation. The expenses of the convoy aside, the convoy had to pay a huge toll while passing through the kingdom of Peterson, much to the heartache of Krilos.
Other merchant guilds would just quit the unprofitable business, but that wasn't an option for Krilos. He understood how important resources were to the resuscitation of the Trade Union. Given how resource-stripped they were, they required the goods Andalou could provide to make their own products and compete in the market. Only with mor raw materials and ores could they start fashioning tough armor and sharp weapons.
There was one way to resolve that issue, and that was to raise prices of goods sold so that a profit was made nevertheless despite the higher cost. Since the Trade Union were in urgent need of those resources, they would be willing to pay that price. But Krilos couldn't bring himself to do it as he was aware that it would cause quite a lot of trouble for Duke Cobleit; the various factions in the Trade Union would start pestering him with problems. After all, the current Trade Union was no longer the rich and powerful nation it used to be.
So, Krilos decided to solve the trade war with House Norton himself and had an audience with Auguslo in hopes that they could bring the ones in charge of trade of House Norton to negotiate. The best way to resolve the issue was trading in separate areas. Jillin Harbor and Andalou would do their business in their respective provinces without interfering with one another. That way, everyone could make profit. It was a win-win solution.
Krilos believed that Auguslo would help mediate the matter with House Norton, and that the house would go along with the emperor's demands to save him face. Given that Auguslo had a 800-thousand-gold-Forde stake in Andalou, he would also side with the guild more and try to get some benefits out of the negotiations.
However, Krilos didn't think that Auguslo would take matters into his own hands instead of holding a joint negotiation. Confidently, he told Krilos, "It's but a small matter. Let me handle it for you. I only need to meet Lorist and talk to solve the issue."
Lorist was the head of House Norton and Duke of The Northlands, as well as the imperial swordsaint. Krilos knew him as the Trade Union's greatest foe and the one that caused its demise. However, he was quite curious why Auguslo was so confident about resolving the issue.
Auguslo gleefully told Krilos that even though Lorist was a swordsaint, he had his own weaknesses: his weak will and penchant for reputation. Even though Lorist had a rather tumultuous history with him, as long as they met and he lay down his poise as emperor and had a heart-to-heart talk with him. Lorist would give in to any request. The trade war was a smaller matter in comparison. He only had to plead to get Lorist to agree to his terms.
Not to mention, the vacation party at Platinum Beach hosted by Duke Kenmays was the perfect chance, as he heard that Duke Norton would be heading there with his family. Auguslo decided to tell Duke Kenmays that he would be participating as well so that he could meet Lorist there. That way, he could resolve the matter without making it public and wouldn't feel ashamed about humbling himself as it would be a private conversation.
So, Krilos confidently awaited the good news from Auguslo. One month later, Auguslo sent an order that he had tried his best, but Duke Norton was nowhere to be found. Though he gave it his all to follow Lorist, the latter was obviously trying to avoid him and even went as far as traveling to Morante.
He also said in the order that he was incredibly angry and humiliated by Duke Norton's avoidant behavior and expressed his hopes that 'Selik' would help Andalou win the trade war with House Norton, saying that he would support them all the way. However, he did want to remind him that as the construction of the trading point at Flowater Creek caused him to lose a million gold Fordes in profit from Jillin Harbor, he said that he would be expecting that amount from Andalou.
Other than that, Auguslo emphasized the huge investment he made with Andalou, the 800 thousand gold Fordes he took from the treasury of the imperial family for them to use as capital to purchase the raw materials from nobles. Auguslo believes that if he left that sum to the Nortons to manage, earning back millions from that amount would only be expected. So, in light of the guild just being founded in the imperial capital recently, he said that he didn't hope for results the Nortons could provide. Instead, he was only looking forward to a small dividend payment of around 600 thousand gold Fordes.
This man's shamelessness knows no bounds... Krilos really wanted to rush into the palace and give Auguslo a slap in the face. On what basis did he think that Andalou should be responsible for the profits he lost at Jillin Harbor? However, Krilos knew that it was an argument he wouldn't win. It was he who had persuaded Auguslo to allow Andalou to start the trading point at Flowater Creek for the trading convoys of the imperial nobles in the first place. Had that not happened, Auguslo's yearly profit of a million gold Fordes would still be there. No matter how bad the relationship between the emperor and the duke, he would still receive one million gold Fordes annually.
But now, due to Andalou's interference, the prices were doubled and Auguslo proceeded to blame Andalou for the profits he lost. Even though Auguslo supported Andalou in a move to teach House Norton a lesson, that cost him his one million gold Fordes. So, he wasn't afraid of pissing Andalou off, causing Krilos to incur a debt of one million gold Fordes for no reason.
Krilos could only begrudgingly shoulder that debt. If the prices weren't doubled, that amount would be no pressure on him at all. However, given the losses Andalou was suffering, that million could well cost the life of the guild. They might have to shut down for good.
What the hell is with that 600 thousand gold Fordes of dividend?! Investments are risky in the first place! Losses are just as common as profits! It's already the 10th month now, and there are only two months left before the end of the year... Where would I get that kind of money for him?
At that moment, he was considering whether he should just ditch everything and leave. But considering the price he paid to approach Auguslo and gain his trust, how could he just leave without fulfilling his revenge? Was he going to consider the loss of 1.5 million gold Fordes by Auguslo payback enough? The thought of the pain Auguslo had caused him made him feel incredibly unwilling about the situation.
The door of the study was lightly knocked on. Krilos knew that only his subordinates could knock like that. He kept the order and said, "Come in."
The one who entered was the guard on duty. He delivered Krilos a letter which seemed like a normal price-inquiry letter. He would receive a few of those daily from the nobles dealing with the guild, but the one in his hand right now had the emblem of a twin-headed dragon. Krilos asked the guard to bring him a glass of milk, which he took a gulp out of before sprinkling all over the letter and baking it above hte candle fire.
Soon, dark blue text appeared on the letter. By the time the letter was completely dry, the text disappeared, but he had already memorized what it said. After some consideration, he instructed, "Prepare the carriage. I want to go out."
A week later, Krilos traveled nonstop for Malivia where a noble manor was built some ten years ago. It was abandoned after Malivia was taken back by the empire, but Andalou bought the ruined manor back for a cheap price and renovated it into one of the furthest rest stops for Andalou's men.
The week-long trip was quite hard on his weakened body. He flopped around like mud when he was helped off his carriage. After being bathed and bandaged up by his personal maidservants and taking two days of rest, Krilos finally recovered a sliver of energy.
A day later, a black carriage with no insignia drove into the manor. A black-robed man who dressed quite similarly to Krilos left the carriage. That was the guest Krilos had been waiting for. The guards showed him into the study without bothering to check his identity.
When the man removed his robes, Krilos stood up in shock and said, "Your Grace, why have you come?"
Nobody expected that the premier of the Trade Union, Duke Cobleit himself, would travel to a normal manor near the border of the empire's province, Malivia, not even Krilos.
"Is this odd? Long time no see, my fellow brother," said Cobleit with a relaxed smile as he gave Krilos a hug. He knew about the injuries, so he was very careful with the hug.
"I... I thought Your Grace would send a representative to talk with me. What prompted Your Grace to come personally? Was there a problem with our past transaction?" asked Krilos anxiously.
"No, the transaction was fine. Brother, the trade route you forged helped me out greatly. Even though peace has been restored with the midsouthern nations, they're still biased against our Union and are putting us down, especially with regards to one of the most crucial resources--mineral ores. Yet, your trade route was able to provide us with exactly what we needed and allow us to slowly recover our forces and equipment. We are also now able to produce some other goods apart from glass."
Cobleit looked at Krilos and thankfully said, "Brother, the Union is doing well, don't worry. But why didn't you tell us about the troubles you faced? We only just found out that you're taking losses for the sake of maintaining this trade route. You should've let us know earlier! You know how important this is to us. If you lose this trade war with House Norton, that will spell the end of the trade route."
Krilos smiled bitterly. "Even though I'm making a loss from the trade route, I don't really mind. I can make it up from endeavors elsewhere. However, this is what I'm having trouble with now..."
Krilos took out the written order of Auguslo. "I've never met someone as shameless as he is, a person who's emperor no less. It was he who encouraged me to cause trouble for House Norton and promised to support Andalou in the first place. But now, he's asking me for money! 1.5 million gold Fordes! It's a miracle that he's even able to make such a demand..."
Cobleit read the order and smiled after some thought. "No worries. I brought you something. Show it to your emperor and I'm sure he'll stop demanding money from you.
The Bird Called Bolga
"No, Your Grace! This won't do! How can we give these equipment and weapons to that guy?! Wouldn't that be increasing his strength? I'm definitely against it!"
Cobleit was talking about a large chest in which a set of fine, black metal armor could be seen. There was also a rectangular shield, a refined longsword, a sharp dagger and a foot-long spear head that glinted coldly. The chest was filled with a complete set of weapons and armor.
The moment Krilos took a good look at the chest's contents, he objected immediately. He knew what Cobleit was suggesting: providing those equipment to Auguslo to offset his debt of 1.5 million gold Fordes. That would also help him gain more trust and support, which were integral in his desire for revenge.
"No, listen to me first," Cobleit said with a wave of his hands, "This is the reason I've come to discuss the matter directly with you instead of sending someone
He took out the black metal armor and gave the breastplate a gentle caress. "Actually, these are the Trade Union's latest models. We just forged them not long ago, thanks to the tungsten and other metal ores you provided us with. If our forces can switch to these equipment, our fighting power might triple. Normal crossbows and longbows won't be able to deal troops wearing these armor any harm when fired from a hundred meters away.
"As you said, it's true that if these are provided to the emperor, his military might will rise. You mentioned that he was thinking about rebuilding Fiercegale back then in your letter to make them at least the Nortons' equal instead of being at a disadvantage by the four main Norton legions, right?
"Sometimes, I find myself wondering what the heck goes through this emperor's mind. It's the most peaceful time for his empire, yet he doesn't focus on raising standards of living to recover the empire's vitality, and instead pays attention to useless military reorganization, like reforming the three imperial legions. Since that's the case, the Trade Union doesn't mind giving him a little push from the back. We'll make him waste even more resources and funds on military equipment.
"The reason I brought the equipment here is for you to present it to the emperor so that he will protect and support the trade route between your guild and our Union. We will obtain even more resources from the empire and this will also help wipe away the debt the emperor placed on you. You can tell him that if he can provide the resources, the Union will be able to fashion 50 thousand such sets of equipment on a yearly basis."
"What? 50 thousand sets? Your Grace isn't joking, right? How could the number be so high?" said Krilos with shock. As the one in charge of logistics of the Twinhead Merchant Guild forces, he understood how much manpower it took for one set of equipment to be produced. It was no easy affair.
"If we have enough materials, making 100 thousand a year is incredibly easy," Cobleit said, "We now finally understand how the high quality equipment of the Nortons were made. Back then when our blademasters discovered the designs of the water-powered machines in The Northlands, we started researching and further developing them. Now, we have lots of such machines which can be used to replace humans in the forging process.
"Come to think of it, the forging process is basically a set of repetitive, simpler steps. An experienced forger or smith can only fashion two or three spearheads a day, or small parts required for two sets of armor. But with water-powered machines, we can produce hundreds to thousands of spearheads and around two hundred sets of armor in a day.
"I want you to present this set of equipment to the emperor and negotiate with him on how we can get more mineral resources from them. For instance, if you're able to gain permission to build a refinery, you can decrease the cost of transporting metals. At the same time, you can provide us with even more material to work with, since transporting ingots is much more worth it than unprocessed ores.
"If our plan works out, we can even ask for double the amount of resources we actually require. You might not know this, but, if we can get the metals for free, it would cost us only around eight gold Fordes for the production of a single set of equipment, mostly to pay for the assembly and the transportation. Each set can then be sold for around 50 gold Fordes on the market."
"But Your Grace, the Krissen Empire is our Union's archrival. Would the strengthening of their military affect our revival in the future? If we go to war with them in a few years' time, then the equipment we provided them will prove harmful to us!" said Krilos.
Cobleit took a long sigh. "Krilos, you're mistaken. Currently, war no longer depends on blades and spears. If we fight a war with the Nortons, even if our troops' courage and skill aren't inferior to theirs, they won't give us a chance to fight up close. Instead, they'll use all sorts of ranged weaponry to defeat us from afar.
"We failed at the Battle of Bluwek and lost Morante and Falik Plains for good. I've dreamed about that battle countless number of times. That wasn't a war, but a nightmarish massacre! Even though we took all sorts of preventive measures and prepared ourselves against the Nortons' catapults and carroballistae and finally approached the lines of our enemy and were just about to pay a steep price to take out their troops, they brought out their bronze cannons and flattened our ranks completely. Corpses piled like mountains, blood flowed in rivers. Our soldiers were defenselessly slaughtered.
"The troops rushing at the forefront back then wore this exact same black metal armor fashioned by Wessia. The one here in my hand. But these things didn't do much to protect them either. The troops were still completely obliterated from the cannonfire. So, tell me. Do you think this set of armor will be the key to the revival of our Union?"
Krilos was struck with sudden realization. Both in the Battle of Bluwek and the following Norton attacks on the Union, the bronze cannons played a pivotal part in their victory. Even though the Union used sandbags to temporarily stop the cannon attacks, that didn't change that they were still taking blows on the defensive. They weren't able to launch a counterattack at all.
"Currently, we are also researching ranged weaponry, such as the Norton carroballistae and catapults. We are also prepared to obtain the secret of gunpowder from the dwarven kingdom in Tedanini Mountains to make our own cannons. But that will require lots of time and resources. That is why the trade route is integral for us.
"Krilos, I know why you've gone to the imperial capital, but I must beg you to suppress your desire for revenge. Please temporarily get along with your nemesis for the sake of our grand ambition. Use the trust you've gained to help us on the path of victory. As long as this trade route can continue to supply us with resources, the day of our comeback will arrive soon."
Cobleit bowed deeply to Krilos, as if he was expressing his sincerest apologies for having to request something like this of him. Krilos hurriedly helped the man up and held him by the shoulders.
"Your Grace doesn't need to do this. I know what I have to do. Actually, even though I can meet that person now, I have no way of exacting revenge. Not only is he a blademaster, he's also the emperor. I have no way of doing anything to him. As for the trade route, I will do anything that will benefit our Union even if Your Grace doesn't tell me to.
"What I'm worried about now is House Norton. In their attempt to crush Andalou, they've doubled the purchasing price for raw materials and we have no way of dealing with it. It harms both sides, but they can afford to keep it this way. My guild on the other hand has been completely disrupted as a result. The more we purchase, the bigger our losses. Otherwise, the 1.5 million gold Fordes that person wants from me won't be a concern in the first place," said Krilos hatefully.
"No worries," Cobleit consoled, "Since House Norton wants a trade war, we'll fight them to the end. While we're not a match to them on the battlefield, can we really defeat merchants like us when it comes to trade? We can use the armor here to deal with your debt first and extract even more benefits from the emperor.
"Each set of armor like that won't cost more than 20 gold Fordes including materials and manpower to produce, but we'll be able to sell them to the emperor for 40 or 30 gold Fordes. We can even request him to provide us with the materials for free. We'll definitely earn quite a bit on that front. What you have to do for now is to refine the goods first. That way, you can transport more in bulk and save on transportation costs.
"Additionally, the reason the Nortons formed the market at Jillin Harbor is to buy raw materials as well as sell the goods they produce. Since they've engaged you in a trade war, why don't you start operating the trading point at Flowater Creek as a
"Even though our Union isn't what it used to be, we still have some vigor remaining. Now that we have the resources we need, the technicians and artisans of our guilds can finally put their talents to practice. Perhaps we aren't able to make products good enough to compete with the Nortons in the markets they occupy. However, when it comes to gold and silverware, wine, stone sculptures and art pieces, we are superior. If we can find a market for those in the empire, it would be a good income stream for us."
As expected of the president of Twinhead Dragon, Cobleit was able to give a few good business proposals to Krilos in the blink of an eye. Krilos looked more excited the more he heard. "That's right, I've only been focusing on how I can provide you with resources, but I forgot that I could buy products from you to sell too. Setting up a luxury goods market at Flowater Creek is a good idea. I'm sure the imperial nobles would love to buy expensive luxury items there to inflate their social status and cultured sense..."
The two of them laughed heartily. The war was over and peace had come. The imperial nobles no longer strove for courage and started to pay attention to arts and culture. That was the case with the nobles across the midsouthern nations as well. All of a sudden, the trend of odd-looking sculptures and colorful paintings which nobody could really make sense of saw a growing trend among the nobles and were at the height of their popularity. The two men believed that if the artisans of the Union could make some to cater to the imperial nobles, those products would be warmly received as well.
"Alright, Your Grace. I'll do what you say and present this set of exquisite armor to that fellow and try to get some benefits for our Union," Krilos said after a long sigh, "But I still feel unwilling to hand such good quality equipment to our enemy."
Cobleit chuckled. "Krilos, did you know that in the forests of our province of Leolika, there's a kind of bird called the Bolga. These birds don't hatch their own eggs. Instead, they'll steal eggs of other birds from their nests and place their own within so others can do the laying for it.
"What we are trying to do is not so different from the strategy of the Bolgas. If we use these equipment for ourselves, we'll once more catch the attention of the other midsouthern nations and get sanctioned by them. That wouldn't only cause the hard-achieved peace to crumble, we would also suffer the pushback from those nations in their markets.
"Let the warmonger emperor get his hands on these equipment. That way, he'd definitely form a new legion. The more we provide, the more he will form. Perhaps only through that can he feel safe and secure against the swordsaint Duke of The Northlands.
"What this emperor doesn't understand is that his military expansion during a time of peace that follows right after a war will only cause the other nations to worry. The empire will become a target to be observed and alert against. That will make it easier for our Union to move in the shadows. We might even be able to reform the century-long alliance that held against the empire back then too.
"And you, Krilos, only have to try to gain this emperor's trust. Work hard to try to make his frivolous illegitimate son the heir to the throne. If he can get the commanding rights to a legion, that'd be even better. I will be sending you lots of helpers, which you can place into that legion to control it. That way, we can cause another period of chaos within the empire with a power struggle just like our fathers did back then."
Krilos nodded emotionally. "I understand, Your Grace. I shall do as you say."
Trade War
Freilyde limped into the study and reported with a gloomy tone, "Your Grace, Duke Kenmays has arrived at Palace Ursa Rex. My father-- I mean, Baron Charade has gone to receive him."
Lorist closed the book in his hand and looked at the boy quietly. "Were you taught a lesson by your father again?"
"No..." Freilyde refused to admit.
"Then what's with the large boot mark on your pants? Apart from me and your father, I doubt anybody else would dare to do that to you. Tell me what you did this time to earn your father's wrath." Lorist could tell from how Freilyde looked that he had obviously been harshly beaten by Charade.
"Well, Your Grace... Young Master Anderbael and I were just coloring the smaller bear sculptures grey-white and we pushed them to the middle of a pavement. My father didn't pay attention to it and tripped badly, so he was really mad," conceded Freilyde.
"Pffft..." Lorist stifled his laughter with his hands. Charade's second son had a really easygoing personality. He wasn't as serious as Reidy, as studious as Howard, nor as reliable as Jinolio. He was nothing more than a curious child that was slightly hyperactive and wanted to try everything out once. Perhaps it was thanks to being spoiled by Engelich, Charade's father-in-law, since a young age, that he became a child so fearless.
The academy head of Nico Academy, Telesti, mentioned that though his innate personality was kind, his curiosity was far too heavy. He was also said to be filled with courage and was the biggest troublemaker in school, making him the biggest threat the instructors had to watch out for.
That was why when they heard that Freilyde was going to be made attendant of Lorist, the instructors of Nico Academy cheered with glee, though, they were quite disappointed that their colleagues at Dawn Academy wouldn't have to suffer the pain they did.
When he first came to Lorist's side, he felt a little timid, given that he was in a new place and Reidy and Jinolio were there. Even though he was only 16, he had already awakened his battleforce. And given his bright personality and tough build, Reidy and Jinolio liked him quite a lot and would often give him pointers on what to look out for as Lorist's attendant.
But since returning to Palace Ursa Rex, Reidy brought Jinolio to Firmrock to further train in the Dan Ocean Ki-refining Technique, so Freilyde was free to roam without supervision. Lorist wouldn't be paying attention to his every move anyway, so he went all out. And somehow, he got along well with Anderbael te moment they met and played together all the time, causing much chaos and unrest at the palace.
And then began Freilyde's tragedy.
As House Norton's chief minister, Charade would often seek Lorist out to discuss matters when he returned to the palace. Freilyde's actions didn't escape his notice and though Lorist wasn't too willing to go all out to educate Freilyde, Charade didn't hold such reservations. His punishment was the harshest it could get. Nowadays, Freilyde would always act like a timid mouse whenever he saw his father.
"Anderbael ran away first, right?" asked Lorist.
Lorist suspected the reason his son always had so much fun with Freilyde was because there was always someone there to bear the consequences. Even though Freilyde's so largely built, he didn't really have good observation, so who else but him to take the blame when there was trouble? That was probably what Anderbael was thinking.
"Yes... Young Master is..." Freilyde failed to come up with a reason to speak on Anderbael's behalf. The moment Charade tripped, Anderbael had run away immediately but Freilyde stopped to help his father up, only to get a beating in return.
Lorist pulled on the bell rope beside the wall and Patt, the leader of the guards, soon arrived.
"Go and fetch Anderbael and bring this fellow to the yard. Have the both of them stand in the horse stance for half an hour. Don't forget to put a bowl of water on each of their shoulders and ask them to do it over if the water tips over. Give Anderbael three canes to the rear as well and tell him that he should take the blame with his comrades if he did something wrong instead of escaping alone," instructed Lorist.
"Understood, Your Grace." Patt took the crestfallen Freilyde away with him.
Moments later, Charade came to Lorist accompanied by Kenmays. Given how unkempt Charade's clothes were and the slight red flush on his face, it could be seen how mad he was to be tripped by his child's antics.
But what piqued Lorist's curiosity was Kenmays instead. He brought a few large boxes into the study and instructed the servants to arrange them properly before asking them to leave. Only after that did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Aha, my brother, you are far too generous, for you to bring me so many gifts," said Lorist intentionally. He knew that those were probably not gifts. Dukes like them usually brought each other a list of the gifts instead of bringing the boxes straight to the other person like a savage.
"In your dreams," Kenmays retorted, "There aren't gifts. Locke, I've decided to go to Flowater Creek and the boxes here contain the competing products of your enemy, Andalou. I brought them here for you to expand your horizons.
"Also, I heard that our emperor has ordered Flowater Creek to be rented to Andalou. A market will soon be built there. It's obvious that they're trying to compete with Jillin Harbor, which your house technically owns. Be it place or accessibility, Flowater Creek holds the advantage. Given that they have the emperor's support, don't you worry that the market at Jillin Harbor will suffer?"
Lorist smiled and shook his head. "I don't have to worry about this. Even though the trading point at Flowater Creek took up quite a bit of our sales volume, only raw materials and mineral ores are affected. On that front, but of us are taking huge losses to the benefit of the landed nobles that have these resources.
"But when the nobles gain more money, it'll benefit the market as they'll increase their purchases of other products. Andalou trying to start a market there is only them trying to get a piece of the pie. As for the nobles, they will still consider quality and price before they make their purchases."
Lorist was quite confident on that front. House Norton produced lots of products of varying types and also enjoyed the benefit of maritime transportation. Lorist believed that Andalou, who still relied on importing products from the Trade Union through land, wouldn't be able to compete with House Norton in terms of quality and cost.
"You're too confident, Locke," Kenmays said with a shake of his head, "Andalou isn't going to fight your house in the market of daily necessities. They chose to compete in high fashion and luxury goods."
Kenmays walked to the side of one box and opened it, bringing out an intricate-looking golden bowl, a golden plate, goblet, and so on. Soon, Lorist's desk was filled with golden dinery.
"Each set of 40 to 50 golden dinery cost me 70 thousand gold Fordes," boasted Kenmays gleefully.
"Are you crazy?" Charade jumped with shock and exclaimed, "Give me 20 thousand and I'll have someone make the exact same ones for you."
"Fool," snorted Kenmays. He held a golden plate up and ran his finger across the intricate engravings. "Look at these engravings and the brand on the bottom of the plate. See who made this set before you say something as stupid as making them for me at the cost of 20 thousand. These are no ordinary dining ware. I'm not just a rich fool, you know."
Lorist took a bowl and turned it over, only to see a rhombus-shaped signature which read Blueway.
"Blueway? This name sounds familiar," said Charade as he looked at the back of the plate he held.
"Hehe, do you remember the duchy of Zikdor?" asked Kenmays.
What does this have to do with Zikdor? Lorist turned the bowl in his hand around and didn't see anything that suggested any affiliation with the duchy.
Charade on the other hand widened his eyes with realization. "You mean the duchy famed for making gold and silverware? Weren't they eliminated by the Trade Union during the war in the midsouthern area? I think Mayflower's kingdom is founded on the territory that used to belong to Zikdor. The Zikdor we helped found again in the neighboring province of the Trade Union is headed only by the duke's nephew. He inherited the position of the current duke of Zikdor."
"The duchy you helped revive is completely different from the old one," Kenmays said without holding back, "Back then, Zikdor was famous for their gold and silverware. Blueway represents the most elite smithing family of the duchy. They produce less than ten such sets and the demand for their work is always through the roof. For the past two centuries, having a set of Blueway-made dining ware is something worth bragging about for a noble house.
"What I didn't think was that the Trade Union would manage to take the Blueway family for themselves after exterminating the duchy and gain control of their production line. They are no different from a tree that grows money. Locke, the glass dining ware produced by House Norton is indeed refined and intricate. But compared to those produced by the Trade Union's Blueway family, it still falls short. I believe that most imperial nobles will think the same as me and will be willing to buy a set of Blueway dining ware to be passed down through their family."
Lorist's expression turned serious. Kenmays was right; even though the dominion produced lots of different products and occupied most of the market for daily necessities on the continent, those were made for the common consumer. They weren't trendy or luxurious items.
The Trade Union had chosen to use history and branding as their weapons against House Norton and made a good move. House Norton only started to rise after Lorist returned to The Northlands after all. Even though the house had a history of three centuries, they had been a rather mediocre noble house at the empire's northern border during that time and didn't expend any effort on anything other than surviving.
"What else are in those boxes? Take them all out," said Lorist.
There were luxurious and expensive rugs, fine branded wine of the Petrin duchy, intricate jewelry from the kingdom of Abotan, as well as many famous branded products from nations wiped out by the Trade Union. Lastly, Kenmays brought out an odd-looking sculpture.
"What is this?" asked Lorist curiously. It depicted a voluptuous woman and a lanky man entangled together in a weird pose, giving others an uncomfortable vibe.
"Hehe, this is the magnum opus of the famous artist from five centuries ago, Carmen Sytoff. Well, a replica of it anyway. I spent 50 thousand gold Fordes to get my hand on this. Just look at how natural the curves on this is. This completely shows that women embody the essence of victors instead of men," said Kenmays with a sudden hipster-like expression.
Doesn't this just mean that women can go on all night while men tire out first? Lorist didn't know how to react at the sight of Kenmays caressing the sculpture of a man and woman so lovingly. "Alright, nobody will take your precious thing from you. Only a guy like you fancies these things anyway. Spending 50 thousand gold Fordes on a thing like this... do you have too much money or something?"
"Locke, you simply don't get it. This is art," said Kenmays, dissatisfied that Lorist was treating his treasure like a toy.
"Your Grace..." Charade spoke when he looked at the study that was piled up with products.
Lorist knew what he was going to say and shook his head with a smile. "No worries. Andalou's products won't have a huge effect on our own in Jillin Harbor. Perhaps there will be short term effects, but in the long term, it shouldn't matter. We provide daily necessities after all while they sell luxury goods which fetch high prices but has low overall demand."
"Aren't you worried that His Imperial Majesty would use this chance to put pressure on the market at Jillin Harbor? He might use this as an excuse to reclaim the rights to that place," said Kenmays.
"Relax, he won't dare to do it," Lorist said confidently, "Even though our emperor thinks himself smart to provide raw materials and mineral ores for Andalou and cancelled the business deal he has with our house, he still requires the cash from the food grown throughout the empire which is sold at Jillin Harbor to keep the empire functioning. He wouldn't touch Jillin Harbor before Andalou is able to provide him with a steady income stream."
Kenmays breathed a sigh of relief. "I can rest assured with what you just said. You should know that our salt merchant committee is the largest trading company in the empire and the competition between your house and Andalou allowed us to earn 30 percent more profit this year. Our fleets are doing our best to purchase the raw materials and ores from the nobles to resell them at Jillin Harbor or Flowater Creek. As long as you keep this up, I'm going to expand the scale of the purchases of the committee next year."
"The prices shouldn't change much," Lorist said, "We're in a hard position to step down from. Let's see who caves in first. In fact, I would rather you sell your goods at Flowater Creek to drain away the cashflow of Andalou."
Kenmays nodded and said, "Understood."
Lack of Manpower
One more chapter left before the very last chapter! What would you read after that? Fear not, for we have started translating the new work from TRL's author, Black Iron's Glory! Click here to give it a read!
Charade rushed into Lorist's study with a thick stack of documents. It had been a month since Duke Kenmays's visit and it was currently the 11th month of the year 1786.
In the office next to the study, Charade looked at his son happily. Freilyde was going through a bunch of official documents with a gloomy expression. Charade cleared his throat and waited for Freilyde to look up before he said, "Make an announcement that I've come to seek an audience with His Grace."
Freilyde's eyebrows lazily rose. "Father, just go in. His Grace said this morning that there wasn't a need to announce you."
Charade flipped out. "Darned kid, just make the announcement if I ask you to! His Grace is just being nice, but we subordinates have to always observe protocol, understood? Go, quick!"
Freilyde rose from his desk as he muttered, "This is so unnecessary... People like you who go about rules all the time just love to trouble other people..."
Soon, Freilyde darted out of the study and said, "Duke Norton invites you in..."
Lorist wasn't alone in the study. The head of intelligence of the house, Tarkel, was standing beside the desk.
"You're here. Well, take a look at these reports from the imperial capital first," said Lorist when he pointed to the documents on the desk.
Charade put down the folders in his hand and read out one of the reports. "His Imperial Majesty announced the reformation of Fiercegale Sand legion with a full 45 thousand men and will be stationing them in Malivia. It has so far been confirmed that the Trade Union will be supplying the legion's equipment through Andalou by selling each set at 30 gold Fordes, but the materials have to be provided as well. Currently, His Imperial Majesty hasn't paid a single coin for it and Andalou is bearing the cost for it. According to our informants in the palace, His Imperial Majesty ordered 100 thousand such sets of equipment. Is... Is His Imperial Majesty insane..."
It wasn't surprising for Charade to have such suspicions. What was Auguslo thinking/ Even though the Trade Union was the Krissen Empire's nemesis, Auguslo made an order for 100 thousand sets of equipment from them. It wasn't a small order and even at 30 gold Fordes per set would amount to three million for 100 thousand sets, not to mention the need to provide materials as well.
"What can you tell from this?" asked Lorist.
"I think the emperor is losing his marbles. It's a time of peace, yet he's trying to expand his military and tossing more money into this endless void. He's spending three million gold Fordes plus materials for 100 thousand sets of equipment! Did he forget how the Trade Union is our biggest enemy? He's giving them a helping hand!
"Not to mention, Fiercegale was involved in that scandal back then. Does he think that adding 'sand' to the name would make it a new legion? Stationing Fiercegale Sand at Malivia is him trying to replace Whitelion, right? Does His Imperial Majesty want to let Whitelion deal with bandit threats from now on and use Fiercegale Sand against outside threats?" questioned Charade.
"Read these reports as well. Andalou built a rather large refinery as well as a forgery near Flowater and preprocesses the raw materials so that the transportation costs are lowered and their efficiency heightened. They also footed the bill of three million gold Fordes for the 100 thousand sets of armor.
"These three million gold Fordes is said to be forced on Andalou by our emperor. As we increased the purchasing price, His Imperial Majesty lost one million gold Fordes this year and the previous year, so the losses were blamed on Andalou. As for the additional one million, that is the investment the emperor made in the guild, which actually only amounts to around 800 thousand gold Fordes. But he demanded for to be given a return for 500 thousand gold Fordes. What a great deal he got."
Lorist wore a mocking smile on his face. "I really applaud the talent this Selik of Andalou has. Not only did he manage to resist our high prices, he also managed to develop Andalou to this scale despite the emperor's greed. He truly is someone capable.
"I thought that our heightened purchasing prices will help stifle Andalou's cashflow and increase the costs of their transportation. After that, we can force His Imperial Majesty to blame his losses on Andalou and thereby restricting the trade with the Trade Union or cutting it off entirely. I didn't think they'd satisfy His Imperial Majesty's greed with quality equipment and manage to use trade with the Union to make up for their losses.
"I have to admit that our price hike strategy has lost its effect. Our emperor already gave Andalou the mining and managing rights of all seven mines in three provinces for the making of the 100 thousand sets of equipment..."
Back then, Andalou only had the rights to sell, so they weren't able to keep up with the Nortons in terms of purchasing price. But now, Auguslo gave the mining rights to Andalou, effectively ridding them of the need to buy the ores from anyone else. If allowed to continue, Andalou would definitely develop into a trade giant that could even influence the empire's policies. That should've been something a wise ruler would watch out for...
"Your Grace, how would we deal with this matter?" asked Charade with a furrowed brow.
"Deal? There's no way," Lorist said while shaking his head, "We don't have a say over the emperor's decision. How he wants to run his empire is his decision to make. As long as they don't directly cross our house's interests, we can do naught but watch from the sidelines. In fact, in the next few years, our house won't have any effort to spare on caring about other matters. We have no choice but to endure even if it means taking some loss.
"Currently, we have all our resources and manpower focused on Malek Defense Line in Montside. That is something that'll set our course for the next century to come. As long as it is complete, we will be rid of barbarian and magic beast attacks. Montside will be our backyard where our subjects can live their lives in peace and thrive. It'll become a firm power base for us in our expansion to the wildlands in the future."
Lorist pointed at the reports on the desk. "Actually, these reports don't just tell us about the affair between His Imperial Majesty and Andalou and their deals. If we look deeper, we can find out about even more secrets, such as what you guys think the 100 thousand sets of equipment imply."
Charade's expression changed immediately. "Two years to produce 100 thousand sets... Your Grace, that means that the Trade Union is most possibly using our water-powered machines. It won't be possible for them to finish the order within two years with manpower alone, and sell them at such a low price to boot."
"That's right," Lorist nodded and said, "This means that the Trade Union is recovering quickly. That's why they were able to research and implement these machines. Currently, our empire and the Trade Union have close ties with Andalou, so our arrangements against the Trade Union have been rendered useless. For instance, the exclusive salt deal Peterson carried out is for naught. They definitely wouldn't dare to stop Andalou from bringing in rock salt in large amounts. His Imperial Majesty is also going to station Fiercegale Sand in Malivia, obviously threatening Peterson to not interfere with future trade with the
"Your Grace, do you think that the Trade Union will start to trouble the kingdom of Peterson in the next few years?" asked Charade.
"There's that possibility. The Trade Union has to first establish a route to the Falik Plains if it is to come back in full force. It has to reclaim Morante and Falik Plains, and Peterson is the first obstacle they have to overcome. But given the current situation, I doubt that the Trade Union will do something so irrational. If they become the ones to instigate conflict, they'll definitely become an eyesore for the neighboring nations. After all, the flames of war just stopped burning for a few short years. The nations are still on alert," said Lorist as he mulled over the maps on the wall.
"Tarkel, increase the scale of observation on the Trade Union. Send word immediately if any military reorganization is being taken!"
"Understood, Your Grace."
"Your Grace, it's too bad we're located too far away from Peterson and Falik Plains. We won't be able to do much if something changes there," bemoaned Charade.
"Hehe, no worries. Don't forget we have a piece of rented land in Morante. As long as we can help defend Morante, it's fine if we lose Falik Plains. Sometimes, I really find myself wishing that the Trade Union will launch the first strike. That way, we would have a reason to exterminate them completely with our forces to rid ourselves of this worry. Sigh, it's too bad that we won't have this chance anymore." If Lorist hadn't cared about the casualties of his troops back then, he wouldn't be troubled over such matters now.
The Trade Union was a restless cockroach that just won't die and would be revitalized with just a bit of sunlight. Given that they were now working with Auguslo as allies thanks to Andalou's mediation, the trade between them was growing larger and larger and even affected House Norton's position in the empire. Lorist wasn't able to come up with a solution to deal with it immediately either, since a trade dispute couldn't just be settled with force. If he suppressed others with his status as swordsaint, it'd only earn him the derisive laughter of others.
Tarkel arranged the reports before respectfully taking his leave. Lorist opened a bottle of blackcurrant wine and poured Charade and himself a cup each.
Charade opened the thick folders he brought as he drank from his cup. "Your Grace, here is a report from Camorra. He said that His Imperial Majesty released a public notice in hopes that Jillin Harbor will be able to increase the purchase of food, at least double the amount this year."
Lorist shook his head. "Our emperor is going desperate from the lack of money. Most of Jillin Harbor's purchases are transported to Morante to be sold there and His Imperial Majesty gets around one million gold Fordes from this. Write him a letter to say that Morante's market is only so big and they only require so much. Selling even more food there will only cause the price to fall and won't earn much profit anyways. Refuse his request."
Charade nodded. "Grandmaster Ciroba sent word from Montside that he isn't confident that this year's target for Malek Defense Line won't be hit. The original plan states that we should be able to complete 50 kilometers of the line this year, but only around 30 is complete so far. A large reason behind that is the lack of manpower. We need more young laborers."
Lorist furrowed his brow. That was a huge problem the house currently faced. Perhaps life in the dominion was too good that not many folks of The Northlands were willing to leave their homes to go to a desolate province like Montside to work. They were already able to find a well-paying job in The Northlands, so House Norton's original plan to recruit 100 thousand youth laborers for the project didn't go through as well.
"Currently, we only have 40 thousand workers there, 30 thousand of whom are Fiercegale captives. They were punished for five years of labor and around a thousand die each year. Mainly, it's due to falling to plagues or mountain barbarian attacks. The morale is really low. The other ten thousand are citizens who have taken root in Montside and they understand what Malek Defense Line means to the province, so a group of them want to help out. It's too bad that their numbers are too low," summarized Charade.
Lorist rapped on the table and asked, "Does Malek and the others have any suggestions on what to do about the lack of manpower?"
"Lord Potterfang suggested for us to increase the pay for laborers since anyone well paid enough can do a job well. He thinks that if we increase the payment by a few times, we'll easily be able to recruit enough workers from the dominion to work on the project. However, Spiel shot down that idea as he thinks that we can't increase the budget of the project. Being able to pay for the security of the project is already the best the house can do.
"Lord Malek on the other hand suggested for the various garrison forces in the various provinces there to make up for the lack. However, Lord Hector suggested that with the three main legions stationed there, the garrison forces shouldn't be used as laborers as we won't have adequate defenses should an urgent situation arise."
Charade continued to read through the folders, reading the suggestions and objections of the other officials of the house. When he reached the last page, he stopped and laughed. "Your Grace, Fiercetiger Loze brought up a really interesting suggestion. He says that we can work with Whitelion to clear out the bandits and using the captive bandits as laborers. That way, we won't have to go through the trouble of recruiting laborers."
"Whoa... That's something I didn't expect from him. A good idea for once," Lorist said with a chuckle, "Are there any other suggestions?"
"Yes," Charade replied, "the head of the internal affairs department, Lord Kriston said that we could forcefully conscript our subjects to solve this problem. Serving the dominion lord is their duty anyway, but we just haven't ever used this method before."
Forcefully conscripting subjects was the right of all dominion lords. They could decide how much time a subject has to serve them for free. Some more benevolent lords only made them work a month and provided free food and drink, while some more stingy ones would have their subjects serve year long without food. However, that would cause the rate of escape to soar. Noble houses that didn't use their right to conscript subjects like the Nortons weren't uncommon either.
Lorist contemplated in silence. After a while, he shook his head and said, "We can't forcefully conscript our subjects. That will hurt their trust and loyalty to our house and also displease those within our dominion. Since our predecessors have never employed such a right, we won't establish this precedent either. Let's think of other methods first."
"Alright, Your Grace. Actually, I think Loze's suggestion is rather practical..."
Celebration and Budgets
We've done it!
All 590 chapters of TRL have been completely translated in little more than two years (the project started back in July of 2016). The journey was arduous and humbling, but ultimately rewarding. It allowed me to share a story I enjoyed with thousands of you.
"But it seemed like there's so much story left! Lorist's not king yet!" some of you may shout. You discord frequenters will know, however, that the author was forbidden from continuing with the story because of new censorship regulations.
So, what's next? Fortunately, Smoke is a Path, TRL's author, returned with his new project, "Black Iron's Glory" (BIG) and has been updating at a stable rate since. We decided to pick it up to continue to bring this beloved author's work to you.
We're releasing 7 BIG chapters weekly and there'll also be more early access chaptesr for our Patreon tiers to give the story a splendid kickoff.
Thank you for your patronage and pray for your continued support.
Ryogawa out!
P.S. There's an event held on the r/noveltranslations subreddit where short speculative endings to TRL are proposed. Shoutout to u/matosz for hosting this as a sendoff to the project! Go check it out on this link here!
Krilos got off his carriage and slowly made his way into the palace. The guards who saw him on the way saluted him respectfully.
Within three short years, the crippled man with two glaring scars on his face had put the finances of the empire into order. Not only did he help the emperor form three new legions, he also increased standards of living for the people, birthed new industries, and reinvigorated the empire's economy, allowing the emperor and the empress to finally host some activities in the palace.
"Respectful greetings, Count Selik," greeted the minister of the interior, Hendry, with a deep bow. "His Imperial Majesty is having tea in the garden with Her Imperial Majesty. As it is the young prince's birthday today, the empress is preparing to host a celebration. His Imperial Majesty has summoned you to ask for some funds for the celebration."
Henry revealed the reason Krilos was summoned without hiding anything. Krilos smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you, Sir Hendry. I recall that your wife mentioned that it would be your thirtieth marriage anniversary next month. I happened to get my hands on a bottle of Forest Moondew, also known as the perfume of fairies. I believe this is a fitting gift for your anniversary."
Hendry looked rather happy to hear that. Forest Moondew was a famous perfume on the continent and only few bottles were produced each year, with each costing more than ten gold Fordes. He believed that his wife would be able to show off to the other female party-goers with perfume like that and wouldn't come to pester him for the time being. "Thank you, Lord Count. I am humbled and grateful to receive such a gift."
It was quite laughable when one thought about it. Krilos currently served three roles. The first was as the mastermind behind Andalou to develop it into the largest trading guild in the empire. The second was his position as the finance minister of the empire, which was forced upon him by Auguslo. He was in charge of the empire's spending. The third position was that of the sponsor of the imperial treasury. In other words, he was the emperor's personal wallet, a thankless effort, really.
To make sure Krilos served him faithfully, Auguslo generously gave him the title of an honorary count and said that as long as he could serve the empire for a decade, he would be made a landed count.
Perhaps Auguslo believed that the son of a merchant who was exiled from his nation couldn't be any better. Auguslo, with his great judge of talent, didn't mind his status and crippled body and made him the finance minister straight away. Naturally, Selik didn't let his hopes down the slightest. He used three years to turn around the horrible financial situation of the empire to the point that Auguslo was in a mood good enough to celebrate his son's seventh birthday.
Krilos didn't like being called to the empire's central of administration, the palace. He preferred to work in his little office at Andalou where he felt his most free. But he didn't have a choice, the one who always summoned him was the emperor himself, his arch nemesis. He had to suppress his desire for revenge to meet the emperor and handle him.
Auguslo had long forgotten about the liar Marquis Krilos who used to serve as the Union's envoy. He was no more than a small figure. But the pain on Krilos's body and his need to ruin his face and hide always reminded him who he was and what his goals were. He was to be sneaky as a poisonous snake, striking fatally only when the opportunity presented itself.
After making his way through a few corridors and taking a few turns, he saw a lush and viridian garden basking under the warm glow of the 11th month son. Some maidservants were playing around on the beautiful grass, tossing sacks of spice at each other, their laughter sounding clear as bells.
It was tea time, the most relaxed period for the maidservants of the palace. As if he didn't see the beautiful scene before him, Krilos took out a grey cloth with a lowered head. Hendry hurriedly received it and carefully wrapped it around Krilos's face before tying it at the back of his head.
This had to be done because three years back when Krilos was summoned to the palace, the scars stretching from his forehead to his chin shocked the maidservants. So, Auguslo allowed Krilos to mask himself when he visited the palace. While others saw it as Auguslo showing benevolence towards a subordinate, Krilos thought it to be an insult. Auguslo just didn't want his face to terrify his wife and the maidservants.
"Aha, here comes our finance minister," said Auguslo with a smile and a golden goblet in his hand. He seemed to be in a rather good mood.
"My humblest greetings, Your Imperial Majesty," greeted Krilos expressionlessly, before he bowed formally to the empress. Per noble etiquette, the queen should reach her hand out for Krilos to kiss. However, she only bowed slightly before hurriedly making her way to a corner of the garden.
"My dear Selik, please forgive our empress's behavior. She has grown up in the great northeastern plains, so the scars on your face would remind her about the ferocious grassland barbarians that often attacked that area. Those wild folk love to trace a knife across their face to show their ferocity after all. When our queen was six, she hid in a pile of grass and witnessed the barbarians overrun her home and kill her parents right in front of her. That is a nightmare she will never be free from, so she's especially sensitive to your facial scars," apologized Auguslo on the empress's behalf.
"I am sorry for that," Krilos apologized without a change in tone, "But the scars on my face are far from voluntary. Your Imperial Majesty knows about my experiences being on the run. These scars are the ones that convinced my pursuers that I was dead and allowed me to escape with my life. So, I can only apologize if they cause any fright to Her Imperial Majesty."
"No worries." Auguslo waved the goblet in his hand, and a maidservant quickly came forward to serve Krilos a silver goblet filled with good wine.
"We had you come to the palace to discuss Helleist's seventh birthday, which is coming in another three months. We plan to hold a birthday celebration for him after our grand new year's celebration and all nobles are invited to attend. The empress and us would like to hear your thoughts on the budget of these two activities. Naturally, when permissible, we hope that the ceremony can be as grand as possible."
Krilos was speechless. What's the point of making such a big deal about it? Prince Helleist's birthday is on the 7th day of the 3rd month and there's more than three months remaining. There's no need to start planning for it now... But after some thought, Krilos remembered that it was the rainy season during the third month, which made it really inconvenient to leave home.
Usually, the celebrations on the 1st day of the 1st month would last for more than ten days. The nobles and their family members couldn't stay in the imperial capital until the rainy season was over, after all. They would usually leave before the ice melted in the 2nd month to their dominions to spend the rest of winter and the rainy season. Auguslo was worried that the nobles would not attend his son's birthday celebration because of the rainy season and that would absolutely embarrass him and his wife.
It was all to blame on the bad timing in which Helleist was born--right before the rainy season. The reason there wasn't any grand celebration in the past was because Auguslo would simply celebrate with his wife and some maidservants in the palace. Perhaps to make up for the simple parties they threw back then, they wanted to host a grand celebration for the prince's seventh birthday and invite all the nobles to attend.
The reason Auguslo brought up the new year's celebration alongside with the prince's birthday was so that he could give the nobles a reason to stay until the third month and attend his son's birthday, making it much merrier. But tending to those nobles and their families wasn't an easy affair. They had to be provided with places to roam and parties to attend so that they wouldn't feel bored waiting through winter and the rainy season. All that naturally cost quite a number of gold coins.
"Your Imperial Majesty, the financial situation of the empire is still a little tight. Much money still has to be invested in transportation and civilian development to fix the damage wrought by the war. Even though I wouldn't personally encourage for so much money to be spent on such an event, I recall that Your Imperial Majesty's personal treasury should have enough money to fund such a celebration. Perhaps--"
Krilos suddenly stopped speaking. He recalled that the reason Auguslo brought up the two events together was because he hoped that the spending of hundreds of thousands of gold Fordes could be taken from the national treasury instead of the emperor's own wallet, even though personal celebrations like that were usually paid for by the monarch himself.
"Well, Selik, even though our personal treasury has grown to contain near a million gold Fordes, allowing our family to live a rather prosperous life, I believe such a grand celebration will help boost the nobles and officials' solidarity, so it wouldn't be out of the question to foot that as a public expense, just like the new year celebrations. What do you say?" Auguslo's face didn't blush in the slightest when he said that.
Krilos sighed inwardly and bowed. "As Your Imperial Majesty wills, I will do my best to gather the funds needed for the prince's birthday celebration. I'll also arrange for appropriate accommodation for the nobles and source more supplies, as well as hire performers from across the land. I will come up with a budget for that within three days for Your Imperial Majesty's purview."
Auguslo smiled gladly. "We know that you won't disappoint us, Selik. We are assured with you in charge. The empire is at peace now and the people are enjoying a stable life, so a celebration like this is worth it. We have considered whether to announce Helleist as our crown prince during the celebration. That will also give the nobles who have waited so long to participate in it a good reason to stay..."
Krilos's eyes flashed. By the time Auguslo finished speaking his mind about his plans, he lowered his head and said, "This humble servant dares not question Your Imperial Majesty's decision. I shall return swiftly to draft up the budget for the celebration. I will be taking my leave now, as time is of essence."
Auguslo laughed dryly, but that was also a part of Krilos which he liked. The finance minister cared not for anything else but finance, which was why he appointed him to the post in the first place. Naturally, his innate talent for such matters was also a huge factor. Auguslo waved him away. "Be on your way then, Selik. We shall be counting on you for this matter."
Krilos nodded and bowed before he left with Hendry, the minister of the interior.
When he left the palace gates and got into his carriage, Krilos looked really excited. He knocked on the wall of the carriage. Soon, the guards asked from outside, "Milord, do you have any instructions?"
"Go to Count Wecksas and ask him to see me immediately," said Krilos.
"Understood, Milord."