Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

"What is the difference between these two ledgers? The difference lies in the fact that one of the ledgers recorded all the transactions of bulk purchases of goods like sulfur and saltpeter by Navarre Commerce over the past two months, while the other has had most of the transaction records erased, leaving only a small portion of the content."

Lady Navarre slammed the ledger onto the desk, "Mr. Lodovico, your idea was perfect. You handed over the goods purchased by Navarre Commerce to your brother-in-law, intending to profit handsomely by selling them off with the fake ledger if the price of these bulk goods rose. If the price fell, you would present the real ledger and let the firm bear the loss."

Anna noticed Lady Navarre was signaling her with her eyes. Understanding her mother's intent, she obediently took up the ledgers and offered them to the senior partners present, but no one dared to take a closer look. She completed a circuit and brought the ledgers back.

"What exactly have I done to be treated with such disrespect by you?" Lady Navarre's tone was icy: "You have worked in the Navarre family for over a decade and are the most senior partner. I trusted you, yet you betrayed my trust. Do you have anything else to say?"

Ever since Lady Navarre took out the two ledgers, Lodovico had kept his head deeply bowed, with no one knowing what the eldest employee was thinking.

Moments later, he raised his head and regained his composure and calm, "The ledgers are not about truth or falsity, one is merely my projection. The goods purchased by Navarre Commerce only amount to what is in the warehouse, which corresponds exactly with the actual ledger. I haven't misappropriated any of the firm's money for personal gain. Since you no longer trust me, please allow me to resign."

Lodovico calmly adjusted his clothes, put on his hat, and stood up intending to leave. In this moment, he became the principal partner in Navarre Commerce, second to none and above all others.

"Why are you still stubbornly denying everything? Do you hope Mr. Yano will continue to take your side, and once you leave here, you can dispose of the goods to cover the deficit?" Lady Navarre asked slowly and methodically.

The senior partners erupted into an uproar, not expecting Lady Navarre to point out yet another major rat. Another tall and lean senior partner was pushed out of the crowd, bowing awkwardly to Lady Navarre, his mouth opening and closing. In the end, he chose to play mute and said nothing.

"You are now complacent, simply because you believe your accounts are impeccable, not a single silver coin missing from the firm's funds. But you mortgaged the inventory of cloth as the capital to purchase these bulk goods, do you think I wouldn't find out?" Lady Navarre then drew several documents from her drawer, asking with a smile.

Lodovico replied politely, "Mortgaging the firm's inventory without permission was Mr. Yano's personal action, I fail to see what this has to do with me. You should hold Mr. Yano accountable."

"Madam! I never thought of embezzling the firm's money! It was Lodovico who said he needed some money to tide over, that's why I did it!" Yano, realizing he had been betrayed, shouted, "Lodovico lured me! He's the devil!"

Yano charged at Lodovico, "You devil..."

Lodovico met him head-on with a punch that knocked the tall and lean Yano to the ground, who then clutched his face and moaned in pain as blood flowed from between his fingers. The sight made Anna cry out in shock.

"How embarrassing," Lodovico said, graciously taking off his hat, bowing to the people in the room as if he was truly sorry for losing his composure in public, "Mr. Yano is not my partner, there is only a creditor-debtor relationship between us, with a promissory note as evidence. As for where the money Mr. Yano lent me came from, haha, I personally had no knowledge."

Having said this, Lodovico put his hat back on and turned to leave the place.

A round of applause came from behind the desk.

"Splendid, truly splendid, Mr. Lodovico," said Lady Navarre as she clapped and smiled, "You've crafted a complete narrative that clears you of all charges on a legal basis. Even if I were to accuse you, you could use this as your defense in court. But you've made one mistake..."

Lady Navarre's tone shifted, "I may be unreasonable."

Lady Navarre pressed the bell on her desk, and under the command of an army officer, several fierce-looking soldiers emerged from the adjacent room.

The soldiers immediately approached and grasped Lodovico, who shouted and resisted briefly before one hit him hard across the face with a lead-filled baton.

Lodovico, half-dead from the blow, was then tightly bound.

Lady Navarre gracefully walked up to Lodovico and, looking down at him with cold disdain said, "Navarre Commerce had already signed a trade agreement with the army two months ago. You were not selling off my goods, you were trading military supplies. So, take your reasoning to a military court, Mr. Lodovico!"

The army officer nodded to Lady Navarre and took Lodovico and Yano away.

Having witnessed the widow's prowess, the remaining senior partners of Navarre Commerce were now silent as chickens.

"Mr. Leo," called Lady Navarre, pointing to another senior partner.

Unease spread through the crowd, could it be that Lady Navarre was taking this opportunity to reshuffle the deck?
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A portly man of average height stood up, bending at the waist to pay his obsequious respects to Lady Navarre with a sycophantic smile.

"You will take over Lodovico's responsibilities, while middle partner Piero will take over your current position. The rest of you may leave, Mr. Leo, please stay behind."

The crowd breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed this matter was, for the moment, closed.

After the other partners left, the portly Mr. Leo tentatively asked, "Madam, shall we then continue with the original plan to purchase sulfur, saltpeter, and the like? The prices are already very high."

"Continue, the future prices will be even higher," Lady Navarre replied wearily, leaning back in her chair and resting her forehead on her hand.

———CUT———

"I think there was no need to treat Mr. Lodovico that way, it was too cruel... After all, he has been a friend of our family for many years, and he has even held Kate..." Anna said in a soft voice inside the carriage on their way home.

"You... After all these years of teaching, do you still not understand?" Lady Navarre sighed, "The world outside the family is a man's world, thus a woman needs to be more masculine than a man to avoid being looked down upon. If your father were still here, would Lodovico dare to do such a thing? Therefore, I must be even more ruthless and heartless than your father, in order to protect our family's wealth. Remember this in your heart."

"Why don't you teach Catherine instead?" Anna muttered under her breath, "She really likes doing business. You took me to the commerce house, and she was nearly green with envy. I think it's not too late to start teaching her now, she'd be very willing. Why does it have to be me? I don't even like looking at ledgers. Wouldn't it be better to let the right person do the right job?"

Lady Navarre sighed again, "What your sister likes is the feeling of being able to order people around. When your two sisters get married, I will prepare a very large dowry for each of them, making them the wives with the most generous dowries in Sea Blue City, but I cannot let Kate manage the commerce house."

Anna pouted and huffed softly.

Seeing her daughter still very unconvinced, Lady Navarre seriously warned Anna, "Listen well, managing Navarre Commerce is not a power, but a responsibility. It's a parent's responsibility, and once you take it on, you have to take care of your two sisters for life."

Lady Navarre fell into memories and continued, "When you were young and fought with your sister, it was you who got scratched, but it was Catherine who came crying to me. You didn't shed a single tear. I realized then that your sister is a flower that can only bloom in the full summer; if the times turn bad, Catherine won't survive on her own. That's why I chose you."

"I don't want to take care of Catherine for life," Anna said defiantly, "Taking care of Olivia is one thing, Catherine... Catherine doesn't need my care, and she never saw me as her sister."

Lady Navarre adjusted her daughter's hair and said with a smile, "When you both grow up, you will look back at the fights with your sister as beautiful memories."

The carriage drove out of the suburbs and returned to Navarre Manor.

The butler helped the lady and young miss out of the carriage, and reported in a soft voice, "General Serviati and Mr. Montaigne are waiting at the residence... It seems Mr. Montaigne is here for Miss Anna."