Episode 248: Let’s get some investment. (2)
The Marquis of Branford accepted the offer because it would benefit the royalist faction, but he wanted to reduce Giselle’s influence at least a little.
After winning the civil war, they wanted to prevent a new duke from appearing.
I thought it was unlikely since I was confident… … but I couldn’t make a hasty decision when it came to Giselle.
‘The military power is growing too fast. It would be better for us to leave it alone for now, but… … The problem is after the civil war. We can’t let money continue to flow to that guy.’
If the royal family and I push for it, the road project will definitely succeed. We must take as much of the profits as possible and use them to strengthen our military.
This way, we can prevent Giselle from being installed arbitrarily even after the civil war.
“How much stake would you be okay with?”
The Marquis of Branford answered Lowell’s question with a calm expression.
“I will double the 20% that Earl Fenris proposed to me, to 40%. If he doesn’t accept, tell him that I will pretend this never happened. I will contact him and come back when I have made a decision.”
“No, there’s no need to contact me. I’ll do as you say.”
“… … ?”
The Marquis of Branford looked puzzled at the cheerful answer. He had doubled the amount, and yet a mere administrator, not even a lord, accepted the offer?
“Have you received all the authority? Are you allowed to judge from this place?”
“Yes, I have been given full authority. I will proceed accordingly.”
In fact, Lowell had already been promised by Giselle that he would definitely increase the stake, so as long as it did not exceed 50%, he should accept it unconditionally.
For Giselle, the important thing was not the profit. It would be nice if there was profit, but it was just an additional factor that made it a little easier to fill the funds.
― The important thing is that the country owns the road.
You only need to get it announced the first time. Later on, you can just force out any rebels.
The power of the Marquis of Branford and the royalist faction was still far greater than that of Giselle. Therefore, the Marquis of Branford could not help but think that he could sufficiently control Giselle if he only took a similar amount of income.
But that wasn’t the case. All Giselle needed was time. If she had the power, she could sweep everything away without any particular justification.
I was just using this method to shorten that time. I needed to gain strength faster than I did now to deal with the Duke.
Marquis Branford, unaware of Giselle’s thoughts, looked at Lowell with suspicious eyes.
‘It’s as if he had guessed how I would react and prepared an answer. Why is he giving up his profits so easily? Why?’
The Giselle that the Marquis had seen so far was a money-crazy man. To be exact, it wasn’t money, but his own gain.
So, even when I donated in the name of Porisco, I was certain that my intentions were not pure.
It was suspicious. It was very suspicious, but I couldn’t figure out the intention, so it was even more unsettling.
‘It’s definitely a profitable business for us. It’s even better if the rich guy takes the lead. But why do I feel so bad?’
I was suspicious of his intentions, but I felt even worse because it felt like my thoughts had been read.
Whenever I got involved with that guy, I always had this subtle, unpleasant feeling.
I can’t help but feel like I’m always being dragged around by the mold he’s created.
But Marquis Branford is not a person who does things based on emotions. He has calculated the current situation and the benefits and made a decision in the best realistic direction, so he should just go with it.
“Good. I will grant you the right to collect in the name of the Crown and deliver it to each lord. Tell them to take care of the rest.”
“Thank you. Thanks to your grace, the Marquis, I was able to resolve this difficult issue. I will never forget that you are our greatest supporter, and I will always follow your will.”
The Marquis of Branford continued with a smirk.
“You’re quite the smooth-tongued fellow. Let’s discuss the remaining investment matters with Rosalind.”
“I will do so.”
After stepping aside from the Marquis of Branford, Lowell went straight to find Rosaline.
She reviewed the business plan in detail and nodded willingly.
“If the Marquis helps, this business has a good chance of success. Okay, I’ll convince Meriel and the nobles of the investment group. Have you discussed the share ratio with your father?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did the Earl of Fenris have anything else to say? Other than money.”
“There wasn’t any.”
“… … .”
Rosalind felt her face heat up again and took a deep breath. Ever since she had been sick, her face had been getting hotter whenever she got angry.
‘That kid really has nothing to talk about except money with me!’
Lowell sat back, slightly tensing at the sight of her grumbling.
‘Why are you doing that? What do you not like?’
Rosalind said, chewing her lips.
“As soon as the investment funds are secured, we will send them along with the cosmetics. The capital and nearby territories will recruit workers from our side and begin work.”
It was a business that took in a whopping 40% of profits. And since it was a business that was not run by Rosalind personally, but by the Marquis, he could not neglect it.
I really didn’t like the fact that Giselle only talked about money, but she wasn’t the type to take things personally either.
Lowell smiled and bowed deeply at Rosalind’s cool decision.
“Okay, thank you for your quick decision, Miss. We will get started on the work right away.”
After Lowell left, Rosalind began to recruit nobles on a large scale to secure investments.
“Oh! If it’s the work of a Marquis, then I can trust him.”
“If the royal family and His Majesty the Marquis support this, it will definitely succeed.”
“You absolutely must invest! You’d be stupid not to!”
With the investment proposals from the nobles pouring in, he had to be selective about who he accepted.
The business was owned by Giselle, but no one thought of him as the owner. If the Marquis of Branford got involved, it was the Marquis’s.
The Marquis of Branford’s reputation and the trust he had built up were so great that Rosalind was able to raise a huge amount of investment funds.
Since it was a business involving the Marquis of Branford, there was no one to interfere or delay the work.
The lords of each territory were also trembling, but they could not refuse.
“Hey, that little brat is up to all sorts of things.”
“It’s hard to believe that you’re acting like you’re trusting the Marquis of Branford.”
“I’ll have to fix that habit later. For now, it can’t be helped since it’s important business.”
They grumbled but still supported the laborers. Since the laborers’ employment expenses were on standby in Penrith anyway, there was no need to spend much money.
It would actually be beneficial to deduct some taxes from the money the laborers earned.
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Construction began on a road from the Fenris domain to the neighboring domain, and in the capital, road construction began under Rosalind’s direction.
In each territory, officials and engineers dispatched from Fenris supervised and directed the laborers to build roads.
A huge number of workers were deployed to build the road at the same time. Naturally, the work speed had to be fast because money and people were invested.
Most of the workers involved in the road construction work were silent and focused on their work, but three people in particular were talking quietly and moving their mouths incessantly.
“Chief, what is this? We’ve been working all day. This is the first time I’ve seen Yeongji working without rest.”
“Even Count Desmond wouldn’t make me do this. If I keep doing this, I don’t think I’ll have the energy to escape.”
A middle-aged man with a very ordinary appearance opened his mouth with a sullen expression as the two people spoke.
“So… why doesn’t the work end? Why do we just keep working?”
These were spies dispatched by the Earl of Desmond.
During this time, spies were unable to enter the Fenris territory due to the blockade.
However, as the kingdom received immigrants from all over the country, they successfully infiltrated the country by blending in with them.
Because many of the immigrants were poor and had no identification, Giselle was unable to weed out all the spies.
The man who was the leader of the spies sighed and continued speaking.
“I have a lot of work to do… … but I have no choice but to get information naturally. I have to work hard.”
“But… … Haven’t you been able to steal cosmetics and incubator technology? No, is it possible to steal it?”
“Let’s… … put that off for a bit. We need to figure out how to access those technologies or do things with them.”
The spies worked in the Fenris domain and learned some rather surprising things.
Strangely, food does not decrease. I heard rumors that there is some kind of monster wheat.
We also learned about the existence of a large incubator that slaughters chickens. Cosmetics are famous products, so they were on the list of targets for investigation even before they were introduced.
However, I was unable to find out anything about the production technology. I was able to find out that the monster wheat was produced in large quantities in the old Fenris region, but I still couldn’t find out the details.
Even if I wanted to investigate further, reality wasn’t easy.
“It’s a problem to get out later, but it’s a bigger problem to not get any information. They never leave people alone for even a moment.”
“How about quitting now because you’re having a hard time and can’t do it? Then we’ll have some time to investigate.”
“Oh, for people like us who have no connections, that’s even more dangerous. It’s better to do construction work. Haven’t you seen the guys who came in with us and got dragged off as soldiers? You’ll die there. You’ll have to fight against our own territory’s army. No matter how great the Earl of Fenris is, he can never beat Desmond.”
Jiselle lifted the blockade on her territory and adopted special policies for new immigrants.
Among those who were playing around like rascals without any connections or whose identities were unclear, those who seemed likely to cause trouble or had caused trouble were all caught and sent to forced labor units.
All the prisoners who committed crimes in the territory were taken to a forced labor unit. A unit with the strange name of ‘Labor Shock Brigade’.
And the ones in charge of that unit were Kaor, who was known as the ‘Mad Dog’, and the knights who were former members of the Mad Dog Unit.
The spies shrugged their shoulders as they recalled those who had been taken to the forced labor camps. They never wanted to be taken there.
“Ugh… … That’s true, but… … It’s so hard here… … .”
The most important thing for spies is to be recognized as a local resident, because then they can freely gather a lot of information.
How happy I was to be able to enter without any special preparation and without being suspected thanks to the immigrants.
But as it turned out, the problem didn’t end with entering the Fenris territory.
I found out that there are cosmetics, large incubators, and great technology. But wouldn’t you have to have access to it to even know what it’s about?
To avoid being caught as a spy, he started working at a construction site, but it was a huge mistake.
“I feel like I’m going to die now. My whole body aches.”
“I’m also busy sleeping. What kind of information is that? I need free time to get that.”
“Can’t we just run away now? We haven’t been able to contact the top since we were dragged in for road construction.”
The spies muttered with gloomy expressions.
I applied to be a construction worker, but I was dragged into road work without a choice. Since I had never experienced this kind of hard labor before, I had no idea what to do and it was very difficult.
Still, the first priority was to avoid being suspected, so I was working very hard.
This is what is meant by the saying, “A thief’s own feet are numb.”
“I’ve been carrying materials all day, so I can barely raise my arms.”
“It seems like everyone else is working hard too, so why are we the only ones suffering and having a hard time?”
It was natural that it would be difficult since I just worked hard without any tricks.
As the crew members grumbled, the team leader glanced around and whispered quietly.
“Should we just stop being spies and live here?”
“What does that mean?”
“We made a lot of money here and even bought a house… … .”
“What does that matter… … .”
“Think about it. Do you guys have a house on Desmond’s estate?”
All the crew members shook their heads at the leader’s question.
“No, I came from my parents’ house. The housing prices in our area are expensive.”
“There is one, but… … It’s just a hastily built log cabin in a small village.”
The leader’s eyes lit up as he thought this was the moment.
“Yeah, so how about just living here? You have a house and make a lot of money. Isn’t that a lot better than being a spy?”
“No! What do you mean? We’re going to live here? Then what are you going to do about your family?”
“That’s right! If they find out we betrayed them, they will never leave their families alone!”
There is no territory that sends spies without any measures. Naturally, they are chained to prevent betrayal. The most common method is to take family members as hostages.
As the voice of the assistant grew louder, the leader waved his hands urgently.
“Shh, shh! Your family can live there just fine. We can just pretend to be dead when we get caught. Then they won’t bother you. They’re just watching us in case we betray them.”
“This crazy traitor… … .”
Jo Won stopped talking as he was about to continue. Judging from the commotion nearby, it seemed like a high-ranking official had arrived.
The leader lowered his head slightly and muttered.
“I think the lord has arrived. Let’s talk again later. For now, let’s hide ourselves so as not to be noticed.”
Soon, Jiselle appeared at the construction site. It was famous that the lord inspected various construction sites every day without fail.
Jiselle carefully checked the area and found three people curled up on one side.
“Hmm? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere? Where did I see it?”
The leader broke out in a cold sweat at Jiselle’s muttering. He hadn’t committed a major sin yet, but he couldn’t help but feel nervous because he had come to commit a major sin.
Jiselle, who thought for a moment, nodded and said.
“Aha, these are the friends I saw when I was working on the residence before. But I think there were three of them hanging out together back then too?”
At those words, the spies’ faces turned pale.
