And so what should they do while they were playing second fiddle to the wolf?
Lawrence said, to confirm his next steps, “We were on our way to Tonneburg in order to talk to its ruling lord, who is stubbornly standing his ground until the very end, so that Eve may continue with her plan. But we decided to change course and we’re visiting without sending official word.”
“I see. To be honest, I should string you up right now.”
It sounded like a joke, but Lawrence was not entirely sure how much of it was a serious consideration.
“Our thinking was that if Eve was up to no good, then we would have to consider if this project should be abandoned for Lord Tonneburg’s sake. That’s what we’ve come to confirm.”
Eve was greedy, but she was not evil.
But it was hard to call her actions just, so Lawrence hesitated.
“I cannot allow that snake of a woman to hog all the profits for herself.”
That could have been interpreted as Kieman’s personal stance, since he apparently saw Eve as a business rival, but there was a pragmatic meaning behind it as well.
That was because there were only so many profits to be made, and all of those profits would be coming from lumber.
And since that lumber would be coming from the Tonneburg Woods, it would ultimately be fastest to whittle away at Eve’s profits if they wanted to save the forest.
“But what is your aim, then?” Kieman asked. “My thoughts are…I don’t see you making any large profits after you make all your visits. If you want to discreetly support the Twilight Cardinal, then the outcome is largely the same, whether you get involved or not.”
Regardless, the refugees would find homes in Karlan or Kerube. Each town needed to take responsibility and put their own minds together to properly prepare for them.
Lawrence’s first consideration, of course, was to protect the Tonneburg Woods for Holo’s sake, of course, but Kieman did not know what Holo truly was; he would not understand.
If he wanted to make sure Eve earned less than she had planned, then he would need to work with Kieman.
Lawrence then decided to rely on a little trick in order to earn Kieman’s trust.
“You know what I learned—the forest’s true value is in its underbrush, which serves as feed to fatten the livestock.”
Kieman’s brows raised as he turned to look at Lawrence.
“I hear it’s a commodity that never finds its way to market shelves. The wheat yield depends heavily on the amount of livestock manure that has reached the fields, and if Tonneburg’s forest were to fall to ruin, then it would affect a surprisingly large portion of the wheat harvest.”
All markets were connected in one way or another; if one market changed its prices, then that would cause ripples. There was quite a distance between Kerube and the Tonneburg Woods, and the wheat fields this area relied on were not the same ones that fed Salonia. But if the wheat crop were to fail in the area around Salonia, then it would doubtlessly affect Kerube, too.
With that exposition out of the way, Lawrence continued.
“Also, did you hear about what happened in Salonia?”
“Salonia?”
“I stopped the lumber merchants from lowering tariffs for the Church’s sake. And as a reward, I’ll be receiving a portion of the wheat harvest as tribute.”
Of course, that was nothing more than a courtesy from a plot of land no wider than the length of his arm span.
But it still was the truth, and it was likely that Kieman had already heard pieces of the affair. He nodded deeply.
In his view, he was starting to see what Lawrence sought to gain by protecting his interests in the wheat harvest.
“And so to tell you the truth, I don’t actually want to talk to Lord Tonneburg, since it will affect the harvest. But as of present, Tonneburg itself is at risk of disappearing completely due to debt and suspicion of heresy. I suppose his decision is that this is better than losing everything.”
Upon hearing Lawrence’s explanation, Kieman shrugged, satisfied.
Lawrence continued, pressuring him further.
“When I heard the outline of Eve’s project, I thought Karlan—a port city struggling to develop further—was putting together a revitalization plan with Lord Tonneburg. And the one they were working with just so happened to be Eve.”
“And that makes us, Kerube, the villains in this situation.”
Lawrence nodded. “But Kerube’s evil shadow is meant to intimidate Karlan and Lord Tonneburg into coming together.”
All that about the rival city Kerube was supposed to be groundless. By mildly voicing her apprehensions and not putting in an ounce of extra work, she painted Kerube as a greedy wolf frightening the poor little piglets.
“In our case,” Kieman started—as any seasoned merchant could do, he could speak and think at the same time. After a pause, he continued, “We want to avoid her one-sided requests at all costs. She always finds the choicest parts of any particular opportunity, trying to get her hands on excessive profit while basking in everyone’s praise and gratitude.”
All he needed to do was picture what would happen once Eve’s project came to fruition. Karlan would be able to expand their range of trade, and Matthias would be able to pay off his debts while receiving protection from the Twilight Cardinal, even solving their problems of faith. And from the perspective of Col and Myuri, those suffering as a direct result of their actions would be saved by Eve’s work. That was because Eve would use the lumber to build houses, provide fuel for heating, and create the ships that would carry refugees to the kingdom.
On the other hand, if Kerube agreed to lower the price of lumber as requested, they would be able to safely obtain the wool that provided work for the needy as they always had.
In terms of losses and profits, Kerube might seem to be the only loser, but Karlan and Tonneburg’s actual situations would not change much.
Karlan was trying to grow, but it was only a little port town as of now. There was no telling if they could support all the refugees they wanted to take in, yet they were doing just that on the assumption that the town would develop. All while recklessly doing away with their tariffs. Tonneburg, of course, was burdened by the danger of the impending disappearance of their forest, and so they decided to sell off lumber, ready to raise more smithies and coal-burning huts as well. They were facing their own challenges.
Eve alone made no risky bets, bore no burden of danger, and only used her wool as a bargaining chip to secure lumber, even earning herself a reputation for lending Col a hand.
None of this was foul play, of course.
Eve perfectly played the part of a benevolent merchant.