Vol 4 Chapter 1 (1/2)
Volu”
—– The Kingdom of Metal, the Palace, in a Heated Room
The Lone Winter King: “—After that, how are the people?”
Marshal of Metal: “Yes Right now… Maybe it’s because of the celebratory s about the end of the battle”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “Good”
The Iron Fist King: “Is that so”
The Lone Winter King: “To the people, we have ed to protect the land”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “Though the pain and anguish incurred is terrible”
The Iron Fist King: “The pain is one thing, but our integrity is another”
The Lone Winter King: “That’s right The number of soldiers the Crusaders from the Central Continent can field is far above our expectations If we incurred even the sareat for us to even sustain our society”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “All we can do is try to reconstruct”
The Iron Fist King: “It’s people Whether it’s battle or reconstruction, it all rests on the nu”
The Lone Winter King: “We are now in a limited-scale war, so the number of casualties…”
The Iron Fist King: “There are approxidohly 1,500 apiece”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “I apologise for the burden we have placed on you”
The Iron Fist King: “You will bear the burden in other ways, and this is the land of the Kingdom of Metal after all”
The Lone Winter King: “We will shi+p food from our lands first The families of the casualties e of seasons, we should also plan for the export of charcoal”
The Iron Fist King: “—More importantly…”
The Lone Winter King: “Mmm”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “The Holy Crusaders still control the Kingdoht”
The Iron Fist King: “That’s…”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “According to my hand — a courtier of mine known as the Disciple noble and conducting exercises”
The Iron Fist King: “damn…”
The Lone Winter King: “We have to be prepared for the possibility of another attack”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “Or we could take to the sea”
The Iron Fist King: “Hmm…”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “They ht quite a bit to attack the Southern Alliance If another conflict breaks out along the border between the Kingdodom of Metal, that would leave the Central Continent as a completely exposed and defenceless trap”
The Iron Fist King: “But can’t ait for these Crusaders to disband?”
The Lone Winter King: “No, we can’t Our reports indicate that this Expedition was put together with the direct sanction of the Pri it before it has achieved its goals would send a terrible iving up without achieving their goals”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “In that case…”
The Iron Fist King: “It’s a stalemate”
The Lone Winter King: “That is a blessing We need time”
The Iron Fist King: “To heal the wounds of war”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “It’s not just that — Please remember the conversation we had with the envoy of the Demon World We have to make a decision as soon as possible For that purpose, Iron Fist King, you too…”
The Iron Fist King: “I understand! But I still re, I will have to s my reservations in the name of peace for my people!”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “…”
The Lone Winter King: “Do you mean to say some of the punitive force sent to attack the Demons of the Pale are still here?”
The Iron Fist King: “Yeah”
The Lone Winter King: “…Hmm”
The Iron Fist King: “I will go and confir else will follow”
The Queen of Ice and Snow: “Yeah… We’ll be counting on you then, Iron Fist King”
The Iron Fist King: “Hmm — An unclouded heart makes the best decision, does it not? I understand”
——– The Kingdom of the Lake, the City of the Lake, Field Headquarters of the Union
Union Edoms have come under surprise attack from the Holy Crusaders of the Central Continent!”
Female Union Employee: “!”
Branch Chief: “…We were late”
Union Employee: “Yes”
Female Union Employee: “We couldn’t make it in time…”
Branch Chief: “We didn’t e the crackdown on the supply of istics in absolute silence, I fear they ht… If it wasn’t for that, it would have been far too strange that there was no reaction fro of the metal prices”
Union Employee: “That means we couldn’t affect their production of armaments”
Female Union Employee: “At this rate, we’ve suffered terrible econo to retreat?”
Branch Chief: “…”
Union Erasp of things earlier”
Branch Chief: “No This was an issue of intelligence fro It seems that there are still ence and understanding”
Door opens
Young Merchant: “…My, my You are all still here”
Union Employee: “Councillor!”
Branch Chief: “When did you return?”
Young Merchant: “Only just I had to leave the City of the Gate”
The Mage: “…”
Union Employee: “Umm, this is?”
Young Merchant: “Oh right Please bring lots of food and some sweets”
The Mage: “…” Smiles
Young Merchant: “Right… Situation report”
Union Employee: “We’ve only just received a report that the Southern United Kingdoms have come under attack fro some neeaponry from the Central Continent”
Young Merchant: “Would that be muskets?”
The Mage: “…Yeah”
Young Merchant: “Do you have a better understanding by any chance?”
The Mage: “…At first, the Southern United Kingdoainst the Tribe of the Dedo as the Supredoht The Tribe of the Pale met them on the field with 20,000 soldiers and the battle continued for a day However, both sides were suddenly faced with a strong assault by approxiets were the De the attack The bulk of the force was coent under the Female Paladin had prepared a fire attack across the marshlands, and they used this to retreat from the Plains of Scilla The Holy Crusaders were also prevented fro by this sea of fire, and they ht froarrisoned there
…At present, even though the military situation is tense, there is a se Tribe of the Pale force has been codohly 3,000 while the Holy Crusaders have lost 6,000 However, if one were to consider the attrition rate, then the Southern United Kingdo forces and 12 of the entire armed forces; the Holy Crusaders have lost 15 of participating forces but losses for the entire armed forces do not exceed 3”
Young Merchant: “In that case, the Holy Crusaders…”
The Mage: “Moreover, there aretrained to arrive as reinforcements”
Young Merchant: “The Southern United Kingdoe of extinction…”
The Mage: “That would be a prement There are two reasons Firstly, the Holy Crusaders see the Dedoms”
Young Merchant: “Heneral polemic of the Church and the mandate of the Crusaders have been directed at this, but…I don’t believe they would just allow the Southern United Kingdoms to exist”
The Mage: “…This is just an inference, but I believe the Holy Crusaders can exterdoms with just a third of their massive aries like pincer attacks”
Union Employee: “With 20,000 soldiers, there are such possibilities…”
Young Merchant: “And the next point is?”
The Mage: “Right after the start of the war, the Southern Tripartite Econododo Cities, they have founded the Southern Alliance”
Branch Chief: “Finally, eh?”
Young Merchant: “With the present ti, there are other considerations outside of this The way it is… 20,000 soldiers is definitely an i such a large force will probably result in the weakening of the national forces in each of the Kingdoms Of course, it’s not like the countries under the Holy Church of Light are willing to fight as a cohesive force To begin with, even if they wanted to fight, the bulk of their fighting forces, having been dispatched on the Crusades, would be incapable ofself-defence With this many troops out of the Central Continent, the establishment of the Southern Alliance is sure to shake up the balance”
Feht now, in the event that the Holy Crusaders were to launch an attack on the Southern Alliance, a country closer to the Central Continent — for exaht respond by launching a retaliatory attack on the less guarded kingdoh the peasants form the core of the Crusader armies, theircontrolled by the nobility They would definitely not be able to stand by and allow that to happen”
Branch Chief: “It’s really a hostage taking situation on both sides…”
Union Eht The Crusaders can use their ht to take the central portion of the Southern Alliance hostage And in response, the newly expanded allies of the Southern Alliance can also take the undefended portions of the Central Continent hostage”
Young Merchant: “That’s not it all of it, though… This is where it gets complicated”
Female Union Employee: “?”
Young Merchant: “Both sides are actually in remarkably similar situations On one hand, you have the Southern Alliance, which wields its promise of freedom for the people as its weapon; hence they cannot afford to lose the trust that has been placed in them On the other hand, you have the Central Continent, which wields the muskets of the people as its oeapon; they, in turn, cannot afford to have these muskets suddenly turned upon the the efforts of the Union, the Demon Council, the Demon World…”
Union Employee: “…There is a chance of victory then?”
Young Merchant: “I cannot guarantee it But if it were ht, then there would be no rooence to take the field If situations weren’t complicated, the merchants would not be able to capitalise on situations like we do Because of this, we cannot abandon chance On a board with round for us merchants”
Union Eht now the military strike has been…”
Young Merchant: “Yes, I know it has started But it’s still too early to say it has been decided If the opposing side does not have specialised staff, then wechance yet”
Union Employee: “Specialised…”
Young Merchant: “Logistics… What do we know about the Central Continent’s secret musketsmiths?”
Union Edom of Metal There are three locations in total”
Young Merchant: “Very good Branch Chief, please move onto these three locations to prepare—”
Branch Chief: “Move?”
Young Merchant: “Inns and brothels… I want ears and eyes on the ground”
Branch Chief: “Understood”
Young Merchant: “Please get ence on how many muskets the Crusaders have with them No matter hoell stocked they are, it would be ridiculous to think they would be able to procure 20,000 muskets for their 20,000 soldiers Moreover, muskets are complex machines They are prone to accidents and require a lot of unpowder, don’t they?”
The Mage: “…Yes It is a crucial requirement”
Union Enificant quantity of saltpetre would have had to be acquired by the Holy E any further pressure on their supply chain can’t possibly have much effect, can it?”
Young Merchant: “No, there is an effect Our enedoms of the Central Continent The enormity of it is in the weaponry, but it has its weaknesses Any sort of necrosis along the chain can lead to a significant ti”
Union Employee: “Eh?”
Young Merchant: “Think about the itemisation of the production process ofto strike”
Union Employee: “…The production cost? But the leftover production cost will coely of labour costs At present, the intensive factories and manufactories house all the craftsmen in private, and ould be hard-pressed to offer a better pitch under these circumstances”
Young Merchant: “It’s not just about the production costs”
Branch Chief: “I see!” Claps
Young Merchant: “Yes, I’e metal, you need double or even triple the amount of charcoal And ouldn’t they be able to use coal?”
Branch Chief: “We’ve already suppressed their supply of that”
Young Merchant: “The wind is blowing in the right direction The country that produces the dom of Elm, has already joined the Southern Alliance In this case, controlling the supply of charcoal would not be a difficult thing to do”
Female Union Employee: “What about the capital involved?”
Young Merchant: “We’ll get it fro towards the Kingdoht, these people need food to eat All of this food needs to be shi+pped by the sea We’ll profit froh the Free Cities and then distributing it to the ports of the Kingdoht”
Union Eements”
Young Merchant: “Please begin”
Female Union Employee: “Yeah”
Branch Chief: “Got it” Runs off
Young Merchant: “Hmm… Will we make it in time?”
The Mage: “…Is it over?”
Young Merchant: “Yeah, somehow”
The Mage: “…”
Young Merchant: “Hungry?”
The Mage nods
Young Merchant: “Understood I’ll go prepare so Without your help, ould definitely have been too late You really are the Mage of legend”
The Mage: “…The present circuift for that child”
Young Merchant: “That child?”
The Mage: “That girl who could not be of the Tribe of the Library That mere human”
Young Merchant: “—”
The Mage: “…Nothing”
Young Merchant: “I see”
The Mage: “Why do you seek to end the conflict?”
Young Merchant: “For profit”
The Mage raises her eyebrow
Young Merchant: “The world that we live in is a place for us to make our profits If ere allowed to just destroy it as we see fit, it would be very troublesome”
The Mage: “…How individualistic”
Young Merchant: “I am a merchant”
The Mage: “…I feel the same way”
Young Merchant: “Sorry?”
The Mage: “Nothing”
Young Merchant: “But teleportation s”
The Mage: “…Will you go back?”
Young Merchant: “No, I think I should stay here to direct the efforts for a while”
The Mage: “…”
Young Merchant: “The City of the Gate? There’s a certain Lady over there, a high ranking personage Soet lied to for her ends I must factor her into my calculations”
The Mage: “…As a lover?”
Young Merchant: “Please… Nothing of the sort A ”
——— The Kingdom of Winter, the Winter Palace, the Room of Accounts
Disciple Merchant: “Aghh!”
Throws papers around
Disciple Merchant: “What’s going on! This has to be the evil machinations of some terrible party… Because of this war, the food situation has gotten really troublesoh to be an official It’s really terrible I give up I give up”
assistant: “Disciple Merchant, sir!”
Disciple Merchant: “We’ve come to an impasse, eh… On the one hand, we have to create avenues for remittances, replenish our depleted stockpiles, issue and enforce the trade pers needed to be done”
assistant: “Disciple Merchant, sir!”
Disciple Merchant: “Agh, what…”
assistant: “Disciple Merchant, sir!”
Disciple Merchant: “It’s all piling up, how despicable”
assistant: “Disciple Merchant, sir!”
Disciple Merchant: “Oh What is it, you doggie?”
assistant: “I’ie!”
Disciple Merchant: “You’re shaking your little tail, aren’t you?”
assistant: “What? — What are you talking about?!”
Disciple Merchant: “Well, what is it?”
assistant: “That’s right”
Disciple Merchant: “?”
assistant: “I’ve solved your assignment!”
Disciple Merchant: “assignment?”
assistant: “The cheese!”
Disciple Merchant: “What about it?”
assistant: “You asked me to consider hoould be possible to stabilise the price of cheese and provide it to the e!”
Disciple Merchant: “Ohhh That assignment Sorry, there were too ot all about such tiny details”
assistant: “How cruel! You’re just bullying me!”
Disciple Merchant: “Well, don’t say that It’s almost time for tea anyway”
assistant: “I’ve already prepared it”
Disciple Merchant: “Alright, let’s discuss this over tea”
assistant: “Yes!”
Sits down
assistant: “Firstly, I’ve looked into the production process for cheese”
Disciple Merchant: “Very good, one in from the basics”
assistant: “To say it simply, cheese is a dairy product Cheese is warents are added This ferent is basically made from the Thistle flower After that, the water content is pressed out once it has hardened While adding heat and pressing out the water, the cheese is squeezed into a container to form the raw product However, the product we are able to consue, this raw cheese must be placed in brine; after this, the product is not finished until the taste is adjusted and the cheese is stored andfrom many months to a few years… It takes time, but that’s how it’s done”
Disciple Merchant: “What a troublesome process”
assistant: “It is! But it’s delicious I’ve tasted a lot of it during my research”
Disciple Merchant: “What a cheeky fellow!”
assistant: “Hahaha”
Disciple Merchant: “Well, looks like you’ve got the fundaht of next?”
assistant: “Well, the first thing I thought of is that the quantity of product decreases re the transition from milk to cheese”
Disciple Merchant: “Hht? You have to squeeze out the water content, after all”
assistant: “Yes, that’s true, but just how one and asked around, and it seeet 1 pot of cheese”
Disciple Merchant: “One out of ten”
assistant: “But on the market, cheese fetches 30 times the price of milk at the same price So a 10 reduction in final output is still profitable”
Disciple Merchant: “Hmm, so in other words, the rest of it is comprised of labour costs, other materials, and transportation costs”
assistant: “Ue part of it is spent on the maturation”
Disciple Merchant: “Maturation…”
assistant: “In other words, the cheese needs to ht? From a farmer’s point of view, it is not possible to move the product immediately In fact, it takes at least half a month to two years to make any profit By that time, I’m not even sure if there even really is a net profit”
Disciple Merchant: “Why not? Once he sells it, he still makes profit, doesn’t he?”
assistant: “Well, because maturation takes time, you have to be especially careful that it doesn’t rot Moreover, you can never be certain how the price of cheese will fluctuate in this time And since people only her price, you will never find a cheese to sell cheese at an affordable price… And that’s why they don’t produce enough cheese”
Disciple Merchant: “Hmm”
assistant: “There are also those who produce enough cheese for their family and then sell the rest if there are any leftovers That also h”
Disciple Merchant: “Very well researched”
assistant: “Ehehehe Well, producing cheese is like… U the lottery So people aren’t certain of being able to profit from it”
Disciple Merchant: “And so?”
assistant: “And so, this is what I’ve thoughtof”
Unfolds paper
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-————————-
Explanation
Thistle: Cheese is produced through the coagulation of milk proteins obtained from animals For this to be achieved, the enzyme needs to be added In Europe, this rennet is usually obtained frooats However, there are for juice, artichokes (Korean thistle) and thistle This is especially widespread in the Iberian Peninsula throughout Spain and Portugal
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
assistant: “It’s all written down here, but…”
Disciple Merchant: “This is basically a storage unit?”
assistant: “Yes… Umm, umm Basically, we allow farmers to sell raw cheese for which salt has already been added to, but this will not yet have been allowed to mature at 60 of the sale price In this way, people ant to produce cheese can obtain disposable capital within a feeeks of the ht?”
Disciple Merchant: “Indeed”
assistant: “The people who run this storage facility can maintain the necessary conditions and remove the cheese for sale at the preordained tie facility would always have cheese ready for sale and would not require any expertise or tools to create it In other words, they would just be taking care of the cheese”
Disciple Merchant: “But if the cheese were to get infested or rotten during that time, it would be completely useless, wouldn’t it?”
assistant: “Yes And that’s e buy it at 60 of the price The reain profit, but rather to cover any accidents or…”
Disciple Merchant: “Risks?”
assistant: “That’s the word It covers our risks The key is in nue facilities in many areas, the cheese can be kept in many areas as well, and that will lower our risk It’s probable for any given unit of cheese to go bad or to turn out well and beco household, if a unit of cheese were to go bad, that could represent a significant portion of his income and he would not even have any milk to sell to replace it However, even if 20 of all our cheese went bad, as long as the rest is fine, there would be no issue That’s why, uht the raw cheese at a price between that of milk and cheese, ould be able to balance out the losses that we could incur… Ue?”
Disciple Merchant: “No, no, please continue”
assistant: “This price that we’ve been referring to is preli on thefactors, it’s just an approxih failure rate, then ill have to adjust the price further doards But if it has a high success rate, we can adjust it upwards, right? Umm, this…”
Disciple Merchant: “I see — What you’ve just co You envision what the success rate will be and stabilise our earnings based on that”
assistant: “Yes! The far lots ofthe first stage of the product, and so we can have entire far communities devoted to cheese production!”
Disciple Merchant: “Is that so?”
assistant: “But there’s more At present, the price one can fetch from cheese is not so much dependent on the techniques of the farm or the deliciousness of the cheese, but rather on how much or how little cheese is produced This is because it’s hard to differentiate good cheese by sight”
Disciple Merchant: “I see, and what can you do?”
assistant: “Well, in order to ensure good flavour, we can create a seal to be given to good cheese to certify their quality Producers will then have to work hard if they want to ht?”
Disciple Merchant: “That’s not a bad idea”
assistant: “Hehehehe”
Disciple Merchant: (I’m surprised by his practical ability There are lots of holes in this plan, but he was able to combine risk-reduction with the division of labour It’s worth a shot He really has grown…)
assistant: “What do you think?”
Disciple Merchant: “You’re really getting better!”
assistant: “Am I? Am I? Is that a compliment!”
Disciple Merchant: “I’ll save nment”
assistant: “…”
Disciple Merchant: “It’s a tough one… Boots”
——– The Village of Wintering, the Manor of the De Room
The De: “…”
The Hero: “…De, salt”
The De: “Got it”
The Hero: “…”
The De: “Hey, Hero”
The Hero: “What?”
The De this?”
The Hero: “Well… The Deood tio back home for a bit”
The De about Why are we eating this?”
The Hero: “We don’t have anything else to eat”
The Deht?”
The Hero: “Boiled potatoes with salt?”
The Deht before?”
The Hero: “Boiled potatoes with salt”
The De: “…”
The Hero: “…”
The De: “How did it come to this!”
The Hero: “We don’t have a choice! The Chief Maid was sent to be an envoy to the Council of the City of the Gate and the Little Sister Maid is on a learning trip to the Kingdom of Winter”
The De: “So we can only have boiled potatoes for three meals?”
The Hero: “But you made this, didn’t you?”
The De else”