Vol 2 Chapter 2 (2/2)
The Hero: “But your sword is a very dangerous thing”
The Feood that swords and warhorses are dangerous things?”
The Hero: “Don’t be ridiculous”
The Fes without anybody getting hurt, then that’s the e should be doing things!”
Butler: “…”
Lone Winter King: “Seneschal Help the Feather up all the necessary funds and function as the rear guard Ensure the smooth flow of supplies to the front”
Seneschal: “Yes”
The Female Paladin: “I fear the Central Continental Expeditionary Force may contain up to 20,000 soldiers”
Butler: “With the exception of the Crusades, such a force is completely unprecedented”
Lone Winter King: “We have maybe 4,500”
The Hero: “…”
Lone Winter King: “Don’t make that face No , what do we have to worry about?”
The Female Paladin: “Leave it to me!”
Running footsteps! Door flies open!
Messenger: “I have a report!”
Butler: “What is it?”
Lone Winter King: “Speak”
Messenger: “A e from the Southern Artic Ocean! D-d-demons!”
The Hero: “!”
The Female Paladin: “!”
Butler: “!”
Lone Winter King: “How many?!”
Messenger: “Unknown Inforathered Estimates place the number at at least 1,500”
The Hero: “What ti!”
The Fe?!)
The Hero: “I’ll go… What’s going on? What is going on?!”
Butler: “Hero…”
Lone Winter King: “As long as we have the Hero… Even 10,000 ene …”
The Hero: “Your Majesty”
Lone Winter King: “?”
The Hero: “Would you be shocked if I said that I would rather avoid a fight with the Demons?”
Lone Winter King: “…”
Seneschal: “Th-that’s…”
Lone Winter King: “No matter what, we should avoid a war on two fronts”
The Hero: “…”
Butler: “Young Man…”
Lone Winter King: “That’s all I can say for now”
The Hero: “Then I suppose I should thank you”
The Female Paladin: “Hero… Are you okay?”
The Hero: “Of course”
Bang!
The Female Paladin: “…”
Butler: “What’s going on?”
Lone Winter King: “…”
Clank!
Messenger: “I have a e!”
Lone Winter King: “What! If it’s about the De, we’ve already heard the first report”
Messenger: “It isn’t A rider has arrived! The Kingdo aro”
—– The Kingdom of Winter, Palace, the Finance Ministry
asseers! Send a fast rider to the border!!! Do a survey of our granary!
Many people running about!
Young Merchant: “It’s gotten very busy around here”
Disciple Merchant: “There’s a tre intent about I’m sorry about the rowdiness”
Fire Dragon Lady: “…”
Young Merchant: “No, no, we ca ourselves on you without at least writing a letter to infor”
Disciple Merchant: “No, I aiting for you”
Young Merchant: “Oh”
Disciple Merchant: “I would like to confirm this, but…”
Young Merchant: “Yes”
Disciple Merchant: “The one who has been playing gaht?”
Young Merchant: “Why do you think so?”
Disciple Merchant: “Otherwise, ould you come and visit me?”
Young Merchant: “I’ controlled from behind by the real player”
Disciple Merchant: “Controlling these things fro distance? That’s a very wasteful practice In these situations, unless you have discretionary power, one wouldn’t have the ability to control the situation But if someone entrusted you with these discretionary powers in situations and the ability to make decisions based on one’s instincts, you’re not just a marionette but a player”
Young Merchant: “Hehehe”
Disciple Merchant: “If it were me, I can see why one would do it”
Young Merchant: “I understand Then I suppose the one who introduced tariffs was you?”
Disciple Merchant: “It was”
assistant: “Sir!”
Young Merchant: “Bring us some tea, please”
assistant: “Yes!”
Young Merchant: “What a cute young man”
Disciple Merchant: “It wears off”
Young Merchant: “Shall we begin negotiations then?”
Disciple Merchant: “…”
Young Merchant: “We’ve digressed greatly froinal topic of discussion Allow me to suives h the lands of the Tripartite Union With present tariffs, it is prohibitively difficult to do business e transit through the Southern United Kingdoiven to us”
Disciple Merchant: “Special privileges?”
Young Merchant: “On the condition that we do not conduct trade in the Tripartite Union We oods which we bring in That should not have significant economic impacts on the barriers to trade you have created, should it?”
Disciple Merchant: “That’s… true”
Young Merchant: “Secondly: ould like to loan the Isle of Light”
Disciple Merchant: “Huh?”
Young Merchant: “Geographically, the Isle of Light belongs to the Kingdom of Winter We would like you to loan it to us as a demesne or even a vassal territory Of course, ill not take control of it directly, but rather through a third party We hope you understand the benefit to both of us in operating through a proxy”
Disciple Merchant: “Well, ill it be, and where from?”
Young Merchant: “Thirdly: Do you know that the Union operates an internal bank?”
Disciple Merchant: “I do The power available to this bank for international transfer of funds is a massive weapon of the Union”
Young Merchant: “We would like to request the permission to establish branches of the bank in Chambers of Commerce in each of the Capital Cities of the Tripartite Union”
Disciple Merchant: “That is so I can understand easier”
Young Merchant: “Fourthly: The Union would like to purchase the entire stockpile of the Tripartite Union’s potatoes”
Disciple Merchant: “…Huh?”
Young Merchant: “These are the topics of discussion for today I would like to specially , that the Union presently barely has any money left We would like to request that the above transactions do not involve the exchange of gold”
Disciple Merchant: “…”
Door opens
assistant: “I have the tea!”
Disciple Merchant: “Just leave it there”
assistant: “Yes!”
Disciple Merchant: “…” Gulp
Young Merchant: “Hoarm Did you add jam into it?”
Disciple Merchant: “Yes, we do that in the cold South”
Fire Dragon Lady: “Thank you”
assistant: “Ehehehe”
Disciple Merchant: (I wonder what sort of face is hiding behind that hood I’m certain she’s a beauty)
assistant: “Ah I’ve brought sweets as well!”
Young Merchant: “What a relaxed office”
Fire Dragon Lady: “Indeed”
Disciple Merchant: (What does thisof proposals?
Firstly, with regards to the Bank Based on what he says, the Bank will be open to… well, at the very least, it’ll be open to the Guilds and to the state What’s theof this? Is it just to tap on the potential of our rapidly growing Kingdom…? But, if they were to open this up to the public… While theyof the Union with the Central Continent and Church rapidly deteriorate?)
Disciple Merchant: (No, that’s right, the order is important In other words, this is number three What about the rest…)
Disciple Merchant: (Alright, let’s think about this in order The first is the Writ of Free Passage That’s easy In the first place, the tariff was meant to prevent exports and not imports If that’s all they wanted, then just as the Merchant says, it shouldn’t have significant impacts on our country… But, why am I apprehensive about this…
Next, the second proposal It’s extre when one does not knohat the opponent is ai for If it does not cause proble lines, then there is certainly roootiation But, who? And why? What will happen on that island? Salt? Whatthe Isle possibly have?
assu we’re done with the third proposal, how about the fourth? If we look at it in order, it may appear that the fourth proposal is soin with, how does the Merchant intend to store such large adoms? This is not an amount one can so brashly purchase We may be sin with, the potato is not a food crop which can easily be sold to many countries The Tripartite Union, and dom of the Lake, where the Order of the Lake codom of Branches Within these areas, it should probably be able to sell, but considering the unnatural buying patterns recently… To begin with, this is way tooto just two countries Who could this food be intended for?)
Disciple Merchant: (Meaning… Who… Where… Where…? That’s right It’s all the sah our lands, where could it be intended for? To get to the Kingdodoh our territories Could it possibly be cheaper to transit the goods through our shi+pping lanes? No, unless there’s been so lane doesn’t exist The tariffs are codoms of the Economic Union, since it only applies to countries apart fronatories
They have no money and that’s probably because of the ridiculous amount of money they would have poured out just to play with the prices to such an extent It’s not i to such an extent The price inflation in the Central Continent was a ridiculous situation Theup with financial assistance, social securities and public infrastructure works in order to spread some income to the people but with the entireto cool a hot stone with a drop of water No matter how es to the other countries and personal influence It’s like using a tub of iced water to cool a spoon of hot soup)
Disciple Merchant: (According to Teacher, these sorts of financial intervention and Fiscal Policy, is extremely effective in such situations But this time, the situation is a bit too serious Unless all the noblemen were to act simultaneously… Fiscal Policy Bank…? Monetary? Monetary… policy? To render Monetary Policy useless, that’s why he’s fixed the market prices? Since the entire Central Continent only uses one currency, it is possible to completely fix all market prices In that case, Fiscal Policy should definitely work…)
Door closes!!!
Disciple Merchant: “You! The wheat doesn’t matter to you at all! You just want to use it as barter!”
Young Merchant: “Heh”
Disciple Merchant: “And you intend to invest that wheat in the Tripartite Union?!”
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Explanation
Fiscal Policy: This refers to both the encouragement of the movement of financial capital, and the decision of the amount and the incidence of tax rates If done properly, it can help to stabilise taxes and create the proper environ econo of the situation, even creating deflation or inflation
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Young Merchant: “That is correct”
Disciple Merchant: “Y-You…”
Young Merchant: “What?”
Disciple Merchant: “— You’re going to start a second currency”
Young Merchant: “That’s right”
Disciple Merchant: “For real?!”
Young Merchant: “The potential growth of the Central Continent is weak So just what is wrong with atterowth of a new and rising economy?”
Disciple Merchant: “We are at ith the Central Continent”
Young Merchant: “If you’re trying toa war, make sure to stay for away from the fla their lives are merely the soldiers”
Disciple Merchant: “How can you be assured that ill continue to grow?!”
Young Merchant: “Look at my first two proposals”
Disciple Merchant: “…”
assistant: “?”
Disciple Merchant: “…!”
Young Merchant: “That’s right”
Disciple Merchant: “Do you really think you can do that? You intend to give back the Isle which we risked so much for?!”
Young Merchant: “You won, so you’re in that position”
Disciple Merchant: “Why would you think that? Why are you even doing this?! Y-you— You want to use our waters… to trade with the Demons!”
Young Merchant: “Yes”
Disciple Merchant: “Why… would…”
Young Merchant: “Because I am a merchant”
Disciple Merchant: “What…?”
Young Merchant: “Because I am a merchant, I will trade with the Demons Do you think this world is split into allies and enemies? Into black and white? If that is so… then what do you think the Hero is working so hard for? Can’t you see that he sees soreater?”
Disciple Merchant: “…”
Young Merchant: “More than anyone, perhaps I have rather unorthodox views on things I don’t understand things like Justice, but what I do know is that I want to be happier, like we all do If we can cooperate like this, perhaps all of us can benefit Or a?”
Raises hood
Fire Dragon Lady: “We also hu for your cooperation”
Disciple Merchant: “Ah… Horns”
Young Merchant: “This is the Fire Dragon Lady Currently, she represents the Council of the only territory in the Demon World where humans and demons co-exist in harmony, the Free City of the Gate”
Fire Dragon Lady: “We require salt… and would like to borrow your island We will make amends We will pay the necessary price We will maintain our role as the defeated ones on that Isle, we hu for your cooperation”
Disciple Merchant: “Ah, ah—”
Fire Dragon Lady: “You haven’t raised the alarm yet If you wanted to, ould already be your prisoners But it appears you are considering the proposal?”
assistant: “What’s that?”
Fire Dragon Lady: “This is my Rose Crystal Horn, I am very proud of it”
assistant: “Umm…” Heart races
Fire Dragon Lady: “?”
assistant: “Can I touch it?”
Fire Dragon Lady: “Of course”
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Explanation
Barter: This refers to the practice of exchanging goods directly for other goods rather than using currency
The Young Merchant’s Plan (TL Note: FINALLY): At present, the price of wheat in the Central Continent has gone up treinally, food items like wheat are necessities, and hence dee dramatically, and the value ascribed to each unit of wheat is likewise likely to remain stable In other words, the price of wheat wasn’t actually going up, rather, the value of the currency was falling dramatically (In this situation, price refers to the value ascribed to a unit of good) This situation is what the Young Merchant was referring to when he said he wanted to ‘Sell the Gold of the Kingdo Merchantwheat and other commodities, so that at the peak of the economic crisis, he would be able tooff his stock of commodities
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——- The Southern Artic Ocean, Near the Gate
Hero teleports in!
The Hero: “Is this it? — I teleported here”
The Hero: “This sure is familiar Especially the water source… Here?”
(If ending the war is the job of the )
The Hero: “Ahh, De, I’m just a Hero I can’t find the end after all — Why has it come to this!?”
(What’s wrong? Don’t you want to be mine? I’m not selfish)
The Hero: “Nonsense, haven’t you been abusing o to places Draggingthis — That’s all you’ve done Even then, you didn’t even object toto the Demon World Even when I needed you to be selfish, you selfishly weren’t selfish”
(I’ll be satisfied as long as we can get to ‘The Other Side of the Hill’ together)
The Hero: “Really?”
(No…?)
The Hero: “I’ll definitely let you see it You and I, and the Fe, and the Maid Sisters and the Maid Chief, and the Mage, and the people of the City of the Gate, and the people of the Southern Kingdo I even want to show it to our opponents in the Central Continent To the Demon Races too… That’s why That’s why—if all I can do is kill and destroy, then I’m useless”
Water gushes
The Hero: “I haven’t been able to show even one of what I want to show to other people”
Water gushes
The Hero: “That’s why I’hteousness and justice But if all I can do is destroy and kill, how can I say I’s!”
Water gushes
The Hero: (…Ah The Pale… A Giant-Class ed weaponry and ample food supplies If I want theet…)
“Good”
The Hero: “…?”
“…Your considerations”
The Hero: “Huh?”
“…It’s good that you’re considering that much”
The Hero: “Eh? …Ah?”
The Mage: “…”
The Hero: “Where have you been all this while?!”
The Mage: “…Waiting”
The Hero: “Huh?”
The Mage: “…Library”
The Hero: “In the Coset there?!”
The Mage flinches
The Hero: “Don’t tell me…”
The Mage: “…Only members of a certain race can enter”
The Hero: “…?”
The Mage: “Them” Points
The Hero: “? …Yeah, they’re Demons”
The Mage: “Are you still going to kill them?”
The Hero: “…No A bit I just want to stop them”
The Mage: “…Understood”
The Hero: “Huh?”
The Mage: “I atch”
The Hero: “…? I understand”
The Mage casts a spell
The Hero: “Whoa, what!”
The Mage: “…It’s for communication”
The Hero: “A Correspondence Charm?”
The Mage nods
The Hero: “You haven’t changed at all, you still act like you’ve just woken up from a nap”
The Mage: “Don’t understand — Go”
The Hero: “?”
The Mage: “…De”
The Hero: “You know about the De?”
The Mage: “…Wait I will deal with this I will end it …Using an Epic-level Destruction Spell, I will destroy the Gate”
The Hero: “If you do that, on’t be able to cross to the Demon World”
The Mage: “…”
The Hero: “…Is that okay?”
The Mage nods
The Hero: “How much?”
The Mage: “Strongest”
The Hero: “Why would you do such a thing?!”
The Mage: “Important”
The Hero: “What is?”
The Mage: “You”
—— The Frozen Artic Limit, above the Gate
The Mage: “Total De thawing of Co 15 … 37 … 59 … 81 … Ready to eliet area”
The Mage: “Hero…”
Air buzzes with ic
The Mage: “In order to assist the Hero, I will begin successive Compression Techniques to buy time for you to attack Huh!? Understand, you fool!
I have awoken my eyes! I knohy you had to leave us! It’s because of ht! I couldn’t do anything for your pride! All I as a burden! How ht that!!! I will be like you!!! I won’t just be a lousy underling! I! CAN! DO! IT!!!”
The Hero: “She’s overzealous again…”
The Mage: “Disappear! You pieces of shi+t!”
Boo! Crash!+ Boom!
Clank! Bang! Boom! Boom!
Boo! Boom!
The Hero: “She teleported?! Don’t tellto each Demon individually to deal with them?!”
“Threat eliminated”
The Hero: “Understood Moving out Epic-class Lightning Destruction Spell!”
Lightning crackles! Lightning ball shoots out!
“Insufficient”
The Hero: “Huh!? Okay,Destruction Spell, activate!”
“More”
The Hero: “The tension in her voice is gone Alright then, let’s go… Ahhhh! Lightning! Lightning! Lightning! Deity-class Lightning Obliteration Spell!”
The Hero: “Hoas that?”
“…Massive area of destruction confirmed”
“Coic”
The Hero: “Yes!”
Blasts off
“15 seconds”
The Hero: “Have I gone too far? I think I’ve created a far too massive crater”
“Approaching critical speed factor”
The Hero: “Eh?”
“Increase velocity and break through”
The Hero: “Y-yes!”
Air rushes!
The Hero: “It’s bright Wh-what This wind Where am I?!”
“Underground world”
The Hero: “Eh?”
“You were transported to the Underground World through the Repulsion Force Ball of Light… The Alternate World you call the Demon World does not exist”
—— Omake!
Little Maid Sister: “Here, try this! It’s peach juice reat after a bath!”
Elder Maid Sister: “Wow… You’re scarily good”
TL Note: It is a custom in japan to drink flavoureda bath, particularly at a public bath