Chapter 85

Chapter 85: Sabotage

Even in an era that sings of peace, war does not change.
Someone fights to possess what they lack, and someone fights to protect what they have.
Person against person.
Group against group.
Nation against nation.
The victor takes all, and the loser loses even more than that.
A small, peaceful village that cultivated wheat was no exception.
Without even being able to taste the golden flavor of autumn, they became refugees who had to wander the wilderness.
In the middle of a plain where freezing winds blew, they stayed huddled together, sharing body heat, barely enduring the winter.
They welcomed the sight of the three men they had sent as emissaries upon their return, but that welcome did not last long.
There was no light of hope in their expressions.
— It seems this village won’t work either.
— Do they not have food for themselves either?
— Isn’t it obvious? It seems they are having a hard time surviving the winter themselves.
Winter makes people’s hearts stingy.
At the end of autumn’s abundance remains a cruel time of endurance, and to overcome that cruelty, people had no choice but to be exclusive.
In such a situation, for those who had become refugees, practically only death awaited them.
— Damn bastards, if they are fellow humans and believers of Alte, they should give at least a little food…
— Light of Judgment upon those damn bastards…
— Stop it, all of you.
As the voices resenting the village grew louder, a man stepped forward.
That man wore half-plate armor and was the only one armed.
— They do it to save their own skin, what can be done? They probably don’t have food either. With the Empire in a mess lately, corrupt officials are running wild, aren’t they?
— Even so, we have weapons too… if we just demand a little, they still…
— Don’t do anything useless. You should be grateful that we walked out of here on our own feet and keep going.
— Keep going? Where else can we go from here?
They gazed at the vast plain.
The winter land was dry and ruined.
The only land left for them was death.
— What if we go south? At least it’s warm there.
Just as the Far North has the Land of Ice and the Frost Giants, the Far South has the Land of Fire and the Lava Giants.
There, the concept of a cold winter does not exist.
The village chief shook his head.
— That is not a good idea. They say the southern days are hot, but the nights are even colder. I have heard that many people died from underestimating the temperature difference. And…
— And?
— I heard from that village that southern bandits also target this exact time.
Refugees crossing south, unable to endure the harsh winter cold, would not be the first.
Bandits would be lying in wait for this moment to plunder their possessions or sell them into slavery.
— Then what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and suck our thumbs?
The refugees felt suffocated by the man’s inaction.
The village chief felt just as suffocated.
After all, his job was to become a beacon that found the best option in these terrible conditions.
After pondering for about three minutes, he opened his mouth.
— Let’s go to the Far East.
Everyone was shocked by the man’s choice.
— By Far East, do you mean the Land of Demons?
— They said no one can live there, you want us to go there?
The man looked at them and explained.
— A moment ago, the village we went to told us. They said the Empire is looking for workers in the Far East. Apparently, the regent there is building a village. They said the daily wage is decent and there is plenty of room to sleep. Food will definitely be sufficient as well. If we contribute, they will surely accept us as residents there.
— But going to a land where monsters teem…
They hesitated, looking at each other with resistance.
The man sighed.
Until a moment ago, they were showing hope for a foolish option, but faced with an option with possibility, they were hesitant.
The man asked them.
— Then are you all going to stay here and die like this?
— …
— It will be the same even if we wander through other villages. Unless we become bandits, buying food with a few coins won’t be easy, and I will not become a beast with a human mask. Nor will I tolerate you doing that.
— …
— If we go to the Far East, at least there will be work. They will give us money to buy food to survive today and a place to stay. For us who live day to day, that sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
There was resistance toward the Far East, but no one could complain.
As the man said, there was no suitable alternative.
Becoming a group of refugee bandits, abandoning God, or heading to the wasteland in search of a new hope.
Whether we died this way or that way, we had to choose the place where we could have a little more hope.

Isabella entered Ferda’s office and reported.
— Reporting. There are 30 refugees from a village called White Bridge.
White Bridge. A village located in the west-central part of the continent, in Duke Urey’s territory.
— This is the third group of refugees from Duke Urey’s side. Available labor?
— A total of 6 families came; 15 skilled workers, 1 elderly person, 14 children.
— Any specialists?
— White Bridge was originally a village near a quarry. Some of them are quarrymen with construction knowledge.
— Quarrymen would be useful. Understood. How many more can we accommodate from now on?
— From what I have verified…
Isabella flipped through the documents and replied.
— We can accommodate 300 more.
— Quite a few buildings.
— Very many. Originally, if these refugees gathered, half would have to live in tents.
Ferda stood up from his seat and headed to the balcony.
He threw the door wide open, and the cold wind rushed inside as if it had been waiting for this moment.
The dry, cold wind licked the remaining moisture on Ferda’s face.
It could be felt clearly beneath his skin.
The season of death draws nearer and nearer.
“Refugees are overflowing as well.”
The season when refugees increase the most and die the most.
That was also another opportunity for the Far East, which lacked population.
Ferda looked down from his office balcony.
Originally, only a field of thorns with bare tree branches should have been visible.
But there, an open plain and buildings were visible.
Where only messy forests should have been seen, buildings where people lived were visible.
And the 30 refugees who had just arrived could also be seen, huddled around a brazier.
Upon Ferda’s approval, officials came into view distributing relief supplies to them.
Tears of emotion flowed down faces emaciated by famine, and smiles of joy bloomed.
Just like that, 300 people formed a population and became a village in an instant.
“It is becoming like the village’s name.”
The Woman Who Tends the Fire, Hestia.
The name of the city that overwhelmingly took first place, surpassing all the candidates Isabella proposed.
20 buildings have already been built, and the buildings made as public spaces are transforming into shops and inns, beginning to form a commercial district.
The reason this was possible was due to several pieces of good news.
“The support from the South was the greatest.”
When I only heard that Halim would provide support, I didn’t expect much.
Originally, support is just lightly placing a spoon and drawing a line on a résumé that a bard would sing about.
But when Halim’s exchange delegation visited me, I was able to confirm how sincere it was.
Hundreds of workers, construction materials lined up in a row, and even elephants.
It was on a completely different scale from when Pascal Company provided support.
“Did she say it was at a level where she would be afraid of what Isabella might demand?”
Isabella, who handles everything calmly, said that, so I could realize how large-scale the support was.
Regardless, with the materials airlifted from the South, they quickly erected their own architectural style.
In just two weeks, a place for the delegation to stay was built alongside a trading post, and more than 10 buildings were added.
“Aside from that, as expected…”
A place where massive bundles of logs floated in the air.
Looking closely, the figure of a burly man could be seen in the middle.
That man in armor unsuited for a construction site.
No matter what, that man was the greatest contributor.
“Who on earth are you?”
He appeared suddenly, loaded ten logs onto his back, and moved them in a heartbeat; his stature was extraordinary.
I would like to receive a report from someone who opened that visor and saw inside, but no one had ever seen the inside of that armor.
When the work ends, he disappears immediately.
Sometimes he doesn’t show up, sometimes he runs off somewhere mid-job, but even so, he always does more work than the money he receives and finishes it.
“The Duty of the Privileged… so that’s it.”
Service for the weak.
People praised him for having excellent chivalry even in heavy labor.
“It is very likely a scheme to receive a title.”
Thinking he does it with a pure heart is a foolish thought.
Ferda was preparing for what he might demand for the value of the service he had provided so far.
— Any other special matters?
— As for special matters… there is nothing that is a big problem right now, but there is one thing.
— What is it?
— Whether there is a problem with the food and monster supply lines, they are about four days behind the scheduled delivery date.
Four days.
The transportation environment is not good, and means of transport are limited.
But for Ferda, this was also a sufficiently big problem.
Ferda had arranged to receive everything from Stefan as top priority.
The term “top priority” carried the meaning of supplying everything according to the scheduled delivery date.
The fact that it is not one day, but four days late, means a problem occurred in the contract.
“Stefan.”
He was a man whose head worked well as a merchant. His calculations were accurate, and the strategies he presented were not bad either.
“But that is all.”
Stefan had a passive and compromising tendency.
In the work Ferda had to push forward, that personality was a major obstacle.
“Should I discard Stefan?”
Ferda had nothing to regret.
What Stefan invested could simply be returned from the treasury.
Furthermore, since Halim is actively aiding growth, partnering with them would also be fine.
Halim probably desires that deep down as well.
“Discarding him is quite easy.”
What should he do.
It was while Ferda was pondering.
Knock, knock—.
— Lord Ferda.
Ruri called to Ferda.
— Stefan Pascal wishes to see you, Lord Ferda.
Speak of the devil.
— Tell him to come in.
The door opened, and a man stepped inside.
It was hard to believe he was the man Ferda knew.
Stefan Pascal.
As a second generation leading a company, at their first meeting, his face was greasy and wealth dripped from him.
Now, however, that grease was nowhere to be found.
He was emaciated like a refugee who couldn’t even eat a single proper meal.
He sensed something had happened to him.
— It has been a while since the exhibition, Lord Regent.
Ferda did not show it outwardly for now.
— I was just talking about you.
— It is because the supply volume was delayed. Yes, I apologize for that part. And…
He opened his mouth again with difficulty.
— Our… connection with the Pascal Commercial Company, perhaps it is best to end it here.
It was a request for contract termination.
Ferda heard those words and covered his face with his hand.
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand.
Ferda was also thinking of terminating the contract, but it was not a matter Stefan should bring up first.
Ferda simply gains something new, but Stefan loses everything.
He wondered where this irrational judgment came from.
That is why Ferda did not say “Sure.”
— Why?
He asked him, and Stefan replied.
— It seems it is no longer an area I can handle.
Ferda asked.
— Where is the area you handle?
— What I can do… and what I have.
— What I expect from you has not changed. Everything remains the same.
— …
— The only thing that changed right now is your heart.
Stefan could not answer.
Ferda leaned his body forward.
— If it makes sense, I will terminate it anytime. So tell me. What on earth happened?
Stefan’s words forced their way through his lips.
He poured out his situation.
The story of the banquet with his father.
And the friction between brothers over Halim.
What he lost because of that.
Only then could Ferda catch a glimpse of Stefan’s internal circumstances that he had not known.
— Merkat got angry with you and you said you would monopolize Halim’s authority?
— …Yes.
— So the mercenaries who originally guarded you all withdrew, and things started turning into a mess?
It is a completely plausible story if you understand the system within the Empire.
Since commerce is the most developed, mercenaries also operate in the form of a company.
The Mercut Mercenary Company established by Merkat Pascal was undoubtedly the best in the industry.
The number of affiliated mercenaries alone exceeded 10,000, and including small and medium-sized firms that received subcontracts from there, it exceeded 30,000.
Having friction with such a Merkat Pascal, the price was naturally heavy.
It meant that the sword and shield in Stefan’s hands disappeared in an instant.
— So even though you filled that void, you couldn’t trust it, and incidents were breaking out.
— That is correct…
If security is lax, the system collapses.
Even the supplies that were to be provided to Ferda as a priority were seized.
It was like a showroom without glass windows.
— So… the carriages heading to the Grand Duchy were also… attacked.
Now the reason for the late delivery was also revealed.
— I found out two days ago. The carriages were attacked and everything… Sandy as well, Coven as well…
Unable to continue speaking, Stefan covered his face.
That incident became the decisive trigger that broke his heart.
— I can’t do it anymore. From the beginning, I was a human who didn’t have the mettle for this. Wanting to have the Pascal Company, trying to monopolize magitechnology… all of those were things I should not have had.
— …
— So I will give up. Lord Regent. Thank you for giving this pathetic bastard a chance until now—…
— That monopoly.
Before he could finish speaking, Ferda cut in.
— Was it a necessary task for us?
— The… the monopoly you speak of?
— That’s right. Was it a necessary task for the interests we must protect?
At this point, Stefan thought.
Was it necessary…?
Even without him insisting on the monopoly, sharing the pie would have been enough.
— Think deeply about the reason you thought of back then and answer.
Stefan recalled the memory of that day as Ferda said.
And replied.
— …Yes.
— Then you fought to protect our things.
— …
— You fought for the first time, but in the end, you are frustrated.
— That is right.
— Are you ashamed of the fact that you failed?
Stefan bowed his head deeply.
— It is a humiliating matter.
— So you tried to avoid this situation through contract termination?
— It was not avoidance.
— That is avoidance. Instead of facing the pain, you are conceding.
— That incident was also an opportunity to look back at myself.
Stefan laughed hollowly.
There was no focus in his pupils.
— Without skill, yet uselessly greedy, and without even the courage to hold onto something. A third-rate bastard who only comes to his senses after losing everything.
Self-aversion and self-hatred.
It showed how many burdens were pressing down on his hunched back.
Ferda, having had such an experience himself.
— Is that why you couldn’t come to me?
— …Yes.
Afraid that only his incompetence would grow.
Afraid of showing his shameful parts and being despised.
The fear grew and grew, pressing him down until both knees finally knelt.
— Stefan.
— Yes, Lord Regent.
— What I demanded was exactly one thing. Do you remember?
He knows.
Because it was spoken clearly enough to be vividly engraved in his brain even at this moment.
— You said to become the owner of the Pascal Company.
— That was the contract we made. What did you do for that contract? You supplied goods.
— That is right.
— You filled the missing supplies throughout the Grand Duchy and paved the way. Those processes were never easy. Even so, you persevered.
— …
— To become the owner of the Pascal Company.
Stefan did not reply.
Afraid of revealing this overflowing emotion, he keeps his mouth tightly shut like an idiot.
Ferda’s words continued.
— I will say it again. We made a contract.
— …
— You supply us with goods, and I make you the owner of the Pascal Company.
It was the word that pressured Stefan.
Yet at this moment, strangely, no pressure was felt.
— That means if you fight to become the owner of the company, I will gladly stand by your side.
Instead, he feels the weight pressing down on his shoulders vanish.
— So I will ask only once more at the end.
Ferda asked one last time in a calm voice.
— Do you truly want to give up on everything?
Life began returning to Stefan’s corpse-like eyes.
Everything he had come to abandon and let go of began becoming visible again.
Stefan is a merchant.
Where is a person who likes losing everything?
He did not want to feel the happiness of having nothing.
His desire was to use failure as a stepping stone and take the leap toward success.
— Cough…
Stefan shed tears.
Along with this pain rising up his throat, he brought out his true heart that had been with him since childhood.
— I want to become… the owner of the Pascal Company.
Stefan pressed his forehead against the marble floor and sobbed.
He moans in a state where he cannot utter more words.
Ferda looked down at him and spoke in a low tone.
— Administrator Isabella.
Isabella, who had been observing the entire situation, adjusted her glasses.
— Speak.
— Convene all the nobles throughout the Grand Duchy of the Far East as Chairman of the Far East Front Alliance.
— Understood. How should I record the reason for the convocation?
Ferda spoke calmly.
— Sabotage against the entire Grand Duchy.