"...... this?" Feeling the smoke wafting from his mouth with a delicious aroma, the Count of Hertha savored it while looking at the beautifully built plant by the window, which was the residence of the Count of Amancia.

It was after that feast that he was invited to the home of the Count of Amancia - despite his decline, the Count of Ammancia was still one of the most influential nobles in Kruchen, Count Hertha thought. Moreover, Count Ammancia seems to be doing a business related to gems and furs that have a lot to do with him, and I think it is probably because of this that he specially invited himself alone to discuss some business matters. With this thought, dispelling the slightest doubt in his heart, Count Hertha entered the mansion of Count Ammancia.

The two of them were like very close friends—they talked together about the movement of market prices, and the secrets of dealing with merchants and intelligence dealers; together they had a feast prepared by the court chef and the delicious dessert after the meal; Together, they enjoyed the famous "operas" in the history of the empire.

Just as this very pleasant meeting was about to end, the Count of Ammancia suddenly thought of something, took out a cigarette-like thing from a beautifully packaged box, and said with some apologies: "Oops...... Look at my memory. I invited you to come here, but I almost forgot the most important thing. Here, you try this. ”

"It's ...... Cigars? Count Hertha guessed when he saw the somewhat round, long strip-like thing. He himself was not in the habit of smoking or drinking, because his father did not think that it was the work of the aristocracy, and that it was not elegant to make noise in public with the strength of alcohol or to smoke in the smoke of cigarettes. The Count of Hertha also kept his father's request – until this day.

"yes...... This is a friend of mine who brought some kind of cigar-like cigarette from the Eastern Continent - it tastes better than the best cigars on the market today. Count Ammancia said, taking a cigar from the box and lighting it, "Unfortunately...... This cigar can only be made by hand in individual workshops in that Eastern country, and there is no way to mass produce it. ”

"I see...... Indeed, it tastes very good. Unlike cigarettes made of tobacco, cigars were not considered as harmful as tobacco, and cigars were used in a way that many nobles regarded as a symbol of elegance, and my father would not have been too dissatisfied. He thought as he greedily inhaled the sweetness that filled the air.

"Looks ...... You really like it. Count Amencia keenly caught Count Hertha's small movements, and smiled slightly, "As I expected...... So be it. Take this box of cigars back to your home. If you think it's really good, you can come back to me, I've got quite a lot of stock here—or maybe we'll join forces and bring the master of this delicious cigar from the far East. ”

"You're so polite." Count Hertha smiled a little embarrassedly, he was still a little uncomfortable with his small movements being watched so carefully, "Since this is a good intention of yours, then I will take the liberty of accepting it." ”

My father's etiquette taught me - in the face of friends worthy of befriending, do not casually refuse the other party's polite gifts, but accept them with grace and give them back with gifts of equal value afterwards. Although this sounds like a box of cigars, one or two beautiful obsidian ornaments should be offset, right? Next time, just find a way to find some gifts in your new business. So he thanked Count Ammancia and carefully put away the box of cigars and brought them back to his home.

——————————————————————

"Alas......" Looking at the dense papers in front of him, Count Hertha let out a long sigh. Since this winter, fur production from the Northumbria region has suddenly begun to decline dramatically.

About 30 years ago, when the current Autonomous Prefecture of Northumbria was the "Grand Duchy of Northumbria", a large number of fur trade goods from the northern forests were imported into the empire by land and sea. However, when the "Salt Pile", which is said to have directly destroyed the land of nearly Ishintany Hara Grand Duchy, appeared, the original prosperous country was reduced to ruins overnight. Subsequently, although the government formed by the new democratic assembly with the help of the Church of the Seven Heavens established the "Autonomous Prefecture of Northumbria" under the protection of the Church and began to try to rebuild its homeland, the Erebonian Empire, which had been a close neighbor of the trade allies of Northumbria, said that it would not recognize the new autonomous state, and that "only the blood of the former Grand Duchy of Northumbria, who is qualified to claim to be the heir of this land." ”

In general, such a statement is not a big deal - because originally, a country with a hereditary monarchy like the Grand Duchy should have been. It's just that when the country was facing a disaster, the Grand Duke immediately chose to abandon the people and flee for his life, and afterwards vigorously denied his responsibility, which had already made the prestige of the Grand Duke's family fall to the bottom among the people who survived the ruins, and there was no possibility of regaining power. It is precisely because of this public opinion that the Qiyao Church, which is well aware of its unshakability, can only choose a similar policy to the previous Calvard revolution and recognize the legitimacy of this newly formed parliamentary government. In this case, the Empire's abnormal behavior not only did not win any praise, but instead pushed the Empire at that time to the forefront once again. Although there was no "Iron Prime Minister" at that time, the Emperor himself, the supreme head of the empire, still refused to recognize the sovereignty of the Northumbrian Autonomous Prefecture, and instead supported the "Chasseurs of the North" who left their ruined homeland and fought for bloody money. The Republic of Calvard used this to attack the Empire's political position, and the aristocratic forces repeatedly attacked the matter, and the aftermath of the matter lasted for a long time before it subsided.

In any case, the destruction of Northumbria, which had a vast fur production area called the taiga, has since led to a significant decline in the production of natural animal fur and has become a luxury. In this case, the family of the Count of Hertha was the first to see the changes, and took the initiative to change the original business strategy to seize the market - but this winter, things seem to have suddenly begun to decline sharply, and various problems have arisen with suppliers in various channels, and the Count of Hertha has to solve them one by one.

Now, looking at the large pile of papers on the table that would definitely make him feel distracted for the rest of the day, the irritated Count Hertha suddenly remembered what he had received from Count Ammancia about a month ago.

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