“My gratitude.”

Lawrence considered Lord Black for a moment.

First, let’s think about Lawrence’s finances. He had thrown in what many consider to be an unattainable amount, but the fact is that he had plenty leftover in other forms aside from coins itself.

First, in his crafting inventory were mounds of gold and silver bars as well as bronze. All these can be melted down or traded away.

Next, in Lawrence’s head was ideals and ideas from the 21st century that was worth an immense amount of money. Ideas and methodology even in hearsay can be experimented with.

Lastly, was a man’s gratitude worth anything in the end? If cable TV shows taught him anything, the next thing that would happen would be for a knife around his throat with the line, “I did warn you not to trust me”

Idly, Lawrence looked through his roleplaying skills which he had categorised aside from the combat skills. Roleplaying skills were skills that allowed skill checks like Deception or Diplomacy to work better in the game world.

He took a look at a curious skill that he had dragged away to a corner of the box by itself a long time ago.

Zone of Truth.

The Zone of Truth was a useful spell where any attempts to resist the spell would come in the form of telling a lie, where the spellcaster will instantly become aware of.

Activating it, Lawrence could feel an odd sensation on his fingertips. He could see what seemed like invisible threads connecting each and every person in the room to each of his fingers. The threads glowed a little blue but it was obvious that only Lawrence could see it.

“What is your goal, Lord Black? Or rather, tell me, what will the gold be used for?” Lawrence asked and Lord Black’s expression, unmoving, calmly replied, “The King has levied something unreasonable against us. Only with your assistance can we in this domain circumvent this crisis.”

“Milord!” Kaisenberg and Johannes, both flabbergasted, stared in horror as Lord Black laid bare his hands.

“The remaining money… I wish to spend some developing infrastructure in Ludium and Everett. We haven’t been able to budget anything for maintenance or development for quite a while now.”

“What Milord means is that this is only a temporary measure as you are well aware of, the prosperity of Ludium when the taxes come in—“

The string that was attached to Lord Black was unmoving. However, the one which was attached to Johannes glowed red and tugged gently on Lawrence’s finger.

“But really, gratitude aside, which is something we cannot survive off, a noble such as yourself should know that quite well but that aside, I’m going to name my terms for the loan,” Lawrence said and everyone in the room held their breaths. For Roland and Jacob, this was an undiscussed territory and for Kaisenberg and Johannes, it dictated that whether this was a genuine reprieve for the House of Black or sweet tasting poison – A moment’s relief but only to kill later.

“First of all, once the port is open. There will be no taxes. It will be a special economic zone.” Lawrence said and there was a weird silence in the air.

“Apologies, what is a special economic zone?” the shrewd taxman, Johannes asked quickly.

Free trade zones are not a new concept that emerged with capitalism as some might think, or even associate them with Communist regimes that wished to dip their beaks into the ever deep well of wealth.

The world’s first documented free trade zone was in 166 BCE on the Greek island of Delos, which lasted a good 100 years or so until it was overrun by pirates. Then, even in the Roman Empire had many civitas libera or free cities that need not pay an annual tribute to the Roman Emperor. The Hanseatic League established several free trade cities as well, one of which was Hamburg.

“A free trade zone is a small, fenced-in, duty-free areas, offering warehousing, storage, and distribution facilities for trade, transhipment, and re-export operations that…” Lawrence began, coughing a while before re-choosing his words.

“Basically think of it as a port on its own, where there is no taxation.”

“Special economic zones apply a multisectoral development approach and focus on both domestic and foreign markets. They offer an array of incentives including infrastructure, tax and customs exemptions, and simpler administrative procedures.”

“Now, think of a port by itself. People come and go. But what if at this port, there are warehouses, simple tax codes when there is a need for one, law enforcement and more?” Lawrence asked and Lord Black listened quietly, his body leaning forward slightly.

“So, you essentially want me to entrust the running of Black Bay to you?” Edward Black asked and Lawrence shook his head.

“You are welcome to proclaim war and ask for men to be dispatched if you so wish for us to. You can levy your taxes on us, as you so wish. The Council of Three will represent my interests. I have no desire to be called—“

“That will not work.” Lord Black said, cutting Lawrence off.

“No one would allow a landless noble and man without title to such a position of import,” Edward replied but he slowly broke into a smile.

“However, if Black Bay was presented to you as your reward for repelling the bandits… Well, Knight Carstein does not sound so bad, does it?”

What a cunning man, Lawrence thought to himself. Lord Black was essentially trying to tie Lawrence into his service. However, if Lawrence wanted what he was asking for, gold or no gold, he understood what Lord Edward Black was implying.

From nowhere, Lawrence would be pushed to a place of power and yet, with nothing to his name, he would only be stonewalled everywhere he goes.

“I will resign my office the moment I am forced to do something against my morals as a Guardian,” Lawrence said and Lord Black nodded.

“The investment of 50,000 gold coins will carry a three percent interest yearly at a compounded rate, to be paid back over a period of ten years,” Lawrence said and Johannes broke into a wide smile.

In comparison, borrowing from neighbouring lords, dukes, barons or others had an outrageous interest rate of at least 10% a year.

Assuming everything goes well, the project of Black Bay Village and Tears would pay the loan off by itself.

A pigeon coos on top of Lawrence’s house, loud enough to be heard through the silence of the room.