Chapter 347: Whoreson I: I Just Want to Progress
"I have a problem that has bothered me for a long time, and you are the only one who can give me the answer."
"I am truly honored," Alphonse said with a smug smile. "Please ask, my lord Baron."
"Since you know my identity, why did you go after my business?"
Alphonse Willy did indeed have a lot of power in Novigrad; even the city council had to tread carefully around him. The problem, however, was that this was still a feudal era, not a capitalist society. In a capitalist society, a rich businessman could easily lord it over a nobleman. After all, even back in my home world, not all old English aristocrats lived lives of enviable luxury. Some nobles, for one reason or another, were deep in debt. In contrast, capitalists, especially those from old dynasties, were often much better off than nobles and could even secretly control a country.
But a feudal society was different. In this backward age, the fear and reverence ordinary people held for the nobility was deeply ingrained in their bones, passed down through generations. Merchants and landowners were, in theory, still commoners, no different in a noble's eyes from the dockworkers or artisans. It wasn't unheard of for a desperate commoner to kill a nobleman or for something like a 落ち武者狩り (fallen samurai hunting) to happen. But for someone like Alphonse, who was not a 'have-not' and actively provoked a nobleman, his actions were highly unusual.
Alphonse stood up from his chair and gave an exaggerated bow. "I beg you to forgive my disrespect. It was not my intention to actually seize your business and commit these acts of impropriety, but rather to make a request."
Lynn frowned. "A request?"
"I wanted to meet with you," Alphonse said with a smile. "My lord Baron, you are a great man from Toussaint, and I am merely a gang leader in Novigrad. Our statuses are as different as heaven and earth. If I didn't resort to some means, how could we be having this conversation today?"
Lynn fell silent. He had assumed Alphonse was just acting like a territorial alpha. Now it seemed he had an ulterior motive.
Alphonse continued. "My lord Baron, I'd like to discuss a partnership."
"Hmm, go on."
"I know your domain in Toussaint produces rosé wine. While it may not be as famous as the wines from the East, it is still a renowned Toussaint vintage. I hope to secure the exclusive rights to sell it. All you have to do is transport the rosé to Novigrad; I will take care of everything else. The profits will be split 70-30."
Perhaps thinking his words were ambiguous, Alphonse paused and added, "Of course, you'll get the 70%; I'll take the 30%."
Lynn crossed his arms over his chest. "I wasn't aware that people in Novigrad invited others to business meetings in this fashion."
"It seems my lord Baron is still upset. In that case," Alphonse clapped his hands. "Bring it in."
The door opened, and two guards carried a chest into the room, setting it down in front of Lynn. Inside, it was filled with shimmering crowns. "My lord Baron, whether or not our partnership works out today, consider this money as compensation for you."
Lynn's gaze swept over the chest. If it was filled entirely with crowns, it could hold several thousand. A regular Novigrad commoner probably wouldn't see that much money in a lifetime.
"The only reason you wanted to meet me was to sell wine?"
If Lynn were just an ordinary baron from Toussaint, and his counterpart weren't a gang leader, he might have considered it. All he would be responsible for was the cost of transport, while the other party would handle the local sales channels, labor costs, rent, and maintaining relationships with local officials. His partner's actual profit share would be far less than 30%. Meanwhile, Lynn would get 70% without having to do a thing. It seemed like a win-win situation.
But Lynn was more than just a baron from Toussaint, and he didn't believe for a second that Alphonse Willy would be content to be an unprofitable middleman.
"Mr. Willy, I suspect there's a hidden condition you haven't mentioned."
"As expected of a Baron—your intuition is sharp. It's nothing major," Alphonse said, settling back into his chair. "I just enjoy making friends. I was hoping to use this opportunity to meet some friends from the south."
"Friends from the south? Are you referring to the Nilfgaardians?" Lynn thought for a moment. "In the last few decades, while Nilfgaard has been constantly conquering countries to the south, Novigrad still has no need to worry about the shadow of war, does it?"
"The Nilfgaardians would have to cross the Mahakam mountains, conquer Cintra, then cross the Yaruga River to take Temeria, and only then would they be on the other side of the Pontar River from Novigrad."
"Do you think the Nilfgaardians are capable of all that?"
Lynn, knowing the story, knew that Nilfgaard would succeed. But he was puzzled as to how Whoreson I could have this foresight. Even kings didn't necessarily have such vision. In the original plot, after Nilfgaard occupied all of Cintra, some Northern kings naively believed that the Nilfgaardians would stop south of the Yaruga.
It wasn't until Nilfgaard attacked Sodden that the Northern armies united, and at the cost of immense casualties, defeated Nilfgaard at the Battle of Sodden Hill. Afterward, they again decided Nilfgaard was no longer a threat. If kings were so short-sighted, how could a mere gang leader have such foresight?
"My lord Baron, you misunderstand me greatly. I've never believed the North will ultimately fall to the southern invaders."
"I've simply heard that in Nilfgaard, even a commoner has a chance to be promoted to a noble. Old Willy just doesn't want to be a commoner for the rest of his life."
Lynn understood. This was a very human ambition. It was like during Japan's Edo period, where merchants, originally at the bottom of the social hierarchy, gained so much wealth that they not only hired samurai who had gone bankrupt from poor financial management but also spent money to buy a samurai title for themselves. It was even more common in modern times, where being rich enough to buy a noble title was not out of the question.
People are like that. Once their current goals are met, they set their sights on a more distant one. Although this era was still feudal, that only meant one couldn't buy a title in the North... well, you couldn't in the South either. But in Nilfgaard, one could obtain nobility through other means.
...................
AN: For early access to advanced 120 chapters on P-a-treon:
Join now: P-a-treon/Chaos_God
(Just remove the- hyphen to access normally)
Thank You so much For your Support and for Reading!