The Release That Witch
Chapters 18's

The banquet continues.

The dinner was quite harmonious. The 4th prince did not speak about the ore trade because he felt uncomfortable to say anything.

When the prince told the waiter to deliver dessert, Petrov hesitantly mentioned his trade.

"Your Majesty, according to the previous procedure, today should be the day you deliver the ore, but I don't see the ore in the terminal courtyard."

Roland put down his small wooden stick and nodded, "Unfortunately, the northern slope mine collapsed a while ago, this month my people can only try to continue production. However, the gravel from the collapse has not been cleaned. As per schedule , we will be able to start mining again at the beginning of next year. "

Collapsed pole? For a moment, Petrov was stunned, was that a coincidence? However, he soon realized that the prince did not need to lie. Otherwise, if he himself went to the North Slope Mine, everything would be clear, so it was clear that with a lie Roland would only hit his own face.

" Then ... what happened to the ore before it collapsed? "

" It's not much, the amount that is mined according to convention, my people can't mine more than the amount set by convention ." Roland emphasized the words in a trained manner, "Master Ambassador, you should also remember what happened during Demon Month two years ago, right?"

Of course Petrov recalled, the cold lasted for four months and in Border Town nearly one in two people starved to death. The cause was the insatiable greed and greed of Administrative Governor Reynolds. Among the aristocracy there was naturally internal opposition, some nobles even wanted to punish the governor of Reynold afterwards. But at the end of this incident nothing happened, just because he was the husband of the Duke's second daughter.

Well, when this was mentioned by the prince, Petrov got a bad premonition.

"This time will get worse," Roland sighed, "with what we could mine earlier, it might only be enough for two months of food. I will try to support my people, but I fear they will not survive the winter, Sir. The old ways of trading must be abolished! "

Petrov opened his mouth, but he did not know how to refute it. He is not a professional diplomat. Facing such a good reason, he really could not point out any problems, so he could only delay the matter for a while, "Your Majesty, I must express my regret. This time will not be a repeat of the previous tragedy, I was able to lend you food for a month, and when your people can resume production next year, they can slowly pay off the debt. "

"I've sold the ore to Willow Town, we can pay you slowly with their money."

"But…"

"There was no 'but', however," Roland immediately interrupted, "they were willing to buy ore with the gold royals, and at the same time they sold wheat, cheese, bread, etc, honey and others at market prices .. which we can buy with the nobles we got from the previous transaction. But, Mr Ambassador, even though you are willing to lend us food a month, will the other five factions agree to your decision? As far as I know, it wasn't even easy for Duke Ryan to reach an agreement with another family. "

Petrov remained silent, the 4th prince had fixed it. Not only were the five left, he was even afraid that his own father would not agree. If they want to maintain a monopoly, then the trading scheme needs to be changed, but he does not know how he can get the final decision. He was called an ambassador, but in reality, he was only a spokesperson. Maybe the Duke doesn't want someone to make a personal agreement with Border Town, right? Whether it was in the former governor's time or now with the 4th prince, he established different candidates every season, and these people were never the rulers of their families.

Regardless of the outcome, he had to try, so when he thought up to this point, Petrov spread his final card. "Thirty." he raised three fingers, "Stronghold Tongs will buy iron ore and rough gems at less than thirty percent of the market price. I think this price should be higher than the price of Willow City, Your Majesty."

Roland replied, "Indeed higher, but there's still an old question, can you guarantee the family's 6th deal?"

"But my people can't wait that long. You should know, that if you want to reach an agreement between nobles, it's usually very time-consuming."

"Your Majesty, the cooperation with Longsong Stronghold will be a better choice for you and your people. Willow Town is not too far away, so you and your people can also escape to them during the Demon Moon," when speaking. Until recently Petrov felt his throat become dry, "but the path is not easy .. quite dangerous."

Oh my God, what am I doing? Petrov's heart was pounding, did he really threaten the prince?

"Haha!" to his surprise, Roland was not angry, but instead laughed, "Master Ambassador, you seem to have mistakenly thought, I never thought of retreating to Willow Town."

"What do you mean…"

"Of course, I also have no intention of going to Longsong Fortress." Roland watched the ambassador's expression with great interest, "I'm not going anywhere."

Petrov momentarily doubted whether his ears were right or wrong.

Fortunately, the prince did not allow this awkward silence to last long, and he then explained, "This winter, I will always stay in Border Town. Border Town will be our kingdom's new frontier. Don't be too surprised, my goodness, I'm not spouting nonsense, I can show you a new masonry wall on the North Mountain Slope. "

"City wall?"

"Yes, connecting the North Slope Mountain and the Chinshui River is a twelve foot high and four foot wide stone wall. With this, we can defeat the demonic beasts in Border Town."

Petrov felt his brain power was not enough, when the former ambassador returned last season, he did not mention the city walls. No, at that time the ruler of Border Town and the people were in Longsong Fortress, how could they build a wall with the limited manpower they had? In other words, when the 4th prince arrived, he immediately started building the city wall? Even so, until now it had only been three months, so how could they build something in this short amount of time?

Also ... What did His Majesty just say? Twelve feet high and four feet wide, connecting North Slope Mountain and the Redwater River? Petrov predicted this in his heart, building a wall of this size is not something that is possible in less than 3 to 5 years, and first of all he didn't even have enough masons to cut and grind so many stones! Moreover, Border Town was only a mining town, most of the people living here were just ordinary people.

When he had not even digested this news, Roland's next sentence also shocked him.

"If for the sale of ore, starting next year, I am willing to drop by half, sir, but we will not only sell to Longsong Fortress, because you do not need that much ore too much. I think compared to the low ore gain, you will prefer some other metal products, such as shovels, shovels, and the like. " Here again he paused, waiting until Petrov seemed to understand the meaning of his words, "While for a rough gem, we will sell it in the form of an auction, the businessman with the highest bidding will be able to buy it. I would prefer to polish the stone myself, but unfortunately in Border Town at the moment there is no one with such ability. "

But you said you have the ability to build walls in these few months! Petrov's heart was about to explode with rage, and what did he mean, Longsong Fortress doesn't need so much ore? It was only the output of a thousand gold royals, even if its production would be increased, Longsong Fortress could double it! Two thousand gold royals could not be handled by Longsong Stronghold? That's a little too arrogant!

He forced back the grievances of his heart, and tried to maintain a calm look, "Everything you say I remember, Your Majesty. I'll be back soon and negotiating with six families. But, the city wall you mentioned earlier .. . I first wanted to look around. "

"Of course," Roland smiled, "but don't be too hasty, let's enjoy and finish these king-flavored cakes. After that, it won't be too late to start, won't it be Mr Ambassador?"