Chapter 2368: Grave Aftermath

Chapter 2368: Grave Aftermath

Once the battle ended and the Martial Artist filed their reports, the aftermath began.

And the aftermath was grave.

The death of Sage Lauren, the native protector of the Shionel Confederation, was a deep and by far the worst blow to the nation.

Their geopolitical power had instantly halved.

Instantly, it became harder to bargain with nations and organizations alike.

Instantly, it became harder to deter their enemies.

Instantly, the difficulty of conducting business for all Shionel merchants had risen significantly.

It didn't matter if the Martial Sage was not directly involved in the businesses of Shionel merchants. His death caused grave harm to the entire nation.

After all, raising capital became much harder.

Private investors and venture capital firms were less certain about the security of their businesses and organizations. Public shareholders dumped shares in the market, losing faith in their security and longevity, causing the Shionel Stock Exchange to experience a sharp plummet. Demand for both private and public equity fell, reducing not only the capital influx, but also the evaluations of their company, which in-turn cut off a lot of their international credit lines.

The sharp absence of credit was already being felt as the merchants urgently needed funds for the expenditure of repairs and securing of alternative supply lines and logistical infrastructure while the repairs were ongoing.

These were merely the acute consequences that had already begun.

The long-term consequences were no less horrific.

They hadn't closed a single agreement.

Nothing was official yet.

As a businessman, he knew that handshakes and verbal agreements were meaningless.

Until a contract was signed and the first payment or transaction had occurred, the agreement could not be trusted.

Thus, it was not particularly unlikely for a nation to back out of an unofficial agreement like the one that they had had.

Of course, on a logical level, he knew it would not happen. The Britannian Empire, despite being part of the alliance, would be more than happy to welcome the Shionel Confederation to their ranks despite having partaken in this attack.

Most importantly, the Kandrian Empire had an extremely good track record with credibility, reliability, and trustworthiness.

Guildmaster Bradt could not think of a single time when the Emperor of Harmony had operated in bad faith.

Thus, he was extremely certain that the Kandrian Empire would enthusiastically go above and beyond to do more than what was ever expected of it in order to keep the Shionel Confederation a happy and satisfied ally.

And he was right.

"As the third emperor of the Kandrian Empire, I, Rael Di Kandria, hereby swear upon the great name of Kandria, to fulfill every single need of the Shionel Confederation in these trying times." His tone was solemn. "If you need capital, you will have as much as you want. Resources? More than you can store. Martial power? More than you'll know what to do with. Logistical aid and other services will be fully taken care of by us and our allies. I will even commission the search for an available Sage who is willing to sign decade-long protection commissions with the Shionel Confederation to return things to how they were before. I will propose deep partnership agreements that will benefit not just the Shionel Confederation but also the Kandrian Empire."

It was still only words thus far, but the guildmaster grew satisfied with the attitude of the Kandrian Emperor. He didn't use the weakened position to try and squeeze as much out of them in the short term.

He understood that building unbreakable bonds between the two nations and empowering the Shionel Confederation as an absolute ally would benefit the Kandrian Empire immensely in the long run. It was why nations were even giving the Kandrian Empire a serious chance despite the fact that they were up against three powerhouses.

"I look forward to all of this, Emperor Rael." Guildmaster Bradt smiled.