“Please lift your head. It has been a while, Miss Ellie.”
“It has been a while indeed, Lord Nestart.”
The last time I’d crossed paths with the boy, I hadn’t greeted him properly. That was because Arte had introduced him to me as her brother before I’d learned he was the head of his family. Now that we had met again in the mansion of another nobleman, I made sure that I followed all the rules of etiquette when addressing him.
“What brings you to Hephaest, Miss Ellie?” he asked.
“I’m hoping to have a new sword made,” I replied.
“I can understand why. The weaponsmiths of this city are very renowned.” Nestart’s way of speaking and general behavior were far more mature than last time. “We’ve come here for trade negotiations,” he continued, “though they’ve fallen through...” He smiled, clearly trying to conceal his disappointment.
“You negotiated with the marquess?”
“The Barony of Hilgardie used to be part of the kingdom, so it has very few ties with the other territories of the empire. Forging trade agreements with the Hephaest Marquessate would bring prosperity to our territory, but the marquess refused because he believes he won’t profit enough.”
“I see.”
Lekius appeared wild at first glance, but he was still a high-ranking nobleman and the descendant of a royal line. He would never agree to a deal that wouldn’t profit his territory, even to help out a young and inexperienced lord such as Nestart.
“Ah, forgive me for taking up so much of your time, Miss Ellie. You must also have business with the marquess,” Nestart said.
“We have negotiations with several other merchants planned, so we’ll remain in this city for some time,” Arte said. “Let’s share a meal when you have time, Miss Ellie.”
“I’d love to,” I said. “I’ll send you an invitation.”
After giving me the address of their lodgings, Nestart and Arte left with the maid in charge of guiding them.
“The Barony of Hilgardie, huh...” I muttered.
It was one of the territories that had been given to the empire by the kingdom after the counterfeit money incident. Most of its inhabitants had been citizens of the kingdom until recently, so they had stronger ties to Haldoria than to the empire.
If I open a branch there, I might gain some influence over the kingdom...
“I suppose I’m starting to see the limits of what I can do as a mere merchant, though. I’ll need to get Mireille’s advice on this...”
I watched Nestart and Arte walk away, then I knocked on the door of the drawing room and gave my name to the servant in charge of relaying messages. He hurried inside and came back out almost immediately to tell me that Lekius would see me.
“Excuse me, my lord,” I said as I entered. I saw Lekius looking at documents with a glass of distilled liquor in his hand. “I had a most pleasant time yesterday evening. Thank you very much for inviting me to this banquet and—”
“Enough of the pleasantries,” Lekius said. While he’d interrupted me, I sensed no hostility in his tone. “So, what did you want to talk about?”
“My employees are waiting for my return, so I was about to leave. I just wanted to greet you before I did.”
“Oh, I see! You’ve done us all a great service. Thank you.”
“Thank you as well for your hospitality,” I replied.
“That’s far from being enough to repay you! You helped our lord archspirit and rescued my brother-in-law. Is there nothing you want from me? Anything you wish for?”
“Something I wish for?”
“Yes, yes. Anything! As long as it’s within my power, it’s yours.”
“In that case, I’d like your permission to trade restricted ores. There are some ores found only in Hephaest that make great ingredients for cosmetics.”
“Ores...? Sure, you’ve got it. You’d normally need to submit paperwork and get approval from the empire too, but since you’re a Special License holder, my permission will be enough. I’ll fill out everything that’s required on my end by the end of the day.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“I know you refused the other day, but since we’ve just concluded another deal, I’ll try my luck again. Would you agree to open a branch in my territory? If you plan to buy ores regularly, having a store that could double as your base of operations here would be helpful, don’t you think?”
“Well...” I said, considering it. Lekius was an aristocrat through and through. He was trying to turn the reward he’d given me in his favor and hadn’t wasted a second before making his move. “You’re right in saying that a base of operations in this region would make handling regular transactions easier for me.”
“Indeed. I promise you the most favorable treatment I can possibly give when it comes to taxes. Besides, if you’re sourcing ores for manufacturing cosmetics, I doubt there’s any better place than this city to get the job done right. You might as well set up an entire production base, don’t you think? I can help you find the perfect location, and I’m happy to assist you with financing if you need it.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, but I’d like to take some time to discuss it with my people and collect my thoughts before making such a big decision, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course. Let’s resume this discussion on another day.”
“Thank you. Well then, I shall take my leave for today.” I stood up and was about to leave when Lekius stopped me.
“Wait, there was something else I meant to ask. Are you acquainted with Baron Hilgardie? I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you talking in front of the door.”
This was the residence of a high-ranking nobleman, not a cheap hotel. I doubted the walls were thin enough for speech from the hallway to reach the marquess. I used Physical Boost and noticed that I could sense the presence of the servant in front of the door much better than I could before. Had this room been built to allow people to eavesdrop if they used that skill?
“Lord Nestart and I are acquainted,” I replied after a pause. “I met him through his sister who works for the Merchants’ Guild.”
“I see. I feel for him. So young and yet already the head of his house. Unfortunately, while I do sympathize, I can’t possibly help him at the cost of harming my territory’s interests.”
“I believe that is only natural, my lord.”
“I suppose so,” Lekius agreed. “At least, I certainly can’t help him with such a shallow plan.” He held out a document to me.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me looking at it?”
“Not at all. It’ll never come to fruition anyway.”
“In that case, I shall take a look.” I skimmed the document and quickly realized that Lekius was right. The Hephaest Marquessate couldn’t possibly take such a deal. “It is a naive plan. If he were a merchant, I’d give him a passing grade, but for a lord responsible for the lives of his subjects, this is unacceptable.”
“You’re a tough judge, as I expected. Still, you have to admit he has good intuition. He picked the right thing to focus on.”
“You really are kind, my lord.”
“I certainly am not. I just laughed at a poor young lad who came to present his plan in earnest,” Lekius replied with a sad smile. It was plain to see that he wanted Nestart to succeed.
I bade Lekius goodbye and finally left his estate. As I walked toward the inn, I suddenly recalled something.