Chapter 447: Expanding Influence

Next, Henwell arrives at the guest quarters of the Lumir Duchy.

Previously, during the War of the Six Kings, Duke Jansen led the Phoenix family forces into Lumir’s territory, making many enemies among the local nobles.

Because of this, Jansen isn’t the best person to attend cooperation talks here. Instead, he goes to chat with guests from the Vorry Kingdom.

After clearing the area, only a few remain in the Lumir Duchy’s guest section.

At the center is the duchy’s second prince, Obilian, accompanied by two key figures.

The head of the Dienbos family, Count Lierul, who is the maternal uncle of Grand Princess Ika, does not attend personally, sending his eldest son Duaili in his place.

The other important figure is Pawari, the third son of the Marquis of South Bay in Lumir.

He’s the Demon Soul Warrior who once recklessly practiced after finding a secret manual. This time, he’s here to ask Henwell for a chance to study in the Western Federation.

The rest are leaders of various trade guilds, many of whom have business ties with Peace Haven.

In the past, these guild leaders avoided direct contact and dealt through Roderick, the Southeast Commander under Ika.

Now, they want to seize this opportunity to connect directly with Henwell.

Henwell also needs to talk with these guild heads himself. After all, he’s given Roderick substantial benefits.

Just from the secret smuggling fleet taking a 10% cut of goods, the yearly amount reaches hundreds of thousands of gold coins. It’s not a free ride.

Roderick must let go of these guilds and stop profiting in the middle.

Time is limited. Victor has already met with various parties and discussed many cooperation projects.

Henwell’s visit is to discuss deeper cooperation.

His request is simple: he wants to lease two ports in the Lumir Duchy, one in the South Bay marquisate, and another port directly south of Peace Haven.

Hearing this demand, the group is quite surprised.

Obilian is a man in his early forties, tall and imposing, calm and reserved.

Whether it’s his maternal uncle’s family or the network of influence and connections he’s built over the years, he has the backing to seriously contend for the throne.

In short, he’s no ordinary figure.

Obilian doesn’t respond directly to Henwell’s request but instead asks, “Lord Henwell, could you explain why you want this?”

At Henwell’s signal, a rough map is passed over.

Henwell points to the port just south of Peace Haven. “As you know, surrounding countries often misunderstand me. Many of my goods have difficulty entering Ogiro territory, so I need to take a detour and open a new sales route.”

“Also, land transport consumes too much and takes a long time. With a port, I can also send my goods to the Billie Kingdom.”

Duaili frowns. “Lord Henwell, it sounds like you want to cut Lumir out and trade directly with other countries. If I’m not mistaken, you want to block our financial channels while having us lease you the ports?”

Henwell nods. “You could say that.”

Duaili falls silent for a moment. “You’re neither arrogant nor foolish. I’m sure you have reasons to convince us. If it’s just about transporting goods, we can handle that. Lumir has channels across the continent, guaranteeing speed and safety.”

“If you think our transport fees are too high or the prices for Peace Haven goods too low, we can negotiate further.”

Henwell shakes his head gently. “This isn’t about money. To you, it’s just buying and selling for profit. What I truly need is a way to project my influence outward. Selling goods is just a means, a concrete expression of that influence.”

“If it were purely trade, I’d be happy to let you handle sales. But this isn’t simply a trade issue. I can’t entrust my channels for influence to one side alone.”

Seeing that the group still doesn’t fully understand, Henwell sighs inwardly. As expected, national leaders busy with business often overlook many political matters.

Henwell continues explaining, “Let me give you an example, a metaphor, nothing more. Recently, there’s been some unrest in the southwest region of Ogiro. Rebels have seized a large territory there. They’re blockaded, with no supplies getting in, but they have money and desperately need various goods.”

“If I personally feel sympathy for the suffering people in that area and want to send some goods their way, but I don’t want the Ogiro Kingdom to misunderstand our friendly relations, the only way is through the southern sea route.”

“When those goods arrive, who will the people thank? The transporters? Or me, the kind-hearted benefactor? I care about my reputation, I want them to know it’s my kindness saving them.”

“Now, if Lumir wishes for this rebellion to continue, and transports weapons and equipment produced in Peace Haven to them, whose responsibility is that?”

“If you and Ogiro reach an agreement to completely blockade supplies, refusing to send goods to the poor people, wouldn’t that put me in a difficult position? I’m a kind person, I can’t bear to see people suffer.”

Obilian replies sternly, “Lord Henwell, be careful with your words. We do not support the rebels within Ogiro!”

Henwell laughs softly, “Haha… Your Highness, don’t misunderstand. I said it’s just a metaphor, no need to take it literally.”

Duaili responds coldly, “There’s more to your words than you say. If Ogiro misunderstands, it will cause trouble for us. It’s a continent-wide consensus that such serf rebellions must be stopped by all nobles. Lumir is no exception. We absolutely do not support rebel forces.”

Henwell looks around at everyone. “Since you want to distance yourselves, I’ll be frank. I’m different from you. I do support the rebels inside Ogiro!”

The group is stunned at Henwell’s blunt admission, but he presses on.

“You’ve probably heard the news. Ogiro plans to increase their defenses against me by sending their Sixth Prince to be my neighbor. That’s pure hostility!”

“Though I just married and don’t want war, I’m no pushover. I must respond—firmly, but without making things irreparable.”

“So I support the rebels striking Ogiro. This is how I project my political influence!”

Henwell fixes his gaze on Prince Obilian. “Understand? You won’t openly support the rebels, but I will. That’s why I need my own trade fleet and a suitable port, to project that influence!”

Obilian’s eyes don’t waver. “What if we refuse?”

Henwell traces a line downward from just below Peace Haven to the eastern border of Lumir. “Then I’ll go through here.”