Episode 180 The time has finally come. (3)
Before the drought came, Giselle had sent a letter to the Marquis of Branford.
[The weather is hot, so I think a drought will come soon. Stock up on food in advance and prepare. I don’t know if you’ll regret it if you don’t prepare.]
It was neat. It was written straight to the point without any elaborate greetings, so it was more like a note than a letter.
Naturally, the Marquis of Branford, who received the letter, also had a neat impression.
“… … Is this guy getting crazier and crazier?”
They suddenly tell us to gather food and prepare for the weather. There is no particular reason for this, they just say it is hot.
How many people in the world would believe such words at face value? Those people would be lucky if they didn’t get scammed by a conman.
‘What is this guy up to now?’
The Marquis of Branford asked his butler, shaking Giselle’s letter.
“Did you send this letter to other nobles as well?”
“As far as I know, it was also sent to the Count of Ailsver.”
“What is your response?”
“The Earl of Ailsburgh has ignored it, but the Countess is collecting food from her own pocket.”
“Hmm… … Do you trust Baron Fenris that much?”
The Marquis of Branford’s worries deepened.
Meriel was no ordinary lady. The fact that she had taken action herself was a signal that could not be ignored.
Even so, following Giselle’s suggestion is something to think about. If you save up food and nothing happens, you will not only lose money, but you will also be laughed at a lot.
If it had been sent by someone else, I would have ignored it and just tore it up. But since it was sent by Jiselle, a strangely knowledgeable person, I felt uncomfortable ignoring it outright.
“… … Prepare for a meeting. I need to hear other people’s thoughts as well.”
The butler was slightly surprised at those words.
The Marquis of Branford rarely holds meetings over trivial matters. This shows that he is confident in his judgment, and in fact, most of his judgments are correct.
But whenever Baron Fenris gets involved, I worry so much that my head hurts. No matter what, I’m still a guy.
After a while, the attendees gathered in the conference room heard the news and most of them reacted with indifference.
“There are no signs of drought. The harvest season is just around the corner. How could anything happen in the meantime?”
“That’s right. At this point, the weather is just a little warm. It’s not enough to worry about a drought.”
“It’s clear that Baron Fenris is just freaking out and making a fuss.”
As negative reactions poured in from all sides, the Marquis of Branford’s heart also quickly changed.
To prepare for drought, we need to stockpile huge amounts of food.
Buying food now because its price would soon drop meant risking a big loss if Giselle was wrong.
‘But I feel uneasy about ignoring it… ‘
When the Marquis of Branford was struggling to make a decision, Rosaline, who had been listening silently, stepped forward.
“I think it would be better to buy food.”
“Why?”
“Baron Fenris is a strange man… … but he would not be the kind of person to play such a mean prank just to embarrass us. I am sure he has his reasons for saying so.”
“It’s probably bullshit. It’s impossible to accurately predict the weather.”
“But he is the one who cured my illness and created amazing products. That is why Countess Ailsburg trusts him and buys food from him.”
“I don’t like doing things based on feelings without any solid evidence.”
“… … I won’t deny it. But I guess Father wouldn’t want to just ignore it, right? He’s a person who’s as unpredictable as the weather.”
That’s true. He wasn’t a guy you could call sane at all.
The Marquis of Branford, who had been thinking for a moment with his eyes closed, opened his mouth again.
“If you buy it at the current price, you could end up with a big loss.”
“I will proceed with the money from the upper management. Then, even if he is wrong, my father will not be embarrassed. Just in case, I will also secure the royal reserves in advance.”
“you?”
“Yes, with the investment money we received this time.”
Rosalind smiled confidently. She had already retrieved all 300,000 gold she had given to Giselle.
By giving the aristocrats some ‘profit rights’ on cosmetics for 10 years.
As the number of branches increased from the area around the capital, cosmetics sales increased rapidly. It was truly a solid investment that could not fail.
Because it was a product endorsed by the Marquis of Branford and was extremely popular, many nobles invested in it.
Not only did Rosalind recover her principal in an instant, she was also making a profit by rolling over the remaining money.
The Marquis’s retainers were busy praising her talents, and they all gave her a run for her money.
Preparing for drought is also an investment in some ways, and since it is a story about money, Rosalind’s words were all the more powerful.
The Marquis of Branford also nodded after thinking for a moment.
“Very well, purchase food as you see fit. If necessary, you may sell my name.”
“thank you.”
“If that damned Giselle’s warnings are just bullshit, what are you going to do with the food?”
“There’s no harm in stockpiling military rations, as long as you’re at odds with the Duke of Delphine. If there’s any left over, you can distribute it to the poor and build up your reputation as a Marquis.”
“Hmm, it’s not bad, but… … there will definitely be losses.”
“Or maybe we could just push them into Ferdium as support for a few years. We’d be receiving the royal and royalist support funds on their behalf. If we only receive food, it won’t be of much help to Ferdium, but that’s something Baron Fenris has to take responsibility for.”
The Marquis of Branford smiled with satisfaction as various strategies flowed freely from his daughter’s mouth.
After recovering from her illness, her appearance began to shine even brighter.
I like his judgment in seeing through the situation and his follow-up measures.
Thanks to Rosaline, the Marquis’ power was still growing stronger.
I’m really glad that guy Giselle came to visit…
‘Oh, what am I thinking right now?’
The Marquis of Branford shook his head several times in shock, then spoke in a solemn voice.
“I will leave this matter to Rosaline, so let everyone know so. The butler will convey Baron Fenris’s message to the nobles of the royalist faction. Also tell them that this is not forced, so leave it up to each person’s own judgment.”
“All right.”
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Information was passed on to the royalist nobles by the Marquis’ order, but only a few actually purchased food.
Unlike the North, the nobles who belonged to the royalist faction had never really worried about food shortages. So this time, they didn’t take Giselle’s opinion too seriously.
Excluding a few nobles who had originally planned to stockpile food, only Rosaline and Meriel were actively purchasing food.
Most of the nobles laughed at Giselle, but after a while, real trouble started to arise.
“The weather is getting stranger and stranger.”
“It’s a heat wave! The rivers are drying up!”
“The whole kingdom is suffering from drought!”
“A famine is certain! We must come up with countermeasures!”
Even the royal ministers began to move in panic.
But we can’t change the weather, and the river and lake have already dried up, so what can we do?
Even though the harvest season is just around the corner, everyone is just stamping their feet and not taking any measures.
Meanwhile, the vassals of the Marquis of Branford were relieved.
If Giselle hadn’t told them, if Rosalind hadn’t believed her words and prepared, they would have suffered a huge loss as well.
Rather, I regret not being more proactive.
“How on earth did Baron Fenris know about this?”
“Even farmers who have been farming their entire lives didn’t know. The weather changed so suddenly.”
“There are rumors that he is a master of astrology. He can read the stars!”
Among the vassals who were making a fuss, the Marquis of Branford narrowed his brows and sat deep in thought.
Many wizards and scholars could not have predicted this drought because the weather changed so drastically.
‘This guy… … How the hell does he know this?’
I knew he was a strange guy, but I never dreamed that he had the ability to foresee the future.
In the mind of the Marquis of Branford, who was clicking his tongue at the unbelievable situation even after experiencing it himself, a chilling hypothesis suddenly came to mind.
‘We almost… … We all almost died.’
If they had not prepared in advance, the prince’s faction’s territories would have been suffering from food shortages, and the duke would not have missed that opportunity.
But thanks to Jiselle, I was able to gain some strength to endure.
The dukedom, with its abundant resources, would be able to recover without much damage, but the lords who followed the dukedom would certainly be weakened for the time being.
‘Thank goodness, I’ve got time to get things back in order.’
If only they could endure this disaster, they could at least slightly turn around the tide that was gradually being pushed back by the Duke.
‘I should have ordered them to buy food, even if it was by force.’
Most of the nobles who were loyal to the prince ignored Giselle’s words, but they could not blame her. It was a story that anyone would find hard to believe, and even the Marquis himself was half-believing it.
However, the royal family, the Marquis, and the Earl of Aylesbury have stockpiled a huge amount of food, so it will not reach a point where people starve to death.
‘You didn’t expect this, did you?’
I kept feeling regretful that I couldn’t make good use of the golden opportunity that Jiselle had given me.
If all the nobles of the Prince’s faction had prepared well, they might have formed a force equal to that of the Duke’s faction.
This was so unfortunate and regrettable.
The fact that even though I heard about it from him in advance, I was only able to prepare this much.
‘No, no. That guy Giselle probably wasn’t sure either. If he had really foreseen this situation, he would have come out stronger.’
The Marquis of Branford shook off his regret.
The prince’s faction could have been completely pushed back by the duke’s faction, so it was fortunate that it ended like this.
When I thought about it that way, I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘Duke Delphine, I am so sorry. Heaven must be helping us. Why send such a strange man?’
* * *
The atmosphere in the Kingdom of Rutania reached its worst.
Due to the abnormal weather, crops in most of the territories were ruined. Everyone cried out that it was the worst famine in the history of the kingdom.
Few places have been as drought-proof as Penrith.
Food prices were skyrocketing and cries of despair were heard throughout the kingdom.
Before Giselle returned, it was the beginning of the ‘Great Famine’ that was even recorded in history books.
‘hmm…….’
Jiselle was lost in thought as she listened to Lowell’s report.
A time when everyone on the continent would suffer, some calling it a disaster and others calling it a great tribulation.
Many people have claimed that in a previous life, this drought was a sign of trouble.
This is because the disaster did not only occur in the Kingdom of Rutania, but also occurred all over the continent.
Still, I can’t guarantee that that’s true, because there were definitely places that suffered no damage.
When I think back to the time of the Great Tribulation, a strange chill runs down my spine.
‘You can’t let your guard down even for a single day. You have to prepare even more thoroughly until that day.’
As far as he knows, ‘that day’ comes a little later, secretly and suddenly.
To survive that shock, we had to prepare more thoroughly and reliably than we did now.
Of course, I have to survive Duke Delphine before that.
Jiselle asked Lowell quietly after he finished his regular report.
“What is the food situation of the royalist faction?”
“The royal family, the Marquis of Branford, and the Earl of Aylesbury have secured it to some extent… … but it seems that the other nobles are not properly prepared.”
“That’s a bit of a shame.”
This is a somewhat expected result. Even if you tell someone that something this huge is going to happen, no one will believe you.
Since Giselle herself didn’t have the confidence to persuade others, she just wrote down a rough conclusion and sent it.
At least I thought Rosalind and Meriel would act as if they were being fooled. They both had a pretty good sense of profit.
As expected, his prediction was right on target, but he couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed.
Still, the situation wasn’t that bad, since the other nobles wouldn’t be able to easily ignore his words from now on.
‘The nobles belonging to the Duke’s faction will recover quickly.’
In the previous life, the pro-prince forces were in a terrible predicament after this drought.
Even in the same disaster situation, the recovery was faster because the contractor had stockpiled a huge amount of supplies.
Any shortage of stockpiles was quickly filled through trade with other kingdoms.
Even the Duke of Gongja, in order to take advantage of the good opportunity, took the risk of pushing back the pro-prince faction as soon as the danger from that side stabilized to a certain extent.
The pro-Prince faction, which had not even stabilized, let alone recovered, was bound to see its power diminish in an instant.
From this point on, the balance of power between the two forces began to tilt completely toward the Duke’s side.
‘This time, the prince’s faction will be able to hold out a little longer. The duke’s family will also be worried, you know.’
Thanks to Jiselle, the Prince’s faction also came to possess a considerable amount of food. Thanks to this, it became difficult for the Duke’s family to immediately push back the Prince’s faction like in their previous life.
Now it was a fight over who would repair the damage first.
Because of this, the Duke and Marquis of Branford were busy distributing food to their respective factions and trying to control the situation.
The friction between the pro-prince faction and the pro-gong faction also temporarily subsided.
Finally, the game that Jiselle wanted has been played out.
‘You must not miss this opportunity. You must move at a time when others cannot even think of it.’
We have no intention of sitting still and waiting until the enemy is fully prepared.
After Lowell left, Giselle, who was left alone, smiled without realizing it.
It is true that in order to take over the iron mine, we attack first while the enemies are confused. It is also part of a plan for a long-term goal.
But it wasn’t just because of that cause.
‘Count Cavaldi.’
In his previous life, the Duke ordered Count Desmond to destroy Ferdium.
And Earl Desmond used other lords to conserve his own forces.
One of them is the County of Cavaldi.
A place where reinforcements were sent to Desmond to destroy Ferdium and where Ferdium was prevented from obtaining iron ore.
One of your enemies from your past life and a sure enemy in the future.
The more she thought back to the past, the more the smile on Giselle’s face became distorted into something cruel.
“Finally… … the time has come to kill.”
Yes, it’s time to catch them one by one and kill them.
