"Have you heard of Cabernet Sauvignon?" Onean suddenly asked as she looked at the vast vineyard down below.

"I think so. It's a type of grape, right?" Erwin replied after a moment of contemplation. "I recall that it's a very precious variety of grape, and the red wine brewed from this type of grape sells for at least hundreds of Loonies per bottle."

Onean nodded in response as a smile appeared on her face. "Sounds like you're a bit of a wine connoisseur."

"Not at all. My friends and I have only ever had one bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon together. Most of the time, we drink wine brewed from the Cabernet Franc grape variety," Erwin said with an embarrassed smile, and indeed, he was telling the truth.

When it came to access to expensive wines, there was no way that he could compare with Onean. Given how lavish Governor Jenkins was with his offerings to the royal palace, he most likely presented King Cameron with crates upon crates of luxury wines like Cabernet Sauvignon every year.

Onean could roughly tell what Erwin was thinking, and an amused look appeared on her face as she said, "That's not what I wanted to ask you."

"Then what are you trying to say?" Erwin asked with a puzzled expression.

"I'm thinking that Gwen is probably planning to approach me to discuss something."

"Oh, I see," Erwin said as a meaningful look appeared on his face. "I was just thinking that Governor Jenkins must've sent quite a bit of wine into the royal palace back when he was alive."

"What do you think?" Onean asked as she took a glance at him.

"That's something that you have to decide on your own," Erwin replied. "Gwen is most likely thinking that it would be a little unofficial if she were to just raise an army to oppose Lazaar. However, if she can raise an army with the goal of avenging the kingdom on behalf of the princess, then her cause would appear a lot more noble and legitimate."

"You say it's something I have to decide on my own, but it sounds like you don't think I should get involved with her," Onean said as she turned to Erwin with a curious expression.

"It's not like you didn't see the battle that took place on the Marrod Plain. Even if Gwen has all of the ore in Fooz to provide financial support for her army, how could she possibly raise an army that could be a match for Lazaar's forces."

"That's true. Those flying dragons, Aiden, and that troublesome red-haired lover of yours, none of them will be easy to deal with," Onean said as she pursed her lips. "Oh, and there's also Mistress Faye and Lazaar himself. All of them are extremely formidable warriors and magicians."

"Don't forget about all of the noble families that are about to come out of hiding," Erwin said with a derisive sneer on his face. "Back when His Majesty was alive, they only dared to engage in shady dealings in secret, but they'll have no such qualms against Gwen. In fact, in order to appease Lazaar, I daresay they'll be fighting for the opportunity to lead troops to hunt down Gwen in Fooz."

"Well, well, well, this is a first. I've never heard you insult your fellow nobles before," Onean jibed. "So? How does it feel to be deceived by your close friends?"

"I wouldn't blame them. They were only doing what they thought was right," Erwin replied in an indifferent voice.

Onean was rather impressed by this response. "That's unexpectedly rational and generous of you."

"So what exactly are you thinking?" Erwin asked as he turned to Onean.

"Governor Jenkins has overseen proceedings in Fooz for many years, so I'm sure all of the officials of Fooz will be loyal to his daughter. On the surface, they'll claim that they're fighting for a noble cause, resurrecting the kingdom on my behalf, but they won't have any loyalty toward me, and they'll most likely look down on me for my identity as the princess of a defunct royal family. There's no way I would be able to live like that," Onean said in a direct and straightforward manner. "Even if, by some miracle, they manage to defeat Lazaar's army and reclaim the Effer Kingdom, they'll most likely try to get rid of me so Gwen can claim the throne. No matter how I look at it, there's no way this can be a good arrangement for me."

After hearing what Onean had to say, Erwin was very impressed with her foresight and her ability to identify the crux of the problem.

"So are you just going to hand over the kingdom to Lazaar without a fight?" he asked.

"I don't mind facing Lazaar's army on my own," Onean said as she cast her gaze into the distance while her silver hair danced in the wind. "But I refuse to be lumped together with a bunch of cannon fodder to die for some so-called noble cause."

Looking at Onean now, Erwin couldn't help but be struck by the same feeling that he had experienced during their first-ever meeting. 

Due to the fact that she still had some doubts about the matter, Onean refrained from mentioning her assumptions about Fuller's identity to Erwin. Little did she know that her decision not to divulge her theory to Erwin would lead to a tragedy that she would sorely regret for many years to come.

...

After passing Joffen and traveling northwestward for an entire day, the airship finally arrived at the capital city of Fooz, Tewadedan.

By then, it was already nighttime, but this lavish city that was renowned for its abundance of ore displayed no signs of resting. Every part of the city was still brightly lit, and it seemed that night or day didn't make much of a difference to the city's residents.

Gwen instructed Christine to land the airship in the spacious courtyard of the governor's manor, and the guards of the manor immediately converged, thinking that the manor was being infiltrated by intruders, but they quickly backed away again upon realizing that it was Gwen who had returned.

As soon as the airship landed, Gwen immediately summoned all of the officials of Fooz to the guest hall of the governor's manor for a meeting, and sure enough, she insisted that Onean accompany her. Of course, Kaiba was also trailing along behind her like a loyal puppy.

Meanwhile, Christine asked Erwin to accompany her to the markets as she was planning to purchase some ore to be sold in the north. Erwin didn't know much about trade between the north and the south, so he was naturally happy to come along and treat this as a learning experience.

Erwin asked Lanyon to accompany them, then instructed Sherry to stay behind and look after the metal chests.

The guards of the governor's manor could see that they were guests that had been brought back by the governor's daughter, so they naturally didn't dare to stop Erwin's trio. Thus, the three of them made their way smoothly out of the manor before heading to the markets.

"Have you ever been to Tewadedan before, Christine?" Erwin asked as the three of them walked along the street.

"Of course I have," Christine replied with a smile. "Every year, we have to make a few trips back and forth between the north and the south, and we have to visit all of the important cities in the south during those trips."

"I see. No wonder you seem to know exactly where the markets are," Erwin said, then turned to Lanyon before asking, "You must be quite familiar with this place as well, right?"

"Indeed I am, Master Erwin. My friends and I grew up our entire lives here, and Jooloo Academy is located in this very city," Lanyon replied.

"Oh, so this city is home to the academy that you attend." Erwin nodded in response, then said with an amused expression, "With you two leading the way, I'm sure there's no chance that we'll get lost."

The three of them soon arrived at the market, which was still so brightly lit that it was as if daytime had never passed.

"Don't these people need to rest? It's already very late at night," Erwin exclaimed as he looked at the lively and bustling market.

"I don't know, but every time I come here, the markets are always at their most lively at night," Christine said with a shrug of her shoulders.

The two of them then both turned to Lanyon for an explanation.

Thankfully, Lanyon really did have an explanation that he could offer. "Allow me to explain. Here in Tewadedan, the work and rest schedule of the citizens is different from that of those in Sarus. Most of the citizens of the city are miners or smelters, and people working in those occupations usually only get off work at night. After that, they go out for food and drinks with their colleagues, usually consisting of a meal at a cheap restaurant washed down with some beer, so by the time they get home, it'll definitely already be past midnight. However, they don't have to worry about getting up early the next morning as most smelting foundries and mines only open at around noon. As a result, the shops and restaurants in the city adjusted their opening hours to match the work and rest schedules of these workers. Hence, none of the shops will be open in the morning, and they'll only begin opening up at around noon."

"That's very interesting," Erwin said with an intrigued expression, then looked down at the street beneath their feet. The gaps between tiles that the street was laid by were filled with dirt and grime that had accumulated over the course of many years, mixed with the residue and debris of all types of ore materials.

"I see." Christine was also enlightened.

"What should we buy, Christine?" Erwin asked as he cast his gaze toward all of the shops that were lining the street. Some were selling rough ore, while others were selling ready-made metals, and he didn't even know where to start.

"When it comes to items crafted from normal iron and copper ore, those things can be found all over the world. Even if they can be found at a slightly cheaper price here, there won't be much profit to be made by selling them in the north. In contrast, materials like Red Brown Gems, White Ice Gems, and Azure Lightning Gems that are used in equipment can be sourced in small amounts. However, the profit margins are still quite low because these gems can be mined in the north as well. Even rarer gems like Shaved Purple Gems won't be able to fetch a very high price in the north."

"Alright, so what exactly should we be buying?"

"What are you in such a hurry for? Let me finish!" Christine said as she turned to Erwin with a displeased pout.

"Alright, go ahead," Erwin said with a resigned nod.

"What we should be looking for are materials that can only be found in Fooz, such as gold jade ore. Most of these materials can be used to make accessories, and they'll fetch huge profits when sold in the north," Christine explained.

"But I would think that those types of materials are also very rarely sold on the markets," Erwin said as his brows furrowed slightly.

"Looks like you do know a thing or two about business, after all," Christine said with a smile. "Indeed, the governor holds the mining rights to all of the rare types of ore. As a result, even most businesses aren't able to reliably source them, so there's no way that they would be sold in the markets."

"Oh, I get it now. Under these circumstances, there must be many shady merchants who own illegal private mines, right?" Erwin asked in a quiet voice. In Sarus, accessories made from gold jade ore were so expensive that even Erwin found the prices difficult to believe. However, there were still many noble women wearing such accessories, so there had to be a source of supply somewhere.

"You have a sharp mind for business, Brother Erwin," Christine said with a look of approval in her eyes.

"Every year, Governor Jenkins makes an effort to crack down on merchants who own unregistered private mines," Lanyon said. "However, even with the severe punishments enforced, there are still more and more private mines popping up every year because the profit margins are simply too alluring."

"If you ask me, the main reason why this illegal practice continues to thrive is because that governor of yours never wanted to completely abolish it. I've heard that he's made significant earnings from the money spent by those merchants to bail themselves out," Christine said with a derisive sneer. "What's funny is that those clueless merchants don't even realize that the governor has been onto them from the very beginning. Most of them have only just begun operations in their illegal mines for a few days before they're caught, and not only does the governor get to extort them for an exorbitant amount of bail, he also receives a free mine for his efforts."

"You should quiet down, Christine," Erwin cautioned with an amused smile. "If Gwen hears what you're saying, she'll lock us up and won't let us leave!"

Christine stuck out her tongue in a cheeky manner in response.

"This is it. We've arrived," Christine declared as she drew to a halt in front of a nondescript-looking shop, and Erwin and Lanyon naturally also stopped behind her.

There were several large shelves of ore displayed in front of the shop, and even a novice like Erwin could tell that these were inferior quality products.

He knew that despite her young age, Christine was already an extremely shrewd businesswoman, so the fact that she had chosen to come to a shop like this meant that had to be more than met the eye.

There was a thin employee in the shop who was sprawled on the counter with an absentminded expression, but his eyes quickly lit up as soon as he spotted Erwin's trio. In particular, his gaze was focused on Christine.

"Welcome back, Christine," the employee said in an enthusiastic and energetic voice, in complete contrast with his bored and lazy demeanor from a moment ago.

Christine nodded in response, then said, "Open the door, I have some business to discuss with your manager."

"You got it!" the employee replied in a cheerful voice, then twisted a piece of coarse copper ore that was lying beside his hand. The piece of copper ore was lying amid a pile of similar pieces of inferior ore, and no one could've anticipated that it would be the switch to opening a secret door in the shop.

A row of display shelves spread open down the middle, and a secret path was revealed.

A surprised look appeared on Lanyon's face as he stared at the secret path, which was illuminated by Nightglow Stones, but Erwin didn't appear to be all that surprised.

"You can come with me, Brother Erwin," Christine said as she turned to Erwin and Lanyon with a smile.

Lanyon turned to Erwin with an inquisitive expression, in response to which Erwin gave a reassuring nod, then made his way into the inner room with Christine.

After that, the employee closed the door, and it was as if nothing had happened.