Chapter 52: Chapter 52 : Expanding The Ironhold’s “Plate”.
"Today, looks like a bit more filled compared to the last visit,"
Alex said to himself as he looked around the warehouse completely filled with boxes after then he headed towards the estate of Mr. Hartwell.
"I think now I should begin to discuss with the Hartwell family about the issue of developing the Ironhold and how to overcome the famine problem as soon as possible otherwise,
If I didn’t do that than sooner or later, I have to sell of the initial capital itself, which is not good!"
The strategy of exchanging clean water for gold would not be viable in the long run here, firstly there weren’t that many rich families in Ironhold.
Currently, during famines, merchants and respected nobles would exchange gold to have safe drinking water.
But there was only so much gold circulating around in the city.
If Alex wanted he can be unscrupulous and can take advantage of the situation and sell so much water during the famine years, so that Ironhold would have almost all its riches drained.
In short term, this would make him richer than anyone could ever be in his world.
But in the end, this plan was defective.
The city’s "plate" was too small.
What was the "plate"?
In modern terms, it was the overall wealth pool, the sum of all the gold, silver, and holdings possessed by the city folk.
Assume Ironhold had a total of ten tons of gold. No matter how brilliant Alex’s trades, the best he could squeeze out was that ten tons.
But, If the pool of wealth expanded like for example, if farmers could restore the land, if traders reopened trade, if artisans flourished then the city itself would increase in wealth.
And if the citizens became richer, Alex would have an opportunity to extract more gold from them without bankrupting the city.
And that was the key.
It was about thinking ahead.
For when the famine lifted and Ironhold’s economy started to boom, the "plate" would expand.
And Alex’s wealth would expand with it.
"Naturally, I couldn’t possibly determine when the drought would stop," he told himself. "But I can at least force things in that direction."
He would sooner or later spend all the gold that was currently available in Ironhold if something were not to be done.
For the wealth to flow consistently, the city itself needed to heal. The drought had to be stopped.
Ending the drought was no easy task though.
For that, he would require allies.
And so he considered Miss Evelyn, one of the city’s wealthiest families.
With her resources and influence, his grand plan would be much simpler to fulfill.
---
"Is anyone home?"
"Bang, bang, bang!"
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Less than five minutes after setting out, Alex has reached Hartwell’s Manor and knocked loudly on the door, his voice ringing out through the still courtyard.
He knocked and knocked, but there was no reply. The silence was unnatural.
Alex’s frown deepened, his senses began tingling.
Something was off .....too quiet.
Just as he tried to check the lock.....
"The door isn’t locked?" he grumbled.
He pushed at the handle forcefully. With a resounding clang, the wooden door swung open.
The fear in his chest grew as coldness crept up on him.
Nobody seemed to be home. The open door was in stark contrast to Lucy’s guarded routine.
She would have never left it open. That was a great reason enough for suspicion.
Alex walked in and looked around. The entire room lay in disarray.
The chairs were upturned, the pillows scattered all over the place, and the floor was covered with old clothes.
In over the distance he found Lucy and Mr. Hartwell were bound firmly with rope.
Rags plugged their mouths. They whimpered, wanting to alert Alex, but helpless.
"Oh God!"
"The enemy has found us!"
Alex heart leaped to his throat.
He moved his right hand and drew the electric baton from his waist, preparing for the unknown danger lurking in the shadows.
As if on cue, suddenly a man jumped from the shadows standing a distance away from Alex.
The man in front of him emitted an savage bloodthirsty aura.
"Are you Nathan?" the stranger asked grimly.
"Who are you, Why have you bound them?"
"I did not wish to bind them, but they made a noise. The second I entered, they would not stop shouting, so I had no choice but to tie them."
The stranger stood more than two meters tall, the stranger’s coarse linen shirt stuck to his muscular body. Wild hair and a heavy beard made him resemble a barbarian pulled from the mountains into the city itself.
It is no wonder Lucy shrieked when she saw him, anyone sane would do so after seeing him.
But the strange man had made a mistake, taking him for Nathan, giving him a slim margin to react.
"Are you Nathan?"
"That’s correct," Alex declared firmly.
"I am Nathan. What are you doing here? How dare you break into a home in broad daylight?"
Alex sensed it.
The man was not here for peace at all.
He was here to kill!!
He asked himself who could have sent the killer.
Ideas ran through his mind as he looked for an opportunity to attack. Temporarily, he relied on the electric baton.
"Haha!" the stranger laughed icily.
"You are very daring. You actually admitted. Had you not said you were Nathan and attempted to flee, I would have crushed your head like this stone just now.
He snarled, holding a stone in one hand. Alex was shocked as the stone broke apart under the man’s palm.
No trick, no weapon only pure, horrific power.
Unarmed and yet capable of shattering stones like clay.
Was this the powerful martial arts of the ancient times that I used to read?
Alex heart was racing, only now did he understood the danger that loomed before him fully now.
Luckily, he had lied about being Nathan.
Nevertheless, he also knew the reality: no matter if he admitted or not, the stranger would never let him leave alive.
Pretending only granted him just one more opportunity—to trick the man to talk, learn his intention, and search for a way to survive. This was his only way out.