On the first floor of the Magic Furnace Temple, a row of long tables had already been set up. Landen, Zoleika, Klein, and Palting V each signed four copies of the contract, then stamped them with the great seals of the Gallop Kingdom, the Church of Wealth, the Royal Fund, and the Southeast Kingdom.
"Your Majesty Landen, on behalf of the Southeast Kingdom, I offer you my thanks," Palting V said cheerfully. "I had thought you might harbor certain misunderstandings about the Southeast, but the facts have proven that your loyalty to the Empire and Her Majesty Vili cannot be shaken!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I must also thank the great God Emperor, the Temple of Wealth," Landen said. "And of course, my kinsman Marquis Fiat. In particular, under his management, more than a dozen workshops were able to deliver to Night-Kirin City on time, with both quality and quantity assured. That was what finally made me resolve to install a magic furnace here!"
"Oh, is that so?" Palting V revealed an unnatural expression. He patted Fiat on the shoulder. "My Marquis, since you and His Majesty Landen are kin, you ought to bring us in when there's business to be had!"
"Er... hehe." Fiat Gallop laughed awkwardly and hurriedly explained, "Listen to what you're saying. Not every workshop in the Workshop Alliance belongs to me—doesn't everyone have shares?"
After Night-Kirin City was liberated, Fiat had been the first noble in the Southeast Kingdom to leap up and curse Landen, even going so far as to pull strings and cast doubt upon Landen's Bloodline.
After the Beastmen became hostile to Landen, he had also been the one exhausting every possible means in the Grand Council to stop the protective policies for the Gallop Plains from taking effect, even sending his