Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi
Oukoku e Tsuzuku Michi - Chapter 85: Personal Business Negotiations

–Aegir POV–

Even after we finished discussing business, Claire continues to stay in Rafen. It seems like she’s waiting for the wagons to arrive.

「Because my fate lies in this transaction, I will carry the load myself.」

A merchant also risks their life in a way, huh?

Claire is staying in my mansion right now. That’s because there is no such thing as a high-class inn in Rafen. I have thought about constructing one, but only the foundation of the building exists. Thus, I had the VIP’s stay in my mansion.

I was summoned by the aforementioned Claire, and when I dropped by the room I lent her, she entertained me with some expensive-looking alcohol.

「Go ahead, it’s one of the highest class items ordered from the Federation.」

I take a small sip and the fragrance and taste were both wonderful. I don’t mean to brag about my ability to judge the taste of alcohol, but I could tell immediately that this is an exquisite product.

「This is delicious.」

「I’m glad you enjoyed it.」

Adolph isn’t here and there aren’t any other people here either. I don’t think there is a need to use particularly polite language.

「The day’s about to end, but the noise and torch lights still don’t disappear.」

When I glance out the window and give a quick sweep over the city, I could see countless fires wavering like fireflies and hear the sounds of wood being processed. They are busy preparing the materials needed for the next day, working until the sun rises. Working under the light of torches is inefficient and the workers who do the night shift are paid higher wages, so I can’t say that it’s the best method to use, but it’s more important that we have as many houses built before winter comes. However, due to the constant work, the residents in this town will need to stuff their ears with cotton whenever they go to sleep.

「When I asked them, it seems you’re building houses for the citizens and offering it to them free of charge. May I ask what reason you have to do that much for them?」

Even if you ask me, I don’t know the reason. It’s not like I’m serving them either, so maybe it’s to develop my territory? Stuff like this is Adolph’s area of expertise.

「Other nobles would rather indulge in their own hobbies, and spend their fortunes on jewels, ornaments and gorgeous weapons and armor.」

「I don’t really prefer shiny things……. And please keep those fancy looking armor and weapons away from me; it has value to me only if I can use it in battle.」

「You mean that monstrosity of a spear? To swing that thing around, how much of a muscle-head must you be?」

Before I knew it, Claire was sitting down beside me, curiously feeling my arm.

「Pardon me. I was just curious.」

「Do as you like.」

I don’t have a reason to dislike being touched by a woman. Claire continues to speak while she draws close enough to me that I could feel her breath on my skin.

「With this much construction, don’t you need an ample amount of money, besides paying wages, to pay for the purchase of supplies?」

She knows about the wages I pay to the workers too, huh?

「If you let me handle it, I could bring you the completed components even without having to do this inefficient work at night.」

Did you leave somebody out? It seems she doesn’t intend to bring her head office into this conversation.

「I appreciate your offer, but it isn’t necessary at the moment. The women and the weaker citizens will lose their jobs otherwise. It is one of the goals of labor to have them build themselves up after all.」

In fact, the competition is quite high for the preparations of supplies at night. That’s because it’s one of the only jobs that the women can do.

「I see……. And the large number of increasing soldiers, why are you reinforcing your army so much?」

「…………」

「I’m sorry. I’ve been constantly straining my mind on a lot of different things these past two years so I’ve gotten curious about everything.」

Claire lightly strokes my thigh while apologizing to me. Since the negotiations we had earlier, she’s wearing relatively looser clothings so when she bends over, I can clearly see the valley of her breasts.

「It’s not a secret or anything. You know about the conflict with Treia, right? This remote region has stuff like that going on too. If I don’t have the military strength, I can’t begin to accomplish anything.」

「Then will you be continuing to expand your army in the future?」

「That looks to be the case.」

「Will you be requesting me to arrange for the weapons, armors and other odds and ends for them too?」

Claire peeks at me with upturned eyes. I have been thinking about that too. I’ve been giving out the swords and spears to the soldiers from the spoils of war as long as they were the same size as the equipment everyone else was using, but things like arrows, wagons, carriages, and so on will be necessary if I were to expand the private army. When the time comes, if Adolph or I need to run around trying to gather this stuff, it would be a waste of time and also more expensive.

「Is that not possible? ……maybe you’ve decided on a partner already……?」

Claire climbs on my knee and looks up at me.

「I haven’t decided yet. When it’s necessary, I’ll be counting on you.」

Claire’s face brightens up in a flash.

「Thank you very much! And I have a proposal, but the cost of the transaction……could you entrust me with a portion of the balance of 16 000?」

「Hm? What do you mean?」

If you buy something, you pay money, if you sell something, you receive it. Besides that, I don’t really get anything else.

「For example, if you have 10 000 gold, you would note it on a document without delivering me any of the actual money. And when you want to buy something from me, the cost will be subtracted from that document.」

Hm, is it something like lending?

「But what do I have to gain from this?」

「It would be a hassle carrying around large sums of money. If thieves were to steal it, you would suffer huge losses, but if you were to entrust it to me, you wouldn’t have to worry about that. It would be dangerous for us if we were to carry lots of gold too.」

Even though this neighborhood doesn’t have many thieves, I can’t guarantee its safety. It’s funny coming from me, who has stolen from a Treian noble, but the danger would lessen like this. But if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be a hassle to buy things from anyone other than Claire……Oh, so that’s her goal.

「If I do that, I wouldn’t want to buy from any merchant other than you.」

「……I will properly carry the goods to you when you demand it. Plus! If you entrust it to me, I will give you some discounts!」

I didn’t have any big transactions with anyone other than Claire anyways. I think what she said is fine, but it made me want to mess around with her a little.

「But, it might not be so bad sleeping while surrounded by gold either.」

「You’re kidding, I can’t see you having such a hobby.」

Claire remains smiling as she sits directly beside me, but I can somewhat see impatience showing on her face. I said I was going to buy from her from now on too, so even if she has to give out some gold, it shouldn’t hurt her that much. She shouldn’t have any reason to be in such a rush.

「16 000 gold, huh? It’s an amount I’ve never seen before so it would have been nice to see it at least once.」

「……it goes without saying that those composite bows will be comparatively cheaper starting the next time.」

It’s weird if I think about it. Claire should have already sent the letter telling the supply wagons to depart. They are also bringing the gold for the payment so it would be quite the joke if she changes the price now. It’s not like Claire herself would carry the large sum of money for a transaction she isn’t sure would be successful.

When I stare into her eyes, I can see that underneath her smile, Claire has a look of restlessness similar to someone panicking to pay back some debt. I forgot that Claudia had easily brought 5000 gold with her, but if I think long and hard, 16 000 gold is an incredible amount of money. Even the merchants in the city don’t usually carry that much on hand, so if the area that Claire’s company is in charge of is in hard times……moreover, she just started in her new position and hasn’t been able to get hold of a prominent customer yet.

「……If even I can see through it, you’re still not good enough.」

「Wh-what may you be referring to?」

「You’ve been acting confidently while taking a huge gamble. Are you not?」

Claire remains smiling while acting sheepishly and begins to sweat.

「Well, I can just contact the Flitch company and……」

「Please wait!」

Claire comes closer to me, almost smothering me. I was speaking while smiling somewhat so she should understand when I’m being serious or not though.

「It’s true we are trading partners. But before that, we are man and woman……don’t you think there is a method we can use to get us to trust the other more?」

Claire looks up at me, but I remain silent and spread open my legs. She dropped down from the sofa and went in between my legs, burying her face in my crotch. She rubbed the crotch in my pants with her face, then slowly lowered my pants with both hands.

「It’s already been two years. That time, you used this tool and fucked me lots.」

「Only the ass though.」

「Please don’t say it. It’s embarrassing.」

Using just her mouth, Claire skillfully played with the meat rod that sprung out. She wasn’t simply pleasuring me, but the appearance she had as she did so – looking up at me with a wistful look while sucking me – stirred inside me a man’s desire to conquer and protect. Her crimson lips repeatedly kissed my meat rod and enveloped the tip of my dick.

「How delicious……it’s not even comparable to that time.」

How many guys has she sucked since that time?

「It’s the reason for my love for you, Hardlett-sama.」

Like she’s one to talk, but it’s not a bad feeling having her service me while she says that.

「It’s so big……I’ve always thought it was like a log before, but compared to what it is now, it makes the one I saw back then look shabby.」

Claire once again puts her mouth on it and deliberately sucks me while making lots of noise, occasionally taking it out of her mouth to praise its size. I know that she does this to flatter men, but when she services me so lovingly, I could easily misunderstand it as something else.

I hold her head down as she uses both her hands to rub my hips and takes me deep, all the way inside her throat. Pleasure starts to build up rapidly and I thrust out my hips unknowingly, but there was absolutely no resistance from her, only looking up at me with teary eyes instead. If she does that, I’ll have no choice but to use less strength.

The service continues for a while, then I pull my dick out from her mouth, which was bending back so much it pretty much stuck against my stomach, and Claire got on all-fours.

「I’ve never seen such a wonderful tool before……. The veins are all bulging out and it’s emitting such a terrifyingly manly smell.」

Recently, there have been many women who’ve praised my dick for being big, so because of that, I feel a little proud. I was going to put my hand inside her dress and pull down her underwear.

「There’s no need for that.」

Claire flips up her dress and reveals a black lace underwear. Right in the center of the underwear, where her most precious place is, is a large slit and if you spread it open, you are able to see directly inside of her.

「What a naughty woman. Did you intend to eat this little guy up from the very beginning?」

「It’s because Hardlett-sama’s charm as a man has melted my heart……」

I don’t ask anything further than that and place my meat rod at the slit of her underwear from behind, touching the entrance of her vagina.

「My bluff was seen through, so for tonight, I am Hardlett-sama’s slave……. Please fuck me to your heart’s content.」

「I intend to do just that!」

I place both hands on her ass and thrust my hips forward. The thick tip spreads her insides apart as it entered.

「Aaah!! Amazing! My womanhood…… my most sacred place is being dominated!!」

I try to push even further inside, but when it reached about halfway inside, it got stuck and it won’t go in any further. Claire then grabs her butt cheeks and spread them apart with all her might. My meat rod slowly slips inside to the deepest part.

「It’s in! All the other guys up till now have all been blown out of the water! From this point forward, I’m only yours, I’ll only be your woman!」

While listening to Claire’s sweet praises and moving my hips, I indulge in the sensations of her insides. Her hole is naturally secreting its own lubricant so it’s very slippery and feels really good. She doesn’t just squeeze down on me either; she combines the pulling and pushing of her body by clenching at regular intervals to further increase the pleasure given to me. These movements are clearly from a woman who knows how to please a man.

「Aaah, it’s too thick……. Move a little slower, will you? My hole will tear.」

「Hm? Is that so?」

I start moving slower and Claire was enjoying herself for a while, then began to complain abruptly.

「It’s no good! Something is coming……. Aaaah!! AAaaahh!!! Please thrust into me! Until I break!!」

She turns back to look at me and sticks out her tongue, as if pleading for me to thrust harder every time. She may have gotten more aroused while rubbing against me. When I imagined that was a result of my thing, it also made me feel good. So, I do just as she wishes, slam my hips hard against her, and she gets pushed around on the sofa, almost as if she was rolling around.

Even so, it’s a fresh feeling to fuck a woman when she is still wearing her dress and underwear. While thinking that I should do this next time with Nonna, I grab both of Claire’s hands and hold them in place so that she can’t run away. I also use the other hand to massage her breasts and pinch her nipples, which causes her vagina to clench around me in joy.

「Ah……it feels so good. Keep squeezing me just like that.」

「It’s also incredibly good for me! To be embraced by such a sturdy man and for it to feel so good, I’m really falling in love!」

She turns back to me with a fire in her eyes, so I take Claire’s lips with my own and continue to attack deep inside her.

「Hardlett-sama……I’m already about to cum.」

「Me too.」

「But I’m worried about the money issue……so the last spurt can’t quite……」

Claire has a dark look on her face as she says that and her hole relaxes slightly. In order to climax, I sought the stimulation to my member so I got on top of her while keeping her on all-fours with her back facing me.

「Don’t worry about that! I’ll figure something out, so focus here!」

「Thank you very much! Then I can freely……cum–!!」

Her shoulders droop down and she bends her neck while her vagina squeezes me so much that it almost hurts, then I also reach my limit.

「Uooo!!!」

No longer able to hold it in, I thrust my hips one last time before ejaculating with great momentum, pouring everything into her from the several dozen pulses of my dick. We look at each other while I was still cumming and kiss each other passionately.

After the long ejaculation ended, I lay down on the bed together with Claire, and enjoy my liquor as she uses my arm as a pillow. She then buries her face against my sweaty chest.

「That was the best.」

「It’s been awhile since I’ve felt so good that I forget about my work.」

It’s a man’s capacity to not mention that she’s telling a lie.

「In the end, how much money do you have on hand? How much should I entrust to you?」

「I can deliver 6000 and it’s already on its way.」

She tricked me. She’s gambling by giving me below half of the funds? She’ll fall into ruin one day.

「I’m a newcomer after all. If I do the same things that the others are doing, I’ll never rise above them.」

「You’re quite brave aren’t you.」

When I fondle Claire’s breasts, she takes a hold of my meat rod and starts rubbing it in response.

「Then I’ll leave 10 000 with you.」

「Thank you very much.」

I feel a jolt of pleasure on my chest as she licks my nipple. In response, I also slip a finger in her vagina, and rub the rough interior wall gently. After I released so much seed in her, that place was hot and slippery.

「Hey, Hardlett-sama……」

「You don’t have to be so formal with calling me Hardlett every time. Can’t you say it another way?」

When she calls me by my family name, it feels like I’m still doing work.

「Then……Aegir-sama……this may be extremely rude but, could I remove the honorific only when we’re in bed?」

「Yeah, do what you want.」

It doesn’t even make me angry when a girl I sleep with addresses me without honorifics.

「My beloved Aegir……. Please be affectionate with me from now on.」

Claire holds some liquor in her mouth and lets me drink it by transferring it to me mouth-to-mouth. Drinking such high quality alcohol with a beauty such as this makes it taste twice as good. I was ready for another round as I hug her shoulder, but she chimes in first.

「Aahn! Are you going to return to my hole? Why don’t we talk a little longer? Since Aegir’s thing is so big.」

It can’t be helped, so I hold back. Although my meat rod is already standing tall.…….

「That reminds me, is that horse still doing well? The large black one…….」

「You mean Schwartz? He’s doing fine. He’s still a mean woman-loving horse.」

「Oh my, ufufu. To be honest, I like horses very much. Recently, the eastern region of Goldonia has a considerable amount of horses out for sale……I was looking forward to finding the place where the horses were being raised, but I couldn’t find it.」

Well, the horses aren’t being raised here.

「The horses are being raised further east, in the mountain nation territory. They sell the ones that are unsuitable for riding.」

「……They are being bred in the territory of the mountain nation? No, that makes it sound like you’ve tamed them or something.」

Almost all of them obey me. There won’t be any raids at this point in time.

「You’re pretty spot on. They make horse meat out of the ones they can’t ride. As expected, that is wasteful if you ask me, so I traded wheat to them, which is beneficial for both parties. We exchanged goods, so you merchants might not have much profit to gain.」

Claire smiles delicately, but her face gradually closes in on me.

「That area is full of unknown things to me so I’m pretty curious about it. Are there any other unusual things there?」

She has quite the adventurous heart.

「It’s just wasteland as far as the eye can see, and maybe some grasslands and waterfronts here and there. It’s quite hard to search around too……but it seems there’s an iron mine. Although it’s not really that rare, I guess.」

「Oh my, a mine?」

「Yeah, the quality is good too, but I can’t do anything about having to transport the iron ore all the way to the capital.」

Iron ore is an important item but ultimately still just raw material so the unit price is low. Besides that, it’s also heavy so it isn’t suitable to be transported such long distances. Adolph is thinking of some way to try and do something with it but there doesn’t seem to be a good idea as of yet.

「……If you refine it locally into a chunk of metal and then transport it……. No, if all the towns collectively process it until the final product……」

Claire is muttering something.

「There won’t be any obstructions from the mountain nation, right?」

「Hm? Yeah, it should be alright in that area.」

Since we’ve found the iron mine, it isn’t that far away. The only tribes around there obey me too.

「I might be able to help you transport the iron. Please, by all means show it to me.」

Claire once again brings her face close to me. I kiss her, but she doesn’t flinch.

「Alright. But it’s not an environment that a city girl might consider comfortable, you know?」

「I am a former bandit. Harsh environments are fine for me.」

Claire puffs out her chest, and her nicely shaped breasts jiggle. I can’t hold back any longer.

「Kyaa! Aegir is such a womanizer.」

「Are there any guys who would be able to resist this? Let’s do it entirely naked next.」

I strip Claire naked and slam my meat rod into her, savoring her high-class vagina. Our activities continue until I climax for the third time; Claire moans loudly and then faints.

–Third person POV–

「Claire-sama……are you alright?」

A voice from a young girl calls out to Claire, who was calmly sleeping on the bed.

「Yeah, I’m awake. How is Lord Hardlett doing?」

「Yes, he is in high spirits.」

Claire’s expression relaxes. She was able to properly satisfy the man and also able to resolve the issue with the money, so she shouldn’t have any worries.

「Good work.」

「It was amazing. He continued for an hour after that, I really thought that I was going to faint.」

Claire receives the water from the young girl and instantly finishes it.

「The problem with the funds is okay now. I was able to gain a bunch of useful information too.」

She lays sprawled on the bed and opens her legs wide. The young girl took a stick with a soft piece of cotton attached to the end and wets it, inserting it into Claire’s vagina and wipes up the seed.

「What a tremendous amount……. How much did he release?」

「You’re right, it’s amazing. At first, I thought he was urinating inside me.」

In the past, Claire would grit her teeth and endure these kinds of perverted acts. When she was finished dealing with her customers, the young girl would smear ointment or oil on her and massage inside and around her genitals.

「Nnh! Laurie, do it carefully, ‘kay? I really pushed myself today after all.」

The two females have a master and servant relationship, but they also have a deeper bond than that. The young girl called Laurie was born as the daughter of a wealthy merchant family but one year ago, her parents made a mistake in doing business and went bankrupt. Having lost her place to live, she had to depend on Claire.

「You got stretched out quite a bit……. Was it really that big?」

Claire raises her voice.

「It’s not a matter of whether he was big or not. It’s because it’s the first time for my hole.」

「He’s an acquaintance of yours from the past, right?」

「It’s nothing that exaggerated. He was pretty big in the past too, but now it’s big enough that I’m starting to doubt whether it belongs to a human or not.」

「Claire-sama’s special place is an important negotiation tool after all.」

「You’re one to talk, Laurie.」

Claire would use her body without hesitation when necessary to rise up in her profession or when she needs to complete a transaction, but it’s the same for Laurie, since it isn’t rare for her to share the floor on Claire’s instructions if there are people with preferences for plain girls who look almost 15 years younger than them.

「I guess you’re right. If it’s necessary……with Lord Hardlett too.」

「It’ll be impossible for you. Your stomach will get torn apart.」

The two of them laugh together. Laurie has slept with many men as Claire has instructed her to, but it’s not like she has any resentment against her. In order for the two of them to succeed, they are willing to do anything if necessary.

Laurie was confident about her own quick wits, and Claire also recognizes that. She didn’t feel like she was inferior in any way to the male merchants, but just by being a woman in the business world causes you to be at a disadvantage. In that case, there shouldn’t be any confusion that she would use the weapons that women have to compensate for that. Luckily, Claire and Laurie both were born beautiful, so the effect it had was immense.

「Besides, it seems he doesn’t have a preference for small girls like you. And he doesn’t enjoy raping women either. He gets more turned on when a woman drowns in pleasure rather than when she gets embarrassed.」

Claire explains everything she experienced in the earlier battle and Laurie notes it down. If the collection of preferences in this notebook is known to the public, nearly a hundred men would die of shame.

「He isn’t interested in luxury goods. But one of his wives looked happily at the jewel sample so he might buy it. He treats weapon and armor in a practical sense so ornamental ones are prohibited. Also, he likes alcohol so bring more of that stuff……and most of all, women, he’s quite the ladies’ man.」

「His mansion was filled with women too.」

「His technique is first class, so an amateur won’t stand a chance against him. Plus, he worries about you……so if the girl isn’t careful, her heart will get captured too.」

「He’s a nice guy, isn’t he.」

「Yeah. But we can’t become his prisoners.」

「You’re right. It’s fortunate for us that he’s such a womanizer.」

「At one point, I didn’t know what was going to happen, but it seems I’ve won the bet again. It might be good to leave a regional office in Rafen too. This place will continue to grow.」

Claire stands up while still naked and looks out the window at the wavering flames. Laurie helps the standing woman into a nightgown from behind.

「It might be hard to believe, but it looks like he controls the movements and actions of the mountain nation too. The source of horses come from there as well.」

「No way……although it’s true I’ve heard that there were suppression battles happening around the area recently.」

Claire and her company have a precise information network but as expected, they aren’t able to reach all the way to the mountain nation’s territory. They could get a hold of when they left the area but they would be clueless about the undeveloped places.

「It looks like it wasn’t just suppression, but domination. I would need to confirm it, but if it’s true, then it’s an incredible feat.」

There are signs of merchants in any area you look around the central plains. Even in the remote regions where only peddlers go, if you trace back from the items sold by those peddlers to where they stock up, you will eventually reach a large company that is connected to them.

But there are exceptions. That is the mountain nation territory, where it’s the same for every nation – an unknown land. A completely blank area on the map. They have yet to discover the value of that area. It is considered a barren land dominated by barbarians.

「You were able to dig into Lord Hardlett too.」

「Yes, I’ve gotten his deposit, which essentially makes me his exclusive merchant.」

She wasn’t worried at all about the failed purchasings caused by the other companies the other day. Just a single big transaction doesn’t have that much significance to a major company. Although, the thought of Claire being able to connect to Lord Hardlett, who controls an area with a promising future, alone was able to make her smile.

「This might be where our luck turns around.」

「Yes, this is the time we have to show what we’re made of.」

「The lumber to build houses with, and also laborers……even slaves will be fine so please supply them. Next, we will have to corral the weaponsmiths and armorsmiths. Eventually, we’ll need a large amount.」

「Yes.」

Seeing how Laurie is quickly writing up a letter, Claire continues on.

「I told you earlier that you might get torn apart, but depending on the situation, I’ll need you to sleep with him as well. So be prepared for it.」

「I understand, Claire-sama.」

「Also, do we have any good lubricants and something to relieve pain?」

Laurie stops writing.

「A lot of things happened in the past, you see. He seems to be interested in my ass so I thought it might be necessary to widen it……since at that size, with my asshole as it is now, it will get turned into something beyond repair.」

Laurie could not repress the admiration she had for Claire’s determination.

Protagonist: Aegir Hardlett. 21 years old. Winter.

(Traditional age reckoning)

Status: Goldonia Kingdom Viscount. Feudal Lord of Arkland Southeast Area. King of the Mountains

Troops Commanded: Eastern Independent Army 2000, Private Army 2400, Bow Cavalry approx 1800 (in training)

Assets: 18000 gold (10000) (-500 Continued expense for military preparations and domestic affairs) (10000 deposited gold)

Weapons: Dual Crater (large sword), Large spear

Family: Nonna (wife), Carla (pregnant concubine), Mel (pregnant concubine), Rita (imitation maid), Catherine (lewd), Sebastian (butler), Yoguri (house guest), Luna, Ruby

Children: Sue (daughter), Antonio (son), Kuu, Ruu, Rose (foster)

Capital: (Melissa X Maria), Miti, Alma, Kroll

Subordinates: Celia (adjutant), Irijina (private army commander), Pipi (follower), Leopolt (strategist), Adolph (domestic affairs official), Claire (official merchant), Schwartz (horse)

Sexual Partners: 50, children who have been born: 7