Chapter 237: A Fair Trade
Camilla Croitz received a sudden order from the emperor and was dispatched to the kingdom of Bagran.
The order was to obtain some kind of technology from Count Vandus, who was the cause of the recent fleet bombardment.
Count Croitz thought that he would not give up the technology easily, but she had no choice but to follow the order.
She stopped by the royal palace of Bagran to discuss the situation of the bombardment, and soon after, she visited Leobold as well.
Prince Ruad, who had heard a separate message from the emperor, was on edge.
It was a critical situation that could trigger another war if anything went wrong.
Since everyone seems busy, lets get straight to the point. Count Croitz, tell us your purpose for coming here.
It is an order from His Majesty.
A sealed envelope with the emperors seal was placed on the table, and the two stood up to show their respect.
A small knife opened the document, and Count Croitz read it aloud.
Gailord Zaium Vandel II commands. Prince Ruad Bagran of the kingdom of Bagran shall immediately prepare for war against Elvrande and report to Count Croitz.
Also, Count Leobold Vandus of the kingdom of Bagran shall write a report on this incident and submit it to Count Croitz, and prepare to transfer the landing method or technology of the airship fleet.
Ruad and Leobold looked at each others faces without a word.
They knew that Zaium was in trouble because of the bombardment, but they did not expect that the emperor himself would intervene.
He was old and supposed to abdicate soon.
Did he suddenly regain his vigor in his old body?
The first one to speak was Prince Ruad.
Its been less than a year since the Easthart War ended, and now another war Bagrans finances are not so strong.
You dont have to worry about that. The managers of the finance department will help you.
Prince Ruad gave a faint smile.
Help meant lending money at a low interest rate.
He had no intention of borrowing money or going to war in the first place. It was like a bolt out of the blue for him.
The sad thing was that he could not refuse it.
Bagran was not a vassal state of Zaium, but it was in a position where it could not ignore its influence.
The prince decided to make his last resistance.
The count sitting next to me lost his family in the war. Its a pity.
It was a hint to stop there, but Count Croitz took it differently.
Then he must need a new family.
Youre talking nonsense
Ruad realized that he could not avoid being sent to war when he saw her determined face.
In fact, it was probably decided when the emperor gave his order.
A silent sigh escaped his lips, and this time Leobold opened his mouth.
What report are you talking about? I barely escaped by luck. I have nothing to submit.
It means that you have to submit the details of how you escaped. His Majesty seems to want to see this incident from a third partys perspective.
Fortunately, it did not seem like he intended to hold him accountable.
Then what about the second landing method or technology Does this mean that you want me to hand over the means to land on the floating continent?
His voice was stiff, and Count Croitz tried to soothe him.
His Majesty knows very well that the empire is asking too much from you. You dont have to worry. He will give you enough compensation.
But that meant that Zaium also wanted to dip its spoon into the honey of the floating continent.
It seemed harmless, so they wanted to create one for themselves.
Can I choose my own compensation?
Count Croitz frowned slightly.
That was not in her plan, but she had considerable discretion.
What is it?
I want one of your Goliath production lines. The equipment and know-how related to Goliath manufacturing, and a line that can produce regular Goliaths independently.
The other two gasped at his bold demand.
This was equivalent to handing over Zaiums secrets entirely.
Any country would treat Goliath manufacturing technology as top secret, especially regular Goliaths.
Count Croitz said with difficulty,
Your demand is somewhat excessive.
I dont think so. Do you know how many times our fleet has been to the floating continent?
Four times?
Three times. We only went there three times, but we were able to earn a huge amount of money worth 500,000 gold.
500,000 gold!
Prince Ruad jumped up.
That was enough to cover Bagrans finances for several years.
She was surprised by the bigger number than she expected.
Did she think it was a honey pot, but it was actually a lake of honey?
From my point of view, its not an excessive demand to share the wealth with the empire.
Indeed. Your demand has some merit. I have some discretion, but I will report this matter to His Majesty. Do you have any other conditions?
I want to receive the Goliath technology and personnel first.
It was a somewhat strange condition, but it was not important since he agreed to hand over the technology.
Count Croitz nodded, and Prince Ruad said with a somewhat bitter voice.
I didnt know you were making so much money.
Its all for the glory and honor of the royal family.
Glory and honor? Im sorry, but havent you been acting freely until now?
There are various facilities being built on the floating continent, including a mooring station. Once the outpost is completed, the airships belonging to the royal family will be able to go to and from the floating continent without any problem.
So youre saying youll give us a chance to make money.
Of course, I wont skimp on financial support either. Please dont forget the oath I made.
How can I forget? I appreciate your loyalty as well, so dont worry.
Unfortunately, Bagran and Zaium would not be able to touch that money.
Soon, Kairos of Elvrande would start his activities, and the continent would be dragged into a cauldron of chaos.
Many royals would die, and that would surely lead to wars among the countries.
The emperor and Prince Ruad would not escape that fate either.
The assassin would also reach out to Leobold, but he had already prepared enough.
After the meeting was over, Prince Ruad ran somewhere saying he had to check the finances, and the remaining two drank tea in the garden.
Camilla Croitz did not look at the garden that the royal family had carefully cultivated, but only stared at Leobolds face.
You seem to change your status every time I see you. Will you be a king next time we meet?
What are you talking about? I have sworn loyalty to the royal family of Bagran.
Its a joke. Anyway, I was very surprised by how you drove out Lantis. The generals in my country also asked me how you did it. They couldnt figure it out.
I was lucky. Lantis also made a foolish choice.
Lantis is greedy, but not stupid. You have hidden ambitions. I can see that from your attitude of trying to lower yourself.
Leobold closed his mouth and drank his tea, and Camilla drew something on his hand with her finger.
I kissed you last time. Can I hear your answer?
What kind of answer do you want?
The word affair doesnt suit our situation. Ill be straightforward. Will you be my partner?
He was proposing to be a contract couple who supported each other.
The two nobles had similar standings in their respective countries, though their goals were different.
If they joined forces and helped each other, they could gain significant synergy.
But Camilla was more likely to benefit from this deal.
All she could offer to Leobold at the moment was information from the empire and support for his position.
Her firm hand gripped his hand from above and pressed it.
The truth is, I was planning to set up a bridal chamber as soon as this incident was over. If you could stop by my territory for a few days, I would take that as a substitute for a wedding ceremony. You dont seem to mind by the look on your face, what do you say?
Its not a bad deal for me. I can secure a considerable position in the empire, and have you, Lady Camilla.
Yes, you can have me. This Camilla Croitz
Her eyes became coy and she approached Leobolds face.
They quickly overlapped their lips and after a moment she pulled away and licked her lips.
You agree, right? The rest of it lets continue after this incident is over.
I hope you wont be stingy when I visit your territory then.
Its a pity that there are too many eyes here. Its someone elses garden, after all. Well then
She left with her silver hair fluttering and Leobold drank the remaining tea.
Unfortunately, he wouldnt be able to enter the bridal chamber she had prepared with care.
The empire would be in chaos when the emperor died and she would be too busy to deal with it.
He would just take the Goliath-related technology and leave, but what could he do about the situation?
This was a fair trade for Leobold.
At least he had intended to give something back.
***
The emperor of the empire did not trade.
He gave gifts in exchange for tributes, and the only exception was Elvrande.
So for the emperor of Zaium, other countries were not equal partners except for Elvrande.
But this did not only work against other countries.
The bureaucrats of the empire took great care to make the emperors gifts look decent, and in most cases, the tributary side gained much more.
Thats why countries like Galisto tried to increase the scale of their tributes, and the empire subtly pressured them to moderate.
They didnt want to run out of budget for the relevant agencies while preparing the gifts.
In that respect, the gift that the emperor of the empire gave to Count Vandus was quite large.
More than 10 airships flew carrying Goliath-related personnel and facilities, and technicians were dispatched to install them.
Ether stones and various tools and materials needed for magic filled one cargo bay, and there were plenty of gold-made crafts as well.
Including Lady Croitzs personal gift, it made people gossip.
This mark means that its a dowry from a woman who is in love
Do women send dowries in Zaium?
Thats quite a dowry Lady Croitz must like our lord very much.
Oh, Lady Croitz is not an ordinary person. Shes one of the top nobles in the empire.
Shes just a countess though?
Shes a power behind the throne, even if her rank is only countess. Croitz is a famous family in the imperial military.
Then what about Miss Arma?
He can afford to have another wife.
Shh, Miss Arma is coming!
Look at her face. She wont bite anyone.
Anyway, the Goliath production facility made the blacksmiths, including Vultorn, go crazy.
Look at this! What is all this?
They brought one of the empires Goliath production lines. It would have been nice if it was Bephar-class, but unfortunately its Ose-class.
Ose-class Goliath was Zaiums main mass-produced machine with an output of 130E.
It was inferior to Bephar-class, but superior to most other countries main machines.
The reason why Leobold wanted this was because Ose-class was Bephar-class with lower output and some functions removed.
It had almost the same potential as Bephar-class, which meant that it could operate without problems when the output was increased.
In other words, he could produce machines above Bephar-class without arousing suspicion from the empire.
There are some technicians who came with it. We have to thoroughly extract their technology and make it ours. This facility also has to be operational within two months.
Two months! Isnt that too hasty? Its a different system from ours, so it will take at least six months to learn the operation procedure. And we have to test it dozens of times.
Ill give you 3,000 gold. Bring some personnel from the mainland.
5,000 gold, 3 months. This is the minimum.
It seemed impossible to reduce it any further.
Leobold decided to be satisfied with that.
After that, Valgard, who went to the floating continent, reported.
This is an interesting place. The vegetation is completely different from the ground, how should I say it, in a refined way.
Anything special? Something that could help us.
There were some strange birds that couldnt fly, so I decided to capture a few and take them with me.
They were phoenixes.
The floating continent had many animals and plants that were not found on the ground, and phoenixes were one of them.
They looked like a cross between a chicken and a turkey, and they were medium-sized.
According to Armas analysis, they tasted similar and were easy to raise, so they seemed suitable for livestock.
Valgard talked about the progress of the outpost and the resource acquisition, then suddenly lowered his voice.
And I checked the branch of Yggdrasil that the lord ordered. It was cleverly hidden between the islands.
Thats why it wasnt detected by the satellite.
Can you secure it?
Youll see when you see it, but this thing is huge. And I dont know how far its roots go, so its a bit tricky to pull it out.
The main body of Yggdrasil, the world tree, was in Elvrande, but its branches were located in various continents.
If you analyzed the flow of ether, you could estimate the vicinity of its location, if not the exact one.
The elves used it for various purposes besides storing ether.
Arma reported that the soil around Yggdrasil became fertile.
There is no efficient nitrogen fixation method in this era, but the fields cultivated by the elves have amazing productivity. If they properly cleared the forest and secured farmland, they could feed the whole of Astera and still have some left.
So Yggdrasil acts as a natural fertilizer.
We can use that in reverse to steal vitality from the surrounding land. The two countries on the border are suffering from that.
Elvrande denied any involvement, but it was obvious that they were involved.
In the end, the elves goal was to drive the Ains, including humans, to near extinction and make Astera their world.
People said that Elvrande had changed their attitude by accepting the one-year agreement, but Leobold didnt think so.
They just changed their method.
He thought it was better to kill them by assassination and starvation than by the destructive and chaotic method of war.
Leobold snapped out of his thoughts.
Send Zion and Lucia. Theyll find a way.
And theres someone whos been bothering me these days
Who is it? Is it a dragon?
Not a dragon, but a fragment of God. Oh, you dont know what that is, do you? In short, its the power that seeped into somewhere when a god died. It could be a living being or an object or even a concept.
Is it from the god who died in the Great War?
Thats likely. Ive seen such cases in my time. A flying ship had the power of a god in it and boasted tremendous power.
I doubt you can control it
It has consciousness, but no awareness of being a god, so it will listen to you if you tame it properly.
By force, you mean.
You can persuade it, too. Why do you have to crush it? You seem more reckless than me.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
It seems noisy on the ground. Are you sure I dont have to go?
Its fine. Some people need that noise.
Damn, Im starting to suspect that you might be involved in all this mess. Is this going to lead to a war across Astera?
I didnt make it happen.
Thats what you want, right? But let me ask you one thing. What are you going to do with Astera after you unify it? Whats your goal?
World peace.
Valgard was speechless for a moment at the simple and absurd answer.
Ive heard a lot of nonsense from gods and dragons, and all kinds of races in between. But I swear, Ive never heard anything more ridiculous than what you just said.
Take it as a compliment.
Fine. Im bound to you anyway, so lets do our best for world peace or conquest. Ill contact you later.
***
As the Ether Research Institute began to accumulate data, Arma acquired a lot of information.
She couldnt answer the essential question of what Ether was, but she made rapid progress in everything else.
One of them was measuring the output of individual Ether Hearts.
She could measure the combat power of individuals after Goliath.
This is only the capacity of Ether that can be processed per hour, not the real power. Combat power varies depending on each individuals experience and mindset.
The maximum value can be measured, then. How about using some people around as examples?
Ill display it on your vision through the biochip.
When Leobold received the Ether Heart surgery, a number appeared next to the people he saw.
Katina and Elwin were almost similar with 50E, and Steffina recorded 70E, while Granden had 75E.
Vulthorn had 25E, which was higher than commoners but lower than nobles with Ether bloodline.
Zion and Lucia had gone to the floating continent, so they couldnt be measured, but according to Arma, they exceeded 1,000.
Valgard would probably be around that much too.
And Leobold broke the device when Arma tried to measure him directly.
Sparks flew and she silently cleaned up the wreckage.
The circuit couldnt handle your Ether output. It exceeds 5,000, which is amazing.
That is, Leobold was more than five times stronger than Valgard or Zion.
And that was the minimum value; the actual number was unknown.
It was an impressive scorecard, but he was indifferent.
He was a miracle made by 10 billion humans who absorbed two relics of the Prophet; he had to do at least that much.
And there was no one in Astera who could oppose him.
Ether output is close to 2,000. Thats incredible power.
The elf who absorbed the power of Black Dragon Grakies roared loudly.
Kraaaak!
A scream of pain caused a shockwave and swept away the surrounding facilities.
He slowly got up from his body that was spewing smoke.
His eyes were dyed gold and his long ears characteristic of elves were cut off.
The mad killer Kairoz.
He finally opened his eyes.
Arma reported the results of tracking him.
He seems to have a mental problem. His ego is very unstable and he sometimes loses his memory.
Thats convenient. He can say he lost his memory when hes in trouble.
He doesnt deny his crimes. He just doesnt answer. He only complied when the Council ordered him to be confined. But thats only for his kin.
He turns into a devil for other races.
Especially humans. He lost his family in the war with humans.
So he thinks he has the right to slaughter thousands of them.
It was a delusion, but he didnt feel like stopping him right away.
Leobold looked at the corpses rising around him and frowned.
Whats that?
Its a kind of black magic called Rising Dead. Its possible because Grakies was a dragon who was well versed in black magic.
Raising corpses as zombies is disgusting. Can you analyze that?
I need genetic data and Ether Heart analysis.
That meant he had to capture him.
He was supposed to be dealt with at the end according to Elvrandes plan, so he could catch him then.
Then Kairoz suddenly unleashed his power and started to destroy everything around him.
It seemed hard to use him as a force in this state.
Leobold turned his eyes away from him.
Lets capture him and use him for research when he comes here.
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