kscans

Chapter 74 - The Princess's Negotiation

The walls of the office were a somber blue, like a winter sky. The floor, without a single speck of dust, felt less clean and more precarious, as if one were walking on ice. Even the steam rising from the cup on the reception table seemed to only emphasize the chill in the air.

Across the table sat an elderly man. The dark violet insignia on his collar was a mark reserved for just one person, the man at the pinnacle of the civil service. As if to symbolize the very order of the kingdom he represented, his formal robes were worn with not a single thread out of place.

This was the second time she had faced him directly, but for Alfina, he remained an opponent to be wary of.

Then again, the less than friendly attitude might have been mutual. Alfina’s aunt and guardian, sitting beside her, wore what could only be described as a political smile and had not even touched her cup.

Alfina desperately tried to relax her cheeks, which threatened to stiffen with tension. To her, this situation was an important task she had been assigned.

"So, for what reason have you summoned me, Duke Grynisias?" Euphelia was the first to speak, having confirmed that the Chancellor had taken a token sip from his cup before setting it down.

"As I informed you previously, it concerns the Magic Division. There are rumors that the Magic Division, an institution of the kingdom, is being used for the private interests of the Grand Duchess Bertold."

The Chancellor spoke of Noel dispassionately, his expression unreadable. Alfina’s tension grew. The presentation on the bearings at the Grand Duchess’s residence, the trip to Bertold that Alfina had accompanied her on, the approximate amount of magical metal used for the bearing’s die. The information the Chancellor possessed was precise.

"Hmph," Euphelia said. "It concerns a single apprentice in the third and smallest building. Surely you are exaggerating."

"Apprentice she may be, but she is still a member of the Magic Division. And now, she has left the division for a second business trip to Bertold. It seems to coincide perfectly with the exercises of the Third… no, the new knight order, does it not."

Alfina’s heart stirred at the thought of the girl being with Ricardo.

"I have heard that a formal request was made to solve a problem at the Western Observatory, have you not?"

"The baron, who is also a sage, seems to be on friendly terms with the Grand Duchess and Prince Craig these days."

"That is correct. It is a connection formed through our cooperation in defeating the dragon," Euphelia said, her words a mix of fact and sarcasm. The Chancellor’s expression did not change in the slightest. Feeling useless for being unable to interject a single word, Alfina clutched the box and paper in her hands tightly.

"The Magic Division is strictly under the Royal Palace's jurisdiction. To begin with, the knight order's equipment…"

"Carriages are also the knight order's equipment…"

"Now that the supply of both magical metal and magic crystals is being restricted…"

"The amount being used is trivial. Moreover, the magic crystals were spoils from the last monster subjugation…"

"In that case, for only the knight order to…"

"What problem is there for a single apprentice to be attached to the knight order…"

"That apprentice's position is being privatized by the knight order, or rather, by the Grand Duchess…"

The conversation between the Chancellor and her aunt was going nowhere. Alfina maintained her silence, but the Chancellor's next words caused her tension to spike.

"Then, there is the matter of the trade fair to be held at the Forum in the Royal Capital. It appears to be scheduled to coincide with the knight order's training."

Grynisias glanced at Alfina.

"It has received a royal charter. What is the problem? The Chancellor's Office also granted its permission, did it not."

"Oh, no. I was quite surprised when I looked into it. I had assumed a mere Silver-ranked company was simply using the occasion to advertise a new product. But the head of the Food Guild, several companies under his purview, and even the knight order’s training are all linked. Furthermore, it is not just food being exhibited. A Silver-ranked company of the Food Guild selling carriages is a clear violation of the guild's regulations, is it not."

"Is that so. I was there as well, but Ricardo Vinder called it a little imitation of the Shoken Festival. Does that not mean it is an activity unbound by the guild's framework."

"That is precisely the concern being raised by the Commercial Guild. They fear it is a rejection of existing business customs."

"And that is why it is for only three days. Why such exaggeration."

"I have also received information that the Grand Duchess engaged in a transaction that ignored commercial customs."

"How I tinker with my own carriage is my own freedom. In the first place, when it comes to repairs, merchants merely introduce artisans, do they not."

"Repairs, you say. The carriages of Prince Craig's knight order. I hear the repairs for the carriages participating in this training were also performed in Bertold. And in a corner of the Grand Ducal estate, no less."

As Grynisias laid out the facts, Alfina was somehow reminded of Ricardo’s methods. But this was no time to be impressed.

"The Vinder Company, was it. What are they plotting? From what that boy Ricardo Vinder said, this is by no means on the scale of imitating the Shoken Festival. The Grand Duchess and the Princess are both listed as investors in that company."

Finally, Grynisias had said the name.

"…………"

For the first time, Euphelia’s mouth stopped moving.

"The Grand Duchess is using this company to exert some kind of influence on the balance between the east and west of the kingdom. The Grand Duke of Kurtheite, for example, seems to be concerned about this," Grynisias pressed. For the first time, Alfina spotted a mistake from the veteran bureaucrat. Her most precious friend's goal was not something so small.

"Euphelia. From here on, I will explain," Alfina said, clenching her fists under the table.

"Oh. Princess Alfina, you will?" The Chancellor looked as if he had been caught completely off guard.

"Yes. I am also an investor in Ricardo's… in the Vinder Company. Therefore, I should have the right to do so."

"…I see. Then, please proceed." The Chancellor brought the cup to his lips.

"The objective of our Vinder Company is the revitalization of the entire kingdom's commerce."

As she spoke, Alfina opened the box and took out the small, lead prototype bearing. To the bewildered Grynisias, she explained the significance of this component to the best of her understanding. This was the venture she was undertaking with him. For the past few months, she had been by his side as much as her time allowed.

"This mechanism… will increase the efficiency of transport by carriage…" The Chancellor looked dubiously at the crude piece of metal Alfina had handed him from her delicate hand.

"Its actual effect will be proven in the upcoming race. The results from the tests with the knight order have been compiled here." Alfina spread out the paper on which Mia had listed rows of figures.

"First, these numbers. A comparison of weight and travel speed before and after using the bearing…"

At half the speed she had heard from Mia, Alfina slowly moved her finger across the page. At first, Grynisias looked troubled, but when she spoke of the effective distance between the two major cities flanking the Royal Capital shrinking, his expression suddenly changed. His gnarled finger gave the bearing a slight spin.

"Making transport more efficient does not just benefit merchants and the knight order. It should also be a welcome development for a Duke entrusted with governing the entire kingdom. For example, if a certain region suffers from a food shortage due to some disaster, the damage can be minimized by quickly transporting supplies from other regions," Alfina explained.

"Furthermore, the increased movement of goods and people will bring prosperity to many livelihoods, starting with inns."

"…………"

Numbers flew through the mind of the Chancellor, who now wore the face of a bureaucrat. His gaze had, at some point, overtaken her fingertip on the page.

"Moreover, it will be a blessing for the people of the farming villages…"

"Wait a moment. Why would you concern yourself with people from farming villages flowing into the Royal Capital…"

"It is a sorry state of affairs, but many of them are desperate people from the west," Euphelia added. "The capital's public order should be a concern for you as well. Especially in a situation where you cannot obtain the active cooperation of the First Knight Order."

"However, to have an alchemist from the Magic Division tied down making carriages…"

"That will not be necessary. The alchemist is only needed to create the initial die and perform very minor maintenance."

Alfina explained what she had seen in the workshop, even using gestures. She demonstrated putting the dies together with her slender fingers. As Alfina went on to describe the intense heat of the furnace, a smile finally broke on Grynisias’s face.

"And no matter how durable a magical metal die is, if the dies strike against each other, they will wear down. Noel, the apprentice alchemist the Duke was concerned about, said that maintenance is needed about once a year." Alfina then explained the maintenance method she had heard from Noel.

"In other words, it will require repairs at regular intervals, just like the knight order's equipment. And those repairs can be managed with small magic crystals that are too inefficient for other uses. And those who use the dies will pay a fee for each repair."

"Yes. The fee for a single die is trivial, but if the number and types of dies increase…" Alfina continued her explanation.

"In addition to increasing the Magic Division's revenue, the core part of the technology can ultimately be managed by the Royal Palace," Grynisias concluded, folding his hands on the table.

"That is correct. Of course, a legally binding contract will be formed. Otherwise, the artisans will not be able to devote themselves to production with peace of mind." Alfina smiled. Grynisias looked at Euphelia.

"To have educated the still young princess to this extent is quite something."

"That is a misunderstanding. When it comes to that explanation, Alfina is far more knowledgeable than I."

"Then allow me to ask." Grynisias began to list the potential consequences of disrupting the existing business customs. The unemployment of merchants. The livelihoods of artisans, which had been protected to a minimum by merchants until now. Unemployment due to the widening technological gap among artisans. Disputes arising from the widening income gap between artisans. Who would absorb the negative impact of non-uniformity in supplied goods. He raised issue after issue, as if tracing the spider-silk threads of the kingdom's administrative structure.

Grynisias cast aside his restraint and glared at the princess. But Alfina simply smiled.

"It reminds me of the words I was told during the very first prophecy." Alfina spoke cheerfully of the memory of having her own naive ideas shot down one after another.

"The role that merchants fulfill will itself remain. In the long term, we will make adjustments to promote cooperation between artisans and merchants. Is that not where the skill of Dukes like yourself comes into play?"

An innocent gaze that seemed to say, Of course you can handle that much, right? was directed at Grynisias. He sighed.

"In the end, this is a matter of restructuring the very framework of the kingdom. To be honest, it far exceeds the scope I had envisioned."

"Why not think of it as a kind of test?" Euphelia said, as if offering a compromise. "This endeavor is, for now, limited to a very small scope. For the time being, I will not let it leave the corner of my estate. What we will do in Bertold is only the modification… the repair of existing carriages. As the princess explained, Bertold does not have the system to build new carriages from scratch. You should know that as well, Chancellor."

Alfina remembered Ricardo's words about establishing a special economic zone.

Grynisias fell silent. She waited, her nerves taut, to see which way the Kingdom's Chancellor's scales would tip.

"…………It is certain that this will benefit the kingdom. For now, at least… to the extent that a single apprentice receives requests from a baron or a prince, I will permit it. As for what the Grand Duchess does within her own territory, I will observe for the time being."

"Thank you for your understanding, Duke."

"It is less understanding and more… By the way, you said it will still take time, but how long do you envision, Your Highness? I would like to hear it for my own reference." The Chancellor asked Alfina, his face looking as though the fight had been taken out of him. Alfina tilted her head slightly before answering.

"I believe it will take at least several years."

"Several years!?"

At Alfina's answer, Grynisias, who had been starting to relax, was stunned.

"That's right. It seems our sense of time has also become a little strange. I shall also take care that the pace does not become impossible to handle," Euphelia laughed.

"There is one thing I must confirm." Grynisias picked up the bearing. "Including this, who is it that painted this picture?"

"Who do you think?" Euphelia said, amused.

"I am asking because I do not know. With all due respect, it is not the Grand Duchess. I cannot imagine it is Prince Craig either. Surely you are not going to say it was that boy." Grynisias looked genuinely perplexed.

"That is a secret. Well, you can just think it appeared in a revelation from a dream." Euphelia laughed. At the non-answer, the Chancellor stared at the Grand Duchess, trying to discern her true meaning. Euphelia did not let her teasing smile falter. Oh, Auntie, Alfina thought, mentally covering her mouth.

◇◇

"You did quite well, Alfie. Pushing the Chancellor back to a neutral stance is a significant achievement."

"Do you think so? I wonder if Ricardo-kun will praise me." Alfina's face broke into a bright smile. She did not notice that the gap between this and her earlier dignified demeanor nearly made her guardian stumble.

"…………I suppose he's reached Bertold by now."

"I hope he's safe…" Alfina clasped her hands in front of her chest.

"We have things to think about on our end as well."

The guardian's murmur did not reach Alfina, whose attention was directed out the window.