People in Terra, governing a weird little country

This is the kind of person that no one can afford to offend. Even if someone calls you a fence-sitter, there is nothing you can do about it, because that is indeed part of the truth.

But Duke Godottin's ideal of bringing "free trade" from Victoria to all of Terra has never disappeared. In fact, by chance, this dream that had not made any progress for a long time was realized at the World Expo!

In just the first week of the World Expo, Duke Godotin's delegation had concluded six orders in Kjerag, selling Duke Godotin's products to Longmen of Yan Country, the District of Columbia, the Electorate of Lethania, Trilinterme, etc.... And now, the Iberians have come knocking again, not just asking for a deal, but asking directly for investment!

Investment? Investment is good! Investment means I take the money, you do the work, and in the end I take the lion's share of the profits, and you take the smaller share. Your factory still has to be mine!

What, you feel like there's something wrong?

No, no, no, that must be your illusion. In the eyes of Victorians, investment is like this!

Therefore, the face of the Duke of Godoting's envoy was full of enthusiasm, and he was eager for the Iberian in front of him to be more reasonable and introduce him to some special investment projects. It would be best if it involved some national defense secrets, policy formulation, etc. In this way, he could not only make a lot of money from this order, but also bring some added value, allowing the Duke of Godoting's power to infiltrate the mysterious country of Iberia faster than the other three grand dukes! Gain a valuable settlement there.

But his expectations and smile soon failed to maintain.

Because the Grand Inquisitor in front of him just stared at him blankly, without mentioning any investment, nor questioning or agreeing with the various investment directions proposed by Duke Godotin's envoy. He just stared at the envoy with a dull look, as if he was struggling with some intense thoughts. Finally, when the envoy was hesitating whether to spend some money to provide this strange man with a [psychoanalysis] treatment that Prime Minister Kjerag had praised, Dario finally spoke:

"These things...are none of them."

"What you are investing in is the country of Iberia and your safety."

"What do you mean?" Duke Godoting's envoy was stunned and asked in confusion.

Now that he had spoken, Dario no longer hesitated. He took a deep breath and explained briefly:

"The territory of His Excellency Duke Godotin is also located on the edge of the Krasd Inland Sea. I think you should know more or less about the disaster that Iberia once suffered."

The disaster that Iberia had suffered was naturally the Great Silence. On Terra, although natural disasters occurred frequently, a natural disaster that could directly bring down a country had almost never occurred. The reason why the word "almost" was added to this description was because of the existence of the Great Silence example.

People regard the Great Silence as part of a natural disaster, another form of "the earth's punishment on mankind", and it is related to Originium. However, only people in countries near the ocean know that the restlessness of the ocean can never be explained by the rolling Originium clouds in the sky.

It wasn't a natural disaster, at least, not entirely.

The Dukedom of Godottin is also located on the edge of the Krasd Inland Sea. Once upon a time, the prosperous maritime trade was monopolized by the powerful Iberia, which made the merchants of Terra flock to it but unable to obtain it. After Iberia was almost brain dead by the Great Silence, Duke Godottin, as the Grand Duke of Victoria, saw the opportunity and quickly took over this "important task" when everyone was still intimidated by the power of the ocean and had an instinctive fear of the seaside.

He now possessed the most powerful "fleet" in Terra, a real fleet that could sail on the water, rather than a formation of high-speed warships, and became another overlord of the Krasd Inland Sea. However, contrary to the common sense of expanding business, Duke Godotin's fleet had never sailed out of the inland sea, and tried to launch an expedition to the distant sea area like Iberia did, in order to incorporate it into Victoria's territory.

He just sailed cautiously within the Krasde Inland Sea, because he knew very well that the real crisis was lurking in the seabed - terrifying fish, deep-sea cultists, and sea heirs.

They do not only appear in the Iberian region, they are spread across every coastline of Terra, but the vast majority of them are concentrated in Iberia.

The envoy of Duke Godotin smacked his lips, and a bad feeling welled up in his heart. This time, before he could speak, the Grand Inquisitor in front of him said again:

"Iberia is almost unable to hold on any longer. Saint Carmen, my teacher, works hard every day for our survival and dares not slack off. As of today, he has not had a normal rest for nearly a month. He has entered the mid-life hair loss crisis decades later."

"Iberia is now in a precarious situation. We are in urgent need of assistance...investment from our compatriots on Terra. Sir, I am not kidding. I hope that Duke Godotin, who also owns a city on the edge of the Krasd Inland Sea, will think it through and make a generous and selfless investment in Iberia!"

Dario’s meaning was very clear - we are all fellow countrymen living on Terra, and for the sake of being human, we should give our brothers a hand.

But this almost stupefied the envoy of Duke Godoting. He looked incredulous and reached out to pick his ears, as if wondering if there was something wrong with his hearing.

Generous and selfless investment, do you want to see what you are talking about?

Investing itself is for making money. Although there is a warning motto that "investment is risky, so be cautious when entering the market", who doesn't enter this field with the idea of ​​making money and getting rich quickly?

There is no such thing as generous and selfless investment. You might as well just say it’s charity!

The envoy of Duke Godotin finally realized that this man was not here to discuss business, but to beg for food!

What is the current situation in Iberia? Has it become so destitute that it needs to send people to the World Expo to beg for food?

It's a waste of time to continue chatting with this inquisitor!

Feeling that there was no need to say a single word, the envoy of Duke Godotin rolled his eyes and tried to end the topic. But in front of him, Dario, who had already judged that the moral kidnapping by appealing to emotion and reason had failed as expected, immediately took out the "rope" according to Kal'tsit's instructions.

"Iberia is almost unable to hold on," he said.

The envoy of Duke Godotin was somewhat disdainful: "What does that have to do with the Dukedom of Godotin?"

Dario coldly stared at the messenger in front of him who looked like he had nothing to do with the matter and was not concerned about it. He said, "If Iberia collapses, it will be our turn today and your turn tomorrow."

"you!"

The almost naked threat made the Duke of Godoting's envoy's expression suddenly change. He cursed:

"What do you mean Iberians? Are you all beasts who are engaged in banditry?"

"First of all, wild animals are not human beings, so they can't be robbers. They don't have that level of intelligence at all."

Dario responded calmly.

“Secondly, Iberia is certainly not a robber. At least, for Victorians, we are not.”

"If we were bandits, we would charge you a toll. In fact, the people Iberia charges tolls to are never our fellow human beings from the countries on earth, but those filthy invaders who crawled onto the land from the sea. The Terrorfish, the Sea Heirs, the Deep Sea Cultists, as disgusting as they are, they have to pay with their lives every time before they can walk on the land of Iberia."

"We are robbers of the sea! But we are also protectors of the land!"

"You..." Duke Godotin's envoy was speechless for a moment.

He has always been eloquent and quick-witted, but at this moment, he was caught off guard by Dalio's "bandit argument". He was dizzy and couldn't find any way to refute it.

He tried to sort out his thoughts, but Dario would never give up this opportunity. He immediately struck while the iron was hot and pursued the victory:

"Duke Godotin claims to spread the concept of free trade throughout Terra, and the Iberians admire his courage and responsibility. Therefore, depending on his attitude towards the proposal, Iberia will also make a choice, whether to follow Duke Godotin's advice and become an elegant, humble, Victorian gentleman who never commits robbery."

For some reason, there is always a weird sense of humor when these adjectives are put together with Victorian gentleman.

But this did not prevent Godottin's envoy from understanding Dario's meaning.

Didn’t the Duke say that we should have morals and advocate free trade?

If you don't give me money, don't pay the "protection fee", then fine, I will start by letting the Haisi enter the country, and please ask Your Excellency the Duke to go and talk to the Haisi about free trade.

The Iberians were very curious whether Duke Godottin could sell his liqueur to the terrifying fish in the sea?

The envoy's expression was not good at all, and he could hardly maintain his polite smile. He looked deeply at the Grand Inquisitor in front of him. However, Dario, who was trying this "begging and kidnapping" method for the first time, showed the amazing determination of the Inquisitor at this moment. The envoy could not see any clues from his face, and could only temporarily believe that the Iberians did think so, and it was very likely that they would really do so.

If that's the case, it would be a bit troublesome.

It was easy to deal with one or two incidents of terrifying fish coming ashore occasionally, but if all the terrifying fish in Iberia came rushing over, the Dukedom of Godottin would really be overwhelmed.

We still have to do business. Even if the terrifying fish attack on the city had not occurred, the waterway being cut off and destroyed would be an unbearable loss for His Excellency the Duke, who relies on trade for his livelihood!

Taking a deep breath, the envoy of Duke Godoting nodded and spoke with some difficulty:

"Well, let's talk about investing in Iberia!"

A flash of joy flashed across Dario's face, but he immediately suppressed it, so that the messenger, who was distracted and thinking about how to explain to the Duke, did not notice the subtle change in expression.

At this moment, the Great Inquisitor had only seven words in his mind:

"Brothers, it's time for dinner!"

Chapter 300 The box is opened, Elini!

"Hmm, I don't know where the teacher is. Ever since I met that weird film woman, he's been acting mysterious and even let me wander around Kjerag by myself..."

Kjerag, Tukarim, snack street.

Elini pouted and kicked a small stone on the side of the road in distress, and it happened to fall next to a child.

The child was holding a new cheese popsicle developed by Kjerag Kalan Trading in her hand, happily savoring this somewhat strange-looking Kjerag-style delicacy. Beside her, her parents were also holding hands, standing in front of a souvenir stall, discussing what souvenirs to bring back to Victoria.

The two finally chose a wooden sculpture of Yelagund, a sculpture of a saint, a sculpture of a saint child, and some snacks. After paying the bill, they turned around and found that their child was looking at a little girl who looked about the same age as her, but had a more mature temperament and was dressed in a confusing way.

Faced with this strange guy, the two reacted immediately, grabbed the child's hand, and urged her to turn around and leave, muttering as they walked:

"Who is that girl? I don't know her! She's quite cute, but why is there no adult around her? Is she lost?"

"We should stop meddling in her business. Her clothes are shabby and she doesn't talk. She might be one of those unlucky kids who was trained by unscrupulous parents to beg! Let's go to the next attraction. There are still many places we haven't visited yet! We don't have much vacation time left!"

Begging...begging?

What are you talking about? I, Elinyi, am a proud Iberian! The kind of Iberian who can hold my head up, face up, chest high, and claim that I am from Iberia!

Even if I were bitten by a terrifying fish, chased by the sea, or jumped off a cliff in Iberia, I would never beg for a penny from you Victorians!

Elini opened her mouth in disbelief, wanting to refute the man's words, but he had already walked far away, and she couldn't chase him and fight back.

The dissatisfaction, grievance and distress in my heart suddenly burst out like a bottle of Coke that was shaken and then the cap was unscrewed.

She was unfamiliar with the place and not very old. Most people on the street were in pairs, except for her teacher, who had disappeared after meeting that weird film man. It was too much for her to be left wandering the street alone!

I must go back and complain about my teacher in front of Master Carmen!

Elini thought angrily, and reached into her pocket, pulling out some Shelag Frans that she had exchanged in advance.

This was the operating fund that Dario left for her before he left, plus some of her own savings.

The Grand Inquisitors don't have much salary, because Iberia's economic and monetary systems have long been paralyzed. As long as they want, they can go anywhere and practice "take it!" without paying at all. The currency that the country still has the purchasing power is still the ancient kingdom coin "Dobloon". Their minting time all stayed before 1038 - it's not that these coins were minted before 1038, but Iberia, which suffered a disaster, never changed the coin mold, and the king's head on the coin was forcibly filed flat. The monarchs failed to fulfill their promise to protect the people, and they were excommunicated by the Inquisition.

Even so, Elini lived frugally and saved some money, which she exchanged for Shelagh Frans before this business trip.

To be honest, this really put a lot of pressure on the court's currency exchange commissioner.

On one side is the 80-year-old Doblone that can be compared with the 38-year-old Lafite, and on the other side is the Fran currency of the small country of Kjerag, which has been closed for thousands of years. It would be bad enough if neither of these two currencies was easy to find, but the more troublesome thing is that no one knows what the purchasing power of one Fran is, and no one knows what the exchange rate of the Iberian Doblone to the Fran should be.

And this money was saved up bit by bit by Elini. As the youngest judge in the Tribunal, Dario's disciple, and Carmen's granddaughter, Elini was also a favorite of the group. Naturally, the people in the Tribunal were unwilling to make up a random number to treat her badly. In the end, they could only resort to the stupid method of exchanging dobloons for Victorian pounds first, and then exchanging Victorian pounds for Frans. As for whether there were middlemen who made a profit from the price difference, it was unknown.

Holding the francs, Elini also walked to the stall.

Since Teacher Dario asked her to go shopping on the street, she really went shopping!

In Iberia, as an inquisitor, she had no chance to go shopping, but Elini was still a little girl at heart, so how could she not like this "extreme sport" that challenges the limits of her body and wallet?

Sweeping the stall, Elini immediately fell in love with the pile of blind boxes stacked together to form a small pyramid.

"Little girl, you have a good eye. This pack animal blind box just arrived this morning! Each pack animal inside has a corresponding prototype. The Prime Minister and the Saint have carefully selected them to ensure that each one is very cute! Maybe there will be a limited edition!"

The fellow villager dressed as a hawker introduced enthusiastically. It was the first time for Ailini to face the attack of "sales promotion". She could not resist it immediately. She nodded and pointed to a blind box in the middle and said:

"That's it, take one!"

Her somewhat unfamiliar Victorian accent was often criticized when she was outside, but fortunately, her fellow villager's Victorian accent was also not that good, and the two of them were evenly matched, and they spoke quite vividly.

After taking the blind box handed over by her fellow villager, Elini placed Fran on the table and opened the blind box in front of the owner.

Inside was a small pack animal made of colored glass. The T-shaped horns on the tip of its nose had not yet grown out, and its eyebrows were narrowed together. It looked a bit like a newborn calf, and was particularly cute.

It should be so.

Elini looked at the strange thing in her hand with its eyes twisted together, its mouth open, and horns embedded inside. She turned around to look at the promotional picture on the box and couldn't help but frowning, obviously scared.

What kind of evil god figurine is this? Why does it look like Hai Si? Kjerag also has Hai Si?

Before she could ask the boss for clarification, a voice sounded in Elini's ears:

"Wow! It's a perfect hit! Is this your first time, little girl?"

"Yes, but I don't know why, but I feel like you just said something very rude."

Elini turned her head and looked at the young man beside her.

Of course, that person was Ernst, who had just finished arguing with his tutor and was planning to take a break from work.

Before Elini could speak, the shop owner's expression suddenly changed when he saw Ernst. He lowered his head and said:

"Holy... Holy Son."

"You have to refer to your position when you are working. Call me Prime Minister." Ernst said with a smile, "Although theoretically, this matter is not my business, but now that I have seen it, I still have to remind you, fellow countryman, deal with these pirated blind boxes as soon as possible. If you wait until my brother comes to trouble you, then you will really be in trouble."

"Yes, yes... I'll take it right away. I'll take it right away."

"It's not that simple. Go find Sintela to get the ticket and expose the location of the counterfeiting. Otherwise, you may have to give up this stall to someone else."

"Ah...this..."

"Is there any problem?" Ernst lowered his voice deliberately, seeming a little dissatisfied.

The fellow villager immediately became intimidated and shook his head: "No, no, I will definitely do it, I will definitely do it!"

He dejectedly put away the blind box on the table, then hung up a sign saying the business was suspended, nodded to Ernst, not even daring to look at him, and quickly left the scene and ran towards the office building.

Ernst then turned back to look at Elini and explained somewhat embarrassedly:

"I'm sorry, young lady, I left you with a bad impression when I first came to Kjerag. Let me help you get rid of this. As compensation, I will give you an authentic blind box?"

"But my money..."

"Oh, I forgot." Ernst suddenly realized and said quickly, "It doesn't matter. This one I gave you is free. I'll give you another one as an apology. I'm Ernst, what about you?"

"Elini," Elini replied, puffing out her firm chest with pride, "I am Iberian!"

Chapter 301 Follow me back to my office. My office is quite big.