Herald of Steel

At Lady Miranda's objection, Alexander quickly proposed this, 

"If even 20,000 strong men are not possible. I can reduce the number to 10,000."

"But in that case, these men must have families."

"And they must all come to Zanzan with them." 

"I will not buy them as slaves, but take them in as immigrants who must stay here as farmers for at least 20 years. After that, they can get a plot of land, or they can choose to return to Galiosos, whichever they want." 

This alternative idea got Lady Miranda's attention. 

"Hmmmm," 

So she hummed, finding the idea much more palatable.

She did not immediately say yes, but she did not vehemently oppose it either.

Instead, she got to calculating the pros and cons.

While Alexander, satisfied that the opposing side was considering it, continued his listing, 

"Secondly, I am aware the Margrave family is quite advanced in mining and metallurgy."

"So I want some experienced miners, let's say a hundred, to help me open new iron, gold, and silver ores in the Cisran Hills."

"Thirdly, we have a severe shortage of blacksmiths here in Zanzan. So I want to have about a hundred blacksmiths move to Zanzan."

"They will work here, learning how to use the new steel, as well as teach a few new apprentices from here of their craft. transferring their expertise "

As Alexander was saying this, he noticed a visible flinch from Lord Janus, as if he had something to say, but did not know whether he should interject.

But Alexander chose to ignore that for now and instead continued, 

"Fourthly since Lord Janus has said that you are struggling to rebuild your navy, I want to contribute. I want to send 2,000 men to Galiosos to help rebuild your navy, as well as be trained as sailors by you."

Alexander felt that instead of relying on his one shipyard, it would be far better to send a part of his crew to the Margraves and learn from them.

"And lastly, I wish to form an alliance with the Margrave family through a marriage with Lady Miranda."

Alexander very boldly made the last claim, feeling that since Lady Miranda was young and available, he should tie the knot as soon as possible to ensure the allied Margraves stayed an ally long into the future.

  "........" 

Herring Alexander's five points were a lot to take in for the two nobles so they took some to properly understand the implications of what he was asking.

"I'm sorry, Lord Alexander. But I will not be able to fulfill your last request. I'm still grieving over my husband, and I want to mourn him a bit longer," Lady Miranda gave her response regarding the last request first, unequivocally rejecting Alexander.

Which surprised him a bit given it was her who had subtly shown the thought of such a union first when she had very openly kissed him on the cheeks just before leaving previously.

It was because of that incident that Alexander even considered making this offer.

So Alexander wondered what changed.

"But if my lord wishes, I do have a few suitable cousins. I am sure they will be fine candidates too," 

Lady Miranda, as soon as she declined Alexander's offer, made sure to instantly add this alternative proposal so as to not appear too dismissive, but Alexander simply waved his hand with a light breeze, and said, 

"Haha, if my lady is not interested, then forget it. It was wrong of me to suggest such an inappropriate idea at such an inconvenient time anyway,"

Alexander was not interested in anyone else because they likely did not matter.

So if he could not wed the matriarch, then he would rather not waste his time.

Besides, given the current circumstances and the trade volumes the two parties ahd going on, Alexander doubted they would be falling out anytime soon.

So he was not that desperate.

While Lady Miranda, seeing Alexander not appear to be offended, was much relieved.

A sweet feeling that was as fleeting as the passing dawn for she heard Alexander say this next, 

"Since Lady Miranda has not objected to any of the other conditions, I premise those are all acceptable?"

Alexander had very strategically chosen to strike now when the other party had just rejected one of his proposals, and he had so graciously acceded to them without any objection.

Which made rejecting his other requests right now without losing face that much more difficult.

Something Lady Miranda was well aware of which was why she went a bit red.

Of course, she had objections but felt her face skin was too thin to argue.

And this made her want to nod and avoid the embarrassment.

"*Ahem*" But her much older counterpart had developed a much thicker hide over his life and quickly interjected before the young lady could commit such a mistake.

When it came to business and losing potential millions, no amount of skin was too much to lose.

'*Tsk*, Pity' And upon hearing the aged cough, Alexander could not help but muse regretfully in his heart.

He was so close.

"Lord Alexander, we have no problem with the second request. We would be more than happy to help you open up new mines," Lord Janus started with the good news.

Before going to on to describe his problems, 

"But that 10,000 men you asked for. Just them we have no problem. But if their families were also involved….well that would be close to 50,000 to 60,000. This is too much!" 

This was his first problem.

"Yes, but those are mostly women and children, Not strong working men. Surely it will not affect your lands that much," 

Feeling like Lord Janus was misunderstanding, Alexander elucidated as such, adding, 

"Besides, I'm asking you to take farmers out of your lands. You can choose beggars, the homeless, the abandoned,.... those not wanted by society"

"As long as they are not sick and crippled, and have no criminal records, I will take them."

Alexander lowered his requirements even further.

"....bu ...but still …it's 50,000 …" Lord Janus muttered under his breath, still appearing reluctant. 

So Alexander pressed, "Lord Janus, I'm not asking those people to be slaves. They only have to live here for 10 years."

"I'm even offering them land after that! God! I'm the one losing money here!" Alexander sounded incredulous by the end, looking at Lord Janus with befuddled eyes.

He was offering them such a good deal and yet the man was refusing!

"That…the offer is not the problem. In fact Lord Alexander's offer is more than generous." 

Knowing why Alexander was offering such a good deal, and feeling like he was taking advantage of it, Lord Janus quickly said so to placate Alexander, and then revealed, 

"But the problem is like I said, transport. Transporting so many people is too risky!" 

Here Lord Janus thought he had managed to corner Alexander, but the latter was ready, instantly replying "And that was why I asked you to let me participate in your shipbuilding! This way we can build a bigger navy faster!"

"..." Here, Lord Janus was quiet.

Not because he was very impressed by the idea, but because he did not think Zanzan had anything to contribute to this effort.

'What do you know about shipbuilding?' He said to himself, barely controlling himself from rolling his eyes in front of Alexander, as he knew well of Zanzan's pathetic shipbuilding expertise.

When Alexander had made his fourth point, he had not even seriously considered it because frankly, they were too busy to be babysitting 2,000 amateurs.

Now, Lord Janus did very well to hide this disdain, but Alexander could guess what the old man was thinking knowing the prevailing conception other powers had for Adhania'a navy.

But Alexander ahd a few tricks up his sleeves that no other had.

So taking advantage of Lord Janus's brief silence, Alexander first said, 

"I understand that Sybarsis's shipbuilding is second to none in this region."

"Each of your ships can carry around 250 slaves or 500 tons of cargo compared to our tiny ships only capable of taking 100 tons."

"So it is natural to think less of us."

And then confidently posed,

"But that was in the past."

"Here in Zanzan, we have built a ship that is five times as strong as the average ship and carries 2,500 tons!"

"So I believe Zanzna can contribute much to the restoration of your navy!"

"What! Is what you say true?" Alexander's grand declaration of course drew the attention of the two nobles, especially from Lord Janus who was a capable shipwright himself, his family having a few shipyards.

So Alexander's declaration was naturally very noteworthy to him.

"Yes, it is. I swear to the gods." And Alexander very solemnly promised such, further adding. 

"And if you let us learn your shipbuilding and naval warfare techniques, I will share the designs for the new ships right here, right now."

"I might even buy dozens of such ships from you!"

And Alexander's last line seemed to be the critical hit, as Lady Miranda, who was silent till now suddenly chimed, 

"Okay! We accept."

"Great!" And this produced a great beaming smile from Alexander.

Instead of relying on one dock to make hundreds of ships, while trying to figure everything out for himself, Alexander was very happy he was able to export this work to others, and even get much- needed training and technological transfer in the process.

To exchange so much for only the idea that they should use iron pegs instead of wood was too cheap!