studiobondurri Chapter 250: Special Measures Are Needed
Chapter 250: Special Measures Are Needed
Chapter 250: Special Measures Are Needed
Leobold stayed in the empire for a few days and received the title and land of an earl.
The powerful people of the empire were surprisingly generous about granting him the earldom.
In fact, there were dozens of earls in the whole empire, so it was not a big deal.
To have a meaningful title, one needed land, power, and influence to match it.
Count Vandus had land and influence, but he had no foundation in the empire.
The land that the crown prince gave him was close to the imperial border, but it was useless because it was used as a garrison by the imperial army.
I dont know why he asked for it, but he will have a hard time without a railroad.
However, Leobold had a reason for asking for it.
First, it was where the Goliath Albion of Valgard was excavated.
This meant that it was a land where a great war had taken place, and Arma advised him that something else might come out if he dug hard enough.
And being close to the imperial border had the advantage of being easy to deal with in case of an emergency.
It was also quite close to Countess Croitzs territory, so it was a land that could be used for anything if he deployed airships properly.
Leobold asked the crown prince for one more thing.
I need food for tens of thousands of people. The sooner, the better.
Food? Cant you live decently in Bagran?
Im going to send it to Resort and Banover, two kingdoms.
Why? Isnt it over there already?
The crown prince, who asked that, looked genuinely puzzled.
To the person who might become the ruler of the great empire, two small kingdoms were nothing more than that.
Some even analyzed that it was too late to take action now.
The problem was not only the lack of powerful leaders to lead the country, but also the land itself rotting away.
The black magic covered the land and caused famine, and no method was effective.
They are also loyal subjects of His Majesty, arent they? As a fellow subject, I couldnt stand by and watch their crisis.
The crown princes eyes contained a meaning of ridicule that he lied in front of me.
I didnt know that Count Vandus had such a warm heart Well, good. Ill think so too. Ill give you food without any compensation if you promise me one thing.
What is it?
Your loyalty.
Wasnt it enough to prove my loyalty with one war?
No, thats not it.
He leaned back on the sofa and lit a cigarette.
The dwarves blood is tobacco, so its a bit spicy. Anyway, I want to hear your answer
He seemed desperate for his support from his impatient question.
Leobold decided to raise his price.
I will swear personal loyalty to you if you promise me one thing.
What is that?
A pardon.
A pardon? Thats not hard.
I want a pardon for all crimes except treason.
The crown prince, who called for a scribe to write a pardon right away, flinched.
He realized that this was not something he could easily give.
A pardon for all crimes except treason was something that could only be given to a founding hero.
Judging by Leobolds ability and ambition, he would not commit petty crimes.
He would surely cause trouble that would shake up the empire at least.
If he pardoned such things, other nobles would rise up against him.
I wont use that pardon until you ascend to the throne.
Until I ascend to the throne
That changed things a bit.
The crown prince picked up a feather pen and asked.
You said all crimes except treason?
I want an unlimited term. And I want things that happened within a month or two to be treated as the same crime.
Youre planning to cause a lot of trouble at once. Are you thinking of starting a civil war?
Its hard to say this, but isnt it always happening? At least it wont harm you.
Fine.
The pen made of goose feathers touched the parchment paper.
As soon as the blue seal was stamped, the scribe who had been silent handed it over to Leobold carefully.
Please dont betray me.
I will be with you. Who do I have to kill?
The crown prince felt fear from Leobold who spoke calmly.
This meant that he could kill anyone in the empire with confidence.
His combat power seen through the recorders was doubtful whether he was human or not.
Hundreds of people saw and heard it, so there was no room for manipulation.
The crown prince wondered if joining hands with him was the right decision.
Despite that, Leobolds help was absolutely necessary.
I dont need your power right now. It will take a lot of time to sort out the allies in this chaos.
Then Ill go somewhere else for a while.
Youve made a connection with Countess Croitz, right? Id appreciate it if you two could help me out. Ill send you the congratulatory money by train soon.
Thank you.
Rather, they were competing with each other for power.
In such a situation, if he closed some mines that supplied parts and reduced the payment, the other minister would be blamed.
Im just using my authority to investigate illegal leakage of parts right?
Special measures are needed in special situations.
Keldian felt something twisted in his chest as he looked at the directors forehead.
This was not a good way for Elvrande as a whole.
There was a fool who stabbed himself with a knife somewhere.
However, he felt the need to ring the alarm for the two ministers who were eager to retire.
And limiting the supply of the two parts will also deal a considerable blow to the human kingdoms, including Zaium. They wont be able to produce Goliaths above a certain output.
Thats true
In summary, you can catch all those who are troubling you at once.
How much will it cost?
Ill submit the budget proposal by tomorrow morning.
Implement it immediately.
Soon after, Elvrande stopped producing ignition stones and first-grade mithril wires that they supplied through Denova.
As a result, several countries that had to produce Goliaths consumed by the war were thrown into chaos.
They didnt have a stock management system, so they produced with the parts that came in at the time, but the supply chain was completely blocked.
The relevant people urgently contacted Denova, but they only got an answer that they couldnt help it.
The homeland cut off the supply. Theres nothing we can do.
Where is that homeland?
They couldnt say it was Elvrande.
In fact, the people who asked also guessed where the homeland was.
The deep relationship between Denova and Elvrande was not a recent thing.
They usually ignored it and traded, but they didnt know what to do when the supply suddenly stopped.
In the meantime, Leobold returned to Bagran.
He looked very tired.
***
I greet Minister Seopjeong.
Leobold casually acknowledged the greetings of the bureaucrats and entered his office.
The forced march he had been on for the last few days in Camillas territory was hard even for him, who had a steel stamina.
He managed to get out of there with the excuse that he couldnt leave Bagran for too long, but he thought he would have to visit again.
Otherwise, she might come here.
Im tired
He lay down on his chair and Arma brought him a plate of supplements.
They were all focused on enhancing sexual function.
She looked at Leobolds face with a dry voice.
I hope you had fun for a few days.
She and I have a business relationship. Youre the only one for me. Weve been together for decades, why are you doing this? It was on the roadmap, wasnt it?
If you think of me like that, please give me a kiss here.
He did as she said and her businesslike expression disappeared and she returned to her usual Arma.
She coughed and moved on to the main point.
Elvrande has cut off the supply of Goliath parts. Thanks to that, theres a mess in several countries, including Zaium.
Is there no substitute?
Ignition stones can only be made by Elvrande, and mithril wires other than first-grade have much lower output limits. About 120E
They must have thought of some drastic measures since they couldnt overpower us with force.
Leobold sneered.
He never thought he would be subjected to such sanctions on Terra planet, not Earth.
They probably targeted me?
It seems so. Elvrande suffered a great blow to their pride due to this war, and they want to make up for it.
They have a lot of money, so they dont care about some bleeding. The other countries must be having a headache.
Elvrande and the human kingdoms were not on very good terms, but they did not completely cut off their exchanges.
Trade was going on quietly, mainly through private merchants, and especially trade through Denova was strong.
Zigarion had messed things up, but it was a financial district, and the commercial district was still intact.
It wasnt a bad way.
Economic sanctions were very effective on Earth in the 21st century, and even more so on Astera.
Goliath was a weapon that any country had to have a certain amount of, and its core components had great significance.
If they made a mistake, it was that their opponent was Leobold.
He didnt know if they aimed at him exactly, but it was clear that sparks flew, and he couldnt let that go.
Leobold pulled out one of the Goliath mass production plans in a corner of his roadmap.
I was going to get rid of Goliath anyway, but if they pick a fight like this, I can delay my retirement a little. Lets show them the technology of the 22nd century.
How about taking over the leadership of Goliath ecosystem this time? If we mass-produce Black Knight, we can be completely independent from Elvrande.
I was planning to produce a few anyway, so it doesnt matter much. How far do you think you can output in the end?
If we arrange mithril wires finely to increase Ether circuit density and improve ignition stones, we can achieve up to 250E.
Black Knight stabilized at 200E level was already impressive, but if 250E ones were mass-produced, the whole Astera would be turned upside down.
But for Leobold, it was nothing more than a clunky can.
Lets go our own way. We cant keep being bothered by them.
Yes, Ill prepare.