The only one who currently appeared loyal, Cumberland, had sent some of his troops to the Leithanien border, while others were heading to Leithanien, a Victoria colony and the source of most of the country's Originium. The small remainder was doing everything it could to maintain order in his territory. For some unknown reason, conflicts over public order in this duke's lands were unusually severe.
As one side declined and the other grew, the Emperor's power within the country had already become too weak to suppress the dukes.
"Leithanien has wanted independence for a long time."
Salus noticed Theresica pick up the intelligence report on Leithanien and said, "Victoria's rapid industrial development couldn't have happened without Leithanien's Originium. Their minerals were seized at almost no cost, while the region itself saw no development at all. When I was studying in this country, Leithanien didn't dare make a move. But with things as they are now... the colonial nobles may already have joined forces with the locals."
"An extra tax has been added to the price of goods entering Victoria proper from Leithanien. The colonial nobles are using the decline in Originium production to challenge the Lion King."
Theresica put down the newspaper in his hand. The nobles throughout Victoria each had their own plans, national sentiment was reviving in the territories that had once been annexed, and the colonies were harboring their own ambitions. This disunited state of public sentiment would sooner or later blow Victoria apart.3
The Lion King had increased taxes and military spending at a time like this, perhaps hoping to use overwhelming military strength to wipe away every problem. Unfortunately, it was already too late.4
Victoria had once been one of the nations that joined forces to attack Kazdel. For Kazdel, a powerful old enemy trapped in civil unrest was nothing but beneficial. But Theresica did not dare make deals with these dukes. As long as they maintained Victoria's traditional stance, they would never allow the Sarkaz to grow stronger once the situation stabilized.
He had originally been considering Leithanien. It was far from Victoria proper, and the Sarkaz had never caused trouble for the Cautuses there. But after learning that it was simply one enormous mine, he could only give up helplessly.1
What industrial capabilities could a mine bring Kazdel besides raw materials?
That left only one group of Terra people he could cooperate with: the Taran people. They seemed to have their own independent armed force—Deepcolor—with the ability to produce some weapons on their own. If so, they must possess, or at least have access to, a certain number of machine tools.5
Kazdel lacked machine tools, while the Taran people lacked Originium. The two sides had the foundation for a deal. But he did not want to cooperate with them, because they had already begun stirring up trouble. Their ghostly troops were scouring Victoria for military-grade Originium, and had caused quite a few deaths. Their actions had even been reported in newspapers across the country. Although they had not left any evidence that could be traced back to them, it was ultimately unsafe. If a small group like this ran into trouble, they might well betray the Sarkaz.1
Then the Sarkaz would become the Lion King's tool for shifting the conflict—a supply pack to keep him going for one more breath!
Those dukes would certainly attack the Sarkaz as well, destroying the little schemes that could not be exposed!
"You seem troubled. I might be able to offer you a solution. The Confessors have recently been experimenting with a new form of Originium Arts: separating a person's soul and extracting their memories."
Salus suddenly sat down beside him, pressing her entire body against his. Her face wore a vacant smile as she moved extremely close.
"Tell me which factory's workers you need. I'll kill them, then extract their souls. That way, you can easily obtain whatever you want."7
"Your leader never mentioned this. It must be an immature technique. If it fails, wouldn't the losses be enormous?"
Theresica leaned back a little. To be honest, the sensation beneath his hand was very soft, but that smile was genuinely chilling.10
"What you said is indeed possible. It seems you don't agree with my proposal. What a pity."
Salus sighed in disappointment and returned to her original seat. Just then, the wooden door opened, and Shining walked in.
"The transaction is complete. Here are the transaction records. Please look them over."
The small sheet of paper recorded the purification grades and quantities of the Originium provided that night, as well as the profits they had received.
"Very smooth. That will do for today. Get some rest early."
Theresica nodded in satisfaction and waved for the two Confessors to leave. He said they should rest, but he himself could not sleep.
He had to make a decision. Should he continue using today's extremely inefficient but safe method to build Kazdel's industrial foundation? Or should he take a risk and try the unstable Taran people? If he was lucky, he could rapidly establish Sarkaz industry. If he was unlucky, it would all be over.
Theresica paced back and forth across the room. It was a decision fraught with danger.
Bang, bang, bang.
Someone suddenly knocked softly on the door. When he opened it, he found Shining standing outside. She asked calmly,
"You still haven't gone to sleep. Are you unaccustomed to the lodgings here? We have to hurry to the next trading location tomorrow, and insufficient rest will do you no good. I can lull you to sleep as I did before."
"..."
Theresica furrowed his brows deeply. No matter how one looked at it, he was already eighteen! Why was he always treated like a baby Sarkaz?!7
So annoying!
...Never mind, this is actually nice.6
P.S. Please vote!!!
The Taran People
The blankets were full of Shining's scent, and the spot beside him still held her warmth, but it was already empty. Theresica opened his eyes. She had finished dressing and stood quietly to one side.
"You should get up. The supplies have been replenished, and there is still an hour before departure."
"Mm, I know."
He hurriedly got moving. To avoid leaving any trace that could be tracked, they would once again venture into the wilderness today and detour to the territory of another duke.
Following Victoria's entire eastern border, Theresica learned about the trading process from the Infiltrator while actively touring Victoria's towns.
Originium catastrophes aided Terra's development, but they were also a shackle. They brought Originium veins to the earth while utterly destroying all artificial structures within their range. To evade catastrophes, every nation on Terra had built mobile cities, paying a steep price for permanent safe zones.
Victoria lay on Terra's central plain, where catastrophes had rarely visited. Originally, the country had possessed no Originium deposits and could only develop agriculture using its land. But after colonizing Leithanien, the country's weakness had been filled. The factor that had once restricted Victoria's industrial development had instead become its greatest advantage.
It had neither agricultural resources nor industrial resources to worry about!
Victoria began developing at a frantic pace. It did not need to fear catastrophes or divert vast amounts of resources toward evacuation facilities. It therefore built railways connecting every permanent settlement, allowing materials to circulate throughout the country with extraordinary efficiency. This enabled balanced and rapid development across Victoria, while the population grew steadily and quickly, then supported every part of the nation through a perfected social system.
After all these years of accumulation, Victoria and Kazdel had already become two entirely different worlds.
No, that cautious approach wouldn't work! The gap between Kazdel and the other nations was far too great!
After days of hesitation and consideration, Theresica finally decided to abandon his original approach. He wanted to try expanding trade with the Taran people.
The Taran people wanted to make something happen. Only chaos could benefit them. If Victoria became stable, they might not have any room to act, and therefore might not betray the Sarkaz.
Everyone wanted to fish in Victoria's troubled waters!
Aboard the transport ship, he summoned everyone and announced his decision.
"Infiltrator, I will participate in tonight's trade with the Taran people."
He did not know much about trading, so he had always avoided interfering. But the situation was different now.
"You want to cooperate with the Taran people? Then... tonight's personnel arrangements will have to be adjusted."
The Infiltrator pondered for a moment. "I'll immediately send a messenger and say that an agent of the Royal Court wants to revise the terms of our cooperation. Is that all right?"
"Yes. Go take care of it."
Theresica felt his heart beating faster. He had taken a dangerous step.
They reached the final stop of the trade. Theresica and his three companions arrived in Little Hill County, but before they could go to the immigration office, someone came to find them.
The man gave a standard Victoria noble's bow. "I've been waiting for you all for a long time. We've already taken care of the minor procedural matters. Our leader has arranged a banquet and hopes to reach a mutually beneficial agreement with you."
"Is that so? I hope so as well."
With polite smiles on their faces, Theresica and the others followed their guide.
They walked openly down the streets without being questioned or checked for Oripathy. They entered a finely decorated restaurant with ease.
In a private room, Theresica saw a young girl wearing a Victoria secondary school uniform. She stood naturally beside the seat of honor.
"Greetings, esteemed agent of the Royal Court."
"Greetings, Deepcolor..."
Both sides took their seats, but the girl suddenly raised a hand to stop him. "Please forgive my servant's lack of courtesy. I am merely one of Deepcolor's leaders. To call myself the leader would be presumptuous. Please just call me Ahemoni."
"Very well, Lady Ahemoni."
Theresica changed his wording. "I saw quite a lot along the way. Please allow me to express my admiration for you."
"It is our honor. The Taran people have long been sick of Victoria's oppression. Everything you saw was proof of our leader's strength behind the scenes."
Ahemoni said this with a smile and raised her glass in a silent toast.
"You certainly have considerable strength. That is why the Royal Court has decided to adjust the contents of our trade."
"Please, go on." Ahemoni gestured for him to continue.
"The Sarkaz will continue exporting military-grade Originium to Deepcolor. If you need more, we can increase the quantity. But we do not want gold coins. We want machine tools."
Ahemoni pondered briefly before asking, "What kind of machine tools?"
"Lathes, boring machines, milling machines, planers, grinders, drills—we want all kinds of Victoria's military machine tools. The Sarkaz can pay the bill. We can settle entirely with refined Originium ingots over ninety-five percent pure. They produce no energy signature under ordinary Originium detection equipment. You could even bring them into the cities with ease."
Theresica put on the air of a wealthy magnate. Ahemoni looked somewhat stunned. She had not expected the Sarkaz to place such a massive order.
"I'm sorry, but those things are not cheap. All this for a little Originium?"
"Is that so? Then our deal ends here."
Theresica immediately rose. Shining and Salus rose with him, and the entire group looked ready to leave.
"Please wait!" Ahemoni called out hurriedly. "Even if you go elsewhere, you won't be able to buy military machine tools."
"No. Merchants aren't as principled as you are. As long as you can pay, you can buy anything. It will merely cost a little more."
Theresica smiled indifferently, and Ahemoni's expression changed at once.
"Yes, merchants only recognize money. You're right."
She spoke rapidly. "But to make money, they often use deceptive methods to package their products. They might very well sell you outdated military production lines while claiming they are new."
"Hmm?"
Theresica sat down again, as though he had regained interest in Deepcolor. In truth, he let out a long sigh of relief. It would have been troublesome if no one had stopped them.
Seeing him return, Ahemoni also sighed with relief. Her smile returned as she said, "We don't have military machine tools, but we do have civilian ones. We can sell you the latest generation of civilian machine tools, and the equipment will be brand new."
"Many things can actually be made with civilian machine tools. The weapons and equipment used by our people in Deepcolor were processed with these machines. Your guards happen to be here, so why not have them inspect the product quality?"
P.S. Please vote!!!
After receiving everyone's approval, Ahemoni signaled to her servant. He immediately went out, and several people soon carried in a pile of objects.
There was a dummy wearing a full set of heavy armor and holding a thick shield. There was also a crossbow.
"These are some items Deepcolor is about to mass-produce. Agent, please give them a try."
She smiled and gestured toward Shining and the others. "You can have your guards test them... There is no need to worry. I trust our partners."
"Thank you very much."
Theresica smiled and nodded politely. Shining immediately stepped forward. With a faint scraping sound, the blade in her hand slid free.
Clang—
The armored dummy and the shield in its hand were cleaved in two and fell to the ground, striking it with two heavy thuds.
"The defensive power... is barely adequate. It falls far short of Victoria's heavy infantry."
Salus picked up the crossbow with a faint smile. She pulled the bowstring back with one hand. As the force increased, the bowstring and bow arms snapped apart.
"Huh? The strength is pretty ordinary."
Ahemoni widened her eyes. The relaxed, natural expression on her face became somewhat strained.
"Equipment performance depends on more than just the machine tools. The materials provided and many other factors matter as well. We have recently been short of Leithanien's various mineral resources, and many things have been affected..."
"Ah, I know about that. Lady Ahemoni is right. I've decided to trust Deepcolor this once, as the beginning of our friendly cooperation."
Theresica wrote a number on a slip of paper. "This is what we are offering. How many can Lady Ahemoni provide?"
"One hundred of each type of machine tool, all new. Ten per batch. We would ask Agent to arrange the transportation yourself."
"One hundred is too few. Two hundred of each type. The price of Originium within Victoria has multiplied several times recently."
"One hundred and twenty. Any more would interfere with Deepcolor's production schedule."
"One hundred and fifty. That's our bottom line. We have a long journey ahead of us, and some losses are inevitable during transport."
The private room fell silent for a moment. Ahemoni extended her hand.
"Deal. We need to make preparations. The trade will begin tomorrow."
"Deal. I look forward to our pleasant cooperation."
Theresica lightly shook Ahemoni's hand.
After a bout of dull commercial flattery, Ahemoni looked around the private room, where she was the only one left sitting upright, and took a communicator out from beneath the table.
The Intelligence Was Wrong
Before you continue