Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 1769 - 1768: Tycoons of the Steam Age
She was probably worried that Shard wasn’t well prepared, so she also informed Shard:
"At tonight’s banquet, besides the local nobles, I will also introduce you to several grand nobles from Tobesk City, including the Duchess of Saradiel. You know her, right? She is said to be the fairest rose of the Cavendish Royalty, the noblewoman who haunts the dreams of countless men and women, the Guardian of the Southern Border, and His Majesty the King’s aunt."
"Yes, yes, I’ve heard a bit about her... don’t worry, I’ve received very thorough training in noble etiquette, I won’t make a fool of myself."
Shard felt a pang of guilt but couldn’t bring himself to speak.
"Was it another girl you know who trained you?"
Audrey took his current restraint as nervousness, thinking he had never met such important figures before, so she jokingly asked, but this time she was absolutely right.
Miss Galina was staying at Rose Manor, which could be considered the largest manor in the center of Green Lake City. When the carriage carrying Shard and Megan arrived, the stream of carriages almost blocked the wide street.
The location was excellent; when Shard first stepped down from the carriage, he could see the silhouette of Green Lake City Hall to the left, the city’s Bell Tower to the right, and not far behind, the church spire silhouetted against the darkness.
He turned and took Audrey’s hand, allowing the witch to carefully hold up her skirt and step down. Together, they looked up at the red carpet illuminated by gas lamps, stretching from the manor entrance to the mansion, and the witch softly remarked:
"Quite the extravagance."
This banquet invited the bigwigs of the negotiation delegation, local noble officials from Green Lake City, and some Carsonrickians. Shard certainly didn’t know any of these guests, and Megan probably only knew a few, so when the witch took Shard’s arm and entered the manor, no one greeted them.
They arrived at just the right time, exactly when the guests were entering. At the entrance of the manor mansion, Megan handed over the invitation letter and a gift. Seeing "Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals," the white-gloved old butler gave Megan a rather surprised look.
However, this diligent old butler would probably take a one or two-month leave after the banquet. Miss Galina brought a large Maid Squad to serve her, and she didn’t like men walking around her residence.
The banquet hall was on the second floor. When this building was first built, its original owner, Earl Gaiman, had considered the purpose of the banquet hall, so it was quite spacious. As Shard and Megan followed a maid inside, the violinist in the band was playing a lively tune to welcome the guests. Men and women in formal attire or evening gowns stood around the long table at the center of the banquet hall, either chatting and laughing or whispering. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with bright yellow light mingling with that of the gas lamps, illuminating the newly painted manor and the clean, reflective floor even more brightly.
"She really is wealthy."
Shard heard his companion mutter another comment, but he acted as if he hadn’t heard it, and was promptly led by her to meet those business partners.
In the negotiations between Draleon and Carsonrick over the Pantanal Region, the merchant forces could barely be considered a third-party force, attempting to influence the negotiation outcomes through various means to profit themselves. Of course, the influence they could exert was nowhere near as significant as the as-yet-unrevealed third-party force discovered by MI6 in Tobesk City a while back, but at least these merchants could appear openly.
Besides "Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals" in the pharmaceutical industry, other multinational moguls regarded by both countries and without obvious bias included "Cuckoo Publishing House" in the book publishing sector and "Weili Brothers Aquaculture" in freshwater fisheries aquaculture. These magnates arrived in the Green Lake Region upon invitation, and most attended tonight’s banquet.
Megan Edwards’ identity might seem mysterious to ordinary people, but among these multinational tycoons, she was quite prominent. She introduced Shard to these well-known merchants of the Old Continent, and gathered with them, each holding a glass of wine, casually chatting about the weather, jewelry, business, and this year’s terrible climate. During this, Megan also introduced Shard’s identity, using a rather ambiguous tone to say Shard was her friend.
This was almost tantamount to saying Shard was her lover or paramour.
"It’s a pity that Miss Hevy Aurora didn’t attend; occasions like this always feel somewhat lacking without the Aphrola Shipyard."
The representative of "Cuckoo Publishing House" was an intellectual lady with gold-rimmed glasses. She didn’t wear a glamorous evening gown but instead wore a woman’s tailored blue jacket paired with a relatively simple black gauze skirt.
The "Light" Grand Witch representative she’d mentioned, from the Aphrola Family, was also among the invited multinational magantes, but unfortunately, Miss Aphrola didn’t attend this time due to the need to avoid arousing suspicion.
"It’s indeed a shame Miss Aphrola couldn’t come. She’s probably already decided to fully support the United Kingdom of Carsonrick, since her family is Carsonrickian. Speaking of which, you’ll attend the other banquet on the South Shore of Green Lake on Sunday night, right?"
Mr. House from "Healthy Cigarette Joint Company" asked. He held a wine glass in his thick right hand, adorned with three gold rings, and spoke with a heavy Draleon East Coast accent, making it necessary for people to listen carefully to understand.
When he posed the question, no one in the circle immediately responded. Although the "Healthy Cigarette Joint Company" is not registered in either country’s territory, its business is primarily centered in Draleon. On the way, Megan had mentioned to Shard that Mr. House, with his rotund figure, was suspected to have connections with a certain Prince of Draleon, possibly acting as a proxy of the Royal Family for some time now.
As for the "Sunday night banquet on the south shore of Green Lake," it referred to the Carsonrick welcome banquet. Bringing up such a sensitive topic in this context naturally made it difficult to answer.
"Mr. House, I’ve heard you’re recently doing business with the islanders of the Archipelago Kingdom - Karagly? Can those pirates afford your cigarettes and still have enough money left to buy matches?"
After a tacit silence among the people making eye contact, the tall, slender man with golden hair changed the subject. He was not just a businessman, not even a Draleon citizen, but a representative of the United Kingdom of Carsonrick’s Accountant Guild, somehow involving himself in the conversation.
As for the Archipelago Kingdom, Miss Galina had discussed with Shard that it was one of the major forces threatening peace on the Old Continent.
"Look at how you say that, as if I’m colluding with those pirates. My only connection with the archipelago is my fondness for cod and shark fin from the North Sea."
Mr. House said, pointing at Megan:
"Doesn’t Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals want to sell their worm oil and quinine water to those islanders and in return get farmland to grow herbal medicine?"
Megan’s public name was Megan Green, using Megan Edwards only in a few places. Since Edwards is not an uncommon surname, no one temporarily linked Paradise Island Pharmaceuticals with the Edwards Family.
The witch gracefully nodded, not denying:
"Who here doesn’t want to do business with those islanders? Oh, Cuckoo Publishing House certainly doesn’t, since the literacy rate among the islanders is abysmally low. Although the population living in the Storm Eye Archipelago is less than one-twentieth of the Old Continent’s, they lack everything. Once that market is tapped, it holds treasures potentially more valuable than the Pantanal trade route."
The merchants nodded in agreement:
"That’s true, but even without the risk of being robbed by islanders, the cost of ocean shipping and the risks of maritime trade would increase costs by at least twenty percent. Opening up the market is not easy."
Everyone tacitly avoided further discussion about the other banquet on Sunday night.
"It’s said that the Draleon Treasury Department considered trade subsidies in the form of tax rebates for ships heading to the Archipelago Kingdom for business,"
Shard suddenly said, noticing the others, including Audrey, looking at him in surprise. He explained:
"I have friends in the Draleon Treasury Department, and that’s what I heard from them. However, this proposal was from nearly ten years ago.
At that time, the Draleon Kingdom considered establishing closer ties with the Archipelago Kingdom, expanding its influence on the West Coast. Therefore, merchants needed to open a breach. But later, this matter was shelved due to conflicts between the Draleon New World Frontier Legion and pirates."
In fact, this knowledge came from the memory of his neighbor, Mr. Smith. During the last visit to the [Bygone Era: Sixth Era], Shard absorbed many memories from his neighbors. Mr. Smith, in his youth, lived during the kingdom’s rising era, witnessing many major historical events. He was an even more legendary figure than "Grey-headed Eagle" Sparrow Hamilton, having lived to the present.
"I didn’t know that, no, I’ve heard about it but haven’t understood it so well... Miss Green, I didn’t expect your... friend to have such connections in Tobesk."
The plump businessman, Mr. House, praised and then voluntarily handed Shard a business card. Although Megan was also hearing about Shard’s connections for the first time, she appeared unfazed, responding with a few casual remarks, becoming increasingly curious about Shard’s true identity.
Around eight in the evening, the hostess of the banquet, Grand Duchess Galina Cavendish, finally appeared with her grand-nephew and grand-niece. Everyone stood up, and amidst the flashes of cameras, listened to the Duchess give a speech on the theme of "Peace and Future."
Even though the current situation is precarious, with the Old Continent potentially falling back into the abyss of a full-scale war at any moment, it did not stop the adults from making such proclamations.
Of course, Shard’s attention was not on the speech, the content of which he had already known. He had listened to it once yesterday afternoon. Instead, he noticed Miss Galina during the speech, looking in his direction with an unnatural frequency.
Audrey thought this was a fellow member of the Witch Council making a greeting, but Shard knew this was a warning from the Red-Haired Witch to adhere strictly to the plan.
