"The pass holds, my Lord."

"The vanguard is shattered, my Lord."

The Swabian League host had broken at the northern pass, their vanguard shattered and the rest routed by the foul air.

Yet, Konrad knew this was but a pause. Baron von Waldburg would gather his strength. The vast numbers of the League meant they could swallow the bloody loss and strike again, likely seeking a wider path to bypass the narrow pass. Or perhaps they would try to starve him out?

Konrad almost let out a heavy sigh at the thought. He had not slept since the slaughter. He sat in his study, the ledgers piled high around him, reckoning his watch and his stores.

The most dire need was silver. The swelling of the forges, the swift forging of weapons, and the coin needed to hold the loyalty of his new watch had drained his vault.

He needed a great hoard of true coin, and he needed it before the League marched again.

His sums were broken by a sharp knock on the door. It was Captain Eckhard.

"Lord Konrad," Eckhard reported, stepping into the room. "The watch holds the bounds, but the scouts bring word from the south. A heavy-guarded train of wagons draws near. They fly the banners of the Fugger merchants."

"Hmm..." Konrad’s mind weighed the tidings. The Fuggers were the wealthiest merchants in the Empire, ruling from Augsburg.

They lent coin to emperors and bought wars. Their journey to his valley was no chance riding. It was a swift answer to the whispers of his new weapons.

"Let them pass the gates," Konrad commanded, rising from his desk. "Ensure the watch stands visible in the yard, but hold their fire."

Konrad walked into the crisp air just as the wagons passed the iron gates.

It was a proud sight... Heavy, strong-built wagons were guarded by two dozen seasoned swordsmen.

From the first wagon stepped a man who looked entirely out of place in the muddy Swabian keep. He wore rich, dark velvet, unslashed and plain, bearing the quiet weight of true power. He was an older man, his eyes sharp and judging.

"Lord Konrad von Frundsberg," the man said, "I am Jakob Fugger the Younger."

"Master Fugger." Konrad passed his eyes over the man, judging him in return.

Jakob Fugger the Younger was a high lord of the merchant house; he did not ride to ruined keeps unless the promise of gold was vast. "Your coming is timely, though unlooked for. I guess you ride seeking the source of the new arms spoken of in the taverns."

Fugger offered a knowing smile. "You spare the courtly words, Lord Konrad. I favor a man of swift business. Yes, my house has heard much of your lands. The... sudden leap in the forging of wheel-locks, and the bloody breaking of Baron von Waldburg’s vanguard."

He gestured to the heavy wagons. "I see you stand on the edge of a blade. The Swabian League will return. You need silver to hold your walls. We hold much silver. We wish to buy a stake in your forges."

Konrad weighed the words carefully. They would seek to rule his fires.

"The word ’stake’ is broad, Master Fugger," Konrad stated flatly. "Speak your terms."

Fugger stepped closer, "We will yield you 50,000 silver thalers this day. For this, the house of Fugger will hold the sole right to buy and sell all wheel-locks and great guns forged here for ten years. Further, we will place a trusted man within your walls to measure the forging."

It was a staggering hoard of coin... 50,000 thalers could buy a host of swords. It could buy the fealty of Dukes. But the price was chains. If he yielded, he would simply trade the Swabian League’s tyranny for the Fuggers’ yoke.

"The terms are refused," Konrad replied without a breath.

Fugger’s smile vanished instantly, replaced by true shock. "Lord Konrad, you face ruin. 50,000 thalers is your only shield."

"50,000 thalers will not stop a culverin ball," Konrad countered. "If I yield you the sole right of trade, I break faith with the Duchy of Bavaria, losing their shield and their coal. If I let your man watch my fires, I lay bare my secrets... I will not be a servant to your house."

Fugger stared, unaccustomed to being told no. He narrowed his eyes. "You are a proud, foolish boy, Konrad. The League will grind you to dust."

"The League currently flees," Konrad stated, turning his eyes to one of the wagons. "Yet, I see the need for silver. I offer a different trade."

He pointed to the heavy wagons. "You brought coin, thinking I would bend the knee. I offer a clean sale. I will sell you the drawings and the shaping-tools for the standard wheel-lock. Not the sole right of trade, merely the knowledge of the forging."

"This..?" Fugger’s eyes widened. "You would sell the secret of your swift forging?"

"The wheel-lock is a passing thing..." Konrad explained smoothly, deliberately belittling its worth. "The true worth is the speed of the forging. I will sell you the shaping-tools for 20,000 thalers. The house of Fugger holds the wealth to forge these weapons by the thousands. You gain the knowledge, and I gain the silver without yielding my lands."

It was a bold risk for Konrad, but it offered the Fuggers a vast grasp on the arms of the Empire, without tying their fortunes to a doomed Swabian lord.

"20,000 thalers," Fugger mused, looking closely at the young lord. "It is a bold offer, Lord Konrad. But how do I know the shaping-tools are true? How do I know you do not sell me a flawed drawing?"

"You will see the truth with your own eyes," Konrad stated, turning toward the forges. "Walk with me."

He led the wealthy merchant down to the river, where Master Dieter and his boys were working the water-powered trip hammer and the grinding tools.

Fugger watched in silence as the rough iron was swiftly stamped and ground into true, matched springs and firing pans.

It was a marvel of the forge, a swiftness of making unseen in all the Empire.

"The shapes hold true," Konrad explained over the noise of the hammer. "The forging relies on matched parts, lifting the need for long days of a master clock-maker’s toil. The house of Fugger holds the coin to build this a hundredfold."

Fugger was a man who knew the worth of swift making better than any alive. He saw the vast gold instantly... He could forge these weapons and sell them to every lord in the Empire.

"The truth is plain, Lord Konrad," Fugger stated, his voice tight with sudden hunger. "We accept the trade. 20,000 thalers for the drawings and a full set of the shaping-tools."

The trade was struck at once... The heavy chests of silver were borne to the keep’s strong room, and Konrad yielded the detailed drawings and a full set of the grinding tools he had cunningly devised.

As the Fugger wagons rolled from the valley, heavy with the secrets that would reshape the wars of the Empire, Konrad felt a cold satisfaction. He had yielded a passing tool to buy the silver needed to ensure his survival.

He returned to the keep, the immediate hunger for coin slaked. He felt secure in his walls, satisfied.

But his satisfied expressions did not last long. As soon as he entered the hall, he found Lady Katarina waiting, her face dark.

"You sold the wheel-lock to the Fuggers!" Katarina stated, her voice tight with anger. "You have broken the Bavarian edge!"

"I have bought the silver needed to hold these walls against the coming war," Konrad corrected calmly. "The Bavarian number remains unbroken. Further, the Fuggers will need many months to build the hammers and teach their men... By the time they forge them in great numbers, the wheel-lock will be a relic."

Katarina stared at him, her anger mixed with confusion. "A relic..? It is the most cunning weapon in the world!"

"It is a stepping stone..." Konrad replied, walking toward his study. "The many small parts of the wheel-lock make it foul easily in the heat of battle. It is flawed."

He opened the door to his study and motioned for her to follow.

Spread across his desk was a new set of drawings, far simpler and stronger than the wheel-lock.

It showed a firing lock that used a strong piece of flint striking a steel plate to throw a spark... It was a true flintlock.

"The Fuggers bought yesterday, I am forging tomorrow. And I require your aid, Lady Katarina, to find the strong iron needed to build it." Konrad stated, looking down at the drawing.

Katarina looked from the drawings to the judging eyes of the young lord. "You are a terrible man, Konrad." Katarina whispered.