Steel Empire
Selling Armor to the Byzantines

While the Berengar army was guarding the situation at the border, Berengar himself was able to fully enjoy the peaceful nature produced by the stability of his land. Although some of the other Tyrol Sovereigns he had conquered in his conquests were especially disappointed by the many reforms he had forced upon them, due to the careful placement of his troops in every central region, he was disappointed by the many reforms he had imposed on them, they only had a little strength to rebel against him. Most of them, of course, were wise enough not to take such action while the Bavarians destroyed the rest of Austria. Berengar may have been a Tyrant who stripped them of some of their feudal power, but he provided a region that was stable and economically efficient in times of chaos and destruction. Thus, the benefits they obtained from Berengar'

In fact, with Berengar's military reforms, creating a centralized army under his command, each of the Sovereigns of his territory was exempted from the cost of training and equipment of those forces. Although the soldiers guarding their city were fanatically loyal to Berengar, they did not cause any problems for the authority of his subordinates, other than reminding them to follow the laws Berengar had set. The complex Imperial Style bureaucracies Berengar had implemented throughout Tyrol had greatly reduced the amount of time these Lords needed to work in governing their territory, it allows them to maintain a luxurious lifestyle filled with far more free time than ever before. The young nobles highly valued Berengar's political reforms, as they had far less work to do and could enjoy themselves with their vast wealth. 

The critical positions of nobles, such as Viscount and Baron were filled mainly by the Berengar generation; after all, the, most of their parents had taken part in the Lothair rebellion and ended up with the same fate as the final Count. At first, many of them hated Berengar greatly and blamed him for the result. However, Berengar was cunning, and he flaunted the wealth generated from the industrial districts in the cities of Kufstein and Innsbruck to lure these young nobles to his destination. If they proved their loyalty and put aside their foolish beliefs, they could also gain approval for the industrial district in their territory. In the end whether Berengar was to blame for their parents' mistakes or not. 

Peace reigned over Tyrol while most of the German-speaking territories bled in constant conflict; because of this, Berengar's trade flourished internally and with its trading partners in Italy and the Byzantine Empire. At this time, Berengar held a feast for Arethas, who brought him good news from the Empire in the East. It had been several months since the last time he saw his most significant trading partner. As far as Berengar was aware, the man was in the process of convincing the Empire to outsource some of their equipment to the Berengar factories. Finally, Strategos of Ionia had brought the news that Berengar wanted to hear.

"The emperor has finally agreed to my request; we expect one-third of our army equipment to be produced here in Kufstein; I assume your facility can handle such a large demand?"

Berengar chuckled while drinking the cup of his skull before answering the man's question.

"of course! That won't be a problem."

Arethas was happy to hear such a thing as he roasted his wine chalice for Berengar and their upcoming business venture.

"For our good luck together! May this be a long and fruitful relationship!"

Berengar lifted his cup into the toast before drinking it once more. The fact that Berengar was now drinking from a beautiful skull cup and had blindfolds did not go unnoticed by the Byzantine nobility who awkwardly raised the matter.

"So... Inevitably I pay attention to the skull cup and the blindfold. Is there something I should know?"

Berengar quickly put down his knife and fork when he heard those words; his expression became firm as he closely watched the skull of his younger brother, who had turned into a luxurious drinking cup. Finally, an evil smile spread across his face as he told the man the truth about the matter.

“Someone close to me attempted to harm me; after they made many attempts in my life and were exiled from my territory, they returned with an army to seize my position. During the battle, that person took a look from my right eye. For that I killed them and took their skull as a trophy; I've decided to turn it into a drinking cup so that I always remember that even the closest members of your friends and family can betray you, and the price to pay to be compassionate..."

Berengar's cold words permeated the air and were quickly followed by silence; Linde was the only person who knew who Berengar meant; Henrietta was deeply unaware that the skull cup that Berengar always drank belonged to his other brothers. Of course, he was not informed of Lambert's death or his treasonous actions. Therefore, he considered it someone else. As for Arethas, he was deeply troubled that the chalice was a human skull that was actually dipped in gold and not a monstrous work of art. Such savagery was unacceptable in the Empire in the East, yet the Count of Tyrol looked at the skull cup with pride; such a thing was completely unthinkable to civilized people. Despite his inner protest, Arethas knew that his business relationship with Tyrol was worth more than his internal disgust;

"So so..."

With that said, Berengar switched the conversation to business and started asking for order details.

Seeing that the topic had shifted away from its previous grim nature, Arethas quickly answered Berengar's question.

"I'm sure you call it mirror-pattern armor. As long as you can make those intricate pieces, we can handle the rest of the production, like the letter armor that is underneath."

This was a fairly simple request, and Berengar would gladly fulfill it; the letter took longer to produce and was hardly comparable to his industrial efforts; therefore, it was, he was happy with such news. Because of this, Berengar quickly overcame the next problem.

"Do you need us to make Helmets or weapons?"

Arethas shook his head before answering.

"Unfortunately, I can only get approval for the production of her mirror-patterned chest armor and pauldron. Therefore, it is the only equipment we need from you."

Berengar nodded in agreement; it was much easier to shift the production line to one piece of equipment, and as such, he was more than happy to produce it, after all, it was an expensive armor to produce, and therefore, he was more than happy to produce it, and doing so in large numbers would allow him a huge profit. Therefore, he answered Arethas' request in agreement.

"Well for me, the price is negotiable, but such a complicated piece would require a significant production line to set; thus, my initial offer was 15 Hyperpyrons per piece."

The Hyperpyron was a gold coin used by the Byzantine Empire during the last days of Berengar's life in the past. In that timeline, it was gradually denigrated to the point of worthlessness; however, in this timeline, the Byzantine Empire was still powerful, wealthy, and largely stable. Thus, the currency retains its value of about 20.5 carats or 4.1 grams of gold. It was by no means a small amount, but then again, Berengar's armor would be of much better quality than the iron products currently used by the Byzantines.

Arethas's face twitched as he heard such a large number, fortunately Berengar started his statement with such a "negotiable price" sentence, saying, he started bidding with the young Count sitting in front of him as he ate at his schnitzel.

"ten Hyperpyrons!"

Berengar shook his head as he offered a reply 

"fourteen"

the two nobles bid on small details until finally, the price of 12 Hyperpyrons per set of armor consisting of chest armor and a pauldron. Berengar was satisfied with the result, but Arethas clenched his teeth; this would cost the Empire a significant amount, but it would be worth the price, and therefore, he finally accepted the result. After the two men finished their negotiations regarding the cost of equipment, they shared the food and continued to enjoy the peace bestowed to the Tyrol region. Now that Arethas was acting as an importer of Berengar's equipment in the Byzantine Empire, he gained some level of profit. The two nobles from very different regions of the world were now intertwined in the arms trade, and textiles, which acted as a huge source of income for both sides.

After the business negotiations were over, the two sides enjoyed the leftovers, engaging in casual conversations about what the two had been up to over the past few months since the last time they met. Clearly, Berengar made sure to stay away from the topic of his battle with the Teutonic Order, as his savagery in the event seemed to cause great inconvenience to the Nobles of the East, once again Berengar was a German, who was a German, the barbarian descendants who sacked Rome and destroyed its Empire. The idea that a Roman from the East and a highly nationalist German proud of the achievements of his ancestors could form such friendly relations entertained Berengar. Nonetheless, Berengar was aware that such a relationship was crucial to his plan.