Chapter 174

“Father! Are you okay?”

“Let go of me!”

The duke brushed Aint’s hand aside and straightened up.

Pellenberg’s usurious loans had always been infamous, but what had caused the most recent uproar was, without a doubt, the deal with Bercheff.

A ten-year term, with an annual compound interest of 33%.

Considering the average usury rate in the Empire hovered around 8%, there was no greater exploitation than that.

But back then, Bercheff had no choice.

To rebuild his house, he urgently needed another infusion of money, and Pellenberg had made sure to block all other sources.

All he could do was borrow while crying in frustration, handing over enormous guarantees in return.

It was the very embodiment of vileness.

The duke trembled with rage at the thought of doing that to a fellow prince-elector—even though he himself hadn’t been directly affected.

Then came rumors that the interest had been forgiven, even that a large investment had been made, but in the duke’s eyes, it had never been out of consideration for Bercheff.

‘He probably did it because he feared he wouldn’t recover the money if Bercheff went under.’

That was Pellenberg.

And now what?

Borrow money from Pellenberg?

“You damned fool! How could you make such a grave decision on your own?! How much?! How much did you borrow?!”

“…That amount.”

Upon hearing the number, the duke’s vision went blurry. Not even selling all the house’s assets would reach that sum.

The son he had sent to the Academy after a hundred years, who had made a name for himself as a hero and whom he was so proud of, now stood before him like a demon.

Perhaps the demon of usury. With seventy-two demons in existence, it wouldn’t be strange if one of them was like that.

Yes, this was the work of a demon. Before descending again to conquer the world, it was trying to ruin Armian in advance.

Otherwise, there was no explanation.

“Son, I know you’re scared, but listen to me first.”

What enraged the duke the most was precisely that calm face. He didn’t even seem to grasp the magnitude of his wrongdoing.

The problem was having raised him like a frog in a well.

Thrown into the jungle of the Academy without knowing anything, he would’ve been scammed a hundred times over.

“What were you trying to achieve with such madness? What the hell were you thinking?”

“It was the best option.”

“The best? This is outright entrapment!”

Beyond the interest rate, what kind of idiot lends a fortune to someone ruined?

Pellenberg would never lend more money than Armian was worth without expecting something in return.

There was undoubtedly a hidden motive.

“Father!”

Aint raised his voice, cutting off the duke’s train of thought.

“Could you please look at this?”

He knew that more than a thousand words, a document would be enough to convince him.

He carefully took out the contract he had kept in his chest.

“The original contract I signed with Senior Fernan Pellenberg.”

“Fine, let me see it. I want to know what the hell made you trust Pellenberg enough to sign a contract with him!”

The duke was convinced that his son, intoxicated by his fame as a hero, had been swindled.

He unfolded the contract and began examining it, while Aint continued.

“Father, I don’t intend to settle for just being a hero.”

Heroism was merely the beginning.

“Since I was little, I always heard the same thing—Armian was great, and one day it would be great again.”

Empty words from those clinging to past glory.

“I hated hearing that.”

What use was being great in the past if now it was so pitiful?

And how were they going to be great again, confined within the few remaining territories, without even stepping outside?

“That’s why I wanted to go to the Academy—and I went.”

He didn’t want just words. He wanted to see it with his own eyes.

At first, it wasn’t anything grand. He just wanted to escape a stifling home and face reality.

His curiosity about the sword of the First Emperor also played a role.

But after meeting Gardner, facing demons, being recognized as a hero, and receiving Fernan Pellenberg’s offer of help, a desire awakened in him that he didn’t think he had.

“I want to restore Armian’s greatness.”

As much as before—or even more.

“I want to make Armian an imperial house again, Father.”

The duke’s hands, flipping through the contract, stopped abruptly.

“But that’s not something I can do just by wanting it, or because I’m a hero.”

A hero without power to back it up remains just a hero. An emperor needs both glory and a solid foundation.

That’s how Armian must be.

“That’s why I thought we needed to strengthen Armian. And for that, a lot of money is necessary. Senior Fernan agreed to help me.”

That highly favorable contract was the proof.

“You know better than I do that these conditions are excellent.”

“……”

“Father. If we want to rebuild Armian, we need that money.”

The duke didn’t respond; he just reread the contract over and over again.

“In truth…”

After a long silence, he began to speak.

“I don’t care about Armian’s glory, or the crown.”

Unlike Aint, he had no attachment to lost glory.

“Why recover something that’s already over? It was glory, yes—but in the past. A man must live in the present. I don’t cling to what I haven’t lived.”

Besides, he knew how much suffering and bloodshed trying to restore it would bring. That’s why he rejected it.

“I couldn’t find a reason to shoulder such a burden. In truth, I was afraid.”

Even with a grand title, he knew his resolve wasn’t as strong.

“I feared that if Armian fought to reclaim the crown, before we succeeded, we’d have already shed seas of blood.”

He knew Schwaben would never allow it. And the current fragile peace would shatter.

“But you’re different.”

You broke isolation and went to the Academy.

You faced the corrupt and became a hero.

You’ve drawn a concrete plan and set it in motion.

“You’re better than me.”

The duke set the contract down on the table.

“This contract is excellent. Too good. No merchant but Pellenberg would lend money on such terms.”

Fernan Pellenberg truly saw Aint as a future emperor.

“I’m the one who wasn’t up to the task.”

What Pellenberg had seen in his son, he as a father had failed to see.

“You want to be emperor?”

“Yes.”

“Then give me the money Pellenberg gave you.”

I’ll make Armian your base.

“Do whatever you want, with no limits.”

“A father supports his child’s path—never hinders it. Even if the end is not bright.”

The duke didn’t know it yet—that money, in truth, had always been meant to be his from the beginning.

***

“How will we do it?”

Relocating nearly ten thousand dwarves to Pellenberg territory without anyone finding out.

He had said it confidently, but even for Pellenberg, it wasn’t an easy task.

“What if we disguise them as company workers and move them little by little?”

“That would take too long. And more importantly, we’d have to go to Fridian too often. Obviously, they’d notice something strange there.”

“True…”

At that moment, the butler knocked on the door.

“Young master, the lord duke asks for you upstairs.”

“I’m going, Hyde.”

“Take your time.”

They had returned to the main house and requested an audience with the duke.

Although they already had the contract, a matter of such scale was impossible without putting all of Pellenberg’s power behind it.

Besides, there were other things to report—like the fact that Daniel Kool was a corrupt.

“…Daniel Kool is a corrupt?”

“Yes. But I’d rather we leave him be.”

“Why?”

Duke Yvon didn’t say it was impossible.

“I think he had me under hypnosis. He’s convinced I’m on his side, so I plan to use that to trace the root.”

“And Adolf of Fridian?”

“Same.”

“I’ve heard the corrupt are masters of mental magic. I’m surprised you broke it.”

“I used holy water.”

“Still, go see Count Dulleo for a check-up.”

“Yes.”

With the first topic closed, the duke got straight to the point.

“It’s incredible. A dwarven city beneath Fridian?”

His eyes widened as he reviewed the contract Fernan showed him.

No one would have suspected it—right under their noses.

“And you want to integrate them all into Pellenberg.”

“The situation was urgent, so I promised them the county of Algot in advance. I apologize.”

“No, you did very well. If we gain those people, we can offer far more than the county of Algot.”

Even so, they would come out ahead.

“I’ll speak with the count. But you said their condition is to move without the elves discovering it.”

“They asked that no one find out, if possible.”

“That’s not difficult.”

“You have a method?”

The duke nodded calmly.

“Where exactly is the dwarven city?”

“Near the center of Denberi. At the northeastern edge of the Fridian marquisate.”

Thanks to that rocky mountain range, Fridian had resisted Imperial pressure fairly well, since it was considered worthless land.

“The domain of Holtian isn’t too far, right?”

The domain of Holtian was one of the few territories Pellenberg held on the continent of Lutar, adjacent to the Fridian marquisate.

“You want them to dig a tunnel from the city to the domain of Holtian?”

“Exactly.”

If anyone questioned the dwarves suddenly appearing in Holtian, they could always say they had lived there before.

No one would dare accuse Pellenberg without solid proof.

“Still, even if it’s relatively close, the distance is not small. And in between is forest, not rocky mountains. Even underground, the elves might notice.”

However short, that stretch was elven territory.

The trees influenced by the World Tree buried their roots deeply; it wasn’t something to take lightly.

“Then have them go around another way. They’re dwarves, right? It can’t be that they lack the skill.”

The duke unfolded a map.

“From Denberi, following the mountain range, through the county of Baden…”

His finger traced a line. It skirted around Fridian’s territory and reached the domain of Holtian.

“All they need is to reach Holtian. From there, we’ll transport them directly to the continent of Pandrein.”

And most of Pandrein was under Pellenberg influence. Once there, everything would be resolved.

“…It will be a colossal project.”

“But it’s the simplest option.”

The problem was that even underground, the distance would require time and vast resources.

“I’ll cover everything. And for extra safety, I’ll speak with the Count of Baden.”

The hurdle was that the tunnel would have to pass beneath his lands.

Maybe there wouldn’t be an issue going deep enough—but one never knows.

“I’ll organize a festival in Baden County. With noise and crowds, vigilance relaxes.”

In that atmosphere, no one would suspect what’s happening underground.

“The deadline is one month.”

Everything had to be ready by then.

“There’s no need to complete the migration. It’s enough for the tunnel to be open so at least one person can pass. Once the route is safe, the migration can begin later.”

“Understood. I’ll carry the supplies in a subspace pouch.”

“I’ll open the storerooms and give you more pouches.”

With the duke’s word that he would fulfill the contract to the letter, Fernan returned that same night to the dwarven city.

And from that day on, a groundbreaking engineering project began.