Familiar of Zero - Guns, Germs and Zero Quest - Thread 3 - "Halkeginia

The remaining stretches of sea were dangerously windy and wild beyond all reason and by some accounts, monsters lurked in them. In other words, with regards to the trade situation, Halkeginia was as starved as Europe.

From the "Genealogies", you learnt that three royal houses dominate Halkeginia - de Gallia, de Albion and de Tristain. All three houses were actually cadet branches, offshoots of Brimir themselves. These houses ruled over the countless other petty dynasties of Halkeginia. The exception to this sphere of influence was Germania, which did not share a common origin with the other three houses. And it was not uncommon for these offspring houses of Brimir to have cadet branches themselves - there was much writing alleging that the House of Tristain had a branch derived from a bastard son of an earlier ruler.

Of course, you weren't going to enact the plan yourself. You were merely an advisor. In discussion with Louise, you had given her a suggestion. Namely, it focused on:

2/2

[] Creating a new trade route from Halkeginia to the East by going West
[] Taking advantage of religious turmoil in the Germanian Empire.

>>548875
>[] Creating a new trade route from Halkeginia to the East by going West

Though wait, is there a way to use the elves somehow?
If we're Europe and they're the Middle East, and this is post-Crusades, couldn't it be thought that they have scientific/magical knowledge that we should try to re-import back to Halkeginia?

Of course, nothing as obvious as going there and asking to search their libraries. But taking advantage of third parties, some other nation that stayed out of the fighting between Halkeginia and Nepthys.

>>548884
[X] Creating a new trade route from Halkeginia to the East by going West

>>548875
>[X]Creating a new trade route from Halkeginia to the East by going West.

>>548924
>>548891
>>548884

Namely, it had focused on creating a new trade route from Halkeginia to the Far East by going West.

At the suggestion, Louise gawked at you.

---

"No-one has ever sailed west before for any meaningful purpose."

"Which makes my proposition all that more valuable."

"We're are going to get the money to fund such an expedition from?" The hints of laughter in her voice hinted to a certain insincerity that you didn't exactly appreciate.

"Firstly, we could try your savings, Mistress."

Still holding onto her soup spoon, Louise stared away to the other side of the wall.

"If my mistress is uncertain of anything, you only need to remember that the world is finite. Should that expedition not find a new continent in the West, it will reach East regardless and from there, monopolisation of the navigation knowledge shall surely fill your account. If a new continent in the west is found, then it is possible for you to establish a closed market of your own, open to only Tristanian goods. This wager must yield a return regardless."

"Assuming it doesn't despite your reassurances?"

"Then that is why it's called a wager. If you are of good humour enough, then you must've enjoyed the thrill regardless."

"Too reasonable." Louise leers sardonically at you, although it lacked any true hostility.

"In lieu of that, we could always invade the neighbouring Grand Duchy of Guldenhorf and use it as a gateway into the rest of the Germanian Empire should your objections be too strong."

"That's out of the question now."

"If you say so, Mistress Valliere."

Dinner ended on a quite note.

---

After some hibernation for you and some sleep for Louise, the two of you rose at a very early hour in the morning.

Today was a day of the weekend, Void-Day. Louise had determined that she would use this day to go to Tristania, Tristain's capital, to withdraw practically all of her savings for your wager. Afterwards, the plan was to go to La Rochelle. All of this would've been done in a hurried pace, adding to 15 hours in total.

And so, with parchment and charcoal for your own observations, Louise and you made your way to the capital, Tristania.

---

Busy. Filled with life, bustling with activity. Tristania was quite the decent early modern city, if you had to compare.

---

"Fifty thousand livres? What do you need this for?"
"
Louise answered nervously:

"Eh, a sailing non-flight prepared."

The banker, a greasy old man, laughed at her response.

"You mean a fishing boat? It could get you that."

Of course, you had no idea of how much a ship cost, so of course, you were expecting a chance of this happening.

"What about a loan?"

Further snickering came from the banker.

"'Valliere' is not a known merchant house name, unfortunately. Here's your rate: 150% per annum."

And so, Louise came crawling back to you, for lack of want of a better word.

"How am I supposed to get the finance for this wager now?"

1/2

>>549091

[] "If Miss Valliere wishes for this wagered new world to be her own demesne and no-one else's for some time, I suggest you take the loan."
[] "On the other hand, inevitably, word about the wager might spread, so trying to hog the discoveries will be worthless. As such, we might ought to consider the patronage of the Crown..."
[] "If that is too presumptuous, profiting off Germania's religious turmoil is never off the table."
[] "And if that is too bloodthirsty, there is the option of working in pest control."
[] Other

A major noble house being unable to get capital?

>[] "On the other hand, inevitably, word about the wager might spread, so trying to hog the discoveries will be worthless. As such, we might ought to consider the patronage of the Crown..."

>>549106
>[] "On the other hand, inevitably, word about the wager might spread, so trying to hog the discoveries will be worthless. As such, we might ought to consider the patronage of the Crown..."
Loise is a close friend of the princess, that should bring some weight to all of this.

>>549167
We are not the first child of the house and we are not exactly in good terms with our parents.

>>549106
>[] "On the other hand, inevitably, word about the wager might spread, so trying to hog the discoveries will be worthless. As such, we might ought to consider the patronage of the Crown..."
Specifically, to receive a charter for a monopoly on all trade with either the new continent, or with the new trade route to the Far East.
It worked for the Honorable East India Trading Company, it may work here.
We must simply be ready to weaponize botany and biology as they did, and take the extra step to militarize sociology to avoid the pitfalls that they fell into.

>>549748
Dammit, I meant East India Company. I don't know why Trading got in there.

>>549106
>[] "If Miss Valliere wishes for this wagered new world to be her own demesne and no-one else's for some time, I suggest you take the loan."

No sharing

Louise is the worst girl.

>>550998
Shit taste.

>>549167
>>549382
>>549748

"How am I supposed to get the finance for this wager now?"

"If Miss Valliere wishes for this wagered new world to be her own demesne and no-one else's for some time, I suggest you take the loan. On the other hand, inevitably, word about the wager might spread, so trying to hog the discoveries will be worthless. As such, we might ought to consider the patronage of the Crown."

An unamused look contorted her face. Louise made her way back to the banker to tell him of the circumstances and returned to you, ready to fire more questions at you.

"And how do you suppose we are going to persuade the Crown for this insane wager of yours'?"

You corrected her:"Incorrect Miss Valliere. I have always merely advised. It is your wager, inspired by me. As for the matter of persuasion..."

[] "The pursuit of trade and exploration is always done by a prudent monarch. The Crown will understand this."
[] "I am exclusively a familiar to you. However, I can be anyone's advisor."
[] Write-in

>>551709
>[] "The pursuit of trade and exploration is always done by a prudent monarch. The Crown will understand this."

>>551709
>[] "The pursuit of trade and exploration is always done by a prudent monarch. The Crown will understand this."

>>551709
>[x] "The pursuit of trade and exploration is always done by a prudent monarch. The Crown will understand this."

>>553345
>>552868
>>551753

"The pursuit of trade and exploration is always done by a prudent monarch. The crown will understand this."

Louise paused for a little. Understanding then appeared on her face.

"You managed to persuade me to do this wager of yours. Don't think Her Majesty will be as easy to persuade."

"Of course."

"And even before that, you can't just simply walk into the palace for an audience either."

It was your miss there.

[] "We'll have to petition Her Majesty for an audience through a letter then."

>>553861
>[] "We'll have to petition Her Majesty for an audience through a letter then."

>>553959
This.

>>553959
>>554599

"We'll have to petition Her Majesty for an audience through a letter then."

---

The good news was that you had parchment. The sort-of-bad news was that you didn't have any way to make it seem important on hand. Thankfully, you were in the Bank of Tristain and one of its services happened to be signing documents and propositions for royal charters.

The old bank clerk himself was slightly skeptical.

"A mage and her familiar want to sail West to reach East. Nothing wrong with that. But I would've expected such a daring enterprise to have come from more experienced individuals."

He rolls up the letter and places into his coat pocket.

"No drawer?"

"Unfortunately, we've had spate of pretty awful burglaries which have reduced some into abject poverty. It wouldn't be fitting for something important to be stolen would it."

"It's surprising that this bank has been robbed."

"Well, the security enchantments were pretty high level. It was a freak one-in-a-century robbery when you think about it. No-one could stopped it."

"Who was the robber?"

"Suspicious are its 'Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt'. The vaults were all sandy by the time we detected it. But that's about all you need to know."

And so, Louise's and your day at the bank came to a short end.

---

The original plan was to get all of Louise's personal savings out and hurry to La Rochelle to buy a ship or find a captain. Unfortunately, that wasn't possible anymore.

Of course, that didn't address that this was a complete waste of time. The question was then, how to make most of the fact that you both were in Tristania.

By now, Louise was quite restive, fidgeting in boredom. An occasional yawn or two followed her as she made her way out of the bank.

"It's like we walked in circles for no reason." She complained.

It was midday. There was still time left to wander around if she wished, however, her boredom was quite strong.

[] "I see no more point being as well, I guess."

>>555001
*being here as well

>>555001
>are there any relations or family friends with which you have good relations you wish to visit in Tristania?
While we are able, we should research of there are spells that can preserve plants for the sea voyage, or if we need to construct Ward cases to let the expedition bring samples back.

>>555686
this we want to be able to keep costs down on the journey

>>562130
Also we need to consider if we want to be responsible and ethical regarding the spread of plants to different biomes and protecting bio-diversity, or go full East India Company and cultivate plants in biospheres they never touched before in order to increase profits and reduce logistical overhead.

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>>562130
>>555686

"Excuse me Miss Valliere, but seeing your boredom, do you have any relations and family friends you are on good terms with you wish to visit in Tristania?" You inquired.

"I suppose there is the Crown Princess. However, she is on an official visit to Germania, the nature of which I don't know. Additionally, it's usually the Princess who visits you, rather than the way around, so I suppose any role she for in promoting her proposal to Her Majesty would be limited." Despite the current lack of use for the information, it was of importance. Louise de la Valliere was friends with royalty. Moreover, the informal way she mentioned it showed you her familiarity with this crown princess.

So a day went by, somewhat wasted, somewhat used. The return to the Academy was swift and silent.

---

The book you were sifting through, "Basic Household Spells" were, as it said on the cover, basic household spells. They were simple, Dot (one element) spells. "Praeservo. Conserva." Of course, you had no use for them yourself, it was meant as future reference for your "wager".

Speaking of the expedition, there one problem that had yet to be I addressed and that was Louise continued enrollment.

[] "It would be convenient for her to leave school..."
[] "Unfortunately, that is not my decision to make."
-[] "I wonder if I can negotiate with the headmaster to count the voyages as a research assignment."

[] Write-in

I'm leery of actually going on the expedition.
Shouldn't we leave that to professionals, even if it means that we must wait anxiously for news?
Perhaps Professor Colbert can assist us in the manufacture of Ward cases and other such items that we know the East India Company used to create their world-spanning trade empire.

>>562971
>[] "Unfortunately, that is not my decision to make."

Feels like a clusterfuck thats going to get louise executed.

>>562971
>[] "Unfortunately, that is not my decision to make."
Maybe we should use the school as a way to make connections with other nobles who may be useful for the creation of Helkaginia Universalis and of this world's version of the East India Company.

>>563535
This.

>>562971
It's difficult to progress on Louise's goal since she's only a school girl at the moment. Even though she's on friendly relations with the Princess, that factor alone doesn't really help our expedition. Maybe we should increase our influence in the country by establishing connections with the students due to their potential on holding significant positions after their graduation. Also, we can try contacting Louise's family on gaining financial support in establishing an international trading business.

Regardless, maybe I'm thinking too much on this and should remember this came from a comedy and harem genre anime.

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>>563070
>>563535
>>564522

It was all very tempting to try and persuade Louise, as part of your wager, to go and personally be there on the expedition itself. After all, most of the joy of finding a new trade route didn't come from staring at a map, it came from actually doing the exploring.

That wasn't the entire point of the wager however. It simply happened that exploration was the cheapest and least exhausting way to effect a major change on the world. For example, despite the fact that their conquests were relatively light, the strategic and calculated nature of Portuguese expansion during the Age of Discovery meant, without much military effort, the Portuguese could manage to control a disproportionate amount of Asian-European trade.

Ultimately, it was a means to an end. Louise desired achievement. Your wager was but another mean to that end. In the future, it is possible that Miss Valierre's West-East trade route would be but merely one of her achievements.

Ultimately, it was her choice to make.

Furthermore, the Academy seemed to be one of the more safer places. No doubt that in this world too, political intrigues existed which targeted the heirs of the aristocracy. The fact that so many of the offspring of the nobility in this highly stratified world were confined together pointed to a certain level of confidence in the safety of the academy, both by its staff and the "parents and community", so as to put it. Political power was not exactly very safe to those who possessed it. No doubt, like the societies on the iterations of Earth, those who possessed power were most susceptible to daggers in the shadow. In an emerging mercantile society, who would grow in power? Why, those who traded in explored. Louise had a big red target on her head already as an aristocrat, and no doubt becoming a monopolist would expand that target. The only thing blurring that target was the safety of the Academy. Remove that obscuration and Louise would be a sitting duck. Besides, the wager was her choice, but that didn't necessary mean she wouldn't delegate.

Your thoughts on that matter drew to a close and your mind turned onto another one.

Namely, it was those two moons.

[] "They really are picturesque."
[] "..But then I suppose, a single moon might be same to the denizens of this land." Retire to your mattress in Louise's room.

>>564706
>[] "They really are picturesque."
We must think upon how much knowledge we can draw upon.
We have actually observed history; do we recall as well the chemical, botanical, mechanical things involved?

The knowledge of mechanical engineering, metallurgy, and mathematics needed to construct the navigational and time-keeping devices used by the British Navy at the height of their power, so that the expedition will not get lost?
The chemical and medical sciences needed to provide the sailors of the expedition with the vitamins and fortified rations needed to keep scurvy and other diseases at bay?
How to produce the glasswork used in the Ward cases used by Robert Fortune and other botanists of the East India Company to steal national horticultural treasures away from China and other nations for the greater glory, and profit, of both Company and Empire?

>>564725
This.

>>564706
>[] "They really are picturesque."

Thread 4 is up.

>>569907