At the banquet, Theresica brought in a large group of shapeshifters to take turns drinking heavily with the members of the Ursus delegation. They had not enjoyed themselves so thoroughly in a long time, and they shouted loudly.
"Ura!!!"
The flushed Ursus men answered almost every question on harmless topics. They complained that their country could produce a fine blade, yet could not make a decent porcelain bowl.
During this process, Theresica took the opportunity to reach a commercial agreement with Vitt. Kazdel's ordinary goods could enter Ursus for sale with low taxes, and Vitt even said:
"Sarkaz isn't short on labor, are they? There are plenty of workers in Ursus's mines. Sarkaz can buy them directly with Originium."
Theresica curiously asked what these people did. Vitt replied that they did all kinds of things: teachers, doctors, farmers...
He signed another agreement on the spot.
After the banquet, both sides were extremely pleased. They signed quickly, afraid that the other party might change their mind.
One side did not know how much Originium the other had, while the other did not know how much equipment and how many displaced Infected people they had. Everyone felt they had come out ahead.
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P.S. 2: The version of Ptilopsis here is my own personal setting.
Chapter 33: Clinging to a Powerful Patron
After the banquet, Theresica and Vitt chatted about business. Once the topic came up, Vitt, who had been saying little and trying his best to keep his mouth shut, suddenly became much more talkative, and he inadvertently revealed much more information.
The old Emperor of Ursus had established the present Ursus Empire through war, but he was obsessed with warfare and had completely neglected the development of his territory. The current Crown Prince advocated slowing down military expansion and devoting more effort to territorial development and economic construction.
Kazimierz, which was currently at war with Ursus, had invested heavily in developing its commercial economy in recent years. Its national revenue had risen year after year, and its military budget had grown accordingly. Despite Ursus's repeated attacks, it still had the ability to form fully equipped knight orders and establish defensive lines along the routes of the Ursus armies.
In the Crown Prince's vision, if Ursus could complete widespread economic development across such a vast territory, then it would become unrivaled throughout Terra. However, this idea had met with opposition from his father's ministers. They were all powerful nobles who had fought alongside the old Emperor from the beginning.
War was the field they excelled in. Under their command, Ursus's soldiers had been invincible. But they knew nothing about economics and could only rely on others. That would lead to the very thing they least wanted to see: the transfer and dilution of power.
Vitt shared the same ideas as the Crown Prince he served. Whenever he thought of the obstruction from the old nobles and the Emperor's strange attitude of allowing them to cause endless trouble for the Crown Prince, he felt miserable.
"By the way, doesn't your Sarkaz have a lot of mercenaries? Hire them to wipe out those rebellious mines. I'll make sure the price satisfies you."
Vitt's flushed face suddenly grew even more excited. How had he not thought of this from the beginning?
"Uh... Mr. Vitt, I'm afraid that really won't be possible."
Theresica looked troubled. "Sarkaz fought an external war and then several years of civil war. The Sarkaz truly don't want to fight anymore. Just hearing about war annoys them. We even cut the army by a tenth some time ago."
He casually made it up. Kazdel had already begun returning to Terra's attention, but it was still too weak for now. It could not withstand the pressure, so it absolutely could not become too conspicuous!
Sankta could see every move they made.
"As for the Sarkaz mercenaries outside Kazdel, they simply didn't want to stay in Kazdel and live through hard times. I have no way to control them either. If you want to hire them, Mr. Vitt, it would be better to contact those Sarkaz directly."
"Oh, I see..."
Vitt nodded regretfully. Mercenaries were not a national army with a political position. If they could be hired by Vitt, they could naturally also be bought off by the Infected.
When the meeting ended, both sides signed a treaty under the witness of Sankta. The next day, a transport ship from Ursus arrived in Kazdel, unloaded the designated amount of equipment, loaded up with military-grade Originium, and headed straight for the Ursus front line.
The Ursus equipment they received was not immediately distributed to the soldiers. Instead, it was sent to a factory in Kazdel.
The moment they saw the neatly packed active-duty Ursus equipment, the old Sarkaz craftsmen, including Zeppelin, pounced on it excitedly. Their eyes looked just like starving wolves that had spotted sheep.
Shields, helmets, breastplates... They stripped off all kinds of objects and took them aside for various tests.
Mel also came over curiously. Ursus followed a continental army policy and liked to form enormous legions, drowning enemy resistance beneath overwhelming numbers, but its technological weapons were not bad either. Every part of their design contained the practical experience of war.
She picked up an Ursus artillery-guidance drone. After taking it apart and testing it, she discovered that its internal structure was compact and ingenious. Its small, easily concealed body still had every necessary function. It could be used for reconnaissance or as a communications relay.
If those things were exciting, then the other item, sealed separately in a small box, was enough to make their blood boil.
An Ursus mortar!
A short metal tube and its base lay quietly inside the box. Beside them were additional Originium shells, two of which had already been removed.
Theresica established a special working group composed of old Sarkaz craftsmen, Absolutionists, and Banshees to study the Originium shells. After finishing her current drone design, Mel would join the group as well.
Military equipment required a great deal of specialized knowledge to understand. Theresica did not know enough about it and had no intention of giving ignorant orders, so he focused his attention on producing civilian goods.
To earn Rubles as foreign currency, Theresica had no choice but to send most of the civilian goods produced in Kazdel to the Ursus market.
With the combined support of assembly-line production and the low-tax permit provided by Vitt, Kazdel's civilian goods became wildly popular in Ursus. Production continued to expand, yet there was still almost no competition, because they could not even meet Ursus's demand! What had begun as a commercial trade agreement had now become Kazdel's one-sided export operation.
Large amounts of Rubles flowed into Kazdel. Theresica established Kazdel's Ministry of Finance, banks, and Planning Committee to centrally manage and allocate the funds and the country's various urgent needs. The daily necessities that the Sarkaz had long lacked soon improved considerably. Industrial development also received a substantial boost.
After gaining an advantage, Theresica did not forget to return the favor. He ordered the sales staff to tell customers that these affordable daily necessities were available only because the Crown Prince had opened up trade.
The Crown Prince's reputation among the people rose sharply. Through Vitt, he also conveyed his goodwill to Theresica, saying that Kazdel could purchase the Infected miners in Ursus's mines at an even lower price.
The Sarkaz year-end festival was approaching. Kazdel's royal court announced that during the New Year festival, every Sarkaz family would receive heating and food subsidies. All ordinary positions nationwide would take one day off, while special and essential positions would take a day off in batches after the festival.
Just as all the Sarkaz were preparing to celebrate their first peaceful New Year after years of war, Theresica was not in Kazdel. Braving the snow and wind of the northern Ursus ice fields, he stepped into a mine.
Besides the Sarkaz soldiers he had brought, a round, plump Ursus accompanied him. The bear was the Crown Prince's purchasing assistant, and he was gazing at Theresica with an ingratiating smile.
"My lord, which one have you taken a liking to? I'll have the guards bring them to you."
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Chapter 34: I'll Follow You for the Rest of My Life
In the bitterly cold winter, the miners in the Ursus Originium mine worked outdoors in thin clothing.
Theresica wore thick, warm clothes and strolled casually through the mining area. Eyes repeatedly turned toward him, though more accurately, they were looking at the clothes on his body.
However, that was all these people could do, because a large group of mine guards and fully armed Sarkaz soldiers surrounded him.
"My lord, this is freshly roasted beast meat. Would you like to try some?"
"Oh, thank you."
Theresica picked up a piece and tasted it. The flavor was indeed good. The aroma of fat and spices mingled together and drifted away on the cold wind, causing the surrounding miners to stare fixedly at the scene, their eyes filled with longing.
A female Catus seemed unable to hold back any longer. She crept toward them, standing out sharply among the working miners.
The mine's overseer noticed this, but he was also watching Theresica's expression. When he saw that Theresica had no reaction, he remained silent as well.
Perhaps this was some amusement for a powerful man's "hunt."
The white-haired Catus stared blankly at the meat as she walked over. Theresica did not think much of it and picked up a piece.
"Want some?"
She nodded, and Theresica held the piece of meat out to her.
She suddenly snatched it away. Not only that, she dumped all the meat on the plate into her clothes, grabbed a handful of snow, threw it at Theresica, and then quickly ran into the crowd.
"My lord, you..."
The overseer offered him a towel. He had not acted on his own, instead waiting for instructions. This was the experience he had accumulated while serving several powerful figures who came to the mine looking for entertainment. When these people had not spoken, one should not act rashly and spoil their mood.
"Heh. If she eats that much meat at once, she'll throw it back up, won't she?"
Theresica casually wiped the snow from his face. The overseer nodded beside him.
"Exactly, my lord. But she probably isn't eating it herself. She's the leader of the children in this mine. She must have stolen it for those little brats."
"Bring her here."
"Yes."
The guards ran out with hunting dogs and soon brought back the Catus, whose clothes were covered in grease. She came back obediently, without showing the slightest sign of resistance. Her mouth was also perfectly clean, without a trace of grease.
"You've accepted your fate?"
"I've already done what I needed to do. Letting Anton and the others eat a piece of beast meat before drawing a Black Ticket—that is my final wish."
The white-haired Catus stood in the snow, her expression utterly calm.
Theresica knew what drawing a Black Ticket in an Ursus mine meant. It meant that the miner would soon be buried in an exhausted mining pit. There would be some White Tickets mixed among the Black Tickets. Those lucky enough to draw one would escape death and be sent to another mine, but in the end they would either die on the road or in the new mine.
"Do you want to live?"
"Whatever. What does it have to do with you?"
"I have some money, and I came here to find some useful workers."
Theresica looked at Catus and said, "Can you do anything? If I can make use of you, I'll buy you."
"No need. Dying today would be a relief."
"All right."
Theresica nodded and looked toward the overseer. "I hear the transport ship. Let's not waste time. Start choosing people."
"Everyone, assemble at the center of the mine!"
The guards shouted and drove the miners forward with whips. The miners were not all men; there were also many elderly people, women, and children. They cried and clung to one another.
"Today is the day for drawing Black Tickets, but Lord Theresica has decided to buy you. Consider yourselves lucky! Everyone selected can leave this place!"
Beside the exhausted mining pit, the Sarkaz set up a screening checkpoint. They held the miners' records from when they had been thrown into the mine and matched them one by one.
Children over five and under fourteen, with no more than moderate infection and all four limbs intact, would all be taken away. Teachers, craftsmen, doctors, and other professionals, together with their immediate family members, would all be taken away. As for the rest...
Whenever the Ursus guards standing nearby saw the Sarkaz screeners shake their heads, they dragged that person out of line and threw them into another queue. At the end of that line was an exhausted mining pit filled with Originium crystal clusters. Anyone who fell in had only one possible fate.
The screening line moved forward slowly. Those who passed embraced their families and wept with joy. Those who failed shouted desperately, still hoping to return and try again. Their desire to survive twisted the miners' faces into something hideous. Some people who had entered with their children even raised them high, hoping they could be selected. But only one outcome awaited them.
Theresica could see and hear everything before him. He could keep his face tense, but he had no way to kill the turmoil in his heart.
Back in Kazdel, his cousin and elder sister had fought for the throne and started a civil war that had devastated the land. He had been able to stay shut away, refusing to emerge or concern himself with worldly affairs, because the throne hung over him like a blade. He did not want to be dragged into the struggle between his cousin and sister and end up as a heap of flesh on the ground.
He had always used playing games to show his cousin and sister that he was harmless and posed no threat.
But after his cousin and sister disappeared, the blade above his head vanished, and he could no longer ignore everything in Kazdel. He ascended the throne.
And now, it seemed as if he had returned to the state he had been in eighteen years ago. His most instinctive feelings told him that people should not be treated this way, and that he had the ability to buy them all. But could he?
Faced with this choice, Kazdel had become a new blade hanging over his head.
Even Kazdel's own infant mortality rate remained high. Should he buy them and make them compete with his own people for medical resources? The severely Infected could not work and were extremely dangerous. What would be the point of buying them? Besides, the Originium needed to purchase them had not simply fallen from the sky!
Theresica turned around and stopped looking at the scene before him. But at that very moment—
Bang—
A patch of red suddenly spread across the white snow. It was the head of a Lupo, and the one who had smashed it was the Catus he had seen earlier. Behind her stood a group of children with intact limbs but large Originium crystals growing from their bodies.
A group of people surrounded her menacingly, their faces filled with brutality. They were all people who had not been selected. Before dying, they intended to vent the destructive urges created by the guards' oppression.
Catus could not withstand them alone. She was not within the range of those who would be selected, and her death here was inevitable. But she did not want to see the children behind her—the ones who called her Big Sister every day—remain here forever.
"Hey! I can read! I... I can cook! I can mend clothes! I don't eat much!"
Catus shouted. She saw that figure. "Buy me! These children can work hard too!"
"What can you do? Those things don't count. The price is different from when I first asked you."
He narrowed his eyes. Professionals were allowed to bring their relatives, and the things she had mentioned did not qualify as professional skills in his eyes.
"I... I... I can fight!"
Catus suddenly threw aside the stick in her hand and raised it toward one of the people before her.
The wind abruptly changed direction. The temperature seemed even colder than before.
Theresica opened his eyes. He saw cold air gathering in Catus's palm as a crystal of ice gradually took shape.
The next moment, someone who had been waiting for a chance to attack suddenly had a bloody hole in his chest. The ice crystal shot through him with undiminished force and crashed into a low building, sending bricks and debris flying.
Catus fell to her knees in the snow, her entire body curling up from the pain. The children behind her cried out for her to stop, but she did not.
A second ice crystal shot out, and a second person fell. This terrified all those who had wanted to vent their violence. But Catus collapsed as well, her body twitching slightly from the pain.
Yet she had not forgotten. She desperately squeezed her throat and forced out a faint voice.
"Buy them... They don't eat much... They're very good workers..."
"You're certainly worth buying. Your Originium Arts are impressive, and I can take these children along as well."
He walked over and looked at Catus. "I'll make sure you have enough clothes to wear and enough food to eat. I can even give you some Oripathy medicine."
"Really?"
Catus's eyes were unfocused, but she seemed to want to see him clearly. She opened them wide.
"You... You can make me do anything you want. I'll follow you for the rest of my life."
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