Chapter 155: Black Fox's Visit

Craaaaash!

An armrest made of gold was crushed into pieces.

"H-He dares..."

The Emperor of the Laviter Empire, the ruler of the continent, normally did not show his emotions. However, right now, the Blade Master's rage was enveloping the palace with a suffocating bloodlust.

"....."

The unbelievable news of defeat had flown in after the start of the morning court. Because something well and truly big had happened, the Information Guild delivered the news to the palace without charging money.

"To think not a single Skyknight was able to return! All the knights We were proud of... WERE DEFEATED?!?!?!"

The usually inscrutable Emperor gave a shout of rage. The several dozen high-ranking nobles gathered in the throne room kept their heads low, their faces pale. If sparks were to fly, even having ten necks would not be enough to keep their lives. They waited for the Emperor's murderous rage to subside.

"Argh..."

Hadveria was so enraged that the sound of his gnashing could be heard inside the throne room.

Cold and frosty mana came streaming from his body.

"From this moment forth, Nerman will be treated as the greatest enemy of our empire. We hereby proclaim that any and all merchant groups or other parties who collude with Nerman will be considered an enemy of the empire!"

The empire's greatest enemy, named by the Emperor himself. Until that opponent was eliminated, war would rage on.

"By Your Majesty's will!"

The nobles who had been shocked stiff hurried to bow their heads.

"A state of emergency shall be declared over the entire army, and besides the minimum required troops from the Southern and Northern Corps, the Western Corps will mobilize!"

The Emperor gave a stream of commands.

"Yes, sir!"

The nobles bowed their heads again.

"He dares to bring such disgrace to Us and the empire..."

Nerman was a county, but it hadn't measured up to a county of the empire. Yet within one year, it had been declared the Laviter Empire's greatest enemy.

Whoooosh.

A cold wind gusted through the throne room, where not a single breeze from the outside could reach.

All because of one man named Kyre.

* * *

"I think the sculptures decorating the yard can be harmonized in this fashion."

"Hooh, the more I see you, the more you surprise me. How is it possible that a human can know more about architecture than a dwarf?"

The latest Laviter invasion wasn't our first or second battle, so the aftermath was cleaned up quickly. The wyverns that had lost their lives or could not be saved were skinned and stored away in the warehouses, and the ones that could be used went into re-education with concentrated healing using holy water.

'We got another 200 this time.'

Their recovery could not be guaranteed because of the severe damage they had taken to their eyes, but Derval told me that at least 200 wyverns were captured. We could have saved more wyverns with a little more time, but the situation didn't permit that.

'Huhu, once we recruit the Skyknights, our enemies will be in for it!'

If the wyverns could be perfectly assimilated into our forces, we would have at least 400 wyverns, a number that could hardly be imagined for a mere territory. With such numbers, even if I wasn't there, Nerman could stand up to any enemy. We would have the military power of a small kingdom.

"Hey, longlegs, I said that's wrong! That part has to be very artfully done to make it a proper castle gate. How can you set the frame so ignorantly?!"

"Hmph! What would short-legged people know about art? No matter how you look at it, this is better."

"Argh, so frustrating! Is everyone who grew up eating grass in the mountains like this?! Why're you saying something as ridiculous as an orc eating grass?!"

In the plains in front of the cave Dwarven Village, the new Dwarven Village was about 90% finished. It was a small castle-city, but the dwarves were giving it their all. Around ten elves were helping them with spirits. Friendship between the elves and dwarves had sprouted during the manual labor in Nerman's construction sites, and they were working together while squabbling at each other.

"I never thought that the day we would cooperate with elves again would come. Our predecessors brought masterpieces to life with the help of the elves, you see."

Patriarch Cassiars was gazing at the elves with a contented look.

'Masterpieces, huh... kukuku.'

My facial expression didn't change, but my eyes were shining from the happiness I felt in my heart. The dwarves were already making the continent's best luxury arms, ornaments, and various products, but with the addition of the elves' magic and summoning ability, works of art beyond all imagination would be created. And all of those masterpieces were directly linked to money, so much money that they could fully line my and the territory's pockets with Gold.

"Did you find new iron mines?"

"Of course. We found them with the help of the elves. Even if we continue consuming minerals at our current pace, there should be enough mines to last us for a hundred years, no problem."

'The preparations are perfect.'

Iron was the mineral with the greatest consumption, so I was relieved to hear that we would have no shortage of it for a century.

"Thank you for your hard work."

"What hard work... My life has never been as enjoyable as it is now. I can breathe the outside air as much as I want, and the work I want to do is overflowing. Haha. It's all thanks to you, lad."

Someone with a crooked mindset might complain that they had too much work to do, but Patriarch Cassiars extolled my virtues with a sincerely thankful gaze.

"I'm always so grateful for the way you and the other brothers feel."

"Ach, no need for that. That aside, when do you need the glass? If you tell me the size, we can start producing it right away."

"It would be great if you could start making it from tomorrow onwards."

"Got it."

A good 1,000+ dwarves were losing sleep because of Nerman. Perhaps because of their ancestral blood, even the dwarven women had a profound expertise in the craftsmanship of very detailed sculptures or gems, and even those women were being put to work producing goods for Nerman.

"Also, please take a look at this."

"What is it?" asked the Patriarch with interest as he looked at the blueprint I passed him. "What is this used for?"

"They have to be carved with great attention to detail, and I also need you to make a hundred of each piece."

"A hundred?"

The detailed images drawn on the blueprint depicted a flying Black Wyvern, Nerman Castle, a scene with the Kyre Road, and finally, my handsome face. Each one was on a canvas about as large as a dollar bill.

"I see there are numbers on there."

"Does there happen to be something you can add to paper to make it tear-resistant and long-lasting?"

"To paper? Of course. If the sap of the daknak tree is boiled and put in, you can make a very durable paper that won't tear even with quite a lot of force."

"Is it easy to acquire?"

"Naturally. They've got intense vitality, so they grow native in forests all over the mountains."

'Nice!'

I grinned at the Patriarch's words. Everything was falling into place, as if the gods really did love me.

"With the Patriarch's outstanding ability, around one month would be more than enough, right?" I asked, implying that I didn't doubt his ability in the least.

"Of course! Who are we? We're the Clan of the Rock, the clan with the best dexterity among the dwarves! Just believe in us!"

As long as you praised them a little, the dwarves would never say no. They were truly precious and valuable people I couldn't live without.

'Wait for me, merchant groups of the continent, as well as you empire bastards. I'll shake you down to your roots!' I thought wickedly.

During the 21st century, humans had invented an evil way to cause economic failure. Though I had never learned it, it was deeply engraved in the wealth of knowledge Master Bumdalf had given me.

* * *

'So busy, so damn busy!'

Nerman Castle was still unfinished. The elves and dwarves, as well as the mage prisoners we hadn't returned to the Laviter Empire, were working hard to finish its construction. Unlike the wyvern hangars that served little practical use and magnificent but superficial temple, the house I would live in required a detailed design. In order to reach a level of comfort that would be praised even on Earth, I had to inspect the blueprints again and again.

The sound of my pen scratching filled the room as I signed the various documents Derval had given me. The territory's financial matters had grown from the scale of a tiny kiosk to a supermarket. From the wages of the soldiers, to the wyvern-related costs, as well as various taxes and materials used in territory construction, everything needed to be paid by me. Of course, I wanted to foist it all off on Derval, but upon Derval's urging that a lord needed to know the way the territory was operating, I ended up tackling the documents with the reluctance of someone being forced to eat a tube of wasabi.

"We've got a huge surplus this month as well. Huhuhu."

Every so often, there would be people coming in on their own initiative to offer me a tribute(?). Our wyvern numbers were growing by leaps and bounds without even having to hatch them from eggs, and also we were also inundated with spears and costly military goods used for wyverns.

Half a month had already passed since we checked the invasion of Laviter's special troop. The grasses starting to sprout on the plains were now flush with green leaves. The territory was operating very comfortably... besides the bad news that the Bajran Empire was speeding up their preparations to wage war on Nerman, and that they were assembling wyvern troops near the Rual Mountains.

'The magic towers are also quickly gathering mages.'

I didn't think that the magic towers would stay still after taking a hit from me. Just as I expected, the magic towers appeared to be preparing to attack Nerman by jumping on Bajran's bandwagon.

'Our attack method has been exposed, so they'll probably make preparations...'

I had my share of delightful fun with sound and light magic, but as long as the ones on the receiving end weren't idiots, there would probably be few opportunities to reuse the same tactics. Moreover, if the mages of the continent's magic towers joined the fray, it could backfire.

'Because that damned Laviter Emperor declared us as an enemy nation, the merchant groups can't come in, and now, we really have to hold out on our strength alone.'

We were getting continental news from the lumikars sent by the Bajran Empire's Rubis Merchants. Nerman's information network wasn't formally established yet, so as unfortunate as it was, we had to be satisfied with what information we could get from Rubis.

'Give me just a little more time. Before the spring is over, Nerman will become an iron-walled fort.'

The dwarves were busy pumping out ballistas, and Skyknights were being swiftly recruited. Thankfully, we were able to repair the damaged vision of all of the captured Laviter wyverns with holy water. Treating them quickly before they could really go permanently blind was effective.

'Salt is also accumulating nearly every day, and it's almost time to harvest the spring grain we sowed in the winter...'

My hands were moving busily, but my head was working even harder. The same amount of time was given to everyone anyway. I didn't have the time to be tired. Since it was time I had to spend with my eyes wide open anyway, I was going to enjoy the time I was given. It was my life, not anyone else's. I would use this moment, which might never come again, to the fullest. I didn't want to waste my life in a daze like an idiot.

While I was working, I heard Derval's characteristic light footsteps, then a knocking sound on my office door.

"My liege, it's Derval."

"Come in."

Derval opened the door with a creak and came inside.

'Did something happen?'

Derval's face looked a little perplexed.

"Is something the matter?"

"My liege, a guest has come to see you."

"A guest?"

If Derval was calling them a guest, they couldn't be an ordinary person.

'Did someone come from the Laviter Empire?'

We'd managed to capture around 200 Skyknights alive. The Laviter Skyknights escaped death by crashing, received prompt treatment, and were locked up in our prison. It was possible that the empire would dispatch a prisoner negotiator for them. Most of them were imperial nobles with peerages and were one of my tasty sources of extra income.

"But... it's that woman," said Derval, making it clear that it was a woman he knew as well.

"Who? Is she a woman you know as well?"

Seeing as he didn't call her a miss or a lady, I could tell she wasn't a noble or a respected figure.

"It is the Black Fox woman that we met before coming to Nerman."

"Black Fox... Ah!"

At that name, I recalled a certain woman's face.

'What does a dark merchant group want with me?'

The woman who asked me to call her Black Fox was an important figure of the dark merchant group operating in the capital of the Bajran Empire. I clearly remembered the woman who had sent dripping, lustful gazes to my underage self, her body sleek in black leather.

'They picked up the scent.'

If there was money to be had, dark merchants were faster to jump in than official continent merchant groups. There was no doubt they had come after catching a whiff of the money billowing out of Nerman.

"Have her come in."

"As you command!"

Still, because I had met her a few times, I felt a sense of familiarity with Black Fox. If she hadn't sold spears to me back then, I wouldn't be here now.

Harmonious coexistence. The people of the world might fall under umbrellas of good and evil, but sometimes, there were times when we needed each other, just like a crocodile and a crocodile bird.

'What profit is there to bring you all this way? Huhu.'

I was thinking of the sexy beauty with black hair like me and unique red eyes when knocking came from my door.

"Hoho, pardon my entrance."

A woman opened the door and came inside, wearing a shameless smile.

'Hm?'

To my surprise, Black Fox showed up wearing an airplate. Her slightly upturned eyes and curvy body were wrapped in a voluptuous aura.

"Count Kyre~ It's been a while. Hohoho."

'The hell? What's with this mood?'

She was acting cute, sending me a wink, and laying it on thick with the seduction with her high-pitched greeting.

"Haha, it's been a while."

I responded by taking on the appearance of a broad-minded high noble.

"I was really surprised. It hasn't been much longer than one year since we met and parted, but look at you, you've become a person of great fame on the continent... I really admire you."

'Just look at this older sis.'

She jumped straight from her cutesy act to slathering me with praise. But hearing such pleasant words from a sexy, beautiful woman made me happy. To a young man with boiling, red-hot blood, praise from a beauty was a greater energy boost than any tonic.

"That's an over exaggeration, it's not that impressive."

I displayed a virtue that didn't suit me at all, humility.

"Goodness, not that impressive? Don't you know that on the continent, only fools and children don't know of you? I, Fermoian, can only sincerely admire you. If I had known things would be like this, I would have deepened our relationship back then. You don't know how much I regret it. Hohoho."

As she uttered the words 'deepening our relationship', she glanced over my body with an ambiguous gaze.

'I'm sure she's bewitched several men like this.'

Her seduction ability was so explosive that she could make most men fall over with just a few words.

"That we have met again in this manner is also fate, is it not. Take a seat, let's talk." I gestured at a chair with the attitude of a master and the great lord of Nerman.

"Your office is very cozy and vintage. It gives off an air as elegant and neat as Your Lordship's personality."

'Neat, my ass...'

To put it nicely, my office was 'elegant' and 'neat'. But put it another way, it was a barebones office with not a single worthwhile object in it.

"I'm only using it before I move to the new office, so there isn't much to see."

A wealthy man didn't need to fuss about exterior appearances in the here and now. I dismissed the state of my office with an unconcerned air.

"On my way here, I saw that an enormous castle is being built..." Black Fox trailed off, implying a question.

"With the slight increase in our wyverns, this place has become uncomfortable, so I built a small castle."

I indifferently showed off my broad-mindedness.

"Congratulations. This young girl raised a toast in happiness every time she heard of Kyre-nim's feats from afar."

Without a hitch, Black Fox smoothly buttered me up.

'Oi oi, isn't calling yourself a young girl a bit excessive?'

She had eaten thousands of more meals than I had, and the amount of air she'd breathed in her years of life could fill the tank of a blue whale. Looking closer, I could see small wrinkles in the corner of her eyes.

'Her age is similar to Irene, but I guess she doesn't take care of her skin.'

I did my best to pull myself together by honing in on Black Fox's meager faults.

"What brings you so far? What business does a black merchant group have in Nerman?"

There was no need to drag out a discussion with a crafty person full of tricks. I looked into her shining red eyes as I asked for her real purpose in coming here.

Instead of responding, Black Fox gave me an inscrutable smile.

"I would think Your Lordship would know the gist of it..." Black Fox trailed off, sounding me out.

"Enlighten me," I calmly responded. I wasn't so foolish that I would take a loss from a few words.

"A black merchant group is also a merchant group. And a merchant group always appears wherever there is profit. Our black merchant groups are particularly sensitive to profit."

'Holy moly, you can see the glint in her eyes.'

A crafty light was coming from Black Fox's eyes, like Superman's laser eyes.

"Profit? My humble Nerman shouldn't be able to offer enough profit to draw the interest of a black merchant group... Perhaps you were mistaken?"

I purposefully feigned ignorance. Back then, Black Fox sold me spears at a price several times higher than their usual price. If I didn't handle this carefully from the beginning, I would definitely eat a big loss.

"Your Lordship~ Don't be like that when you already know everything. Hoho, in our eyes, Nerman has good items scattered all over the place. The good-quality weapons, armor, and military goods the Laviter Empire army left behind, the captured wyverns and hide from the wyverns that were killed, various wyvern-related items, as well as good-quality salt that is the first of its kind on the continent and dwarven products, to name a few. Your Lordship is just too greedy. Hohoho."

Black Fox's soprano laughter was pleasant to the ear.

'She sure is well informed.'

Since they were a group operating in the shadows, I was sure their information acquisition was faster. I might have closed off Nerman, but of course there were information agents from our enemies planted all over the place.

"Pray tell, what does that have to do with a black merchant group?"

"Your Lordship, you must have heard the rumors, right?"

"What rumors?" I asked flatly, feigning ignorance again.

"Did you not hear that the Emperor of the Laviter Empire proclaimed that any who makes contact with Nerman will be considered an enemy of the empire?"

"Something like that happened?"

Black Fox said with regret, "Goodness, so you didn't know."

"But what does that have to do with me?"

"Of course it has something to do with Your Lordship! Hoho, those goods would rust and become useless if they were left alone anyway. Your Lordship can seize this opportunity to sell them at full price through our merchant group. You can get around 10 Gold for each set of Laviter Empire standard military armor and weapons."

'10 Gold, you say...'

It wasn't a bad offer. The other merchant groups wouldn't buy the empire's standard arms for fear of offending the empire. The Rubis Merchants were also the same, so there was no mention of the military goods we had acquired in our trade talks.

'We don't really need them, since we'll be making new good-quality weapons and armor for the territory's troops anyway.'

We didn't have enough dwarven weapons to arm every soldier yet, but I didn't need the Laviter weapons and armor piled up high in our warehouses.

"I also heard that salt has filled Nerman's warehouses; doesn't Your Lordship need to sell that as well? The Rubis Merchants won't be showing up in Nerman for the time being, you know."

As expected, Black Fox was honing right in on the money makers.

"15 Gold for a full set of armor and weapons that can arm one soldier. And 1 Gold for every 10 kilograms of salt."

I frankly stated my prices.

"Oh my, that's too much. 10 Gold per set was already a sign of our sincerity to our most important customer..."

"Feel free to decline. In any case, you won't have an opportunity like this for the time being again."

We weren't that desperate for money. However, the help of a merchant group was necessary for the plan I had devised to mess with the empires and merchant groups.

"12 Gold, and we will accept the offered price for the salt."

Black Fox really knew how to strike a deal.

"Deal."

'Nice! More money's gonna stream in.'

We had over 100,000 perfectly usable armor and weapon sets that we couldn't get rid of otherwise. Our warehouses were overflowing with arms left by the Havis Kingdom's soldiers in addition to the Laviter Empire.

In fact, selling all of it would only amount to a little over 1 million Gold, a sum that couldn't even buy a single wyvern, but how could the price of an infantry rifle possibly compare to that of a cutting edge F15 fighter jet? From what I heard, a rifle cost about $1,000, but a decent fighter jet cost a little under $100 million—that was how things were calculated in the 21st century. Things weren't much different over here.

"Your Lordship is indeed a decisive person."

"Can you also sell something else for us?"

"Of course. Just say the word."

"Then please sell Blessed Spears as well."

"Wow! That's something our merchant group strongly wants as well. Hohohoho."

Black Fox whooped at the mention of Blessed Spears. In truth, her real goal was undoubtedly profitable items like this rather than the minor goods. She had only started with a light jab to probe my intentions.

"The price will be the official retail price of the magic towers, 1,000 Gold a piece."

"Goodness, we would welcome that price with open arms."

Blessed Spears were one of the things we had a surplus of now. The Laviter bastards that attacked us last time must have been planning to turn Denfors into Swiss cheese, because instead of the 20 spears on average that were loaded on wyverns for a battle, each wyvern came bearing 30. However, those idiots ended up crashing to the ground without being able to use many of them. Our already overflowing stock instantly swelled to 15,000 spears.

"For now, I'll trade just 5,000 battle-ready spears."

"Thank you, Your Lordship."

"However, we will only take payments in Gold issued by the Laviter Empire."

"Ah! T-That is..."

When I stated we would be accepting payment only in cash instead of the merchant-issued gold tokens normally used in large-scale deals, Black Fox made an expression of shock for the first time. The merchant group would have to mobilize dozens of carriages to transport millions in cash.

"If that's not possible, then consider the deal off the table."

"No. Since Your Lordship is willing to go so far for us, it's only natural that we show our sincerity. But um, is it alright if I ask why you want to be paid in imperial Gold?"

This cute sis was asking for permission even though she had already posed the question.

"Because I want to."

"....."

How could a sparrow possibly understand the intent of a phoenix? At my flippant words, Black Fox's smile faltered.

"But how do you plan on taking everything out? If the Empire called a blockade on Nerman, the Havis Kingdom's borders won't open easily either..."

"Hoho. I appreciate your concern, but that is something we will handle. We will take care of the goods perfectly as long as Your Lordship brings them to the Havis Kingdom borders."

'Man, you've gotta appreciate their guts.'

The black merchants were as gutsy as I was. They might be people making a living in the shadows, but if Laviter retaliated, they would definitely take a blow. Despite that, they calmly appeared in my territory and negotiated a trade. According to the rumors, it was said that black merchants weren't ruled by any particular person. They simply banded together, encroaching on the shadows of the continent.

If you looked at it one way, it was possible that they were a more terrifying opponent than the empire. Though of course, if they messed with me, I would chase them to the ends of the earth and give them a chomp on the behind.

"You should be able to find Sir Derval outside. Discuss the particulars with him."

There was no reason to keep this uncomfortable person around when the deal was done. I might be a hungry youth, but I didn't want a poisoned apple by my side.

"I won't forget Your Lordship's kindness. Also, for the sake of our future of continued trades, I will leave behind a Black Information Guild member so that Your Lordship can receive continental information."

'A Black Information Guild member?'

Black Fox was precisely aware of what I needed. I was taken away by her boldness in blatantly saying she was planting a spy in the territory.

"I will gladly accept."

However, I decided to accept, since Nerman could use a source of information. In any case, there was no way for him to come in contact with sensitive information.

Rather, if he was caught red-handed, he could very well lose his life.