성황의 아이들 [3]

481

481. Departure (2)

-I don't want to rule the North.

Seongjin denied it several times, but most people did not believe him at face value.

The Ortona economic reconstruction project is a large-scale plan involving numerous merchants affiliated with the Merchants' Union, in addition to Bertran & Lee.

So, all of those upper echelons wanted to meet the Third Prince, the commander-in-chief of the plan. And they tried to give meaning to every word and action of his.

- Hey, how was it meeting the prince in person? Did he give you any hints about the future course of the empire?

-Wearing the Knights Templar uniform even in private? Could it be that Prince Mores is indirectly expressing his will that even commercial activities should be conducted within the doctrines of religion?

They also did not believe the explanation that they had come to search for Giacomo Milo. It was widely interpreted as an intention to use force to pressure the northern lords who did not listen to their instructions. Surprisingly, it was an inference that was quite close to its essence.

-Berseus Dashiano, I thought that arrogant bastard would taste bitterness at some point!

-You will be able to have quite a bit of fun in the County of Castile, sir. The Andres Plain near the county is the only granary in the northeast.

Everyone thought that the Third Prince would threaten the northern lords and extort money. At this point, the desire to really cause trouble was welling up in them.

But that wasn't all. As time passed, strange followers also began to appear.

-Ha Hae's insight into the overall economic trends is truly amazing! So, the rapid growth of 'Bertrán & Lee' is already overwhelming the market. Of course, it is a bit surprising that the overall business you are currently pursuing is not pursuing profits as efficiently as expected... ... .

-No, I am just following the wishes of Logan, the owner of the merchant. Because he wants to help Ortona refugees in the long term.

-aha! Are you prioritizing the growth of the market itself and taking into account the large returns in the distant future? indeed!

-Besides, you gave up your place as head of the upper class to Prince Logan and gave credit to him! All of your actions are truly admirable. Ha ha ha ha ha!

I treated them roughly whenever I had time, and it seemed as if a strange admiration and desire was growing in the merchants' eyes.

Accordingly, Seongjin's dissatisfaction grew.

"Why hasn't there been any news from Dominic yet? The person who asked to come didn't come, so why are useless flies hanging around and looking at people?"

In fact, there were two main reasons why Seongjin took time out of his training to meet merchants.

One was because he felt a sense of responsibility as the person driving this huge plan, and the other was so that he could naturally face Dominic Scarzapino. Since I found out that his fiancée 'Olivier' was a member of an assassination group, I couldn't let things go like this.

Of course, I also told the working staff to investigate Dominic.

However, neither Branch Manager Schmidt nor Dasha seemed to find anything particularly unusual about his past. All they knew was that he had studied abroad in Brittany when he was young, and that he met his current fiancée there.

No matter how broad the staff's reach, there must have been limitations in investigating events that occurred in other countries in the past.

'Okay. Then I can just meet him face to face and tell him what happened.'