A Small Business Deal

Mora returned to the inner sanctuary's lounge, where Audrey served him a glass of wine.

Mora stretched out his hand to take the wine, tossed the scroll aside, pulled Audrey over, and sat down directly on the sofa, happily drinking the wine in his glass.

Audrey noticed the scroll and, seeing that Mora was in a good mood, asked curiously, "Your Majesty, is there some good news? You seem so happy!"

"But this is great news, look!" Mora grabbed the scroll and tossed it to Audrey.

Audrey eagerly opened the scroll and began to read. It was an account book that recorded the flow of a large amount of grain, with records of continuous buying and selling.

"Gold, wow, so much money!"

"Not that much. I only took the gold; the rest belonged to Pelei."

"Pelei? Is that Pelei Silver Maple, your childhood friend!"

Mora nodded.

"No wonder you made an exception and promoted him to county governor. There are very few people in the duchy who can do this."

Audrey was surprised; this Viscount Pele had indeed accomplished something remarkable, and his business acumen was something that not everyone could achieve.

"Pelei has always been like this. He's smart and good at business. A long time ago, I entrusted the management of my territory to him."

Without him, my grandfather alone wouldn't have made my life so comfortable.

"That's really impressive, no wonder you two get along so well!"

"Yes, after my grandfather passes away, I plan to make Pelei the Prime Minister!"

He accomplished far more than just these things; the duchy's finances will now depend on him to fill the gaps.

Mora told Audrey the whole story of Pelei's plan. Audrey hadn't expected that Viscount Pele would be so audacious as to try and take advantage of the Duchy's Great Merchant Guilds.

Audrey silently memorized the name Pelei, planning to tell Turas the next day and try to build a relationship with Viscount Pele to see if she could gain his assistance and strengthen the Sixth Legion Viscount Pele.

Just as Audrey was lost in thought, Mora suddenly pulled Audrey into his arms and pinned her down. "Alright, my Audrey, the night is long, let's have some fun."

Audrey blushed, her graceful figure moving beneath Mora. "Your Majesty, you are so wicked!"

The next morning, Audrey found Turas and told him about it.

Turas also took an interest in Viscount Pele. No wonder the Count Lagos didn't see him off when he left the Prime Minister's residence; it turned out that Viscount Pele was of such importance.

Turas then sent his men to investigate Pelei's residence in Silver Maple City, preparing to meet him in person.

Meanwhile, Pelei met with several chamber of commerce executives, first proposing to borrow money using grain as collateral, and asking the executives to represent the chamber of commerce in upholding patriotism, otherwise they would be considered traitors.

When several managers tried to refuse, claiming they couldn't make the decision, he then brought up the outsourcing of the army's accompanying merchant caravan business in Mora's name, and gave a long speech, saying that the money of the Chamber of Commerce was not your money, and only the money you earned yourself was your own money.

This carrot-and-stick approach, along with the shills planted beforehand, successfully lured several managers into signing a mortgage loan contract worth a fortune based on falsely reported grain reserves.

After agreeing on the time when the money would arrive, Pelei saw the person out.

Just as Pelei was feeling triumphant, an unexpected person approached him.

"Are you the Legion Commander the Turas Legion?"

Pelei looked at the man in full military uniform with a strong military aura and was a little confused. He really had no dealings with this Turas Legion Commander and wondered why this man would personally come to see him with gifts.

"Viscount Pele, I apologize for disturbing you. I have come to ask for your help because I learned from my sister that you are incredibly powerful and can turn lead into gold."

"You flatter me too much. I was just helping Mora and the Prime Minister out of their own way. I'm hardly a superhuman."

Pelei remembered that the sister of the Turas Legion Commander seemed to be Mora's new lover, and probably learned some information from Mora.

It seems that the Legion Commander Turas may indeed have something to ask of him. In that case, Pelei invited Turas to sit down and arranged for servants to prepare lunch for them.

"Legion Commander Turas, what can I do for you? I'm only good at business matters; I really don't know anything else."

"You can definitely help with this!"

Yes, Viscount Pele, it's cruel, but I've just been released from prison.

My rash actions previously resulted in heavy losses for the Sixth Legion under my command. It was only thanks to His Majesty the Grand Duke's forgiveness and the Prime Minister's help that I was able to escape.

Now that I have been reinstated, I am planning to return to the army to regroup. This trip to the western region has resolved the costs and supplies for replenishing the army. I am confident that I can restore the strength of the legion to normal in just a short period of time.

However, there is a problem: my Cavalry suffered heavy losses in the last battle. The western region may not lack men and equipment, but it lacks a large number of warhorses, and this Cavalry unit may be difficult to replenish.

I imagine you have extensive connections and relationships with Great Merchant Guilds, so I'd like to ask for your help in contacting a suitable chamber to purchase a batch of ready-made warhorses.

Pelei nodded; so that's what it was about.

"Legion Commander Turas, as you know, the various legions of the duchy are currently rebuilding and replenishing, and the independent nobles are also preparing for war."

Good warhorses are in high demand and not easy to come by. Even if you do manage to get one, it won't be cheap. This is no small business!

Pelei rubbed his fingers together in front of Turas.

"Viscount Pele, don't worry about that. There's always a brokerage fee in business dealings." Turas pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is a bearer bill of exchange from the East Sea Alliance Merchant Guild. With this bill, you can withdraw cash at the branches in various locations."

Pelei took a closer look and exclaimed, "Wow, this Legion Commander Turas is really generous! He started with 500 gold coins, enough to buy a hundred horses!"

Pelei laughed happily, "Legion Commander Turas, don't worry about this little thing. I'll take care of it perfectly. A whole battalion of warhorses plus riding horses won't be difficult to arrange!"