"First of all, the technology that we will help you install in various locations around the empire for the production and extraction process of sugar; our Smith family will have a seventy five percent controlling stake in it. You can't outsource your sugar production mills to others and our machinery cannot be sold to others for profit. Unserviceable machinery will be properly disposed of by melting in the furnace and will not be left for others to salvage anything from it. The Smith family will have a right to veto any decision regarding the future of cane sugar production industry."
Bruce gave a pause between stating the first and second condition. He wanted to make sure that Marico had understood the first condition before moving on to the second.
Marico had not only understood but had also accepted the first condition in his heart. He was willing to settle for much less. This was nothing considering all the machinery would come from the Smith family. They definitely had the right to control the misappropriation of their technology.
Marico nodded for Bruce to continue.
"Secondly, for the Smith family to trust the Windsor family completely, our leader believes that the two families should have familial relationship instead of just a business relationship which is far less reliable. Therefore, he intends to make Clara his real wife after your agreement. The disguise that you have created would no longer be necessary as well."
Violet was surprised and used both her hands to cover her wide open mouth while Clara was feeling that it was only natural that Zach would be smitten to her. Even then there was a blush that was sneakily creeping up all over her face and her neck. She tried to say something as well but couldn't as her voice didn't reach the audible range.
Marico saw her flushing and fretting about as she tried to say something and knew what his daughter wanted in his heart. Had it not been that he already knew that Clara liked Zach, he would never have agreed to Zach's condition even if it was the biggest opportunity for the Windsor family. He was not willing to sacrifice his daughter's happiness in order to gain more riches and resources for the family.
"Thirdly, Windsor family must protect Diana no matter what happens in the future; whether we are allies or enemies even if god himself wants us dead. You have to promise to keep her safe unconditionally."
Marico didn't think there was any condition that was unreasonable in the whole deal. Clara was willing to marry Zach so there was no problem towards that end. Protecting Diana in times of danger would be an easier task because she wasn't an important enough member of Zach's forces from what he had inferred. The government wouldn't specifically target her ever when her brother and Zach were still living. Therefore, this condition wasn't bad either.
The only real condition was the seventy five percent controlling stake and the right to veto any decision. Although it would limit some of his freedom in developing the sugar production chain, this was still more than enough for the Windsor family to earn large amount in profits and market value.
Marico knew he couldn't find a better deal than this so he readily voiced out his agreement.
"I agree to all the conditions you stated. When can we begin?"
Bruce got up from his seat and the rest of the participants of the meeting stood up following his lead.
Bruce extended his hand towards Marico and the latter shook it enthusiastically. The handshake was a visual finalization of the deal between the two families.
…
A few days had passed since Bruce came back and told him that the negotiations had succeeded with the Windsor family and they had agreed to invest and work on their business idea. Zach didn't ask him for the details of the negotiations because he had promised him earlier to not interfere in the matters related to the sugar business.
Therefore, he was unaware of the terms that Windsor family had agreed to. He didn't even know that Bruce had already arranged his marriage with the annoying Clara.
He was currently seated on a chair far above the constructions site as he looked at the Luther family people working hard to build their future home. He was like a lazy site manager who does nothing but order people around all day and ends up profiting the most at the end as well.
These days had been quite leisurely for Zach considering the training period for the people was already over. He didn't have to nitpick over every little detail now that they knew how to operate the modern machinery and were already used to it.
Except for cautionary words every now and then to keep them from making mistakes, Zach just had to direct Diana from time to time to control the direction of the construction efforts.
Lounging on the chair, sipping on his steaming sweet coffee, Zach felt that his life was finally perfect. He just had to wait for Luna to wake up now to leave his past behind.
But something at the back of his mind kept pinching him; as if he was forgetting something important; like something important was missing from his life still even though he had already achieved so much.
He mulled it over before concluding that this uneasy feeling was because of that girl Clara who was so determined to pester her until he told her all the stories in his repertoire.
Lately she hadn't been coming to see him like she previously did.
Maybe she was finally fed up after so many rejections from him.
Although he tried to avoid her as much as possible, he still couldn't help but feel her absence now that she hadn't shown herself for such a long time. Absence truly did make the heart grow fonder.
No matter how much he tried to stay calm and feel comfortable, the uneasiness didn't let go of him. He kept wondering if she was going to come today or not.
Unknown to Zach who was still cut off from the rest of the world, due to him spending all his time on Greenland, the news of his engagement with Clara had long since become the talk of the town.
The youngest daughter of the Windsor family was about to marry the only son of the dark mage Wood Smith. This was the rumor amongst those who knew Marico's friendship with the dark mage. But the commoners only knew that the daughter of the Windsor family was about to be wed to an SS rank water mage who was responsible for the rain when he arrived in the city.
The news had spread like wildfire spreads in a forest full of dried wood. Everyone knew about it except the groom himself.
Zach wanted to train his people in combat as soon as possible but his hands were completely tied. There weren't enough people available when all of them were still working on the remodeling of Greenland into their new home. He couldn't slow down the construction just because he wanted to train them.
Therefore, he pulled out some books on basic physical training from the system. There were several guides piled up that he had never read before. They were extremely comprehensive and detailed so that even a layman could understand and practice based on the instructions to become a good combatant.
Before teaching things to the others, he felt that this was the perfect time to give these guides a read and think of a training plan for his people.
As soon as the remodeling of Greenland was complete, Zach was going to claim these people for a long time and was going to train them in the harshest area of Greenland that he planned to cordon off so that his people could gain real time experience in combat against beasts who were countless times stronger but lacking in the technology that they were going to train in. He wanted to ingrain the combat spirit in them so that they wouldn't falter in front of a dragon should one come with a gun in their hands.
But just the technology and his battle tactics were far from enough to make the dominant force he was planning to make his people into. He needed the help of both the technology he could offer and the magic that this world had to offer. Both magic and technology was the answer that Zach had reached after his failure in front of the Back Tiger. Only by making use of the good of the both worlds could he reign supreme in this world.
So, he needed someone to teach his people magic. He wanted to separately train the people who had the ability or potential to be mages but were unable to become one due to the lack of resources. He was sure that not all the people in the Luther household would be incapable of sensing and using magic. These would be the elites of his force who would wield the good of both worlds to make the impossible happen at his commands.
And for those who could not use magic, Zach didn't want them to be completely clueless about mages.
"To know one's enemy is one of the best ways to win a war."
Zach believed in the saying wholeheartedly. If his people didn't even know what they were up against, they would never be able to defend themselves. After all, the unknown is only feared until it becomes known.
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