The Duke of Yuwen had prepared exceptionally well for this negotiation.
He unfolded the map handed over by his steward, then pointed out every single mine and other resource sites currently under the Duke of Yuwen’s domain.
“At present, these are the mines involved in external trade within my territory. Moreover, within my lands, there are fully equipped Refined Magic Crystal factories. The Empire, the Church, and even the various theocratic states—all together, at least forty percent of the refined magic crystals in use come from my production.”
The Duke of Yuwen was clearly very proud of this.
After all, as the Empire’s commercial backbone, it was thanks to this powerful refining technology and ample reserves of magic crystals that his territory had established such a massive commercial foundation.
Without these commodities that were close to hard currency, all the so-called economic strength would be nothing but castles in the air.
“We currently require a large quantity of magic crystals. How much can your domain supply?”
Via asked.
“How much do you need?”
“If we’re talking about refined magic crystals, a conservative estimate would be measured in tons annually.”
The moment Via said this, the Duke of Yuwen’s smile turned sour.
“No, Your Excellency, isn’t this a bit…”
“Considering your production volume, this shouldn’t be a burden, right?”
Via had already estimated their output beforehand; given the Duke’s production, this demand shouldn’t pose a problem.
“In terms of raw output, it’s not an issue. However, Your Excellency, you must understand,” the Duke lowered his voice, “our output is critically important to the Church and human nations alike. Our annual production and distribution channels are constantly monitored by various countries and the Church. Refined magic crystals are a key strategic material. If you want these, I would have to fudge the numbers a bit to cover the shipments in our reports…”
“If it were just one ton, I might barely be able to hide it, but you’re talking multiple tons, and that’s just not something I can manipulate.”
“Is there truly no other way? If you have a solution for your side’s issues, I, as Magic Lord, am willing to sign a long-term stable contract with you.”
“This isn’t a matter of money; it’s a matter of principle. Selling refined magic crystals to you is already a huge risk. This has to be done discreetly. If discovered, not only would I face trouble, but the entire Empire would suffer as well.”
The Duke of Yuwen firmly stuck to his bottom line.
He was willing to trade magic crystals with the demons because he needed to leverage this opportunity to gain enough profit to counterbalance the Church, while also trying to win over Via—a demon comparatively friendly to humans—to divert the Church’s attention.
But this process had to be gradual.
For this reason, the initial cooperation couldn’t be too conspicuous.
Around one ton was manageable; they could explain discrepancies by blaming excess losses during refining.
But it was clear that Via was not aiming for just one ton—she wanted as much as possible.
That was hard to justify.
“That’s truly unfortunate. I had hoped we could reach preliminary cooperation,” Via sighed regretfully.
“Lady Via, I have a suggestion—though I’m not sure if it’s feasible,” Cecilia suddenly spoke from the side.
From the beginning, the Duke of Yuwen had been occasionally observing this Magic Lord’s attendant.
Usually, someone in his position wouldn’t pay much attention to a servant, but today, he found himself watching this attendant closely.
He felt that this “Lisa,” whether by temperament or behavior, didn’t quite seem like a mere servant—though, of course, he merely suspected that as the Magic Lord’s attendant, her status might be quite high.
After all, in demon society, strength is respected, and it wouldn’t be unusual for princes and dukes below the Magic Lord to have attendants serving them.
But now, this attendant had actually taken the initiative to intervene in this discussion.
“Lisa, you are very rude. When did I ever need you to speak during my negotiations with the Duke?”
Via frowned in displeasure and reprimanded her.
“Ah, Your Excellency, sometimes a servant’s words are worth listening to as well,” the Duke naturally wouldn’t embarrass the servant and offered her a way out, “This isn’t a formal public occasion; listening won’t hurt.”
He wouldn’t side with the Magic Lord to scold her servant.
Although Lisa’s official status was that of a servant, only a demon of considerable standing would be allowed such close attendance to the Magic Lord in such circumstances.
Moreover, he sensed a faint pink glow emanating from Lisa’s lower abdomen.
He had read about the Succubus mark before: at the level of the Succubus Lord, it was rare to mark others lightly; those who bore such marks were usually deeply favored.
The Magic Lord’s reprimand was probably just for show.
If he really sided with the Magic Lord and left Lisa no way to back down, it might lead to unnecessary trouble later when she reports back with her own spin…
Better to give her a way out.
“Since the Duke allows it, go ahead and speak,” Via waved her hand, signaling Lisa to continue.
“As far as I know, the Church monitors trade between countries through local churches and their clergy,” Lisa—Cecilia—spoke quietly, “However, I recall that the Church doesn’t strictly supervise goods related to their faith. Perhaps you could exploit this.”
The logic was simple.
The Church’s enormous power depended on countless people’s faith in the Holy Lord Church.
If the Church itself rigorously inspected religious icons and relics—smashing statues or opening relics for thorough checks—it would seriously undermine believers’ faith.
Of course, this didn’t mean the Church completely ignored inspections of religious goods.
They planted inspectors within various countries and covertly bought some religious artifacts themselves to verify.
But the issue was that the Visy Empire—especially the Duke of Yuwen’s territory—had already begun resisting the Church.
The Church might check exported goods, but it was undoubtedly impossible for them to inspect goods “consumed internally” within the Duke’s domain.
“Among the mass-produced religious items, the most common are Pure Holy Statues—small sculptures made of refined magic crystal mixed with crystal. Perhaps you can use this angle,” Cecilia calmly explained.
“As for how to move these goods after balancing the accounts, that’s simpler. As a border city, there’s no shortage of ‘smuggling’ under the radar, right?”
Via stared in stunned silence.
Wait—is the Saintess actually leading the charge in exploiting the Church’s loopholes?