The Path of Ascension Chapter 387

Chapter 387

The Dobrescu duchy was a two month jaunt across the Empire, but that was only because Matt was able to use a real space crossing they controlled to cover most of the distance. A border duchy between Rusty’s and Harper’s respective kingdoms, they were in a strategic economic zone for goods that came from the border regions to the Capital.

Something they had done as much as possible to take advantage of their various shipping ventures that moved goods to and through their lands. And as one of the strongest and most influential duchies in the Empire, a lot of trade moved through their holdings, if for no other reason than to tap into their network of trading partners.

There were also rumors that they had a sponsored pirate fleet, which doubled Matt’s interest in talking to them. Even if the rumor was false, they had more experience in dealing with pirates than he did.

When he entered their duchy capital, he was immediately contacted by a representative of the household stationed at one of their extensive space platforms.

As he responded with the purpose of his visit, Matt looked to the infrastructure with a critical eye.

As a noble who had been dealing with trade, he had a new appreciation for the space stations and the various methods they used to move goods around.

He could see Tier 15s flying with spiritual items, fast ships with expanded holds meant for shorter-range ventures, and lastly, massive mundane ships that moved slowly between points with gargantuan cargo holds wrapped in just enough metal and enchantment to keep them together.

Each had their use cases, but what caught his eye was how organized it all was.

That, combined with the mile long ships that docked at the various space platforms to dock and transfer goods and people both ways, gave the area an almost ocean-like feeling to the sight.

He was appreciating the ease at which a fifteen mile long cargo ship swung itself into place, guided solely by a Tier 15 pilot, when a pulse of spiritual perception brushed up against him.

“You aren’t here to break anything, are you?”

The tone of the message was playful, but there was an undercurrent of wariness which pulled his attention away from the sight and down to Silvia Dobrescu, who was ascending from the planet below.

“What would give you that idea?”

Seeing he wasn’t angry, Silvia seemed to relax and gestured to the largest station. “One of my retainers was convinced that you were here to cause trouble and hit the proverbial— and literal I guess— panic button.”

Matt rolled his eyes and let her see it.

“I told him that I was here to ask you a few questions, and I didn’t lie. I—” Matt paused as he realized how they must have interpreted that. “I really only wanted to chat. I needed an outside perspective and you seemed like the right person to talk to.”

The Tier 22 inspected him for a moment before nodding. “I’m willing to chat, but you must realize how on edge everyone is with your recent actions.”

“Apparently not.” Matt couldn’t help grinning.

That earned a snort, and the two of them descended to the Tier 33 planet below.

When they entered the flying island, Matt was impressed by how austere it was. Not that it wasn’t nice, but with the Dobrescu family background as a former corporation who had taken over a duchy, he had expected more of a corporate vibe. Instead, the entire island had an understated elegance about it.

Matt could feel several higher Tiers circling around them and tracked one that was moving to intercept them.

“That’s slightly eerie, I must say.”

“Hmm?” Matt looked over to Silvia.

“They way you are tracking my guards. I know you can’t feel them via the normal senses, but you are locking onto them a little too well.”

As she said that, a dour looking man Matt identified as Silvia’s seneschal entered and finished leading them into a sitting room that was prepared with finger food and a variety of drinks.

“An instinct of sorts. Similar to combat senses but more esoteric. Always good to know where a threat might be, after all.”

“A laudable goal and a necessity for one in your position. You said you wanted to talk to me; last we talked, you didn’t want a trade deal but has that changed?”

Her small smile told him she knew all about his troubles, so he didn’t bother to beat around the bush.

“Not exactly. I wouldn’t mind working out a trade deal, but I came more to bounce ideas off you after my latest troubles and see what you think?”

“And you think one such as I can help one as august as yourself?”

Matt sighed as she dodged the question. “Yes, but if you don’t want to help, I’m not going to overstay my welcome.”

Silvia’s friendly demeanor slid away until she had a blank, unreadable expression on her face.

A moment later she said, “You are an enigma, Ascender Titan. Very well. I will help you, but in return I want a favor. How large can depend on how helpful you find my advice.”

Matt grinned as they cut through the bullshit. “I won’t do anything I don’t agree with. But if you can accept that stipulation, sure.”

Silvia’s smile was genuine as she reached across the table and shook his hand.

Matt didn’t miss the nervousness of the guards he could feel circling, but didn’t comment.

“Your ‘troubles’ are quite interesting, Ascender Titan. I must ask, do you know what you have done?”

Matt played dumb. “I know exactly what I’ve done, but I can’t say how others are interpreting my actions.”

Silvia’s smile looked like she had caught a fish, and he was reminded that she was, in fact, a heron bloodline.

“And they say Ascenders can’t play politics. That was a good answer. If you are coming to me, you must realize that you are being targeted by an unknown force, but since you didn’t start blasting the moment you arrived, you must not think we had anything to do with it. Given the rumors about our family and pirates, which I can assure you are false, you must want my thoughts on who might have such power to pull off the attacks, yes?”

“It’s a good start.”

“I’ll be direct as that seems to be your style: I don’t know.”

Matt frowned at the answer, but Silvia continued. “I may be wrong, but I sincerely doubt anyone with direct connections to the shipping industry is responsible. It would be too easy to trace back to them, where someone who had few if any direct connections to the shipping industry can act with more indiscretion if they have enough resources.”

“I’ve considered that, but all four attacks on me have been space-based. That could be bait, but it’s the only lead I have to go after. With that in mind, you must see why it seems that whoever is behind this has control over space-based travel.”

Silvia nibbled on a piece of cheese before saying, “Must I? Maybe it’s because I and my family have a vested interest in commerce, but because of that, I know how easy it is to throw money around and get things done. Space-based shipping is one of thin margins, high volume, and high expenses. Anyone willing to throw enough money around could easily do everything they have done so far. I can’t speak to them knowing where your aura potion shipments were going, and if so, that means you have a spy. But if I wanted to strike at your aura potions, I wouldn’t need a spy. I would simply contact the ships who regularly move between your duchy and offer them a little insurance fraud. Sure, their reputation would take a minor hit. But so long as it’s rare and done cleanly, they get paid by their insurance company and myself. Best of all, it completely circumvents the need for a dedicated spy in a sensitive area. Not that the aura potions are that secret. As an industry, we treat them as the high-value goods they are. But frankly, they are Tier 4 items and numerous, with the distinction of not being created by the Imperial government itself or at its direct behest. I wouldn’t be surprised if most companies just aren’t bothering to code them as high priority items, and instead list them as mid or even low. Saves quite a bit of shuffling and therefore money.”

Matt frowned. “We’ve done audits of our shipping partners, which I would like to think would catch any such behavior.”

Silvia nodded along. “Along the contracted allowances I’m sure. The contracts may say the audits can be done at any time, but there are a number of ways to delay those audits long enough to ensure the records are squeaky clean. If you haven’t encountered that yet, you undoubtedly will as you deal with the various shipping companies besides my own.”

Matt thought hard and threw his full mana generation to his [AI], letting it go through the admittedly limited information he had with this new perspective.

Nothing came up, but that was mostly because he lacked relevant information.

“Good to know. And the breaking of contracts with my guild? Any thoughts on that as a merchant yourself?”

Silvia waved the question away. “Clearly a threat but not a particularly hard one to set up. My information channels say they all used their normal exit clauses. To me, that says they are proxies who were paid to make a move. Not an uncommon move if you can afford it when attacking another business.”

“So my opponent is high Tier and wealthy. That narrows it down.”

Silvia grinned. “And that is the problem of being on the defensive against a careful opponent. You don’t know what you don’t know.”

Just as Matt was about to speak, a slightly older version of Silvia stepped out of nowhere and joined them with a smile. Silvia flinched, but Matt just nodded at the former duchess.

“Ah, and here I was hoping for a larger reaction. Rhea, a pleasure to meet you, Ascender Titan,”

“Why would I be surprised? You’ve been following me since I passed through the real space crossing.”

That caught both mother and daughter off guard, and Matt smiled. He had felt someone had been trailing him, but his statement had mostly been a bluff to see if it had been her.

Rhea smiled as she took a seat next to her daughter. “I hate to intervene between the bonds being forged through deals, but I would also like to ensure everyone understands what is going on. Ascender Titan, I get the feeling that you don’t really understand what you have done in recent days.”

That was an interesting way to phrase it. “Please enlighten me then.”

Rhea put a hand on Silvia’s arm, silencing her as she said, “Let’s start at the beginning of this little kerfuffle and use it as an example of how to deal with Ascenders. We noble families, higher-Tier corporations, and guilds, have an understanding of how to deal with an Ascender, and so far your opponents have played the game exactly as I would have. But you haven’t.”

Seeing his surprise, Rhea smiled. “Your first move to hunt down the bandits was calculated to both waste your time and piss off a lot of people, while opening you up to the second move of tying you and your guild up in legal matters. That was the real test, and one you reacted to interestingly. Do you know the common understanding of how to handle Ascenders who are bothering one’s business interests?”

Matt let his smile fade to a flat expression. “Enlighten me.”

“Make things difficult enough that they can’t be bothered. One must be careful to not overstep, or the Ascender might bite back. But if handled correctly, you can prevent them from encroaching into your business. When Duke Waters’ business was encroaching on a number of other courier services, they undercut him and started poaching his best people. They successfully annoyed him into backing down.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

Matt knew that story from Aiden himself. “Aiden also killed a dozen people who were responsible for killing one of his couriers. To quote the man, ‘An Aqueduct must not have its foundations tampered with’. I’m pretty sure he thought he was making a pun, but those people still died.”