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Private Lounge, Wintersleep Hotel, Wolfsteeth

Seeing all of Alexander's guests starting to read his plan, he waved his hand, letting a chair float toward him. While he didn't need to use such a gesture, it was feedback others required so that they wouldn't be too disturbed by the alchemy or magic appearing around them.

As the chair floated toward him, he took his blazer off, letting it float toward Cloelle, one of his maids, who was surprised by having a blazer gliding toward her, which she caught, though not happy about it as she glared at Alexander while putting it on a coat hanger.

When the chair stopped directly under his buttox, he plopped down casually, putting one leg over the other, relaxing, and falling into thoughts. Unconsciously, he loosened his copper-colored neck tie and rolled up his sleeves, looking like the son of some third-rate bookie who managed second-rate mercenaries.

However, he became a little bored waiting for his guests to finish reading and join his conspiracy, he thought so jokingly. While it sounded risky, in truth, even if everything went wrong for his guests, should they decide to join, the losses would be negligible. Alexander was the only one with any chance of getting beheaded, but the possibility was the same as winning the jackpot—little to none.

The most likely scenario would involve him incurring some financial loss should something go wrong, but even with that, he would get his money's worth. As such, what was left to worry about? As Rousseau once said on Twitter, Those people who treat politics and morality separately will never understand either of them.

Alexander would agree with that, even seeing it on Orbis. Morals were dictated mainly by the rulers, who governed with sheer force, enacting their preferences into law. While there was a limit to how much one could force one's morals before it had an adverse political effect like brain drain or economic loss in general, they were usually much more bendable than on Earth.

However, if politicking meant controlling a fief from an isolated point of view, it would become children's play. Many ruled a territory, and they were as strong and had more resources or friends. Here came the point where all morals bent due to cooperation. Sure, starting a war was always an option, but if everyone would do this, Orbis would be in constant turmoil, more than it was already.

However, this situation Alexander was trying to fix was the perfect example of how one's morals fucked someone else over, which was the Temple that created this whole mess. The standard procedure would've been to eradicate the enemies, but their moral compass stopped them, putting Moorgrel, especially his fief, into this weird position.

To resolve it, he would need to bend his morals, trying to slither through loopholes written between three parties hundreds of years ago. While feeling a little disgusted as he wanted to act very differently, it was the best he could do. He had his morals but would gladly be hypocritical when improving his fief and the subjects living here.

When such thoughts entered his mind, his gaze became ice-cold, and he remembered his Mother when she dealt with her administrative duties, 'Tsk, I get her now.'

Alexander's moralistic views were far from what his actions said, but he needed to play the game and slowly change it with little things here and there. In comparison, he could trick the refugees into attacking him using djinns from the Essence Alliance. If the camp signed into a deal with them, he could destroy them for good. Such an action was the standard for this world, and his trying to give them even a chance was highly abnormal and could even seen as saint-like.

This was also the reason for this hefty document he produced. He needed to justify his benevolence strongly, trying to find every favorable angle he could so his retainers wouldn't just scream him down, as most cared little about the camp. The same applied to the fire-djinn half-sisters, who would gladly even pay to set the camp up in flames, together with the wind-djinns.

'What a mess...'

It had everything he hated about politics, reminding him of a minesweeper game. Morals came from the religious side, which acted hypocritically, making it much harder to act sensibly without pissing off the treehugger.

The wider populace hated the camp because they attacked, robbed, and pillaged in the past. Folk tales about their past actions were widespread, and counteracting them would be a massive endeavor in itself. Thus, integrating them would be impossible in the foreseeable future. Anything less than them paying half a pound of flesh and showing considerable results against his kin's enemies would only end in massive discrimination or worse.

Furthermore, his Master passed commands down to let them die off naturally. If Alexander wanted this to end, he would first need to find out what the Count got for taking them and most likely double it since breaking contracts wasn't seen favorably by Mal-Gil's Higher Nobility. He was not ready to make such a sacrifice, putting his fief and Moorgrel in general into a worse position for future negotiations.

Alexander hated everything about it, which made him seeth. While thinking he may not have the loveliest allies, he didn't forget whose fault it was in the first place, 'Essence Alliance huh... I bet I can make it fun with a couple more inventions.'

However, he hated one thing the most: He was forced into this position. For example, like with the paper making and their financial problems, when he saw a problem, he needed to solve it. It was like a compulsion that forced him to act as fast as possible.

So, seeing that there was a ticking time bomb on their borders, he needed to resolve it somehow. Sure, they were relatively peaceful, but that could change very quickly, as seen with the love potion they made by buying a recipe on the black market. He needed to act promptly and ruthlessly while trying to hold on to his morals as much as possible for his own sake. Such a risk was not allowed to stay.

The Essence Alliance and others putting him into this position made Alexander even madder, with his tail puffed out. The air around him became tense, 'I swear, I will put so much coin into them and make sure...'

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted before he could manifest his emotional outburst into something more tangible. Helena folded over the last page, asking, "How much of that trash is there?"

As thought, Helena and Lila weren't fond of the wind-djinns, seeing them as nothing more than some vermin. However, while not liking their sentiment, it was more or less typical in the Eros Alliance.

Alexander shrugged, "The whole camp is ca..." He was interrupted by a distressed Lila, who glared in Helena's direction, "Excuse me?! You deciding this without asking the patriarch is irresponsible!"

Helena leaned back, gliding with her hand through her lengthy and rosy hair, "Who cares? We have literally nothing to lose. In the best case, we can take over some islands using them and give them some useless pieces of sand so they don't rebel and be happy. Worst case, we can use them to pressure Essence..." She pointed at Alexander, with her open palm upwards, smiling mischievously, "...Mr. Alexander will invest in this endeavor by buying certain products at slightly higher costs and subsidizing those vermins. We will use part of the profits and buy the stuff we need from their artisans for the trash. I see no negatives except that we might lose some time and get diseases when interacting with them."

Lila frowned, "Really? What if they get all the weapons and territory and go against us?"

Alexander shook his head, sighing, "Really? Would they go against the one who is propping them up? Other than that, should they go against us, under the banner of Essence or by themself, it means that we can eradicate them since they will be classified differently..." He pointed at them, faking a smile, "...which would make you profit, too."

Lila looked at Alexander, skeptical, pondering how to question what he had just stated as fact. However, Aurum was faster, asking much more bluntly, "How does it profit them actually to increase the numbers of their enemies besides straining our relationships?"

Alexander looked at the half-sisters since they were the party that needed convincing, "Let's hypothetically say they attack my kin or yours, whatever the case..." He let another bundle of papers float toward him, with one piece of paper coming out right before him, "...in case of any backstabbing, I ensure great financial help and will even pay some mercenaries who will help you. Other than that..." His smile widened, "...I think you being able to eradicate the last wind-djinns will be seen as something great, right? Even though, somewhat losing out, you ensured that such a risk wouldn't later on join the Essence alliance in secret and become a more substantial force."

Aurum frowned, nodded, and started to note something down. Ultimately, it would only be a financial loss for Alexander. While it was tragic for the mercenaries, they were sellswords and ready to die, and if he wanted to make it for the half-sisters as risk-free as possible, he would contribute well to paying for some poor bastards to die for some coin, should something go wrong.

Besides covering the risk, it was also a test for relationship building, especially for someone like Alexander, who was new to all of this without having any worth to his name.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

What was considered worth? Trust. It was all about trust, and the best way to build it, even though paradoxically, was by making deals that could terribly go wrong and seeing how the parties acted in the worst-case scenario. It wasn't abnormal to miscalculate and cause an error, but what happened afterward was important.

Were they good faith and amicable, trying to work out a way to make up for their mistakes, or would they ambush the other, trying to cause even more damage to offset the costs? Both would love to see how the other party would act. Not only were Lila and Helena curious about Alexander, but he also wanted to know if he could trust them. Fail or not, it would be perfect either way.

However, Helena seemed to have another opinion, asking lazily, "Wouldn't it be better if they would join Essence and we kill them off that way quickly?"

Lila looked at her incredulously, "Excuse me?! Are you now against us?!"

Helena shrugged and smiled mischievously at her half-sister, "What? It's not like Mr. Alexander doesn't know. This plan..." She tapped on the masses of papers, "...are not something you do in an afternoon with cake and tea..." She turned to Alexander, smiling full of fascination, "...I am just interested in why this way, and not just tricking them and eradicating them for good. It sounds like sooo much work for..." She raised her lip in disgust slightly, "...those."

Alexander shrugged, expecting such a suggestion, but not from Helena, "I am an idealist and love helping those who can't, like with my charity." The best answer was the easiest—just because. Sometimes, stating one's irrational emotions was enough.

Helena smiled slightly, analyzing Alexander thoroughly, "Is sending them toward the battlefield helping, though? I see..." She folded her hands and propped her head on them, her smile becoming playful, "...I would like to know what Mr. Alexander thinks about this?"

Seeing her like this, Alexander frowned inwardly. He understood that she was the politically competent one among the half-sisters, even though she gave off the feeling that everything was a game, taking nothing too seriously. However, her questions were undoubtedly reasonable, making it a bizarre contrast.

Helena's reason for asking those questions was something he couldn't comprehend, but it wasn't important for now. Alexander had no secrets in this regard, as the wider populace widely knew his ideals through his charity. She clearly tested him on something, probably to see how honest he was. As such, he decided to be honest. There was no need to lie or be stubborn.

"Nobody said I was not a realist, either. Ultimately, they are a resource I can also use while deepening our relationship with your clans and helping them with some land. Everyone wins, right? My conscience will be fine, too..." Alexander leaned back, "...of course, a battlefield is dangerous, but don't you think staying still in Kratikal is more so? It's always a question of one's perspective."

Helena and Alexander looked at each other, faking their smiles in a rather uncomfortable exchange.

"Isn't Mr. Alexander too hypocritical? Couldn't you just put them on some island even further away? I would guess it would be easy for them to take over any outpost far out there and survive."

"Helena is truly clever, a clever girl..." Her facade broke slightly, "...but there is a reason why I feed those unfortunate ones nutritious food, not just bread and water. It is an investment into something more, not survival."

"Does that mean Mr. Alexander's worry ends if they are useless anymore or..." She looked more closely at him, "...rather can't be used anymore? Like cows not able to give any more milk?"

"Useless? Please, I don't think this primitively..." She popped a vein, still holding onto her playful demeanor, "...I call it emancipated. It will become a massive plus for us when they start to participate in politics while we control them."

"It didn't answer my question, though, Mr. Alexander."

"Oh, what was that again?"

"Aren't you a little too hypocritical? You want to help just because, don't you? This sounds more like a cold-blooded politician, not the fun and idealistically-eyed noble child..." Her tone became, for Alexander, like nails on a blackboard, lengthening his name, "...Mr. Alexander."

"Is that all?" Alexander tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh? Now, even I am confused as to what you didn't understand, Mr. Alexander." She also tilted her head in confusion.

Alexander chuckled, shaking his head, "Oh, sorry, I understood you clearly, but this here..." He opened his arms widely, "...is not a puppyish game of clear winners and losers. I can't come to you all wanting 100% while giving you as a benefit some greater good that you may not even believe in. Isn't it normal to balance those out and benefit one's allies so they receive the most amount they can while I can follow my romantic nature as well as I can without damaging my fief and even letting it prosper?..." He shrugged, "...it's all a balancing act."

Helena continued for him, her smile gone, though she looked relieved, "Balancing real politics with one's morals bla bla bla..." She gestured to continue, apparently done with her questioning, "...I heard this too much already from Mother..." She smiled slightly at Alexander, "...but I thank you for answering my questions honestly, and I am certainly in."

While they had the quick exchange, everyone else was more or less unconcerned by it. It was apparently so common for them to see even worse discussions, but not for Lila, who frowned constantly, not liking what she heard.

She cleared her throat, "Ahem! I don't think I can be part of this operation."

Before Alexander could ask her why, Helena looked at her lazily, asking quickly, "You know that your branch is already declining, right? This opportunity will be something you could only hope for. Better still, isn't your branch close to Prelms and Koya? Wouldn't it be a boon to get those?"

Prelms and Koya were islands in the southeast, close to those occupied by the Essence alliance. They were useless to beast-kin but apparently had some value to djinns, as there were unique dungeons with particular trials, mostly made for them.

Usually, dungeons were, in very rough terms, caves with monsters living in them. They had a core made of energy or mana to create those monsters and numerous resources. They fed on ambient mana or energy, and they became larger the more adventurers or stray monsters died inside them.

It was an incredible resource for every territory, but it was also similarly dangerous. Dungeon monsters were able to flee and attack nearby towns and cities, and worse, they could hide in forests or other natural habitats, multiply, and become a danger to the sapient beings. This was also believed to be where all monsters came from, now roaming around the world.

It was an incredible opportunity, but if the dungeon became enormous, the monsters that could escape sometimes destroyed whole cities. Thus, it was always a risk/cost factor if one really wanted to let such a ticking time bomb stay in their territory.

Some dungeons occasionally became overly specific and useless for almost everyone. For example, the one on those islands contained something that augmented djinn's divine skills, making it useless for beast-kin.

As such, he was surprised that Helena mentioned it by herself since Alexander wanted to make that point, as the dungeon was even useless for the Essence alliance. Apparently, only fire-djinns and some versions of them could benefit from it. While it was apparent that it was insignificant to them since they didn't try to take it over with full force, it would nonetheless be a boon.

Other than that, the Leonandra fief also once had a dungeon. However, it only produced demonium and monsters that could be found in Kratikal en masse. It was useless and, worse, dangerous because it could become uncontrollably strong, and wild demon-like monsters could escape. Because of this, his Mother raided it alone, destroying the core for good.

Back to the discussion, it took Alexander a moment to understand why Lila didn't mention this, as she probably wanted to get more benefits, acting casually. She glared at Helena, slightly annoyed, "Why do you even mention that..." She glanced at Alexander, who smirked at them but knew about this dungeon. Lila smiled nervously, trying to appear more competent, "...I mean, we would obviously be doing you a favor by taking it off..."

Helena rolled her eyes, interrupting her sister, "Oh, by the Circle, can we not play this stupid game? Mr. Alexander came to us in good faith and even answered all my questions honestly, without the typical yammering aristocrats do..." She leaned toward her rather tense sister, "...just take the damn deal, profit, and don't try aunties stupid negotiation tactics. This here is not the market."

Lila opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but quickly stopped. She turned to Alexander and nodded, "I apologize. I will think about it over a few days, but I am very positive about this."

Alexander smiled at them, "That would be great, and what about anyone else?"

Helena raised her hand playfully, "Me, teacher!"

Alexander broke, laughing at her, "Haha, sure, what's up?"

"I would like you to reconsider what you could buy, like..." Alexander interrupted her, "You want me to buy your Dad's mana items?"

After some research, he confirmed Helena's identity. Her parents were quite wealthy, though they had little influence on politics. They were mana item merchants and were influential, mostly selling luxurious products.

Helena tried to follow in their footsteps and build up her connections as much as possible. According to Quill, she wasn't a stranger to the underworld. She was often there, dealing in their family business, usually by networking and entering auctions, being an excellent source for mana items.

Lila was the complete opposite. She was less interested in networking outside the Golden Feather Bank. While doing her job well, she did little to connect with others, did not like risks, and never back-talked authority figures. She was clearly uncomfortable leading, which was fine, but she was a great support, working from behind and helping. Nathan praised her often for her work ethic, but she crumbled fast regarding communication outside of work.

Alexander shrugged, smiling at her, "My goal was to buy alchemical ingredients, but it's not like I don't need mana items. Just give me your catalog with all items, and we will surely find one or the other I can take off your hand."

Helena clapped her hands, blushing, making her rather rosy skin even more so, "Great! I knew from the beginning that Mr. Alexander is a great partner!"

"Sure..." he ignored her, looking around, "Any more questions?"

Other than the discussions with those half-sisters, all his retainers started discussing him, ranging from Ocilia finding it better to just kill them off to Aurum not wanting to waste resources on them, etc. However, in the end, they understood the benefits. While it would be nonsensical to do something like this for someone who was only wealthy and without a nobility title, he had one, and everyone already saw him as the heir, not even questioning it. His improving the fief with such a complicated operation made sense to everyone.

However, it was only the start of the planning. They wouldn't take the documents with them and would come again tomorrow evening, trying to work out all those points they wanted to change. Only after talking everything through could Alexander think of some way to contact the refugees one way or another, proposing a definitive deal.

When the day ended, he stood up, throwing his blazer over his shoulder, "Like said before, no leaking. If you have questions or need to ask your clan, do so, but ask me before how to ask, etc. The last thing I need is for you to reveal my name to your patriarch, and then they will write to my parents."

However, before he left, Helena quickly ran over to him, "Mr. Alexander! I may need to remind you of something!"

Tired of the lengthy discussions, Alexander looked at her, barely holding back a yawn, "Yeah? Can we not talk about it tomorrow? It's not like the refugees are running away."

She shook her head, "No, no, it is about something else you might have forgotten about!"

Alexander raised an eyebrow, finding it quite weird since he had a great memory, "What exactly? Which page?"

She shook her head again, "Not the documents, Mr. Alexander."

"What then?"

"Well... you forgot the offenders."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, confused, "What offenders?"