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"Your Lordship." The female knight from before entered the room. "A five-tailed fox merchant claims her Master is here."
"Is she yours, Savant Lord?" Asked Justus.
"Yeah. Send her in." You'd like to have a good diplomat on your side, despite the main subject already being over.
"Very well." Said he, then address his subordinate. "You heard him." She went away with a salute.
Not too long after Ayane entered the room and greeted everyone present.
"Master, it is an honor to be here." Your kitsune bowed politely.
"The honor is all mine." You reply as you pull up a chair for her.
"Courteous indeed..." Justus muttered.
Details concerning recognition were discussed. Basically you'd be left alone unless you made deals with or summoned demons, tried to use corruption magic, or started to have goblin breeding farms. But if you didn't do any of these things, then you were gonna be given tons of legitimacy in the eyes of Centria, Eastia, and Westphalia. Apparently, you weren't the first to have claimed a wilderness and become independent.
The conversation was able to shift onto other areas. And it got boring enough for Herta that she fell asleep somewhere in the middle of it.
"I see that you have a great deal of weapons and machines." You couldn't help but bring up the fact this place was prepared for almost any attack.
"One is bound to wonder where exactly the materials were obtained from." Ruby says with a glint in her eye.
"Savant Lord," Justus began. "One must consider that Centria does not have much in terms of ore deposits and coal mines. All the metals for the machinery that you see, and even those you don't, are either imported or granted by foreign powers to help their merchants and industrialists. This is done for the sake of the home country. Verily, not to say none can be obtained by outside enterprise, private mines, or trade."
"And we can assume the Centrian Knights gain enchanted armor, weapons, and artifacts from a patron, no?" Rose spoke again, clearly wanting him to admit something.
"You would be correct in that assumption." Justus said confidently. "Both Eastia and Westphalia realize that our endeavors are critical to maintain stability in the world; defending the innocent from corrupting magic and monsters such as goblins." Your Mastermind didn't seem fully satisfied with that response, but she didn't pursue the matter.
"Metals and mines are highly valued in both Eastia and Westphalia because of the war effort." Ayane said, agreeing to an extent. "Yet I cannot say that is the only reason metals are so difficult to get a hold of. A wise merchant will use the scarce materials in building things in order to have a larger profit later, rather than simply sell it at a price in the market. Hence all the machinery one sees in Centria. There is practically no market out there that doesn't need a constant supply of metals for weapons, vehicles, and machines. And so, supply is scarce while demand is constantly high.
