Louis' heart stirred.
He had been thinking about how to guide the conversation to "territory rewards," but was relieved when Duke Edmund brought it up himself, saving him the trouble.
He said no more, simply took out a rolled-up map from his bag, and spread it out before Edmund: "Actually, I've already prepared some drafts."
The old Duke raised an eyebrow, then burst into laughter at the sight of the map: "So you had plans all along, young man."
He picked up a pen and marked a few spots on the map: "These places are well-chosen... especially this southeastern valley, the soil is good, suitable for grain farming."
"But this area..." he pointed at the circled mining belt on the map and frowned, "the mining difficulty is too high, and there aren't many minerals. In recent years, even a few families of the nobility have thrown people in there but didn't even retrieve their bones."
