C100- Meeting (2)

"Our kingdom is a young one. The previous rulers of the land were incompetent, and after the civil war, our economy has been unable to grow and heal properly. That's why we are here to negotiate investments.", said Nehdean.

"Of course, Your Majesty. We are here for that. But I must ask, what conditions are you offering to us?", asked Noah.

"There are four different projects we would like to discuss. We wanted to negotiate separately for all of them, since the projects are each under a different noble family of the kingdom. And then a project of your own in the territories of the Buthaldi family."

"I see. May I see what the projects are, Your Majesty?"

Nehdean reached his hands to the maid in the room. The maid gave the papers to him and stepped back. Nehdean handed the papers to Noah, who started reading them along with Clair and Corvin who were reading them from the sides.

The four projects were all listed on the papers.

Machinery for glass production in the east, the stone mines in the south, the farmers in the north and a copper mine in the north-east.

After reading everything, Noah and Nehdean started to discuss the terms and eventually reached an agreement on all the projects. The ownership of the glass factory and stone mines were shared. The copper mine was going to buy machinery and lastly the farmers.

"I would like to talk about the farmers, Your Highness.", said Noah.

"What is it?"

"There isn't much we can do to help farmers, currently. We only have ongoing projects that will hopefully bear fruit in the near future. All we can do right now is to help process the harvest faster and better."

Nehdean nodded and turned towards one of the nobles with him. The man, who seemed to be the oldest among the nobles in his thirties, nodded and said it wasn't a problem for him.

"Then, can we expect more help to our farmers in the north in the future? Our lands aren't all fertile as you know."

"Certainly, Your Majesty. Now that we have talked about your projects, I want to suggest a new one of our own."

"Hm?"

"The City of Jarant is located in the capitol's land, right?"

"Yes. It is to the south of Shabagh."

"You see, Your Majesty. We currently have a project to develop ways to transport people faster than a normal carriage. Currently, it takes a lot of time to get to places and for commoners it is also expensive. The fastest way to travel is using a carriage with a mage who can make the horses stronger with magic. But, it still uses horses at the end of the day, living beings with limits. It takes a lot of time to move heavy stuff and it gets expensive really fast, especially if you are hiring a mage. 

We are developing something that can move about four to five times faster than a carriage. And, also another vehicle that can carry many carriages filled to the brim with goods while going as fast as a carriage."

"Interesting. What is your proposal then?"

"Now, the thing is, I want to start using these vehicles in trade. But, these vehicles need proper roads that are stable, since they are going so fast. The average bumpy roads we use for carriages will be too uncomfortable at that speed. That's why, I also think it is a waste to use those roads for only trade. I want our people to be able to visit the different places in the Empire and even beyond. Not to stay there, but just to visit for a couple of days."

"I see. That certainly would become a new sector with those vehicles. I like the idea, it may bring our people closer as well. Let's build a road from Shabagh to the Empire."

"About that, Your Majesty, I would like to ask about something. There is a material we chose to make the roads out of. It is a material that is traditionally used in Piscea to make durable roads, but the thing is, after the recent catastrophe, there are no one left who lives in the area it is harvested anymore. We searched for it in the Empire, but it appears in areas that lack dirt, which the Empire doesn't have much."

"Are you talking about asphalt?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Hm... Certainly, there is actually at least two sources of it in my kingdom."

"Then, if possible, we would like to buy it."

"Sure. We don't have much use for it here, it would be great to find a use for it."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I also thank you all for coming here to my kingdom. I used to think I grew up fast because of the civil war, but after meeting with you all, I feel like my achievements weren't all that extraordinary after all. I hope you become role models for our youth as well.", said Nehdean with a genuine smile.

"You are exaggerating, Your Majesty. I can't imagine myself ordering an army at my age like Your Majesty did, but I am honored to hear it."

"Well then, let's end the meeting shall we? Oh, before we separate, if you want, I can send a servant to guide you all to the ancient city to take a look."

"Actually that would be great, Your Majesty. Thank you.", said Noah.

After the meeting, Nehdean offered four guest rooms for them to stay in the Euyn Palace, but since they had already reserved rooms at an inn, they kindly refused his offer.

"That was so stressful... I felt like I was out of place.", said Amy while they were walking back to the inn.

"You may not own a part of the company, but you are still our friend, Amy. You weren't out of place."

"Well, I guess it's been a while since I had to attend a noble meeting."

After a bit of chatting, they went silent as they continued to walk. The sun was sinking below the horizon. Noah and Clair were walking hand in hand a little bit away from Corvin and Amy, in their own world. It was silent between Amy and Corvin when suddenly, Corvin spoke.

"By the way, Amy."

"Hm?"

"Um... Thank you."

"For what?"

"For what you told me before the meeting..."

Amy brightly smiled and said.

"Don't worry about it. You can rely on me about anything."

The mature and reliable smile on her beautiful face was too much for Corvin. He averted his eyes and tried to calm down the both painful and sweet aches in his heart. The sweet feeling was expected when a girl like Amy smiled at him, but he wasn't ready to find out why he was also feeling a pain in his chest. He was scared of something. He was scared of finding the truth of the pain in his heart.