Chapter 26 - The Man Who Can Picture the Future

"A-An utterly absurd story... you say?"

"I don't care whether you believe the story I am about to tell you or not. Just listen."

"U-Understood."

Stephan simply assumed an attentive posture, just as he requested.

He was so dizzy he felt like he might die, but doing so wasn't entirely impossible.

Ferda's story began.

"This is the future I am imagining."

Ferda did not embellish it as though he were trying to pitch something.

He merely focused on recounting the things he had seen, heard, and felt exactly as they were.

Stephan listened attentively, picking out the keywords one by one.

'A carriage that moves without horses. Tools that run on magic power, yet do not require mages...'

Stephan was a man who grew up being called a genius, and his merchant senses were also exceptional.

A merchant's sense is simple.

Taking the profit and discarding the loss.

What was Ferda talking about?

'A preposterous dream.'

By Stephan's common sense, it was an impossible story, one that rightly deserved to be discarded.

'And yet... there's something plausible about it.'

It wasn't some sweet whisper meant to lure him into a trap.

There was none of the typical exaggeration of a con artist or traps that hid information.

It was just like a grandfather telling a story to young children.

The feeling that he was very calmly reciting what he had personally seen and felt.

That was why, even with such an absurd story, the scenery naturally drew itself in Stephan's mind.

He didn't even know what this was called, yet Stephan felt a certain conviction.

'This will undoubtedly make money!'

Stephan's mind had completely returned to its senses, but his hands were trembling.

"That is all. This is the extent of the future I am imagining."

Stephan, who had kept his mouth shut while listening attentively, finally spoke.

"That future... I presume it is related to what you are researching, Regent?"

Stephan asked with a pounding heart.

It was so shocking that he even forgot to stutter.

"Of course."

"T-Then! Could you please tell me what it is?! I beg of you!"

Unable to contain his excitement, Stephan pleaded with Ferda.

"It is magical engineering."

"Magical... engineering."

It sounded like a name he had heard once before.

But the reason Stephan hadn't remembered it was undoubtedly because it didn't make money.

'If I thought it wouldn't work back then, it shouldn't work now either...'

This was his first time feeling like he was missing out on such an appealing product.

He absolutely could not miss this.

"If you need monster corpses for that research, how about we help you?"

"Are you saying you'll cooperate with us?"

"Yes. We will provide them to you."

Ferda leaned back into his chair and asked.

"What do you want?"

"We would like to be involved in the process of distributing and manufacturing those magical engineering products."

Stephan revealed his ambition.

Ferda asked in an even more serious tone.

"Simply distributing and manufacturing?"

"I mean we wish to monopolize it, of course."

Stephan answered clearly.

An exclusive contract.

Whatever it is, if you can have it all to yourself, it becomes a powerful weapon.

"I am well aware that it is a great greed. Therefore, I will adjust everything according to your will, Regent. I only ask that you allow us to monopolize the products derived from that research."

Stephan strongly expressed his desire for a monopoly.

Ferda put on a face that showed he didn't care much.

"What we are researching is something that will change the world. If you want to monopolize it, you will need to show some sincerity beyond just aiding the research, won't you?"

"What should I do for you?"

Ferda, seizing the moment, made his proposal.

"I want to secure materials for road development and the advancement of the Grand Duchy's territory, as well as stockpiled food, as top priorities."

Stephan was startled by Ferda's demands pouring out like flowing water.

"You are asking for quite a lot..."

"Is there a problem with a leader of a nation wanting to exert effort for his nation's development?"

"There is no problem. Haha..."

Even though he was smiling and acting like a fool on the outside, Stephan couldn't help but ponder deeply.

'Providing the three things he asked for isn't even out of the question.'

The money and materials Stephan had amassed were overwhelmingly higher than those of his two siblings.

Road development was something they had to do anyway as long as they were cooperating.

He also had enough materials and stockpiled food to set aside for him.

However, the reason he hesitated lay elsewhere.

'As a top priority...'

Stephan knew just how terrifying those words were.

"Top priority" meant that even if another place offered a premium asking to buy it, he had to grit his teeth, ignore them, and supply it at standard price to him first.

Stephan's merchant instincts were warning him to absolutely avoid this.

"You don't look so good."

"Pardon? Pardon??"

"I guess supplying it as a top priority doesn't sit well with you?"

"Not at all. How could that be?"

Saying no even when the answer is yes.

That fell under the basics of the basics.

"Think about it. Even if you pile up millions in gold, wouldn't dying be the most unfair thing of all?"

Stephan flinched.

"A-Are you threatening me right now?"

"No. It's not a threat, it's a story about your future. Herman Pascal is quite elderly, isn't he?"

"Ah..."

He thought he knew what Ferda was talking about.

Stephan recalled what he had set aside for a moment.

'My detestable older brother and younger sister...'

Muchit and Tilda.

Weren't the two of them fiercely putting pressure on him?

"Even if it means taking a loss, there is no proposition as attractive as becoming the master of the trading company, is there?"

"T-The master of the trading company..."

The Pascal trading company was everything to Stephan.

Not just in terms of wealth, but even his life.

"Just as you cooperate with me, I too shall cooperate with you. So that what Herman Pascal built, and the trading company you fostered, will become yours in their entirety."

Stephan brought out a scale in his mind.

What he demanded, what he showed, and what Stephan himself had to put forth.

Of course, it was an overwhelmingly disadvantageous deal for Stephan.

'The Grand Duchess, no, the Regent could become someone who has my back.'

Ferda Valdrova.

At first, he hadn't thought much of him as a connection.

If he went around flaunting Valdrova's kept man as a connection, he would only be met with ridicule, and people would think he was so desperate he was grabbing at rotten ropes.

Most people underestimated him, and Stephan had believed it as well.

'But that's not the case.'

Seeing him in person now, it was different.

He was a man who possessed a radiance comparable to an Emperor.

Even as he was facing him and marveling like this, the lingering doubt that he might still be underestimating him never ceased.

'This man knows how to picture the future.'

Unlike the childish pictures drawn by boastful nobles, even with rough strokes, the shape is distinctly visible.

He has conviction, and he has the capability to match.

'Something I could never possess.'

The absolute charisma that Stephan did not have.

Therefore, he wanted to say this.

I want to do it unconditionally.

Those words pushed up into Stephan's throat.

"May I ask one question?"

But he did not say those words.

Because answering a tempo late is always the shortcut to becoming a great merchant.

"Speak."

"I have an older brother and a sister above me, so what is the reason you did not choose them?"

Ferda answered honestly.

"I will speak honestly. It is because there is nothing to gain from sticking with them."

A cold and calculated judgment.

"And you are lonely and isolated. Because that makes you perfect to exploit."

"Urk..."

Ferda was being overly honest.

Stephan, who had waited with the intention of testing the waters, was caught off guard instead.

"That is why I am making you a proposal. Whether you will resolve to take a loss and survive, or whether you will simply be pushed aside."

Stephan realized just how shortsighted his thoughts had been.

To think he tried to test a man like this.

"I will do it."

And he added the words he had momentarily forgotten.

"I will do it unconditionally."

Stephan knelt down and bowed to him.

Ferda leaned forward and extended his hand.

"I will be in your care from now on."

"I am the one who will be in your care, Regent."

Stephan thought to himself.

That no matter who came with whatever proposal, it would never give him a thrill surpassing the deal struck today.

* * *

Count Concillus's territory.

Today, a soldier who was someone's father and husband died.

He met a heroic death while buying time to protect the farmers from the monsters that attacked the fields.

The priests performed the rites by sprinkling holy water over the corpse, and the soldiers raised their swords to honor his death.

Count Concillus also attended the funeral of this mere soldier.

The lord, aged as he was, could no longer lift a sword, but he never skipped a soldier's funeral, always attending to honor their death.

It was an action no different from usual, but today was quite different.

Even after the entire funeral had ended, Lord Count Ulvera Concillus did not leave his spot and continued to gaze at the grave.

"Arwen..."

He called the name of the knight standing behind him.

"Speak, My Lord."

"What of the Empire's side? What happened to the letter we requested?"

Arwen forced an answer in a strained voice.

"They say it will take time. That supplying the soldiers within the Empire takes priority..."

"Takes priority... you say."

Ulvera Concillus stroked his beard down.

Ulvera Concillus, whose life was like walking a tightrope, rarely revealed his emotions.

In this environment where letting one's emotions out today could lead to death tomorrow, he always practiced smiling like a good-natured person.

If not today, then tomorrow; if not tomorrow, then the day after.

"These bastards who are worse than dogs..."

Even Count Concillus could no longer just stand there smiling.

"Supplying the soldiers within the Empire takes priority? Are they saying we aren't subjects of the Empire? Even though we on the front lines live tormented by monsters every single day?! Is the Emperor so worried about petty public order that he's arming guards instead?!"

"Please calm down, My Lord."

"It is truly lamentable. I may not have lived honorably even once, but I believed I never lived shamefully! Yet today is the first time I have felt so ashamed!"

When Count Concillus heard the reason for the soldier's death, it felt as though his heart was crumbling.

It was because the sword he had raised to block the monster snapped right as he was dealing a critical blow.

The sword he used was a standard supply item, yet he had wielded it for a whopping five years.

It wouldn't have been strange if it broke at any time.

Count Concillus knows how important national defense is.

At the very least, he did not neglect the training of his soldiers to protect his territory, and he valued superiors setting an example so their mental fortitude would be solid.

But even such mental fortitude is useless in the face of insufficient supplies.

The interior of the Empire is peaceful, but the front line is always in a state tantamount to war.

It was a place where casualties caused by monsters constantly occurred.

"Forgive me..."

Count Concillus dropped to his knees, gripping the soldier's grave.

"Please forgive this incompetent old man... I was at fault."

"To call yourself incompetent, My Lord! This is entirely because we are lacking!"

"That's right, it is my fault!"

"It is my fault!"

Arwen knelt, and the soldiers under his command all knelt as well.

Count Concillus wailed aloud for a long time.

After crying for quite some time, Count Concillus stood up with Arwen's support and began to walk again.

He was on his way back to his quarters.

Just then, he heard a commotion outside the castle gates.

It was loud enough to pierce through the high, thick walls.

Instead of moving to his quarters, Count Concillus asked the guard stationed in front of the main gate.

"What is going on?"

"Salute! I was actually just looking for you, My Lord Count!"

"You were looking for me?"

"Yes. There is a line of carriages outside pushing through the forest. Their attire looks like that of merchants, but they are suspicious so we are holding them back..."

"What do you mean, suspicious merchants?"

"They say they came from the Pascal trading company."

It was entirely reasonable to find them suspicious.

Because an entity on the level of the Pascal trading company had no reason to come to a place like the far east.

The guards must have concluded they were disguised bandits or ruffians.

"Understood. I will go out and take a look."

Venom entered Concillus's eyes.

He vowed that if they were bandits, he would draw his sword on the spot and soak them in blood.

Count Concillus opened the side door and stepped outside.

In front of the main gate, a relatively well-dressed middle-aged man sat atop a horse.

"We have come to see Count Concillus. Our carriages are waiting aimlessly in the forest, so it is a dangerous situation. Could you please open the gates?"

"The man you are looking at right now is Lord Count Ulvera Concillus. Show some respect."

At Arwen's warning, the middle-aged man was startled, leaping off his horse and dropping to his knees.

"Ah, my deepest apologies. My eyes were dim, so please forgive my insolence, Lord Count."

"It's fine. Who are you people? Bringing so many carriages to a place like this is bound to frighten people..."

"My apologies for the late introduction. We are from the Pascal trading company."

"I heard that too. Do you have a way to prove it?"

"Here it is."

The middle-aged man took out his identification documents and showed them.

Bearing the Empire's crest and plaque, he was unmistakably someone from the Pascal trading company.

"Why did you come here?"

"We came to inquire about establishing a branch within Count Concillus's territory."

"If the Pascal trading company is establishing a branch... are you saying you're interested in trading in this far east?"

He was even more surprised.

Establishing a branch meant they intended to stimulate trade in the surrounding region.

However, there was no reason for a massive trading company to stimulate trade in the far east.

Because for their business, it was more rational to spread out safely in all directions from the central region rather than the high-risk far east.

"An order came down from the higher-ups. We are to support projects like material supply and road improvement as our top priority, and to establish a far eastern branch. For that business, Count Concillus's territory was selected as having the best location. If Count Concillus permits the establishment of the branch, we have arrived fully prepared to proceed immediately."

Count Concillus stared blankly at the countless procession of carriages that had pushed through the forest.

"So did you come with the intention of building a castle?"

"Haha, that's not the case. We do have construction materials, but we heard the news that you haven't been receiving supplies recently. Therefore, on behalf of the Empire, our company has selected the finest among our stock to deliver them as supplies for you."

"Supplies...!"

Taking quick strides, Count Concillus looked at the goods loaded in the back of the carriage.

"Gasp!"

His wrinkled eyes widened.

Piled inside that carriage were things far more precious than millions in gold.

'The requests of mine that had been ignored... they're all here!'

From weapons to maintenance consumables, all the way to storable food.

From the trivial to the absolutely essential, everything was packed inside those carriages.

Count Concillus picked up one of the supply swords.

An indisputable top-quality item.

It was a sturdy piece of equipment that would at least not snap mid-combat while fighting a monster.

"Why would Pascal... bring business to the far east like this?"

Count Concillus was incredibly curious.

He felt that no matter what, he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard the answer.

The man replied.

"It is a business being conducted in consultation with the representative of Grand Duchess Valdrova."