At night, in the castle's drawing room.
Lucas sat in the seat of honor, looking at Gini, Isaac, and Camilla.
"Lord Lucas, may I ask what important matter you have called us here for?" Isaac asked. Right after the meeting at Drunken Night concluded at noon, they had received a message to attend Lucas's private banquet tonight.
"I saw that you all chose the weaving technology. I'd like to know, how much linen can you produce?" Lucas asked calmly.
"This..." Isaac hesitated. He frowned in thought, calculating mentally before replying, "Roughly twenty thousand bolts of cloth a year."
"Mine is about the same," Gini chimed in shortly after.
As for Camilla, she sat obediently sipping her tea. She was merely there to make up the numbers; Lucas had already arranged everything with her long ago.
"Then, after weaving the cloth, what are your plans for it?" Lucas continued.
"Sell it to other merchants, I suppose," Gini said, taking it as a matter of course.
"Is that so?" Lucas picked up his teacup and took a sip.
"I think, Lord Ginny, you should take a look at this list first." Annie slid a document forward.
"Oh?" Gini picked up the document and began to read. The further he read, the deeper his frown became. He said hesitantly, "To think there are so many people who chose weaving technology."
"Yes, over three hundred cities have chosen the weaving technology," Annie said flatly.
"Lord Lucas, what are you trying to say?" Isaac interjected.
"How big do you think the market in the Western Lands is? How many merchants will there be to buy it all?" Lucas asked calmly.
"It should be quite large, with many merchants. I heard that more than half of the capable merchants have come here," Isaac said in a deep voice.
"And what if a massive amount of linen floods the market? What if the weaving technology is leaked? Will people still come to buy your clothes then?" Lucas pressed.
"This..." Gini and Isaac exchanged dismayed looks.
"Lord Lucas, do you have a solution?" Gini asked gravely. He absolutely did not want the linen he worked so hard to produce to end up rotting in storage.
"Step out of the Western Lands and sell the goods to the outside world," Lucas said, the corners of his mouth turning up.
"Sell them outside? But we don't understand the outside market at all," Gini said, shaking his head.
They had always guarded the land within their fiefs, exclusively selling their goods to traveling merchants right inside their own borders. They had never gone out to do business before.
"I am planning to establish a merchant fleet to transport our territory's goods outside to sell," Lucas said slowly.
"Lord Lucas, just tell us. What do we have to pay?" Hearing Lucas's words, Isaac immediately understood why they had been summoned.
"I want to build dedicated ports in your cities, to be used for resupplying my ships," Lucas said with a smile.
"Build ports in our cities? Like the port in Sedona City?" Gini said excitedly. He had been coveting Sedona City's bustling port for a long time.
"Yes, but this port will be exclusively for the fleet's use. It will not be open to the public." Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly, delivering words that instantly dashed their hopes.
"..." Isaac and Gini froze. Had they gotten excited for nothing?
"For the safety of the fleet, I will also need to station a contingent of soldiers at the port," Lucas added, observing their dazed expressions. "That means garrisoning a number of my knights. Don't worry, they won't pose any threat to you, and the numbers won't be large."
He was beginning to bluff his way into establishing his military port plan.
"You still need to station knights?" Gini cried out in shock.
"Of course. When the time comes, the goods on every voyage will be worth tens of thousands of gold coins. Without stationing soldiers to guard them, I wouldn't feel at ease," Lucas stated firmly.
"Can't you use our knights?" Isaac asked hesitantly.
"Do you really think I'd feel safe entrusting goods worth tens of thousands of gold to someone else's knights?" Lucas rolled his eyes.
"Could we have some time to consider it?" Gini was deeply uneasy. This meant allowing foreign knights to be garrisoned within their cities. If anything went wrong, it would be extremely dangerous.
"My Riverden City can allow Lord Lucas to station soldiers there," Camilla spoke up at this perfectly timed moment.
"..." Gini and Isaac were dumbfounded. How could she just agree to that so easily?
"My Riverden City doesn't have anything that would catch Lord Lucas's eye anyway, so there's nothing to fear." Camilla glanced at the two men and said flatly, "Right now, this is a golden opportunity, and I don't want to miss it."
The planted shill had delivered yet another perfect assist.
"Excellent. When the time comes, I will send my people and transport materials over to build the port," Lucas laughed heartily.
"Um... I agree too." Isaac subsequently caved. Thinking about what Camilla had said, it seemed Michelle City truly didn't have anything that Lucas would bother coveting either.
"..." Gini looked at Isaac in shock, then let out a heavy sigh. "I agree as well."
He didn't want to fall a step behind the others. There were, after all, quite a few cities situated along the Whispering River that Lucas could choose instead.
"Very good. I will send someone to oversee the project. The manpower will be recruited locally from your cities, which will create job opportunities for your people," Lucas said with satisfaction.
Out of the four planned ports in the Western Lands, three had now been successfully secured. The only one left was Pentos City.
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