Laura naturally understood why the other side had was coming and knew she had to receive him due to Stern’s high position. Thus, she welcomed him into the parlour.
As Laura and Kun arrived, they saw Stern in the parlour, drinking tea. Although the Purcell clan faced a very difficult situation, given Stern's position as a clan elder, his ability to remain calm wasn’t bad.
Before, he had already met with different merchants of various large firms. Unfortunately, the results were unsatisfactory. While they seemed very concerned, Stern had a lot of experience and knew this was all sophistry.
It was clear that they were delaying their efforts to help. This time, to them, the Purcell clan was a large fish they needed to catch.
Although Stern was angered by the actions of those firms, he remained silent about it due to their strength. He didn’t say anything, but he believed the Purcell clan would be able to survive this crisis. One must know that the Purcell clan had a thousand years of history, which wasn’t a joke.
These merchants wanted to take advantage of the situation and make a small fortune. While the Purcell clan would lose a lot, if those firms wanted to shake the Purcell clan’s roots, it would be impossible. As long as the Purcell clan’s foundation survived, they could easily bounce back.
Don’t forget, the Purcell clan territory was now a duchy. If they wanted to do business here, they would have to deal with the Purcell clan’s taxes. While the large firms would be able to make a lot of money, they would still have future businesses within the Purcell Duchy. In the future, the Purcell clan could impose high taxes on them and sooner or later make up what they lost now.
Stern could not understand the reason why these merchants were acting like this towards the Purcell clan. Was it just for the money? He did not believe it.
These large firms had been on the mainland for many years, and not without reason. They shouldn’t have committed such an error, right?
Did they really want to destroy the Purcell clan?
Even while Stern had been thinking about these things, his face still looked as calm as usual. He was responsible for the external affairs of the Purcell clan. He had been trained from early on to never change his expression for anything, not even if Mt. Tai1 collapsed.
Just then, the sounds of footsteps could be heard. Stern looked up and saw Laura and Kun. He naturally knew them as they were the leaders of the Higanbana firm2 within the Purcell Duchy, which could be regarded as a large firm.
Stern also understood that Laura would know what the Purcell Duchy’s current business was for. The status of the firm wasn’t very high and even the large businesses looked down on them. In the Purcell Duchy however, the influence of the Higanbana firm was not small.
Laura walked in from the door to the right. She gave her courtesies to Stern and then said, “Laura greets Stern elder. I have kept the elder waiting and ask the elder for forgiveness.”
Stern didn’t dare to put on a big act. He quickly stood up, turned to Laura, and returned the courtesy. “Miss Laura is too kind. Today, I have taken the liberty to visit. I hope the lady can forgive me.”
Kun and Stern also mutually greeted one another. Here, in the Purcell Duchy, almost everyone was aware of Kun's status. Stern naturally did not slight Kun.
After the small group sat down, Laura looked at Stern and said, “Stern elder, I know why you have come, but to be honest, there's nothing I can really do to help.”
Stern did not expect Laura to be so direct. It was the first time it happened. When dealing with those others of the large firms, if they weren’t spouting sophistry, then they first spoke for half the day before the talk turned to questions. He didn’t expect Laura to be the first to speak about the main subject.
Stern looked at Laura, puzzled, and asked “I don’t know what Miss Laura means?”
Laura watched Stern and smiled. “To be honest Stern elder, we already knew about the calamity that has befallen the Ica plains beforehand. I was ready to collect grains in order to help stabilize the Purcell clan’s future food shortage. Unfortunately, we didn’t think about the paws of others. I wanted to collect food, but the price has already risen greatly. Even if I wanted to receive food cheaply, I won’t be able to. Currently, Higanbana firm has enough stock to sell for seven days. After seven days, Higanbana firm will have no more food available for sale.”
Stern looked at Laura. He wanted to see if she was speaking truth or lies. Actually, he had already believed what she said. If nothing else, it was because she went straight to the issue. He didn’t voice these thoughts.
Looking at Laura, Stern said, “Do you really mean it, Miss Laura?”
Laura gave a bitter smile and said, “True or not true, Stern elder knows what kind of person my father is. This time, my father wanted me to stabilize the prices. It i