There is no concept of full plate armor in the snowfields.
Iron is scarce to begin with, metallurgy has not advanced enough to produce full suits of armor, and wearing such armor over thick cold-weather clothing would severely restrict movement.
On top of that, with metallurgy inferior to the empire's and the snowfields' extreme cold, metal that touches bare skin can freeze to it, making it difficult to remove.
Leather armor might exist, but metal armor is something that could hardly arise at all in such an environment.
And yet, in this snowfield, there were said to be "outsiders clad in white iron."
"Where are these outsiders now?"
"They're waiting for your response at a short distance. We thought it inappropriate to let unidentified individuals inside right away…"
"They're people I know. Bring them here immediately. I'll personally vouch for their identities."
"Yes, sir!"
At Lucian's firm tone, Ainar hurried off.
Even among full suits of armor, pure white plate was a rare sight.
And as far as Lucian knew, there was only one group that would outfit not just one, but several people in such white armor.
A short while later, just as expected, the figures came rushing in and dropped to one knee before Lucian.
"Jinobi Clover of the Blue Rose Knights greets His Grace the Duke!"
"Moritz of the same order greets His Grace the Duke!"
"I as well—!"
Lucian nodded at the greeting of the Blue Rose Knights.
The armor every one of them wore was unmistakably the northern royal heirloom he himself had handed over before departing for the snowfields.
Lucian personally helped each kneeling knight to their feet as he spoke.
"Welcome. I'd like to say it's good to see you after so long, but it seems a scolding must come first."
"Our apologies."
The Blue Rose Knights flushed red in unison.
This had been the journey Lucian set out on after promising to return, and the armor he entrusted to them along with the duty of guarding Asagrim.
Yet the moment the cold subsided, they had donned that very armor and rushed after him in haste.
From one perspective, it amounted to doubting Lucian—and using a treasure loaned to them without permission.
"Well, never mind. I was gone without word for a long time, so you must've wondered whether I was dead or alive. I'm not entirely without fault either, so let's let it pass."
"Thank you for Your Highness's ocean-like mercy!"
"Still, how did you make it all the way here? The cold only stopped five days ago at most. Don't tell me you were waiting the whole time in Raugrad?"
"To be precise, parts of the order took turns standing by. The moment we received word five days ago that the cold had ceased, we immediately spurred our horses."
The road from Raugrad to the Blue Dragon Tribe was neither especially long nor particularly treacherous.
The reason it had taken as long as fifteen days before was the insane cold.
Make even a small mistake in managing one's stamina, and you'd freeze to death—so frequent rest was unavoidable for safety.
But that cold had recently been completely eradicated by Lucian.
If they had ridden hard along the flat road without worrying about exhaustion, they could have arrived in not just five days, but three at most.
Putting the pieces together, Lucian frowned.
"That was reckless. Did you have any idea what lay beyond the road, charging in here with no preparation like that?"
Lucian himself had been guided by Helen, so he had been confident of his safety from the start.
But the Blue Rose Knights had ridden headlong into a completely unknown world—without so much as a guide.
If there had been natural traps like cliff faces hidden beneath the snowdrifts, they could have been wiped out entirely.
"Claiming you were certain the path was safe just because I went ahead first is no excuse. Unlike me, who had a guide, you had no idea how to respond if something unexpected happened."
"Your Highness is right a hundred times over. Even with ten mouths, we would have nothing to say in our defense. However, there was news we absolutely had to deliver, even at the cost of our honor and at great risk."
"What do you mean?"
"The acting lord of Asagrim has been placed in a difficult situation."
Lucian's expression hardened.
He hadn't had high expectations of Hans, but he'd thought that for at least half a year, things would remain quiet out of deference to Lucian.
Yet not much time had passed since his departure, and already trouble had erupted.
"What exactly happened?"
At Lucian's question, the knight bowed his head with an embarrassed look and answered.
"The merchants have formed a cartel and are forcing the acting lord to make a choice."
No domain can be completely self-sufficient in all materials.
Whether luxury goods or necessities, trade with other territories is indispensable.
And the ones who connect those trade networks are the merchants.
In a sense, they are indispensable to the management of a domain—but that doesn't mean lords ever favored them.
Why would you curry favor with people who do business purely for their own gain?
This wasn't mere contempt, but a statement close to the truth.
In the end, the ones who profit most from trade are the merchants, and when profits dwindle, they're just as quick to shut up shop—regardless of a lord's circumstances.
Indispensable or not, there was no reason to be grateful to people who cared only about their own profit.
If anything, to merchants, the lord was an absolute overlord who could impose one-sided demands at will.
"Our domain's finances aren't great, so we'll be collecting a bit more in tariffs than usual. You don't have a problem with that, do you?"
"How can this be!? Do you know how much I've offered Your Excellency all this time!?"
"I know you still make a profit. If you don't like it, then shut down your business and leave."
From the merchant's point of view, it was infuriatingly unfair—but there was little he could do.
Setting aside the difference in status, the moment he lost his trading rights, the losses would be catastrophic.
The instant he was barred from doing business in the domain, he would lose anything from a minor hub to major trade partners altogether.
And like jackals, rival merchants were always lurking nearby, ready to snatch up any vacated privileges.
Even if it's filthy and unfair, I have no choice but to obey the lord. If I oppose him, all my trading rights will be handed over to my competitors.
Even after the age of turmoil arrived, the merchants' situation didn't improve.
No—it grew several times worse than in times of peace.
This was a world where lords themselves could lose their lands or be beheaded at the slightest misstep.
If a merchant happened to be loitering around with urgently needed goods when the lord had no room to think ahead,
he'd often have his head taken in the blink of an eye and all the merchandise he'd brought seized.
And now, with the signs of chaos once again emerging, the merchants not only attempted collusion but even went so far as to threaten the acting lord?
"Explain in detail. What exactly did the merchants do?"
"They raised the prices of goods essential to the domain's people to several times their normal level, and on top of that, they're demanding exclusive trading rights for certain items."
"And the acting lord? Did he accept those demands?"
"He hasn't accepted them, but he's unable to act either way. The merchants are taking a hard line, saying there will be no trade at all if their proposal isn't accepted."
"Ah."
Lucian tapped his head sharply.
Only now did he grasp what the merchants were really after.
So they realized Hans's lack of experience and deliberately engineered an extreme situation.
If the lord himself had been governing the domain, this attempt wouldn't even have gotten off the ground.
All the lord would have to do is grit his teeth and endure a few months of losses, and the merchants would be the ones worrying about their lives.
The problem was that Hans's position was only that of acting lord.
"There's a world of difference between me personally absorbing the losses and Hans making a decision that costs me."
A trusted aide, out of loyalty to that trust, cannot bring himself to make decisions that harm his lord.
Hans likely knew, at least in broad strokes, how to deal with merchants who behaved like this.
But because the losses from such a response would fall not on Hans, but on Lucian, he was unable to act decisively.
The merchants had precisely targeted this fundamental limitation of an "acting lord."
Sharp, I'll give them that… but the more I think about it, the stranger it seems. Do these bastards not plan on staying in business?
He could acknowledge their skill in identifying Asagrim's weakness and striking it accurately.
If Hans accepted the terms, Lucian—having granted him full authority—would be forced to acknowledge the decision.
But that wouldn't erase the resentment it would create.
Even if they reaped a great profit once, when an enraged Lucian eventually began to swing the sword, it would turn into a bloodbath.
"Who's the ringleader? The merchants didn't all suddenly go mad at once. There has to be someone driving this situation."
There's a vast difference between what can be done and actually doing it.
No matter how great the profit, merchants in their right minds would never dare such blatant extortion.
The fact that they went through with it meant there was surely someone pushing them from behind, assuring them he'd take responsibility.
"Even a guess will do. Who's acting as their representative?"
"The Dominic Trading Company. They say they're all equals, but whenever something big happens, they're always the first to step forward."
"Dominic? You don't mean the Dominic Trading Company run by Dominic of Steel, do you?"
"Yes."
"Ha."
So that lunatic after all—it was that Dominic.
The seven-forked tongue, the man cursed with every breath he drew, the target of every assassin.
That piece of trash who had earned infamy across the entire continent in his past life—was he wriggling again, unable to abandon his old habits?
No… if anything, this works out well. If the opponent is Dominic, I won't have to hold back.
The corner of Lucian's mouth curled upward.
If the other side wasn't thinking about consequences, then neither did Lucian need to.
Naturally, the way to respond was simple.
"I've got a rough grasp of how things stand. But I still have matters to attend to here, so I can't return immediately. Instead, deliver my message to the acting lord."
"Please, tell us."
"Tell him to accept the merchants' proposal—but until I return, conduct all trade on credit. As for exclusive trading rights, give all of them to the Dominic Trading Company."
"…What?"
At Lucian's order, the knights turned pale in shock.
After finally gaining the ability to issue direct instructions, he was telling them to accept the merchants' demands?
And worse—he was handing the exclusive trading rights, a card that could split the merchants apart, entirely to a single company?
"Y-Your Highness. We don't know what plan you have in mind, but this is far too dangerous."
"Dangerous? In what way?"
"The matter is too serious. Even if they're merely merchants, for Your Highness to personally declare something of this magnitude—"
The knight trailed off, but the implication was easy enough to grasp.
This wasn't something that would end with a momentary whim—it was a matter involving astronomical profits swinging back and forth.
No matter how absolute a lord's authority over merchants might be, a contract of this magnitude couldn't be overturned lightly.
The moment it was broken, the lord's name and credibility would be smashed into the ground.
The merchant whose contract was voided would be ruined—but the lord, too, would spend the rest of his life picking up the fragments of his shattered reputation.
Yet Lucian brushed aside the knight's concern with a short reply.
"Don't worry. I have no intention whatsoever of breaking my promise to them."
"Then you mean to say you'll accept all of their demands!?"
"No."
Facing the astonished knight, Lucian gave a thin smile.
"Before I make a move, the Dominic Trading Company will break the contract first."
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