Chapter 639

"That's how things stand. Please be sure to convey our request to Earl Greiman."

Marquis Joe Foster was entertaining an honored guest in his study.

The guest was Friedrich Lister. They had met several times before, back when Lister was the commercial representative of the Todd Shipping Company in Horn Bay, and the Foster Family had done business with him.

But Lister was now the official representative of Earl Paul Greiman, the most powerful lord in Northwest Bay, so their discussions were no longer limited to ordinary business.

"I will faithfully convey your intentions, Marquis."

Lister spoke respectfully to Foster.

Though this was not his first time doing so, his heart still swelled with boundless gratitude toward Earl Greiman. In the past, when he had visited the Foster Family estate on business for the shipping company, he had usually been received by ordinary people in charge of some aspect of the Foster Family's affairs. The true head of the family, Joe Foster, had been a rare sight.

There had only been a few such meetings. Perhaps "audiences" would have been a more accurate term.

Lister remembered how the Duke had stood high above him back then. In the Duke's presence, he had been an utterly insignificant nobody, humble to the extreme.

Yet now, the Duke treated him with courtesy—and in his private study, no less.

Marquis Foster asked with a smile, "I wonder... what attitude does Earl Greiman hold toward this war taking place in Horn Bay?"

"Attitude?" Lister replied. "My Earl sympathizes with the oppressed coastal people."

"Oh, that's good." The Marquis seemed rather pleased. "If possible, would he be willing to send troops to aid this just war?"

"Send troops? No, no, no, no!" Lister shook his head like a rattle drum. "Earl Greiman is a lord of