FL - Chapter 43: A Second Letter from the North

Candlelight played over the unfolded letter on the desk. Its handwriting was neat and measured, befitting the cautious, steady old steward Bradley.

Duke Calvin's gaze settled on the opening lines. He held only modest expectations for this particular son.

But as the words drew him deeper, the Duke's initially casual expression tightened. His brow furrowed.

"Far surpassing the performance of other colonization territories?"

Agricultural breakthroughs, crops maturing ahead of schedule?

A housing problem solved more efficiently than in well-established territories?

The Mana Marrow mine not only up and running, but with a scientific extraction plan already in place?

Even slave management had been optimized to a level where no fault could be found?

The part about grain output being sufficient to sustain fifteen hundred new slaves, especially, gave him pause.

He straightened slightly in his chair and glanced again at Bradley's signature at the bottom.

If the letter hadn't come from Bradley, the most loyal steward in the entire family, he would have suspected the writer had been bought off.

But his eyes never left the page. He kept reading.

Duke Calvin soon discovered that Louis's leadership was not merely a matter of policy. It rested on his ability to win people over.

He hadn't relied on the family's prestige. He had earned the willing, heartfelt loyalty of everyone in his territory through his own ability.

Particularly when Duke Calvin reached the passage describing how the residents of Crimson Tide Territory held Louis in almost fanatical reverence.

"Fanatical? That's a strong word."

This was something even the Duke himself had to concede. In the entire Ironblood Empire, he could count on one hand the lords who commanded that kind of devotion.

He'd originally intended for Louis to be thrown into the Northlands to survive or die on his own, squeezing whatever last scraps of utility out of him along the way.

He'd never expected the boy would actually make something of himself.

Sure enough, his strategy of "many sons, many blessings" had been the right call, the Duke thought with self-satisfaction.

It was like a lottery draw. If you drew enough times, eventually you'd hit a winning ticket.

He read on. When he reached the section on the Mana Marrow mine, Duke Calvin's gaze paused for a beat. A glint of genuine interest surfaced in his eyes.

*The sales rights to the Mana Marrow were being handed over to the family in exchange for support, but the processing technology was being kept.*

"This boy's ambitions are not small."

He understood perfectly well what this meant.

Louis did not want the family to have too many strings attached to him. He was trying to preserve his independence.

The Duke gave a brief, humorless laugh. "Bold, isn't he."

That said, he wasn't displeased.

On the contrary. He was starting to find this a little interesting.

Crimson Tide Territory sat in the Northlands. It appeared barren and desolate, but managed properly, it could become a formidable local power.

Louis's willingness to hand over the sales rights to the family showed he understood that, for now, he still needed House Calvin's shelter.

But his refusal to give up the processing rights meant he was already laying the groundwork for the future.

Once the moment was ripe, Crimson Tide Territory's Mana Marrow economy could fully detach itself from the family. It might even command independent leverage in future markets.

A young colonization lord born of noble blood would ordinarily choose to cling entirely to his family's coattails. Louis hadn't done that.

Still, this alone wasn't enough to truly make the Duke look at him in an entirely new light.

Louis hadn't yet secured a firm foothold in the Northlands. The profits from the Mana Marrow mine hadn't been materially realized.

Given how swiftly the tides could turn in the Northlands, his future was still anything but certain.

But Louis had indeed delivered a pleasant surprise this time.

What the Duke valued most was Louis's potential. As for the resources in Crimson Tide Territory itself, those didn't particularly impress him.

Perhaps it was time to reconsider this son's worth.

The Duke held the letter, his fingers drumming lightly against the desk, his eyes traveling back and forth across the lines.

Bradley's assessment was so glowing it exceeded all expectations. It even gave the Duke the faint, absurd illusion that perhaps he'd misjudged the boy.

But no matter. The facts were already laid bare before him.

Louis, a child he'd never once taken seriously, had displayed far greater ability than anyone had foreseen in that barren stretch of the Northlands.

Most importantly, the Northlands were ultimately too far from the Southeast Province.

The land of Crimson Tide Territory might hold vast potential, but the distance from the core of the family made it impossible to offer full-throated support.

This territory was like a seed not yet sprouted. Full of promise, but saturated with uncertainty.

Excessive support might make Louis reckless for quick returns. He might prove unable to adapt to the Northlands' harsh realities.

And judging by Louis's attitude toward protecting his interests in the Mana Marrow mine, it seemed he didn't much want the family meddling too deeply in his territory, either.

The Duke sat at his desk, his gaze falling once more on Bradley's letter.

"Maintain the family's influence without excessive interference..." He tapped the desk lightly, murmuring to himself.

Financial support. Yes, but not much. He decided to allocate another one thousand to fifteen hundred Gold Coins.

That much would be enough to keep Crimson Tide Territory stable. But if Louis wanted to expand?

He'd have to figure out how to earn money on his own. He'd have to puzzle out how to make the territory sustain even more people.

He'd have to learn to open revenue streams and cut costs. Not coast along on the family's handouts.

Keep him hungry for coin. Force him to use his head. Only then could his true ability be seen.

Military support. He'd give a little there, too. The Duke decided to send him two more knight squads.

Nominally to guard the Mana Marrow mine. In practice, it was to give him a card to play, to keep him from being stomped into the dirt the moment he started to rise.

That number of men was nowhere near enough to dominate the Northlands, but it would at least prevent Crimson Tide Territory from being overturned by the first passing band of marauders.

If Louis truly had what it took, the knights at his disposal would be enough to stabilize the situation. Maybe even to serve as the seeds of his own independent force.

But if he couldn't even protect his territory with this much backing from the family...

Then there was nothing more to discuss. He wasn't worth further investment.

As for talent support. Louis had already proven he could handle agriculture, manage infrastructure, even plan a mining operation. That was enough to demonstrate a certain aptitude for governance.

The Duke would send only a few alchemy apprentices to teach him the basic techniques of Mana Marrow refinement. Louis would have to manage the rest himself.

He'd have to recruit people on his own, trade his limited resources for cooperation, learn to swim through the muck of reality instead of sitting back and waiting for the family to spoon-feed him.

And as for political support. The Duke would extend no formal political backing whatsoever. But he wouldn't restrict Louis from negotiating with the powers of the Northlands, either.

Who he wanted to ally with, how he wanted to secure his footing in the region. It would all be entirely his decision.

The only condition: don't bring trouble to the family.

It was like placing a chess piece onto the battlefield. To see whether it could break through enemy lines or would be trampled underfoot as a stepping stone.

If he couldn't handle even this much pressure, it would simply mean Louis had never had the talent in the first place. Dying in the Northlands would be the natural order of things.

The Duke wasn't about to waste resources on a useless child.

He had more than enough sons and daughters. Losing one or two was nothing.

House Calvin's bloodline had never been in short supply. What was in short supply were people with ability and ambition.

But Louis. Louis had come this far, had wrung such high praise from Bradley himself.

That proved he had at least some ability, and more than a little pride.

Good. Then let him show some real skill. Let the Duke see what he was made of.