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Translator: penny
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: The Brewed Steel
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"Duke Alfonso! Are you out of your mind?!"
The grand conference room at the heart of the Theodore Ducal Family.
A beastly roar echoed through the solemn space meant for discussing grave family matters.
The one shouting was Count Kaiser, the Empire's Northern Army Supply Commander.
His leather-gloved fist slammed mercilessly onto the round table.
BAM!
"The front lines are on the verge of breaking! Soldiers are fighting with bare fists, and there's no support?!"
Kaiser's face was flushed beet red, as if it might explode.
"The northerners' axes cleave through rocks, while our soldiers wield rusted swords.
Don't you hear the screams of men dying after their blades snap and they resort to punches?"
Family Head Alfonso Theodore wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
He was called the Golden Duke, but in wartime, he was little more than a criminal.
"C-Commander. Calm down. We'll find a way. Even if we have to scour the family vaults..."
"A way? Spare me the nonsense! Open the family-owned iron ore mines right now!"
Kaiser pulled a document stamped with the emperor's seal from his pocket and slapped it onto the table.
"This is a royal decree. Under wartime requisition laws, we're seizing every last bit of iron ore from the Theodore Ducal Family's mines!"
Alfonso's pupils trembled.
"Th-that's... the mines have been sold."
The air in the conference room turned ice cold.
Count Kaiser's eyes narrowed like a predator's.
"What? Sold?"
"Well... a few days ago, the second son disposed of them in a rush."
"You mad fool. Selling off strategic resources? Who the hell bought them?!"
Kaiser's hand drifted toward the sword hilt at his waist.
Alfonso squeezed his eyes shut.
It was a disgrace to the family.
His second son, Nermang, had sold the mines for a pittance just to save his own skin,
and now supplies were cut off, threatening to collapse the front lines.
If this got back to the emperor, the Theodore family could face treason charges—the worst crisis imaginable.
'Ah... you foolish boy, Nermang...'
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hold the line! If it breaks, we're all dead!"
"Aaaagh! Help me!"
At the same time. The northern border's foremost frontline.
The northern sky was dumping white snow as always,
but unlike peacetime, the ground everywhere was a sticky mess churned with red blood.
In the middle of that hell.
One man huddled in the corner of a trench, trembling uncontrollably.
Just days ago, he'd been a noble sipping wine in a fine shirt.
Nermang Theodore.
But now? He was unrecognizable unless you looked real close.
His expensive armor was dented, his face caked in blood and filth.
Clang!
"Damn it all! This sword's rotted through! It won't cut—it won't cut!"
An imperial soldier swung a rusty, toothless blade and screamed in frustration.
The sword he trusted couldn't pierce the enemy's leather armor and snapped off with a dull thunk.
That cry was the soldier's last.
Splat!
A Bukan Kingdom warrior's axe claimed the imperial soldier's neck like a sacrificial offering.
The head spun through the air.
And from the severed stump, a red fountain gushed.
Drip drip.
Hot, sticky fluid rained down on Nermang's face like a shower.
"Eek...!"
Nermang couldn't even scream.
Blood-soaked, he clutched his head and curled up like a bug in the trench corner.
The "supplies" they'd issued were junk rusted away in storage for a decade.
In that dire moment, a memory flashed through Nermang's mind.
The massive iron ore mine he'd sold off dirt cheap.
If only he'd kept the iron ore mine.
If only they'd forged proper weapons from the ore, he wouldn't be facing death like a dog.
No... he wouldn't even be here. He'd be lounging safely in the rear!
"Iron ore... my iron ore...!!"
Dodging a hail of arrows, Nermang crawled through the mud, vomiting blood as he wailed.
"Me... I sold the golden goose for pennies! Traded it for shit! Uwaaaah!!"
Wracked with injustice and terror, he clawed at the ground.
"Eric... you damn con artist bastard! This is all your fault!!"
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"Find the buyer of that mine right now. Cut off that greedy bastard's head and reopen the..."
Commander Kaiser's rage had peaked.
Even Duke Alfonso fell silent in the face of it, and the retainers couldn't lift their heads.
The suffocating silence was broken then.
Creeeak.
The heavy conference room doors swung open without warning.
A light, cheerful clatter shattered the heavy quiet—wholly out of place.
Clink. Clink.
"Ah... too noisy. Can't even take a nap."
Mussed hair, pajamas topped with a loosely draped robe.
All eyes turned to the drowsy man at the door.
Eric stood there, pinky finger in his ear, one leg casually crossed.
Behind him, white-haired butler Alfred stood primly, holding a three-tiered snack tray and a steaming teapot.
"Eric...?"
Duke Alfonso blankly called his son's name.
But Eric ignored his father and stared straight at the fuming Commander Kaiser.
"Commander? You've got quite the booming voice. Ever thought of opera?"
"Wh-what?!"
"Your yelling woke me up all the way over here. Looks like your throat's parched too."
Eric beckoned to Alfred.
"Have some tea? Top-grade leaves—the aroma is killer. It'll help you cool down. Your blood pressure's gonna blow."
"Y-you insolent...!"
Kaiser's face turned purple.
Men were dying on the front lines, spilling blood,
and here this immature young lord shows up in pajamas offering tea like it's a garden party.
"Eric! Are you insane?!"
Alfonso could hold back no longer and shouted.
"Eric! Because of what your brother did... the family's in crisis.
You think tea's going down your throat right now? Get out!"
"Why? Because of the mine sale?"
"Yes! That idiot sold the mine to some shady speculator!"
"Exactly!"
Kaiser cut in, slamming the desk again.
"Some lunatic buys it up and slams the doors shut, halting all shipments! It's that traitorous profiteer hoarding supplies in wartime for extortion!
I'm dragging that bastard out and chopping his head off right now!"
Eric slowly set down his teacup.
Clink.
"Who are you gonna drag out?"
Eric lightly tapped his chest with slender fingers.
"Me. The crazy traitor you're talking about."
"....?"
A stunned silence washed over the room like a bucket of ice water.
Kaiser's eyes bulged, and Alfonso's jaw dropped.
"You... you?"
"Yeah. I bought it. Second brother was dumping it so cheap in a panic."
Eric yawned lazily, as if annoyed.
"And correct yourself, Commander. I didn't lock it up."
He gazed into his teacup at the deep red brew and murmured drowsily.
"Tea leaves need time to steep in hot water to release their full flavor, right?"
Eric's eyes sharpened, piercing Kaiser.
"Iron ore's the same. Just giving it time to brew properly."
For this exact moment.
When the hot water of war was poured in,
and it could fetch the highest price.
The first to snap out of the shock was battle-hardened Kaiser.
He instantly switched expressions and approached Eric with greedy eyes.
"Oho! The young lord had it? As expected of Duke Alfonso's blood—sharp as ever."
He grabbed Eric's shoulder like they were old pals.
"Then we're in business. Open the mine warehouses now.
Under national emergency laws, we're requisitioning all family resources for the war!"
In other words, hand it over for free—you bandit.
Eric slyly twisted away, shaking off Kaiser's hand.
"Requisition, huh..."
Tap.
Eric set down his teacup and spoke.
"Too bad. Seems you misread the law."
"What?"
"Wartime Requisition Act, Article 5, Section 2. Gratis seizures apply only to food and unprocessed raw materials. You know that, right?"
Kaiser snorted in derision.
"What does that matter? Iron ore's just rocks dug from the ground. If that's not raw material, what is?"
"That's what I've been saying."
A faint smile played on Eric's lips.
"I brewed it good and proper."
"...?"
"The warehouses aren't holding rocks anymore. They're full of finished steel swords and armor—smelted and processed."
"Wh-what...?"
Kaiser's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"What...? How? When did you process that much?"
"Ran the factories round the clock these past few days.
No time to mine more—melted every scrap we had and stamped 'em out."
It was true.
The moment Eric took over the mine from Nermang, he'd thrown the refinery's three-shift system into overdrive,
churning out weapons like mad.
Raw iron ore? They could seize that under requisition.
But once it went through processing? Whole different story.
"You can requisition raw materials, but a merchant's hard work deserves fair market price."
Eric leaned back in his chair, arms crossed.
"The imperial army isn't a band of thieves, right? This is private property."
"...."
Kaiser clenched his fists, trembling.
Who could've guessed some psycho would mass-produce weapons ahead of the war?
But he had no choice.
The front lines were desperate—soldiers dying without arms.
"...H-how much?"
He bowed his pride and hung his head.
Total surrender.
"Should've said that from the start. No need to waste time."
Eric grinned and pulled a thick pre-prepared parchment contract from his pocket.