The Insane Regressor: Throne of Pride

The sound of Larette’s and Shmichael’s footsteps continued to recede beyond the door until it faded entirely.

Neither of the two men spoke during that time.

Ravian stayed seated where he was, while the Earl began slowly turning his black ring once more, as though what had happened moments earlier had been nothing but a passing matter not worth dwelling on.

After a few moments of silence, Earl Patrick said, "Now we can be honest."

Ravian raised an eyebrow slightly.

"I’ve been honest from the beginning," Ravian replied calmly.

"I know," the Earl answered just as calmly. "And that’s the worst part of it."

A faint smile appeared on Ravian’s face, but the Earl didn’t return it.

"You want thirty percent ownership of the entire project before you’ve paid a single coin, and before you’ve even proven that what you’re proposing can actually be carried out."

Ravian nodded in agreement.

"And you want seventy percent of it, along with all the influence and standing it will grant you, in exchange for providing money you can recover later."

"I already told you I won’t be able to monopolize it; the Empire won’t allow that. And money isn’t the only price I’ll pay," the Earl said, tapping the table in front of him.

The Earl leaned back in his seat, then laced his fingers in front of him.

"I’ll need to obtain permits from the Palace, persuade the capital’s council, deal with the guilds of builders and craftsmen, acquire land or secure rights of way, and compensate the owners of properties along the project’s route. I’ll provide the workers, materials, and security, and I’ll bear the anger of the nobles whose roads will be dug up in front of their palaces."

He paused for a moment, then added,

"And if part of the network collapses, or the water becomes contaminated, or people die because of a flaw in your design, they won’t come knocking on your door first. They’ll come to House Viola."

Ravian nodded again calmly, as though it were self-evident.

"True," he said.

The Earl’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he hadn’t expected him to concede the point so easily.

But Ravian continued.

"And in return, if the project succeeds, yours will be the name tied to it. No one will say that some unknown boy designed the capital’s new water and sewage network. They’ll say it was Earl Patrick Viola who saved its districts from filth and plague and ushered the capital into a new age of progress and infrastructure."

Ravian rested his elbow on the arm of the chair.

"You bear the political risk, so you receive all the political and material gains. I didn’t ask for thirty percent of your influence, nor for a share of the title of Marquis you might obtain. I’m asking for thirty percent of the project and its profits alone," Ravian said.

The Earl remained silent for several seconds.

Then he said,

"Fifteen percent of the project’s net profits within the capital, after all costs have been recovered. And I’ll pay you a salary of one hundred gold coins for each month you oversee its implementation."

"No."

Ravian’s reply came before the echo of the Earl’s words had faded from the room.

"You didn’t even consider the offer?" The Earl frowned.

"No, and I won’t," Ravian said indifferently, as though the matter hadn’t occupied him for even a moment.

"Reckless madman," the Earl said irritably.

"I heard that one a little while ago, my lord," Ravian replied.

The corner of the Earl’s mouth twitched, but he quickly hid his smile.

"Fifteen percent isn’t a small share for someone with no capital, no name, and no men," the Earl said.

"And it would be a large share for a wage-earning laborer, but I’m not your laborer." Ravian shrugged.

Ravian gestured toward the papers laid out on the table.

"And I won’t accept a share of something you call net profit," Ravian said.

The Earl’s gaze went still for a moment.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Because whoever controls the ledgers can make a project earning tens of thousands look as though it hasn’t made a single coin in profit."

The Earl’s fingers stopped moving.

But Ravian hadn’t finished.

"You could raise the administrators’ wages, lease storehouses you own to the project at inflated rates, or burden the project with the costs of guards and buildings it doesn’t need, then tell me at the end of the year that the profits have vanished," Ravian said, listing one possibility after another without pause.

Then Ravian pointed at him with his index finger.

"And you look like a man who knows more than one way to do that."

"Are you accusing me before we’ve even signed the contract?" The Earl raised an eyebrow mockingly.

"I’m assuming you’re competent. If you didn’t know how to protect your profits, I wouldn’t have chosen you in the first place," Ravian replied.

The Earl gave a short laugh this time.

"You have a talent for dressing up an insult," the Earl said.

Then silence returned between them, but it was no longer tense.

It had become something more like an empty space in which each of them placed his next offer and waited to see which of the two would be forced to move first.

"Twenty percent ownership of the project within the capital. As for any expansion beyond it, a new agreement will be drawn up," the Earl said after a while.

"Thirty percent of the project—and of every expansion based on its design," Ravian replied.

"If it’s carried out in another city, I’ll need to fund it all over again." The Earl’s voice sharpened with irritation.

"Without me, that project is nothing but ink-stained paper," Ravian said, pointing to himself this time.

"My engineers can learn how it works after the first phase is completed," the Earl replied, sidestepping the point.

Ravian tilted his head slightly.

"They can imitate what they see, but they won’t know why it works, and it wouldn’t take me long to develop it further—then I could simply hand it to someone else and let them use it to crush you," Ravian said.

The Earl frowned, but he was certain Ravian wasn’t bluffing. With Ravian, one could never tell whether he was making a threat or merely stating his intentions with blunt honesty.

"Is it really that difficult? Conduits, pipes, reservoirs, and a slope to keep the water moving." The Earl waved dismissively.

"And that sentence alone is enough to make an entire district drink its own waste after the first breakdown," Ravian said, shaking his head.

The mockery vanished from the Earl’s face.

’This is going to be harder than I expected,’ the Earl thought.

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