A Famous Traitor and Treacherous Genius

239 – Sinners of History Shining With Gold (2)

There is one thing that needs to be pointed out.

Why did the Empire keep trying to conquer Nostrum for 500 years?

Because of pride?

If it is due to one person’s anger and pride, it can be diluted in the next generation and a new alternative can be sought.

If one family was full of hatred and revenge, the other family would have been willing to negotiate with Nostrum.

Just because of pride in not being able to get beyond Gibraltar?

No.

This is a problem directly related to the problem of human survival.

“The empire has developed through magical engineering. It has lived by building factories in occupied areas to extract efficiency and squeezing out scarce resources in any way possible. Due to the development of transportation and technology, new problems that did not exist before have emerged.”＜ Br＞

“There are various problems caused by urbanization, say imperial sociologists.”

I lightly touched my nose to the wine glass and took a deep breath, and the emperor also bowed deeply.

“Humans are creatures that need to breathe to survive. He must have felt it when he came to the Empire, but the Empire has some parts like that.”

“Is it only the air that will be polluted? Not only the air, but the water will also be polluted.”

“The Empire has better purification facilities than the Kingdom and has a higher level of consciousness than the Kingdom’s citizens?”

“Isn’t the absolute level of pollution much worse than in the Kingdom? In particular, there are many areas that are difficult to address, even just the existing waste problem.”

“Write…”

I’m not talking about trash like St. Geo Nostrum.

It really refers to all the waste that people create in their daily lives and the factors that cause pollution of the land.

“The Kingdom lacks technological capabilities, so when carrying bread, they recycle it over and over again using the cloth cloth they made themselves, but the Empire uses paper bags that individually wrapped each bread. Where is that properly thrown away?”

“I have been advocating the concept of separate waste since I was 10 years old, but it was only a few years before I came to power that it became established.”

The emperor shook his head.

“Laws and rules are not for prevention, but are created in the process of resolving a problem after it has occurred. From my perspective, the imperial people just faced the problem a little earlier than the Nostrum.”

“It was already a barren land, but with the pollution caused by urbanization, it is convenient, but it is very difficult to live in and it is bad for your health. At that moment, a land called Nostrum opens up?”

“Fresh air. Rich nature. A land blessed with mana. The people of the empire have been wanting the golden land beyond the canyon for 500 years.”

“Even if you can’t enjoy the culture that comes with the development of magic technology…”

“There are bound to be people who don’t have to worry about getting hit by a train and dying, and want to live a healthy life in a place with good mountains and water. All you need is the time and money to build a magic engineering infrastructure.”

Why the Empire wants the land of Nostrum.

There is nothing else.

“We want to abandon the already polluted land and live in Nostrum.”

Hehe…”

“Unified Empire Habsburg. Didn’t you want to build the imperial capital in a new place? In the center of Nostrum.”

“You just have to decide on a new location, anywhere. When deciding on the thousand-year capital city of a unified empire, can you choose any place?”

“Are you planning to build a new capital from flat land?”

“If necessary, there is nothing that cannot be done. If we not only have the Empire’s magic engineering, but also Nostrum’s magic, we will be able to create a metropolis even greater than the Imperial Capital in at least 10 years, right?”

“I won’t deny it.”

I don’t know how divided the people who will work will be.

“Good. Gray Gibraltar. So how much are you planning to build?”

“Shouldn’t you just leave that as a pleasure for later and go ahead and tease your Majesty?”

I pointed outside.

“Countess Penelope Historia, if you had come to Orosol Academy, I would have selected you as a ‘Canyon Scholar’.”

“…As expected, she seems to be a very talented woman.”

“If you’re talking about human quality, she’s definitely outstanding. She buys at the ankles and sells at the eyebrows.”

“Crazy. Not even your knees?”

“If necessary, take her to the empire. It may be controversial in many ways, but if you say you’ll take her as the emperor’s concubine, wouldn’t you be a little greedy?”

“Why are you trying to cause a scandal by bringing in other women over Gray Gibraltar?”

“Even if I say that.”

It’s a very unpleasant way to say it, but the problem is that the emperor didn’t mean to say it.

In order to cause a scandal by leaving the ‘heir’ Gray Gibraltar with other women who ‘could give birth to an heir’, he ‘discards Gray Gibraltar and tries to establish a close relationship with the Kingdom of Nostrum’.

The word is omitted.

I understand that, and this man knows that I understand that.

“Let’s go back to the banquet hall. The interim inspection is over, so the rest just need to finish the party.”

“Gray Gibraltar.”

The emperor asks in a serious voice.

He didn’t ask a question, but looking at me like that meant he was asking me something.

“What are you trying to make?”

“Nothing much. As always, the goal is to make Astasia a comfortable place to live.”

Always sincere.

“If I want to live in a hut in the country, I will do it. If I want to live on top of a golden tower, I will do it.”

“…Gold, Ira.”

The emperor chuckled and stood up.

“Do you know what? I will do whatever it takes to get what I want.”

“I know.”

“Then do you also know that? When a beautiful woman has what I want…”

“If the person you are dealing with is a man, give him ‘recognition’, and if he is a woman, give him ‘love’.”

“…Did the Emperor of Unification say that too?”

The Habsburg Emperor openly quirked the corners of his mouth downward.

“Is this how a young man feels when his first love’s virginity is taken away?”

“What kind of crazy things are you saying out loud?”

“If I were to use an analogy, it would be like that. Tsk. Well, it doesn’t matter.”

The Habsburg emperor took off his mask and then pulled out something black from inside his suit.

“You said to give love to a woman, right? That’s good. Then, I’ll show you. You can devour the ground by whispering love.”

“You’re not just going to eat the land, are you?”

“That’s the beauty of making a living.”

“…”

If Penelope had a fault, it was that she showed too much talent.

‘It will be over soon.’

She was an easy woman.

I know because I tried it.

“Oh, by the way. Among the areas that still remain, don’t even look at D7.”

“Why is that? Is some kind of plague going to break out?”

“The bones explode. The more you dig, the more human bones you will find.”

“Haha, did that damned b*stard who took away my first child suffer like that?”

“No way.”

“I see.”

Slurp.

“Okay, see you later.”

“Yes.”

The moment when they split to the left and right and quietly tried to return to the banquet hall through their respective entrances.

“Ah. D7 is…”

“Good! Haha!”

“…”

I decided to convey my deepest condolences to the Count of Sirene later.

* * *

The banquet is over.

Gold mining rights for a total of 57 out of 64 districts were sold, and the Barcelona Government-General decided to conduct its own research and development for the remaining 7 districts that no one had purchased.

Those who were assigned to their respective districts through the auction received a new sword equal to the number of districts they had purchased on their way back.

A sword with a black scabbard and white decorations.

And of course, there was a phrase written on the blade that seemed to have been cut directly by the Sword Master through an auror.

A1 or H8.

Some people were upset because they couldn’t buy even one sword, but others were seen loading as many as 10 swords onto a carriage.

However, just because the auction is over, it does not mean the banquet is completely over.

“Hey, talk to me for a moment.”

“To talk about the district I won…”

“Oh, it just takes a moment. Wait!”

Some people take off their masks and talk.

“Hohoho. Would you like to talk to me for a moment?”

“We’re different, is that okay?”

“Only gold and thaler are different, but business is all the same, right?”

“Let’s talk as merchant to merchant? …Good.”

Some people are using this opportunity to meet new people and expand their exchanges.

“…Your Majesty.”

Franz, a young man with black hair and wearing a black uniform, entered a black carriage.

“Um, okay.”

In the arms of the Habsburg emperor, a woman lay with her hazy face.

There was no trace of any medicine or magic inside her, but she was trembling intermittently as she was hugged to Habsberg’s chest, as if she did not care that her young man had come in.

“What happened?”

“…”

“Tsk.”

The Habsburg emperor stroked the nape of her woman’s neck with her hand.

A blue aura flashed at the tip of her finger, and soon the woman’s body her trembled and she collapsed, losing consciousness.

“Through negotiations, we have secured a total of 7 more districts. Today alone, we have won mining rights for 24 districts. Now all that’s left is to bring in someone from the Imperial Magic Research Institute and survey the land.”

“…”

The Habsburg Emperor was just staring straight ahead into space without any change in his expression.

“There will be people who are competitive with Bathory Erzsebet. If we start geological exploration using them, we will be able to find out how much gold mine remains in our area in at least half a year.”

“…Again.”

Habsburg said, closing his eyes.

“Keep talking again, my son, Franz.”

“…! Yes.”

The young man, Franz, immediately bowed his head.

“While continuing the process of exchanging Nostrum gold coins for copper, we are also trying to extract some of the gold we have mined to Seinere. Gold as much as possible…”

“Again.”

“…To introduce and sell mining equipment to others-“

“Again.”

“In gold-“

“Again.”

Franz swallowed his saliva.

The eyes are facing downward, but the pupils quickly roll left and right.

“Gold…”

“Me and Gray are looking to the future, but you are chasing an illusion and looking only at gold.”

“…”

“That’s why you are my son, but you end up just being a son.”

“…”

“What is the importance of gold? Just because you build a tower of gold and a laurel wreath with gold, do you think you will be able to inherit that crown?”

“Your Majesty…”

“I don’t like Nostrum’s miracles.”

The Habsburg Emperor opened his mouth as if he was lamenting.

“Because of that miracle, I am extremely displeased that I cannot feel the excitement I had for the first time.”

“…”

“Next to that discomfort, you are the most annoying. You half-penny people who inherit my blood but can only do so much. If you had been born with another man’s seed, you would not have been here, but instead would have been turning the lever of a rotary press in a magic factory. No, no. .”

The Habsburg Emperor looked up at the ceiling and spoke.

“Is this Thersian’s bloodline wrong for only being able to bring out his abilities to that extent?”

“…”

“Go out.”

“…Yes.”

Squeak.

The door was closed.

With silence filling the carriage, the Habsburg Emperor lowered his head.

“They say that the blood of heroes is mixed in Count Historia’s family.”

“Didn’t you just say it because I could listen to it?”

Straightening her disheveled clothes, Penelope Historia slowly stood up.

“This is it. I sold the most valuable thing to a dangerous person.”

“What is the most valuable?”

“What is the most expensive thing a woman can sell?”

Penelope straightened her disheveled hair and shrugged her shoulders.

“I gave it to you cheaply, so please pay a high price for the land. And please pay attention so that I can survive from that man a little while ago.”

“Have you already paid for the land?”

“What?”

“With this.”

When the Habsburg emperor lightly touched Penelope’s abdomen, Penelope laughed for a moment as if it were absurd.

“…Aren’t you crazy?”

“If you don’t like it, don’t.”

“Ha.”

Penelope closed her eyes tightly.

“It was a good bite…”

He sighed and bit his lower lip.

* * *

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, he forgot to say that.

“Gold, the most buried in that land.”

As far as I can remember, the land chosen by the emperor was where the largest amount of gold was buried.

It’s not a vein of minerals, but a golden statue that must have been buried hundreds of years ago.

“…”

No matter how the deal goes, I am the one who benefits.