The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

"The designs still need their designer. If I fund this, I won’t accept your vanishing again in the middle of construction," the Earl said.

"I can’t stay in the capital forever," Ravian replied in the same breath.

Larette frowned at once.

"You just came back," she said.

"And I have matters elsewhere that can’t be set aside."

Patrick narrowed his eyes.

"So you’re asking me to fund two projects while the man who conceived them walks away."

"I can finish the technical plans, prepare the prototype specifications, and train the engineers you appoint before construction ever reaches the stage that requires my presence. The survey work, political negotiations, land acquisition, and supply contracts will take weeks. I don’t need to stand beside every worker holding a shovel."

"And what happens when our engineers encounter a problem that isn’t addressed in your plans?"

"I’ll come back when I’m needed, or I’ll send documented revisions through Shmichael. The project shouldn’t depend on my being physically present every day. If it does, that means I designed it badly," Ravian said, waving a hand.

Patrick remained silent.

"You’ll also need a legal identity," he said at last. "Your name has to appear somewhere if you expect legal ownership of a share in the project."

"I don’t want my name mentioned in the public charter," Ravian said without warning, catching everyone in the room off guard.

"Why?" almost all of them asked in unison.

"For the same reason I won’t describe what happened to me over the past eight days. Public attention would be a danger to me and a nuisance to your project," Ravian said, directing his words toward the highest-ranking man in the room, since the decision ultimately rested in his hands.

Patrick glanced at Larette and Shmichael before returning his attention to Ravian.

"I don’t enter into partnerships with ghosts," the Earl said.

"The public company can be registered under House Viola’s name and the names of its declared partners. My ownership can be confirmed through a private founders’ agreement kept in your vault, with Shmichael serving as witness and trustee. And my share can be released according to the phases completed," Ravian said, his eyes fixed on the Earl.

The Earl was taken aback that Ravian had prepared an answer even for this.

"You’ve thought about this," the Earl said, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"I knew you wouldn’t accept a nameless stranger asking for a piece of a company," Ravian replied.

He had already worked out the broad structure of the city’s laws from the moment he heard terms like empire and earl, along with everything else he had observed.

It was an aristocratic imperial system, and apparently not one without ministries either, since the man heading the investigation—according to what Ravian had read in the newspapers—was a minister known as the Gray General.

Patrick leaned back in his seat.

"My terms are simple. You will provide complete specifications for the prototype and the trial sewage network. My engineers will examine them before I spend a single gold piece on construction. The prototype will be tested publicly in front of witnesses I choose. I am the one who selects the trial district and the noble families invited into the company. And the political negotiations remain under my authority."

"Agreed, on the condition that you don’t alter the technical design for the sake of political convenience," Ravian said.

"I am the one who decides what is politically convenient," Patrick replied in a tone that allowed no argument.

"And I am the one who decides what will still function after you’ve finished making it convenient," Ravian replied. "And wrecking it would be easier for me than finishing it."

Ravian concluded with a wicked smile.

For several seconds, neither man took his eyes off the other.

Then Patrick’s lips curved with the faintest hint of amusement.

"That can be settled in the private agreement."

"Before we settle anything else," Ravian said, "there’s still the original payment."

Larette looked toward her father.

"The heart," Ravian continued. "Your daughter and Shmichael promised me the heart of an Eighth-Rank beast as an advance in exchange for bringing this project to House Viola."

Patrick once again turned the black ring around his finger.

"They did." The Earl nodded.

"And did you obtain it?" Ravian asked.

"We secured one through a private broker on the very day you met them. Although several days passed after your disappearance, my daughter insisted that a promise doesn’t cease to exist merely because the person to whom it was made might be dead," the Earl said with a gracious smile.

Larette folded her arms and looked away.

"That’s simply obvious," she said.

The Earl nodded.

"Because an Eighth-Rank beast heart holds its value even when the intended recipient fails to return," Patrick said. "I was being practical."

"Of course," Larette answered.

Patrick ignored the sarcasm.

"The heart is kept in this estate’s vault," he said to Ravian. "You’ll receive it now. The rest will follow the moment the private agreement is signed and you’ve handed over enough of the prototype specifications for my engineers to confirm that your proposal is genuinely buildable—"

"I can have them ready before sunset," Ravian cut in.

Everyone in the room stared at him with their mouths open, except for the Earl, whose eyes widened in shock.

"All of them?" Shmichael asked.

"The engine assembly, the required materials, the target pressure, the reservoir specifications, and the measurements your engineers will need before adapting the design to the local foundries. The district layout will require a proper survey, so I’ll provide the survey method rather than pretend I know measurements I never took."

That answer seemed to satisfy Shmichael far more than an empty claim that Ravian could finish everything on his own would have, even though the whole undertaking still seemed ridiculously impossible.

Patrick placed both hands on the desk.

"Then all that remains is the matter of ownership. How much of this company do you expect in exchange for designs you refuse to attach your name to publicly?"

"Thirty percent," Ravian said. "The heart as my advance, and final authority over any changes made to the core technical designs."

Larette stared at him.

Even Shmichael raised an eyebrow.

As for Patrick, he simply watched Ravian.

"You bring no capital, no land, no political authority, and no name anyone knows. And yet you’re asking for nearly a third of the project."

"I bring the one part none of those things can buy," Ravian replied. "The idea."

He pointed one finger at his own head.

"And if I refuse?" the Earl asked.

"Then you can keep the heart and the single page sitting on your desk," Ravian answered. "But you won’t get either of the two systems. As for me, I can simply take the project to another noble."

He shrugged indifferently.

Silence settled around the desk.

Then Earl Patrick smiled.

"Good," he said. "Now we can begin negotiating."

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