Bab 68: Greed Also Used by Me
"Oh?" Ayanokouji feigned great interest.
It seemed Anastasia was aware of his meeting with Crusch yesterday. It looked like she also had spies nearby. However, Ayanokouji did not mind this. In a way, he deliberately revealed his presence to the other party.
As long as he took action, people from other powers might not be able to resist and would take action.
"Ayanokouji, you should know that Crusch is currently in the lead among us." Anastasia said meaningfully. "Now she is our common enemy. If we unite, we should be able to defeat her."
She was also very aware of the current election situation and knew that Crusch now had a significant advantage. If she wanted to successfully break through and inherit the throne, she needed to eliminate Crusch first.
Even though Anastasia had excellent business acumen and a very large trading company, she was not a noble since she started from scratch, making it difficult to gain support from officials in the royal capital from noble families, and could not be swayed.
So, she needed assistance to handle the troublesome existence of Crusch. Ayanokouji and Emilia were the most suitable assistants.
"Then why did you choose me?" Ayanokouji asked.
"Because there is no more suitable candidate." Anastasia said confidently. "The woman named Priscilla is completely uncommunicative, so I had no one else to choose."
What she said was not wrong. Due to Priscilla's peculiar personality, she certainly could not gain support from many people, and Anastasia did not want to be associated with such an arrogant person.
"Are you not worried that I might have formed an alliance with Crusch?" Ayanokouji asked.
"If that were the case, you should have rejected me immediately when I asked you." Anastasia said with a smile. "Since you didn't reject me the first time, you must have some idea about it as well."
'Compared to other throne candidates, Anastasia's thinking ability is indeed one level higher,' Ayanokouji thought to himself, but everything Anastasia thought was guided by him.
Anastasia thought she had understood Ayanokouji's thoughts, but she did not realize that, in fact, everything she thought was intentionally done by him. Anastasia thought she could gain enough from him, but in reality, it was Ayanokouji who was leading the conversation.
"If you want an alliance, why not seek Emilia instead of me?" Ayanokouji shifted the topic and continued.
"Honestly, I don't believe Emilia could have built her camp as it is now on her own strength. It is clearly your contribution, Ayanokouji."
"Sorry, I'm just an ordinary person."
Ayanokouji deliberately tilted his head slightly so that his eyes appeared to be evasive.
"Talented people are humble, I know this well." Anastasia squinted slightly. "I know that the person responsible in Emilia's camp is you, and you are here, I have seen everything done in the palace. You must be a member who threatens the Council of Wise. From start to finish, I am the only one who has noticed this. Even though I don't know why you captured it, you have proven that you are a capable person, and I like to do business with capable people."
She leaned forward. "Let's work together to get rid of Crusch, and then we can compete fairly."
'Fair competition?'
Ayanokouji knew very well that the other party, with her greedy business character, could never achieve 'fair competition.' But now Crusch was indeed the biggest enemy in Emilia's camp, and she had to be removed as soon as possible.
If there was still an opportunity, he wanted to take everything Crusch had as his own.
Although Crusch was not currently his enemy, her character was very straightforward and honest, and she had no plans—such people could not win in political struggles.
In politics, goodness and kindness mean nothing, and the only people who can truly laugh last are those who can use conspiracies and tricks.
So, even though Crusch was very powerful now, in terms of character, she was just a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
However, due to the Karsten family, Ayanokouji certainly could not openly eliminate Crusch, as the reputation and power of the Karsten family would likely put his faction under public opinion pressure and other aspects of revenge.
And if he joined Anastasia, he might be able to deal with Crusch while trapping Anastasia at the same time. Even if Crusch was not eliminated, Anastasia and Crusch could still reunite.
The remaining Priscilla posed no threat at all.
But Ayanokouji also knew that Anastasia's inner thoughts must be similar to his own.
"Sorry, I can't give a direct answer to this kind of thing because, after all, I'm not the spokesperson in our camp; Emilia is our leader." Ayanokouji replied.
"Under the Half-Elf's hand, can your talents truly be displayed?" Anastasia asked. "Have you considered joining my camp? If so, I can immediately offer you the position of vice president."
She wanted to win Ayanokouji into her camp. Being the vice president of the Kararagi Trading Company meant she could have immense wealth.
However, this condition was not attractive enough to Ayanokouji. If he joined Anastasia's camp, it would mean he had to give up the strong combat power of Beatrice and Roswaal, as well as intelligence resources.
But he also knew that it was best not to state his position directly when trading.
"Let's talk about cooperation first." Said Ayanokouji.
Such ambiguous words made Anastasia not realize his stance.
"Oh?"
"If we want to cooperate, I think it's not enough just to get rid of Crusch. We can establish a deeper cooperation."
"Let's discuss it."
Upon hearing his words, Anastasia's eyes lit up, and she seemed very interested.
Although she was good at catching details and guessing the hearts of people like Ayanokouji, the gap between them was not just a technical issue. Ayanokouji had no emotions or mood changes, and everything was done to make Anastasia slowly fall into his scheme.
No matter how smart Anastasia was, she could not compare to him. And anyway, she was a person with emotions. The greed of a businessman would reveal their shortcomings in an instant.
"What kind of cooperation are you looking for?" Anastasia asked with a smile.
"Commercially." Ayanokouji said. "Anastasia-sama, does your trading company have any industries related to manufacturing?"
"Manufacturing?" Anastasia was slightly puzzled. "In our trading company, there are those who refine steel, and those who make furniture…"
"I can provide you with better refining technology." Ayanokouji continued. "I can guarantee that the efficiency of your steel refining can be greatly improved, and the efficiency of this improvement will be very high."
"Really?" Anastasia was a bit surprised, as she thought the refining technology she had was already very advanced.
"Indeed." Ayanokouji said calmly. "I come from another country. Although it's not famous, the refining technology we have is extraordinary."
He knew that in this world, the level of science and technology and production capacity was very backward, similar to ancient times in the world he came from. And he, who had mastered various sciences, could bring modern refining technology to this world, which was very useful for improving production efficiency.
However, he would naturally not reveal everything. Although he and Anastasia would reach a cooperative relationship, after all, they were still competitors.
"I don't just have technology for making steel; I also have methods for creating new materials." Ayanokouji said. "I think this will have very good market prospects."
"Seeing that it's reliable, I happen to have a steel mill in the nearby town. If Ayanokouji has free time, would you like to come with me?"
Anastasia's face was full of eagerness. She couldn't help but notice the stain on Ayanokouji's sleeve, wondering if it had something to do with the forging technology he mastered.
If what Ayanokouji said was true, this was a huge business opportunity.
Sensing the aroma of business opportunities, Anastasia's whole attitude seemed to have changed, and she even forgot the purpose of coming here with Ayanokouji.
"How long will it take to go back and forth?" Ayanokouji asked.
"It won't be long; you can return tonight!"
Anastasia's face was full of impatient anticipation.
"Alright, please send someone to inform Emilia and the others."
"Okay, leave it to me, Mimi!"
"Understood!"
The small cat-like man next to her bowed respectfully, then ran out quickly.
❀❀❀
"Ayanokouji knows steel refining technology?"
"He's clearly just a high school student!"
"I remember someone saying before that he could even make firearms. Is that true?"
Everyone was talking about it, but Horikita lowered her head and asked the boy next to her in a low voice:
"Ayanokouji, are you serious about this?"
"Sorry, as you can see, I'm just an ordinary high school student, not an engineer."
Ayanokouji replied slowly without any change in expression on his face.
To him, this technique was as simple as an elementary school math problem.
❰❱SKY SCREEN❰❱
The scene changed; it was already evening, and Ayanokouji and Anastasia had arrived in the nearby small town. The trading company also had a steel mill in this town.
It was better described as a small workshop than a steel mill.
The number of staff inside was very small, the equipment was dilapidated, and the technology was extremely backward, so the quality of the steel produced was very average—but for this world, the material quality was already quite good.
Ayanokouji then approached the furnace, modified the formula, and made some adjustments to the furnace itself.
The workers nearby looked at him with a hint of mockery at first, assuming he was just a layman pretending to understand.
But after he produced the newly refined steel, everyone was very surprised.
The color and quality were even better than high-grade steel in the world.
"Really? How did he do it?!"
The workers were astonished, and many even thought Ayanokouji must be using magic.
However, in reality, he had not optimized all configurations, but it was more than enough.
Meanwhile, Anastasia was extremely impressed. She knew this was a huge business opportunity.
It proved that what Ayanokouji said was true; he truly mastered a very powerful technique.
"Excellent, Ayanokouji! Are you willing to share this technology with me? What do you want in return?" Anastasia asked eagerly.
"You need to provide me with a production workshop and also have your trading company offer me commercial support." Ayanokouji said, his eyes fixed on Anastasia as if watching prey slowly fall into a trap.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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