Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

When they ordered raw materials and paid for labor, they agreed on prices in Gold Coins and silver coins.

Even after the civil war in Paratu broke out, the selling price of arms soared, and the costs of raw materials, processing, and wages also skyrocketed.

On the other hand, the main form of assets on the balance sheets of small and medium-sized arms workshops are actual military goods such as firearms, armor, lead ingots, and swords.

Debts are fixed, but assets are volatile. Once the price of arms plummets, small and medium-sized workshops easily fall into a deadly cycle of "inability to repay debts—forced liquidation—actual goods insufficient to cover debts—bankruptcy."

Especially now, when the embargo act was passed with shouts in the House of Commons, extinguishing the last hope, nobody would buy arms. If managed inefficiently, the inventory of firearms, armor, and swords in small workshops could become worthless overnight.

Crisis is also an opportunity; every crisis is a chance to reshuffle the deck. In a pond full of fish like Steel Fortress, the result will inevitably be the exit of small fish without the ability to resist risk, while the big fish seize the chance to merge and expand—or fight each other.

Lady Navarre never thought about stepping into the pond of Steel Fortress; she simply found the most suitable point to exert force, gently pushing behind the big fish, driving them to swallow the small fish.

Acquiring debts, lobbying the courts, operating liquidations... Who could do these things better than the big workshop owners local to Steel Fortress?

...

Winters gazed at Mr. Fuller, who was crying his heart out.

As agreed upon with Anna and Iron Hand, Winters had a very simple task. He only needed to refrain from buying arms from small workshop owners, waiting for them to go bankrupt one after another.

At that time, Iron Hand and others would take away the Forges, while Winters could purchase the inventory of arms from the small workshop owners at "dirt-cheap giveaway prices."

Winters asked, "Gaisberg is Selvit parliament member's man, Witzleben is Mayor Wooper's man, how could they unite together?"

"In front of the Forge," Mr. Fuller wiped away his tears, bitterly said: "Politics is bullshit!"

"The Selvit parliament member and Mayor Wooper did not stop it?"

"In front of the Forge, parliament members are bullshit! Mayors are bullshit! They are all in the same gang!"

Winters remained silent for a moment, then asked: "How would you like me to help you? Buy all your inventory?"

"No, no, you can't help me, Your Excellency the Baron. Even if you bought all my goods, it would not cover my debt. I wasn't here to ask for your help, I wasn't." Fuller broke down in tears again: "I just feel too terrible, too painful, I have no one to talk to, I don't know who I could talk to, who else I could speak to..."

Winters stood up to leave, but soon returned with another clean handkerchief and handed it to Fuller.

"Buying all your goods wouldn't cover your debt?" Winters asked.

Fuller dabbed at his tears and blew his nose powerfully, then asked with a bitter smile, "Do you know how my grandfather did business?"

"I don't know."

Fuller, drunkenly gesticulating: "Simple, he worked by the Forge before the sun came up, until nightfall. The money he earned, he only spent a small part on himself and his family, the rest he saved. He kept saving, until he could afford a Forge. That's how the Fuller family got its first Forge. Do you know how my father did business?"

"I don't know."

"Just like my grandfather, work, save, work, save, saved his entire life, and finally bought the second Forge."

Winters nodded lightly, expressing appreciation and agreement.

"But!" Fuller's tone sharply changed, his voice loud with anger: "That was back in their time. Saving money, buying Forges—that was something they could do. Not anymore! It has been impossible for a long time! A Forge can no longer be bought with hard work and saving up silver coins. In the past, an honest blacksmith could work a lifetime and buy a Forge, but now? How many blacksmiths in Steel Fortress work in someone else's workshops their whole lives without ever owning their own Forge?"

Winters listened silently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

But Fuller wasn't finished, he slammed the table hard, stood up abruptly, and waved his arms dramatically: "That old idea of saving and then expanding is no longer feasible! If the Fuller Workshop wanted to grow, it could only borrow money, take on debt, use other people's money to fight! To gamble!"

"But you lost the bet." Winters said softly.

Fuller's voice and emotions plummeted, and he slumped back onto the bench. Covering his face with his hands, after a while, his sobbing sounds sifted through his fingers: "I lost, I lost, I accept the loss... but I can't bear it, I really can't bear it."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

Caman walked into the living room, ignoring the weeping Fuller, and went straight to Winters to whisper: "You have another visitor."

"Who?" Winters asked openly.

Caman whispered a name softly.

Winters' mouth corners suddenly turned up slightly—Caman recognized it, that was Winters' smile when he wanted to play a trick on someone.

Winters stood up, grabbed Fuller, shoved him into Caman's arms, letting him lean on Caman's shoulder.

"Take Mr. Fuller to the back room," Winters instructed: "And keep quiet."

Having said that, without waiting for Caman's consent, Winters quickly walked to the wall, pushed the window open, then hurried to open another window on the opposite side.