Chapter 43 - Volume 3 (1/2)
Despite Isaac visiting at a late hour, the overseer of the Communicator Room scrareeting, the overseer led Isaac to one of the personal Communicators with an attitude completely different from the last time Isaac came
The private room had a sofa and some complimentary snacks and drinks on the tabletop When Isaac asked to connect to the Capital’s Departh to connect him directly to Mazelan
-Hey! I’ve heard the ru everyone with your ingenious ideas The Grand Canal Race! Even Gabelin is talking about it
Mazelan greeted Isaac with a faint smile the instant his call connected
“It’s just h”
-I’ve heard that yourtoo well?”
“It’ll h”
-Huhu I’ll look forward to it I’ll do everything I can to help you
“Now that youI need your help with And so I’d like to confirm with you”
-Help?
“Yes Can you install some Communicators in New Port City too? It’s so bothersome to travel between Port and New Port City all the time”
-Hm… I’m sorry to say this, but the installation of Coest cities take priority There is no rooes Not to mention that New Port City isn’t even included in the list since there’s already Port City next to you
“What if New Port City pays for the installation?”
-H But do you really need to install it in New Port City? It’s not like the installation co Port City’s
“No I need it”
-Well, fine If New Port City will pay for all the expenses, it doesn’tthe installations They can just extend Port City’s connections to New Port City
“Thank you”
-Then is that all you need?
“Yes For now”
-That ‘for now’ part see it”
-Hng So as it that you wanted to confirm?
“It’s a simple question”
-What is it?
“Port City is running a sht?”
There was a silence Mazelan looked as if his soul was being drained froain coed to aardly avoid eye contact with Isaac
-W-what could youabout
Watching Mazelan’s reaction, Isaac pulled out a cigarette and took a deep breath
“You’d be surprised at how s you notice when you just sit down and watch how the world runs”
-…
“The first thing that made me curious was the reaction from the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds”
-The Seven Grand Merchant Guilds? But you’ve never even met any of its Guild Masters other than Mr Goldman?
“I’ve hadthem today confirmed it”
-How!
Isaac responded nonchalantly at Mazelan, who still seemed like he was unable to understand
“The last time I contacted you, I also had a chat with Mr Goldman and asked him to invest ina jab in hopes of getting some useful personnel to borrow, but the Seven Grand Merchant Guild agreed to invest in me Was it really insurance? Was it really to stop Port City? Would a merchant really invest in someone whom they only saw once in their life? An invest a return? Not only was it just Mr Goldreed to a so quickly, even if there wasn’t any dissent? Do you really think all of that is possible?”
-…
“That is when the thought of ‘Ah! I’’ came to mind”
-Who knows? Merchants tend to have an excellent sense when it comes to investment
Isaac smirked at Mazelan’s feeble attempt to defend the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds
“That’s what I also thought at first – that the uilds which represent the Eamble like that But merchants are extremely sensitive creatures who seek profit and tremble when they see a loss So I used up all of the first loan and asked for more as a test Yes, I did use the tariffs as an excuse, but they sent ly What waswas that there were no conditions for this loan”
-Conditions?
“Yes Even if the first investment was a form of insurance to hinder Port City, there reed with further investinal loan asted Or they would have de authority, but the only thing they demanded was to keep the tariffs as they were That is when I was sure That New Port City is much more valuable than what everyone else thinks”
-How did you coht when you’ve locked yourself on that rooftop?
Isaac shrugged with an expression suggesting that Mazelan’s words were unjustified
“I was busy too, you know With only 3 years ahead of me, I had to come up with a plan to save the city, direct the procedure, and figure out the reason for all this at the sa on a rooftop?
“Like I’ve said before, you can see s when you just sit down and watch Maybe you should try it out so
“The final clue came today The Grand Canal Race I offered each of the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds an opportunity to join in, but all of them refused Their ansas that the next race would never happen so long as the rights of Grand Canal reht Port City has all the rights over the ays Hm, sounds like you only did Port City a favour?
“Yes So I asked thehts on the ays from Port City, but they sees I like is that there can’t be a result if there isn’t a cause So I looked forthe implausible as I went, and I ended up with just one answer”
-What is that?
“Why is Port City so important?”
-Do you really not understand the value of Port City? Port City is…
“The centre of trade? The Ele city, even if it’s Port City There are many more trade cities other than Port City in the Empire I’h power to find alternate trade routes if Port City were to create their own ?”
Mazelan hesitated to speak, but Isaac’s eyes pressured hiht
“So that naturally led to another question Why are the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds so desperate to stop Port City frouild when they have h power to out-co that the answer is sreed is endless, and the hts of the as sure to be insufficient They would have looked for alternative ways totheir advantage in transportation would be sht crossed my ”
-A new business? Other than the Grand Canal Race?
“Yes I ca was one of thele when you’re an official of the Eh return Sood because you don’t have to pay the tax for it Then I started to think, would those smartasses in Port City really fail to coed to think up the idea?”
-… shi+t! Did you really just play around during Caru out another cigarette to replace his spent one
“Well, with that conclusion, I could understand why the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds were trying to stop Port City frouild Since Port City only has rights over the ays, the production facilities for s these sensitive goods for s could only be possible in the hands of someone as powerful as the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds I assuer wanted to share the profits So they wanted to step in to the business officially by establishi+ng their own uild as a front Their authority over the ouldthem a formidable co one of their businesses, which was tax-free and contributed to slush funds This must have been the reason why they couldn’t join in onactivities were in the line”
PR Note: Slush funds are reserves of al purposes, in particular political bribery
-…
“Well, this is all just a theory onBut if what I came up as indeed true, then there is one funda I really don’t understand”
-What is that?
“Was the Depart business that was taking place? It makes no sense that the Departhout the E in Port City And if the Department of Supplies are of this, then it would naturally mean that Port City, New Port City, the Seven Grand Merchant Guilds and the Depart?”