Chapter 366 (1/2)

Chapter 366

Translator: Nat

–Aegir POV–

Prologue of a Merchant War .

「It feels like forever since we had a long talk like this . 」

I comment calmly as I face Claire and Laurie .

Most of the times when the two of them visit me in my mansion, it’s to ask me for some kind of favor .

They either ask for some kind of permission or for me to sign some doc.u.ment or something along those lines which usually gets rejected by Adolph .

「We want the Margrave’s cooperation . 」

「Oh, on what?」

As expected .

After official expressing their request, they slowly close the distance between us .

While listening to the details, Claire and Laurie comes to my side of the sofa .

Then at the end, they start appealing to my lower half .

「We ask that you please lend your support . 」

Their way of doing things seems to be different this time around .

Instead of coming onto my lap with a spoiled expression, Laurie is bowing on the floor beside Claire .

「Hey now, I’m not into making women prostrate before me . At least sit normally . 」

This isn’t an insignificant matter then .

I might have to hold back my c.o.c.k which is craving for Laurie’s and Claire’s bodies .

When I urge them to talk with a serious expression, Claire begins to explain politely .

「What we knew was coming has finally come . The Flitch company has issued the final notice for all its interests and a.s.sets throughout Eastern Goldonia, including Hardlett’s territory, to be sold . I was even introduced to a large merchant company in Goldonia as a potential buyer . 」

Claire holds a considerable amount of authority within the company as a regional manager .

She can make her own decisions regarding inventory, sales, and investments, however the company’s position is determined by the executives .

If the head office decides to withdraw from a certain area or sell the business, she has no choice but to obey .

「You said it before . The head office is eager to invest in the south―― in the South Yuguria Empire . 」

Claire nods with a rigid expression .

「Yes . Soon, a large amount of extremely high interest government bonds will be issued by South Yuguria Empire in the name of Queen Wilhelmina . It is to cover the costs of procuring war supplies and ruling Libatis . 」

South Yuguria may have won, but they still suffered casualties and they will certainly need more money to completely swallow up Libatis . That is, they need to pay off debts .

「At first glance, the high rate seems risky…… however the top thinks it’s possible to be repaid if the wealthy Libatis is ruled peacefully . 」

I’ll nod for now .

I’m not knowledgeable in business transactions and the specifics Claire is talking about is not on the level of a general store owner buying and selling .

In short, I have no clue what is being said .

I can only nod my head at everything .

「I do not intend to abandon my business in this land and return to being the manager of some mid-level company . I made up many reasons to dodge the question . That’s where this comes in . 」

Laurie places a vial of scarlet ink and a fancy sheet of paper decorated with gold in front of me .

Thanking her, I rub her bowed head and neck, making her leak a “hafuuh” sound and her body tremble .

「Hooh, “if there is no proof of liquidation within a week, they will consider it a breach of contract and, as a penalty, will strip away all status as well as order a fine to be paid in addition to the initial capital investment and deposit”, is it?」

Does this rough way of wording written on this sheet of paper really have such compelling force?

No, it might actually hold power for merchants . I probably would have blown my nose on it and threw it away .

「Well, it’s a matter of convenience . I can easily make back the initial investment and deposit, but the penalty for breach of contract is ten times the princ.i.p.al amount and not a sum I can pay . If I do what they say, my rights and accounts receivable would be seized . 」

「I guess . So, what are you going to do?」

The corner of Claire’s mouth raises slightly .

「It would be against a merchant’s policy to avoid paying so I paid back the princ.i.p.al and the appropriate amount of interest . That along with the good will I have towards Flitch . 」

In that case, a clash with the head office is unavoidable .

「The s.h.i.+pment was three days ago, but six major suppliers have already been notified to terminate transactions and immediately return the money . All s.h.i.+pments that will go across the river are impossible to receive, essentially making it impossible to do business with the Federation . 」

To be expected of her opponents who are also merchants, they work fast .

「In addition, several feudal lords are blocking the transport of iron products from Lintbloom to the capital . I have no doubt they were bribed by head office . 」

That’s not good to hear .

「It isn’t a big deal, since I’ve already secured an alternate route by buying off feudal lords and barrier officials . 」

Claire isn’t losing .

「My name is more prominent than that of the Flitch company within the Margrave’s territory and the neighboring areas . I have also switched my target market of steel to the Goldonian merchants . 」

「So this is the merchant war you described to me before . It’s not something I’m familiar with…… I will cheer for you . 」

Laurie and Claire shake their heads .

「Not even close! This is just the opening act . In terms of war, this would be like the initial cursing stage or the exchange of arrows . 」

「This is when the true battle begins . When you talk about merchant wars, you won’t see blood, rather you will see mountains of gold being thrown around . 」

I see .

「Then what can I do? To be honest, I have no clue about how to fight a merchant war . I don’t think I can just march into the Flitch company and swing a spear around, right?」

Adolph would know what to do, except he said something about remaining neutral as the feudal lord’s government affairs official and not wanting to get involved in disputes with other merchants .

Claire and Laurie finally come beside me .

「The head office is betting the survival of the company on the investment in the South Yuguria Empire . They won’t stop at cutting off my market and expelling me…… They will use all sorts of methods in order to retrieve their a.s.sets . 」

「Flitch may be mid-level, however they can move hundreds of thousands of gold from one side to the other . They have a long history and are fully capable of utilizing under-the-table tactics like hiring a.s.sa.s.sins to take care of us . 」

Even I’ve heard through rumors that there is a group specialized in a.s.sa.s.sination willing to accept work at a ridiculously high price .

It’s possible for them to also send troublesome individuals unlike the usual mercenaries or thugs found at any bar .

「I will naturally be very careful, but unfortunately there is a limit to what I can do . If I can borrow Aegir-sama’s strength……」

「Sure, I’ll help . 」

If I surround them with my escort unit, it won’t be easy to touch them .

The a.s.sa.s.sins will need to hide their weapons to try and kill Claire, meanwhile I can openly protect her with heavily armed guards .

In the first place, the difference in strength between the bodyguards personally hired by Claire and my escort unit whose main occupation is fighting wars is like night and day .

No matter how skilled our opponents are, my guards will be something they aren’t used to .

If that is still insufficient, I can mobilize my personal army .

Adolph looks like he wants to say something, but the lives of women can’t be replaced .

「And then I’m also properly maintaining relations.h.i.+ps with local lords and governors, however there is no lack of skilled individuals in head office . When unimaginably important people fall to schemes and bribes…… there is only so much we can do as merchants . If we could use Aegir-sama’s influence――」

「Sure . 」

In other words, it will be a bribing compet.i.tion .

That’s where I come in and send a letter saying “you better stop or I’ll kill you”, to act as insurance .

This is for Claire . I’ll gladly become a wicked lord who supports a merchant with his status and power .

「Understood, leave it to me . 」

Adolph probably won’t be the only one who has something to say to me . Regardless, I’m Claire’s ally .

She’s my woman after all .

「「Thank you very much . To repay the Margrave’s kindness――」」

Claire and Laurie bow their heads together .

I’m not a fan of such formal treatment .

The two of them raise their heads and smile mischievously .

「So what kind of compensation do you desire?」

「Fufufu, you already know…… Claire, you’re such a bad woman . 」

Just like the evil lords I’ve seen in theatres, I reach out towards Claire’s bountiful bust and Laurie’s slender waist .

「Gufufu, not as bad as you, my lord…… aahn!」

Claire plays along, though she lets out a moan when I use my finger on her .

When I push the two of them onto the sofa, hands get placed on my chest to briefly delay me .

「You are certainly welcome to covet our bodies as much as you want, at any time and anywhere――」

「You may use whichever hole you want, in whatever way you want . 」

Saying such pleasing things to me will cause my pants to tear . I have to take them off quickly .

「But that’s not all . We have created an intelligence network here in this land . If you wish for any girl aside from us, we can grant that wish . 」

「Whether it’s a lewd attractive older lady or a pure and innocent young girl, we can arrange them for you . 」

That sounds good . I just have to confirm one thing .

「You can’t trick or bring any of them by force . Only invite girls who genuinely want to be with me . 」

I love women the most, yet at the same time I hate despairing women .

「Of course, we will be recruiting women to become lovers for Aegir-sama . It isn’t something we normally have to do though . 」

Claire a.s.sures me as she takes off my clothes .

Laurie pulls down my pants and then gulps before chiming in .

「With this size and girth, you will definitely have unwilling women moaning by the end, even if you rape them . 」

「This shape…… can only be seen as a weapon to kill women with . Their bodies will fall before their hearts . 」

In any case, I’m helping Claire .

I’ll get Celia to explain it to Adolph . He’ll complain more if he hears it from me .

Poor Person, Rich Person .

「Umumu…… I failed . 」

When I slump onto a chair in the office with my head in my hands, Celia comments sourly .

「That girl, she really just took the goods and left . 」

A moment ago, I gave Suzy a specially made pure gold necklace as a present .

She was happy enough to pounce on my neck and give me a kiss on the cheek .

All that jumping around made her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggle and flipped up her skirt to reveal her thin red underwear . It was great .

After she received my gift, she left .

「I thought I could sleep with her right away after how happy she was . 」

「She’s good at handling men . You can tell by looking at her…… More importantly, we were about to discuss the situation with the refugees and that stupid girl ran off with your necklace!」

I have no chance at winning a battle of enchanting each other .

If I can just pull in her in bed, I can manage something .

「Also, I think you should stay away from Nonna-san for awhile . She thought that you bought the necklace for her . 」

So she knew about it . If she finds out I gave it to Suzy, she’ll sulk .

I’ll leave for the city so she can’t find me .

「……I will go question the refugees and learn more about that girl . It’s definitely strange someone like her can be considered skilled . I sense some kind of conspiracy here . 」

Celia has doubts about Suzy’s background, huh?

I think it doesn’t matter at this point, although I’ll let her do as she likes .

I exit the mansion and head into the city .

Along the way, I pretend not to notice the female caretaker breastfeeding a foal in the stable .

Firstly, I take a peek at the parade grounds .

Irijina is running around like she’s having fun .

「Here’s where you charge in! What’s wrong, where’s your energy!?」

To the side, Myla is talking endlessly to the mid-level and low-level commanders about something .

「When you get hit by an enemy raid, you should inform the main force of the size, then you need to a.n.a.lyze the enemy’s strength and pressure, retreat, defend and then determine whether it is possible to counterattack . The standard for judging strength is――」

It sounds like a lecture on military tactics .

If she finds me, she might rope me in as well, so I’ll keep my distance .

「Don’t zone out like an idiot!」

Myla whacks one of them on the head with a baton .

That man seems to be a little happy as he apologizes .

Tonight I’ll get her to slap my a.s.s with that stick as well .

「Oh that reminds me, the soldiers mobilized as the reserve forces did not get called off . 」

They were mobilized as spare infantry as a precaution, but they never had a chance to do anything .

Keeping them mobilized for no reason will incur necessary costs and they will neglect their main occupations, which isn’t a good thing .

I thought a dismissal order would have come from Leopolt already .

「There are unsettling movements in former Vandolea . I decided it would be wise to maintain our current state for now . 」

「Ooh . 」

Leopolt is standing behind me before I realized .

Did he know I would be sneaking around?

「I knew . The soldiers knew as well, although they probably didn’t bother pointing it out to you when they could see you trying to hide . 」

After Leopolt said that, the soldiers salute altogether and Myla also lowers her head .

Irijina…… is still running around .

How uncool, they knew from the start . I’ll try to deceive them by talking about something serious .

「So do we know specifically what moves they are making in Vandolea?」

「South Yuguria Empire’s counterintelligence system is difficult to get through so the information we can gain is limited . However it has been confirmed that a portion of an unknown size of the army concentrated in the southwest, which includes Libatis, has moved to the east . There aren’t too many reasons to move the army from Libatis considering the likelihood of rebellion or deterioration of public order . 」

「Is it another war?」

Leopolt shakes his head .

「If they were going to wage war, they would need to move more than a squad of soldiers . They would need to set up logistics . Therefore, I conclude that the chance of a smaller scale ambush operation is highly likely . 」

「I see . Then I will leave that in your hands . If necessary, I’ll send Tristan again . 」

Leopolt lowers his head a little bit and then disappears .

I’ll go somewhere different too .

Having a superior wandering around and doing nothing won’t do anybody any good .

I walk leisurely along the main street of the shopping district to cool off .

A group of females wearing fur coats and vibrantly-colored hats pa.s.s by in front of me .

「It’s cold today, don’t you think? Do you want to go somewhere warm to have tea?」

「Then shall we go to Rumu Rumu? They released a new apple pie yesterday~」

「Sounds delicious . I’m going to use up all my allowance . 」

「Ahaha, didn’t you also get an advance payment of five silver from your parents last month? Aren’t they going to yell at you?」

「After warming up ourselves with tea, do you want to check out some new hats? We could also look at the fox pelt…… kyaa――!! That person just touched my b.u.m! It’s a molester!」

c.r.a.p, my hand moved by itself after I was drawn into the sprightly atmosphere .

「Sorry . You were so beautiful my hand couldn’t help reaching for your a.s.s . Forgive me and my right hand for being lewd . 」

The girls were shocked after they saw my face .

「Feudal lord-sama!? What are you doing here by yourself?」

「Hahaha, I’m a human too . I shop and walk around like everyone else . 」

The five girls crowd around me like they just saw a rare animal .

They are probably daughters of wealthy houses without any n.o.ble t.i.tles so I can talk to them casually .

It works out in my favor .

To begin with, Myla and I are the only n.o.bles in Rafen .

「Feudal lord-sama is such a pervert for touching a girl’s b.u.m~」

「What a naughty hand~」

The girls surround me and criticize me in a playful tone .

Upon closer inspection, they’re all in the late teens or early twenties .

I can’t see much of their bodies when they’re wearing thicker clothing for the winter, however I can smell the scent of perfume trendy among young girls on them .

「Eww, he’s ogling at us~」

「He’s thinking about dirty things . It’s just like the rumors~」

A finger pokes my body .

I’m glad I became feudal lord . I have another reason to protect Rafen now .

「Hey, don’t poke me . By the way, what are you doing about tea? Rumu Rumu’s apple pie is popular so it’ll probably run out by evening . 」

The special apple pie which was made ready for sale yesterday is actually quite popular with the rich .

Celia ran to the store at night after training and hung her head when she found out it was sold out .

She’s clever so I know she won’t make the same mistake twice . She’ll get one today .

「Here, it’s thanks for letting me touch your a.s.s . Now you can eat as much as you want . 」

I give each of them one gold coin .

They may be from well-off families, but I don’t feel any regret giving them gold .

「Waahー Thank you . 」

「If I eat one gold’s worth, I’m going to get fat~」

「Let’s go to Meriges restaurant too . That place is really expensive and too much for our allowances . 」

The girls giggle and wave their hands as they leave .

Older ladies are great, but girls 20 or younger are wonderful too .

Erich told me once, “protect the city and the people who live there,” because that’s the duty of a feudal lord .

「That is wrong . It should be “protect the city where women reside” . 」

Now then, I guess I’ll find a bar to drink at .

It would have been nice if Gido or Christoph came with me――

「Oh right . Christoph isn’t here anymore……」

It’s a little sad to call him a scapegoat after he got captured by South Yuguria .

As Leopolt said, South Yuguria has a tight hold on information so we can’t locate Christoph, much less come up with a rescue plan .

「He’s not the smartest guy . Well, he’s interesting . It’s lonely without him . 」

I’ll drink alone after all .

I’ll quietly raise a gla.s.s in memory of him .

When I try to look for a quiet bar to enter, I feel a tug on my sleeve .

「Hm?」

It was a young girl about ten years old who was grabbing onto me .

「Are you lost?」

She has a rather dirty appearance though her clothes are normal, so she probably isn’t an orphan .

With that said, she doesn’t seem to be at an age where she can’t find her own house .

「Please, your blessing . I humbly beg you . 」

「Fumu……」

A beggar, and a child one at that .

You don’t really see many of these in Rafen .

「……hn?」

I see the guards looking this way so I put the little girl on my shoulders .

Now we look like parent and child .

「……fumu . 」

The guards return to their patrol .

Myla fussed about how beggars could become a cause for the deterioration of public order in Rafen and has made it illegal .

If any are found, while they may not be thrown in jail, they will get a good scolding .

「You don’t have a house to go back to?」

She shakes her head side to side .

Ahh, she has a place to go back to yet she’s begging .

「You don’t have parents?」

She shakes her head again .

「Mama is there……」

The girl points to a woman in her thirties similarly pulling the sleeves of pa.s.sersby .

Oh, the guards shouted at her and she ran away .

After entering the back alleys, I find the mother and put my hand on her shoulder .

「Um, your blessings…… hiiiih!」

Does she recognize me?

She was about to run again until she saw her daughter beside me .

If she abandoned her daughter and fled, I would have to punish her with my d.i.c.k .

I take the mother and child to a store we can enjoy tea at, then try to understand her situation .

Their family consists of two parents and three children, with the children not yet old enough to work .

Although the father is working, he has a weak const.i.tution, preventing him from earning a decent wage .

The mother used to be working, but was fired recently after making a blunder .

With the addition of various other factors, their family was left with no money and they couldn’t pay the winter head tax for five people―― a total of five gold .

They won’t be able to survive if chased out of Rafen so they are doing everything possible, regardless of appearance, to earn more money .