Merchant?

"Who do I think I am? An idiot?"

The people in front of me think that I am willing to sell them our iron for their food. Not only that, but they also demand one kilo worth of bread traded with one kilo worth of iron!

Only an idiot or a truly desperate person wants to trade with that kind of deal! One kilo of iron is worth more than one kilo worth of bread, dammit! One kilo of iron can give me a hundred or maybe a few hundred worths of bread!

And I can see Lucina agrees with me.

"I must agree with my husband on this. Do you guys think we are an idiot?"

Tuama and his guard begin to twitch after hearing what we are saying. Tuama's smile is gone, replaced with a scowl of hatred before looking at me and doing a 'Young Master' kind of sneer.

"Hmph. Look like a barbarian like you cannot appreciate our generous offering. Iva, Matz, we are leaving. Look like the rumor that saying the Lionheart family is different from any barbarian from the Northern Region is false."

Hearing what the bastard is saying, I quickly stop Lucina from chopping the head of the so-called merchant and his guard. The servant that just walked inside the room also gave them a stink eye. Lastly, I shake my head at the soldier near the door when I see them grab their sword and ready to use it. I don't want the people from the Holy Light Empire to declare war on us.

Usually, if they want to declare war on us, the Holy Light Empire must march through the southern region. Still, I know that the people in the South will let the Holy Light Empire army walk through their territory without a fight, and maybe some of them are happy letting the Empire army march through.

The man sneer once again before leaving the room with his guard.

I take a deep breath before looking at the servant and say.

"Please be a dear and tell Richard that I want to meet him in the meeting room?"

"Of course, my lord!"

I sigh once again and rub my nose as I know that this will become a headache. I know that Tuama will report this meeting to his lord, and I don't know what his lord will say about this. I hope that this lord did not do something stupid.

It is known that human stupidity is infinite, after all.

"Isaac, are you okay?"

I smile at Lucina and say.

"Yes. I'm just thinking about what that bastard will write to his lord and how his lord will respond to our 'disrespect' toward his representative."

"He cannot be that stupid, right? He needs to walk through the southern region if he wants to declare war against us."

"Don't underestimate human stupidity."

After I said that, Richard walked inside the meeting room, bowed to me, and said.

"You called me, Lord Isaac?"

"Yes, Richard. Please sit down."

When I see him sit down near me, I pass him the scroll Tuama gave to me. The longer he read it, the bigger his frown appeared on his face.

"My Lord… What is this?"

"The people that just came here not too long ago offered me a trade deal. That is their so-called deal."

"What?"

"Yup! They thought that we are an idiot people or desperate enough to accept their so-called offer."

"I see. What do you want me to do? Dispose of them?"

"No. Nothing that extreme. I don't want the Holy Light Empire to hold a grudge against us. However, please send someone to tail them. I want your best men to follow them. I want to know all their movement as long as they are in the north."

"Of course, My Lord."

"Ah! Before you go, I also want you to tell Leonardo to increase the patrol."

"Huh? Increase the patrol?"

"Yes. This is the time for a monster that hibernates to wake up. After waking up from their hibernation, they are…"

"Hungry"

"Exactly. I don't want the monster to wreak havoc around my land."

"I will inform sir Leonardo immediately. Should I ask Lord Byron to increase his patrol as well?"

"Yes. Ask him to do that and also ask him for confirmation about the Greenhouse."

"Of course. Excuse me, my Lord."

With that being said, Lucina, Richard, and I walk away from the meeting room. Richard walks away from the castle to meet with Leonardo while Lucina and I walk to the garden where I know my mother and sister playing in the garden.

As I arrive in the garden, I'm greeted by a missile named Ginerva, and that said missile hit me right in the stomach.

"Brother!"

I smile a little before picking her up and saying.

"Hello there, Ginerva. What are you doing?"

"Flower! I'm learning how to make a flower crown with mother!"

"Really? Will you create a flower crown for me?"

"En! Come!"

I put her down and let her drag me toward the nearby flower bed. Lucina follows us from behind while smiling at the Ginerva attic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dammit! What a barbarian! Didn't they know that what I'm doing is for their own good?!?

It has been a month since I arrived in the northern region, and not a single one of the lords is willing to sell their iron to us!

However, even after I change the offer, they still look at me as if I'm an idiot.

"Lord Tuama"

I snap from my thoughts when I see one of my guards call my name.

"What?"

"What should we do now? Should we go back to the empire?"

".... Yes. We should leave this place. I hate to admit it, but this region is the most dangerous place on the continent. Especially this time of year where many monsters wake up from the hibernation and start to hunt for food."

I really don't want to admit it, but the northern region is the harshest place to live. While they don't have much food to eat, their massive Iron reserves around the area let them trade it to the other continent.

This is the reason why we come here. I offer them the food they need to survive, but they did not accept it! Right now, we are in the Sea Dragon City, the biggest city in the northern region. I already sent one of the spies I brought to investigate why the lord of Sea Dragon Point rejected my offer.

Just as I walk inside the inn where I stay, I see my spy sitting down on the chair, messaging his swollen eyes. I sit down near him and say.

"What happened?"

"Where do I begin?"

"From the beginning."

"Very well. I follow your order and begin snooping around for rumors and information. The first place I go is to the tavern and hear many people praising Isaac Lionheart to create something called fertilizer. This item let the plant grow quicker and healthier. The harvest the peasant yields doubled up. There is also some rumor that Isaac Lionheart has something that lets him plant some vegetables even in the winter. However, when I ask them what it is, they begin to punch me in the face saying that I'm a spy. The only reason the city guard did not arrest me is that most of them were patrolling the area and fighting the monster."

That is interesting information. That means our information about the northern region is outdated. They can keep growing a vegetable and keep feeding their livestock using the leftover vegetables.

I guess I can see why they did not accept my kind offer earlier. They don't need more food to feed all their peasants. They already have enough food! Dammit! This means all Lord Conaill faces difficulty in continuing his main plan.

I know that lord Conaill wants to equip all his soldiers with steel as he wants to support the second prince of the Holy Light Empire and then make the Second Prince his puppet. Lord Conaill knew that there would be a Succession War if the Emperor did not choose his heir for the throne before he died, and many people wanted the Emperor to die before he could choose his heir.

Lord Conaill knew that the Emperor would die before he could choose the heir to the throne as many conspirators wanted him to die and make the Emperor's son a puppet. How does Lord Conaill know about this? Well, he is one of the conspirators, after all.

This is why he wants to buy a lot of iron from the northern region. He wanted to equip all his soldiers with the best armor and weapon to show the rest of the noble the Conaill house prowess and make the second's prince look powerful as the Conaill family backed him.

However, with the northern region not wanting to trade their iron with bread, then they need to trade their gold for the northern iron. Meaning that lord Conaill can only buy a little iron instead of buying them in bulk like he was planning.

"Come on. We need to leave and report this to Lord Conaill. Lord Conaill's plan of buying the iron from the northern region to equip all his army failed."

As they are going back to their carriage, they do not think that the inn owner near them is one of Richard's spies.