Chapter 115: 116

In the end, last night it was decided that the matter would be brought back to the discussion table and then Claudia went home. I think it’s true that Katharina has too advantageous of a situation. They’ll be discussing issues with everyone again. Though I, who should be one of the parties involved, seem to be outside the window.

That’s why I thought I would be able to relax at home today after school, but there was one more person who came to visit me today as well. But it’s not like I hate them. No, I should rather say that I’m happy to see them again after a long time.

“Good day,” I said. “It’s been a while, Mrs. Victoria.”

“It’s been a while as well, Lady Flora,” Victoria said.

My guest today is Victoria of Kruck Trading Firm. I haven’t seen her in a while since I came to the royal capital, so it’s been about 2 months. I feel like it’s been a long time since she’s been here, and I feel like this is normal.

In this world, even traveling long distances is a massive undertaking. It takes about a month to travel from Carruzan to the royal capital with a normal carriage. If you walk, it depends on the person walking, but you’ll need to think twice about that. Like the royal family and Victoria, we have replacement horses in various places, and it takes 10 days even if you’re in a rush.

Once you go somewhere far away, it will be months, and in some cases, years before you get there. Thinking about it, I feel like it’s normal to meet here for the first time in 2 months. However, from the point of view of Japanese people, if you haven’t seen them for 2 months, you’d think it’s been a long time. I, who have both senses, get a little confused here and there about time.

Well, in any case, I was able to meet an acquaintance after a long time in such a dangerous world. There’s no reason not to be pleased. For now, all I have to do is rejoice at the reunion with Victoria.

The usual 4 childhood friends I would deal with it in the office or private room, but there’s no way an adult like Victoria would be entertained there. After being guided to the reception room, we went inside it.

“I heard that Caanza Trading Firm has started a new business again,” Victoria said.

“It’s not like I’ve started a new business, but…” I said.

Can you say that you started a new business because you opened a fast food restaurant whose type doesn’t exist in this world? 1 But I don’t feel like I’ve started a special new business just by adding a cafe to the second branch, the general goods store. I wonder if this is also a gap because I have a sense from both my previous life and this life.

“I will stop by the store later, but do you have any of that rumored tea here?” Victoria asked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to buy it from you, even in limited quantities.”

I see……. Victoria’s aim is dandelion tea, or as I christened it, Hokouei.

It’s not easy to imitate the crepe cafe. Because Caanza has done some unreasonable things to arrange the product lineup and the format of the store, the initial investment is too high if other people want to imitate it.

The extensive use of plate glass, the method of manufacturing and selling after receiving a customer’s order by increasing the product lineup, the equipment to keep the materials fresh, and the securing of expensive ingredients even though the prices have fallen somewhat. All of this is possible because we can cover it ourselves. Even if other stores try to imitate it, they will stumble at the time of procuring ingredients. And even if it were to be procured, the product price would be too high and I don’t think it would sell to the commoners.

Compared to that, the dandelion tea “hokouei”, which is offered at a relatively low price, is quite popular because it is a kind of tea that ordinary people usually cannot afford to drink It might be a problem for people to think that it’s just a kind of tea, but at least we’re not selling it as tea. It just happened to spread through word of mouth that it was tea.

Even if no one thinks it’s a perfect tea, ordinary merchants will know that it can be sold in large quantities at such a low price as a substitute for tea and that a considerable profit can be expected. However, since we exclusively sell it and we have not leaked the manufacturing method, it seems that the rest of the world finds it shrouded in mystery, they don’t know why it is made and how it is made.

Victoria’s aim is to investigate the materials and manufacturing methods by purchasing hokouei from me.

“Katharina, please serve Mrs. Victoria some hokouei,” I said.

“Understood,” Katharina said.

Katharina has already accurately read my intentions and leaves the room. A momentary silence came to the room where only me, Victoria, and Isabella were left.

Isabella and Victoria are supposed to be sisters, but even they don’t talk much. They may be talking when I’m not there, but at least I’ve never seen them having a conversation as sisters.

“Pardon me,” Kaharina said after she returned and served a cup before Victoria.

Instead of the usual tea that had been served earlier, dandelion coffee, hokouei, was poured into Victoria’s cup.

“This is… it’s going to be popular,” Victoria said.

I see……? To be honest, I think it’s kind of weird. Maybe I think so because I have an image of dandelion coffee as a substitute for coffee. If you think of it as just dandelion tea, it’s a bit like savory barley tea, but it’s drinkable. But I didn’t how you’d feel it’d be popular.

“If you like it, that’s more important than anything else,” I said. “So… how much would you buy this ‘hokouei’ for?”

I speak to Victoria while pretending to be as calm and relaxed as possible. I am indebted to both Victoria as an individual and as a partner of Kruck. But business is business. To put it in modern terms, even if we say that we are in a partnership if you want to reveal the secrets of our products, we have to pay the other accordingly. There is a possibility that it will become a serious problem in the future if we relaxed our standards here.

That said, I set the hokouei at a low price from the beginning, so I can’t sell it as a luxury item anymore. After all, it is a cheap product with low profit and high sales volume, so it would be easier for it to be sold not only by us but also by others in order to spread it to the world.

It’s more profitable to sell cheap products to our partner, Kruck, than to sell them exclusively. Too much monopolization of profits will create unwanted enemies, and too much oligopoly may not be very good for the economy.

Caanza monopolized the market, and information flowed to Kruck to form a duopoly. Then it flows into Kruck’s subsidiaries, and it becomes an oligopoly. In the process, if Caanza and Kruck collect profits while in a monopoly or oligopoly, the development costs and initial investment can be recovered. It would be good if technology and products gradually permeate the rest of the market in this way.

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“That’s right… this tea is so wonderful… how about paying for it with Lubek?”

“…… Huh?” I asked.

Lubek? Lubek, a town at the mouth of the Dierbe River?

“Isn’t Lubek the town at the mouth of the Dierbe River?”

I ended up saying almost exactly what I was thinking. But I can’t say anything else.

“Yes. That would be Lubek,” Victoria said softly while taking another sip of hokouei.

It makes no sense at all. The town would not be for sale or belong to Victoria.

“Could I ask you some questions for a bit?” I asked, staring hard at Victoria.

With a serious expression, Victoria put down her cup and nodded as she looked back at me.

I think a little in my room after Victoria leaves. I suppose she’s come bringing trouble yet again.

The Knighthood of Caan and Lubek have a deep connection. In addition to the land route connecting Caanburg and Cien, a waterway is also secured. Lubek is in the middle of the waterway. In the early stages of the development of Caan territory, craftsmen and materials were procured from Carruzan and Lubek. It can be said that there are strong economic ties.

In addition, the estuary is gradually filled with stones and sand that have flowed down. The river bed must be cleared out regularly to maintain proper sailing depth, which is a heavy financial burden. We want silica sand from the bottom of the river to make glass. Therefore, by having us buy up the surplus silica sand from the riverbed, Lubek can cover the cost of improving the estuary.

Up until now, even if the riverbed was swept away, it would be of no use and the sand would only accumulate in piles, so Lubek had to bear the full cost. Also, the excess sand that had piled up before should have disappeared by now, which should have been two birds with one stone for Lubek.

Of course, there are aspects of our business rivalry with Lubek. Especially since our shipbuilding industry is thriving, it overlaps with the main industry of Lubek, a port town facing the sea at the mouth of a river.

However, the demands for the old-style small boats made by Lubek and the new-style large boats made by Caan are different. Profits may have fallen compared to when they were exclusively in the shipbuilding business, but it shouldn’t have been fatal. Or rather, it’s because I’m adjusting it to that degree…

My goal is not to destroy Lubek or take over a major industry. It was a division of roles, thinking that it would be good if things that existed in nearby areas could coexist. In fact, until I came to the royal capital, they should have been able to coexist without any major troubles.

However, it seems that Lubek is now in an existential crisis. The reason is a naval blockade. Since Lubek was originally located on the sea, it was profitable from trade and shipping with the north and east. Due to this trend, the shipbuilding industry was also thriving, but as mentioned above, the monopoly of the shipbuilding industry have collapsed due to our entry. That said, our large ships aren’t sold elsewhere, and we haven’t dealt with traditional small ships on a large scale, so there should be plenty of demand for Lubek still.

The shipping and trade supported Lubek’s economy, but it is said that the Kingdom of Hollant, which lies west of the Caan and Caruthers territories, has blocked the Hulk Sea, the sea northeast of Ploiss.

Hollant seems to be a small country further west of my home, surrounded by the sea and the territory of the Kingdom of Frasia. There is a lot of confusing history about this country and region.

Historically, the area around the Kingdom of Hollant was originally a territory of the Kingdom of Ploiss. And the Kingdom of Hollant was also a land ruled by the Lords of Ploiss. From there, it became a land governed by people related to the royal family of the Principality of Aust.

However, if the Kingdom of Ploiss and the Principality of Aust ruled over the territory of the Kingdom of Hollant, the only country bordering the Demon Country in the northwest would be the Kingdom of Ploiss. Naturally, if that happens, the Kingdom of Ploiss alone will have to bear the burden of defending against demonkind.

It is impossible for the Kingdom of Ploiss to fight against the Demon Country alone, which is why the surrounding countries were eventually convinced to cooperate with them. It seems that the Kingdom of Frasia took advantage of that interdependence and demanded that Ploiss cede territory until it touched the Demon Country. This was a long time ago, not something that the current King decided. It had been like this before.

As a result of accepting the cession proposal, the Kingdom of Hollant no longer bordered the Kingdom of Ploiss and became an enclave. The influence of the Principality of Aust has also weakened, and it is said that it is now quite close to the Kingdom of Frasia. And it is said that the Nassam Duchy is approaching the Kingdom of Hollant.

Lubek is called a free city and is not under the rule of some Lord. It consists of trading in the Hulk Sea, which is located to the east of the Demon Country’s peninsula, which is northeast from my point of view. A Hulk Sea Blockade is a matter of life and death for Lubek, who was engaged in Hulk Sea Trade with each city in the north and the east.

I don’t know if they allied with the Kingdom of Hollant first or just decided to join forces after both initiating it independently, but the Nassam Duchy and the Kingdom of Hollant are blocking the Hulk Sea Trade and obstructing commerce in each involved country.

Not only Lubek will be affected by this, but all the companies and cities involved in the Hulk Sea Trade will be in trouble. And if you can take over the Hulk Sea Trade, you will make a huge profit. The Nassam Duchy and the Kingdom of Hollant seem to be moving to seize it for themselves.

The story Victoria brought is that I should prevent the Nassam Duchy and the Kingdom of Hollant from seizing the Hulk Sea Trade, and let the Caan Knighthood be in charge of the Hulk Sea Trade. If you can save Lubek like that, Lubek will join the Caan Knighthood and welcome Caanza’s establishment in the region.

It’s certainly an enticing story. If we can take control of the Hulk Sea Trade, we will make a huge profit. Lubek is at a very important point for us. In the unlikely event that Lubek is occupied by hostile forces, the waterway from Cien to Caanburg and Carruzan will be cut off. Even if I can hold our territory and defend them at will, it won’t help me that much.

However, instead of that, we will have to deal with the Kingdom of Hollant and the Nassam Duchy. If it goes well, the profit will be immeasurable, but if it fails, the Knighthood of Caan may be destroyed.

We also want to avoid having our sea routes blocked, and a sea blockade would affect our future activities. Either way, a confrontation between the Kingdom of Hollant and the Nassam Duchy may be inevitable…

I know that, but I can’t make that decision when I think that it might involve everyone else in the war. I was looking out of the window at the night sky in dismay, thinking of everything that was going on.

T/N: If I translated the Kingdom of Hollant into something else before, I don’t have the will or the motivation to go back and change it into something consistent with prior translations. Yes, I should probably have a document specifically for specific translations and biographies, but I’m lazy.

Footnotes

Some of the earliest examples of quick-service restaurants stretch back to Ancient Rome. People have been clamoring for their cheap, convenient junk food bought off the street since written history, probably.

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