Chapter 110

Aegir POV

The morning sun shines lightly through the gap of the closed, wooden window . The gap should allow the winter air to come through, but with the suffocating heat in the room, its almost like theres no breeze at all .

Uuumu .

I crawl on the bed to try and open the window but theres no room for me to stick my hands . The bed is covered with womens breasts and asses .

I grab the closest white ass to see who it belongs to .

AhnAegir-samawonderful

It was Celias ass . I roll her over and put her onto Leah and both of them start tangling with each other .

Aegir-samaMaster

Yes, please get along with each other .

I separate the womens bodies even more and find a woman sleeping with her legs spread openthe top half of the body is covered with a blanket so I cant tell who it is . I try touching her .

Nnaah!

Her vagina sucks my finger in . This movement is definitely Catherine, since even her hole is so lewd that it seeks men all by itself .

And the last thing that appears is an island . I can tell from the size, even though theres only a wee bit of light, that those giant breasts belong to my wife, Nonna . Those things are pointing straight up regardless of her lying on her back and is jiggling gently in time with her breathing .

MunyaaWhat is thatits big, isnt it .

Carla, who is sleeping beside her, is talking in her sleep with a provoking expression while sucking on her breasts .

Little babyits time for your milk

It seems Nonna is dreaming . It would be nice if she got pregnant soon .

I open the window and the morning sun is closer to the midday sun . I was thinking I would wake everyone up so I open the windows suddenly .

Nnpardon me!

First is Celia, who wakes up quickly while still naked, and stands up .

Its already morning?!!

Good morning .

Irijina and Myla also react to the morning sun and rise out of bed promptly, which is as expected of their military upbringing .

Aaah-!!

The scream rings out directly in my head .

Irijina is stepping on Casies foot . She absolutely couldnt see you, but since youre desperately slapping her leg, Ill help you get it off .

Then, Ill go wash my face .

Im going too!!

Celia and Irijina leave together . Irijina has such a loud voice in the morning so the other girls are starting to wake up too .

This is horrible .

Myla, who remained here, mumbles to herself .

What is ?

Its nothing . You should know that having so many girls wait on you isnt something praiseworthy .

You were one of those girls yesterday though .

You were getting fucked in a reverse sitting position and happily pinching your nipples too .

That was only because of my lack of composure! I dont have much experience with sexual activity!

Thats right, she was a virgin not too long ago .

Its natural for a person like a Count to have mistresses . But you should narrow it down to one person every night . Having a jumbled orgy like thisis slovenly .

Myla has a surprisingly high sense of virtue . Its because of that shes still a virgin at 25 .

Dont worry about the little things . You enjoyed the orgy, didnt you?

I-I dont know what youre talking about! And arent there more girls outside the mansion that youre surrounding yourself with?!

Yeah, thirty others . It seems about twenty of them got pregnant . Itll get really busy in half a year .

Myla puts a hand to her mouth and becomes speechless .

Twenty peopleis this a lewd prison?

At that time, there is a knock on the door .

Excuse me . If you are awake, I have brought you tea and hot water .

Its the mansions maid . I open the door without hesitation .

-! Please pardon my interruption .

I wonder what it was that confused her the fact that Im naked, or the fierce, naughty smell of semen drifting out from inside the room .

Oh, thanks . Ill leave it here, so feel free to drink as well .

I take the tea and place it on a table, then I leave to go take a bath .

U-uhm!!

The maid calls out to stop me . Oh, youre the maid that was here from the beginning . Shes been here forever, yet I dont remember her name .

I am alsohappy that master has returned unharmed . Im really glad .

She looks up at me with teary eyes so I motion to grab her chin and kiss her, but she puts her hands against my chest to refuse me .

It would be a waste for your lips . I ask that you use this here .

The maid crouches at my feet as Im still naked, and kisses the tip of my dick, still covered in sex juices .

Please fuck me whenever you want, kay?

After saying that, she smiles and skips out of the room .

L-lewdprison .

I could hear Myla quickly putting her clothes on and her trembling voice .

Well, lets clean up the problems one by one .

Im glad you feel that way .

There are four of us in the office: Me, Adolph, Leopolt and Celia . It is usually like this whenever we discuss about military or internal affairs . For such a large territory, we have quite the small governing body, if I do say so myself .

First of all, we dont have gold, right?

I ask Adolph .

Yes . The funds we have on hand have been exhausted, and we cant pay for daily wages . Currently, the labor has stopped due to the feudal lords triumph return, but there will be people in need of money if this continues for a long period of time .

Labor does not only include flood control or road construction, but also farming and regular jobs, and is very important for everyone to make a living . If I leave them alone, they may resort to becoming thieves or bandits .

Fumu, Leopolt . There should be spoils of war from the time we plundered in Trisnia, but there isnt anything to deduct from the soldiers rewards, right?

None . It is also dependent on their distinguished merits, but we distributed rewards equal to about a citizens annual income to regular soldiers . I believe it may be excessive, but considering we are not giving out money for anything else besides the necessities of life since the consecutive battles after the previous conflict, it is probably necessary to maintain the soldiers morale .

The number of casualties this time is large after all .

Those who have family will need to be paid as well .

If the soldiers get themselves killed or injure themselves so much they cant move and their wives and daughters need to go to the brothel to earn money, soldiers wont want to fight for me anymore . I need to pay a portion for their bereaved family to live on .

So there is nothing remaining, huh .

Strictly speaking, there is a little left, but it cant be used .

What do you mean?

The minimum amount of money is needed to be kept for military expenses . If something were to happen when we have no funds, then we wont have any food for expeditions and we cant make any preparations .

But isnt the current priority on the territorys finances?

Adolph snarls at Leopolt . But I want that to be the last resort . The reason there has been a sharp decrease in bandits around my territory is my mysterious stories of legend and my powerful military . It would get worse if they propagate, knowing my soldiers cant move out .

When needed, we may have to break it down . But before that, cant you manage without it somehow, Adolph?

Adolph props his elbow on the table and rests his head on his hand . Celias eyes follow him . If it wasnt me, you would be scolded .

There are a million ways to go about it . But it would just be a delaying the deficit; if we get through this year, it would only get worse in the future yearsand if we rely on that too much and someone notices, our financial hardships may be discovered .

How about that iron mine?

We have confirmed its location . It is a good quality and promising mine but since the roads have not been completed, we cant transport anything . iron ore would be too bulky to carry slowly on rough terrain .

And we would need more money to complete the path too .

It would take much time and effort to make the roads wide according to Claire-sans strong suggestion .

That reminds me, Claire is quite interested in the iron ore . If Im not careful, the extending roads will be wider and more impressive than those in Erichs territory to the north and those going to Goldonia . Adolph says maintained roads would benefit the towns and villages along the way too .

There will be head tax in the spring, but a majority of it has already been paid in advanceif we take into consideration the restarting of the labor and the reinstatement of the soldiers, it would only be a drop in the bucket .

There is one option that people who are strapped for cash have been using since ancient times .

So, well be borrowing?

as I thought, it has come to this .

Adolph slumps his shoulders dejectedly and Celia furls her eyebrows . There isnt anybody who is happy we have to take a loan .

I have also done some thinking on my own, but our situation has changed .

Adolph hands me a document . It appears to be a list of merchants who have set up shop . This guy really loves to collect these detailed information and put them together in a document .

These merchants supposedly took loans in exchange for preferential treatment in business, but they have all gone bankrupt .

Why is that?

All the merchants mentioned here are currently under the umbrella of the Flitch Company . They were told that preferential treatment cannot be promised without the permission of the person in charge of the area .

Claire, is it? So its true that shes a go-getter .

No large company has existed in Rafen in the first place . Large peddlers and large farming families were all merchants who have transitioned after all . They were probably overwhelmed financially .

Adolph also shows me another document with crosses on it . It seems to be a document of merchants who have gone out of business or gone bankrupt but the timing is absolutely the same . They were probably crushed if they refused to come under Claires control .

Now, shes done it .

Lets think about this problem later, since there is no choice but to talk to Claire-san .

Alright . Its better than borrowing from a filthy man . Call her .

Adolph gets up from his seat and leaves one last word .

If youre going to borrow, borrow big .

The debt will balloon though .

A man who cant repay 10 gold will be sold to slavery and for 1000 gold, theres no choice but to wait for loansharks . Thats how it is .

What an interesting way of thinking .

After Adolph leaves, there is some time before Claire comes over .

Leopolt .

What is it?

The territory I got this time is the south of Treiathe various countries in the south and our territory are connected now .

Yeah .

Are there any existing treaties or pacts?

Theres a one-time trade agreement with a portion of them . But we are not adjacent to their territory at all so peace agreements and any other agreements do not exist . The capital will probably negotiate those .

Do you know how much of a threat they are?

There is little information so Im reluctant to make a decision now, but the countries adjacent to our land to the south are weak countries so I presume there shouldnt be much to worry about . They shouldnt have the courage to attack Goldonia .

If I were to personally fight with that country, how will the capital act?

If it is before the Goldonian royalty officially ends the peace agreement, there shouldnt be any particular problems . I dont believe they are putting much of an emphasis on the relationship between the southern countries .

I seewell, at least gather the information . As a precaution, also note the marching path to get to the southern border .

I understand .

Living off of a loan is a little sad so I should play my hand . Celia, your face looks tense . And also, dont write it in a memo pad because itll be troublesome if it gets leaked .

Then, Claire arrives . The young-looking girl called Laurie is with her as well .

Congratulations on your victory in the recent war .

Thanks, please sit .

I made Claire, who wanted to remain standing, sit down and asked a maid to prepare some tea . Nonna fussed about our tea leaves, so we have good quality ones .

SoCount Hardlett-sama, what will your request be this time?

Claire glances at Celia . It seems she wont call me Aegir-sama if there are other people present .

Lend me some money .

Everyone freezes momentarily .

thats quite sudden .

Are you curious about the reason I need money?

Its not like Im not well I wont ask now . How much will you need?

20 000 gold .

Everyone freezes once again .

20 000 goldYou are aware that this is a lot of money, right?

Of course . Its twice the amount you bet last time .

it will definitely hurt me .

Claire sips her tea with a refined movement and looks at me .

In your perspective as a Count, money may only be one element you possess alongside territory, fame, and military force . However, to us merchants, money is more precious than anything . It is equivalent to our lives .

Is that how it is? Im not interested in merchants so I dont really understand .

In the Counts case for example, imagine yourself lending one of your women to another person . If you err and lend too soon, you cant take them back .

That would upset me .

Would you elaborate on how you will use it? There is also the favor from before, so I am not unwilling to lend you money, but its an amount I need to be prepare myself for, so please make me feel at ease .

Its the usual labor costs for the flood control and highway maintenance and material costs . If we have it now, the revenue in the fall should also increase .

The revenue will increaseand you will be able to repay the 20 000, right?

Claire looks at me with doubtful eyes . It probably wont be possible . This years harvest will be larger than average but our population has increased and we provide supplies to the mountain nation too . Itll be hard to say whether well still have enough to sell to make 1000 gold .

And alsothe maintenance for the road to the iron mine .

Claire twitches .

Adolph has been convinced, but theyre quite the splendid roads after all . They require much more money than regular roads . In the first place, it is already a burden to do work in the mountain nation territory .

A round trip isnt possible within a day and there are no surrounding villages that we could stop at . There are even many places where we wouldnt survive unless we carried water on wagons .

If the roads get completed, youll be able to transport iron ore for real, right?

Claire looks at me while glancing slightly at Celia . Shes probably asking if shes trustworthy .

Celia is practically a part of me . Dont worry .

Celias eyes droop . Please dont forget to write in your memo .

Then I will talk . I dont intend to only carry the iron ore as they are dug up .

I dont get itwhat else besides iron ore can you extract from an iron mine?

Actually, I have also visited the location with subordinates when the Count was heading to the battlefield, along with Adolph .

He also mentioned it . So Claire also deployed her own subordinates .

Yes, with the Counts flag, the barbarianspardon me, the mountain nation didnt attack us at all .

Claire is already aware that I have the mountain nation under control .

Getting back on topicthe person who went to the location is a person quite knowledgeable about iron, who dug up an unbelievably high quality of iron and even the small surrounding streams have plenty of iron sand stored within them as well .

Hooh, I dont know much about the quality of ore, but the fact that its high quality wont escape my ears . Nonna has also talked the entire night about the difference in radiance from rubies that appear the same to me .

There isnt just a single iron mine there . Theres a possibility that Goldoniano, the entire central plains could be one huge iron producing area!

Claires excitement is showing into her words .

Thats the reason for the wider roads . No matter how high the quality the product is, it wont turn into profit if we cannot transport it .

I understand that part, but what do you mean when you said you would carry something besides iron ore?

Right . No matter how high quality iron ore is, the value per weight is known . Thus we will refine the iron near the mine into an iron ingot with a higher degree of purityor turn it into a lump of steel before transporting it .

Claire shouldnt be too knowledgeable about the production of iron, but she probably studied .

If we process the ore into a final product made of iron or steel, profits should increase even more .

But it is also a considerable distance away from Rafen . We could send miners and food there, but a process like refining will be a little-

Claire suddenly stands up and spreads her arms . I thought she wanted me to hug her so I approached, but she runs away .

Build a city around that mine! If we dont have food or water around there, we just have to carry it there every day . Have large wagons packed with food and water head to the mountains on the large maintained roads and have them carry a full load of iron products on the way backand then it will bring huge profits to us!!

Claire speaks passionately . I will discuss with Adolph later, but does that mean she agrees to the loan?

So will you lend me some money for that magnificent plan?

Claire sits back down on her chair, embarrassed that she got a little too excited .

I will . But if the development of the mine does not progress, I will be in trouble . So for that, how does this sound?

Claire makes a signal and Laurie prepares a piece of paper, then quickly writes up a contract .

First we will deliver 10 000 gold directly to your mansion so please feel free to use it as you please . The remaining 10 000 gold will be kept by us and will be used to pay for the materials and laborers for the construction of the highway .

So the use of half of the amount will be decided beforehand?

And one more thing .

Enough of this non-!

I stop Celia from wanting to yell . I urge Claire, who is keeping quiet with a composed face, to continue .

I want you to let me handle everything regarding the plan for this mining city . Everything from the selling of the iron to the business in the city and the transportation of the goodsOf course, I wont interfere with things like security or conscription .

If I agree on my own, Adolph will probably get angry .

Alright . Discuss the details with Adolph .

Hell definitely get angry .

Thank you very much . I will not disappoint you .

Claires face seems to reveal a broad smile . Well, is this an act or her true feelings?

Next, lets decide the amount of interest .

You will even take interest on top of this?

Count-sama, there does not exist any merchant who would lend money without interest .

Im amazed . Celia does