Chapter 417 - 238 - 242

Matters Back at Home

Here's your second regular chapter of the week. Enjoy the read!

On the 17th day of the 11th month, the Flying Fish of Dawn arrived at Hidegold Bay.

The weather was still rather bad. Hidegold Bay was usually a very busy port, but on this day it was relatively empty. Apart from a few transport ships leaving the port hurriedly, only the fishermen dared sail in such weather. They didn't have much of a choice if they wanted to make ends meet.

Masts of varying heights lined the coast of the bay. Ships of all sizes were anchored against the coast. Many of the port's guides cursed the weather, attempting to relieve their frustrations, but when they received a large tip from Howard, the glum and frustrated expression vanished from their faces, replaced by beaming smiles. They quickly guided the ship to a spot where they could anchor.

A problem arose, however, when they tried to anchor. The Flying Fish of Dawn, at about 30 meters, was considered a middle-class ship, despite its narrow design. The spot given to her was about five to six meters deep. This was a fine depth for normal ships of her size, but she had a three-meter-long keel beneath the main body of the ship. She couldn't anchor at the spot she was given. When the tide recedes, she would embed her keel in to ground, and be stranded. The only solution was for the ship to be anchored further away, at a spot normally reserved for larger vessels.

Lorist stroked his chin in thought. It was true that the keel could help stabilize the ship, which meant that she would sail in far windier conditions than others, but Lorist had completely forgotten what a pain it would be to dock the ship.

Perhaps I can shorten the keel by about two meters. It doesn't need to be that long, anyway. It might even increase the maximum sailing speed of the ship.

Howard tugged on Lorist's shirt, shaking his mind back into reality.

"What's up?"

"Milord, look over there," Howard advised.

A few large-class ships could be seen docking in the deeper, emptier part of the port in the distance. The flags the ships flew depicted a wheel.

"We'll stop there then!" Lorist exclaimed joyfully.

"I'm afraid that isn't possible," the guide said, troubled, "That area is reserved for the Peterson Merchant Guild."

"That won't be an issue. We are actually on friendly terms with the Peterson Merchant Guild and can be considered their partners," Lorist said, "Howard, show him the medal given to us by President Peterson."

That medal actually belonged to Charade. Back when he was at the Redlis Kingdom, he introduced Tim to the Peterson Merchant Guild and managed to close a cooperative deal between the two parties. The deal allowed Peterson Merchant Guild to extend their sphere of influence into the southwestern area of the Redlis Kingdom. In exchange, President Peterson gave Charade a medal that could be used to request the guild's aid, or for special treatment and benefits. For example, they could get a 20 percent discount for purchases, and could even buy on credit if they didn't have enough money.

This medal should be more than enough to get docking space there, right? Lorist thought.

As expected, the moment the guide saw the medal, he stopped making a fuss, and even complained to Lorist that he should have brought out the medal earlier. That way, he could have just guided the ship to the Peterson Merchant Guild's docking space right away instead of troubling themselves with figuring out how to dock the Flying Fish of Dawn.

The moment the medal was shown to the harbormaster of the merchant guild's docking space, the Flying Fish of Dawn was given a spot to anchor at. Lorist tipped the guide with one gold Forde. The man couldn't stop showing his teeth afterward.

When the harbormaster suggested that Lorist pay an immediate visit to President Peters, he politely declined.

"I will visit him later in the day," Lorist said.

He would discuss the furs he brought along for sale then. He wanted to head to the Red Grace Inn first.

The two carriages reserved for the transportation of the guild's guests weren't enough, so the harbormaster arranged for another two carriages to join the small convoy. Lorist brought Howard, Josk, Els, Dulles, and another 10 guards, who were carrying two chests filled to the brim with gold Fordes, off the ship and left on the carriages to the Red Grace Inn.

As for Captain Wilson, he brought Old Jack, the other sailors, as well as the shooters of the Carroballista Division with him to a sailor's tavern nearby. They had to arrange for different sailors to be on shift to look after the Flying Fish of Dawn.

The arrival of Lorist and the rest at the Red Grace Inn gave Old Charlando and his wife, Louise, a great surprise.

Charlando knocked Els's head with the large spoon he used to scoop alcohol with, and said, "So you've learned to run away from home, eh? You left nothing but a note and abandoned all your brothers and sisters here... Are you really their boss? And to think that you didn't send so much as a single word during your seven years of absence... Do you know how worried all of us were about you? We didn't know whether you had died on a battlefield or at a dark alley somewhere..."

Els used his arms to fend off most of the hits. Eventually Louise interceded and stopped Charlando. Lorist noticed that Louise had become far more plump over the seven years he hadn't seen her. She had given birth to two sons already. He quickly congratulated them, much to the old man's delight. It seemed that his body was still in prime condition.

Lorist presented the couple with three gifts: three magic wolf pelts, four magic goat and magic deer pelts, and one red-colored bloodfox pelt. Those were the staple products of the Northlands, especially the bloodfox pelt, which was obtained by Els himself from a hunt. Back then, he already said that he wanted to make it into a scarf for old Charlando. Louise was incredibly impressed with the gifts, and, while Charlando said that he didn't really need a bloodfox scarf, he held onto the pelt without any intention of letting it go.

The most obvious change to the inn in the past seven years was the maidservants there. Louise explained that the last maidservant of the previous generation to leave was Molly, who had left three years prior, after marrying. The stingy Old Hope, who was a cobbler and a regular customer of the inn, had passed away. Two years ago when he got drunk on a winter's night, he decided to walk home to save the carriage fare. In the end, he collapsed unconscious in the middle of the snow-covered road. Old Hope was only found the next morning, after having froze to death.

There was also the red-nosed Old Mike who often sang in the inn. He had woken up one day three years ago from an alcohol-induced slumber, and said that he missed his hometown. Everyone thought he was just joking, and poured him two more cups. But, no one could find him the next day. It was believed that he left for his hometown early that morning. Nobody knew where his hometown was, however, and no word had been heard from him since.

The most depressing story was of Old Tom, the retired postman. He had drowned himself in the ocean. Old Tom had always intended to spend his retirement living relaxedly on the money he had saved up over the years, but his three sons and daughter never gave him any peace.His eldest son suffered a huge loss in his business, and kidnapped his business partner in a fit of desperation in hopes of being able to obtain a ransom. After receiving payment, he killed his hostage. As a result, that eldest son was eventually captured and hanged, with his wife and child punished with slavery.

Old Tom spent a huge sum buying the two back, only to have his second son disappear. The latter had incurred a huge debt with some loan sharks thanks to his excessive gambling. As if that wasn't bad enough, his youngest daughter, the most beloved of his children, was caught committing adultery. The angry, cuckolded husband brought the matter before a court, was granted a divorce, and banished her from the household. He didn't return even a single copper coin of the near 1000-gold-Forde dowry.

Old Tom couldn't bear the continuous upheavals and misfortunes. In the end, after drinking a cup of ale at the inn and bidding everyone one final, polite goodbye, he vanished. It was said that he jumped into the ocean while carrying a huge rock. By the time someone noticed and hauled him onto shore, he had already passed on.

As for the three Blackbear brothers, they had obtained a rusty old piece of metal during one of their missions. That piece of metal was later appraised to be a relic of the Magic Civilization, possibly a piece of a cauldron used during those times. They sold it for over a thousand gold Fordes, bought a plot of farmland, got married, and left the mercenary business altogether.

Lorist wolfed down the meal McDuffin had cooked for him and listened to the stories of his old acquaintances. Breathing a long sigh, he lamented the unpredictable nature of the human condition. Despite his lamentations, he felt very relaxed. It was as if he had returned to the days, seven years prior, when he was still just an instructor at the Dawn Academy, the days when he didn't have to worry about the matters of the family.

Lorist booked eight rooms on the third floor of the inn. He finished his meal, washed up, and got a new change of clothes, after which he brought Howard with him to meet President Peterson. Josk and four other guards would be in charge of guarding the two chests filled with gold Fordes in the inn. As for Els, he had gone out to check on his brothers and sisters within the syndicate.

First, Lorist headed to the port and brought a few of the rolled-up furs with him as well as a package filled with preserved magic beast jerky and whale meat, before calling a carriage and heading to the Peterson Merchant Guild's office.

As one of the seven largest merchant guilds in the Forde Trade Union, the guild's headquarters was located in the inner section of Morante City, and occupied a large area that encompassed almost one whole street. President Peterson was also really courteous. He had long been waiting to receive Lorist personally.

After a round of pleasantries, President Peterson invited Lorist into the guest hall for further conversation. After tea was served, Lorist started talking about the aims of his visit. He said that he intended to strike up a deal with the merchant guild and mentioned that he had lots of magic beast furs obtained from the hunting activities in his dominion, and wondered if he could get a good price for them. Additionally, he said that he wanted to order some large-class merchant vessels, as well as purchase a huge amount of food from the merchant guild.

As the Peterson Merchant Guild had built itself up by dealing furs with long distance carriages, they were easily able to get a few fur appraisers. All of them rated the furs Lorist brought with him highly, much to the delight of the president, who asked Lorist how much stock he had and said that he would buy all of them.

Lorist then stretched out five fingers.

President Peterson agreed immediately, saying, "Five thousand pieces? No problem, we'll buy all of them."

Lorist laughed bitterly and said, "President, if I only had 5000 pieces, I wouldn't come all the way here to trouble you. Actually, I have a total of 500000 furs for sale, with most of them being magic bull pelts."

Thunk! The silver cup in President Peterson's hand was dropped onto the table. "You.. What did you say? 500000... magic beast furs?"

Lorist nodded and explained, "My family dominion is incredibly close to the wildlands, and every winter magic beasts there would travel to my dominion to look for food. We've been hunting these beasts for the past couple of years. That's why we were able to stockpile so much furs. We only managed to complete a port on our coast this year, so we've come here to sell off the furs. We want to use the money to buy ships and food."

Upon hearing Lorist's explanation, the president revealed a look of understanding and said, "How about this... If the quality of your magic bull furs are as good as the ones you brought here... Given the market price of 2 gold Fordes and 12 large silvers per piece... I'll pay 3 gold Fordes for each of your furs. You're free to go ask around. I'm sure there isn't anyone else who can offer a better price than I can. The main reason I decided to purchase those furs is because you've brought them in bulk. I can fashion them into leather for all sorts of equipment. Naturally, for the furs of other beasts, I'll purchase them at 1.2 times the market price. Is that alright with you?"

"Alright, you can call the shots, president. It's decided then," Lorist agreed straightforwardly.

President Peterson laughed out heartily, obviously satisfied with Lorist's casual style.

"As for food. Don't worry. I will definitely be able to meet your demand. You can purchase as much as you want. As for ships... I can help you ask around if there are any large merchant vessels for sale. After all, we only have six ships ourselves, two large-class long distance merchant vessels and four middle-class merchant vessels. We mainly use those to transport our own stock, but we don't control any trading route.

"Had it not been for Knight Charade and the deal he struck with Viscount Tebri, we wouldn't even have a proper sea trade route. The business isn't big right now, but it's far more convenient than transporting things by land."

Lorist raised his cup and made a toast even though they were only having tea.

"Then I'll be counting on you, president."

Since Viscount Tebri's dominion was mentioned, Lorist asked the president for Tim's address in Morante City. He planned to drop by for a visit when he had the time.

President Peterson couldn't stress enough how fortunate Tim was to meet Lorist.

"Ever since he managed to strike a deal with our guild, he used our reputation to gain proper certification documents for his title, and ownership over the viscounty, from the First Prince. He is now a proper landed noble."

President Peterson described two embarrassing incidents that happened after Tim officially became a noble. But after a while, the president suddenly quieted down. Lorist asked him why he sighed, to which the president replied,

"It's all because that son of mine... He's always making me worry. I'm so disappointed in him."

"Did he get fat again?" Lorist asked.

President Peterson shook his head and said, "No. It's the opposite of that. My beloved son is now a training freak and spends all his time doing nothing but that. He's already broken through to the One Star Silver rank. He's also incredibly lustful for women. During the past seven years, he got himself 17 wives and already has 23 children..."

Despite his incredible shock, Lorist congratulated the president. Having many descendants was a good thing. It was very unlike the president, who only had one son to put his hopes on. As for his daughters-in-law, Lorist said that the Peterson clan could definitely afford to sustain them. Heck, his son could even afford to have 70 wives if he wanted to.

President Peterson said that what worried him was not that, but the fact that his son had no intention at all to take up the family business. It worried the president greatly. He didn't know who he could entrust the business he built up to. After seeing how Tim, an illegitimate son of a noble, could become a full-fledged landed noble, he lamented his son's lack of ambition even more.

Lorist smiled and consoled President Peterson and said that even if his son wasn't interested in business, he still had many grandchildren to pick from. Given that a Gold ranked swordsman could easily live past his hundreds, President Peterson had at least 50 years ahead of him. With that amount of time, he could easily raise another successor among his grandchildren, so Lorist said that there wasn't a need to focus only on his son.

President Peterson livened up at the comment. It was true! If his son didn't have any interest in the business, he'll just pass him over and train one of his grandchildren! Drunk with joy, he invited Lorist to stay and have dinner with him. No matter how Lorist attempted to refuse the offer, the president still insisted that he stayed. After drinking two more cups of wine, Lorist saw a person scramble before the president.

"Master, it's horrible! The Third Young Master of the Chikdor clan is causing trouble at our port! He's insisting that he wants to take away the ship that this guest of ours left there..."

Port Troubles

Here's the first bonus chapter of the week, brought to you by Joshua L. as well! Thank you for your tremendous support and enjoy the read.

President Peterson was incredibly furious. That area of the port was set aside for his clan's exclusive use, and Lorist was his guest. If Lorist's ship was really forcefully taken away there, it would definitely destroy the Peterson Merchant Guild's reputation if anyone found out. The mere mention of trying to take away Lorist's ship was an act that tried the guild's patience. What in the world was going on? Did the Chikdor Merchant Guild intend to start a full-on conflict with the Peterson Merchant Guild?

Lorist was also quite surprised. He didn't even know the third young master of the Chikdor Merchant Guild, nor could he recall if he had offended such a person before. Heck, he didn't even have the slightest interaction with the Chikdor Merchant Guild. Why, then, did the third young master want to take away his ship?

When the two arrived at the port, they noticed that they were dealing with a fumbling drunk.

Two groups of people were standing opposite one another. One group was the Peterson Merchant Guild and the sailors and marines of Lorist, including Captain Wilson and the others, and the other was a horrible drunk that screamed something along the lines of the owner of the Flying Fish of Dawn not giving the Chikdor clan any face. He insisted that they would take the ship away to teach the owner a lesson.

Even though many others stood behind the drunk Third Young Master, all of them knew that he was acting rather excessively. They had tried to persuade him to stop, to no avail, and could only stand behind him quietly without actually heeding his order to forcefully take the ship.

"What is going on?" asked President Peterson in a deep voice.

"Master..." the harbormaster greeted as he bowed, "I'm not too sure either. One hour ago, the fleet of the Chikdor Merchant Guild stopped at this area of the port. Initially, I thought they were only going to be here temporarily to borrow some space, so I didn't mind it. This kind of occurrence is actually quite common and we would allow it if it wasn't inconvenient for us. I didn't know that the third young master would barge into Lord Norton's ship. After he was stopped, he ordered his men to take action, and I quickly came forward to stop it, only to end up like this..."

The harbormaster then showed the beaming red palm mark visible on his face.

"Who did that?" asked President Peterson with a low voice.

The harbormaster looked at the third young master, who was having a drunk fit.

The third young master continued to clamor around, refusing to stop causing trouble.

"You actually dared... to offend us... The Chikdor Merchant guild... Are you tired of... living? I... I'm giving you a chance... by taking your ship away... Yet... yet you dare to stop m-m-me... I... I will exterminate... you lot..."

Lorist was enraged as he thought, You're only a young master of a merchant guild, yet you dare to be so audacious? Do you think that you're second to none but the heavens?

Lorist took a few steps forward, and looked at the people standing behind the drunk man.

"I am Count Norton, the owner of this ship," he said, "I don't think that I've had any interaction before with the Chikdor Merchant Guild. So, who can explain to me how House Norton has ever offended your guild? Why is your young master trying to take my ship away?"

An old man dressed like a supervisor stepped forward, out of the crowd, and said, "Apologies, Count Norton. Yesterday morning when your ship overtook our fleet, our young master ordered us to signal you to stop because he wanted to meet up with you. He even had the tune of invitation blown. But you ignored his invitation and continued on your way. That's why our young master is enraged. He thinks you are looking down on him and the Chikdor Merchant Guild... When we arrived, he saw your ship docked here. Coupled with his bad mood after drinking, he began to act up..."

Lorist looked at the old man with a dumbstruck face, and said, "Oh, so you're the merchant fleet that we overtook yesterday? Is your young master sound in the head? We'd already zipped past your fleet and were more than 100 meters in front of you. Would we be able to see or hear your signals from there? Also, given the strong winds, would we have been able to turn back to accept your invitation even if we did receive your signal? So you think you can take my ship because of this small issue? My, isn't the Chikdor Merchant Guild domineering!"

Lorist laughed coldly, and continued, "Hehe, so you want to take my ship? Very well. But are you prepared to pay the price?"

That old supervisor had misheard Lorist's tone and thought that he had been frightened by the reputation of the Chikdor Merchant Guild.

"Lord Count, your ship travels incredibly fast. She would definitely be of great use to the Chikdor Merchant Guild. If you hand that ship to us, you will gain the favor of the Chikdor Merchant Guild..."

Before he finished, Lorist spat out audibly, and said, "Forget your favors. If you want my ship, it's easy. You just have to defeat House Norton. If you can walk over my dead body, I'll give you my ship."

President Peterson stepped in front of Lorist to stop him. He already had a rough grasp of the situation.

"Since your third young master is drunk, then as the owner of this part of the port, I will bring your young master back with me to sober him up. You can leave now. Don't forget to tell your president to come collect his son," said President Peterson.

The president's statement implied that he intended to hold the drunk, trouble-making third young master back so that the president of the Chikdor Merchant Guild could come collect him after making up for the trouble caused. That way, the parties would not be on bad terms with one another. However, if they insisted on bringing their third young master back with them, they would have to fight for it with the Peterson Merchant Guild. The consequence of that conflict would not be something any single person could bear.

President Peterson waved his hand and called out two guards from his back to hoist the drunk third young master into the carriage behind them. Even though the people of the Chikdor Merchant Guild broke into a commotion, none of them stood up to stop the two guards.

The old supervisor bowed towards President Peterson, and said, "Then, we'll have to trouble you, sir, to take care of our third young master. We are incredibly sorry for tonight's incident. I will definitely relay this situation to our president as well. We will excuse ourselves now."

In a few short moments, the crowd at the port dispersed. Lorist was a little stunned at what had just happened and thought, That's not right, if there's anything I learned from reading all those novels, it's that the people of the Chikdor Merchant Guild would definitely stand their ground to support their third young master. They should be ignoring President Peterson, and rushing over to take the young master back. That should've been where I get to show off my skills by beating them all down, right? After the scrubs are taken care of, the boss character would show up, causing the conflict to gain even more traction. This should've ended with me helping the Peterson Merchant Guild defeat their rival, and be the catalyst that reinforces the relationship between House Norton and the Peterson Merchant Guild!

Why were the people of the Chikdor Merchant Guild so rational? Why were they able to leave their young master here just like that to avoid causing a commotion? How ridiculous... They don't even act like one of the seven largest merchant guilds at all... They should've at least left after spouting a few hatred-fueled lines to save themselves some face...

"Locke, there's no more trouble. Let's head back for some more wine," said President Peterson.

"We're still going to drink?"

Lorist really couldn't understand what President Peterson intended to achieve, so he could only cease his wild fantasies and instruct Captain Wilson and the rest to pay attention to the security of the ship, before leaving on the carriage with the president.

"Even though the Chikdor Merchant Guild has the highest number of ships at sea, they will still have to rely on our long distance carriages on land. Otherwise, they won't be able to gather so much resources and supplies that secretively. Tomorrow, President Chikdor will come to meet us and come up with a settlement since this incident was caused by their third young master to begin with. If he wishes to avoid conflict with us, then he'll definitely make it up to us properly," said President Peterson apologetically.

"Then, I'll be counting on you, president. However, I really didn't expect that the third young master of the Chikdor Merchant Guild would be so brainless and reckless. He doesn't look that young to me, yet he behaves like a rowdy child. Perhaps he's intentionally trying to cause conflict between your guild and theirs? Then again, I also think that the excuse I gave for not accepting their invitation to be rather lacking... Nobody would truly believe that," said Lorist.

President Peterson laughed heartily, and said, "Worry not, Brother Locke, this matter is not as complicated as you're trying to make it sound. In fact, I know why the third young master would get so drunk and cause a fit in the first place. Everyone in Morante City knows what President Chikdor is most troubled about. Even though all three of his sons are blessed with rather keen business senses that far exceed my own useless son by leaps and bounds, President Chikdor still hasn't named a proper successor. It has naturally resulted in the three young masters forming their own factions, each trying to get a lead over the others.

"But during the first half of this year, President Chikdor finally came up with a way to resolve this, and gave each of his three sons a huge task. The one who completes the task first would be able to receive proper guidance and inherit the merchant guild. That's also the reason for the third young master's rampant drinking. The deadline for his task was yesterday, but he only managed to make it back today, meaning that he had lost his right to succession by default. That's why he was throwing a drunk fit at our port. The people of their guild didn't even say a word when we wanted to bring him away either."

President Peterson paused in thought before he continued, "Just stay at my home for the night. Don't worry, President Chikdor will personally come over and offer you his apologies. In the meantime, we can discuss when you intend to hand us the furs you stockpiled."

Oh, I almost forgot about that, Lorist thought.

"I've come here to purchase ships precisely for the purpose of transporting these furs. Why don't we meet up at Silowas Island and carry out the trade there? The island is also a dominion of my House."

"Silowas Island?" muttered the president, "I seem to have heard of that place before..."

Lorist elaborated, "Silowas Island belongs to the Andinaq Kingdom and is roughly 100 kilometers away from Jillin Harbor. It is the largest island of the former empire."

"Wait, Brother Locke, isn't your dominion in the Northlands? Since when has Silowas Island become yours?" asked President Peterson.

Lorist then detailed his exploits and experiences to the president briefly.

With a solemn look on his face, President Peterson said, "Wait, then does that mean that House Norton is one of the noble houses of the Andinaq Kingdom? In other words, you're a count of the Andinaq Kingdom?"

"That's right. What's wrong, president? Will there be a problem?" asked Lorist.

President Peterson let out a sigh and said, "It's a rather huge one. I'm sure you've heard that the trade union enforced an embargo on the Andinaq Kingdom, right? It's completely true. It's all because the Andinaq Kingdom bears the legacy of the Krissen Empire, which was the sworn enemy of the trade union for the past 200 years. Even though the empire is already gone, the legacy is still there. The Andinaq Kingdom is considered an enemy to the trade union and is therefore under an embargo. This matter is one that us merchants rally up in solidarity for."

Troubled, Lorist said, "That can't be... I didn't expect that the grudges between the nations ran that deep. Even though there has already been roughly 30 years of peace, and the fact that the empire has already disintegrated, the people of the trade union still hold that grudge? Isn't that a little excessive? Wasn't there a saying about how there are no eternal enemies, only eternal profits? Shouldn't chasing profits be the core of a merchant's being?"

"Excessive?" President Peterson laughed and continued, "You're right. There are no eternal enemies, only eternal profits. Chasing profits is the core of a merchant's being. Actually, the hate for the Andinaq Kingdom is intentionally built up by others. The ones who are actively opposing the Andinaq Kingdom are the Twinhead Dragon Merchant Guild, the Mayflower Merchant Guild, and the Wessia Merchant Guild. The Peterson Merchant Guild is only cooperating with them and carrying out our basic obligations.

"However, when it comes to the embargo on the Andinaq Kingdom, we must definitely play our part too. Brother Locke, since you are a noble of the Andinaq Kingdom, then this fur trade will be very inconvenient for us to carry out. If we are found out by others, the Peterson Merchant Guild will quickly be isolated and attacked by the other merchant guilds..."

Lorist laughed and said, "How about this, president... House Norton will not fly the flag of the Andinaq Kingdom and only use the Raging Bear Flag of our own. Nobody would know that we're nobles of the Andinaq Kingdom then. Even if others find out about your deal with us, you still have a bunch of excuses to use. It is common knowledge that there aren't any magic beasts within the Andinaq Kingdom. As for the trade, we can carry it out at Viscount Tebri's dominion. We'll ship our goods to him, and you can fetch it there. That way, you can also say that you bought the furs from Viscount Tebri and have nothing to do with us."

"Alright, that's a sound plan. We'll do just that," said President Peterson with a tone of certainty.

Having dealt with the problems regarding the deal, Lorist breathed a sigh of relief. The sale of 500000 magic beast furs would net them 2 million gold Fordes, and that was enough for the house to invest in development and stockpiles for the next couple of years. It was something that the stability and prosperity of the Norton House was dependent on.

Even though he had closed the deal with President Peterson, he couldn't trouble him with the salt, magic beast jerky and whale meat he brought over. The guild didn't deal with those goods, and they didn't sell for much anyway. Lorist felt that it was better to look for other ways to deal with those items. Even if he couldn't sell them, the dominion would definitely be able to consume them.

After sending a few guards ahead to the Red Grace Inn to notify Josk, he spent an uneventful night at the Peterson Merchant Guild with the others.

At around 10 in the morning the next day, the men of the Chikdor Merchant Guild came over. President Chikdor came personally and greeted President Peterson intimately, as if they got along very well. The sober third young master was also brought over. He stood by his father with a sour face while the latter expressed his thanks to President Peterson for taking care of his drunk son, and for keeping him from causing more trouble for others.

President Peterson was also very courteous and stressed that the seven main merchant guilds of the trade union were like family. It was completely natural for them to watch each other's backs. However, he advised the third young master to take this lesson to heart and not lose hope after a small shortcoming and resort to drinking as an escape, even to the point of causing others trouble. He marked that behavior as uncultured and uncivilized, and said it was not something befitting a candidate for inheritance of a large merchant guild.

After lecturing the third young master of the Chikdor clan, President Peterson introduced Lorist to President Chikdor as the family leader of the House of the Raging Bear from the Northlands, Count Norton.

It was apparent that President Chikdor had never heard of House Norton before, since he had never paid attention to noble houses situated at the far borderlands. What he was interested in, however, was Lorist's oddly-shaped ship. He was shocked to hear that it could travel at 14 knots in strong wind. Even the fastest sail-powered warship of the newest design could only travel at a maximum of 11 knots.

Lorist shrugged and told President Chikdor that his ship was not good for much apart from her speed. Because of the Cursed Coasts of the north, he had to make his ship much narrower. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to navigate the reefs there. And given the ship's narrowness, it couldn't carry much cargo. It could only be used to transport people.

As for the her resistance to strong winds, Lorist explained that he had simply added a 3-meter-long keel under the ship so that she wouldn't flip over easily while in transit. It was something a common shipwright would understand after taking only one look at the ship. Additionally, he said that the keel's main usage was to prevent the ship from being damaged by the reef at shallow waters. When the keel hit something, there would still be enough time for the ship to turn back and find another way.

Upon listening to Lorist's explanation, President Chikdor lost interest in the ship. He mainly wanted a fast ship that could carry large amounts of cargo. Just like Lorist had said, his ship was only good for speed and not much else. He wasn't worried that Lorist would make up an explanation to fool him since he could easily send a master shipwright to check out the design of the ship. That way, he would be able to know whether Lorist was telling the truth about the ship.

To express his regret for Lorist's troubles because of his son, President Chikdor brought Lorist a gift. It was an exquisitely decorated wooden box that was roughly 50 centimeters wide. Even though Lorist tried to refuse out of politeness, he still accepted it in the end and opened the box at the insistence of President Peterson.

The moment Lorist opened and looked into the box, he was dumbstruck.

Within it lay a golden, gleaming firearm...

The Secret of Gunpowder

Second bonus chapter of the week, coming up! Thank you Joshua L. again for your tremendous support!

There was a firearm roughly 40 centimeters long within the wooden box. It had an exquisite design. Both the stock and barrel were decorated with intricate, gold laden carvings. However, the firearm looked a little weird. Besides the fact that its barrel was shaped like a trumpet, the hammer behind it was simply ridiculous. It was the shape of a two-winged dragon baring its fangs. It looked positively imposing.

The firearm took up half the space within the box. The bottom of the box was filled with rows of small lead pellets. Each pellet also had a cylindrical container. There was a total of 20 pellets and cylinders respectively.

Lorist was incredibly moved, and thought, If the pellets are the projectiles, then the cylinders must contain gunpowder! This must be the gunpowder variant of Grindia!

"This is a gun made by the dwarves of the Tedanini Kingdom. Last year, when the trade union came to an agreement with the dwarven kingdom, they were invited to set up a management office and a shop for dwarven merchants at Rotary Street, here in Morante City . I happened to be there, and purchased one of these guns. It seems that you like it a lot, Lord Count."

President Chikdor laughed heartily and looked at President Peterson, who merely nodded.

President Chikdor said to the guard beside him, "Demonstrate how that gun is used to Count Norton."

That guard came forward, saluted, and received the box.

"Lord Count, the gun is the traditional weapon of the dwarves. There are variations with different barrel lengths. Short-barreled guns can fire up to a distance of 30 meters, and they are rather similar to our own ballistic ranged weaponry. The range of these guns is rather low and is not worth much mention. However, one thing is for sure: the shots are very powerful. One would require at least 100 bowmen to pose a threat to a Blademaster, but one gun by itself will be enough to threaten a Blademaster within its 30-metre range. A Blademaster can deflect arrows with his sword, but not these bullets."

The guard then slipped the black cylinder into the barrel before using a fine metal rod to push it deeper in. He loaded the pellet into the barrel in a similar fashion. In the end, he said, "This gun is one of the newest models within the dwarven kingdom. They don't need a fuse, lifting this dragon here is enough. After that, firing is as simple as pulling the trigger down here. However, due to the physical differences between humans and dwarves, we humans had to strain to pull trigger because the force required to do so is rather great."

The guard then aimed the gun in his hand towards a wall around 20 meters away, and pulled hard on the trigger. Bam! Lorist was startled by the shot. He hadn't expected the gun to be that loud. Despite this, he was immediately pleased to notice a faint smell of burnt gunpowder. It was indeed the smell that a gunpowder propellant would produce. This only served to baffle Lorist; he didn't understand why his experiments before failed, even more so now that he had confirmed that gunpowder did indeed exist, and work.

"Look, Lord Count. The force is rather good, isn't it?" asked the guard.

He pointed at the hole on the wall not far away. A dented pellet could be seen embedded within it.

Lorist snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the hole. He noticed that the hole made on the wall was almost 1 meter away from where the guard had aimed.

With a margin of error like that, can it really be considered good?

At that moment, Lorist's mind was occupied with nothing but gunpowder. He was incredibly impatient and couldn't wait to go back and restart his research. As for the short gun made by the dwarves, he was only impressed with the intricate carvings on it, everything else dissatisfied him.

Look at that trumpet-shaped opening... If it's the slightest bit wider, the pellet would slip outward. And that beautifully carved wooden frame… it does nothing but increase the weight of the gun. Then there's that beak-shaped handle... Is that even nice to hold? And it doesn't even have sights... One can only aim this gun based on intuition... And the ridiculous dragon hammer that is far too forceful... Sigh, it's not good at all. Also, that trigger that requires so much force to pull... How can one aim steadily when pulling a trigger already swerves the gun around so much?

Lorist was confident that as long as he discovered the secret of the dwarves' gunpowder, he could definitely design a much better gun. Even his prototype would be far better than the decorated gun made by the dwarves.

But it was at that moment when he realized that his deep-thinking had made the others present think that he was merely a count from the rural areas of Grindia who had never seen much of the world. A look of disdain flashed past the guard's eyes as he put the gun back into the box and handed it to Lorist. "Lord Count, this is your gun, so keep it well."

Lorist received the box and hurriedly thanked President Chikdor.

President Chikdor laughed and said, "Since the Lord Count likes this gift so much, it was definitely worth it. Only by doing this can I properly express my sincerity to make up for my son's blunder. Also, forgive me for asking, since your dominion is in the distant Northlands, how did you come to know President Peterson? I also wonder if there's anything the Chikdor Merchant Guild can help you out with during this trip of yours to Morante City?"

Lorist also laughed and replied, "President Chikdor, I studied here in Morante City for a decade in my formative years. I got to know President Peterson, and received a lot of help from him, during that time. I had to return to the Northlands to inherit my title and the House's dominion. Six or seven years have flown by since then. I have come on this trip to pay a visit to President Peterson."

President Peterson smiled and nodded in agreement. He was quite pleased with Lorist for not revealing any important information.

"Oh, so that's the case. I thought you were preparing to secure a sea trade route. To be frank, Lord Count, since you are able to build a ship that is capable of traversing reefy areas, are you interested in establishing a sea trade route? If you're willing, you can let the Chikdor Merchant Guild handle the sea transportation for you. As the merchant guild with the most fleets, we can definitely guarantee that we won't disappoint you," said President Chikdor, staring Lorist directly in the eye.

Lorist revealed a look of joy, before his expression changed from to one of hesitation, then to helplessness. In the end, he even looked rather regretful.

After seemingly contemplating something deeply for a long while, he replied, "President Chikdor, while I'm incredibly interested in your proposal, my family dominion is situated in the far north and doesn't produce much unique local goods. There also isn't anything worthwhile we can offer up for trade. To be honest, we are only barely able to sustain ourselves with the food we produce."

"I am definitely interested in establishing a trade route by sea, but I know that I will be wasting goodwill if I have you make a pointless trip. Take, for instance, my dominion. It only produced around 6000 gold Fordes during the seven years I was there. Additionally, the only reason I'm able to come here to Morante City to have a good time is purely the graciousness of President Peterson."

President Chikdor didn't mind Lorist's rejection at all. He smiled and said to President Peterson, "I didn't expect that your friend, the Lord Count here, would be so honest. He's very unlike the other shallow nobles. They will stop at nothing to promote their dominions the moment they hear about establishing a trade route, when, in fact, they have nothing much to offer us. This is definitely a good characteristic of his."

President Peterson agreed and said, "The reason I stuck with my friend, Locke, here is because of his honest demeanor. He doesn't bear the usual shortcomings of other nobles, and speaks only the truth. No more, no less. His dominion is indeed rather rural, however. Even I can't help with that, despite my best intentions."

The two chatted for a few more moments before President Chikdor took his leave, bringing the guard and his third son with him. Lorist didn't notice the venomous glance the third young master gave him before turning to follow his father.

Lorist was still preoccupied with thinking about gunpowder. After discussing with President Peterson a little longer, deciding on the date when the furs would be delivered to the dominion of Viscount Tebri, and asking the Peterson Merchant Guild to purchase some large-class cargo vessels on his behalf, he left and returned to his lodging.

The moment he arrived at the Red Grace Inn, Lorist instructed Dulles and Howard to bring some magic beast jerky and whale meat to Louise, and ask her whether the food fit the taste of the citizens of Morante City. Other than that, he gave McDuffin some salt for him to try it out. He wanted to find out what difference it had with the rock salt usually used in Morante City.

Following that, Lorist cooped himself up in his room and began to inspect the remaining 19 cylinders of gunpowder included with the gun he received. He stayed within his room for three whole days without leaving. Josk and Howard secretly opened the door of his room to check out what he was up to on the third day.

The table was filled with various glass test tubes and experimental apparatuses used by herbalists. Lorist was thankful that he decided to take up herbalism during his days at the academy. The set of skills he had learned from those studies now allowed him to separate most of the compounds present in liquid. Doing this would allow him to easily determine the mixture used by the dwarves to make the gunpowder.

The mixture contained within each cylinder made by the dwarves was composed of seven different substances including sulfur, saltpeter, and powdered charcoal. They were the most common ingredients used to make gunpowder. The other four substances were rosin powder, puerarin starch, egg white and a kind of mysterious white-colored powder.

After more experimentation, Lorist came to understand that the only active components within the dwarven gunpowder were the familiar sulfur, saltpeter, and powdered charcoal, along with the mysterious white powder and rosin powder. Puerarin starch wasn't of much use, and the egg white was mainly used to solidify the powder into a cylindrical shape.

The thing that caught Lorist's attention was the mysterious white powder he had no information about. Without it, the gunpowder would be completely ineffective. Just as Lorist intended to ask someone else what the powder was by showing them a sample, he realized that he had used up all 19 of the gunpowder cylinders he had.

After giving it some thought, he called Howard upstairs. He had him instruct the maidservants of the inn to prepare him a warm bath, before ordering a huge meal. Following his bath and hearty meal, he took the box with the gun inside, and left with Howard for Rotary Street on a rented carriage.

Lorist had taken note when President Chikdor mentioned that the dwarves established a shop-office at Rotary Street. The carriage quickly sent Lorist and Howard to their destination. Upon getting off the carriage, Lorist could see a large, weird building that was stacked up with huge stone slabs. It looked like a small hill.

While it was weird for a 'mountain' to be in the middle of Morante City's busiest street, it wasn't that out of place; the ones who built it were dwarves, after all. The dwarves of the Tedanini Mountains were accustomed to living within caverns and they would feel insecure if they were not living within one.

After passing through the entrance, which was shaped like the entrance to a cavern, a dark stairwell could be seen. It was then that Lorist realized that the 'building' constructed by the dwarves wasn't that big. In fact, the main office and shop was situated in a large space beneath the ground. Many customers were visible inside, despite the bad lighting.

Lorist walked up to a barrel-shaped counter, and put the box on it.

A red-bearded dwarf looked at Lorist, and asked in a weird tone, "Good sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

Lorist looked curiously at the dwarf before him. It was a humanoid creature with an almost square-like build. Despite their similar appearance, the dwarves in Grindia had a different reputation from their fictional counterparts in Lorist's previous life. The two had similar behaviors: they both had great strength, dug caves, forged metal, fashioned equipment, and drank incessantly. However, the dwarves of Grindia were rumored to be shrewd businessmen. The merchants said that one should always be attentive and on one's guard when dealing with a dwarf. Otherwise, one would easily get tricked. That trait of theirs stood in stark contrast to their reputation for being honest and loyal in the fictional works of Lorist's world.

"Good day. I would like to know if I can purchase the powder used to fire this gun," said Lorist as he opened the box and brought out the gun and a few of the small lead pellets.

"Well, my son treated this gun like a toy and accidentally dumped the gunpowder into water... That's why when I realized it, it had already become like this," said Lorist while feigning a troubled look.

The red-bearded dwarf made a mocking expression and said, "Sir, we've heard others use the same excuse almost a hundred times during the month. In actuality, we don't really care if you discover the secrets of gunpowder. If you want to buy them, we have them for sale here. However, each cylinder costs 1 gold Forde."

What? It's that expensive? Lorist pointed to a similar box and said, "Apologies, did I mishear? A box like that with a short-barreled gun costs 35 gold Fordes. Why would the gunpowder itself cost so much?"

"That's because only dwarves can make gunpowder. You humans aren't able to make it. If there's no gunpowder, the gun would be nothing but an expensive toy for children, just like you said. Buy it, or not; it's your choice. We dwarves couldn't care less," said the dwarf, with his beard slightly swaying.

It was then when Lorist knew that there was no way the dwarves would tell him about what the mysterious white powder was. Having no other choice, he took out 20 gold Fordes and purchased 20 units of gunpowder. The dwarf even gave him an extra lead pellet to replace the one that was fired during the demonstration.

After leaving the shop of the dwarves, Howard said with a troubled tone, "Milord, you've been so occupied studying gunpowder for the past three days that you've forgotten about the original reason we came to Morante City..."

Lorist understood Howard's intention with this kind reminder, and patted his head.

"You don't understand, Howard. The dwarves' gunpowder is a great discovery. As long as we can crack its secrets, the House will no longer have anything to worry about in the future and never be defeated..." said he.

"Isn't the gunpowder only used for these guns? I don't think that the gun is any good," Howard complained, before his eyes flashed, "Milord, look! That shop over there has a gun hanging and it's even bigger than the dwarven one!"

Lorist turned his head to look and saw Howard pointing at a weapons shop. A huge gun could be seen hanging within. It looked a little like a mounted jingal.[1]

"Come, let's go check it out," said Lorist.

"Welcome, sir," greeted the sharp-eyed shopkeeper.

He realized Lorist's status as a noble almost instantly.

"Sir, we here at Starlight Weapons pride ourselves in the quality and elegance of our products. Whether you're buying a weapon as a gift, or for your own use, we can satisfy your needs," started the shopkeeper.

Lorist stopped in his tracks before the huge gun, and asked, "Is this for sale?"

The shopkeeper looked stunned, before he noticed the box Howard carried in his hand and realized what it was about. "Sir, this gun is a well-known weapon, 700 years ago, the renowned noble hero, Jinrock, used this very gun to strike down the demonic twin-headed dragon, Chimera. However, despite surviving for all these years, the weapon no longer has any value."

Lorist pursed his lips and thought, Who do you think you're trying to fool? If it really were a 700-hundred-year-old relic, the barrel would've rusted long ago! Not to mention the rotting of the wooden frame.

It was obvious that the gun was a forgery used to attract customers to the shop.

Howard, on the other hand, asked curiously, "Why would you say that a divine weapon like that is worthless?"

"Because there's no gunpowder!" the shopkeeper exclaimed, "It was because the dominion lord hero had a dwarven friend that crafted this gun for him and provided him with three units of gunpowder that he was able to use this gun all those years ago. Without any gunpowder, the gun is useless. It can't even compare to a flaming stick."

"That dwarf is far too stingy... Why can't he continue to provide gunpowder? Is he afraid that we would find out how to make them as well?" Howard questioned angrily.

The shopkeeper laughed and said, "In actuality, we already know what the gunpowder is made of. It's a mixture of sulfur, charcoal powder, starch, rosin, fire crystal powder and egg white. The dwarves are still as stubborn today as they were hundreds of years ago, so the formula hasn't changed one bit. It's a shame that the information isn't useful to us at all. There are no saltpeter mines in the human realm. Saltpeter can only be found hundreds of meters beneath the ground, and only the dwarves are able to mine that deep. Without it, there's no way we can make gunpowder..."

Lorist was shocked to hear the shopkeeper say that they lacked saltpeter to make gunpowder. He recalled that during his failed experiments, he collected naturally efflorescing saltpeter off the corners of his walls. Lorist suddenly recalled that the Northlanders had a habit of collecting saltpeter off of walls, but they mainly purified it in water before using it to treat leather. Nobody knew that the solution could be dried and used to make gunpowder.

But right now, what Lorist was interested in was the fire crystal powder that the shopkeeper mentioned. "Could you tell me more about fire crystal powder?" asked Lorist.

The shopkeeper replied, "Milord, fire crystals are commonly used by smiths to increase the temperature of their forges. Let me think... Two days ago, we purchased a sack of them from some adventurers. I'll see if I can find them..."

The shopkeeper vanished for a few short moments, before returning with an old leather sack. He took out a few of the crimson finger-sized fire crystals.

"Sir, these are fire crystals, and they are usually only found among the ashes at the opening of a volcano. These are treasures to smiths, who will powder them up and use them to raise the forge temperature while they work. Only if the temperature is raised greatly will the forging be successful."

"Oh, thank you. It's the first time I've seen these," said Lorist as he inspected the crimson crystalline object in his hand.

The shopkeeper smiled and said, "Sir, these are only useful to smiths, so it's not a surprise that you've never seen them before."

"So these are present within the gunpowder made by the dwarves?" Loirst asked.

"That's right. This has long been proven by Professor Balbo of the Venus Academy. Powdered fire crystal accounts for about ten percent of the volume of gunpowder. The main problem with making gunpowder is that over 50 percent of it needs to be saltpeter. I recall that when Professor Balbo published his findings last year, the citizens of Morante City were greatly shocked," said the shopkeeper who had a great memory.

Lorist took out a few gold Fordes and gave one to the shopkeeper. "This is payment for your stellar service, I'm incredibly satisfied. However, can I purchase a few of these fire crystals from you?"

"Naturally, sir. This sack contains around 30 of them. It will only cost you 2 gold Fordes," replied the shopkeeper politely.

[1] A type of gun. More info: Wikipedia

Glassmith

This is the third bonus chapter of the week, as well as the final one brought to you by Joshua L. from the USA! There will be one more release tomorrow to make up for the lack of a third bonus chapter last week, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, don't forget to vote on the strawpoll at the end of the chapter! Prince and I here just love it when you, the readers, ponder about the plot. This time around we have the poll, which should be a lot of fun to build conspiracies around. And we also have a question with which you guys should have a lot of fun! Don't forget to tell us your choice, and why you chose it!

15 percent sulfur, 15 percent charcoal powder, 50 percent saltpeter, 10 percent fire crystal powder, 5 percent rosin, 5 percent starch, add a little egg white and mix evenly. After that, the mixture should be placed in a mould and dried to form the gunpowder cylinder to be used with the dwarven firearms.

Lorist brought Howard to the public library in Morante City and spent only 1 large silver to get the librarian to help him search for the article published last year in the Morante Daily, one of the city's newspapers, by Professor Balbo of the Venus Academy.

What was interesting about the article was that Professor Balbo actually said the there was much room for improvement in the dwarves' formula. Unfortunately, he couldn't continue his research; there just wasn't enough saltpeter available for him to use.

The journalists of the Morante Daily even interviewed the dwarves, who, back then, had set up their shop for less than a month, about the room for improvement that Professor Balbo claimed there was. The dwarves said the formula was a result of the sacred, toiling effort of their ancestors. It was perfect and didn't require any modifications. The dwarves even thought that Professor Balbo made such a claim as a ploy to procure more saltpeter from the dwarves, and their response was none other than: scram!

Lorist felt a little embarrassed. He had initially thought that he could keep gunpowder a secret. It seemed he was one lagging behind instead. The many academies and experienced professors had long decoded the secrets of gunpowder. The only fortunate thing was that the saltpeter used by the dwarves had been extracted from ores that could only be mined deep underground. Additionally, the professors still had yet to realize that the nitric acid used to treat leather could be instead be used on saltpeter ore.

In ancient China, gunpowder was discovered only after centuries of experimentation. But the scholars of Grindia didn't know that the white crystals that appeared on wall corners were actually one of the core components of gunpowder. All they knew was that it could be used to make nitric acid for leather processing. Lorist considered that to be his fortune. He would one day be able to make far more effective gunpowder than those made by dwarves.

"Howard, bring two guards that can read to the library tomorrow and have them read through the newspapers and academic publications released during the past few years. If you think that anything is noteworthy, mark it down and hand the list to me. The family will be prioritizing development into our dominion and seafaring, so please take note on anything in those fields," Lorist instructed his disciple.

"Alright, Master. I will be looking out for them," Howard said happily. He had always been the type who loved to read.

After dealing with the matter of gunpowder, Lorist returned to the Red Grace Inn gleefully to carry out some more pressing matters.

Josk and four other guards had been spending the whole time at the inn to look after the 100000 gold Fordes Lorist brought along with him.

On the other hand, Els had been fuddled drunk by his mates of the syndicate he used to be a part of.

Dulles on the other hand went looking for his friends and classmates at the Dawn Academy and also returned dead drunk each day.

Lorist thought that it was about time he visited some of his old friends as well.

The following days saw Lorist being really busy, with him leaving early in the morning with two guards and only returning late at night. Mainly, he went to meet with the professors and instructors of the Dawn Academy, including Academy Head Levins and Blademaster Claude and his wife. After seven years, the Dawn Academy stayed mostly the same, but many of the people there had changed. There were quite a few of Lorist's acquaintances amongst the instructors that had already left the academy. However, the bronze statue of Lorist, erected when he obtained a 3000 win streak against Silver ranked opponents despite being an Iron rank himself, looked as domineering as ever, to the point that it was a renowned legend in the academy.

Academy Head Levins had aged a lot over these 7 years. The gift Lorist brought him was an undamaged magic tiger pelt. It would be a great help to alleviate the pains of his rheumatic condition. As for Blademaster Claude, he just received a great shock. When he first met with Lorist, he boasted confidently that he wanted to give Lorist some pointers in swordsmanship, only to lose in less than a hundred exchanges with Lorist in a fight.

Dulles, on the other hand, brought Lorist some good news. There were quite a number of academy alumni that were really impressed with Lorist's experiences and were hoping that they could also follow Lorist and join House Norton.

After giving it some thought, Lorist decided to accept them, but only after the risks and dangers were clearly laid out to them. The house needed more talented people, and the alumni of the academy were definitely more than qualified. Since they were his acquaintances and were willing to follow him, Lorist really couldn't think of a good reason to refuse them.

Upon receiving Lorist's permission, Dulles happily raised his hoe and began digging into the staff of the Dawn Academy.[1] During the seven years that had passed, many of Lorist's acquaintances had already become the core staff of the Dawn Academy. If all of them really joined Lorist, Academy Head Levins would have a huge headache coming for him.

Other than that, Lorist also went to visit Tim. The couple were living in a gothic, four-storey building not far away from the academy sector. The Peterson Merchant Guild had played a huge part in their purchase of the building, and they only had to spend up to 3000 gold Fordes for a building that was easily worth four to five thousand gold Fordes.

The Tebri couple were pleasantly surprised at Lorist's visit. Both of them were incredibly thankful for Lorist's efforts. Tim was saved by Lorist from a huge predicament with Count Cobry, and was also made into the rightful heir of Viscount Tebri as a result. Additionally, he had been introduced to his wife by Lorist. In some way, the blissful days he spent now was only gained after experiencing a fair share of troubles.

Tim was a rather well-known noble among the high society of Morante City. He complained to Lorist that before he became a noble, he was incredibly envious of them. But he understood their troubles now that he had joined their ranks. He had to put up a front all day long when he interacted with the other nobles, which he found incredibly tiring, and he began to feel that nobles were incredibly shallow creatures.

Lorist laughed at hearing Tim's complaints. During their casual conversation, Tim revealed a piece of incredibly crucial information: there was a chance that the Forde Trade Union would begin to implement a nobility system. However, unlike Lorist's noble title which was given to him by the royal family, the titles of the Forde Trade Union would be given out by their high council.

Lorist also told Tim about his arrangement with the Peterson Merchant Guild, and relayed to Tim his intentions of carrying out the trade at his dominion. Lorist added that he would definitely pay the necessary taxes. Tim expressed his willingness to help as well as his joy for being able to be of some use to Lorist, and assured that he would instruct Old Knight Gemors who was stationed at the manor at the viscounty to give his support.

When he returned to the Red Grace Inn, Lorist realized that Els and his good friend, Jindoz, were awaiting his return. Ever since Els left home to become Lorist's knight, Jindoz had taken over as the boss of the syndicate. It was quite apparent that he was far more reliable than Els; within the short seven years since Els's departure, Jindoz's syndicate had already become one of the largest syndicates within Morante City, and they already have control over at least half of the streets there. More than 4000 people worked for them.

Jindoz handed Lorist more than 50 gold Forde notes worth 100 gold Fordes each, but Lorist merely gave him a questioning look, not sure what it was about. Els then explained that the money was the rent that was collected over seven years from a building Lorist purchased at Rose Street before he left. Before he left, Els had left the unit under Jindoz's management, and he would collect 30 percent of the profits. The 5000 or so gold Fordes were Lorist's share.

After the explanation, Lorist recalled that he did in fact purchase a building back then. However, he recalled mortgaging it to Els for 5000 gold Fordes to raise funds for the northbound journey. However, that sum was already paid back in full during the journey. He didn't expect that his investment of 5400 gold Fordes back then would break even within a short seven years.

Jindoz laughed and said that it was only possible because the price of property within Morante City had been rising in recent years, causing rent to increase multiple times over. Otherwise, the profits wouldn't be that high. However, he said that he didn't come to meet Lorist just because he wanted to give him the collected rent. He said that he would like to acquire the magic beast jerky, whale meat, and salt for sale.

Jindoz laughed bitterly. He explained that he had no other choice, there were just too many people working under him. We was forced to look for other ways to earn some money. Nowadays, the syndicate had already taken control of half the shops around the streets of the city, so he felt that it would be rather convenient for Lorist's goods to be sold there.

Lorist agreed to Jindoz's request right away, but also said that he required his help for two things. First, he wanted Jindoz to find out about the situation of Professor Balbo. He hoped that he could recruit the man to carry out further gunpowder research for him. Additionally, he had Jindoz instruct the members of the syndicate to keep an eye out for some talented people who were only lacking a good opportunity. Lorist realized that the house required talented people in many areas, so he had to be on the lookout for them whenever he could.

After settling the matter with Jindoz, Lorist was prepared to head to the glass-producing Teribo Kingdom. Charade's father had started a glass distribution company there and Lorist intended to order the glass he needed from Charade's father exclusively. After all, he was a partner, and he had to deliver Charade's letter to him as well.

Charade's father was a successful merchant. It was said that the Teribo Kingdom's royal family even owned some shares in his firm, hence his benefits when it came to dealing in glass. He welcomed Lorist and the others warmly. As Charade had said, his father had yearned all his life to become a landed noble, so when he treated a person of such caliber, he presented himself with an incredibly respectful attitude.

"Uncle, you don't have to be so courteous, really. Even though Charade is my family knight, he's also my trusted friend and partner. As you're his father, you are considered my senior as well. Just leave these kinds of things to your servants. You didn't have to go about doing all this personally. If you do, I will feel incredibly troubled," Lorist said, not knowing how to react to the hospitality he was given.

After reading Charade's letter, he understood that Lorist was a legitimate landed noble. And when he realized that his own son was serving such a person, he went out of his way to make sure that all of Lorist's needs were met. That was especially the case when Lorist assured Charade's father that after another three years when Charade served for a full 10 years' term, he would give Charade peerage as a baron, and enfeoff a barony to him. When Charade's father heard that, he teared up in joy immediately and thanked Lorist unceasingly.

From that day onwards, Lorist realized that the treatment he received improved even further, to the point that Charade's father would accompany his servant for the smallest things. Even when the servant merely brought Lorist refreshment, Charade's father would be his shadow. That kind of hospitality greatly shocked Lorist. It made him feel rather uneasy. He decided to leave as soon as possible, he would be on his way the moment he had finished his matters.

As for the glass products required by the dominion, Charade's father promised confidently, even thumping his chest, that he would be able to supply as much glass as the Norton House needed, and even assured that there won't be any problems. Not only that, he didn't even require Lorist to pay a single copper coin as deposit. Lorist refused the kind gesture. Even though Charade's father was a rich and successful merchant, the order he made was easily worth 20000 gold Fordes. If some unexpected accident really happened, that would affect Charade's family. So, Lorist insisted that the deal be carried out as per usual practice, with the reason that official and private matters should not be conflated.

As for the letter Charade sent two years earlier, after Lorist failed in his experiments, to ask his father to find out what materials were used to make glass, Charade's father said that he hadn't managed to procure much information. It was mainly due to the degree of secrecy and care on the Teribo Kingdom's part to keep both the ingredients and the process of glass production secret.

However, he recommended Lorist go meet a person who had worked in the glass production plants for 32 years. The man, Mancheny, had followed in his father's footsteps, and took a position at the production plants. He eventually became a full-fledged glassmith, despite initially working a common laborer. He should have a complete grasp on how glass was made. Charade's father had first gotten to know him professionally, but the two had since become friends.

Charade's father mentioned that he had heard Master Mancheny complain about his fellow glassmiths. They were dumb as blocks of wood, and only knew how to do what they were told without bothering about experimentation and improvement. Charade's father, being the sensible merchant that he was, began to take note of Master Mancheny.

Master Mancheny was quite troubled these days. He and his wife only had one daughter, whom they treasured and loved with all their life. Now that their daughter had matured, they had started to trouble themselves over her marriage. Unfortunately, during the 36th day of the 9th month that year, on the harvest celebration, the couple and their daughter encountered Viscount Sirwa.

Viscount Sirwa had quite a reputation in Feyers City, the capital city of the Teribo Kingdom. The reputation wasn't a pleasant one. He was the nephew of the queen, and as fat as a pig and as lustful as a turkey. He had been implicated in the kidnapping of womenfolk within the capital on several occasions. Each had caused considerable commotion amongst the people. His antics had been toned down somewhat after a harsh punishment by the queen, however.

That very viscount had set his eyes on the daughter of Mancheny. While he didn't dare to take her away in public like he used to, he didn't hold anything back when it came to harassing the family. He intended to take the poor girl as his 26th concubine.

Given how much the couple treasured their daughter, it was no surprise that they had refused the viscount's demand without any hesitation. They greatly feared his retribution, and hid their daughter within one of the glass production plant's residences. They hoped they could avoid the viscount's claws by doing so.

While Viscount Sirwa wasn't able to interfere with the strictly-monitored glass production plant, he manage to bribe the plant's managers to drive Mancheny and his family out. It wouldn't take much effort to chase the Mancheny family out of the plant, and they could gain the favour of the viscount by doing so, so naturally the managers didn't hesitate. They accepted the bribe and began to cause trouble for Mancheny.

It didn't take long for them to issue Mancheny an ultimatum: since his wife and daughter were not part of the plant's workforce, it was illegal for them to be at the plant. But, considering Mancheny's 32 years of service, they would be willing to overlook the matter if he sent his wife and daughter out of the plant within three days. Otherwise, he would be punished for putting confidential information at risk.

Master Mancheny was incredibly troubled. He had spent his entire life working for the production plant. Now, in his last few years, he had been forced into such a difficult position. The most laughable part was that, being one of the people who knew the deepest secrets of glass production, Mancheny had two Silver ranked swordsmen by his side at all times. The two weren't there to work as his bodyguards, they were tasked with monitoring him to ensure that what he knew didn't get leaked out. They didn't bother to take any action on Master Mancheny's behalf, they simply waited for the drama to start.

Charade's father said that Master Mancheny's family had just been driven out from the production plant. Viscount Sirwa would forcefully marry the master's daughter in three days. Currently, Master Mancheny could do nothing about it. Charade's father said that if Lorist was willing to give a hand at a time like this, Master Mancheny would no doubt pledge his loyalty to the House, giving it access to glass production techniques.

That's not a bad idea, Lorist thought as he began to stroke his chin in deep thought.

[1] In Chinese, poaching can be literally translated as digging away at a corner. The author humorously made a play on words and described Dulles's action as literal digging.

What do you think about the nobility system that is to be implemented in Morante City? Will it be a good or bad development for the Forde Trade Union?

The Curious Case of Luxcrimson Winery

Hi guys, sorry for the slightly late release. This is the fourth bonus chapter brought to you by Benjamin T. from the USA. See you tomorrow! (hopefully XD)

Viscount Sirwa rode atop his horse gleefully. Thankfully, his zeno horse mount was strong enough to carry a person of his weight, which was easily double that of a normal person's.

Two silver-armored guards held a banner bearing a crest of a golden cup in their hands. It was the crest of House Sirwa. Beneath the golden cup was an intricate network of vines that circled around the cup to form a circular shape. A pure-white, seven-petaled flower could be seen all around the vines. They were the national flower of the Teribo Kingdom, the Turan Flower. The presence of that flower on a noble house's crest signified their close affiliation with the Teribo Kingdom's royal family.

The western wall garrison's soldiers got into formation to welcome Viscount Sirwa's escort after receiving instructions from their squad leader. The troupe was headed for Luxcrimson Winery, which was roughly 15 kilometers away from the city. The winery belonged to Viscount Sirwa, and was well-known for a century of fine wine produce. It was one of the main sources of income for the viscount.

Viscount Sirwa was in a rather good mood. Seeing Master Mancheny and his family leaving the city gates with glum expressions, the viscount couldn't help but crack into a smile. Hehe, so what if you're a glassmith? Did you think you could get away from the influence of a viscount like me? Did you think that you would be safe at the glass production plant? Hmph, even if a viscount like me can't enter it, I can still have them drive you out. You have no choice but to bring your daughter to me obediently.

That night, faced with Viscount Sirwa's underhanded request for his daughter's hand in marriage, Master Mancheny had no choice but to accept the request to let his daughter become the concubine of the viscount. However, he made three demands himself. First, he demanded that the viscount treat his daughter well in the future. Second, the viscount had to give an expensive betrothal gift. Lastly, their marriage ceremony should be carried out outside the city to attract as little attention as possible. Master Mancheny felt that having his daughter marry Viscount Sirwa was an incredibly embarrassing affair, so he wanted as few people to know about it as possible. If the viscount were to go fetch his bride with a whole parade, that would cause the glassmith and his wife to lose all ability to stand proudly amongst their neighbours.

That last demand was actually quite a reasonable one. Even though Viscount Sirwa was slightly displeased by it, he was no idiot and knew that his reputation was not a good one. There was little difference between a high and low profile marriage ceremony to him. Either way he would only be able to invite a few of his friends, friends that were just as bad as him. He decided to hold the ceremony at Luxcrimson Winery. It was one of his favorite spots outside the capital. It was relatively rural and quiet.

Viscount Sirwa and his 10 or so guards spent more than 2 hours completing the 15-kilometer journey. Luxcrimson Winery's gates were wide open, but Viscount Sirwa didn't really mind and dismounted when he arrived at the courtyard.

Usually, there would be a lot of servants coming up to him to serve him, tend to the horses, and bring some water or towels, or perhaps even tea. They would completely surround Viscount Sirwa. But for some reason, not a single soul showed up this time.

Angered, Viscount Sirwa yelled, "Where are they? Have they all died somewhere I don't know of? Why isn't there a single person here?! You two, go check where those lazy bums have gone!"

The two guards obeyed. They headed to the main hall, opened its doors, and entered, only to be flabbergasted. After a few moments, they snapped out of their stupor and returned. "Milord, look! They're all here..."

"Then why aren't you calling them to get their asses here to me?!" roared Viscount Sirwa as he headed towards the hall. The moment he arrived at the entrance, a gust of wind carrying a concentrated alcoholic smell wafted over the viscount. He fell to the ground dizzily.

When he entered the hall to take a look, he was stunned as well. Within it, many people could be seen sprawling across the floor. It was possible that everyone working at the winery was there, completely unconscious. They were so drunk they weren't even aware of what was happening. Empty barrels of wine could be seen all over the floor and tables. Some of the barrels still had crimson wine dripping from their openings.

"Hahaha..." The hodgepodge group of friends that had accompanied Viscount Sirwa to his wedding laughed so hard after looking at the scene that they had trouble stopping.

"Sirwa, that's too funny! So your servants actually party and drink when you're not around! Had it not been for the fact that you just decided to hold your marriage here yesterday and didn't send anyone to notify them of your arrival, you would never have found out about how they've been deceiving you the whole time! It seems that I have to carry out some random checks for my family's own winery as well... I wonder if those lowly servants dare to deceive me," said an oily-haired noble youth as he laughed.

"Ridiculous!" Viscount Sirwa was so mad that it seemed like smoke was billowing out of his orifices. It was obvious that he would become a laughingstock among the noble circle thanks to the disobedience of his servants. They dared to party when he wasn't around!

"I will definitely hang all of these pathetic dogs!"

As the viscount began to throw his fit, he waved the horsewhip in his hand and began striking his servants. It was a shame that all of them were dead drunk. Not a single one of them reacted to the whip as it crashed on their bodies. After lashing out a dozen times, the viscount was already out of energy and breath. His stocky body wasn't suited to strenuous activities.

The viscount raised his head, and saw the manager of the winery sitting on his golden-laced chair in the innermost corner of the hall -- the chair reserved for his personal use -- holding onto a large wine barrel.

Viscount Sirwa burst into rage again.

"Haul that pathetic wreck over here! How... How dare he sit on my chair?!"

Two of the guards walked towards the manager domineeringly. All the guards and the viscount's friends had already entered the hall. Even the two Silver ranked swordsmen watching over Master Mancheny went to check out the commotion.

All of a sudden, the two doors to the hall shut. The inside of the hall was plunged into utter, all-consuming darkness.

"Who... Who closed the doors?! Open it, quick!" roared the viscount.

The two nearest the doors stretched out their hands to open them, but after trying incredibly hard to do so, they stopped helplessly and said, "Someone has locked us in..."

"Who is it?! Who would play such a prank on me..." shouted the viscount as everyone else within the hall began to fall into disarray.

"Let's light a torch first. Did anyone bring a piece of flint?" someone asked.

Fwing! The sounds of swords being unsheathed could be heard. Five silver blade glows lit up in the darkness of the hall. The swords belonged to the three Silver ranked guards of the viscount as well as the two Silver ranked swordsmen that came with Master Mancheny. Even though blade glows were not ideal for illumination, it still allowed one to see, barely, the others at the front.

Fwoom! A flame could be seen at the innermost part of the hall, before more sounds of fires starting could be heard. High up in the air, two intersecting lines of hanging lamps were lit in succession. The upright candle holders by the sides of the hall followed suit. Soon the hall was lit completely.

The ones in the hall stared at the scene in stupor. The sight before them was too surreal, almost like a magical phenomenon that they had heard about in the legends.

"Revered Lord Viscount Sirwa, and all the other respected noble guests, I express my warmest welcome to you all," resounded a coarse voice throughout the hall.

In that instant some realized that another person was seated in the prized seat of Viscount Sirwa. The manager of the winery, who was there before, had been pushed to the floor a man dressed in a black shirt, black pants, and black leather boots replaced him. He wore a black cloth around his hair and a black mask on his eyes. Only the lower portion of his face, below his nose, was uncovered.

When he smiled, his shiny white teeth gleamed under the illumination of the candlelight. The man in black was sitting lazily in the chair and regarding the viscount and the rest with an unconvincing smile.

"You... Wh-who are you?" asked Viscount Sirwa in a panicked voice.

"Me? Well, you can call me Zollo[1], I guess," the man said without a single care in the world, "I have long heard about the generous and just Lord Viscount Sirwa of the Teribo Kingdom, and about the magnanimous deeds you did without batting even an eye. So, I decided to pop in and pay you a visit, and perhaps, help you, Lord Viscount, to spend some of your riches on a good cause. I suppose you wouldn't mind that, would you, Lord Viscount?"

Viscount Sirwa, upon hearing about his 'impressive' reputation, gleefully said, "No, no... I won't mind it at all!"

At the same moment the last words left his mouth, he received a powerful kick.

One of his noble friends glared at him angrily and said, "Idiot, don't you understand sarcasm? He's here to rob us! He's a bandit!"

The viscount finally realised his predicament.

In a fit of rage, he waved his arm and ordered, "Capture him! I want him hanged!"

The two guards, who had only moments earlier been instructed to carry the old manager away, were the closest to the seat, so they drew their swords and rushed forward. The man in the seat only twirled about twice, before the guards collapsed. They lay on the ground, unmoving.

"All of you, go!" roared the viscount.

All three of his Silver ranked guards rushed forward, along with a dozen of others of Iron and Bronze rank. A few short moments later they all accompanied the two original sacrifices on the ground.

The scene was completely out of this world. The man who called himself 'Zollo' was unarmed, and his figure merely shifted a few times before all the guards were knocked out. A couple of nobles recalled the fires being lit by no-one whatsoever, and their faces paled right away. "He's... He's a magus!"

The sound of trickling water could be heard as a few of the spineless noble youths wet their pants.

The magi were described as cold-blooded killers in the legends. It was said that they would carry out experiments with human subjects regularly, often stripping them of their skin or muscles, and even taking their bones out to perform revival experiments. The notion was only further supported by the prevalence of novels that depicted brave knights saving princesses from the grasps of evil magi or dragons.

Viscount Sirwa's pants were also completely drenched. He knew that he was no brave knight, nor was he a pretty princess. The logical conclusion that popped into his mind was that he would be one of the experimental subjects for the magus before him to vent his frustration.

The man in black, Zollo, began to cackle insidiously before he said, "Oh, naughty naughty... I see that I will have to brand your bodies after all..."

As Zollo continued to make his way closer, more than half of the remaining 20 or so people collapsed on the ground, shivering in fear.

All of a sudden, two swords flashed out of nowhere. The two Silver ranked swordsmen that followed Master Mancheny around attacked together in a pincer formation. The tips of their swords pierced directly towards the man's torso. As if he was caught off-guard, the man in black stared with shock at the swordsmen.

"Great, we're saved... Ugh..." One noble youth that thought that Zollo would be cut into pieces by the two swords quieted down and sank into despair, right after expressing his cheer of joy and hope.

The man called Zollo stood without any harm, but the two Silver ranked swordsmen that crossed his figure were not moving in the slightest on the ground.

"Hehehe, are you glad?" Zollo asked before he cackled once more, "Strip them naked!"

The noble youths suddenly found themselves surrounded by six huge men, also clad in black, and wearing skull masks. Even though they moved about silently, their strength was unparalleled. After one noble was caught, his clothes were ripped off him directly, before he was brought in front of Zollo.

Zollo revealed an evil smile as he stretched out a finger. His fingertip glowed as he traced it across the naked noble's body. After that, a large bloody 'Z' appeared on his chest. The 'branded' noble youth fainted from the pain right away.

Another day passed before the drunk workers of the winery awoke. Even though they suffered a bad hangover, it was nothing serious. They would be fine after drinking some more fluids.

The manager of the winery shook his groggy head. He felt as if he had dreamt up that encounter with the bandits. In his dream the bandits breached their winery, but didn't want money or women. All they demanded was for the workers of the winery to drink, and those who resisted would be force-fed wine until all of them were dead drunk. Even after the manager was made drunk, he was still forced to drink for a whole lot longer. Since the wine produced by the Luxcrimson Winery was of rather high quality, the manager couldn't avoid getting drunk despite his above average tolerance to alcohol.

Are there really bandits like that in this world? wondered the manager, before an errand boy of the winery came over and dragged him outside.

The manager noticed the carriages and mounts left in the courtyard by the viscount.

Where's the Lord Viscount? wondered he.

After searching through the whole winery, they still didn't locate the viscount or his guards.

Impossible, the viscount must be somewhere in the area... There's no way he would be able to make it out of the winery with that flabby figure of his! And he couldn't possibly travel on foot and leave all his mounts here! We must keep looking!

The manager began to feel enraged. He suspected that the bandits had been planning something against the viscount.

In the end, they finally found Viscount Sirwa and the rest at the deepest corner of the wine cellars. The workers hauled the naked men hugging each other to conserve heat and stave of the freezing cold out of the cellar.

In actuality, the viscount and the rest had already regained consciousness for a good while. When they realized that they were trapped in a wine cellar, they cried out for help to no avail. They had been dumped in the deepest corner of the cellar -- deep underground -- and there were lots of things piled up at the entrance. Not a peep could escape the cellar. Even if their cries of help escaped the cellar, the rest of the workers of the winery remained dead drunk throughout the day in the hall.

By the time midnight came along, every one of them had sore throats. Hungry and cold, they could only huddle up to conserve some heat. The weather of the 11th month and the fact that they were underground caused them to feel extreme cold. Had it not been for the workers that found it weird for there to be so much junk piled up at the cellar, Viscount Sirwa and the rest of his guards and his other companions might have died from the cold without anyone noticing.

It didn't take long for the police force of the capital to rush to Luxcrimson Winery. Word of Viscount Sirwa's encounter quickly spread throughout the royal capital, and soon rumors of the magus Zollo who could summon skeleton soldiers that left a mysterious 'Z' mark on the bodies of the ones involved, greatly befuddled all who heard about the incident.

The testimonies of the manager of the winery and the rest of the workers about how the six or seven bandits that only forced them to drink didn't help at all.

After two confused days, the Silver ranked swordsmen who had their jaws broken finally remembered something that was on their mind: Master Mancheny's family of three had disappeared without a trace. Things were definitely getting out of hand, given that a master glassmith like him vanished all of a sudden.

"How could this Master Mancheny leave the royal capital with his whole family?" questioned the king of the Teribo Kingdom, Teribo VII, as he stood before the security officials of the capital.

As a glassmith, while they could enjoy preferential treatment and riches, they would lose their personal freedoms. Apart from the glass production plant and the royal capital, they didn't have any right to go anywhere else. If it were any other way, the secret of glass production wouldn't have stayed within the Teribo Kingdom for hundreds of years.

So, when the facts were brought before the king...

"Hang that Viscount Sirwa at the plaza in front of the palace right away! Have the guards at the western city gates hanged as well! Their greatest crime is not inspecting the ones who left the city! As for the two Silver ranked swordsmen tasked to watch the master, eradicate their families! To think they would neglect their most important duty. They must protect the glassmith they're assigned, or kill him if that need arises. Whatever they do, they must ensure that the secret of glass production stays within the kingdom! Their task is far more than just keeping an eye out for the glassmith!

"Also, for the ones at the production plant that have accepted the bribe of Viscount Sira... Have them all beheaded. If they were daring enough to chase a glassmith that knows the ins and outs of glass production out of the plant, if they were offered an even higher price, who knows when they'll smuggle a glassmith out to another nation?!

"All that crap about the magus and skeleton soldiers... That's just all a ruse to distract us from noticing the disappearance of Mancheny's family! Don't let the nobles who were involved in that incident off! And make sure to get to the bottom of this case and have those who played a part in it pay. Have someone investigate who it was that planned this whole thing! Be it some noble house or a whole nation... As long as we have a lead, I don't mind mobilizing all the Blademasters of the kingdom to ensure that the secret of glass production is kept!"

As Teribo VII raged on, a storm of blood and chaos began to brew in the Teribo Kingdom...

[1]You don't need me to tell you which fictional character dressed in all black (Lorist) is referring to here, right? I changed the name slightly to avoid any potential infringement issues.