System vs Rebirth

'Is he crazy? He wants us to invest in an area that has nothing in it?'

The three merchants couldn't help but furrow their eyebrows.

"Are you sure you would like us to invest in this land?" Maxwell couldn't help but ask, thinking that the Marquis had gone crazy. He might not have misunderstood the marquis the whole time.

However, Noel shook his head calmly as though he had expected this kind of reaction. "Why do you think this land is not worth all that? I have even begun building the city there."

"!!!" They looked confused, wondering if there was indeed another reason for that city.

Maxwell turned his focus back on the map before taking a step back, looking at the entire map.

'Why does the Marquis want to create a city there? Well, it's true that as a marquis, he has to develop the land, so it's obvious that he will create one city after another. However, is there something special to this land?

'The Marquis's main city is located north of this town, which is not far from the border of the Greenwood Kingdom. So, it could be said that this city is the easternmost city in Lounstein. Expanding to the west and north is something he should do…

'But if I'm not wrong, the Marquis is given the current demon territory, which he will gain after clearing up the area. So, I think he should prioritize expanding to the north.

'Why would he go to the west… No, wait. This is…' Maxwell suddenly noticed something.

Noel's main city was connected to the rest of the kingdom through Laivaen City. But south Laivaen City was actually the territory of Earl Canmond, who happened to be his enemy.

If Earl Canmond blocked his territory, there would be no way to get the supply to the main city. In addition, the migration path had always come from Southwest, but this was not the main channel. In fact, he heard that the noble located in that path had a clash with Noel because of the price he set up before Noel took over the territory. The city hated this place quite a bit.

In other words, if he wanted to connect to the rest of the kingdom without going against these two nobles, he could simply expand to the west.

And this new city, located west of the main city, was such a place. In other words, this would be the main hub for Lounstein.

Since the main city held all the rune technology, if they wanted to acquire or purchase it, they would have to go through this city.

In other words, Noel actually offered them a major economic city that would shake the entire kingdom into the hands of merchants. Obviously, Noel would still be the lord of this city, but the merchants who invested in this city would be able to get an unimaginable amount of money. In addition, they might be able to utilize the rune technology that Noel provided easily.

'If he goes to the west, there are a lot of nobles on his side. If he connects all of them with that road building project, they can increase the logistics between them tremendously. And each lord is also connected to a few other lords in this territory.

'They might cause them to join the side to get that benefit. This is a well-thought-out plan for future expansion. But the real problem still remains, the Marquis is still developing the land, so if he gets cut off from their supply, they won't be able to develop it.'

Maxwell paused for a moment while the female merchant asked, "Marquis. If I may be so bold to ask, have you gotten the cooperation of a few unexpected nobles?"

Noel smirked and took out a piece of paper.

There were three names in it.

Countess Christina.

Earl Haverlan.

Earl Timberlain.

"!!!" The woman looked shocked when she saw this list.

Maxwell instantly figured out what Noel planned to do. 'Earl Haverlan is located even more south of Lounstein, specifically south of Earl Canmond's territory. If the road can reach there, they will be able to isolate Earl Canmond.

'Earl Timberlain is located much further west than Marquis Stargaze. If they manage to build the road to this place, they can actually control the outer part of the kingdom.

'Still, the most important person would be Countess Christina. Her location is in the middle of the kingdom, near the Ardagan family's former territory. With her connection, she should be able to get more materials further south. There are a few nobles that can produce bricks, ironware, clay handiwork, and even wool.

'This ban means nothing if he can actually get Countess Christina to purchase all those things. All he needs to do is transport them, which is something easy with the rune technology.

'The Marquis has never been in a bad position. He is just biding his time to see who dares to strike him so that he has the justification to eliminate them. And he even uses this chance to expand his road.

'In addition, there are the Stargaze family and the Lorelei family that are very close to him.

'But I heard that Countess Christina doesn't want to do anything with the Ardagan family anymore after the disastrous defeat of the former Ardagan family. It impacts her entire family. Does this mean Countess Christina has finally taken that last step once more? She was indeed a supporter of Count Luke Ardagan, but who would have imagined that she would join this fight again?

'If this is true, then the Marquis's aim is to destroy those four nobles. In addition, he will let the merchants who cooperated with him prosper.

'Those who are trying to harm him or take advantage of his situation had to be dealt with.

'In fact, even if those nobles don't want to trade with us anymore or the merchants scrutinize us, we could simply reach much further areas thanks to the new road and technology. The time, cost, or even variety of items might be better than what we currently have.

'The moment the Marquis releases that new technology that is able to bring tons of materials at once, the outcome of this battle has been decided.'

Maxwell sucked a cold breath. He didn't misunderstand the Marquis. In fact, he might have severely underestimated him.

'So, this is Marquis Noel Ardagan.' Maxwell opened his mouth, asking, "May I know how much do you need?"

Noel grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down a few numbers as well as locations. Yet, not a single item listed on this paper was actually one of the four items that the four nobles banned. It showed that Noel already had the confidence to get them through Countess Christina.

When Maxwell saw this, he firmly said, "I understand. If you want, my company can even become your sole sponsor."

"Wait a minute, President Maxwell. I was the one who saw through the plan first. My River Flow Company will join this project."

"My… too…" The third merchant raised his hand while stuttering.

Noel smiled. "Just be good to each other. This project is simply too big for a single merchant to chew it alone. I will give you the contract later and I think it's best for you to make your move right away."

"You're right." Maxwell stepped back while lowering his head as though he were apologizing.

"I will send someone to bring you the contract tonight. You can enjoy this city for a bit more." Noel then turned around while saying, "I'm looking forward to us working together."

Noel exited the room with a calm face as though he had predicted the result of this meeting in advance.

While everything might not go according to the exact plan, he must still have predicted most of them correctly.

Maxwell pinched the bridge of his nose while muttering inwardly, 'I guess this is the reason why Luke Ardagan managed to become the wealthiest man in the past. In fact, I didn't become the next wealthiest man because I managed to surpass him, he simply let me take that spot because of that execution.

'After looking at his son, I know that the gene is there. And there might not be a single company that can challenge his new Runegard Company in the future.

'Well, it doesn't really matter. My business concept is always the same and I'm already so rich that I can't spend all my money no matter how prodigal I am.'

The same applied to the female merchant, the president of the fourth ranked biggest company, Theresa.

She covered most of her face with a bamboo fan while thinking, 'That fool, Matthew, will definitely get devoured by this. Even if he can bail out of this, my company can become bigger thanks to this cooperation. At that time, I can suppress that Matthew and devour his company.

'I will be satisfied to be among the top three richest people in the kingdom, alongside the Marquis and this old man Maxwell.

However, there was one person who didn't think this way among them. Noel saw that there were two people who actually feared him inside the room. The first one was Maxwell, but the second one wasn't Theresa. It was this third merchant.

He stood there in silence. His back was drenched in sweat as he couldn't help but think, 'What should I do? I am the eighth ranked merchant, Zephyr. I somehow got this unimaginable deal, not because I'm able to see through all this, but because I was too scared to leave with the others.'