"Generally speaking, for a young nobleman who has just become a knight-errant, it's a taboo to talk about things all day long." Laing continued, "At this stage, don't reveal your thoughts and plans too early. Talk less, do more, listen more, learn more, and learn more. Learn more about how the whole kingdom works, how the dukes control their territories, what they usually do, how the king unifies the kingdom, and how to deal with problems."
"Okay." After listening to Laing's guidance, Fedmond had a new understanding. "So, when you first came to the kingdom, Mr. Laing, you chose to accept most of the king's orders and difficulties?"
"You should know that Richard and I don't get along." Leon nodded. "But I am his vassal, and he bestowed me with the title of ruler and taught me the sword. There are some things that cannot be changed by one person's will. In our confrontation, he abides by the basic rules, and so do I. Sometimes, we need to know how to advance a little and fight for our own benefits. But sometimes, we need to know how to take a step back and leave some space for each other. The relationship between people is not as simple as a battle between champions and death."
"For example, a paragraph is made up of ten sentences. Sometimes, we only need to say eight sentences, because we all know the ten sentences in our hearts."
"Sometimes, we have to say ten sentences, because this passage is made up of ten sentences. It can't be faked. Ten sentences are ten sentences."
"Sometimes, we only know eight sentences, but we also need to say ten sentences, because as lords, nobles, and knights of the Holy Grail, we should know ten sentences."
"Fedmond, you have to know the scale yourself. That's all I can say." Laing concluded. "You have to experience the difference yourself."
"One last thing, Fedmond. How many knights are there in Brittany? How many of them can become knights of the Holy Grail? "
After that, Ryan didn't say anything else. He gave Fedmond enough time to think about it.
The knight of the Holy Grail closed his arms, and his face was full of uncertainty.
Laing waited for him calmly. He also bought two sandwiches from a vendor and gave one to Fedmond.
So the two knights of the Holy Grail ate sandwiches in the corner of the central garden of Magritte.
"How boring," Laing thought to himself.
After a long time, Fedmond finally sighed. The knight of the Holy Grail looked into the distance as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He said sincerely, "You're worthy of the title of a human hero, Mr. Laing. Father was right. right."
"It's not hard to figure it out." Laing shook his head. He looked at the noble children playing below and smiled. "It's just a matter of time. You have the accumulation of the Holy Grail Expedition. What you lack now is someone to help you. That's enough."
"Hmm … Next, we will be meeting with the leader of the Estalia Merchant Alliance, Amancio Perez, as well as the Grand Mentor of the Magritte Knights, Enzo Moretti. Then, according to the relationship between friend and foe, Amancio Perez should be someone we can fight for, while Grand Mentor of the Magritte Knights, Enzo Moretti, should be our enemy?" After thinking for a while, Fedmond tried to ask. "Merchants pursue profit. According to what you said, they don't want to see the trade route completely cut off. So, they should play the role of negotiators. They should be people we can win over, while the Magritte Knights want to seize Poseidon's Trident. They should be our enemy?"
"Ha …" Laing laughed after listening to Fedmond's consideration. He grinned and nodded. "It's an improvement compared to your previous idea, but it's still wrong."
"Wrong?" Fedmond frowned.
"Yes, it's wrong." Laing nodded lightly. His expression became serious. "First, let's talk about merchants."
"The essence of a merchant is a person who engages in trading goods or commercial activities. Everything they do is to earn more profit. So, the environment that merchants desire is a special kind of environment." Laing patiently explained the cause and effect of the matter to Fedmond. "First of all, merchants need basic order because the basic order, especially the inviolability of citizens' property, can guarantee that their hard-earned wealth will not be taken away by others. In this world, there are many cases where there is legal protection, and this kind of situation still happens frequently. So, merchants need this even more."
"But merchants don't want to see a world that is like a stagnant pool of water. If a kilogram of wheat is worth two silver coins in Nord and two silver coins in Estalia, then merchants will lose the motivation to trade. Not only will they not make much profit, but they will also have to pay for the transportation, the hiring of guards, and other expenses. So, they need chaos. They need some kind of chaos that can make the price fluctuate and allow them to buy low and sell high. The chaos must be big enough because then there will be more profit. But the chaos must not be too big because once they can't trade, everything will be for naught."
"Merchants are always greedy." Fedmond nodded to show that he understood.
"A kilogram of wheat can be sold for eighty copper coins in the rich Winford Duchy, but it can be sold for five silver coins in Nord." Laing closed his eyes and nodded. "But if the trade route is cut off, Amancio Perez won't be able to make a single copper coin. And your family and your Sea God fleet can do this without a doubt. So, we can be sure that Amancio wants to be a mediator."
Fedmond couldn't help but cheer in his heart. He felt that he had been recognized.
"But this is still not the whole problem, Fedmond. We need to think further." Laing crossed his fingers and looked at the prosperous Estalia market, where many rare treasures of the old world were sold. "Port Bordero is a famous deep-water port, and Amancio Perez is the leader of the Estalia Merchant Alliance. If the Duke of Bordero can open up this trade route and reach a trade agreement with Amancio, think about how much profit you can make."
"A win-win deal! Father will definitely not object! "Fedmond's eyes lit up. He immediately got up and walked back and forth excitedly." Yes! Yes！ Yes, after the Invincible Fleet was destroyed, the trade between Bordero and Estalia was cut off. As long as we can restore this trade route, we can bring in at least five hundred crowns of profit every year! Yes! This is a win-win deal! That merchant can't refuse. In other words, not only is he someone we can rope in, he will also become our friend and trading partner! "
"You are Bodrick's eldest son. Only you can sign a trade agreement." Laing nodded with satisfaction. "This is a merchant."
"And the Magritte Knights? This group of knights originally had nothing to do with us, but they overstepped their boundaries! They actually ordered the rogue knights to steal Poseidon's Trident! " After Fedmond thought about this problem, he fell into a dilemma. "What will the grand tutor of the knights say to us? The moment he chose to steal Poseidon's Trident, we were destined to be enemies. "
"Facing the Magritte Knights, an underground organization that has been hidden for hundreds of years, we have to be careful. Because if we take a wrong step, we can trigger an all-out war." Laing agreed with Fedmond's opinion. "So, we have to analyze this meeting from the perspective of the Magritte Knights. First, what is the main reason why we and the Magritte Knights will meet on the battlefield?"
"They ordered the rogue knights to steal Poseidon's Trident," Fedmond replied immediately.
"Then why would the Magritte Knights order the rogue knights to steal the Trident? What is the fundamental reason for this conflict and our expedition to Estalia?" Laing continued asking.
"The Magritte Knights believe that obtaining Poseidon's Trident will help them in their expedition to Araby. The knights' ultimate goal is to conquer Araby and take the initiative to attack, completely eliminating all threats in the south." Fedmond thought seriously. "Wait … Perhaps we can have a chat with that grand tutor. We don't really want to fight to the death!"
"That's right!" Laing nodded seriously. "Do you still remember the vampire from the Lemia family that you killed that day? Obviously, this is a scheme of the vampires. I have a theory that Poseidon's Trident can help the Magritte Knights in their expedition to Araby because of the rumors spread by these vampires. "
"The undead are always so despicable!" Fedmond lowered his head. "I say … Sir Laing, according to your analysis, the Magritte Knights … may not be our enemy."
"Continue, Fedmond, continue." Laing nodded repeatedly. Fedmond had grown very quickly.
"The Magritte Knights' goal is to conquer Araby. This has no fundamental conflict with us, so we only need to tell the grand tutor of the knights, Enzo Moretti, that Poseidon's Trident will not help them in their expedition to Araby. On the contrary, if anyone without the blood of the sea god dares to use this divine weapon, they will incur the wrath of the sea god. Enzo Moretti should know what to do." Fedmond immediately understood what Laing meant.
"Not only that." Laing continued. The count stood up. "Fedmond, don't forget that the Brittany also has two expeditionary forces in Araby. From this point of view, we are natural allies!"
"If they fight us to the end, not only will the Magritte Knights not be able to get the help of Poseidon's Trident, they will also make a strong enemy out of nothing. They will also have to face the pressure of the sea god's fleet in the future. But if we sit down and talk, we will find that this is just a misunderstanding. Not only are we not enemies, but we are friends. We have goals that do not conflict with each other. In the Flaming Red Expedition, we were once brothers of knights who fought side by side. Now, we can also continue this friendship."
As soon as these words fell, the dark clouds that had been lingering in Fedmond's heart for a long time finally dispersed. In such a complicated relationship, Laing had analyzed it one by one, using his prestige and complicated interpersonal relationships to analyze the core interests. In this whirlpool, Laing had found the right direction and solution to the problem.
Fedmond was so impressed that he was speechless. The Knight of the Holy Grail paused for a moment and then said, "Mr. Laing, since the merchant is our friend, and Magritte is also our friend, then who is our enemy?"
"Our enemy?" Laing smiled. "Our enemy, from the beginning to the end, is only that group of rogue knights and those vampires who are trying to sow discord."
"This is diplomacy, isn't it?" Fedmond said thoughtfully. "Will Mr. Laing try to avoid war through diplomacy?"
"No, this is only for humans. At most, there will be dwarves and elves." Laing shook his head and smiled. "If I'm facing Chaos or Green Skin, I usually won't say so much. I'll just say one sentence."
"What sentence?"
"Your horse is dead, and then we can start the war."
"Hahahahaha!"
Fedmond laughed out loud, and even the depression that had accumulated over the days disappeared. "I like this way of expressing myself."
"Okay, we've been outside for long enough. It's time to go back and prepare."
"Okay."
Laing and Fedmond left the central garden and returned to the Magritte State Guesthouse.
Opening the door of the large suite, Laing noticed that Alfred Frey was lying on the sofa. The Templar Knight's face was a little depressed. Seeing Laing and the others open the door and come in, Alfred Frey just raised his hand.
"How was it, Alfred? Did it go well? Did you get her contact information? Do you know which mailbox you should send a letter to when you send it to her? "Laing joked.
"It didn't go well, good friend. Miss Claudia said that she didn't plan to leave Magritte for the time being, and she still has to work, so she couldn't agree to go out with me. I could only stand at the front desk and chat with her for a while." Alfred Frey was a little depressed. "Of course, during the chat, I could feel that she was very polite to me, but also very distant. Obviously, she wasn't very interested in me. We talked about some things in life."
"Oh, so what did she say?" Laing took out a bottle of sherry wine from the wine cabinet in the room, poured three glasses in a glass, and handed them to Alfred Frey and Fedmond.
"She said … she's still young and doesn't plan to leave Magritte. She wants to continue her career, meet more people, and enrich herself." Alfred Frey took the glass of sherry wine. "She wants to let nature take its course when it comes to relationships."
"This is actually a form of rejection, Alfred Frey. We have to respect this lady's choice." Fedmond nodded. One of the most important virtues of a knight was respect for women.
"Let's be clear, Alfred. Did Miss Claudia name her price?" Laing asked with a half-smile.
"Name her price?" Alfred Frey didn't quite understand.
"Did she say what she wants if she wants a boyfriend?" Laing continued.
"Yes … She wants her future boyfriend to have a villa or castle no smaller than 150 square meters and an annual income of no less than 800 crowns. He also has to have a high-quality mount, a mixed-blood elven warhorse or above. Apart from that, he has to be handsome enough and have a noble title above that of a knight …" The more Alfred spoke, the more depressed he became. "There's a lot more …"
"Do you think she's worth that price?" Laing asked calmly.
"Sir Ryan, I don't think it's appropriate for you to comment on a young lady like that …" Fedmond interrupted Ryan. The Grail Knight was a bit displeased. "How can you comment on this young lady like she's a commodity?"
"She's already given herself a price, Fedmond. She already sees herself as a commodity. How can she still talk about respect and chivalry?" Ryan's words made Fedmond shut his mouth. "You can only choose one of the two. It's either a respectful exchange or a fair trade."
"Good friend! I really like her. I know you're the best at dealing with women. Help me, alright? "Alfred Frey said as if he was grasping at straws.
"Hey … Alfred, where's your morning class?" Laing asked with a pained expression.
"That's my life's wish!"
"Your life's wish is to be a bootlicker?! Isn't that too cheap?! "
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