Watching the three envoys being driven away by the guards, Chris let out a sigh.
Chris and Count Dirac had kept up their correspondence ever since the battle.
The reason was simple: Chris wanted to establish a trade route through the city Count Dirac controlled, so the saltpeter he purchased from the Bohemian Empire could reach Bolas without trouble.
After the battle of Bolas Fortress ended, Chris resumed his smuggling operations with the Bohemian Empire, hiring mercenaries from the Extreme Warrior Corps as escorts and using Corn Syrup as his cargo... To make up for it, Chris later sent Militia over to command the Extreme Warriors.
Unsurprisingly, Master Popoli of El Province was very pleased-so pleased that he even considered double-crossing the smugglers, wiping them out, then following their smuggling route to find Chris and force him to reveal the syrup's source.
Fortunately, Popoli retained some sense. After learning about Chris from the mercenaries, he abandoned the idea and settled down to honest trading.
As the value and quantity of the goods Chris supplied increased, so did the amount of saltpeter he could trade for. Even with its price soaring in the Bohemian Empire's markets, it remained cheaper than syrup.
Naturally, the more goods there were, the harder they became to smuggle.
So Chris wondered whether he could open a route through Count Dirac's territory, allowing the saltpeter to travel along the main road instead of over the snowy mountains.
There would still be mountains to climb, but on this route they would not have to climb as high, and there was an actual road to follow.
Chris did not think his chances were very good. Unless Count Dirac was an idiot, he was unlikely to let smugglers carrying saltpeter reach Bolas, since that would amount to supplying the enemy.