Elric stepped out and onto the station.
There was still an hour left until the train arrived.
He hadn’t bothered bringing his sword with him, so he was left with only his cane, which he used to calm his nerves and stay alert.
‘It’s okay. I’m going to be okay.’
He had been told that the guests arriving were known to be important figures in the west, but, although they had all been active soldiers on the battlefield,
In the end, they all had only held positions as supply officers.
‘There’s a good chance they won’t know me.’
It wasn’t just wishful thinking.
In the west, when he was Kasha, Elric’s main stages were the front lines of battle.
He was rarely seen in public unless he was wielding a sword, and as such, he was largely unknown except by name.In addition, he was very careful about the protection of his privacy, rejecting all interview requests and breaking cameras if anyone tried to take pictures of him secretly. Therefore, the only people who knew his face were the few clients he had met face-to-face to take requests from.
The only other time he’d ever actively shown his face was at an imperial banquet once, where he’d accompanied his friend Elvus Grayman.
But as he thought about it, he quickly dismissed the possibility of someone from there being one of the officers.
‘That’d be ridiculous.’
The banquet to which Elvus Grayman had been invited had been a secretive, closed gathering, reserved for the sons of the Empire’s most powerful families.
If one were to consider the attendees, then they would know that it was an exclusive gathering made up of only the Empire’s high-ranking aristocrats and nobles.
It was unlikely that there had been supply officers among them, and even if one of them had been a supply officer, they wouldn’t have come all the way out to a rural area to conduct business in person.
Again, it was just an absurd thought to think about.
‘You only need to avoid the clients. Just the clients!’
Elric closed his eyes tightly, hoping for his wishes to come true.
The train slowed down, puffing out steam.
It vibrated with a hissing sound, and the scenery outside the window started to come into focus.
‘We’ve finally arrived.’
Polo, a supply officer from the Empire’s third legion, clicked his tongue and rubbed his chin.
His thick stomach folded in on itself, giving him a heavy presence.
His posture and wrinkled expression revealed that he was in a very uncomfortable state of mind.
It was natural after all. Even he himself thought that it was ridiculous that he had to come all the way out here to this small, remote village to buy wheat.
He was the third son of an imperial count for god’s sake!
And he was also a reserve officer who would be promoted to being a senior officer in just a year’s time.
Despite having such titles, this was the situation that he had found himself in.
Given the circumstances, all he could do was let out a long sigh.
‘Damn those cursed kingdom bastards.’
The war was finally beginning to take a tangible turn.
With the fall of Chebol, the phase of the war marked by a tedious war of attrition had come to an end.
From now on, it would be a war of who could plunder the most, wherein each side would take as much as they could from all others. And so, as the war intensified, the need for food supplies would surely increase.
All of the continent’s supplies were now being bought up, and the two strongest kingdoms, Armin and Disha, were now in competition with the Empire for resources.
In order to not lose a single piece to them and to take away as much as possible, he, a nobleman, had gone himself to make such transactions.
Psssssshhhh–!
With a jolt, the train came to a screeching halt.
Polo got up from his seat and dragged his heavy body out and onto the station.
It was at this moment.
“Look who it is.”
Polo frowned at the gruff voice in his ear.
Although he wished that he didn’t recognize the voice, it was one that was all too familiar to him.
“So, the high-nosed Armin has come all the way here.”
“I suppose that’s not something the Empire should be saying?”
Those piercing eyes, that hawkish nose, and a build as thin as a scarecrow.
He was Armin’s supply officer.
And he wasn’t the only one here.
“We meet once again.”
A man with a bear-like physique and a fierce impression was stomping towards them.
He was Disha’s supply officer.
The three of them felt a sudden tension as they faced each other in the middle of the station.
It was nothing special though, as such a scene had occurred at every station they had passed through on their way to Wiven at the edge of the easternmost part of the continent.
Polo stood up resolutely.
‘We’ll end it here.’
So far, 40% of the grain sold across the cities they had visited had gone to the Empire, a sharp blow to Polo’s pride, but if the Empire bought all of Wiven’s grain, he could raise that figure to 60% of the total grain sales.
As a matter of Imperial pride and personal military achievement, this trade in Wiven would be one of the most important to Polo.
“You seem to be a nice guy. Will you take care of me on the battlefield, then?”
“You’re already anticipating defeat, Armin? We know your tactics well after all.”
“I was just saying that we should have a good fight… the Empire is always so stiff.”
“Hmph! If it weren’t for your Ignition, you would have fallen long ago!” [1]
“Enough, stop it, both of you.”
It was Disha’s supply officer who intervened.
His robust frame was enough to break the two mens’ momentums in the argument.
Polo gritted his teeth in frustration.
‘Let’s see for how much longer you can afford to be so relaxed.’
As the final destination of his journey, he had had much more time to investigate the state of affairs in Wiven than in other, previous trades.
Polo already had a clear understanding of the family that ruled this area from the Empire’s vaunted intelligence network.
‘The name of the territory comes from the Wyvern Family, but the real figureheads of the town are the Portmans. You’ll be dealing with them during this trade.’
The Portmans were an upstart family that had only been part of the nobility for ten years. Furthermore, the patriarch who had achieved such a position had passed away just a year ago, and so there was bound to be some internal turmoil.
And there was also an additional factor that contributed to the internal turmoil in the Portman Family.
‘Portman’s heir, who ran away 10 years ago, has returned.’
From his understanding of the situation, it seemed like the naive young lord had come back just to claim power and become the patriarch of a noble family.
It was obvious in his eyes that the hostess, who had been a Portman for the past ten years, would be resentful of the newcomer.
Now, he only had to ask himself, “Who would he support to make them the true master of the family?”
It was a common fight he had seen all too often in noble circles, and in such a case, there was one thing Polo could aim for.
‘I’ll support the young lord. I’ll help him take full control of his position as head of the family as leverage to get the entirety of the wheat that can be traded.’
Polo was confident.
He had the empire behind him, and in this small nobleman’s circle in the eastern region, wasn’t it certain that the name of the Empire would hold absolute power?
It had only been a month or so since the son had returned.
And it was unlikely that Armin and Disha had as much intelligence as the Empire did.
He was the only one who knew what was going on in Wiven, and so he was the one who could make this deal work.
Polo’s expression softened. His calmness was evident in his voice.
“Well, let’s get moving then. I’m sure there must be people waiting to greet us, and so we can’t keep them waiting like this, can we?”
“Hmph, they’re just servants of some rural noble family anyways.”
Armin’s lanky supply master scowled.
While he didn’t entirely disagree with the guy’s statement, his information advantage still made Polo feel a bit superior to him.
‘Stupid fool, let’s see for how long you can play stiff.’
Flutter–!
With a flick of his coat, Polo soon stepped out of the station.
As he stepped through the station’s entrance, he was greeted by the smell of fertilizer and the view of a quiet, rural town. It was a backward-looking landscape that seemed to be a hundred years behind the times compared to the capital.
Naturally, his shoulders started rising.
It was beginning to dawn on him that the people who lived in such a place must not have their heads screwed on straight.
The other two supply officers had similar thoughts, evident by the arrogant looks on their faces.
Soon after they stepped out of the station,
“I assume that you all are the guests from the west?”
A gentle male voice was heard.
The heads of the three supply officers turned to see a lame man leaning on a cane.
His brown hair, twinkling eyes, and sharp nose gave him an air of benevolence.
The smile on his face was full of goodwill, and in the midst of it all, his modest clothing clearly showed that he was not a peasant.
However, despite his likable appearance, Polo couldn’t smile when facing him.
“My name is Elric Portman and I am the acting lord of Wiven.”
Polo’s previously relaxed complexion suddenly paled.
His fingertips grew cold, and his pupils trembled as if he was experiencing an earthquake.
“Elric… Portman?
This man was the naive, spoiled, runaway boy?
No. He definitely wasn’t.
Polo was sure of it.
This was all ridiculous bullshit.
Polo knew that man’s name was not as he said it was.
‘Ahh! How…?’
Was it that he had come here?
“Ahem, I am Ugil, one of Armin’s supply officers. I suppose that there are no other welcoming parties?”
“I am Tent, one of Disha’s supply officers, here to meet the Lord of Wiven.”
Despite the greetings of the two other supply officers, Polo still could not speak.
His learned fear of the man was making his head spin.
‘Please…!’
‘Please don’t recognize me.’
‘Please forget everything about your past.’
His desperation was as intense as his longing for life.
His fear had risen to such an unreasonable level that it would have made more sense to him for him to turn, run away, and follow his instincts.
However, there was no turning back.
The train had already left.
Soon afterwards,
“Excuse me, sir…”
Lord Portman…
…No, the moment the Sword Demon Kasha’s gaze turned to him,
“…May I hear your introduction?”
Polo could clearly see it.
The moment the smile on his face melted away like snow.
[1. Apparently, as of my current understanding, “Ignition” is a modifier added to the names of the Seven Continental Powers. I’ll update y’all on it if something changes.]
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