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

The Renaissance of the North (1)

“No matter how you look at it… the Emperor himself made a direct oath. And in front of everyone, no less. If something happens within the Empire, regardless of where the blame lies, it would significantly tarnish the Imperial prestige.”

Despite explaining in such detail, Gard still looked unconvinced.

“Your argument is quite plausible, but it’s not guaranteed, is it?”

Mary, too, seemed relieved that I wasn’t planning to go to the Empire, yet her expression remained uneasy.

“At times like these, you have to think from the opponent’s perspective. Especially from that scheming, shadowy Emperor Canbraman’s point of view.”

Seeing their skepticism, I decided to elaborate further.

I listed out scenarios I might consider if I were the Emperor.

“Honestly, even though it feels strange to say this about myself, from the Empire’s standpoint, just eliminating me, Arad, would make it much easier to conquer the North. The Emperor’s dignity? The Church’s disgrace? The Magic Tower’s reputation? Do you think they really care about that? Sacrificing a bit of face to deal with the North’s sorcerers would be a bargain in their eyes.”

The two of them listened intently, completely absorbed in my words.

“If the Empire, the Church, and the Magic Tower collude, they could easily fabricate a justification. What if a plague broke out in the places I stayed or passed through? What if there was a massive uprising? Or what if marauding bands formed of Northerners appeared?”

“!!”

“!!”

“If I were the Emperor—or the Tower Lord or Archbishop—I would act like that without hesitation.”

The Emperor of the Empire, the Archbishop, and the Tower Lord even made an oath. No matter how hostile the relationship might be, it would be hard to ignore… yeah, right.

This is the North.

And I am Arad Jin, who smashes through clichés like a blizzard tearing across the tundra.

“It’s enough meddling just helping Mary and Arina connect! Hmph!”

I wasn’t going to recklessly seek adventure or sightseeing like other cliché stories.

Absolutely not! It wasn’t because I was too lazy to travel all the way to the capital.

“For non-combatants, venturing outside the North is dangerous!”

What? Am I not curious about the rest of this world beyond the North?

Honestly, I’m more curious about how my business back on Earth is doing!

“Indeed… the Emperor might very well act like that.”

Mary finally seemed convinced, nodding with her deep gray eyes showing she had taken my words seriously.

At last, my recital of all the worst-case scenarios seemed to have sunk in.

Whew.

She had, at some point, taken up her pipe and was puffing on it.

“Fine, let’s concede that most of Count Jin’s guesses are correct.”

But Gard was still unwilling to relent.

“The issue is… how do we explain this to the Emperor? After making such a grand oath, if we don’t go, relations between the Empire and the North will be over.”

In response to Gard’s concern, I proposed a simple solution.

“Just don’t send envoys for a while.”

“…What?”

“For now, there’s nothing pressing that requires a trip to the Empire, right? Even if something does come up, let’s just not go. We’ll drag it out as long as possible.”

As I said that, a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

‘Could it be that the Emperor made this deal just to keep us from constantly sending envoys to the palace to extort them?’

It sounded oddly plausible… or maybe I was overthinking it.

‘Come on, be serious. No way the mighty Empire would pull something like that over a few coins.’

I shook my head inwardly and buried the thought.

“Still, at some point, we’ll have to send an envoy.”

“When that time comes, just ignore them. If the Emperor asks, tell him I was too stubborn and refused to go.”

“Do you think that’ll work?”

“What can they do? It’s not like they can invade the High Tower.”

“Haha!”

Gard let out a laugh—not one of admiration, but more out of disbelief at my brazenness.

“Then… if you were the Emperor, what would you do this time, excluding military options?”

At that moment, Mary asked in a serious tone.

“You mean if I ignored the goodwill of the Emperor, the Archbishop, and the Tower Lord?”

“Yes.”

“I’d impose economic sanctions.”

“Such as…?”

“I’d completely ban trade with the North. Or slap exorbitant taxes on all goods coming from the North.”

“!!”

“Of course, the Imperial nobility and merchants would protest, and the increased prices would upset the populace. So, they’d likely make it temporary—at most, a year or so.”

Mary and Gard’s faces hardened even more than before.

“But that’s just the beginning.”

“There’s more?”

“If it were only about cutting off our exports, we might manage. But what if they stopped us from importing essentials like food or cotton?”

“…!”

“Within a year, the North would descend into chaos. If the Empire catches a cold, the North gets cancer.”

The more reliant the North is on the Empire, the greater the damage. The Emperor likely wouldn’t play this card right away. Instead, he’d wait until the Northern economy was entirely dependent on the Empire—then strike.

‘Honestly, Crown Prince Julian is the scariest of them all.’

I had learned nearly everything about what happened in the Imperial Palace from Gard.

That included the details of Julian’s conversations.

‘He said he wanted to treat the North with sunlight instead of a storm?’

To me, that was more threatening than the Emperor himself asking to see me.

‘That’s classic appeasement policy, isn’t it?’

It was the same approach that failed spectacularly for a certain country back on Earth.

Instead of fostering peace, it helped them build nuclear weapons, leaving an indelible mark on world history.

But that was only because the counterpart was an utterly deranged government with a psychopathic leader.

Here in the Northern Grand Duchy, the government and ruler were remarkably normal and rational.

“Beware of kindness disguised as generosity… Now I understand why Lord Entir told me that.”

Gard spoke with a look of realization.

“Then, how should we prepare? Should we start stockpiling food and cotton immediately?”

“That’s necessary, but we need a more fundamental solution.”

No matter how excellent Northern products might be, they weren’t essential goods.

Northern salt, porcelain, art, even Mary’s blessings—all of them were more like luxuries. The Empire could easily trade with other countries instead.

The Empire’s domestic market was also the continent’s strongest, making it self-sufficient.

“And what would that solution be?”

“Establishing new trade routes.”

The North, in contrast, was entirely reliant on the Empire for trade.

If trade with the Empire ceased, the flow of money would stop. For the North, which was just beginning to develop a capitalist economy, that would be a nightmare.

“So, Mary, how about joining me on a business trip?”

“A business trip? Where to?”

“You’ve never been to Jin County, have you?”

“Wait, are you suggesting… establishing a maritime trade route?”

Mary and Gard instantly grasped the meaning behind my words.

“If you’re considering the High Tower’s old greenhouse barriers, you might want to reconsider.”

“That’s right. Even for you, Count Jin, this would be impossible. The distance from the Frozen Sea to unfrozen waters is enormous.”

“Aside from the cost, there’s no telling what unforeseen consequences might arise, like with the greenhouse farms.”

“The Frozen Sea is teeming with formidable monsters of the extreme North. And if you travel along the southern coastline, you’ll encounter the Abyss of the Enchanted Forest. Who knows what horrors lie there?”

The two of them took turns vehemently opposing the idea.

They had plenty of valid reasons to do so.