Chapter 172

Chapter 172: Master of the Trade Route (9)

“So, second and third place are helping each other, huh.”

Edward gave a half-hearted nod and turned around.

Then, he silently gazed at the still-unpaved trade route.

From his perspective, he had to begin construction quickly and secure a contract with the merchant group before anyone else.

Only then could he stand a chance against the overwhelming economic power that Eric and I were establishing through the knight order and commercial sphere.

However—

“I’ll refuse.”

The second son flatly rejected my proposal.

As if he was wary of me, keeping in mind what he had suffered in the past.

“We’re not exactly in a relationship where we can trust each other, are we?”

He slowly placed his broad hand on my shoulder.

Then, with indifference, he brushed away the light snow settled on it.

“You drove a knife into my chest, and I betrayed you once as well.”

“I’m glad you at least acknowledge the betrayal.”

Edward gave a faint chuckle at my sarcastic remark.

Then, with the same hand that had brushed the snow, he pointed a finger toward my face.

“No matter who it is, every action is ultimately for oneself.”

“So you’re rejecting me because you think I came here not for an alliance, but only for my own benefit?”

Edward took the coffee Tyr handed him.

The middle-aged secretary also handed me the same pitch-black drink.

“Well, let’s say that’s the case.”

Taking a sip of the coffee, as black as his inner thoughts, the second son spoke.

From deep beneath his brow, his golden eyes flashed as he said to me,

“You weren’t planning to side with Eric even if I rejected you, right?”

True to his position as the head of a company, he too had insight.

The second son had realized that I had no intention of cooperating with anyone other than Echina.

“Your real goal isn’t to bring me down. It’s for Echina to become the head of the family.”

Edward gave a slight tilt of his head, his eyes full of cynicism.

He seemed more engrossed in the classical melody playing from that wooden house than in me standing before him.

“You’ve really chosen a difficult path. If you had just gone to Eric from the start, you might’ve at least scraped up some crumbs.”

He took another sip of his coffee, then, seemingly annoyed by the steam clinging to his mustache, pulled out a handkerchief.

Gracefully wiping the condensation away, he even waited for me until I pitifully made my exit.

However, he couldn’t help but stop shaking his head the moment I spoke again.

“You say that, but you also joined the fight for the headship. By sticking yourself close to the eldest son.”

I pulled out a document I had brought beforehand from my inner pocket.

Then, I gently placed it on the table between him and Tyr and said,

“You must’ve done that because you thought you had a real shot at winning against the eldest. It’s the same for us. We each have cards we’ve prepared.”

Even though he had rejected the alliance, Edward now looked at me with a suspicious eye, as if intrigued by my composure.

He had sensed it instinctively—

That I had already predicted his rejection.

And that I had come prepared with a plan in response.

His expression twisted with a strange blend of curiosity and displeasure.

“If you don’t like an alliance, then let’s do this instead. Like a card game—let’s exchange hands.”

Even if we traded cards, we would still remain enemies.

“It’s just a transaction between us.”

Edward must have been quite familiar with that word—transaction.

If he’d learned from his father that everything in life came with a price, that is.

“You talk about this contest as if it’s a poker game.”

“Well, I am a third party, after all. My own gain matters most to me.”

The second son let out a derisive laugh, seemingly pleased by my blunt statement about prioritizing my own interest.

“Honest, I like that. Much better than those smooth-talking lines about doing it for Echina or whatever.”

Only then did Edward finally set his coffee cup down.

Perhaps he was starting to entertain the idea of a deal, as he sat across from me at the table.

“So? What kind of card did you prepare with such confidence? Is it at least the ace of spades?”

The second son picked up the document I had placed on the table.

And as he slowly reviewed its contents—

His expression twisted into that of a lion with a deep scowl furrowing its brow—ferocious and hostile.

“Why are you… showing this to me?”

I understood why his face had turned so grim.

The document I had handed him was—

“Mithril refining technology of the Western Grand Duke’s House… That’s usually the kind of thing families guard with their lives.”

“Well, if I want to make a deal with you, shouldn’t I bring something of this caliber?”

After all, it was a technique possessed by the master builders of the Western Grand Duke’s House.

“But if you hand this over to me, wouldn’t that mean I’ll be able to construct buildings reinforced with mithril? That would give me a huge advantage, wouldn’t it?”

However, unlike other beasts, Edward didn’t lunge at the bait.

He simply crossed his arms and kept a calm tone.

“Why give this to me? What exactly do you want in return?”

This was the critical moment.

If I wanted to avoid suspicion, I had to present a request that sounded entirely plausible.

But it couldn’t be money.

He already knew that Echina and I had amassed a great deal of wealth.

It had to be something ambitious—something he couldn’t question.

“Grant us permission to construct our building on the Fern estate.”

And that card made Edward let out a snort of laughter.

Because it struck directly at his pride.

“So you’re saying… you want to compete with my building in my own territory?”

“Yes. With one condition: the building I construct will adhere only to the Emperor’s law, not the Grand Duke’s House.”

The structure I’d build in Fern would not be bound by any restrictions.

It would answer solely to the imperial family.

Since I even demanded a credible safeguard, the second son realized I was being serious.

“This is absurd. You do know that even if you build on my land, I won’t be sharing any of my mithril materials with you, right?”

“Of course. I’ll be constructing it entirely with my own materials.”

Edward went quiet for a moment, taken aback by how matter-of-factly I said it.

“……”

The second son was staring at me as if trying to pierce through my face.

Wondering whether I had come to deceive him once again, or if I was truly here for a fair deal.

From his position, honestly, this wasn’t a loss for him at all.

He was falling behind in construction speed. While he had secured mithril, he lacked the techniques to use it effectively.

Sure, he could negotiate with Eric and obtain the technology that way—but knowing how cunning the eldest was, there was no way he’d hand it over easily.

Given what he knew of the eldest’s ruthlessness, I—much younger and even willing to offer mithril—must have seemed like the easier opponent.

“Where on the Fern estate are you planning to build?”

“Obviously, the spot closest to the trade route. That much, at least, you’ll have to give me if I’m going to make a profit, don’t you think?”

I replied with full confidence and raised my coffee cup.

Thanks to the now-lukewarm temperature, I was able to empty the cup in one go.

“You’re right. That makes sense. A proposal like that makes me trust you a bit more.”

Edward nodded, indicating he understood.

Then, stroking his chiseled jawline, he sank into thought.

“Two days. Come back in two days. If the decision’s made by then, I’ll hand over the construction site immediately.”

“Sounds good. I look forward to a favorable outcome for us both.”

I reached out my hand to Edward.

The second son didn’t avoid it—he grasped it confidently.

The heat in both our hands was intense.

That alone proved we were competitors who never shied away from a challenge.

“Take care on your way back. The weather’s cold.”

On my return to the Angde Plains—

I quietly observed the construction site from a distance, where progress was clearly visible even from afar.

It was certainly moving faster than that of either the eldest or the second son.

However, if the Western Grand Duke’s House’s technology ended up in Edward’s hands, his speed could easily surpass mine.

And with mithril involved, the quality of his buildings might even outshine ours.

I reported all of this to Echina through carrier pigeon.

Perhaps that’s why—

There she was, coming out to meet me herself in the Angde Plains, as if she had come running the moment she received the news.

“Roger!”

“It’s freezing—why come out here yourself?”

As soon as she arrived, Echina gracefully turned her horse’s head and joined me at my side.

“What happened? You’re giving Edward critical technology?”

“Let’s talk on the way back.”

I maintained a relaxed gaze, like a fox returning proudly with its prey.

“Yes, it’s true that I handed over an important piece of technology. As a result, Edward’s position will no doubt rise.”

“Mithril was useless to him until now because he couldn’t refine it. And now you’ve gone and eliminated his greatest weakness…”

Even she, who had decided to trust me, seemed to find herself filled with curiosity this time.

And I wanted to praise her for it.

That kind of curiosity proved just how clever Echina truly was.

“Exactly. With his weakness gone, he’ll receive considerable attention. But think about it—when you fail after being held to high expectations, how devastating is the fall?”

The higher you rise, the harder the fall.

Everyone would demand accountability, and even the strongest would start to waver.

“Edward already has excellent architects by his side. And now, hearing he has access to rare material like mithril, many more are flocking to him.”

Echina analyzed the situation calmly, then pulled on the reins.

Thanks to that, we had to briefly stop at a ridge and hold our horses still.

“You’re not planning to… taint the technique before handing it over, are you?”

“……”

The Northern Grand Duke’s daughter looked at me with a gaze filled with concern.

“If you do that, buildings might collapse. Innocent people could get hurt, Roger.”

I turned to look at Echina.

The reason I liked her—

It was because she was different from everyone else.

As Edward said, people always put themselves first.

Even tolerance and mercy can only be granted when one’s back and belly are warm.

But Echina wasn’t like that.

She always thought of others first.

Even back then, when she should’ve arrested me… instead, she had just held me in her arms and cried.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing wrong with the technique I’m giving him. I’ll hand it over completely intact.”

“Then… how?”

She felt relieved—but also curious.

How exactly was I planning to bring Edward down?

“Do you remember how I took Freya down?”

“Of course. You used stocks.”

I turned my head to admire the Fern Plains I had just come from.

That site was still short on materials, and even the groundwork had barely begun.

“Freya is a clever person. She would never invest unless the return was practically guaranteed.”

That was a trait common among the Grand Duke’s children.

Something they’d learned from their father—confidence and intuition.

And the moment they felt confident, they acted without hesitation.

That decisiveness would eventually lead to their ruin.

“The shipping line she invested in sent signals that it would yield returns from every direction. Only then did she boldly invest.”

“But no one knew how far it would rise or fall.”

I raised my finger as if to say I had seen it clearly.

“Exactly. Just like there’s no such thing as a 100% guarantee in this world, she couldn’t account for the variables.”

“Then… you don’t mean that this time too…”

Echina immediately grasped the core of my plan.

“There might be an unavoidable variable this time as well, don’t you think?”

The Grand Duke’s daughter stared blankly at my back as I led my horse forward.

Then, unable to hold back, she quickly rode up next to me, asking me to tell her what that variable was.

「――――――」

Two days later, as promised—

I met with Edward once again and, with no small amount of satisfaction, signed the contract.

“Quite greedy, aren’t you. Taking the three largest buildings along the trade route.”

“But thanks to that, you now get to build the first mithril city on the continent, don’t you?”

In front of the mansion, countless influential figures had gathered.

They had come to witness this historic moment of our handshake and applauded us.

Not just Gold Morning, but even the Imperial Gazette and the Daily Times began broadcasting the news across the world.

“The greatest city along the Northern Trade Route is about to be born.”

Most welcomed the news with joy.

Even the normally cold Northern Grand Duke quietly read through the newspaper with Edward’s face on the front page.

However—

Not everyone viewed the news with delight.

“A mithril city, is it…”

The highest-ranking woman in the Empire.

Empress Margaret, upon hearing the news from within the Imperial Palace—

The moment she read a certain letter enclosed with the newspaper,

Her gentle smile vanished, replaced by the fierce gaze of a ruler’s wife.

Written on the letter was the name of a single man.

“To Her Majesty the Empress, from Roger Julius.”

The contents inside read as follows:

“Your Majesty, there have been studies indicating that mithril becomes less flexible in regions with low average temperatures, causing condensation.”

“As the Fern region currently under development belongs to one of the coldest zones in Nord, I believe it requires a thorough inspection before completion.”

“According to master builders of the Western Grand Duke’s House—those with the longest-standing experience in the Empire—the inspection should be conducted over a minimum period of two months.”

“For the safety of our precious citizens and visiting foreigners along the trade route, I believe construction must be suspended until that period is completed.”

“As expected of Lord Roger. What a commendable thought.”

The Empress was impressed by the man's will to prioritize public safety over personal gain.

She rose from her seat, intent on sharing this admirable sentiment with her husband.

What Margaret said next—

Completely overturned the Northern Grand Duke’s competition.