Chapter 168

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: A Drop of Threat in the Negotiation
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“Th-this is!”

Director Caruso let out an exclamation that was half astonishment, half admiration. Ariadne nodded with a faint smile.

“The Heart of the Deep Blue Sea. A treasure bestowed by His Majesty the King.”

“Why on earth would you bring such a precious item…”

Though it was his first time seeing it, he had heard the stories. It was a rare jewel from Taranto, coveted by countless powerful figures, but it had become unattainable after falling into the king’s possession.

“I intend to use this as collateral to secure a loan.”

Director Caruso’s eyes widened as if they would pop out of his head.

“Pardon?”

He was normally a composed man, but the day’s events were far too unpredictable. An abrupt appointment with the flower of high society, her threats brandishing the doctrines of the Holy See, and now, the audacity to try and exchange a gift from Leo III for money.

He asked cautiously.

“Are you not the one who knows best that this is not an item that can be easily circulated?”

He was right. The ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ was a gift from Leo III, and if it were to change hands, a rumor was bound to spread.

And once the rumors started? Leo III would surely try to confirm the jewel’s whereabouts. If it became clear that Ariadne de Mare had sold it, the king would seek to punish her for lèse-majesté.

“That’s right. Which is why I will repay the loan and retrieve this item before it can ever be circulated.”

Unlike Baron Castiglione, Director Caruso did not ask what the money was for. She needed it, so she was borrowing it. There were only a few reasons one would need such a large sum.

Hiring a mercenary captain, staging a coup d'état, or perhaps undertaking a massive civil engineering project, just as Baron Castiglione had imagined. It had to be something of that nature.

And if Ariadne was involved in such affairs, Director Caruso wanted no part of it.

“Thank you for showing me such a precious jewel, my lady. But a humble merchant like myself has neither the means to safely store such a treasure nor the capacity to lend an amount of gold befitting its value.”

Ariadne had anticipated this. So she played a card she couldn't have used on Baron Castiglione—one that would only work on Director Caruso.

“No gold, you say? But you are the big shot who imports Satan’s leaves from the Moorish Empire. If I had to name just one company in San Carlo where gold flows like water, wouldn’t it be Boccanegra?”

Director Caruso’s pupils trembled.

“If a representative of the Holy See were to come and seize your coffers, holding you accountable for violating its doctrines… would the gold inside truly fall so short of this necklace’s value?”

A threat. A clear and proper threat.

As Director Caruso stood speechless, Ariadne pressed him in a voice as sweet as a chirping bird.

“Or perhaps… it would be better to report you to His Majesty’s tax collectors? The Holy See would confiscate everything, but they would likely only collect the amount of your tax evasion.”

If representatives of the Holy See came, it would mean confiscation followed by excommunication. If the king’s tax collectors came, it would be collection followed by imprisonment in an underground dungeon.

Director Caruso’s voice trembled as he retorted.

“What do you want from me?”

Ariadne’s smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

“I am not doing this to trouble you. Nor will I use the money for anything problematic. These funds will be used to stockpile grain to aid the people. But to do that, I need money.”

Charity work, of all things.

“Is there any promise of repayment?”

“If I cannot repay you, sell the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea.’ It may be difficult to liquidate within the country, but if you smuggle it across the border to the Moorish Empire, you’ll be able to dispose of it easily enough.”

“How much do you need?”

This was the moment that would decide victory or defeat. But Ariadne held the man’s leash in her hand. Only the strong could take as much as they wanted.

“One hundred thousand ducats.”

Director Caruso’s eyes widened once more.

He was in a position where he could not refuse. But such a proposal—no, such coercion—was impossible to accept.

“Impossible.”

Director Caruso looked Ariadne straight in the eye.

“The ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ is an unparalleled treasure, of course, but even with a generous appraisal, it would not exceed forty thousand ducats.”

“Within the Kingdom of Etruscan, that’s true. But you have smuggling ships to the Moorish Empire. If it crosses over there, you could easily get sixty thousand ducats. Add the story of it being a treasure of the Etruscan Kingdom, and eighty thousand wouldn’t be out of the question.”

“And you’re not accounting for the operating costs and risks of a smuggling ship?”

“That smuggling ship would incur the same operating costs even when it’s just moving tobacco.”

The two faced off in a tense standoff. It was Ariadne who first proposed a compromise. A pig’s bladder balloon, filled taut with air, would inevitably burst if none was let out.

“Seventy thousand ducats. As for the remaining thirty thousand, how about you invest it in me, rather than loaning it to me?”

If seventy thousand ducats were a loan, Ariadne de Mare would be responsible for repaying it.

If she failed, it would be covered by the sale of the necklace. In truth, Director Caruso also believed he could get seventy thousand ducats if he smuggled the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ to the Moorish Empire.

But that would mean the thirty thousand ducats would vanish into thin air if Ariadne de Mare’s venture failed.

“Are you telling me to throw away thirty thousand without any collateral?”

“You’re a pessimist. Think about what happens if it succeeds. With those thirty thousand ducats, we’ll be in the same boat. If I succeed, the Boccanegra Company will also profit from its investment.”

Ariadne leaned back deep into her chair and crossed her legs.

“Next year—no, starting this autumn, a massive food shortage will strike the Kingdom of Etruscan.”

“How do you know that?”

She couldn’t say she had seen it happen. So instead, she cited another cause that had contributed to the food crisis on the central continent.

“Are you aware that a swarm of locusts has appeared in Acereto?”

“I am well aware. They are one of our wheat suppliers.”

For the past two years, the Duchy of Acereto had been plagued by locust swarms infesting their wheat fields. Whenever a swarm passed through the plains of Acereto, a quarter of the harvest would be lost. They suffered such locust damage three or four times a year.

“Given my circumstances, I first heard it was a punishment from God.”

The Holy See preached that an angered God had brought divine punishment upon the land of Acereto because of the ‘Apostle of Acereto.’

“In truth, it should be seen as a pest infestation.”

“You are truly unpredictable, my lady.”

It was a sharp remark on her attitude—first condemning the handling of tobacco like a devout believer, now acting as if the church’s teachings were of little consequence. But Ariadne was not the least bit offended and instead smiled faintly.

“If it were divine punishment, it would have ended in Acereto. But the locust swarms are now moving north through Taranto and into the Etruscan mainland.”

“What?”

Director Caruso was startled. This was the first he was hearing of it.

Ariadne nodded as if she understood his reaction. It was only natural that this was the first he’d heard about the locusts landing in Taranto.

That was because this particular locust infestation wouldn’t actually reach the mainland until next year. The swarms would only begin to truly ravage the Etruscan interior the year after next.

*Still green in 1123, Caruso Vitelli. Your surprise is written all over your face.*

The memory of her battle of wills over supply prices with the Director Caruso of 1137 still vivid, Ariadne smiled inwardly. This was manageable.

“Comments about black-striped locust swarms have begun to appear in the reports sent to my father from the southern dioceses.”

Ariadne had never read any reports sent to Cardinal de Mare from the southern or northern dioceses, but they were surely piled up somewhere in his study.

Making an outsider think she had read them was as easy as breathing.

“At this rate, the autumn wheat harvest this spring, or at the latest, the spring wheat harvest this fall, will be the last normal harvest the Kingdom of Etruscan will enjoy.”

Director Caruso’s eyes were wide enough to burst.

“Let’s say you lend me seventy thousand ducats, and you invest thirty thousand in me.”

Ariadne looked at Director Caruso.

“I will use all one hundred thousand ducats to purchase wheat. Seventy percent of the proceeds from the sale of the wheat I buy will be mine. I will give you thirty percent.”

“My lady. Did you not say this was for the relief of the poor?”

The poor have no money to buy food. This was even more true when grain prices skyrocketed. Ariadne smiled deeply.

“The poor cannot afford to pay, but the royal palace has gold. That’s right, some of it will have to be distributed for free. But most of the wheat we hold will be bought by the King, even if he has to pay for it with its weight in gold.”

Its weight in gold. Words that could bewitch a merchant’s soul. And if a true famine were to strike, it was more than possible.

“My lady… give me time, time to consider this carefully.”

Director Caruso replied in a trembling voice.

“I will give you an answer by this time the day after tomorrow.”

Ariadne stared at Director Caruso. Her expression was half-pitying, half-apologetic. But to Director Caruso’s eyes, it looked as though she found him pathetic.

“Director Caruso.”

She lowered her voice and spoke.

“Y-yes?”

“I also came here today bearing a considerable risk.”

She glanced at the ebony box still sitting on the desk. To be precise, her gaze was fixed on the quail-egg-sized sapphire within, blazing brilliantly in the afternoon sun.

“What do you think will happen to me if word reaches His Majesty’s ears that I offered the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ as collateral?”

“…”

“I cannot leave here until it is certain that you are in the same boat as me.”

Of course, she wasn't suggesting she would sleep in his office. It was a metaphor, a pressure tactic implying that if Director Caruso did not agree on the spot, she would immediately report his tobacco smuggling to the Holy See or the royal palace.

Director Caruso stared intently at Ariadne. His eyes were deep, belying his early thirties.

“I’m sorry to force a hasty decision.”

She placed her hands on the table, fingers interlaced as she spoke. It was, to some extent, her sincere feeling.

“In return, I will conduct all wheat purchases exclusively through the Boccanegra Company. It may not be the cheapest route to acquire wheat, but I think it will put us both at ease if I compensate for Boccanegra’s losses in this way.”

Director Caruso’s eyes lit up. This changed things.

The profit Boccanegra would take for acting as the wholesaler and procuring the wheat would be about twenty percent, meaning they would claim roughly twenty thousand of the one hundred thousand ducats.

In that case, even if Ariadne’s venture went completely bankrupt, the Boccanegra Company would still recover the twenty thousand ducats profit from the wheat sale and whatever they could get for selling the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ to the Moorish Empire. They would secure at least ninety thousand ducats.

The only problem was the remaining ten thousand ducats. This could be seen as a bribe—a price for not being dragged before the Holy See or the royal palace as Ariadne had threatened. At the same time, it was also an investment in thirty percent of the profits she would make upon her success.

It seemed doable, but it was almost too sweet. *I need more time to think…* Director Caruso closed his eyes.

As he deliberated, Ariadne’s voice reached his ears. It was a husky, low voice, yet it could also sound incomparably sweet.

“I will advance the future of the Boccanegra Company by a decade. When this is over, the Castiglione Company will not even dare to think of comparing themselves to Boccanegra.”

Castiglione. Director Caruso’s eyes snapped open.

“That vile, arrogant scrap of a noble.”

A smile touched Ariadne’s lips.

“You will never have to bow your head before him again.”

When Director Caruso spoke, it was somewhat impulsive.

“…If I were to agree, how would you receive the gold?”

San Carlo had early forms of banks, but a bill of exchange for a sum as large as one hundred thousand ducats was not yet feasible. The gold coins would have to be physically transported.

“If you agree, please send three thousand to the de Mare estate by midnight tonight, and an additional twenty-seven thousand by the fifteenth of this month, for a total of thirty thousand ducats. Please use the remaining seventy thousand as funds for the wheat purchase at the Boccanegra Company.”

It was an exceedingly generous proposal.

“I will leave the ‘Heart of the Deep Blue Sea’ here today as collateral.”

The second thing she said was not just generous, but a groundbreaking offer. Even Director Caruso was surprised. It was a sign of absolute trust. They had—as far as he knew—met for the first time today.

“However…”

Ariadne’s green eyes swept across Director Caruso’s office.

She, too, had something to take to secure his compliance.