Chapter 66
Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Heaven's Net
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Paonia family are nobles.
They live in Vampire territory.
Because of these two facts,
there wasn't much I could do.
So...
I went to find someone to help.
North-north sector.
Alensia unit.
Command tent.
Alensia welcomed me while seated in her chair.
"I heard the unfortunate news. Or is it good news for you?"
Her first words were about Brilda.
She knew my situation, so she seemed unsure how to phrase it.
"The funeral went smoothly. And is the favor I asked possible?"
I skipped Brilda's topic
and got straight to the point.
My influence extended only to Frontier territory.
Even with my heir status confirmed, I couldn't run wild all the way in Vampire Duke territory.
That was why I had asked Alensia for help.
To punish the Paonia family.
But.
Alensia's expression wasn't good.
"Even my kingdom finds it hard to touch a noble family."
I had thought maybe Alensia could pull it off.
But it seemed difficult for her too.
Nobles fight well among themselves.
They quarrel often and fiercely.
But when a noble family faces persecution, they all raise their hands in opposition.
There's an unwritten rule: protect noble authority.
If that rule breaks, they believe they're next in danger.
"We can't corner a noble family on mere suspicion without hard evidence. As you know, my own situation isn't ideal."
Alensia was the second princess in the midst of a succession struggle.
She needed noble backing and vassal loyalty above all.
"But the resistance was stronger than expected. Someone may have pulled strings."
"Is that so..."
It looked like the Paonia side had intervened.
But I couldn't just let it slide.
"May I ask one more favor?"
Alensia looked down at me and crossed her legs the other way.
Then she propped her chin on her hand.
"What is it?"
"The Paonia family seems off. Will you monitor them alongside me?"
"Very well."
Still kneeling on one knee, I snapped my head up.
She wasn't asking for anything in return?
"That's... all?"
"Why? What did you expect me to say?"
"Nothing."
I wrapped up the talk
and pulled a letter from my bosom.
"Thanks to you, we were able to pursue the merchant raiders."
Alensia took the letter and set it aside.
"And this too..."
The second item was a luxury box.
Inside was Alensia's ring.
Still kneeling on one knee,
I extended my hand with the box.
But she didn't take it.
Instead, she reached out.
Toward me.
"What are you waiting for?"
"Pardon...?"
"I lent it to you by taking it off myself, so shouldn't you restore the status quo?"
I opened the box and took out the ring.
I cradled her hand with one of mine.
And slipped the ring on with the other.
Only then did she seem satisfied, straightening her posture.
"Come to think of it, I've helped you quite a bit, haven't I?"
I knew this was coming.
After our broken engagement, Alensia and I had taken turns helping each other.
"Do you have a request?"
"I want to purchase ballistae."
Was this her request?
If she was buying, I welcomed it.
"Name the quantity you need, and I'll deliver."
"Excellent. I'll inform you after conferring with my vassals."
I finished the discussion
and left the command tent.
'This world really is prime for business.'
On Earth, production outpaced demand.
Even making goods, selling them was tough.
Hiring pricey celebrities for ads,
begging famous stars to post on social media.
And so on...
But here, it was the opposite.
Production couldn't keep up with demand.
Demand formed around production.
'And since it's strategic goods, if I leverage this...'
After leaving Alensia's unit,
my next stop was Benia's unit.
"Why has Heir Elwin come here?"
Benia's gentle tone carried barbs.
Alensia held the edge in this succession race.
Because I had sided with her.
"I have a proposal."
"A proposal for me... shall we hear it?"
Benia rose from her seat.
Then pulled out the chair opposite her herself.
"I'll sell you ballistae."
Not that I wanted to sell, but that I would sell to her.
This deal put me firmly in the driver's seat.
"Any conditions?"
"Same price as to Lady Alensia. However..."
"However?"
Benia leaned her upper body forward a bit.
Proof she was hooked on this talk.
"Monitor the Paonia family."
I planned to render those Paonia bastards powerless.
Me, Alensia, Benia.
And if the other baronet heirs joined forces,
Paonia could do nothing.
Everyone and every resource on the island was connected to us, directly or indirectly.
It was like a dense net blanketing the entire island.
"Is that the only condition?"
"Yes. Just make it airtight."
Benia paused, pretending to mull it over.
I wasn't worried.
She would accept the deal.
Ballistae were inferior to mages.
Weaker firepower, harder to operate.
But they had one unbeatable advantage.
Quantity.
They had proven their worth decisively in the northern subjugation campaign.
Our unit, lacking knights and mages, had held its own against ogres.
Benia finished pondering and spoke.
"Fine. I'll buy."
"Thank you. Let's draw up the contract right away."
With that, I sealed ballista supply contracts with Alensia and Benia.
Deals with the remaining heirs were even simpler.
I had already locked in contracts with their leaders, the princesses.
Thanks to hustling around the northern battlefield,
I secured five supply contracts.
"How much money is this gonna make?"
I had no intention of rationing ballistae like the continent's high nobles.
I'd crank the Iron Workshop to maximum output.
This offered several advantages.
1) Massive revenue from ballista sales.
I priced them below continent rates.
Even so, huge profits remained. The originals were absurdly expensive.
2) Monster Island becomes safer.
The island was my market.
A safer market that grew bigger was pure profit.
3) The more ballistae in use, the greater demand for large bolts, their consumable ammo.
Of course, I'd produce and sell those bolts from Iron too.
And finally, total surveillance on Paonia from all directions.
"Just trip up once. I'll wipe 'em out."
Underground passage.
Brown Paonia walked through it.
He reached the end of the long tunnel.
A door stood there,
guarded by two knights.
The knights' armor bore a crescent moon emblem.
A symbol unseen on the island.
The knight finished patting him down
and opened the door.
As the door swung open,
a vast stone chamber revealed itself.
The interior brimmed with religious artifacts.
And in the center, the priest rose from his seat.
"You've arrived."
Brown bowed his head in apology.
"I'm sorry things turned out this way."
The priest waved it off as no big deal.
"Mistakes happen. Just make up for it with hard work from here on."
"The situation isn't good."
The priest's face hardened.
"What do you mean? I covered this incident for you."
"The Paonia family is under surveillance."
"Because of Elwin? Then shift operations to other regions for now."
He answered skeptically once more.
"That won't work either. The second princess..."
"Elwin and Alensia are close, yes. Then leverage the opposing faction."
Brown searched for the right words.
He had to deliver a third negative in a row.
"It's not just Alensia. Benia and the three baronet heirs are monitoring Paonia too."
"Does that even make sense? Two rival factions teaming up to watch us?"
Brown barely suppressed a sigh.
What could he do when the impossible had happened?
"Word is Elwin personally visited the heirs and persuaded them."
Silence blanketed the chamber.
For a full three minutes,
the heavy air pressed down on Brown.
The priest broke the silence by speaking.
"Fifty years. The church has poured effort into this island for over fifty years."
"I'm sorry."
Monster Island, dubbed the grave of religions.
No temples here.
No priests.
Trauma from three hundred years ago.
In this religious wasteland, they had laid foundations starting fifty years back.
To spread their faith across the island in one swift stroke.
Before rival churches could react.
"We don't have much time left."
They could have prepared for a hundred years if needed.
If they could convert the entire island to their faith...
But a single variable had emerged.
The Frontier Heir had met the Earth Goddess.
Blessed by her, he began farming on Monster Island.
Then he built a village and erected a massive Earth Goddess temple at its heart.
A temple far too grand for the village's scale.
"But we can't move now. Every heir on the island has their eyes wide open."
"I can't grant much time. We can't let another church snatch the island."
"I'll find a solution as quickly as possible."
He finished the talk
and left the chamber.
'What now?'
Continentals held a prejudice of dismissing the island.
They had wrapped up this incident not because their ally informant outdid the hunter.
But by ruthlessly severing limbs to erase all traces.
Now the situation had worsened.
The island's major powers, Elwin included, were watching them.
'We're already teetering on a cliff. And they want us to keep walking forward.'
Urged from behind,
while the monster called Elwin loomed ahead with jaws agape.
'How did the Paonia family end up like this?'