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Chapter 403 part 2

Then I went over the updates and intel that came from Playking to probe the situation. Right now, the Stalker Girl’s clan is focused on tracking the covert movements of the Theocracy around the royal capital. Apparently, a few assassin types have already infiltrated the royal castle, but thanks to that Rero-Reroing Middle-Aged Man, they probably got rerorero’d. I’ve given him a stern warning beforehand, if it’s a hot female assassin, send her my way, but there’s a high chance he rerorero’d her himself! Unforgivable. Gotta beat him up again.

The Maid Girl subordinates, the maid squad, has also been upgraded with specially supplied maid uniforms for detection, scouting, and combat. The royal castle is now practically unbreachable by either orthodox or unorthodox means. I’ve also set up traps all over the place? I’m kind of looking forward to seeing if any sexy female assassin gets caught in them.

Even if they send in an elite sabotage unit, they’re just going to end up as prey for the Idiots. Whether it’s a diversion or some clever strategy, the Idiots won’t get baited by it, and will just go straight for a kill. In a way, they’re the natural enemies of special operatives. They’re terrifying as enemies, and as allies they are just idiots! Just really annoying idiots!

After that, the advisors and Bureaucratic Middle-Aged Men rushed in with questions and reports. Meanwhile, Meripapa-san is sulking in the corner but let’s just leave him be? Yeah, we don’t need him right now? When it comes to domestic affairs, it’s way faster to talk to the Aise-san? I handed over some notes on the new tunnels and ore locations, and gave directions for the next mining development plan. Meripapa-san, gave up, and was now chilling in the massage chair… See? It’s because you keep slacking off like this that you are getting ignored? By your own subordinates? Well, things go faster without him, so this is for the better.

「Should we just build a smelting furnace? If we make a big one, the per-unit cost drops and we’ll need fewer workers too. The only issue is it eats fuel like crazy, so once it’s up and running, we’ll have to produce in massive batches. Still, if you look at the production volume, it saves on both manpower and fuel, so the only real problem is preparations? Kind of?」

Only problem is, the Geeks, who are experts on the subjects, are away. As long as we stay in the realm of drafting their specialized knowledge and design skills are top-tier. But if we let them build it… nah, let’s not go there, even thinking about that is terrifying! Next time they’ll probably end up making a giant robot! Which would be kind of awesome… I want one?

「No no, agriculture’s better done on a large, consolidated scale, with built-in crop failure insurance. The only hassle is scheduling crop rotation cycles. But once the system’s in place, it’s easier for both the farmers and the managers. You just have to expand the fields without connecting them too closely. Unexpected problems happen, if everything’s packed together, pests or disease will wipe it all out. So you leave gaps with different crops between them… yeah, like that. Make it easy to manage and transport, and cover a lot of land with a small workforce, that’s the only way it’ll run. I mean, I do watch a terrifying crowd devour food every morning and night, there is no doubt about this?」

Livestock farming is already lagging behind, so if too much manpower gets taken up by agriculture, it becomes a problem. I mean, without cheese, you can’t eat pizza! Industry is starting to stabilize, but it still can’t meet demand. But there’s no need to force it. This is a special demand spike, sure, if you invest and sell during the boom, you can make a quick profit, but if you overextend beyond the natural production cycle, you’ll end up with a surplus and have to scale back. If you have production power for chasing such minute profits, it’s more meaningful to use that energy to create workshops that are more productive and efficient. Still, I do want to expand the magic tool workshops. But since that carries a high risk of painting a target for the Church, the best approach might be to keep processing magic stones during my nightshift work and only workshop the tool components.

The Frontier has now become the economic center of the Kingdom, and apparently, this town’s population has doubled. Normally, a sudden population influx causes friction and security issues, but not in this town, like, obviously. Even if the members of the criminal underworld tried to move in, they wouldn’t stand a chance against the frontier’s housewives armed with clubs. Compared to crossing those terrifying aunties, getting into trouble with monsters in the Evil Forest is both safer and more profitable.

There is no choice but to keep mass-producing mana-powered refrigerators and washing machines, so the only way to meet demand is to increase the volume of magic stone processing during my side job hours. Unless this demand wave dies down, we won’t be able to spare any resources for the magic-powered carts I want. What I need is a tool optimized for mass transport rather than speed. But end up making a ship, it’ll feel like I’ve lost to the Geeks, and I don’t like that. I’d like to outdo them with new tech and render them obsolete while exploiting the their 『Shipwreck』 for the time being, but it’s not going that smooth though. At present, the most efficient and fastest method is for me to just stuff everything into my item pouch and fly. It’s unlimited capacity, and all I have to do is fly up and drop down, an ultra-high-speed transportation method.

「I’ll accept transport requests to the Capital eventually, but if I just do everything myself, the industry won’t develop. Start by spreading things out among the merchants. Merchants work hard on their own, and they’ll figure out more efficient methods by themselves and develop from there. Don’t try to micromanage everything with administration. Just toss things their way, it’s fine. People create their own lives, so if you interfere too much, it’ll backfire. Also, short-term profit always needs to be weighed against long-term sustainability, or you’ll lose big. Everyone’s doing their best, so all we need to do is lend a hand. Your job is to just watch everyone work hard, do their best, and find their own happiness.」

The father of economics, Adam Smith-san, apparently said something along the lines of 『The economy is best left to the market』, and that if God ever tries to interfere, you should cut him down, as in the famous quote, 『Sever the invisible hand of God』 Or something like that? Maybe? Either way, sounds like slicing is the right move?

Well, that was a critique of mercantilism, and in reality, unregulated markets can cause all production to concentrate on the most profitable crops, leading to price crashes and, ironically, shortages of staple goods, a real dumb situation. So, yes, regulation is necessary. But outside of that, you’ve got to leave it to the market. Because the market is the economy. No matter how much you study it, you’ll never be able to predict or defy it, and if you try to manipulate it, it breaks. Yeah, I learned that from the high school girls with the inn’s internal economy!

「Haruka-kun. We’ve received a flood of export inquiries from the royal capital…」

「Just invite merchants from the capital. Once they’re here, they’ll compete on their own. Just make sure to export only a little at fair market prices so they can’t form cartels. Right now, we need to stir up and circulate the economy throughout the Kingdom, get the blood flowing. It’s still too early to worry about the problems that might arise from it, you know? Honestly, if a territory can’t even manage that much, the lord in charge should get axed? Like, they aren’t even needed?」

If the Kingdom can gain the upper hand economically, the Confederation will have no choice but to obey. Or rather, they might’ve already lost the means to break out of this situation.

The Confederation has already lost every capability except distribution. All they do now is buy mushrooms from the Kingdom at whatever price they can get, kidnap and sell beastfolk as slaves, buy magic tools from the church, and act as middlemen to keep goods circulating. Sure, they own a lot of merchant companies, and their sales network is definitely vast, but that means nothing now. They only ever invested in the profitable areas, cutting away everything else, and because of that profit-first mentality, they’ve lost the ability to produce anything themselves. They relied solely on distribution, and now that their supply chain is being cut off, the Confederation has no assets left besides their merchants. But those merchants stopped focusing on business and information long ago, and started making money through force and politics instead. Because of that, all the honest merchants, manufacturers, and skilled craftsmen are gone. In other words, it’s now a country full of merchants who can’t actually do business, and a country like that has no future.

Their only remaining option had been to kidnap beastkin, monopolize waterway distributions, and dominate the slave trade. But since the Geeks got involved, beastkin can’t be captured the same way as before, and the water canals have been seized by the Geek Pirates. The End.

Then there’s the Theocracy. What made the Theocracy strong was its monopoly on magic tool technology, and the economic and political power that came with it, plus a military fueled by gold and gear, and the faith of its church. Their strength came from combining economy, politics, military, and religion into one. But that unity has been broken.

The Theocracy can no longer obtain magic stones and magic tool production has begun within the Kingdom. Their economy is dead. Their military took a massive hit in the last war. Their secret weapon, the Dancing Girl-san, was stolen from them, so they should’ve become unable to make use of dungeon stampedes as a result. Having no money and no army, there’s no way they have any political influence left. All they have now is religion. Well, they are free to worship and pray to their hearts’ content until they collapse. If they can solve all their issues through prayer they might actually be a theocracy, a country of a holy law. If not, then they’re just some dirt-poor theocracy-shaped shell. Let them rot into whatever they want.

But if the Confederation and the Theocracy both weaken, then yes, the Kingdom’s position would improve, but at the same time, the buffer zone they provided will be gone. The issue is how the countries beyond them will move.

「Haruka-kun, a request for aid for the Beastmen Commonwealth came from the King himself as well. I can tell that you seem to hold some sort of animosity toward them, no idea exactly what you’re angry about, but still, they are an allied nation, and because of the church, beastman discrimination has spread, putting them in a very difficult position. If there’s anything you can do, I would like to ask for your help. Not as a command or duty, just a request. You’re free to refuse. Honestly, neither I nor the king have any right to ask for anything, we owe you a whole lot, and haven’t earned even one favor. This is just a simple request… The Beastmen Commonwealth is proud and brave, and the beastmen’s individual strength is astonishing. However their numbers are few, and even those few are divided into tribes. On top of that, their economy is weak. So even though their military is made up of elite fighters, their small numbers and lack of proper equipment… at this rate, they will be wiped out sooner or later.」

「Ahh, yeah, I don’t like that idea, so I’m not gonna aid them or anything. But for the economic issues, once the distribution is in order, we’ll start importing goods, which naturally means trade will happen, and that should bring them some financial relief, I guess? The Geeks will be in the Beastmen territory too, so slave hunting should be hard. And the Idiots are headed to the royal capital, so they’ll probably be fine? I mean, the reason Beastmen Country couldn’t defend itself before was because they couldn’t stop invasions via the rivers, but now we’re in control of the waterways, right? That means the enemy can’t use ships anymore. So if it’s forest warfare via land routes, the Beastmen Country military should be able to handle it? And since no one can make their way in there through the Kingdom’s territory either, it’s now entirely up to the Beastmen Country as a nation. So I’ve got nothing to do with it?」

The beastkin will be helped by the Geeks. If that’s not enough, the Idiots will probably lend a hand too. I’ve already given them all the supplies they’ll need. So I don’t care about the Beastmen Country as a country, and I’m not interested in it at all. In fact, I care so little, I don’t even remember its actual name. That’s how much I don’t care. I seriously couldn’t care less.

After collecting a mountain of gold coins as payment for massage chair usage fees and iron ore, the 『Great Magnate Revival Festival』 was underway again, which happens surprisingly often. But like the ephemeral antlion, it never lasts long. So I should head back to the inn while I’m still in the middle of this fleeting tycoon phase and pay the inn fee to the front-desk Commoner Girl, maybe toss her some sweets too.

With the dozing Slime-san sitting on my head, I head for the inn. It took longer than I thought, so by now everyone’s probably already back, and they might be rampaging around from hunger. No, since the inn is connected to the orphanage, the kids’ dinner might be in danger! I have to hurry back!