Iron Powder and Spellcasters

  Chapter 480 Blazing Furnace (4)

  [Ocean Blue Suburb]

  [Manor of Navarre]

  Different from the sweltering sea blue city, the Navarre Manor located in the outskirts is pleasant and cool.

  The man-made garden surrounding the main house isolates the scorching heat and restlessness. The evening wind blows and makes rustling noises. It is still a quiet and peaceful scene of the old days—except for the mercenaries hired to guard the manor.

  The deteriorating law and order situation in Hailan City has also changed the lives of rich people living in suburban manors.

  Some families dug out the weapons and armor at the bottom of the box and began to arm servants and buddies to protect themselves; some families gave up the comfortable suburban manor and chose to move back to the airtight old house in the city.

  After a rumor about a certain family in a certain place was wiped out by robbers spread into Hailan, the rich became even more generous in paying people to use swords for them.

  The business of the mercenary group is booming again, and the supply of mercenaries with good reputation and high skills is in short supply. Even the Wharf Gang got in on the act, morphing into a semi-public practice of violent rental groups.

  Ordinary people who have no spare money to hire thugs to protect themselves, naturally cast their anger and resentment on the Directory and the Vineta Army, which are supposed to protect the public.

  More than one representative from other cities denounced the inaction of the Directory and the Army in the Great Council, and more than one Vineta autonomous city began to expand the city guard.

   But none of this will affect the dinner at the Navarre Manor today—Mrs. Navarre set up a private banquet to entertain the business partner [Fernando Leo] who returned from Plato after traveling thousands of miles.

  The atmosphere of the dinner party was very harmonious at the beginning.

  The chubby Mr. Leo has always talked humorously, and he described what he saw and heard along the way vividly, which attracted Olivia Navarre, the third lady of the Navarre family, sometimes covering her mouth in amazement, and sometimes giggling.

   Even Mrs. Navarre was unconsciously attracted by Mr. Leo's story and nodded frequently.

  At the dinner table, only Catherine Navarre and Mrs. Navarre's father, Mr. Dan Aura, remained unmoved.

  The former, as a witness of many stories, naturally has a self-esteem of "I know more than you" when facing other people;

  The latter is sitting at the head of the table as if no one else is there, drinking the soup that must be included in every meal with concentration, as if it is a three-foot frozen lake, even if the wind howls, it can't make waves.

  However, as the conversation inevitably involved the owner whose name could not be mentioned in the Navarre estate, the atmosphere of the banquet began to become a little weird.

  Finally, Olivia Navarre couldn't hold back.

  This girl who just stepped into the social field leaned forward with her long neck like a swan, completely unaware that her pendant had fallen into the soup plate in front of her.

   Regardless of her mother's face, she bravely asked Mr. Leo the puzzling question:

  "Why is it a wolf? Isn't a wolf a bad animal? There are so many good animals, lions, eagles, whales...why is it a wolf? How can you call...that person a 'wolf'?"

  Mr. Leo, who was sitting opposite the girl, put down the tableware, wiped his mouth, and replied seriously: "You know, Miss Olivia, the honorific title of Lord Montagne is not from a friend, but from an enemy.

   To be precise, it comes from the Hurd people. In the eyes of the Hurd people, the wolf is not only a greedy and cruel beast, but also a powerful and tenacious beast. The Hurds both hate and fear wolves, so it is not difficult for them to give such an honorary title to Lord Montagne, don't you think? "

  On the other side of the dining table, Madame Navarre and Catherine frowned at the same time.

  However, Olivia Navarre was immersed in the joy of being satisfied with her curiosity, and did not feel the displeasure emanating from her mother and sister at all.

   "So that's it!" The girl clapped her hands happily, then asked curiously after a second thought: "Then...does that person like this...this honorific title given to him by the Hurd?"

   "What kind of person is Your Excellency Montagne? How could he care what his defeated opponents call him? Naturally, it is impossible to say whether he likes or hates him."

Mr. Leo changed the topic and said with a smile: "However, the awe from the enemy is usually more indicative of a person's achievement than the praise from friends. Therefore, the subordinates of Lord Montagne accepted the "Blood Wolf" with respect. ', and this title has been passed down from then on.”

   Olivia suddenly realized, and nodded vigorously.

Mr. Leo then emphasized: "However, on formal occasions, Your Excellency Montagne chose a flying winged lion as his coat of arms and flag pattern. This is enough to show that Your Excellency Montagne is always our sea blue man, This has never changed—although we are far away, we will never forget our homeland.”

The girl's eyes were a little wet when she heard that, she suddenly put down the tableware, jumped up from the seat, and was about to slip away immediately: "Grandpa! Mom! I'm a little dizzy! Please allow me to leave the table! Don't serve me any more food You slow down! Goodbye, Uncle Leo!"

"What are you going to do?" Catherine, who was sitting next to Olivia, grabbed her sister's arm, picked up the napkin with a look of disgust, and wiped off the soup-stained pendant for the girl: "Reckless , not at all like a well-bred lady."

   "You want me to control? People who are grounded have no right to blame me!" The girl pushed back without showing any weakness. She struggled to break free from Catherine's control, and made a face at her sister: "You continue to be grounded!"

   After finishing speaking, the girl pulled the hem of her skirt, saluted the adults perfunctorily, and flew out of the hall like a gust of wind.

   Just as Anna never regarded Catherine as an adult, Catherine never regarded Olivia in her eyes.

   Being contradicted by her sister in public shocked and annoyed Catherine. She looked at her mother sadly and angrily, her exquisite facial features shifted a little angrily: "Mom!"

  Madam Navarre gently stirred the drink in the glass, without raising her eyelids, she asked slowly, "Why?"

   "You are too used to Olivia!"

  Mrs. Navarre glanced at her second daughter with her phoenix eyes: "It's really unexpected that one day, I can hear these words from your mouth."

   One thing fell one thing, Catherine was ashamed and angry, but she couldn't fight back. She pursed her lips, then looked pitifully at the end of the long table: "Grandpa!"

  The old man sitting at the head of the table drank the soup in front of him slowly, unaware that Catherine was asking for help.

  Catherine simply left the table, lifted her skirt and strode to the old man's side, grabbed the old man's arm, and used all her coquettish skills: "Grandpa!"

   Only then did the old man react, as if he had just woken up from hibernation. He glanced at Catherine with cloudy eyes, and asked half asleep, "What's the matter?"

   "Look at Olivia's impatient look!" Catherine said angrily, "She must be going to tell those little girls who are with her about the 'Blood Wolf Anecdote'!"

   "Yes." The old man answered unhurriedly, "Then let her go."

   "But what Olivia heard was not right at all, and what she told others must be wrong." Catherine was so wronged that she was about to shed tears, and she glared at Mr. Leo angrily:

"Uncle Leo! That name obviously didn't come from that way, don't you know it? Even if you are coaxing a child, you shouldn't talk about it! That little girl, Olivia, just to show off, will make everyone cry knew!"

   "The real origin of the alias Blood Wolf is too complicated." Mr. Leo apologized solemnly: "It is troublesome to explain clearly, which is not conducive to dissemination. Your Excellency Montagne needs a more concise, understandable, and more interesting story."

  Mr. Leo paused for a moment, then smiled and comforted Catherine: "As for the truth, we just need to know it ourselves. There is no need to let outsiders know everything."

  After Madam Navarre heard this, the silver spoon stirring the porcelain cup in her hand stopped.

  However, after hearing the explanation of "inner and outer closeness", Catherine felt a little more balanced. But she still couldn't understand the rest of what Mr. Leo said.

   "Propagation?" Catherine slightly frowned.

"Yes! Spread it!" Mr. Leo glanced at Mrs. Navarre's equally frowning brows, and joked: "The Directorate publicized the victory of Monsignor Montagne openly and secretly, just to steal other people's tails and cover their own baldness." ladle.

  They succeeded. Indeed, many Vineta people regard the outstanding achievements of Lord Montagne as the victory of the Directorate. But the Directorate also gave us the opportunity to borrow their ship and tell a story more favorable to Monsignor Montagne. "

   "Tell a story?" Catherine became more and more puzzled. She carefully peeked at her mother's face—little Ms. Navarre did not dare to mention someone's name in front of Mrs. Navarre: "How can telling a story... be useful to that person?"

   "Of course it is useful." Mr. Leo replied calmly: "'Fame' is the highest-quality asset held by Your Excellency Montagne in Vineta, and it must be managed well."

   It is no exaggeration to say that in the huge Navarre estate, Mr. Leo is the only one who dared to say the surname "Montagne" in front of Mrs. Navarre, and dared to bring the honorific title.

   With a bang, Mrs. Navarre pressed the porcelain cup heavily on the dining table.

"Mr. Leo." Mrs. Navarre smiled, and she carefully looked at the fat middle-aged man: "It seems that there is really some magical power in the frontier, and a hasty move has turned you into Winters Montagne partner."

  Catherine shivered, and subconsciously sat down on her knees obediently. Since she was a child, Ms. Navarre was not afraid of her mother's temper, but she was afraid of her mother's smile from the bottom of her heart. She was sure that her mother was burning with unprecedented anger at this moment, and she already wanted to run away.

"No, ma'am." Mr. Leo stood up, first bowed to the old Mr. Aura, and then faced Mrs. Navarre, and replied without humility: "Since the day you promoted me to be a partner, I have always Put the interests of the Navarre firm first."

  Madam Navarre's smile was even more breathtaking: "Are you implying that I have harmed the interests of the business?"

  To Catherine's surprise, the good old Mr. Leo admitted straightforwardly: "Yes."

  The temperature in the hall suddenly dropped to freezing point, and even the candle with the thickness of the forearm became dim. Only old man Dan Ora was still drinking his soup, sip after sip.

   "Grandpa, I...I feel a little uncomfortable." Catherine asked her grandpa for help pitifully: "I'm going to find Olivia..."

  Dan Ora lowered his eyes invisibly.

  Catherine immediately assumed that she had received permission, stood up to salute her mother and guests, and left the hall on tiptoe.

  Madame Navarre waved her hand, and the servant also left quietly.

   Only Fernando Leo, old Dan Ora and herself were left in the hall.

   "Tell me." Mrs. Navarre held up the porcelain cup, her expression turned cold: "Is there anything dissatisfied with me—you guys."

"No one is dissatisfied, ma'am." Mr. Leo stood respectfully: "It's just that I don't understand. His Excellency Montagne's interests in Vineta need to be represented. Even if we don't come to be this agent, sooner or later there will be one." Other firms approach you.

   In terms of...competition for this identity, Navarre Trading Company has an unshakable advantage. So we want to know, why do you have to distance yourself from Monsieur Montagne? Why give up the apples that are at your fingertips? "

   "The one on the left and the one on the right are so affectionate." Mrs. Navarre sarcastically sarcastically.

   She frowned and said sternly: "Don't forget what he did, he brought shame to my family and made the name Navarre a laughing stock. Isn't that enough?"

   "Don't forget, ma'am, we are businessmen." Fernando Leo straightened his waist. At this moment, he was not asking Mrs. Navarre, but "looking up" at the latter:

   "Don't forget, ma'am, we are businessmen. Even if someone asks to buy our lives, we should ask the price first."

  He said sincerely: "Everything has a price, and reputation can also be weighed on a scale. The reason why you are so determined to draw a line with Your Excellency Montagne is far from sufficient."

Mrs. Navarre lost her mind for a moment. She picked up the glass, took a sip of the drink in the cup, and said coldly: "Even if you draw a clear line and do business, no one can take away the wool that Navarre's business deserves." share. So what's the difference?"

   "This is exactly the problem!" Mr. Leo looked at the old man Dan Aura, lowered his shoulders, and his posture became humble again.

Mr. Leo's tone was earnest, but his tone was extremely firm: "Originally, my thoughts were the same as Madam's, but the trip to the new land made me realize one thing - wool is just the most insignificant thing we can get from Mr. Montagne. only to see the monopoly of the wool trade, which is like breaking into a treasure house and sweeping away a handful of dust."

  The light in Fernando Leo's eyes is clearly the joy of a sharpshooter when he foresees that the arrow feathers that are about to leave the string will surely hit the bull's-eye.

  He told the two people in front of him word by word: "The real valuable thing! It is Winters Montagne!"

  Madam Navarre's eyebrows trembled. She looked at her father, but got no response.

  So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, but when she spoke again, she was more powerless than angry: "Do you really know what kind of business you are going to do?"

"Transport wheat and olive oil in the inland sea, and you can get 30% of the profit; sell cotton cloth and wool from Plato, and earn double the profit; go to the Far East to get pepper and cinnamon, and you can get 10 or even 20 times the profit." Lee Mr. Ao looked sincere: "But compared to power speculation, what is the spice trade?"

"I heard you talk about him one by one. I didn't expect that you looked down on him even more than me." Madame Navarre smiled instead of anger: "Do you think that kid would be willing to be controlled by others? No, he will never be led by others." Manipulation! We have absolutely no possibility of manipulating him."

"It is precisely because His Excellency Winters Montagne has a firm will and a strong character that we need to support him." Mr. Leo solemnly suggested: "And we must support him regardless of the cost or return. Not only do we need to support him, but we also need to mobilize our influence and pull other families to support him. Manpower, material resources, financial resources, whatever he wants, we will give him; what he can't think of, we must give him. Give him so much, so much that he can't bargain, so much that he can't refuse, so much more than he wants!"

  Madame Navarre’s expression seemed to be watching an absurd comedy that happened to her: “Regardless of the cost? Don’t ask for anything in return? And then wait to be used and wiped out?”

  Mr. Leo heard the words, directly picked up the leftover soup on the opposite side, poured it into his own plate without a drop, then put the plate in front of Mrs. Navarre, and asked:

   "Ma'am, you can pick out the dishes; but can you tell the difference between this soup?"

Mrs. Navarre instantly understood what the partner really wanted to express. She glanced at her father in shock, then got up angrily, and asked Leo angrily: "Presumptuous! Just because you go to Plato, I will Even the family business has to be handed over?!"

"Money and power are the two sides of a ship. You know this better than me." Leo bowed to Mrs. Navarre, but he spoke to the old man Dan Ola: "Throughout the history of Hailan, No family can hold power without money, and no family can keep money without power. The Navarre firm is on the wave, go further, or die in the belly of the fish, nothing else There is a way to go."

As he said that, Leo looked at Mrs. Navarre again, and asked, "Family business? Madame, isn't it Ms. Anna's family business? Your Excellency Aura entrusted his family business to you and your husband back then. What's the difference?"

Mrs. Navarre was said to be weak, and she couldn't refute it for a while. She fell back to her seat, shook her head, and said bitterly: "Winters Montagne is different from my late husband, you don't understand...you don't understand you What kind of river is it taking us into?"

   "Ma'am, I am not the one who brought Navarre Firm into the river." Mr. Leo also showed a helpless smile on his chubby face, and he softly corrected Mrs. Navarre: "It was Miss Anna."

  Madam Navarre's clasped fingers became even paler.

  Mr. Leo lowered his head, bowed his waist, and sincerely advised: "Please don't deceive yourself anymore, can you really sever ties with Miss Anna? Can Navarre Firm really draw a line with Miss Anna?"

   There was silence in the hall.

  Suddenly, there was a belch at the dining table.

  Old man Dan Ora let out a long breath of satisfaction, put down the spoon, and wiped his mouth.

  Mrs. Navarre and Fernando Leo unconsciously corrected their postures, turned their eyes to the former helm of the family, and waited for the latter to speak.

   "When Anna was young, you always praised her for her good eyesight." Elder Dan Ola raised his eyelids and sighed: "Looking at it now, her eyesight is a bit too good."

  Madame Navarre lowered her gaze, but did not speak; Mr. Leo wanted to say something, but in the end he restrained himself from speaking again.

"Power is a dirty and dangerous thing, and political speculation is a high-risk business. Qualified businessmen should avoid them wisely." The eyes of the old man Dan Ola made Leo dare not look up. He paused for a moment and turned to Daughter, said hoarsely: "But it is also because of this, in fact, you have no choice. Fernando has only one thing right-can you really give up your daughter?"

  Madame Navarre clenched her silver teeth, her eyes were flushed, she didn't say a word about her father's question.

The old man Dan Ola is not like the former helmsman of the family picking up the steering wheel again, but more like a father talking to his daughter: "If you can really abandon that child Anna, then you can do it according to your ideas. Everything else It's not important, it's nothing more than opening roads across mountains and building bridges when encountering waters. But if you can't do it, then you can't continue to hide your ears and steal your bell."

  Hearing that the previous helmsman had set the tone for the matter, Mr. Leo was completely relaxed. On the contrary, Madam Navarre turned paler.

  Dan Ora sighed a long time, stood up with difficulty supporting the table, came to her daughter, and held her daughter in her arms with her old and thin arms.

  Mrs. Navarre understood that the ending could not be changed. The strong woman who had been in charge of the family for twenty years finally couldn't help it, and fell into her father's arms and wept softly.

Dan Ora patted his daughter's back lightly, and said pitifully: "Where are there parents who can beat their children? When you were going to marry Paganino Navarre, I couldn't beat you either. .Now it's your turn to grieve for your daughter."

   It took a while before Mrs. Navarre stopped crying. So Dan Ora let go of her daughter and went back to her seat.

  Mrs. Navarre wiped her tears and adjusted her makeup, while Mr. Leo stared at the plate and avoided the whole time.

   Not long after, Mrs. Navarre returned to her usual elegant demeanor, only her bloodshot eyes proved that tears once existed.

   "Just do as you want." Mrs. Navarre's voice was as pleasant as before: "Mr. Leo."

  Fernando Leo stood up immediately: "Yes, madam."

   The hall fell into silence again.

   After a while, Mrs. Navarre stared at the night outside the window, suddenly smiled miserably, and muttered to herself: "Are children really better than their parents every time?"

   [Sorry for being late]

   [At the end of last month, the author experienced Fuyang. After the fever subsided and turned negative, he continued to cough. Because it is very troublesome to take a film in the hospital now, so with a fluke mentality, the author just checks the blood oxygen every day. But the cough has not been good, so I finally went to take a lung X-ray, and I was recruited without accident]

   [But the author's cough is not very severe (instead, the tinnitus has recurred (T_T)), and the doctor has no good solution, so he can only hang the water every day. In addition, I came back to work soon after the overcast, so the time in the first few days was basically wasted in the tossing back and forth between the hospital and the unit, and I couldn’t write an update, I’m sorry]

   [Currently almost no coughing, there should be no major problem]

   [I will work hard to update and try to make up for it in the future]

   [I hope everyone will be healthy and healthy this year, don’t get sick (>peoplepeoplepeople<;)]

   [Thank you for your collection, reading, subscription, recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, rewards and comments, thank you all]

  (end of this chapter)