Though the lord did not smile, he did introduce himself politely.
“I am Matthias Egil Tonneburg.”
While Lawrence was unsure at first whether or not he needed to kneel, Lord Matthias waited only a brief moment to jerk his chin in his direction.
“I’m here to speak with you.”
He did not immediately cut down Lawrence, nor did he put him in bonds. That meant he was much more open-minded than expected when dealing with an outsider who had come onto his land with the express purpose of overturning his plans.
But it did not take long for Lawrence to realize that Matthias was not so much tolerant as he was tired.
Lawrence glanced at Meyer and the smith before turning his attention to the soldiers and their awkward spears.
“Alone,” the lord added.
Matthias probably assumed that Lawrence would think he would be killed alone among the trees, but Lawrence was worried about something else entirely. His primary concern was that if things even looked like they might get violent, then Holo was liable to fly into a rage and turn everyone else into forest fertilizer.
“Word of you has suddenly spread like wildfire in these parts. I wish to hear what you have to say.”
He had likely heard of the lumber tariff negotiations in Salonia.
Lawrence nodded then glanced at Holo. She did not seem to sense anything out of the ordinary about this, so she only huffed in response.
Just in case, Lawrence checked where the dagger and its clasp was at his waist, then set forth to follow the lord, staying two paces behind him.
The road they took went the precise opposite direction of the one that led back to town—likely this was the one the smith used every day when he had business in the forest. It was not as though Lawrence could casually start a conversation with the distinguished person leading the way, so the two walked in total silence. As Lawrence idly watched how the dappled sunlight poured through the canopy of leaves and created deerlike spots on Lord Matthias’s fur coat, the landlord finally spoke up.
“Are you from Kerube?”
It was not an entirely unexpected question. Lawrence knew right away what Matthias was worried about.
All he had to do was think of the relationship between Kerube and Karlan that Meyer painted in his story and recall that Tonneburg was partnering with Karlan on a large-scale project.
If there was the possibility of secret agents from Kerube who had come to sink the plan he had crafted with Karlan, then Lawrence had to be especially careful to avoid arousing Matthias’s suspicions.
Matthias did not seem to be a fool, so Lawrence promptly came up with his answer.
“I have been to Kerube before, but in Salonia I simply worked at the behest of a priest.”
“I also heard you threw away your opportunity to take up a lordship.”
Lawrence cracked a little smile. “Forgive my arrogance, but I suppose there was a future in which we could have walked side by side as equals.”
When Matthias turned around to look at him, there was a faint smile on his tired features, and he waved Lawrence up beside him.
“So what did Meyer say to convince you to come along? What sort of reward did he promise you?”
The way Matthias showed him that they were equals in the forest by dispensing with formalities showed that he was an affable ruler.
Lawrence, too, doubted he would be subject to some trick or ruse at this point, so he gave a relatively straightforward answer.
“He told me that your precious forest was at risk as a result of my actions. And he urged me to show you that the numbers of your plan do not quite add up using my skills as a merchant.”
It was not a lie, but Matthias shot him a clearly dubious look, so he quickly added:
“As a reward, he promised honey and dried mushrooms and the like. There was a very persuasive case that they’re important luxuries for running a bathhouse.”
At last, Matthias finally understood how Meyer managed to rope Lawrence in.
“I see. Having something to protect can be a source of weakness at times.” He ran a hand over his beard and sighed. “And my numbers, you say,” he laughed dryly. “I suppose he got a good look at me lamenting over my lack of money.”
Lawrence glanced up at Matthias just in time to see him feebly shrug.
“My father and grandfather fought hard in troubled times to protect the forest. I suppose you could say that is all they ever thought about.” He continued, giving Lawrence no time to react, “They could have sold lumber or cut down the forest to expand the fields and gotten all the money they needed. But they never did, and the only thing they accumulated was debt. They appeased their enemies with bribes, hired mercenaries to fend off those they could not buy off—they did whatever they could to survive.” Matthias puffed out his chest, taking a big lungful of the crisp, forest air. “All that has remained is this great big forest and a great big debt.”
Nothing in this world was free.
“The debt alone can be slowly repaid. Even if it isn’t paid off by my son’s time, it should be settled by my grandson’s time.”
Lawrence knew of plenty of lords who borrowed money and never intended to pay it back, so this alone convinced him Matthias was a man of character.
“But I am no expert in the matters of coin. I believe I am a man who can be easily swayed if I place myself in the hands of a skilled merchant. Am I wrong?”
Matthias at last turned to look at Lawrence, who gave an honest nod.
“No. Forgive me.”
A wry smile crossed Matthias’s face.
Though it was not a particularly peaceful method, Lawrence’s plan was to show that keeping the wolves away would take an unrealistic amount of money if they wanted to develop parts of the forest, and to show that it would have far-reaching consequences. Anyone would then see that only a foolish ruler would still insist on following the plan knowing all this.