Good Business
“You see, the idea would be for you to work for me, but not become an inherent part of my residence”
“Why not become a direct part of your residence, though?”
“Simple–Because being part of my residence either means that you warm my bed, or that you came to be due to bed-warming activities… Or you are a pet of mine. Though I intend on making sure that the one this third category applies to joins the first eventually”
“...So, you basically bed everyone and everything if they are a part of your residence?”
“Yep”
“You’re living the life, Lucien!”
“It's one of the perks of having a noble title as valuable as mine... However, since you will be working for me, you’ll certainly have the opportunity to do something similar eventually. We could work something out, and I could help finance the ranch you desire. So long as I have at least partial ownership and decision-making power over it… But since you would be the main guy at the helm, all of those beasts and such would be free for you to play with”
Leondorl took another look at the contract in front of him. Edrick had managed to get his hands on a binding contract quite swiftly, which only spoke to how far his reach went.
Most important of all, it was a very nice contract that he had put together. It was definitely a restraining one in certain areas, but considering that Leondorl was partnering up with a main-line Elt, the restrictions were not only to be expected, but they were also basically inconsequential.
The sort of money that could be made from this was the complete opposite of negligible, and additionally, the contract was actually not anywhere near as suffocating as he would have expected.
Anoteros definitely knew how to balance exerting authority and cultivating good relations, which was another good sign for Leondorl. It meant that Edrick knew how to be a proper boss…
Currently, they were inside Edrick’s office in his residence. They had finished the rest of their journey and, accompanied by Edrick, Leondorl was allowed upon the land of the Elt clan. The messenger was quite good at acting like he belonged, even when he clearly didn’t.
In any case, after reading through the terms of the contract one more time, Leondorl went ahead and signed, thereby binding himself to the young noble. It wasn’t effective immediately, but eventually, Leondorl would only be able to offer his services for the sake of Edrick, or would need approval to take jobs from other people.
“Alright then…”
Anoteros rang a bell in a precise manner, leading to a maid dressed as if she were a merchant to step into the room.
“Master, how can I be of service?”
“Shu, this is Leondorl. I have just hired him to work as a messenger and scout. He will be the beginning of a future organisation. This organisation–And thus Leondorl himself–Could use the maps and contacts that you’ve built up from your research. He’s bound by contract, so don’t hesitate to give him whatever is needed”
“I understand, Master”
“Additionally, arrange for one of each of these letters to be sent to the great clans, vassal sects, and vassal clans, as well as the lords of Oie, Canard, Caille, and Poule. Any remaining letters can be sent to other people according to your own discretion. You can go now, Shu”
“Very well, Master. I will accomplish this task without fail”
Shu grabbed the bag containing the letters and went away to do her job.
“You can rest assured, Leondorl. All of those letters will reach their intended destinations… Anyway, would you talk to me about Heldeorlt? I am afraid I do not know much about this nation, and the ways of power popular there, in particular”
“Oh, in this regard, Heldeorlt is far from unique. The two main ways of power practised there are ‘Energy Manipulation’ and ‘Knight’s Path’. The latter is a name we give it, but it is more widely known as a nameless way of power. It is hard to quantify it or even know how it really works… In any case, this means that we have mages and knights like many other nations of the continent”
“What truly sets us apart from the rest is our profound knowledge of enchanting. We have the most enchanters by a large margin. You probably know Heldeorlt mostly due to the heavy enchanted weaponry we own. It is a major metric we use to calculate the strength of our armies. All noble houses own at least a few of them”
“I saw an enchanted, self-operating ballista once during a beast wave. It fired flaming and explosive projectiles. The whole field in front of it ended up filled with smouldering craters, and it smelled awful due to the burnt flesh and fur… It was a great time”
“I don’t know for sure personally, but I have often heard that a good enchanted heavy weapon could decimate most knights. I have also heard praises that they wouldn’t fall flat even against foreign powerhouses”
Edrick leaned back in his chair.
“Mmh… I suppose that obtaining the blueprints for such constructs would be quite complicated?”
“Yes, but the hardest part would be to find craftsmen and enchanters to do the job of building the stuff. Heldeorlt has a hand in all enchanter guilds and unions throughout the whole of Cangea, and all enchanters want to be noticed by Heldeorltian elites. They are paid astronomical sums–Far higher than anywhere else, while also receiving tremendous respect and even titles”
“I see. Well then, thank you for your time, Leondorl. May our contract flourish. I won’t hold you back here much longer. You should return to your country to fetch the rewards”
“Likewise, Lucien!”
The two men shook hands, and the messenger soon left the Elt clan, riding upon his loyal mare.
‘That is one good thing done. I wasn’t expecting to have such a lucky encounter, but it was a good occasion to kickstart this project of mine…’
Owning a proper network to send messages through that could double as a den of scouts that could perform all kinds of tasks was a must in Edrick’s eyes. In the long term, he hoped that his messengers would be the first place people would go to send letters or packages, which would give him a strong hold over the flow of information. It would also be a very profitable business that would aid him in becoming an economic mastodon, and thus allow him to be noticed by the crown.
Additionally, Leondorl was a foreigner, meaning that Edrick might even be able to expand some of his future business activities into Heldeorlt.
The scion tapped his fingers against one another.
“Glorious”