People in Terra, governing a bizarre little country

That's the kind of person you can't afford to offend. You can't do anything about being called a fence-sitter, because that's part of the truth.

But the Duke of Godottin's ideal of bringing "free trade" from Victoria to all of Terra never disappeared. In fact, by sheer coincidence, this long-stalled dream was realized at the World's Fair!

In just the first week of the World's Fair, Duke Godotin's delegation secured six orders in Kjerag, selling products from the Duchy of Godotin to Longmen of Yan Kingdom, the District of Columbia, the Electorate of Letania, and Trilintelme, among others. And now, the Iberians have come knocking again, not just asking for trade, but outright demanding investment!

Investing? Investing is great! Investing means I provide the money, you provide the labor, and I take the lion's share of the profits, you take a smaller portion. Your factory will still be mine!

What? Something seems off?

No, no, no, that must be your misconception. In the eyes of Victorians, this is exactly how investing works!

Therefore, the Duke of Gaudolin's envoy was beaming with enthusiasm, hoping the Iberian before him would be more cooperative and introduce him to some unique investment projects. Ideally, these would involve national defense secrets or policy-making, so that he could not only make a large profit from this deal but also potentially gain additional value, allowing Duke Gaudolin's influence to penetrate the mysterious Iberian lands faster than the other three grand dukes, and acquire a valuable settlement there!

But his expectation and smile quickly faded.

Because the Grand Inquisitor before him simply stared blankly at him, offering neither an answer nor a question about the investment options proposed by Duke Godotin's envoy. He merely stared vacantly at the envoy, seemingly engaged in some intense internal struggle. Finally, when even the envoy hesitated about whether to spend some money to provide this strange man with a session of psychoanalysis—a treatment that even Prime Minister Sherag had praised—Dario finally spoke:

"None of these things..."

"What you are investing in is the country of Iberia, and your security."

"What do you mean?" Duke Godotin's envoy was taken aback and asked, somewhat puzzled.

Now that he had spoken, Dario no longer hesitated. He took a deep breath and explained concisely:

"The territory of Duke Godotin is also located on the edge of the Krasde Inland Sea. I think your side should have some understanding of the disasters that Iberia once suffered."

The calamity that Iberia once suffered naturally refers to the Great Serenity. In Terra, natural disasters are frequent, but those that can directly destroy a country are almost nonexistent. The reason this description is preceded by the Great Serenity is because of this example.

People viewed the Great Tranquility as part of a natural disaster, another form of "the earth's punishment of humanity," and something related to Originium. But only those countries near the ocean truly understood that the ocean's turmoil could never be explained by the rolling Originium clouds in the sky.

That wasn't a natural disaster, or at least not entirely.

The Duchy of Godottin is also located on the edge of the Krasd Inland Sea. Previously, the prosperous maritime trade was monopolized by the powerful Iberia, making merchants from all over Terra both eager and unable to obtain it. After the Iberia was nearly brain-dead by the Great Tranquility, Duke Godottin, as the Grand Duke of Victoria, seized the opportunity, quickly taking over this "important task" while everyone was still awestruck by the power of the sea and had developed an instinctive fear of the coast.

He now possesses the most powerful "fleet" in Terra—a true fleet capable of sailing on water, not just a formation of high-speed warships—making him another overlord of the Krasde Inland Sea. However, contrary to the common sense that business should grow larger, Duke Godotin's fleet has never ventured beyond the Inland Sea, unlike Iberia, in an attempt to launch expeditions into the distant seas and bring them into Victoria's territory.

He navigated cautiously within the Krasd Inland Sea, for he knew all too well that the real danger lurked beneath the surface—the terror fish, the deep-sea cultists, and the sea creatures.

They don't just appear in the Iberian region; they are found along every coastline of Terra, but the vast majority are concentrated in Iberia.

Duke Godotin's envoy clicked his tongue, a bad premonition rising in his heart. This time, before he could speak, the Grand Inquisitor spoke again:

“Iberia is now on the verge of collapse. Saint Carmen, my teacher, has been working tirelessly for our survival every day, without daring to slack off in the slightest. To date, he has not had a proper rest for almost a month and has entered the midlife crisis of hair loss decades later.”

"Iberia is now in dire straits, and we desperately need the aid... investment of our compatriots on the land of Terra. Sir, I am not joking. I hope that Duke Godotin, who also owns a city on the edge of the Krasdee Sea, will think carefully and make a generous and selfless investment in Iberia!"

Dalio's meaning was very clear—we are all fellow human beings living on Terra, so let's help each other out for the sake of being human.

This almost stunned Duke Godotin's envoy. He looked incredulous, reached up and rubbed his ears, as if wondering if there was something wrong with his hearing.

Generous and selfless investment—don't you want to see what you're saying?

Investing is about making money. Although there are warnings like "investing involves risks and caution is advised," who enters this field without the idea of ​​making a fortune?

There's no such thing as a generous and selfless investment; you might as well just say you're doing charity!

Duke Godotin's envoy finally realized that this person wasn't there to discuss business; he was there to beg for food!

What's the situation with Iberia now? Has it fallen so low that it needs to send people to the World's Fair to beg for food?

Continuing to talk to this judge is a complete waste of time!

Feeling there was absolutely no need to say another word, Duke Godotin's envoy rolled his eyes and tried to end the conversation. But Dario, who had already determined that his attempts at moral blackmail through reasoning and persuasion had unsurprisingly failed, immediately followed Kal'tsit's instructions and pulled out the "rope."

“Iberia is on the verge of collapse,” he said.

The Duke of Gaudotine's envoy scoffed, "What does that have to do with the Duchy of Gaudotine?"

Dario coldly stared at the envoy before him, who seemed indifferent to the situation: "If Iberia collapses, it will be us today, and you tomorrow."

"you!"

The almost blatant threat caused the Duke of Godotin's envoy's expression to change abruptly. He cursed:

"What do you mean, Iberians? Are you all beasts who commit robbery?"

"First of all, wild animals are not human and cannot be robbers; they simply do not possess that level of intelligence."

Dalio responded calmly.

"Secondly, Iberia are certainly not robbers, at least not to the Victorians."

"If we were robbers, we would charge you tolls. But in reality, the people Iberia charges tolls to are never our fellow human beings from the land, but those filthy invaders who crawl from the sea onto the land. Terrorfish, sea creatures, deep-sea cultists—disgusting as they are, they always have to pay with their lives to walk on Iberian land."

"We are robbers of the sea! But we are also guardians of the land!"

"You..." Duke Godotin's envoy was speechless for a moment.

He was usually quick-witted and eloquent, but at this moment, he was caught off guard by Dario's "robber's argument," and was so confused that he couldn't find any way to refute it.

He tried to organize his thoughts, but how could Dallio let this opportunity slip by? He immediately struck while the iron was hot, pressing his advantage:

"Duke Godotin boasts of spreading the ideals of free trade throughout Terra, and the Iberians admire His Excellency's courage and commitment. Therefore, depending on His Excellency's attitude toward the proposal, the Iberians will also make a choice: whether or not to heed Duke Godotin's advice and become elegant, humble, and utterly thuggish Victorian-style gentlemen."

For some reason, these adjectives, when put together with the image of a Victorian gentleman, always evoke a strange sense of humor.

But this did not prevent Godottin's messenger from understanding Dario's meaning.

Didn't His Excellency the Duke say that we should have morals and advocate free trade?

If you don't pay money, don't pay "protection fees," then fine, I'll open the market and let the Hai Si enter the pass. Please, Your Excellency, go and talk to the Hai Si about free trade.

The Iberians were quite curious whether Duke Godottin could sell his liqueur to the sea monsters.

The messenger's expression was far from pleasant; even his polite smile was almost impossible to maintain. He gave the Grand Inquisitor a deep look, but Dario, who was trying this "begging and kidnapping" tactic for the first time, displayed an astonishing composure as an inquisitor. The messenger could not discern anything from his face and could only be temporarily certain that the Iberians did indeed think this way, and that they were very likely to actually do it.

If that's the case, then it's indeed a bit troublesome.

Dealing with one or two incidents of the dinosaurs coming ashore is relatively easy, but if all the dinosaurs from Iberia swarm over, the Duchy of Gaudottin will really be overwhelmed.

They still need to do business. Even without the terror fish attack, the disruption of the shipping lanes would be an unbearable loss for His Excellency, whose business relies on trade!

Taking a deep breath, Duke Godotin's envoy nodded and spoke with some difficulty:

"Alright then, let's talk about investing in Iberia!"

Dario's face flashed with joy for a moment, but he quickly suppressed it, so much so that he was somewhat distracted. The envoy, who was thinking about how to explain things to His Excellency the Duke, did not notice the subtle change in his expression.

At this moment, only seven words occupied the mind of this Grand Judge:

"Brothers, the food's ready!"

Chapter 300: The box is open, Alene!

"Hmm, I wonder what the teacher has been up to. Ever since we met that strange woman from Felin, he's been acting all mysterious, even letting me wander around Shelag by myself..."

Shelag, Tukarim, food street.

Alini pouted and kicked a small stone from the roadside in frustration. The stone landed right next to a child.

The child was holding a newly developed cheese popsicle from Sheragkalan Trade, happily savoring this somewhat strangely-looking Sherag-flavored delicacy. Beside her, her parents were also holding hands, standing in front of a souvenir stall, discussing what souvenirs they should bring back to Victoria.

The couple eventually chose a Jeragund wooden sculpture, a saint sculpture, a saint's child sculpture, and some snacks. After paying, they turned around and realized that their child was staring at a little girl who looked about the same age as her, but had a more mature demeanor and was dressed in a puzzling way.

Faced with this strange fellow, the two reacted immediately, grabbing the child's hand and urging her to turn and leave, muttering to themselves as they went:

"Who is that girl? I don't recognize her! She's quite cute, but why is she alone without any adults with her? Is she lost?"

"Let's mind our own business. Look at her old clothes, she doesn't say a word, she might be one of those unfortunate kids trained by unscrupulous adults to beg! Let's hurry up and go to the next attraction. There are still so many places we haven't been to! Our vacation is almost over!"

Begging...begging?

What are you saying? I, Elene, am a proud Iberian! The kind of Iberian who can hold her head high, raise her face, puff out her chest, and declare that she comes from Iberia!

Even if I were bitten by a terror fish, chased by sea monsters, or jumped off a cliff in Iberia, I would never beg a single penny from you Victorians!

Alene opened her mouth in disbelief, wanting to refute the man's words, but he had already walked away, and she couldn't very well chase after him to retort.

The dissatisfaction, grievances, and distress in my heart suddenly erupted like a bottle of cola that had been shaken and then had its cap unscrewed.

She was already unfamiliar with the area, and not very old herself. Most of the people on the street were in pairs, but her teacher had disappeared without a trace after meeting that strange Filin man. Leaving her wandering the streets alone was just too much!

I'll have to go back and give Grandmaster Carmen a piece of my mind about my teacher!

Alene thought to herself, somewhat annoyed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out some Sheragfrans that she had exchanged in advance.

This was the operating fund that Dario left her before he left, plus some of her own savings.

The Grand Inquisitors received little to no salary, as Iberia's economic and monetary systems had long since collapsed. They could simply go wherever they wanted and adopt a "take it or leave it!" approach, paying nothing in return. The only currency still possessing any purchasing power within the country was the ancient kingdom's "Dobloon." All of these coins were minted before 1038—not that they were all minted before 1038, but Iberia, ravaged by disaster, never changed its coin molds, and the king's portrait on the coins was forcibly filed off. The monarchs failed to fulfill their promise to protect the people, and they were punished by the Inquisition.

Even so, Elena still managed to save up some money by living frugally, and exchanged it for Sherag's Frans before this business trip.

To be honest, this really stumped the court's clerk in charge of exchanging the currency.

On one side is the 38-year-old dobloom, comparable to 80s Lafite, and on the other is the franc, the currency of the small, closed country of Kjerag for thousands of years. Not only are these two currencies hard to find, but what's more troublesome is that no one knows the purchasing power of one franc, and even less does anyone know what the exchange rate should be between the Iberian dobloom and the franc.

This money was painstakingly saved by Eleanor. As the youngest judge in the Inquisition, Dario's apprentice, and Carmen's grand-apprentice, Eleanor was quite the darling of the group, and the Inquisition naturally didn't want to treat her unfairly by making up a figure. In the end, they could only resort to the clumsy method of first exchanging Dobloons for Victoria Pounds, and then exchanging Victoria Pounds for Frans. As for whether there were middlemen making a profit in this process, that remains unknown.

Holding these frangipani, Elena walked up to the stall.

Since Teacher Dario told her to go shopping, she really did "go shopping"!

In Iberia, as a judge, she had no chance to go shopping, but Elene was essentially still a little girl, so how could she not like this "extreme sport" that challenged the limits of her body and wallet?

As her gaze swept across the stall, Elena immediately took a liking to the pile of blind boxes stacked together to form a small pyramid.

"Young lady, you have excellent taste! This pack animal blind box just arrived this morning! Every pack animal inside has a corresponding real-life counterpart. It was personally selected by the Prime Minister and the Holy Maiden, guaranteeing that every single one is adorable! You might even get a limited edition!"

The vendor, dressed as a fellow villager, enthusiastically introduced the product. It was the first time Elena had faced such a sales pitch, and she was immediately overwhelmed. She nodded, pointed to a blind box in the center, and said:

"Let's take this one!"

Her somewhat broken Victorian language was often criticized when she was out there. Fortunately, her fellow countryman's Victorian language was not very good either, so the two were evenly matched and spoke quite fluently.

After receiving the blind box from her fellow villager, Elena placed the francs on the table and opened the box in front of the shop owner.

Inside is a small glass beast, its T-shaped horn not yet grown, its eyebrows and eyes squinting together, making it look somewhat like a newborn calf, exceptionally cute.

It should be so.

Elena looked at the strange object in her hand—its eyes twisted together, its mouth open, and horns embedded inside—and then glanced back at the promotional image on the packaging box. She couldn't help but frown, clearly startled.

What kind of evil god figure is this? It looks just like Hai Zi! Does Kjerag have Hai Zi now?

Before she could even ask the boss for clarification, a voice rang in Elena's ear:

"Wow! One shot, and she's dead! Is this the young lady's first time?"

"Yes, but for some reason, I felt that you were actually saying something very rude just now."

Elena turned her head and looked at the young man beside her.

That was Ernst, who had just finished arguing with the Grand Tutor and was planning to skip work for a while.

Before Elena could speak, upon seeing Ernst, the shopkeeper's expression instantly changed, and he quickly bowed his head, saying:

"Holy... Holy Son."

“When we’re at work, we should address each other by our titles. Call me Prime Minister,” Ernst laughed. “Although theoretically this isn’t my responsibility, since I’ve seen it, I still have to remind you, my friend, to get rid of these pirated blind boxes as soon as possible. If you wait until my brother comes looking for trouble, you’ll be in real trouble.”

"Yes, yes... I'll take it right away, I'll take it right away."

"It's not that simple. Go to Central to collect the fine and expose the counterfeit operation. Otherwise, you might have to give up this stall spot to someone else."

"Ah...this..."

"Is there a problem?" Ernst asked, his voice deliberately lowered, sounding somewhat displeased.

The villager immediately backed down and shook his head, saying, "No, no, I'll definitely do it, I'll definitely do it!"

He sheepishly collected the blind boxes from the table, then hung up the "Closed for Business" sign, nodded to Ernst without even daring to look him in the eye, and quickly left the scene, running towards the office building.

Ernst then turned to Alene and explained somewhat embarrassedly:

"I'm sorry, Miss, you've only just arrived in Sherag and I've already given you a bad impression. I'll take care of that for you. As compensation, I'll give you an authentic blind box?"

"But it's my money..."

"Ah, I forgot." Ernst suddenly realized and quickly said, "It's alright, this one I gave you is free, I'll give you another one as an apology. I'm Ernst, what's yours?"

“Elene,” Elene replied, proudly puffing out her chest, “I am an Iberian!”

Chapter 301 Come with me to my office, my office is quite big!