Laying the Foundation (2)
The feud between the Blædwin and Lobel families ran deeper than most people realized.
Once, they had simply been knights crossing blades. Now they measured themselves by power and prestige. Through it all, the Blædwins never set their swords aside. The Lobels, by degrees, had. Wealth became their weapon of choice, while the Blædwins still prized steel. What began as a rivalry of swordsmen curdled into a war between houses.
Time had dulled the worst of the hatred, yet the embers still glowed. The family elders would never welcome any pact with the Lobels.
If I take Erdin Lobel under my wing, the council of elders will try to eat me alive.
His father disliked the Lobels just as much. At the family head’s hall, Ted had left the decision entirely in Robon’s hands—but that, in truth, had been a test.
I’m already buried in research at the lab. Of all the times…
He had been dragged into a political brawl whether he liked it or not.
Back in Korea, this sort of thing had been routine. Opposition and ruling-party politicians alike had tried to parade him around for propaganda, paint him with their colors, or demand he endorse some corporation. Because he had ignored every demand and done exactly as he pleased, he had ended up dead in a ditch.
He knew his death had never sat right. What were the odds that a drunk truck driver would smash into the one taxi carrying him?
Even so, he refused to dwell on it. What good was regret? His creed was simple: give everything to the situation in front of you. Clinging to the past and trying to rewrite it was the stupidest waste of time imaginable.
So the only question that mattered now was how to clean this mess up as neatly as possible.
“Sir Erdin! The length is off! Director Robon said the coating means you have to cut them larger than before—did you not hear him?!”
“Then you try it, Sir Cernia! If I stare at this any longer my eyes are going to fall out!”
“This isn’t easy either! Do you think aligning the edges perfectly is simple?!”
“You have to follow these densely drawn lines and match them with absolute precision!”
“Both of you just do the easy jobs and stop complaining. If even a single drop of rubber solution hits the floor, do you have any idea how thoroughly Director Robon will flay me? You’ve heard him do it!”
The three knights’ bickering carried clear through the laboratory door.
Erdin Lobel was one thing. Why was Gast suddenly following Erdin around, and what was Sir Cernia doing here?
Cernia, especially—his father had called her skilled enough to satisfy even him. To Robon’s eye every knight looked more or less the same, but still. She was said to run her own independent knight order under the Lobels’ patronage. Was her contract nearly up? Did she actually intend to come to him?
Well, that would be a free win for me.
Still, it seemed like overkill for her to go this far. Watching a six-star knight sit on the floor carefully rolling troll hide was almost surreal—even knowing he had ordered it himself.
Chirp—tweet—tweet—
Out here the birdsong was so fresh it almost hurt. Clear, cool air and mountains rolling in blue-green waves. Just standing still and feeling the land was enough to quiet the noise in his head.
A chill slipped inside his collar. Something cold and feather-light settled on his skin.
“…Snow?”
The weather had turned sharp lately. This was the first snowfall he had seen since arriving in this world.
“Pretty.”
He looked up. The dark was thinning; a cold blue dawn was spreading. Morning was coming.
“Is it already this late?”
He had no idea how many hours had passed since they started. Work had begun not long after nightfall—so they had been at it the entire night.
He glanced into the lab. The three of them were still grumbling, yet every one of them remained seated and working without pause.
He had expected them to last ten minutes at most. Reality had proved him completely wrong.
“Done!!”
“Haa… morning already?”
“Huh. I didn’t even notice the time.”
The knights stared at the light leaking through the doorway in open shock.
Clack—
Robon opened the door and stepped inside. One look at the heap of finished cable was enough; he had to give them credit.
“Good work, all of you.”
He checked the pieces. The coating, the leather wrapping, the finishing—all of it perfect.
Better than I expected.
These really were high-grade personnel. Knights who wielded aura had razor-sharp senses and surprisingly deft hands. Their stamina was absurd, too; after an all-nighter they still looked fresh.
“Honestly… I’ve done every weird job under the sun at this point.”
Erdin dusted off his rear and stood. His legs were half-asleep; his face twisted.
“I did everything you told me. Satisfied?”
“You worked hard.”
“If there’s more, just say so. Let’s get it finished fast.”
Apparently Robon had misjudged the man.
“No need.”
The kid had more grit and will than expected. Robon had never disliked people like that.
“We’ll call it a temporary alliance.”
“Temporary alliance? An alliance is an alliance. What’s with the ‘temporary’?”
“You helped me for a few days and I’m supposed to trust you completely? And for what you’ve actually done, you’re asking for an awful lot.”
“Ahem! That’s why I said give me more work!”
“Drop it. What you want is for me to push you into becoming the head of House Lobel, right?”
“Yeah.”
Robon considered it. What, exactly, would he gain if the head of House Lobel became his man? Was the upside large enough to justify the risk and the headache of bringing this guy onto his side?
When I think of the Lobels…
Money. Pure, overwhelming wealth.
The vast lands that had made the family what it was, the granaries stretching in every direction, the Demt River that rose in the Valtches Mountains, cut across the green plains, and fanned out through the entire duchy—every condition for vacuuming up gold was already in place.
If I’m going to build a proper mechanized city, there will never be enough money.
Whether stocks or coins, the biggest returns always came from buying at the bottom, not the top. And right now Erdin Lobel was a stock one breath away from delisting.
If he could turn that Erdin into the head of House Lobel, a scrap of worthless paper would become a blank check overnight.
Not a bad gamble.
The risk-to-return ratio was actually decent. The real question was whether he could drag Erdin back from the brink of delisting.
Why not?
In the end, no matter how much money someone had, technology always made them kneel.
“Call!”
“Call?”
“Means I’m in. Let’s try it. If it fails, that’s on you—not me.”
“Really? You mean it?!”
Erdin’s eyes went round as saucers.
The verdict on Andersen, who had been confined at the main house, finally arrived. Not guilty.
“Father’s influence played a large part.”
Gain, who had attended the hearing, told him quietly.
“Don’t go around saying you heard it from me.”
So his older brother had this side to him too. Robon had assumed the man was too principled to leak anything of the sort.
“Thank you, hyung-nim.”
“You would have learned soon enough anyway. I only told you a little early so you wouldn’t worry.”
The conclusion regarding Andersen would be relayed through their father to both Laen and the duchy. Neither Robon nor Andersen would need to appear again. That was a relief.
“And what about Erdin Lobel?”
So that was why Gain had sought him out first.
For a moment Robon hesitated. Should he tell his brother or not?
The last time they had spoken of the Lobels, Gain’s stance had been absolute. If Robon now announced he planned to help Erdin become family head and improve relations with House Lobel, would Gain hate it?
The hesitation lasted only a heartbeat.
“I’ve decided to help him.”
Gain’s expression hardened at once. As expected.
“I’m sorry. But this relationship—”
“Enough. If you judged it that way, you must have your reasons.”
Robon stared. That was not the reaction he had braced for.
“But I will not help you.”
“That’s fine. I intend to handle this with my own strength.”
“Heh. That’s all I needed to hear.”
Gain smiled with quiet satisfaction, lightly ruffled Robon’s hair, and left.
Robon had lived an entire lifetime without older siblings. This feeling… wasn’t half bad.
Andersen returned to the laboratory. The moment he saw Robon he rushed forward and threw his arms around him.
A grown man with reddened eyes clinging to him made Robon’s own eyes sting. Ever since coming to this world he seemed more emotional than he had ever been as Noh Bo-jun. Had the original Robon Blædwin simply been like this?
“Thank you. Truly.”
“What happened? Explain it properly.”
Andersen had apparently told the whole story at the hearing, but Robon still hadn’t heard it. As his employer, he needed to know.
“I hope you will not be shocked.”
“…What is it? You’re making it sound terrifying.”
“Well……”
Andersen laid out his entire past. Through the whole account Robon kept waiting for the shocking part and never found it.
“So… Magic Advisor used to be a big deal. That’s it?”
“…I was not trying to boast.”
“Bottom line, it was all a misunderstanding—and you’re stronger than I thought?”
“I am not so strong now.”
“Doesn’t matter. That’s enough. What’s the past got to do with anything? The present is what counts.”
“……Thank you for saying so.”
“Which means from now on you work hard. Going to rescue you wrecked the Brutal Force all over the place, and both the workload and the research have fallen behind… it’s a mess.”
He deliberately kept the tone light to break the mood.
“It seems the laboratory does not run properly without me.”
Andersen grinned and tossed the joke right back.
“Exactly. Taking over a month of vacation… just so you know, no leave for the next half-year.”
“Understood.”
Andersen immediately changed clothes and set fire to his resolve.
“What must be done first?”
“Two big things. Build transformers and raise transmission towers. And finish the light bulb.”
“…So it begins at last.”
Andersen’s face turned grave.
“Yes. The first real step toward a mechanized city.”
The final goal he was aiming for sat higher than most people would guess, and the environment of this world was worse than anyone expected. To turn the ideal into reality he had to lay the foundation properly, even if progress was slow.
Building a tower that would not sway in any storm required first selecting only the finest jade stones, then packing them tight into the foundation.
I only hope the stones I chose are jade.
If the pile he had so carefully stacked crumbled halfway, it would be a disaster. Even if they weren’t jade, he would have to make them hard enough.
Erdin… I hope that guy’s handling himself properly.
It felt uncomfortably like leaving a child by the water’s edge.
Maybe offering help had been a mistake.
Contrary to Robon’s worries, Erdin had returned to his house and was receiving praise from Family Head Alfred.
“You gave those arrogant Laen bastards a proper thrashing. Well done!”
“Thank you, Father.”
“Have you decided to cling to the Blædwins? Do you honestly think wrecking your armor protecting the Blædwin family head and that third son was the right choice?”
Arnold Lobel, who had watched the exchange with open distaste, immediately rebuked him.
Yes, the head of the house had praised him—but only for making Laen look foolish. The moment the name Blædwin entered the conversation, the atmosphere in the hall cooled again.
That was exactly what Arnold wanted: to chip away at Erdin’s achievement until nothing remained. Only then would his insolent little brother stop getting ideas.
Completely cowed. Heh. Yes—that’s the real you, Erdin.
Erdin kept his head lowered, thinking hard.
Robon told me not to cause trouble… Do I just let this slide?
Every retainer was present. If he took another public scolding and moved on, his standing would drop and the credit he had earned at Floating Castle would evaporate.
No.
If he kept swallowing everything, he would never become family head. He had to show a different face while the retainers were watching.
He swallowed dryly. His heart hammered, but he forced himself to ignore it, raised his head, and looked Arnold straight in the eye.
“The world has changed. You still can’t crawl out of those dusty old ideas, hyung-nim.”
Arnold’s face twisted.
“Ha—dusty?”
“That’s right. Rivalry with the Blædwins? Feud? Can House Lobel and House Blædwin even fight a straight duel of swords as knights anymore?”
Bang!!
Arnold slammed the table in fury.
“Are you disparaging House Lobel right now?!”
“Not disparaging—seeing clearly. What Lobel does well and what it lacks.”
The sudden retort from a brother who normally never dared open his mouth left Arnold momentarily speechless. Sensing the opening, Erdin pressed harder.
“The Blædwins are researching and advancing magical engineering at terrifying speed. I think Lobel has to change. We’re the richest house in the duchy—do you really believe all that money is working properly? We’re rich now, but as Blædwin’s technology grows stronger, even our wealth will be overtaken.”
“Young Master Erdin, are you saying House Lobel is inferior to House Blædwin?”
The finance officer snapped, but Alfred raised a hand and stopped him.
“Arnold. What is your view?”
“Father, Erdin has been keeping company with the Blædwins and is now suggesting we bow our heads to them! He’s talking about handing our money over to those people!”
“I’m talking about a temporary partnership. When did I ever say we would bow?”
“Extending a hand first is no different from lowering our heads.”
“You haven’t understood a word. I already said it—we need to invest the money we have. I’m using the Blædwins. Using the power of the wealth we already possess.”
The longer Erdin spoke, the more the retainers’ reactions shifted, little by little. Most still hated the idea of cooperating with the Blædwins, yet even a handful of changed minds was more than enough for Erdin.
“I think I’m better than a hyung-nim who only knows how to oppose without offering a single alternative.”
“Ha! Fine. Father—why not give Erdin the funds?”
“To Erdin?”
“Yes. I’d very much like to watch just how magnificent this investment turns out to be. Before this spring ends, extract more value than you received. Fail, and you never interfere in family affairs again. Well? Confident?”
The sudden challenge startled Erdin, but he forced his face to stay calm.
So that’s how you want to play it?
Arnold was no ordinary opponent either. Bastard.
Backing down now was impossible. All or nothing.
“Call! But if I deliver results, hyung-nim—you don’t interfere in anything I do from now on.”
Erdin slammed the desk and declared it for everyone to hear.
Cracks spidered across the muscles of Arnold’s face.
“Very well.”
Erdin thought: this might actually be an opportunity.
“I’ll show you results that will leave you speechless. Look forward to it.”
Of course, Robon Blædwin would be the one producing those results.
I’m counting on you, Robon! In return I’ll make sure the money is generous.