Reincarnated as the Baron's son: My Infinite Card Upgrade System-Chapter 62: Waterwheel electricity

Inside Wilson’s office.

The room was a bit on the small side, but that was only due to the amount of boxes stacked around the place.

Right at the center of the office was a working table, where Ava and Erica had firmly settled.

In front of them was Wilson himself, the infamous cigarette still in his mouth.

Erica could tell from the way he was staring at them that he was already judging and reading them.

This was mostly very famous amongst merchants, especially when they met new people. They tended to read body language to understand how and when to approach their discussion.

And Erica wasn’t the best at hiding her emotions. Remaining calm wasn’t an issue for her, but hiding her fear from her eyes was an entirely different thing.

Unexpectedly, Wilson decided to start the discussion.

"Is there any reason as to why your knight decided to kill my customers?" he asked, calm but threatening.

"Ek! It was a mistake. It wasn’t supposed to happen. They started it, and my knight was kind of fighting for herself. Self-defense and nothing more," Erica replied, her hands on her lap the whole time.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I swear."

Wilson placed the cigarette on the table. "I’m willing to cover up this mess and overlook what happened if you can guarantee this meeting is one that would benefit me in the end."

Erica’s eyes widened. She realized it, but thankfully it wasn’t too late.

News about the Montclair Barony having their own mining ground, and also the fact the Neuk Barony had been wiped out, would have spread to people, especially those who gathered intel around the kingdom.

Meaning, a powerful merchant such as Wilson would most likely have heard the same thing.

"Yes, I have come to discuss something related to business with you," Erica replied.

Ava gave a slight side-eye, making sure Erica wasn’t feeling too pressured.

"Now that’s what I like to hear. Go on." Wilson sat upright, leaning forward a bit.

"What would you say if I told you there’s a way I can make you gain more than 200,000 Eres monthly, for as long as you want?" Erica uttered, also leaning forward.

"You don’t have something to sell to me?!" Wilson was a bit disappointed.

He had expected it to be something he would be able to sell once bought, something from the mining ground.

Now hearing it was something to do with him earning monthly, he already knew where it was heading.

Erica was well aware.

"You are not investing any amount in this. All I need is for you to gather your brothers, after I explain exactly what the business idea is all about."

Wilson grunted, his eyes already showing how interested he was.

"If this was any other person, I would have them out of my office by now. Then again, you did help my daughter, so I owe you this much. Fine, what business idea do you have?"

Erica smiled. "Thank you."

She looked at Ava. "Please hand it to me."

Ava nodded and reached for her inner pocket to pull out a rolled-up blueprint.

Handing it to Erica, who quickly spread it across the table.

Before they left the mansion to search for the merchants, Alaric had already briefly explained the project he planned to introduce to the merchants, something that would 100% get them interested.

Wilson stared at the drawing for a while, checking the water wheel and line connected to multiple poles.

"What am I looking at?" he blurted out.

"A windmill-powered electricity system. With this, we can reduce the excessive use of torches and fireflies. Fewer resources and more dependable."

Wilson squinted his face a bit, trying to imagine what she could possibly be getting at.

While it was true the world itself hadn’t developed an advanced method of light, they still depended on fire torches and lanterns.

Hence Wilson’s confusion.

Using electricity as a means of light was unheard of.

"Do I look like a fool?" Wilson spoke, his finger tapping the table.

"Eh?" Erica raised her head. "Of course not."

"You expect me to believe there’s a way to use electricity as a source of light? And for argument’s sake, let’s say there is, do you want to hire Mages to charge the damn thing every time it’s needed?"

"That’s what the water wheel is for. It all operates mechanically. The water itself is the main source we need. Get this..."

Erica pointed at the drawing. "With just one water wheel and a generator, we can power the entire county! If everyone pays 500 Eres per month to use electricity, times that by 50,000 people."

"25 million Eres a month," Wilson completed it.

"The county has more population than that, but we can go with it for now. How much do you make a month trading lanterns and fire torches?" Erica asked.

Wilson could barely speak. He simply looked at the drawing and uttered, "Nothing close to 25 million, I can assure you."

"Isn’t this enough to convince you that this can be very beneficial to society? If it goes well, other Baronies and even kingdoms will want access to it. This is just a good opportunity for you to be one of the founding shareholders."

As Erica spoke, trying to convince the merchant to agree, Ava couldn’t help but smile.

’She speaks exactly the way Lord Alaric would have handled it. Master only told her the key details she needed to know, and she’s handling it so well. I guess business runs in the family,’ she said to herself.

After a few minutes of Erica trying to convince Wilson, Wilson finally gave in, but not without a bit of doubt.

"And how exactly do you plan on making this? I do not know much about this stuff, but I’m not willing to believe something this good doesn’t take a decent amount of work to build."

Erica simply smiled. "My brother will handle that."

"Your brother?"

"Yes, my brother," she placed her hand on her chest proudly. "The genius inventor."

"Haha, you just made that up, didn’t you?" Wilson pointed.

"No-no, I did not! He r... really is a genius inven... tor!"

"You there! Is she saying the truth? Uhm?! Haha!" The man laughed again.

Ava answered with a stern expression.

"She is. Lord Alaric is a genius inventor."

Hearing Ava’s reply, Wilson’s laugh died down and was replaced with a professional stare.

"So he’s legit?" he asked.

"Yes," Ava responded. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

This led to Wilson making yet another sigh as he gently stood up from the chair.

He ran his finger on the table for a while before then deciding to speak.

"I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a good idea. Hell, if I had the skill, I would have done it myself. Run in a huge load of cash. Seeing as I clearly lack the idea needed for this, it’s only logical I step in. Can’t lose a booming opportunity, am I right?"

"Yes!" Erica exclaimed, her brows raised in such a way that it wasn’t difficult for anyone to guess she was getting excited.

"Miss Erica," Wilson called out, "I agree to partnership with you on this deal. I’ll speak to my two brothers too, but first, before anything is finalized, I’d like to speak to this genius inventor first. Something tells me the fact you’re offering me something like this means there must be some kind of catch."

He leaned closer with a crazy smile. "And I’m sure he is the one that determines what that is, am I right? Again? Miss Erica."

Having an innocent look on her face, Erica clapped her hands a bit. "Sure, I’ll let him know you’ll be coming. Hehe."

"Excellent. Tomorrow, I shall be here at noon with my brothers. If he can convince us about whatever catch he has to this deal, then you have yourself three of the biggest merchants under your project."

"You won’t regret this."

And with that, the meeting came to an end, with both parties going their separate ways.

Erica and Ava went back to the mansion, and Wilson went to find his brothers. A deal had finally landed that could make them the richest in all of Ernest.

Though while all that was happening...

"Uhm, you called for me?" Alaric spoke as he moved closer to Velmo in the hallway.

Sima, standing behind the Count, already if not instantly had a frown on her face.

"Ah yes, the infamous joke of the barony," Velmo said as he turned around.

"I... I don’t think that’s a compliment."

"Oh, but it is. See, a letter came in today from Rashin Montclair." Velmo raised a white envelope. "And you can imagine my surprise after reading it. Simply touching."

Alaric stared at the envelope and immediately understood what it was.

"Oh." He carried a deadpan expression with a raise of his finger. "Whatever you read, I promise it was all self-defense."

"I’m sure it was. Sure. Follow me, Mr. Alaric, I have questions I need to ask you."

Velmo spoke as he walked away.