The Harlow family, one of the main pillars of the Daedric empire, was famous for their great force and finesse in battle. They are the ducal household in charge and the main bastion for guarding the western parts of the empire.

Inside the office of the main mansion of the ducal household of Harlow, two individuals are silently doing their own business. One is a man with grayish hair, a gentle face, but emotionless eyes. He dresses in a servants costume. Another is a platinum-haired man with a stern and serious facecloth in a beige fancy noble uniform appropriate for his status who was currently sitting on his desk studying recent events and news on a stack of documents gathered by his intelligence force.

Suddenly, a knock on his door was heard, and the person with the servant attire got up from his seat and went to check on the door. When he opened the door, he saw a soldier who greeted him with a salute and wanted to relay a message to the person still sitting.

Soldier: "Master, Count Curtana has arrived," he said in a loud and formal voice.

The person who was reading the document averted his gaze from the paper to the two people on the doorway, looking at them before saying.

???: "Ohh, Claus is already here? All right then, Barney, prepare some snacks and tea," he said to the man dressed in a servant's attire.

???: "And you, lead the way!" He pointed at the soldier, who was visibly shocked at him.

Soldier: "Let me lead Master to the lobby, right this way!" He didn't know what to do, so he saluted and bowed at the same time.

Both the soldier and the noble went downstairs to greet Count Curtana, who requested an audience, which came from his sister, Iris. Since it was apparently urgent and a message from his father said that the count had something important to talk about, he decided to meet with the man.

---

When he arrived at the ground floor of his mansion, he saw the count, who was waiting by his doorway. He approached him with a sinister smile and greeted each other.

???: "CLAUS! Welcome to Harlow; how have you been?"

Count Claus: "Things are still going fine in Curtana. How have you been, Duke Ian? You look really stressed."

The duke, despite his busy schedule, had to leave some time to entertain his visitor.

Duke Ian: "I'm fine, just some crease on my plans; there are bastards trying to ruin my peace and quiet. You might have heard of them."

Count Claus: "Unfortunately, yes, some nearby towns and cities have been attacked by these idiots."

Duke Ian: "Let's talk about this later. I heard you have an urgent thing to talk about and enough for you to rush you here at Bergamont. Let's talk in my office."

Duke Ian: "Barney, please also call the royal messenger my father invited for today."

Barney: "Yes, my lord, Barney proceeded to walk away to the staircase and went to the room of their other visitor."

Meanwhile, Count Curtana and Duke Ian Harlow proceeded to his office.

They waited for a little bit, and a knock on the door was heard; it was Barney the butler.

Barney: "Master and Count Curtana. I have brought the royal messenger."

They said hello as they greeted each other.

Afterwards, they proceeded to take a seat while Barney brewed some tea and arranged them some snacks.

Count Claus: "Do you guys have some idea about the thing I will be talking about?"

Both of them replied yes; they had the initial information about the proposal and the idea from the former duke who arranged the meeting.

Duke Ian: "I know that it is about a business project proposal; I don't know about the finer details. Explain to us in detail if this venture is really that great." He said in a serious tone.

Count Clause: "Sure, fine, I will explain it," he replied back immediately.

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He took two stacks of paper that he brought and gave each person on the table a copy. Afterwards, he began to explain the 'essence extraction' project Nicholas created step by step to make them understand the rough process and feasibility of the said project.

Meanwhile, both the duke and royal messenger read the document given by the count while he was explaining. The count was not considered rude since they were still listening because they were simultaneously listening and reading. It was just they were curious if this project will really work or be effective. While reading and listening, both of them were surprised by the product and cost of the project.

Seeing the doubtful face of the duke and the royal messenger beginning to surface. The count followed up to his script and began to explain the monetary toll because it was the only thing that matters in a business proposal.

Count Claus: "The project would be costly initially because we will be needing to construct site and factories, which needed to be controlled in quality for it to be effective; however, the rest of the materials needed to create the products are basically free of cost since the project would just need useless monster carcasses. Any subsequent cost after the initial construction will just be from labor and maintenance."

Both the duke and the royal messenger began to think about this proposal deeply. The product effect written as a result is also not something to be ignored since it can increase the amount of yield per year drastically. These results are really amazing and will attract a lot of attention all over the world if they happen. They also understood why it was urgent and why the count approached them.

Duke and ???: *This bastard needed a backer.* Both of them of this simultaneously

???: "Is this real?"

Count Claus: "Yes, the product has been tested and the result is before you, as can see the resulting yield on the paper. Also, if you have any doubts, we already have sample products available, and the Curtana is already on their way in constructing the first large-scale plant."

Duke Ian: "This is good and all, but I do have some question before I can participate in this venture." He looked at the Count in an inquisitive tone.

Count Claus: "Sure, ask away."

The Duke and Messenger asked a lot of questions to the count; they were very anal of their query since this would be a really big project. As a duke and a royal member, they didn't want to be duped. The count didn't mind; this was the exact same reaction he had to the first proposal of his wife that his son came up with. He answered if there would be any side effects on the extraction of 'essence'; he answered on the possibility of it causing a plague; he answered if there is difference between different monsters; he answered a lot of questions; but the most crucial one of all is.

???: "Can you ensure that this won't be poached, stolen, or copied by the other empire?"

Count Claus: "That would depend. This technology's chance of being copied is slim to none. And that is due to one crucial part. Here." He grabbed something from his coat pocket and placed it on the table. It was a metal vial, and when he opened it, a smoky gas came out of it.

Duke Ian: "That? Hey, is that safe?" The duke looked at the count with a weird look. The count just looked at Duke with an offended look but still continued his talk.

Count Claus: "As you guys have read the document and process, this is the crucial ingredient to procure in order to extract the 'essence'."

Count Claus: "This is called the 'Tundra water', a type of water that can be only found in the deepest depth of the northern tundra. This water does not freeze even when its temperature is incredibly cold; it also emits a smoky gas that is not poisonous, but the water itself is not safe for consumption since it would freeze your inside due to its temperature."

???: "Your word, make it look like it's hard to acquire. Then how we'll be—OH." He shut his mouth when he realized that the process would not be hard to steal, but the key ingredient itself is incredibly rare to procure.

Duke Ian: "So you're telling me you can procure that substance in a quantity to support the business itself." The Duke also realized what the count was trying to convey.

The count didn't reply; he just nodded as an answer.

Duke Ian: "Fine. I will trust you in this one."

???: "The royal family is also interested in this venture. It's not the royal family not trusting the result; we just needed a sample of the 'essence' to confirm its effect."

Count Claus: "*Tsk* Might as well say you don't trust me, he grumbled."

Duke Ian: "Count Curtana, you really discovered something invaluable here. So let's get straight to the point: you needed our backing because this product is too large scale for someone like you and it will most likely cause a giant stir in the world. Correct?"

???: "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's talk benefits."

Both the old guys faces suddenly turned bloodshot, looking like a hyena who found its prey. Good thing that Count Curtana has already prepared himself for this occasion, ready to stand his ground.

Count Claus: "51% for the curtana, 26% for the Duke, 25% for the royal family."

It was the initial proposal to set the standard of negotiation. Count Curtana knew it was almost impossible to maintain majority shares since they were seeking help for this.

Both laugh but are not offended by the offer since they both knew it was just the start of the negotiation.

Duke Ian: "Quite a greedy number there count; you might get fat on your portion of the cake."

???: "Yes, yes it is indeed greedy," said the royal messenger.

The count didn't back down to the retort of these shameless fogeys.

Count: "It is normal, gentlemen; it is the Curtana who discovered this; we should have a majority share for this endeavor."

Duke: "Haha, your right, your right. Sorry, sorry, but you still needed our help in the end, so how about this kind of ratio?" The duke chuckled a bit.

???: "No no, no. How about this or maybe be like this? After all, this is the Daedric Empire." He presented his assessment of the situation, and the royal messenger retorted

Count Claus: "Gentlemen, calm down, calm down. I know my share was a bit excessive, so how about I reduce it to this?"

Sparks started flying everywhere, negotiation started progressing. It took a very long time, but by the time it ended, the three men were haggard and had a glint of hatred for each other.