Raising the Northern Grand Duchy as a Max-Level All-Master-Chapter 147

147. Over the Empire, Flies Renslet (1)

The term "Ra" in the imperial name Ragoit and the emperor’s name Canbraman Ra Goit originates from an ancient language, meaning "sun."

It was a privilege exclusively reserved for the empire, and only the legitimate imperial bloodline could use "Ra" as a middle name.

Ragoit and Ra Goit symbolized the empire and the royal family’s preeminent authority and exclusivity.

"Arad Ra Goit would’ve sounded better than Arad Jin Renslet…"

Emperor Canbraman had even considered bestowing such a privilege upon Arad, underscoring his earnestness in recruiting him.

However, the emperor’s sincerity never moved past the planning stage.

While rigorously selecting princesses, both direct and collateral, who might catch Arad’s interest, an unexpected wedding invitation arrived from the north.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth—like watching a golden treasure slip through his fingers and fall into a deep abyss.

"Sending the invitation only after the wedding is over… They clearly didn’t want me there."

The empire only learned of Arina and Arad’s marriage after the ceremony had concluded.

The precaution was taken to preemptively block any potential interference from the empire before the marriage could take place. Instead, they chose to inform them after the fact.

It was, quite obviously, a massive insult.

"And to think they finalized the marriage right after I granted patents and copyrights in the name of imperial decree. They must’ve planned this."

What stung even more was the timing—right before this news arrived, Canbraman had declared through imperial decree that Arad’s patent for the production of magic communication devices would be protected.

Thus, the emperor felt deeply humiliated.

"Chancellor."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Canbraman called out to his chancellor, Karaso, who was standing nearby.

"What’s Entir Bishop up to these days?"

The emperor was referring to the individual who had first spread rumors about a rift between Arad and the Renslet family in the imperial court and had later lobbied for patents and copyrights to be granted as a bargaining tool.

"He has not come down from Askai lately."

Askai was a city located in the northwestern part of the empire.

Situated between Fort Ruhan, which marked the border between the empire and the duchy, and Solaris, a royal city under direct imperial control in the north-central region, Askai was also one of the major cities of the Noble Assembly. ℞Ä𝐍Ɵ𝐛ЁȘ

"So not Havana or Solaris, but Askai… He’s not even bothering to hide his actions anymore."

Hearing the chancellor’s response, Canbraman let out a cold scoff.

"We should send a wedding gift to Renslet, shouldn’t we?"

The emperor had no intention of letting such insults and affronts slide.

"We have the perfect justification. The northern economy is already deeply entangled with the empire."

"!!"

"Send magic communications to every merchant guild in the empire! Tell them to cut trade with the north!"

At last, Canbraman decided to enforce long-prepared economic sanctions.

"Y-Your Majesty! Please reconsider!"

To the emperor’s surprise, Chancellor Karaso immediately objected to the decision.

"??"

Canbraman frowned deeply, puzzled, but decided to hear the man out.

The chancellor’s face had turned pale, and his stiffened expression showed that he was risking his life to speak.

"Cutting ties with the north would deal a significant blow to the empire as well."

"I’m aware. And the north would surely collapse first."

"I regret to inform Your Majesty… but the empire itself may fall before they do."

"…?"

For a moment, the emperor thought he must have misheard.

"Is this because of the Noble Assembly or the Church? Even if their influence has risen lately, I still have the Flaming Rose, Elisha von Havana. I have my champion, Ricard. I have 150,000 standing imperial troops equipped with the best imperial steel. The Magic Tower, and Yulkanes, an 8th-circle mage. I have 1,000 royal knights. Above all, I have the empire’s strongest sword, the Dark Grand Duke, Doom."

The more Canbraman spoke, the more the chancellor’s words felt like nonsense.

After stabilizing the Ragoit Great Wall and the Eastern Collapse Region, the emperor had immediately summoned Doom to the capital.

He had even re-employed a large number of soldiers mobilized for the wall into his standing imperial army, using them to pressure the Noble Assembly and the Church.

"That’s not the issue, Your Majesty!"

"…Then what is?"

The chancellor, Karaso, shut his eyes tightly and blurted out everything.

"The empire’s cities are currently seeing massive population inflows every single day. The birthrate is also soaring!"

"That’s true. A growing population is a blessing."

"The problem lies with food. Feeding the population flooding into the cities, not to mention the expanded imperial army, will become a massive issue if ties with the north are severed."

"Because of Arad Salt and Mary’s Blessing?"

"Yes, exactly! The bigger issue is the fertilizer—Mary’s Blessing!"

"The empire managed just fine before fertilizers existed."

"T-that was a completely different era! The current population, especially the consumption rates of food in the cities, is on an entirely different scale!"

"Aren’t we reclaiming the Eastern Collapse Region and the lands beyond the Great Wall?"

"It will take at least ten years before those areas are fully reclaimed and yield meaningful harvests."

"Even if they are fully reclaimed… without Mary’s Blessing…"

Karaso considered mentioning that even if they managed to reclaim all the land, it wouldn’t matter much without Mary’s Blessing, but he held his tongue.

Mary’s Blessing was that impactful as a fertilizer.

There was a reason Arad referred to it as a "chemical fertilizer from another world."

"Wouldn’t imposing tariffs be a better punishment?"

Carefully, the chancellor shared his suggestion with the emperor.

"Tariffs?"

"Yes! Imposing heavy taxes on all northern goods except for their fertilizer and magic stones."

"And how long would that take to make them submit? Besides, do you really think Entir or the nobles in the assembly would comply? They’re masters of tax evasion."

"But…"

The emperor was clearly dissatisfied with the chancellor’s suggestion.

"Cutting ties! A short but powerful punishment! Only that can teach those insolent barbarians a lesson."

"Y-Your Majesty! Now is the time for the empire to focus inward. If we sever ties with the north, by next year the empire will plunge into chaos!"

"So, you’re saying we’ll suffer, but the north will suffer more, right?"

"Well… yes…"

"Despite producing Mary’s Blessing, the northern Renslet still buys large quantities of food from the empire every year."

A recent increase in city populations was supposedly problematic? That was good news for the emperor. If the empire was struggling, then Renslet, which had industrialized earlier, must be in even deeper trouble.

The northern lands were so barren that even Mary’s Blessing couldn’t entirely solve their problems.

"All the more reason to isolate the north."

The chancellor’s objections only strengthened Canbraman’s resolve.

"!!"

"We isolate and divide the north through this severance. Then, I’ll personally lead the imperial army northward."

"…"

As Canbraman continued, Karaso’s cold sweat trickled down even more.

The other ministers in the office were in a similar state, deliberating over whether they should immediately report the recent discovery to the emperor.

Normally, they would have reviewed the matter thoroughly and prepared a formal report for the following day. But this time...

"Your Majesty, with a heavy heart, I must inform you of something."

The emperor’s intelligence officer, palace steward, and champion, Ricard, resolved their hesitation for them.

"I have received shocking rumors through Sigma. I had planned to verify them before bringing them to you, but…"

"…"

Canbraman, seeing Ricard’s grave expression, gestured for him to approach and whisper.

"Many nobles from the Noble Assembly, the Church, and even the Royalists have… deposited funds in Arad Bank…"

"?!"

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The more Ricard whispered, the tighter Canbraman clenched his fists.

"Those scoundrels! How dare they! Depositing their funds in an enemy bank instead of the imperial one! How dare they!!"

Had the nobles who stashed their slush funds in Arad Bank witnessed the emperor’s reaction, they might have laughed.

Who was it that frequently borrowed from the imperial bank under royal decrees and conveniently forgot to repay? And who bore the loss from that? They would grumble about it as if the emperor had no right to his indignation.

"These traitors! Are they even imperial citizens? Are they even imperial nobles?!"

"…"

"…"

Neither Karaso nor the ministers dared respond to the furious emperor.

After all, half of them had their slush funds deposited in Arad Bank as well.

In truth, this wasn’t solely Canbraman’s fault. It was the cumulative consequence of imperial policies from previous emperors—going back generation after generation.

To the imperial citizens, the imperial bank seemed too closely tied to the whims of the emperor, making it unreliable.

In contrast, Arad Bank was different. While it didn’t offer depositor insurance, it inspired trust.

Arad Bank was free from imperial interference. Compared to an emperor who drained the bank’s coffers for personal use without repaying, a bank run by northern sorcerers seemed far more trustworthy.

And if, by any chance, the Grand Duke Renslet or Arad Jin ever mishandled the funds, it could serve as a pretext to destroy Entir’s Bishop Company.

Although Entir might scoff at the absurdity of such claims, the imperial nobles thought otherwise.

"Huff… huff… huff…"

As Canbraman raged, he exhaled deeply and tried to organize his thoughts.

‘If I promise to cede northern lands and swear not to touch Arad Bank, would they believe me?’

Even he, in the nobles’ shoes, wouldn’t trust such a promise.

‘And if I march an army north in this state?’

Would the imperial nobles who had stashed their funds in Arad Bank cooperate?

Far from cooperating, they might march on the capital and the palace itself.

‘In the worst case, they could depose me and put Julian on the golden throne! No—they would!’

How could he be so sure? Because if he were Archbishop Teresia or Duke Sephiros, head of the Noble Assembly, he wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

‘The internal situation is dire enough. Then there’s the external threat.’

What about the United Kingdom, which was most wary of the empire’s expansion?

If the empire attacked the north, the royal family would have to fight a three-front war.

But was the emperor even aware of this? Did the empire’s intelligence network, Sigma, know the full extent of the danger?

The funds tied up in Arad Bank weren’t limited to just the slush funds of imperial nobles.

What mattered just as much to them were the stocks and bonds they had invested in Renslet.

These stocks and bonds, which paid hefty dividends and interest each month, had already surpassed the scale of their slush funds.

If the emperor’s actions to isolate or attack the north rendered these investments worthless? The empire would inevitably split apart.

However, neither the emperor nor Sigma had realized this yet.

Due to the countless blunders the empire had committed in Renslet over the years, Sigma’s intelligence network in the north had become virtually nonfunctional.

"……."

Bang!

After silently pondering for a while, Canbraman suddenly slammed the armrest of his golden throne with his fist.

‘Fine! Let’s see who comes out on top!’

If his subjects had to go bankrupt and starve to death for the greater good, he could endure it.

If rebellion threatened the rear while he led his campaign, so be it.

In fact, that might even be advantageous. He could use the opportunity to completely crush the Noble Assembly.

Great growth always came with risks and pain.

"I will sever ties with the north."

"!!"

"Y-Your Majesty!"

But Canbraman pressed forward.

"Even without northern fertilizer, without that northern porcelain, without those northern spices, and without those northern magic stones!"

His crimson eyes gleamed as he issued his imperial decree.

"The empire will remain unshaken."

Would the empire collapse first, or would that tiny Renslet fall?

Canbraman found himself looking forward to the outcome.

***

The Arad Secret Shipyard in the Renslet Duchy, Jin County.

[The empire has drastically reduced food exports to us. Meanwhile, they’re frantically trying to buy Mary’s Blessing. Of course, we rejected their attempts, but Entir Bishop has been meddling and making it incredibly frustrating.]

Having paid a rare visit to the shipyard, I received a magic communication from Director Teo, who had stayed behind at the High Tower.

[I believe this marks the empire’s official moves. We should start preparing.]

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"Looks like prices are going to skyrocket to Swiss levels."

[Sw… Swiss? What’s that?]

"It’s just nonsense. Don’t mind it."

Though the content of our conversation was serious, both Teo and I remained calm.

"Has the imperial decree been officially announced yet?"

[Not yet. It seems they’re aiming for a surprise severance, as the imperial palace remains quiet for now.]

"Tsk tsk tsk. What good is that? Their intentions are written all over their actions."

[You’re absolutely right. Hahaha!]

As I prepared to end the communication, I asked Teo one last question.

"How much food do we have stored?"

[If we switch to rationing, we can last about six months.]

"And if we include the food we produce on our own land?"

[If we give up on fine dining, we can stretch it to two years with rye and potatoes. Beyond that, the growing population will make it difficult.]

"Don’t worry. This won’t last more than two years."

[Of course.]

"Alright, I’m cutting the connection now. As soon as this call ends, start preparing for winter immediately."

[Understood! We’ll begin right away.]

After exchanging final words with Director Teo, I ended the communication.

"Tsk tsk tsk. A complete severance? How reckless. If it were me, I’d have gone with tariffs."

Clicking my tongue, I stepped out of the building.

"Announcing the presence of the national lord! His Excellency Arad Jin Renslet has emerged!"

The moment I stepped outside, the cries announcing my presence rang out.

"Just call me President."

Ever since marrying Arina, I had gained titles like "national lord" and "Your Excellency," but I still preferred "President" above all.

"Are the preparations for takeoff complete?"

"Everything is perfect!"

In the center of the Arad Shipyard, seven airships glowed with a faint blue light, awaiting departure. These had been secretly built over time.

It had taken seven years since arriving in this world, but it was finally a monumental achievement.