Chương 17: Flower of Alsatia

Princess Lucille Severine Le Blanc de La Mirenoire, the heir to the Alsatian throne held by the imperial elven House of Mirenoire, was currently in great need of monster cores. An important project of hers, one that would decide her fate and the fate of all of Alsatia, was in progress right now. Unfortunately for her, due to her shaky position, even as crown princess, almost all resources needed for her project were difficult to acquire through regular means.

The most important of them all, monster cores, were only available to her in limited numbers. The military, controlled by the war minister, routinely ignored her requests for monster cores. The imperial charter companies, controlled by the finance minister, also routinely ignored her requests for monster cores. Even high nobles were distant to her, and she was increasingly isolated within high society, so she couldn't even ask much from them.

The only actual ally she had was her father, the bedridden and senile Emperor Louis II, who had always been uniquely fond of her back when he was in good health. He named her as heir to the Alsatian throne four years ago when he realized that his inevitable death was close, bypassing all of Lucille's elder sisters and brothers and every other shady figure in the imperial court who coveted the throne.

While the Alsatian emperor had the legal authority to bypass the rules of primogeniture if he wished to do so, many, especially her older siblings, viewed this arrangement with scorn. Hence, her project had to be finished. She needed, above all, to prove herself to the imperial court and the people of Alsatia.

That, and due to her isolation, this project was going to be the only way for her to have any form of military power to counter her strongest contender to the throne—the half-elf bastard child of Emperor Louis II—War Minister Marc-Antoine Courbet. He was a war hero who conquered an entire country in just a few weeks, and he was now the de facto leader of Alsatia, with an iron grip on the Council of Ministers, the group responsible for day-to-day management of the state.

If Lucille failed at finishing her project, she wouldn't be able to enforce her right to the throne if she were weaker than Marc. Thus, if the Adventurer's Guild were unable to provide her with monster cores as well for her project, Lucille would have no choice but to grit her teeth and acquire them through force of arms. It would be exceedingly dangerous, but she had no choice. The crown princess was racing against time.

Her knights could only protect the centuries-old emperor for so long before he expired from an illness that was making him forget everything. Her ambitious project, a project all about harnessing monster cores to create mythical artificial spirits that once existed back during the Age of Heroes, was her only hope. Luckily, a supplier claiming to have bulk quantities of high-grade monster cores seemed to have taken an interest in Lucille's order at the adventurer's guild. Her morale was high today.

"Good afternoon," Lucille said, smiling brightly at the receptionist of the Adventurer's Guild.

"Sorry I didn't manage to reply to the letter you folks sent earlier, but may I ask about that high-grade monster core seller you mentioned there?" Even with the negative stares on her back, Lucille kept her chin up. She adamantly refused to allow any of them to affect her. To the people of Alsatia, who was largely unaware of conflicts in high society, she was known as the 'Sunshine Princess' because of how cheerful she was in public appearances.

That, and she had always been the most public member of the imperial family, routinely appearing in charity works, visiting schools, hospitals, and even dirty places like the slums, factories, and farms. Her light blonde hair and cerulean eyes only added to her iconic radiant image, which made her quite popular to the general public. That was why she wouldn't let a few stuffy noblemen and businessmen in the Adventurer's Guild who disliked her get a rise out of her.

One day, when she was empress, she would surely teach them all a lesson as payback.

"Your Highness!" The receptionist seemed flustered at first upon meeting Lucille again. Then, she pointed at someone.

"Over there. The lady who said she can supply monster cores in bulk is that woman. Her name's Alice Kasperska."

"Kasperska? That doesn't sound Alsatian…" Lucille looked at the woman that the receptionist was pointing to. She seemed like she was about to leave already, considering how close she was to the door, but now she was waving at Lucille awkwardly. Immediately, a smile bloomed on the princess's face, and she turned back to the receptionist.

"Is there an open private room upstairs?" Lucille asked.

"Of course, Your Highness. We'll prepare one at once," the receptionist replied.

"Wonderful." Then, Lucille plastered another smile on her face as she went straight to the foreign merchant. Out of every possible client I can have, why does the first one have to be the crown princess herself? Inside a private room with sofas, tables, and drinks, Alicia met with an elven woman who was literally the next in line to the Alsatian throne. Worst of all, beside her was an elven knight.

So far, the introductions and greetings went very well between both sides, but Alicia was feeling mildly nervous about all of this. While she had no doubt about her [Polymorph] spell failing her, Alicia was worried about appearing suspicious to the crown princess. Considering her position in this country, which was an utter behemoth, Alicia had to make sure that she watched her tongue well lest she offend someone of high standing.

The last thing she wanted was for any complication to affect the long-term plans she had had here. And so, cautiously, Alicia waited for the crown princess, Lucille, to make her first move. Upon being served tea by her knight, the elf immediately relaxed on her seat and spoke.

"So, Ms. Kasperska," Lucille started.

"I sincerely apologize for making you wait for so long. I know that the letter sent to me by the Adventurer's Guild was left unanswered for many days already. I hope my conduct hasn't annoyed you too much."

"Of course not," Alicia replied, maintaining her composure. Though, internally, she did have to admit she was a bit miffed at being ignored for many days.

"So, about the monster cores…"

"How many of them do you have? You said they're high-grade? What grade are they?"

"May I show you a sample?"

"Please do." Alicia then took something from her handbag. It was an A-grade core, one of the few cores of such quality that she didn't turn into her artificial spirits. She handled it like an expensive gem, cautiously placing it on the table so Lucille and her knight could take a good look. With a smile, Alicia explained what it was.

"This is an A-grade core," Alicia said.

"I have dozens of them. For the other lower grades, I have hundreds. Most of them are B or C-grade cores."

"... Your Highness," the elven knight who was standing behind Lucille stared with wide eyes at the A-grade core.

"That—""Yes." Lucille smiled a bit.

"It's the real thing. Ms. Kasperska, how did you acquire so many of them? I've heard that such monster cores are only found in extremely dangerous dungeons that can only be taken by many soldiers." Alicia simply shrugged, closing her eyes as she smiled and refused to give an answer.

"No can do, Your Highness. I'm afraid I have to guard my sources to keep myself competitive," Alicia replied.

"I see…" Lucille sighed to herself, visibly disappointed.

"I wonder, are the monster cores you're willing to sell a one-time deal?"

"No. I am in fact trying to find clients willing to buy a steady supply of these high-grade cores. It would be ideal for me if you were one of those." Lucille gently poked the monster core on the table.

"Then you found the right person. Most conventional businesses use magic crystals. Even the average mage will find it much better to rely on a staff or wand that features magic crystals as a foci for spellcasting. They're incredibly cheap compared to monster cores, so only people who need the specialized properties of monster cores will buy them over magic crystals," Lucille explained.

"You won't find many buyers like me. I'll buy A-grade cores for twenty ducats each, B-grade cores for ten ducats each, and C-grade cores at five ducats each."

"That's too low." Alicia frowned, realizing that Lucille intended to make use of her leverage as one of the few monster core bulk buyers available. Of course, Alicia wasn't going to let that happen so easily.

"I cannot sell that far below market prices."

"I understand. But most people buying it in the market are only buying it in low quantities, because monster cores are a worse industrial input than magic crystals, so you're going to struggle selling your monster cores anyway."

"I have no need to sell it to one buyer, Your Highness. I can easily just diversify and find multiple buyers."

"It's not 'easier.' Assuming that you're selling more than a hundred monster cores, that means you'll have to find dozens of buyers, and again, I told you, monster cores are largely just an input for magical research. This isn't a massive market."

"Then I'll hire people to find buyers for me, even outside of this city if need be." Already, the princess's knight seemed visibly annoyed that Alicia refused Lucille's deal, but Alicia was adamant about this. She had seen the prices of monster cores earlier. She wanted something closer to that if she was going to sell, because she needed a lot of money for a steel mill. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Alicia stood up, taking the monster core sample with her, bowing as she did.

"I can't sell at these prices," Alicia said.

"Sorry, I'll go find other people."

"Wait." Lucille also stood up.

"Don't you think that it will be pointless to invest money, time, and effort finding other buyers? You'll waste money in the process and cut your profit margins."

"That may be so, but you're just the first buyer I talked to for me to consider this offer. I would like to see the competition first."

"Fine. I'm going to pay you twenty-two ducats per A-grade core, twelve ducats per B-grade core, and six ducats per C-grade core. Will that suffice?" Alicia shook her head.

"Sorry, it's still below market prices, Your Highness," Alicia refused.

"I can add more to it. I'll draft a one-year contract where I'll buy your monster core shipments constantly as they come. Ms. Kasperska, I assure you that you will not find a single buyer willing to do this for you," Lucille said, way too insistent. Naturally, Alicia picked up on that. For someone who kept insisting that Alicia wouldn't find other buyers like her—and she was partially right—Lucille seemed strangely desperate to keep Alicia here.

Lucille's offer of buying Alicia's monster cores for one year proved that. That meant Alicia also had leverage here. She must really need my monster cores, huh?

"That sounds good." Alicia nodded, and Lucille's eyes widened at this ray of hope until Alicia suddenly shook her head anyway.

"But the prices are still too low. I'm sorry."

"You're way too stubborn, Ms. Kasperska. Alright, let's raise the prices again. I can pay you twenty-eight ducats per A-grade core, fourteen ducats per B-grade core, eight ducats per C-grade core, and I'll even buy D-grade cores at a ducat each. Will this suffice?" Hmm, that's quite a jump from her earlier offer. Alicia looked back at the market prices she saw earlier. Lucille was now only lowballing her by a few ducats in every grade, and she was pretty sure that D-grade cores didn't cost a ducat each.

She's clearly giving me the sweetest deal possible… If I push her any further, I might lose her as a customer.

"Okay. Deal." Alicia nodded, sitting again on the sofa.

"Finally." Lucille let out a sigh of relief as she returned to her seat.

"Let's hammer out the details." Alicia nodded, but then she noticed Lucille's knight giving Alicia the death stare. Alicia just smiled innocently in response. While the princess didn't seem completely out of her depth at negotiating, Alicia eventually realized just how desperate Lucille was, and so Alicia took full advantage of that. While Alicia didn't know for sure what reasons Lucille had for even buying monster cores in the first place when magic crystals existed, she was satisfied with these results.

If she could maintain a constant supply of monster cores sold to Lucille, her plans to bring technology, materials, and advanced magic equipment to Orevogorsk would be easy. Of course, she would have to scale up and sell other high-value goods as well as time passed, but this was a good starting point. For a few minutes, both Alicia and Lucille worked to write down the terms of their contract. When that was done, Alicia calculated how much Lucille would pay for the monster cores that Alicia had in her inventory.

"All in all, if you were to buy all of the monster cores I have right now, that would be 7, 278 ducats in total," Alicia victoriously declared.

"I'm going to need to shift things around to finance this one," Lucille said, visibly weary.

"It's going to take me until tomorrow to bring the money to you."

"That's completely fine, Your Highness. Please take your time."

"My, it's been a long day, and another task is piled on my desk. I'm going to take my leave now. Goodbye, Ms. Kasperska. It was nice to work with you."

"Goodbye too, Your Highness. It's an honor to do business with you." With that, both Alicia and the princess shook hands one last time. Then, Lucille stood up, and Alicia stood up to give her a respectful bow. When they were gone from the room, Alicia immediately collapsed on the sofa while pumping her fist.

"Hahahaha! All my experience paid off!" Alicia stared at the ceiling with a wide grin on her face.

"Look at me, Dad. I'm doing actual business deals now too. Can you believe it?" I should definitely buy myself a good treat tonight. I heard they sell lobsters nearby… Alicia giggled happily to herself. Seven thousand ducats, secured. Even more later on as she sold more and more monster cores to Lucille. This was beyond perfect.

Of course, she should probably check on Lucille later on and take a peek at whatever project she was working on—she didn't want her to make something that might get turned on by the Vaelrin, after all. But, for now, it was all good. Just you wait for me, Maxim. Soon, Alicia was going to have an integrated steel mill in her domain. That she was sure of.

"I don't think she's what she claims to be." Lucille's knight, Dame Lorraine Victora de Flanders, frowned as the two walked in the hallway of the Adventurer's Guild.

"To acquire that many monster cores means she has the backing of someone with significant military force."

"I know. That's why I'm not too disappointed about this deal, even if it's not the most optimal one." Lucille smiled a bit.

"Are you really that worried?"

"I warned you. Most people selling things on the Adventurer's Guild are shady. Of course I'm worried."

"You're going to start digging up her records and whatnot, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. It's a must to protect you, Lady Lucille. Not just that, I'm going to look into ongoing dungeon-clearing operations. I'll find where the source is." Lucille suddenly stopped. Then, she looked back at Lorraine with a tiny sigh.

"You're too overprotective of me," Lucille said, shaking her head.

"Look, I know she's not malicious." Lucille had a divine blessing called [Moral Foresight], something that allowed her to easily discern the morals of every person she interacted with. It was an ability Lorraine knew as well, but her knight was not the type to be easily swayed by Lucille's ability when it came to potential threats.

"Your Highness, I can tell that you're relying too much on your divine blessing again," Lorraine warned.

"I'm not blind, Lorraine. I know that Ms. Kasperska is clearly hiding something, yes. Your intuition isn't wrong. But she's not a bad person. I can even tell that she's doing this business not for personal gain, but because she needs it to protect people important to her."

"... Are you sure of this?"

"I am not sure of the details. My [Moral Foresight] cannot tell me that. But this I am sure of, yes. Please don't dig too much into her yet. I don't want to drive her away, especially if she becomes the lifeline for my project."

"We cannot be too reliant on her."

"Indeed. But have you considered that she too will be reliant of us?" Lucille smiled.

"The fact that she's hiding even when her intentions are pure means that there's an incentive for her to keep her head down and do honest business with us, lest she attract hostile attention," Lucille explained.

"It also means she needs someone willing to look away from her imperfections to reduce risks to her business. I will be that person to her, and that will be my leverage."

"You're playing with fire, Your Highness. You're dealing with someone who claims to have nearly a thousand high-grade monster cores." Lorraine shook her head, still clearly skeptical.

"I apologize, but I can't treat someone so dangerous so lightly."

"If that's the case, then wouldn't it be best for us to remain in her good graces? Again, it's unlikely for her to become an enemy of ours, so why should we treat her like one?"

"... Alright. If you believe that she's fine to work with, then I'll believe in you."

"Thank you. I'm glad I can always rely on you, Lorraine." The next day, Alicia waited again at the Adventurer's Guild for the princess. She arrived at around 10: 00 AM, handing a signed check to Alicia. Naturally, Alicia went to the bank she was newly registered on to confirm the transfer, and indeed, 7, 278 ducats were in it. It was a massive victory, so she happily guided both Lucille and her knight Lorraine to her house, where Alicia kept all the monster cores in durable cargo crates.

The two of them briefly inspected the monster cores, which numbered nearly a thousand, and Alicia could tell that the princess was in positive spirits upon seeing them. She didn't seem to be clueless about them either. Alicia suspected that Lucille was some sort of an expert at using monster cores, since she could accurately appraise each one of them well. By afternoon, two six-wheeled cargo wagons pulled by majestic land drakes arrived at Alicia's house.

Workers began hauling crate after crate into the wagons, and to Alicia's surprise, Lucille was actively directing her men like some kind of foreman. It was a strange dichotomy to her dress and appearance, which made her look like a fragile flower rather than someone supervising manual labor, but she supposed Lucille was just that diligent. But most importantly, she hired imps as well. There were only four of them, and they seemed like young teens at around the ages of sixteen to seventeen.

Unlike the teenage Vaelrin workers she saw in other places, though, these imps seemed to be in good condition. Their clothes were of the same quality as Lucille's human workers, they weren't dirty, and they seemed well-fed and in good spirits. Of course, Alicia made no comments about this, but inside, she felt a bit warm. She was quite anxious last night that she was about to sell monster cores to someone with nefarious motives, but right now, Lucille seemed like a decent person to work with.

"And that's all of it." Lucille placed a checkmark on her clipboard with a smile.

"We should be good to go now, Ms. Kasperska."

"I hope you're satisfied with this batch. I'm definitely going to get you more of them soon," Alicia promised.

"I'm looking forward to that. Anyhow…" Suddenly, Lucille took Alicia's hand and shook it.

"Thank you so much for this help. I have been in dire straits for a while now, but you truly dug me out of a hole. I appreciate that." Lucille smiled brightly.

"... I just sold you monster cores." Alicia wasn't sure why Lucille was suddenly acting too friendly. Didn't they just meet yesterday?

"But you're welcome. I am glad to be of help."

"If you need help, just tell me," Lucille said.

"If you think our partnership can be more than just buying and selling monster cores, I am very much open to anything. That, and if anyone tries to bother you in this country, tell them that the crown princess has your back. I'll personally see to it that you'll experience no disruption while conducting business here." Oh? Is that so? Alicia briefly debated whether to ask for this or not.

She was planning to shop around and find other partners willing to sell equipment, material, parts, blueprints, and every other little thing that Maxim placed on their steel mill's requirement draft. But, now that she thought about it, having the crown princess help her out would make this much easier, no?

"Your Highness, do you know people who are involved in constructing steel mills?" Alicia suddenly asked.

"Steel mills?" Lucille asked, curious.

"I'm planning to open a few factories outside of Alsatia, and I'm wondering where to start. My country does have the technology to build them, but it's too costly there, and I believe in the superiority of Alsatian magecraft and science. I need that to outcompete people in my homeland."

"Interesting. I'll ask around to see if there are people who can help you with that. Can you give me another day, perhaps?"

"Of course."

"Wonderful. I've got to go now, though, so goodbye!"

"Goodbye too, Your Highness." With that, Lucille left, rushing back to her wagons while Alicia waved goodbye to her. Today was a tiring day, but Alicia felt like she made good progress. When Lucille's wagons were gone, and the sun began to set, Alicia lowered her hand, muttering to herself in disbelief. No way. Did I just make friends with an elf?