It was no wonder that Claude didn't receive any more messages from Maria at the frontlines at the end of the third year.
He didn't receive a reply to any of her letters or even a greeting letter.
At first, he thought that it was because Claude was isolated from the frontlines, but it didn't seem to be the case.
Maria didn't know how to reply to Claude's letters either. She didn't know if Angelina had mentioned it to Claude. She would be ashamed if she did.
Her beloved son, Heltinger, had plotted against Claude's sister and was beaten up badly. That served him right.
However, Angelina was the daughter-in-law she wanted. How would Claude look at her now that something like that had happened? Your son tried to harm my sister with that kind of character. That's intolerable.
Her daughter, Christy, on the other hand, used the opportunity to steal the wooden hut and the wood she gave Claude and chased his mother and brother out of Normanley Wood.
Perhaps in the eyes of others, Claude relied on House Normanley and received Maria's care to get to where he was today, allowing House Ferd to walk out of the shadow of Morssen's suicide and prosper once more. At the very least, that was what her two children believed.
But in reality, Maria knew that she and Claude were in a cooperative relationship of equals. She might have benefited more from Claude.
That was probably why she didn't write to Claude to ask for his advice on the management of the business and real estate company.
She didn't have the face to ask for Claude's help. Her two children had repaid her kindness with enmity and that made her feel extremely disappointed in them. At the same time, she lost all confidence that Claude would be able to serve her family in the future.
Claude, on the other hand, was very proud of what his sister had done. He didn't regret her beating up Madam Maria's eldest son, Heltinger.
In his mind, Heltinger deserved a beating for daring to plot against his sister. Not only that, he didn't go easy on him. It would be best if his limbs were broken.
At the same time, he was glad that he didn't choose to join Maria. Fortunately, he joined the army and didn't become a retainer of House Normanley.
It was true that Lady Maria was a good person, a trustworthy friend, and took good care of her family.
But just as he had misgivings before, if he were to submit to Normanley, he would be under the control of her two children. That was something the prideful Claude couldn't tolerate.
He would repay Maria's kindness in teaching and taking care of him in the future, but it didn't mean that her two children could ride over his head as they pleased.
"Are you listening to me?
Big brother … "
Claude snapped out of it. "Anna, continue. I'm listening."
It was the third year after the war broke out. Whitestag was still undergoing expansion and apart from the families who received conscription orders, the war didn't really affect the city much.
On the contrary, thanks to Tempest's opening of a new route to Nubissia, there was a new lease of life here. Businesses flourished and it became the number one distribution center for the specialties of Nubissia. There was an endless flow of trade between the two continents. It was a prosperous place.
Because of that, merchants from all over the kingdom came to invest in the city, hoping to get a piece of the pie.
The previous record was the establishment of 13 new trading houses in Whitestag in a single month. All of them invested a large sum of money into the ocean trade between the two continents.
Every day, there would be merchant ships loaded with goods heading to Nubissia and cargo ships from Nubissia docked at the port.
That was also the reason why Viscount Felidos, the city's manager, had the confidence to expand the city three times its original size.
But at the end of the year, a true business tycoon from the royal capital appeared in Whitestag. The merchant group known as Fennix stirred up a storm of carnage the moment they arrived in Whitestag.
More than sixty small to medium-sized trading houses were swallowed up by them and the remaining ten or so large trading houses had no choice but to cooperate with them.
In just half a year, the merchant group known as Fennix gained control over the pricing of goods on both continents.
All specialties from Nubissia and goods sent to Nubissia had to be approved by them. Any merchant ships that didn't have their permission weren't allowed to dock at Whitestag and would even be detained by Tempest's warships as smugglers.
"Even Uncle Rubwill's family's trading house was forcefully bought by Fennix," Angelina said.
"Even Majordomo Felidos isn't going to do anything about it?"
Claude asked, feeling rather shocked. Just what sort of background did Fennix have for them to be so capable?
Angelina pouted. "Would he dare to do anything about it?
Fennix is said to be formed by a group of nobles in the royal capital. I suspect that Majordomo Felidos has a share in it as well.
What you don't know is that Fennix is backed by two princes and a princess.
Prince Wedrick and Princess Adelina came to Whitestag and announced that Fenix Merchant Group was a proponent of free trade and that they were there to promote trade between the kingdom and Nubissia. They were there for the sake of better trade in Whitestag.
They didn't even blush when they said that. They were there to monopolize the trade between the two continents and reap the benefits.
Many people in Whitestag knew that many merchants who didn't want to work with them were attacked either openly or covertly. They were either raided by the officials for tax evasion or had their caravans or ships run into problems. The only way to get out of this situation was to compromise with the Fennix Merchant Guild.
Uncle Rubwill's family's trading house was found to have a large amount of prohibited goods during the inspection. That's why he agreed to Fennix's request. "
That was what Captain Durioro meant by merchant nobles. Their methods weren't much different from those of the older noble houses. They were all birds of a feather, nothing more than hyenas seeking to monopolize profits.
Their so-called freedom of trade was actually their own freedom of trade. They didn't give other merchants a way out at all.
Fennix didn't have much of a relationship with House Ferd and House Ferd didn't engage in maritime trade either.
Fennix, on the other hand, wanted to monopolize the trade between the two continents. That way, it wouldn't affect the lives of Whitestag's citizens too much.
But the problem was the four buildings that Claude was going to give to Angelina as her dowry. The location was perfect. It was right in front of the naval base and wasn't under the jurisdiction of the base. Yet, it was quite close to the base and formed a small district in the middle of the main street.
That was why Fennix set its sights on the four buildings and wanted to use them as their headquarters in Whitestag. They could also house the families of the merchants stationed in Whitestag.
They approached Angelina and offered to buy the four buildings for the high price of 3,000 crowns.
Angelina naturally rejected the offer. Claude had spent more than 4,600 crowns on the land he built. Now that Fenix wanted to buy it for 3,000 crowns, wasn't that a blatant attempt to bully him?
Fennix, on the other hand, was adamant about it. The housing prices they offered were those before Whitestag was upgraded to a city. Given that, 3,000 crowns was indeed a high price.
However, the four buildings were newly built and the price of the land had already been multiplied several times by the time Claude bought it.
His sister did not want to sell the four buildings, but the Fenix Merchant Group kept pestering them. It was not difficult for them to force the Ferd family to sell the four new buildings. There were two women in the family, one old and one young, and a little kid who had not grown up yet. A simple trick would be enough to make them yield.
However, Fennix didn't expect House Ferd to be so popular in Whitestag. Since they still had their confidence, they couldn't resort to dirty tricks.
He found a few thugs to threaten them, but the thugs were ganged up on by the neighbors.
They wanted to get the officials to make trouble for them, but House Ferd had the backing of Tomas, a councilor, as well as Felidos.
After all, Felidos was the one who recommended Claude into the army. Before Claude returned, Felidos had to take care of the widowed and orphaned children of House Ferd. Otherwise, his reputation would be greatly affected if word got out.
Only then did the Fennix merchant group investigate the background of House Ferd and found out that Claude and Angelina were both herbalism students of Baroness Maria in the royal capital.
They did not realize that Anna had fallen out with Lady Maria's son and daughter. She had even returned the deeds to the Normanley Family.
Angelina's excuse for moving back to the red brick house was that it was more lively in the city and it would be more convenient for Bloweyk to attend primary school next year.
So, Fennix got Felidos and Uncle Rubwill to negotiate with Angelina and offered to buy the four houses at a high price.
His mother, on the other hand, could no longer bear the pressure and moved out of the wood. Leaving the protection of the Normanley family made her anxious and fearful. She believed that not selling the four new buildings would bring disaster to the family.
Uncle Rubwill and Tomas came to persuade her that there was no need to hold on to the four houses so tightly.
Even with Maria's help, it was only temporary and not permanent. Favors would only get thinner and thinner as time went on.
No matter what, the Fenix Merchant Group had a strong foundation, and they had the support of the second and third princes. It was hard to say if Baroness Maria was willing to offend them.
So, after some consideration, Angelina agreed to sell the four houses as long as she asked for a fair price.
With the help of Uncle Rubinwell and Uncle Tomas, Steward Felidos put in a few good words on Anna's behalf, and it was agreed that the Fenix merchant group would purchase the four new houses under Anna's name for the high price of eight thousand crowns.
"So this red brick house is the only residential property under our name?" Claude asked.
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had worked hard for half a year before enlisting in the army and earned a decent amount of property for the family, thinking that he would be able to live the rest of his life without any worries.
But after five years of hard work on the battlefield, the red brick house was all that was left of the family.
Claude wasn't angry that the four houses were bought by Fennix. After all, the nobles had given him a fair price and Angelina didn't lose out.
It was thanks to Uncle Rubwill and Tomas's help, as well as Felidos and Maria's relationship that the Fennix merchant group didn't dare to go overboard.
Had it been any other family without a powerful background, they would've destroyed their entire family.
Back then, Claude only wanted Angelina to have a stable family business so that she could live a wealthy life as a landlady. That way, if something happened to her on the battlefield, her family wouldn't have to worry about making ends meet.
However, he had forgotten, or perhaps it was due to his lack of knowledge, that in this era and world, letting Angelina own the four houses was akin to a child holding gold in a busy market. It would be easy for others to covet it.
Fortunately, he had made some arrangements and his family had some connections in Whitestag, so he was able to get past that hurdle safely.
"Apart from this red brick house, I also bought some lumberyards," Angelina said after sneaking a peek at Claude's expression.
"Buy the wood? What for?" Claude asked, perplexed.
After she moved back, she realized that it was more convenient to train in the lumberyard. It was quiet and isolated, making it harder to be discovered.
Another reason was that she could plant some medicinal herbs in the lumberyard, which would help her learn herbalism and reduce the cost of purchasing medicinal herbs.
Claude knew that very well. He had wasted quite a lot of money on his concoctions back then.
"How many lumberyards did you buy?" Claude asked. Angelina's reply made him not know whether to laugh or cry.
After selling the four houses, Angelina had a lot of money on hand and she wasn't willing to leave it in the national bank for nothing.
Bank deposits in this era didn't have any interest, but there weren't any storage fees either. Most people put their money in the bank for the sake of security.
Coupled with the three thousand crowns in the account book Claude gave her, Angelina had more than ten thousand crowns in her hands.
According to Angelina's calculations, even if the forests around Whitestag doubled in price to four to five crowns per mu, she would still be able to buy around two thousand mu of forest. That would be enough to build a medium-sized lumberyard for the family.
Angelina set her sights on the area around Normanley Lumberyard. There were three smaller lumberyards each and one public lumberyard that was close to a thousand mu each.
If she bought them all, she would have a total of around twenty hectares of forest.
By then, only the large Normanley Lumberyard and the medium-sized Ferde Lumberyard would be left.
The three lumberyards were quickly bought by Angelina at a very cheap price, half of what she expected.
That was mainly due to the expansion of Whitestag and the three lumberyards having sold all the wood they could harvest.
When Angelina went to buy the lumberyards, she became a sucker in the eyes of the three lumberyard owners. After all, it would take decades for the trees to mature, so they were more than happy to sell the lumberyards to her at a cheap price.
After buying the three lumberyards, Angelina planned to buy the public lumberyard that was close to a thousand mu.
In the end, the administration of Whitestag rejected her request for a simple reason.
Angelina was a commoner and buying the public lumberyard required her to be a citizen.
Therefore, although the family had three small private forest farms under their name that added up to nearly a thousand mu, they were not connected to each other in the east and west. There was also a public forest farm in the middle, so there was no way for them to use it. They could only abandon it.
Claude laughed heartily. His sister's problem was a piece of cake for him. He was now an official captain of the kingdom and a recipient of the Knighthood. He could be considered a quasi-noble and buying the public lumberyard wouldn't be a problem at all.