Chapter 23 –
The tavern on the first floor of the empty inn was shrouded in silence.
Diana gave a languid smile as she looked at Yon, who wore a surprised expression.
She had seen it all through Diana Isla’s memories.
The Lauta Merchant Guild had all their prepared food supplies rejected when trying to sell them to the Marquis of Rochen.
The reason was simple.
It was because the Lauta Guild had refused to accept the impure iron that the Marquis of Rochen had tried to sell.
“In short, he threw a fit.”
Normally, not even the Marquis of Rochen would dare to pull such a stunt on the Lauta Guild, but this year was different—Rochen territory had an unusually good harvest.
With food overflowing in Rochen, they didn’t need the massive amount of potatoes they used to buy from Lauta.
As a result, the Lauta Guild had no choice but to bear the transportation costs and return to Wilhelm territory, empty-handed.
“If Sir Soren wins, I’ll buy all the gemstones you brought today.
But if I win, you’ll give away all the edible goods from the Lauta Guild to the townspeople for free.”
Yon had no reason to reject such a deal.
After all, it was like tossing out food anyway—he could act like he was being generous.
Plus, he’d save on the cost of transporting it back to the warehouse.
“How did you know?” he asked.
That’s right. That was the question she had been waiting for.
Diana tilted her head and replied, “It’s not that hard to figure out. Lauta usually brings predictable items to Rochen, but this time, you didn’t bring anything back. Plus, you were selling potatoes at a heavily discounted price at the market today. What else could that mean?”
She barely kept her drooping head upright with one hand as she looked at Yon.
“The Marquis of Rochen pulled another one of his fits. That’s what it means.”
Yon let out a bitter laugh.
He couldn’t believe it.
They said the new Grand Duchess was a foolish southern girl.
She was even rumored to be someone who didn’t want to marry Grand Duke Wilhelm in the first place.
A naive girl who didn’t want to come to this cold and barren land—suddenly becoming a Grand Duchess well-versed in the affairs of the territory?
He expected her to throw tantrums about wanting to go home, not get involved in estate management.
And her first impression only reinforced that belief.
A pink-clad young lady walking into this gloomy, dark tavern.
Even wrapped in a thin hood, her small face seemed to glow.
Her eyes were clear and beautiful like emeralds.
‘They weren’t kidding when they said she looked like a doll.’
That was his initial impression.
But it shattered quickly.
“You’re prepared to lose this money, aren’t you? You think I’m going to lose.”
“Huh? That’s…”
“That’s why the bet is so small. Right?”
She spoke like someone who had negotiated deals a thousand times before.
“At this rate, I don’t even feel like winning. If you’re the head of the Lauta Guild, I expected you to have more guts than this.”
She struck just the right balance—stirring the audience’s curiosity and provoking her opponent’s pride.
Just like… hardened blacksmiths.
“What? 100 Duran? Forget it. That main gauche is only good for peeling apples.”
Those types—who’d walk away when the price wasn’t right—were a merchant’s worst nightmare.
Still, Yon wasn’t going to fall for cheap provocations.
But when the Grand Duchess proposed the wager, he had no choice but to accept.
She had struck precisely at what he needed.
And now… she was saying all that was part of her plan?
That this doll-like girl had gone to the marketplace herself, investigated the price of potatoes, and used it to draw this conclusion?
“…Do you want something from me?” Yon asked, instincts kicking in.
His senses as a merchant were warning him.
There was no way she had used all this information just to squeeze some potatoes out of him.
“I’ll be direct,” she said, her green eyes suddenly sparkling.
At that moment, the impression of a delicate doll disappeared completely.
Her gaze now glowed like green flames.
“I want to sell Wilhelm’s iron ore to you. What do you think about buying what Rochen refused to take? And we’ll give it to you at 90% of the usual price.”
“…!”
Diana smiled as Yon’s eyes widened.
Her father always said a great blacksmith never undercut his own value.
And to do that, you had to be skilled at negotiation.
Since childhood, she had watched her father bargain over steel and sell his works.
Sometimes he had to deal with powerful merchant guild leaders like Yon.
And what he emphasized wasn’t charm or eloquence.
“When people negotiate prices, they often lose their heads thinking only of their own gain, Diana. They try to buy cheap and sell high. But trade is a give-and-take. If I buy too cheap, I won’t get quality goods. If I sell too high, I won’t sell much.”
Give and take.
You had to be clear about what you were offering—and what you wanted in return.
“Why that face?” Diana asked, noticing Yon’s stiff expression.
He replied, “Because you’re offering what I don’t currently have… It’s frightening. What do I have to give in return?”
Diana smiled at that.
Yon Lauta.
He was someone who understood the fundamentals of trade.
No matter how tempting the offer, he didn’t forget that there’s always a cost behind it.
He traded with his head, not his heart.
That’s what made a good merchant.
“Wilhelm isn’t suited for farming,” Diana said. “Forestry and mining are much more developed here. So we trade our wood and iron for food.”
Yon shrugged.
Of course. Everyone knew that.
The soil in Wilhelm had too much groundwater, which froze periodically—making it unsuitable for agriculture.
It was far cheaper to sell wood and iron and buy food from elsewhere.
“Of course. Trade is about acquiring what you don’t have.”
“But it’s also about getting a fair price. Yet, our wood and iron are sold at dirt-cheap prices, and we pay high prices for food. Why do you think that is?”
“Because we can’t sell at southern prices.”
That was obvious.
Everyone in Wilhelm faced the same problem.
They had to rely on merchants to sell their wood and iron in the South.
Was the Grand Duchess trying to deny that reality?
Yon was about to ask when she gave a crooked smile and said:
“Because we only sell wood and iron as wood and iron.”
That answer caught him off guard.
“Yes, I know. We process wood into textiles too. But the South already has plenty of cloth. So we end up burning our surplus wood as firewood. We keep fueling the hearth while we have no food to warm up.”
She gestured to the fireplace in the middle of the tavern.
“If it were up to me, I’d use it for something else.”
Turning wood into cloth meant little demand in the South. Using it as wood turned it into ash.
So what should wood become?
She found the answer in Diana Isla’s memories.
“Soon, something will become as important as proper clothing, warm sleep, and full bellies. In fact, we already know how important it is. That’s why nobles monopolized it and refused to give it to the commoners. But nobles can’t win forever.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“The thing that allows us to live better lives than we did a thousand years ago. That makes us truly human. That doesn’t last forever, but continues on. Do you know what it is?”
Diana’s smile slowly spread.
A smile hot enough to burn everything down.
“Records.”
In her mind’s eye, the shabby inn vanished, replaced by a massive imperial city.
In a corner of that port city, a man tinkered with iron and copper—not to make axes or arrows, but something else.
A, E, I, O, U—vowels were born.
Then B, Ch, K, D—consonants.
Letters lined up to form words. Spaces appeared. More letters followed.
The typeset he created with metal was pressed into long sheets of paper.
<How to Read Letters>
The title was simple. Even childish.
But it was powerful.
More powerful than any sword, axe, or arrow made by a blacksmith.
“We need to start preparing to produce printing presses and paper. Because people wanting to read records will explode in number. And our printing presses and paper will become more valuable than wood or iron.”
That was the birth of what would be known a year later as the printing revolution—sparked by Gunin’s How to Read Letters.
that was powerful