Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 37: Risks and Bargain.

The question hung in the air.

Alaric didn’t say a word. It wouldn’t take anything for him to speak up for himself and question the Viscount for trying to take his knight.

But...

He knew loyalty couldn’t be bought.

It took him back to his former world, when he accidentally had a girlfriend. She was pretty, the daughter of the sergeant at the time.

Guys would fawn over her, trying their best to make her theirs. And anytime they were strolling down the road, and a dude approached her, Alaric would stay quiet and observe the situation.

If she gave him any opportunity to go on with his words or seemed interested, he would leave her then and there; luckily, she would always ignore them, and only then would he step in.

The same applied to the situation he was currently in.

Depending on how Ava responded, he knew exactly how to act.

"I appreciate your offer..." Ava began, "But my blade belongs to the Montclairs, as Her Lady Meren has asked of me."

She made her words sharp and simple.

The small frown that glued to Olson’s face was met with a calm smile from Alaric.

"What have you come for?" Olson asked, definitely not with a friendly tone.

He knew damn well Alaric was holding Ava hostage; if not, with her accomplishments, she would have become a royal knight or something similar.

Alaric boldly raised a finger. "I came here for a bargain."

"Uhn?"

"I should have informed you a few weeks before, but time wasn’t on my hand. Duchess Meren made her words clear, that if I didn’t meet the requirements, she would hand over the mining ground to the ones willing to take it."

Olson’s eyes widened. "What? Lady Meren reached out to the Montclairs?!"

Was he shocked? Yes. Surprised? Not really.

It wasn’t news that Lady Meren often got involved with the Montclair family. Though it was usually on minor issues, she intentionally made sure she wasn’t doing too much.

"Oh yes, she did. There is a mining ground that has been abandoned in the Montclair Barony. Neuk Barony wanted in on it, such an act was a surprise to me, thus I worked towards building the mining ground myself."

Olson was shocked yet again. This was the first he was hearing of a mining ground.

"For the past month, I have been able to work on the mining ground, but before I get too deep into the matter... I’d like to show you something."

Alaric did a single clap, and Ava understood what it meant.

She bowed her head and exited the room, only to return a few seconds later, with an equipment-placed table.

This equipment, in question, was the same wooden fridge Alaric had once made for the pub master.

As Ava walked into the room with it, Olson’s eyes followed, trying to figure out what it could be.

Unlike the giant fridge Alaric made for the pub master, this was smaller, a portable version.

"Before I lay out what I want from you, Lord Olson. This is a proposition to you. Right here, what my knight had brought into the room with her, is a magical cooler, the first of its kind."

"What?"

"I have single-handedly built a machine able to not only freeze things but also heat them up as well. Drinks, food, all can be done. With this machine, you can forget about getting ice stones or heating stones that die out after a day or two. This magical cooler will last months, years, even decades. And maybe even-"

"For a young boy, you sure do let out a lot of crap," Olson cut him off with a cold voice.

[The Viscount is not convinced.]

Alaric grinned. "I knew you wouldn’t believe me. But see, that is a simple issue-"

He stood up and walked towards the fridge.

He opened it and tossed an apple that he had picked from the basket on the table.

"... because the solution... Is not too far away."

Closing the fridge, Alaric tapped on the blue crystals, watching as the fridge lit up. In such a way that one could already see the ice steam slipping from inside the fridge.

Olson watched, not too joyous, neither did he have any sort of expectations.

After a few minutes, Alaric clicked on the crystal again, and this time, the blue light and cold steam disappeared.

He then proceeded to open the fridge and bring out the apple.

The once normal apple was now frozen.

Olson’s jaw dropped again.

"What sort of sorcery is this?" he asked, almost standing up from where he was seated.

"Magical technology," Alaric replied. "Imagine this, people who don’t have ice magic or fire magic, don’t need to call other ice magic users or fire users to help with it. Magical technology is the next big step in humanity."

Olson was still trying to process how such a thing could be built.

"How..."

"I have only the gods to thank for giving me such knowledge. I am willing to keep this with you here, under the conditions that you help me with two things..." Alaric raised two of his fingers.

Olson paused, waiting to see what the young lord could possibly want.

If he got his hands on this item, he knew he would make millions off it. Maybe even rise in ranks amongst the nobles. He could rise to be one of the first to ever introduce such a technology.

His eyes glared with mischief.

And that... Alaric was very much aware of.

He knew the Viscount would probably either try to take it by force or find a way to exploit him.

It’s how it has always been in the world. Those with power will always try to feed off the ones below them.

If the Viscount decided he wanted to take it by force, there was little Alaric could do, not when the Count would definitely get involved.

It was a gamble.

Either the Viscount agrees to the terms Alaric was about to let out, or it goes south, and they pull every stop to get on top.

Alaric began...

"Number one..."

....

[A\N: Please don’t forget to support this book.]