The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

"Brother, I've missed you so much."

Jefferson gave Lind a big hug as soon as they met, and Lind naturally accepted it gladly.

"It's been a long time, Mr. Jefferson. You are as energetic as ever."

"You're just as good, brother. I heard you've found a magic stone vein. Congratulations! Don't forget to give me a hand in the future."

Although both of them were very enthusiastic, they also got straight to the point in a very tacit manner.

"Of course, I recently manufactured a new batch of goods, Mr. Jefferson, you can take a look first."

After introducing himself to everyone present, Linde took out several bottles of recovery potions.

After ensuring that the soldiers and reserves in the territory had enough recovery potions, Lind finally put the batch of potions out for sale.

"This is!"

Jefferson's eyes lit up.

The businessmen who followed Jefferson to the gray-collar area also praised him highly.

The quality of this batch of medicines is perfect, and the colors are almost all identical, which indicates that the efficacy of these recovery medicines is very stable.

For adventurers who live on the edge, a potion with stable effects is tantamount to a second life.

Although this type of recovery potion is only the most basic type, ordinary adventurers can often only afford this cheapest recovery potion, so the market for it is very large.

Moreover, one can imagine the impact on this market if gray-collar workers could produce these alchemical potions as easily as they produce sugar.

"Five thousand gold coins. I want the exclusive right to purchase this type of potion."

Immediately, some shrewd businessmen proposed a monopoly. The pharmaceutical industry is extremely profitable, not to mention the added benefit of a monopoly. Although five thousand gold coins seemed painful, it was nothing compared to the subsequent profits.

Jefferson immediately cursed under his breath, regretting bringing these businessmen to Gray Collar, and quickly interjected, "Brother, name your price. As long as it's not too outrageous, I won't argue!"

Before anyone knew it, Jefferson started getting closer to Lind again, and soon other merchants began to make offers one after another, each more outrageous than the last.

Although Linde has not said anything yet, neither about retail price nor production capacity, many people want to replace Jefferson as Linde's partner, thanks to its long-standing good reputation in the sugar trade. After all, Jefferson's standing among the Champagne nobility has already improved considerably just by relying on sugar.

In fact, let alone monopolizing the recovery potion, as long as they can break even, plenty of merchants are willing to give Linde money.

Among the merchants and nobles who came this time was the son of the head of the Champagne noble family, who wanted to see if there was any way to establish a connection with Linde.

Linde gently raised his hand, and the merchants in the delegation immediately quieted down.

"Everyone, while I understand your excitement, I must make one point clear beforehand: I will not supply the recovery potion to any single company. In fact, I have already contacted the Shining Gold Alliance, and they have become one of the distributors of the recovery potion."

Everyone nodded. This low-priced recovery potion was no secret among the Champagne nobles and merchants. Linde had already sold a batch through the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance.

People only reacted so frantically because they knew how well this batch of medicine would sell.

"As you all know, our Northern Territory has suffered greatly from war in recent years. So I have brought out my ancestral recipe and improved the production process of the recovery potion. I will sell this batch of potions to you at a price lower than the market price, hoping to save more people in the Northern Territory."

Regardless of whether it was useful or not, Linde first positioned himself as a person concerned about the country and its people, and the businessmen also began to praise Linde's righteousness. Although they had never heard of the term "distributor", they could roughly guess what it meant based on the composition of the word.

"Excellent! What our Northern Territory needs is a nobleman like Viscount Linde!"

A young nobleman applauded Lind's speech. Lind looked over and saw Jim Evans, the representative sent by the head of the Champagne noble family.

This young man was the youngest son of Wesker Evans, the head of the Champagne aristocracy. He kept praising Linde's patriotic and concerned attitude, claiming that this was the true demeanor of an aristocrat. Linde had no choice but to go along with him and start chatting.

Jim was completely out of place with the group of old foxes around him. Linde's biggest feeling was that Jim was an angry young man, but to be honest, Linde didn't dislike such a passionate youth. Maybe this guy could be useful in the future, but for now, Linde wanted to finalize the business deal for the recovery potion first.

After several rounds of communication, Linde finally managed to steer the conversation back to business matters through Jim's words.

"But if you want to become a distributor of this batch of recovery medicine, you have to agree to some of my requirements."

"First, the stopper of the recovery potion and the North Wind Bear mark on the bottle must not be damaged or erased by anyone."

"Secondly, you cannot change the price of the recovery potion without authorization. You are only allowed to sell it at the price I set. Of course, I will also ensure that everyone has sufficient benefits. If there are any special circumstances, you can write to me to explain, and I will consider it accordingly."

"Third, the places where these recovery drugs are sold must indicate that they are produced by our gray-collar workers, and these drugs must also be called gray-collar worker drugs."

Linde's demands were incredibly audacious, as if he wanted everyone to know that he produced these drugs.

But if someone really wanted to investigate, no matter how well Linde hid it, they could easily find out. So it's better to just say that I produced these potions. That way, I can at least gain some prestige. Jim, a passionate young man, is the best example.

As for those who covet the territory, Lind could only say that he would deal with whatever came his way, and at worst he would use the elves' banner to intimidate them, subtly implying that the elves had given him the technology, which would weed out a large number of timid people.

The merchants initially had some objections, but after Linde presented the contract, they immediately changed their tune. Although no one was allowed to monopolize the profits, the purchase price of the potions was outrageously low. Coupled with the fact that recovery potions were a product with no shortage of buyers, all the merchants reached a cooperation agreement with Gray Collar in a pleasant atmosphere.

Jefferson naturally signed the contract as well. Looking at these crystal-clear potions, Jefferson could sense that the day he would become the head of the Champagne Nobles was not far off. However, Jefferson also keenly noticed that the current head of the Champagne Nobles, Jim's father Wesker, was not very interested in this matter.

This time, Jefferson even sent his youngest son, who was in charge of negotiating some minor deals, which made him feel a little strange. Everyone here was a shrewd old fox, and there must be something fishy about such an unusual situation. However, Jefferson had not yet figured out what was wrong, so he could only take it one step at a time.

Jefferson had other concerns. The gray-collar business was growing bigger and bigger, and they had also discovered a magic stone mine, which had attracted the attention of many people.

There are even rumors that the Grey and White Collars are actually still under the control of the Lars family, and that Lena Lars is going to use the Grey and White Collars to join the succession war.

This rumor was not unfounded. After seeing the soldiers in his territory, Jefferson became even more convinced that the rumor was true. After all, Lind immediately began to upgrade his military as soon as he received the money, which clearly indicated that he had a plan.

Thinking of this, Jefferson approached Lind at the subsequent banquet and asked, "Brother Lind, I heard that you and Miss Lars are still engaged. That won't do. Won't it be unclear whether the Gray Collar belongs to the Lars family or to you? When are you planning to get married?"

After the marriage, Lena will have no further connection with the Lars family. Even if there are lingering ties, at least nominally, the gray-collar worker belongs to Lind.

But Lind said, "No rush, Mr. Jefferson, is getting married really that important?"

After saying that, he squinted and offered Jefferson a cup of tea.

Linde simply didn't want to marry Lena and wanted to see if there was any room for maneuver. To be honest, Lena was more suited to be a brother than a wife.

But Jefferson had already begun brainstorming, speculating that Linde really intended to intervene in the succession war.

Linde's current status is somewhat ambiguous. If he marries Lena, Lena will completely separate from the Lars family, and Linde's status as the Lars family's grandson-in-law will become less important, since he will no longer be a member of the Lars family after marrying Lena.

However, if they are not yet married and are only engaged, Linde is still the grandson-in-law of the Lars family, but Lena has not officially left the Lars family.

Linde and Reina's identities are currently in a Schrödinger's cat state. Unless Grand Duke Lars opens the box, Linde and Reina will always be in a superposition of identities, that is, they are members of the Lars family, but they can also separate themselves at any time.

While the identity of a grandson-in-law may not seem particularly special on its own, Jefferson, in his brainstorming session, recalled another important piece of information: the first king of the current Capetian Kingdom, Augustine I, also ascended the throne through his status as a son-in-law!

Jefferson was instantly drenched in cold sweat, as if he had discovered some earth-shattering secret.

Although Linde did have some intention to intervene in the War of the Succession, it was mostly for defensive purposes, and he knew nothing about how the previous kings had come to power. But Jefferson knew nothing of this. In Jefferson's eyes, Linde, who was sipping tea with his eyes half-closed, had become a terrifying schemer.

However, after calming down, Jefferson felt relieved. What did this have to do with him? He had already bet on all the candidates for the Lars family's successor, so this was just adding another bet.

Linde watched in bewilderment as Jefferson's expression shifted from enthusiasm to fear, then to calm, and finally back to enthusiasm, even more so than before.

Completely unaware of what had happened, Lind could only awkwardly laugh along with Jefferson.

After a hearty meal and after entertaining the visiting merchants, Jefferson began to tell Lind about some of the events that had occurred in the North.

"By the way, brother, did you know that a troop of demon soldiers has entered the northern border?"