Warhammer Divine Throne

"Generally speaking, for a young noble who has just become a Ranger Knight, it’s crucial not to try and command the domain or constantly comment on certain matters all day." Laine continued: "At this stage, one should never reveal their intentions and plans too early. Speak less, do more, listen more, learn more, and strive to understand the operation mechanisms of the entire Kingdom, how the Dukes control their territories, what they usually do, how the King consolidates the country, and what is the problem-solving process."

"Hmm." Fidmund had already experienced this stage himself, and after hearing Laine’s guidance, he had a new realization: "So, when you first came to the Kingdom, Lord Laine, did you mostly choose to silently accept the King’s orders and difficulties?"

"You should know that Richard and I do not get along." Laine nodded: "But I am his vassal, and he granted me my knighthood. Some things are not subject to an individual’s will; in our opposition, he adheres to basic rules, and so do I. Sometimes we must advance a step to strive for our own interests, but sometimes we need to retreat a step to leave some buffer space for each other. Interactions between individuals are not simply a champion match to the finish."

"For instance, in a passage composed of ten sentences, sometimes we only need to say eight because we know all ten sentences in our hearts."

"At times, we must say the full ten sentences, because that passage consists of ten sentences; there’s no room for pretending. Ten sentences are ten sentences."

"Sometimes we may only know eight sentences, but we still have to say all ten, because as Lords, Great Nobles, and Holy Grail Knights, we ought to know ten sentences."

"Fidmund, you must grasp the degree of this yourself. This is all I can say." Laine concluded with a final summary: "The distinction between them you must experience for yourself."

"One last thing, Fidmund, how many knights are there in the whole of Brittania? And how many ultimately become Holy Grail Knights?"

After this sentence, Laine said no more, leaving Fidmund ample time to think.

The Holy Grail Knight crossed his arms, his expression fluctuating.

Laine also waited calmly for him, and incidentally bought two sandwiches from a vendor with a silver coin, handing one to Fidmund.

Thus, the two Holy Grail Knights sat in a corner of the Margaret Central Garden eating sandwiches.

How utterly boring, Laine thought to himself.

After a long time, Fidmund finally sighed deeply, the Holy Grail Knight gazing into the distance with relief, and he said with heartfelt admiration: "You are indeed worthy of the name of a human hero, Lord Laine; my father’s words were indeed true."

"This is not something difficult to understand." Laine shook his head, looking at the noble children playing below, he smiled and said: "It’s just a matter of time. You have already accumulated experience from the Holy Grail Expedition; what you lack now is just someone to help you a little, and that would be enough."

"Hmm... Next, we have to meet the leader of the Estalia Merchant Alliance, Amancio Perez, and the Margaret Knight Order Grand Master Enzo Moretti. So according to your description of friend and foe relationships, Amancio Perez should be a target we can strive for, while the Margaret Knight Order Grand Master Enzo Moretti is our enemy?" After thinking for a while, Fidmund tentatively asked: "Merchants pursue profit, and according to your opinion, merchants don’t want to see trade routes entirely cut off, so they should play a role as negotiators, and they are the ones we can strive for, while the Margaret Knight Order wants to seize the Sea God Trident, making them our enemies?"

"Ha~" Laine laughed after hearing Fidmund’s considerations, his mouth curved into a grin, nodding repeatedly: "Compared to your previous thoughts, you’ve already made progress, but you’re still wrong."

"Wrong?" Fidmund furrowed his brows tightly.

"Yes, wrong." Laine nodded mildly, his expression beginning to turn serious: "First, let’s talk about merchants."

"The essence of merchants is engaging in the trade of goods or commercial activities. Their everything is for earning more profit, so the environment desired by merchants is a special one." Laine patiently explained the cause and effect to Fidmund: "Firstly, merchants need basic order because only with basic order, especially the sanctity of the inviolability of citizens’ property, can they ensure that the wealth they worked hard for won’t be taken away by others. However, in this world, even with legal protection, this situation often occurs, so merchants need it even more."

"But merchants absolutely do not want to see a world that is stagnant like dead water, without change. If a pound of wheat is worth two silver coins in Nord and worth two silver coins in Estalia, then merchants lose the incentive to trade because they won’t make much profit and will have to pay for transportation, hire guards, and cover various expenses. So they need chaos; they need some degree of chaos, which can cause price fluctuations, allowing them to buy low and sell high. The chaos must be big enough because only then will there be substantial profits, but not too big, as an unmanageable chaos would render all trading efforts futile."

"Merchants are always greedy." Fidmund nodded to express his understanding.