"The Fortuna Merchant will give the Cassius Family a loan with no interest and 30 years payment term"
"WHAT?!"
She declared as Emperor Drake along with his son and his attendant Dion replied in unison, the amount of money is not small and she lends them for free with no interest, moreover, 30 years payment term should be enough to loosen their neck of money problems in this generation, Grizel is not this charitable, and there's no reason for her to help them either.
This is suspicious, extremely suspicious.
"Arent you being too generous?"
Emperor Drake couldn't hide his curiosity but Grizel just smiled calmly, as a businessman, if she can't have what she wants through money, there are still various ways to get it, the port is indeed valuable and it's a shame to lose a chance to get a share of its ownership as part of her property, but the real value of that port is not how magnificent the building is, instead, the trading route gathered in that place.
"I am not being generous, I have a condition"
"Ooh?"
Drake raised his eyebrows patiently waiting for her reason to give the Cassius Family such a big favor.
"I want the exclusive rights for doing business in the Southern Region and a perpetual contract of tax exemption for Fortuna Merchant and its affiliated branches merchants"
The whole room is getting quiet in an instant, only Rex and Mammon change their expressions right away, they seem to get a grasp of her plan as Rex looks at her in amusement while Mammon is being in awe of his new Lord, the Crown Prince who possesses high intelligence and the former manager who is a professional in the business field, as expected their level of comprehension is on a different level.
'Generous my ass, she is as greedy as ever'
The two of them who grasped the situation sneered inwardly, generous is a nonexistent word in her life, Emperor Drake said it because he doesn't know what she truly is and what kind of fearsome plan she has in mind.
A right for doing business in the Southern region, it's pretty common since each merchant needs permission to do business in Cassius's territory, but an exclusive right is rarely found among the merchant because having this contract means that the merchant couldn't be banned unilaterally by the territory's Lord.
Moreover, a perpetual contract is one that does not have an expiration date which means the contract will last forever, and in exchange for Grizel's generosity giving the Cassius family a huge favor, Grizel demands a Tax exemption, it is the right to exclude all income from taxation by the states governments and in this case, is the territory's Lord.
In short, Fortuna Merchant and the affiliated branches merchants will be free for doing business in the Southern region without paying tax to the Dukedom.
But this contract is tricky.
Right now, in the eyes of the world, Fortuna Merchant can be considered as a newcomer to the business field, even though the identity of the owner is protected by the Imperial Family, and they seem to have some privileges, the Empire won't go as far as meddling in their business and going against the other big merchants.
Especially the Goldway Merchant who monopolize the trades in Azure, one wrong move and it will end up as economic warfare, because of the Rebellion, Azure get weakened in the military aspect, the Empire will avoid the confrontation with the merchants at all costs to maintain the economic power, protecting the identity of the owner of Fortuna Merchant is as far as the Empire could go in exchange for their magic tools invention.
And that's true, Imperial Family might become the shield of Fortuna Merchant but not a sword, the business affairs are all according to the Tartarus's policy, and the Imperial Family is not a part of it, protecting Grizel's identity is the main condition mentioned in the contract between Grizel and the Emperor.
Compared to a well-off merchant like Goldway, Fortuna is like a newborn baby, agreeing to Grizel's conditions of contract is not that difficult for the Cassius family to consider, the favor given is enough to sway their judgment, what could a newcomer possibly do, right? But...
They don't aware of the fact that the Fortuna merchant discreetly has begun to absorb the other small merchants through the acquisition and almost established, with their rapid growth and Grizel's business plan, it's only a matter of time before the Fortuna soar high to replace the Goldway and be the one who monopolizes the trades.
By that time, the Cassius Family can only blame themselves for approving the perpetual contract of tax exemption because they won't be able to collect the taxation from the biggest merchant and its branches merchants, and the exclusive rights to do business is like a protective talisman to prevent Fortuna from being banned by the Southern government.
This contract is to secure the trade routes for the future and make sure the greedy Cassius Family couldn't take advantage of the raising Fortuna, she is terrifying and admirable at the same time as a businesswoman.
But what makes Rex smiled in amusement is the chains of destruction caused by that contract, losing their main income means losing their power, that arrogant family will not only lose their influence but also their footing among the aristocracy, they will struggle just to keep their status as noble.
Let alone becomes the head of the Orthodox nobles faction, without a powerful leader this faction will be in a serious setback which is good for the Imperial Family to suppress them in political influence, the moment the Cassius Family stamped on the contract with this devil...
Both the Cassius family and the Orthodox faction will have no more bright future ahead, this little girl only needs one tricky contract to surpass the whole faction and crush the future of her political enemies.
'What a fearsome scheming wife I have here, hahaha'
Emperor Drake who doesn't get a thing halted himself to ask any further as he sees the smile on the face of his son, he may not know what's the secret between these pair betrothed but everything seems to be alright and he believed in his son and daughter-in-law.
"Alright, Grizel. I respect your decision"
"Thank you, Father. Here is my trustworthy subordinate, Mammon, he will be the representative of Fortuna Merchant from this moment onward, and the negotiations with the Cassius Family will be carried by him"
Mammon bows as he gets introduced to the Emperor, from now on, everything related to the Fortuna Merchant is under his authority, no need for Grizel to handle it personally anymore.
"Alright, I will give you a recommendation letter to the Cassius Family"
"Thank you, Your Majesty"
In one visit, his daughter-in-law managed to wash away his problems splendidly, if only this little girl and his son are a little bit older, he would gladly pass the throne to them and live quietly in his late wife's hometown while expecting cute grandchildren.
"Father, do you have any other urgent matter that needs to be taken care of?"
"Ah no, I can pour all my focus on the preparation of the war as you requested"
It was Grizel's odd request, she asked for the Emperor to focus on the preparation of the war as if she is preparing for something grand, seems like this civil war is not only about defeating the rebellion.
"Alright, Father. If nothing urgent, I will excuse myself because I can't take your precious time more than this"
"What are you talking about? You are my daughter, I always have spare time for you and Rex hahaha"
"But those piles of paperwork seems to disagree with you"
Grizel pointed out the unfinished works on his desk, couldn't argue with her, Emperor Drake looks away whistling to hide his embarrassment.
"Mammon, how about having a stroll while waiting for the recommendation letter?"
Grizel gives a sign to Mammon, his new blessing, the Gate can only be used to the places where he had visited before, and marking some places within the Palace to open his gate is important in case of emergency, venturing around by himself shouldn't be a problem for a former professional thief.
Come and go to the Palace secretly should be easier next time.
-â¢-
A few days have passed since Grizel visited the Palace to trade the land of the slums with new revolutionary magic tools made by Deus and his team, to produce 1000 units of it, Tartarus postponed the construction of the magic submarine, the installation of these magic tools is completed and now what's left is to launch the product to the whole continent.
"Spread"
With a single command, a thousand orb-like crystals as big as a tennis ball spread from the highest tower of the capital, it was the same tower where the huge bell that rang loudly at the night when Grizel looted the First Emperor's tomb.
Ooooooong...
With the teleportation magic circle embedded into it, some of the floating orbs disappeared to the appointed location across the Azure continent except for the western region where the rebels resided in, while the rest of them fly underneath the sky of the capital city.
"Kyaaa! W-what is that?"
A woman shrieked loudly while pointing out above making all the people in surrounding lift their heads in unison to see with their own eyes.
Looking at the floating orbs flying to all directions, a panic almost breaks from the crowds in the middle of the town because of it, after all, normal people tends to fear unknown object, but then suddenly the orbs shine in bright green light.
"People of Azure Empire..."
The commotion in the town hall becomes quiet when the crowds hear a familiar voice while a huge screen suddenly appears from each of the orbs.
Zztt zztt zzztt...
Gasped!
The crowds bow down immediately when the image shown on the screen becomes clear as they see the owner of the voice.
It's the Emperor of the Azure Empire.
On the screen, people could see 2 gorgeous children stand on the right and left sides of the Emperor, a dazzling boy in his early teens wearing the Imperial formal attire with the appearance like the exact copy of the Emperor and a beautiful silver-haired young lady with oceanic eyes smiling warmly, she wears the dress that matched the Prince's Imperial formal attire, even without any jewelry attached, she looks more graceful like a blooming white lily compared to any other noble lady.
"Who is that?"
"Is that maybe the rumored Crown Princess?"
"Oh my gosh, the ones who spread the bad rumors about her being ugly must be blinded by jealousy"
"Yeah, I can't believe I was stupid enough to believe those rumors and oppose the royal engagement before"
"Now I know why they said she has the appearance of Goddess and the heart of angel, holy magic really suits her image"
Murmur...
Murmur...
The commotion among the crowd raised once again when they see the used-to-be mysterious young lady for the first time, until a moment ago, they could only imagine the appearance of the Princess through the rumors, surprisingly she is far more enchanting than what they could imagine.
The same reaction happened in the Northern and Southern regions where the other orbs teleported in, the citizens of these regions are talking about the princess's first appearance enthusiastically, except for the Eastern territory which is the hometown of the Princess, they are rather delighted than surprised to see their beautiful lady once again.
"Kyaaaa!!! It's our Goddess, no, I mean our Lady"
The citizens of the East perked up in excitement, especially the workers of the Belial's castle who almost build a new cult to worship the Princess thanks to Lucy's absurd influence, fortunately, this lunatic maid left for the capital to follow Grizel or else a temple to worship Grizel might have been established in this region.
"Oh my God, our angel is growing more beautiful day by day"
"She is the pride of our Eastern Region"
"Go go go, My Lady, make the whole world know who is our Goddes"
The excitement of the people in the Eastern region reached the peak, but different from their citizens, the Archduke and the Archduchess couldn't even see their daughter's face on the screen, the strange immense pain in their heads come back every time they tried to think about their only child not to mention looking at her face as if hindering them to recall even the slightest memory about her.
"My people..."
The Emperor started to speak again, this time the voice and the image on the screen are clearer.
"This is a new invention of magic tools created by Fortuna Merchant called the Security Orb which will help the Empire to suppress the crime rates"
Murmur...
Murmur...
The Emperor nodded as he gives a sign to Deus and the chosen magicians who are in stand by behind the stage, when they started to chant a modified spell taught by Deus, the screens shown by the orbs change from the Emperor's stage to various places within the Empire.
The people in the capital city were shocked when they see the citizens of the other regions on the screen, likewise, the people of the other regions see the crowd of the capital city, the orbs simultaneously recorded and broadcast the condition of each region in real-time
before it reverted to the Emperor's Palace.
"This magic tool is our extended ears and eyes to answer the cries of our people, from now on, we will put the utmost priority to protect the citizens of our Azure Empire"
The Emperor declared through his speech to put the peace of mind to his people, sweeping away the fear that has been slowly creeping into the heart of the Azure citizens.
Because of the rebellion, the focus of the security guard in the Empire is divided and weakened greatly making the crime rate reached its peak, it was part of the Westerners' grand scheme to spark dissatisfaction among the people, each crime will be blamed on the Empire's incompetence to protect their people causing the rebellion to become larger.
Thankfully, Grizel or to be precise Angela has warned Emperor Drake and Rex about that threat earlier before everything was too late, she formed a contract alliance with them to prevent the worst disaster planned by the Westerners to sow discord among the Azure nation, and this is one of the results of their alliance to win the heart of the people.
Security Orb, the design was inspired by the camera CCTV in her previous life, but she and Deus added several magic circles to make the Security Orbs more effective and efficient.
"WOOOOOOOO!!!!"
The cheers can be heard all over the continent completely wash away the fear within the hearts of the people.
"All hail Azure Empire"
"Long live the Emperor"
"Long Live the Crown Prince"
"Long Live the Crown Princess"
The Azure Empire is full of joy, the happiness when their Emperor promised to watch and protect them is overwhelming.
It seemed the Emperor successfully win the heart of his people, after he finished his speech, a representative of the Imperial Magician took the stage to explain how the Security Orbs will work.
Security Orbs has 3 stages, it shines green when the surrounding area is safe, and when minor crimes occur, the orb will turn orange in color and ring a loud alarm to warn the people and the guards nearby, lastly, the red light will serve as a warning for a serious crime, the security orbs only turned into this color for the crimes like murder, robbery, kidnapping, slavery and so on, at this stage, the teleportation magic circle embedded in the Security Orbs will be activated automatically and send the knights on duty directly to the crime scene to prevent any casualties, though it limited only for 3 knights in once activation.
This feature is thought by both Grizel and Deus after a long discussion, they need a flashy yet effective and efficient magic device to win the heart of people, they made the orb as eye-catching as possible to emphasize the feeling of being protected by the Empire, because the main purpose of the Security Orbs are to make people feel safe by its existence.
To be an eye-catching tool mean to be vulnerable, just like the CCTV in the modern world, this thing will be the first to be attacked even before the crime happened in order to get rid of the trace and evidence, but Grizel and Deus have prepared for the precautions.
Besides flying and floating, Security Orbs have invisible mode, barrier, and teleportation magic embedded into them, this high-tech magic device can be considered a national-level treasure, all of those features indicate the importance of this device, and the records of the visual moving image (or video) can be served as evidence to punish the evildoers in case the crimes had happened and the Knights were late.
This will be the first step of Azure to blatantly fight back the seed of destruction planted by the Westerners.
-â¢-
"How is the public opinion towards the Imperial Family?"
Grizel asked her shadow, it's been a week since the release of the Security Orbs to the public.
"The crime rates decrease rapidly and the Imperial Family is being praised by the people, My Lord"
Lucy reported the current situation of the continent, the feeling of being protected whenever the Security Orbs are patrolling around makes people feel relaxed, the crime rates decrease while the happiness of the people increases significantly.
Everything goes according to her plan.
"As the Crown Princess, I was praised to be a part of the Imperial Family, but..."
"As the Lord of Tartarus, this is what I really want"
Grizel took a glance at her surrounding, there are a thousand screens in this dark room that show various places all over the continent.
Unlike the one installed in the Palace to watch over the people, this place is the real control room for the Security Orbs.
For the empire, this device is to protect their people but that is not the only purpose of the creation behind the revolutionary magic tools.
In the hands of this girl, she can use this device to support her shady doings like watching her enemies, collect the evidence of the corrupted nobles and priests to get rid of them, or spying on the activities of the traitors and rebels to monitor them, if the Fortuna pendants are the ears...
These Security Orbs are the eyes of Tartarus.
"Lucy, the preparation for the next plan is finished..."
Now the Empire has the security orbs and the heart of the people, it's time to take advantage of this favorable situation to carry out the next plan.
"Send instigators to every town and village to fuel the flame of hatred towards the Rebellion and the Cronus Temple when the time comes"
"I heed your command, My Lord"
Lucy excused herself to execute the order of her Lord, leaving Grizel alone in the darkroom surrounded by the screen showing the situation of the various places in real-time for Grizel to monitor the movement of her enemies.
'It's time to crush both the Temple and Judas'
To be continued...
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