Chapter 143 It’s a Really Great Opportunity, You Know? (1)
From the day after the feast, things were swiftly put into motion.
Under the orders of Marquis Branford, slave traders from various regions came to seek Ghislaine.
Though they were major figures handling other races’ slaves, they all fumbled in front of Ghislaine.
“But… can you really handle such a large amount? I know you’re interested in the other races’ slaves, but there are just too many.”
“If your funds get stuck, you could go bankrupt. Other races’ slaves tend to be prideful, so managing them will be tough.”
It was an ironic situation where the sellers were worried while the buyers were completely unfazed.
Ghislaine responded with a relaxed expression.
“I see merchants worried about their customers. Money will be prepared without issues, and I’ll handle the management myself, so there’s no need for concern.”
The slave traders exchanged wary glances and nodded slightly.
“Hmm, making a big deal with this rookie is taboo…”
“Well, it’s someone backed by Marquis Branford. There’s no way to refuse. Most of the Crown Prince faction nobles support him, right?”
Ghislaine shot a sidelong glance at the hesitant slave traders and issued a warning.
“Make sure to bring every single one without fail. If any issues arise… you know what’s coming, right?”
“Is there any doubt? Don’t worry about it. But please, do ensure the payment goes through. Given the amount, I can’t help but feel a bit anxious.”
“I’ll pay the balance punctually on the promised date, just make sure you deliver the people well.”
Ghislaine replied curtly.
No matter how well the cosmetics were selling, he couldn’t handle that enormous sum immediately.
However, given the amount involved, the slave traders insisted they couldn’t accept installments without collateral.
“Don’t forget, Perdium Territory is under collateral.”
“I got it. Just ensure you handle your work properly.”
“You did get permission from Count Perdium, right?”
Without blinking an eye, Ghislaine said confidently, “I’m the heir there, so stop worrying and go on.”
“Ahem, understood. I’ll prepare as soon as possible. See you in the territory.”
“Oh, and don’t forget to send the dwarves as soon as you can. Especially the specific dwarf I mentioned—make sure to bring him back safely.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll prioritize that.”
“Good, it’s not far.”
With uneasy expressions, the slave traders left the room.
“Damn it, if this goes wrong, I’ll have to lodge complaints with the Branford family and shift the blame… Will they even accept that?”
“That collateralized territory is at the northern fringes, isn’t it? Thinking about dividing and selling it makes my head hurt.”
“My head hurts from doing this.”
“I should feel good since we’ve sold everything, but why am I so anxious?”
As the slave traders retreated, Belinda clicked her tongue and muttered.
“Count Perdium will faint if he finds out.”
“It’s fine. My father is always in a troublesome state regardless of me.”
Belinda sighed deeply and shook her head.
“It’s one thing to buy slaves, but what about the immigrants?”
“What do you mean?”
“There could be thousands, maybe tens of thousands. Until they settle down, we have to provide for all their basic needs, and that will cost an astronomical amount.”
“It’ll be fine. We saw how the wheat grows. We can manage.”
“No one just eats bread to survive! What about everything else?”
“Sure, it’ll cost money in the beginning while we settle. But once we have more people, the market will soon flourish.”
That’s not wrong. But that’s only possible if the fundamental issues are resolved.
“Where do the suddenly displaced people get money to go to the market? What can they even do? They need to work to earn money to spend.”
“We can put those who urgently need money into construction projects for facilities within the territory right now. And….”
“And?”
“All the able-bodied men will become soldiers. Our territory is seriously lacking a standing army. That solves the problem, doesn’t it?”
“Wow….”
Belinda was at a loss for words in disbelief.
Turning everyone left into soldiers? This was extraordinary.
Belinda grabbed Claude and asked.
“Is that really possible? Can it work?”
Claude nodded.
It was a radical but plausible idea. In this age, just providing food and shelter would entice many to become soldiers.
It wasn’t that everyone wasn’t willing to try; they simply didn’t have the money.
“If we pour all the profits from the runestones and cosmetics, it could work. As long as we can endure until the economy stabilizes to some extent, it should run smoothly. But…”
“But?”
“Every penny earned will just be spent, so that’s the problem. The finances will be tight for years.”
“Just as I thought. Eventually, it will increase, so what’s the rush?”
Claude scratched his chin, contemplating before stating his thoughts.
“Well… it’s to prepare for war, isn’t it?”
“War?!”
Belinda shouted loudly, then quickly covered her mouth in surprise.
Then she quietly asked again.
“War? With whom? Who’s coming and why?”
“Well, there are plenty of places that could invade. Desmond might come seeking revenge… or other territories might set their sights on ours.”
Belinda narrowed her brows and asked back.
“Desmond, sure, but why from elsewhere?”
“Because of food. For now, we’re keeping the territory as sealed as possible, but eventually, rumors will spread that production capacity has greatly increased. That’ll attract attention.”
“Right, we prepared for war for similar reasons when we first acquired the runestone.”
Claude nodded, then glanced at Ghislaine and lowered his voice.
“I think I’m right. The lord won’t attack anyone out of the blue, will he?”
“Of course not, our young master isn’t like that.”
“Yeah, if he did it for no reason, he’d just be a thug. Fits him well, though. Hahaha.”
“I can hear you, slave.”
Ghislaine narrowed her eyes and glared at Claude.
I glared at Claude.
Startled by my gaze, Claude, who had been laughing and chatting with Belinda, quickly backed away.
Ghislaine clicked his tongue and fell back into deep thought.
‘The budget is really tight. At this rate, it’ll be hard to start the next plan. I can’t just sell the Runestone either, as I might need it later.’
The next plan requires an enormous sum of money, and at this pace, it’ll take way too long.
‘I have to find a way to gather funds a little faster.’
Having already met with the slave traders, there was no longer any reason to stay in the capital.
Since the cosmetics sales were stabilized, I was thinking of returning to my territory to find other ways to make money.
If only the situation didn’t get so weirdly tangled.
“Hey, move aside!”
“Hey, I was here first!”
“Are you not moving or what?”
The entrance to the Crow Mansion was jam-packed with customers who came to buy cosmetics.
Since the end of the feast, more and more people had started showing up, and at some point, it became impossible to let everyone in the mansion.
“Didn’t Baron Penris treat the Young Lady of Marquis Branford’s illness?”
“I heard it’s all thanks to those cosmetics.”
“Oh my, we need to buy that quickly!”
Upon hearing the rumor, not just the nobles living in the capital but also local lords and quick-footed merchant groups flocked to the mansion.
At first, only the servants of the noble families came, so it was somewhat controlled, but after the impatient nobles showed up, the problem escalated.
They were people who had never had to line up or take turns in their lives.
Lining up? What’s that? Is it something to eat?
“Hey, are you blocking my way!”
With a single roar from the noble, the servants standing in line scattered in fear.
But would the nobles stay quiet upon hearing that their servants were dismissed?
Thus began a vicious cycle where visiting nobles would dismiss each other’s servants, leading to a return visit from their masters.
Claude tried to step forward to control the crowd, but it was utterly futile.
“P-please, line up! Line up!”
No matter how much he shouted, the proud nobles didn’t even flinch.
If there were at least class differences, they might line up according to rank, but among nobles with similar status and influence, that method simply didn’t work.
With nobles from all over the kingdom arriving, creating a hierarchy was meaningless.
Some lower nobles began to glare at each other, engaging in verbal scuffles.
“I was here first!”
“What are you saying? I was here before you! Did you leave your eyes at home?”
“What? Do you even know who’s behind me? If you touch me, Count Boyer won’t stay quiet!”
“How dare you use someone’s name? If you don’t want to get a smack from Count Bromson, you better scram peacefully!”
This kind of name-dropping spat happened several times a day.
Those who only engaged in word fights were rather mild.
Nobles who had not gotten along well in the past, upon seeing each other in front of the mansion, immediately drew their swords.
“You’re lucky today. You started this fight. The justification’s mine.”
“Oh, looks like you finally picked your day to die! What a lovely day indeed!”
Clang!
The poor Guard Knights were forced to wield their swords against each other under their masters’ orders.
“It’s a fight! A fight!”
Of course, people wouldn’t want to miss such an entertaining scene.
Even those nearby who had no intention of buying cosmetics gathered in front of the mansion to watch the brawl.
The crowd gathered in front of the mansion, completely engrossed in the fight.
“Oh no, this is bad. The area in front of the mansion is a mess. We can’t let anyone in at all. If we’re not careful, it could turn into a riot.”
Claude urgently reported to Ghislaine. Ghislaine, flustered, rushed out to the front of the mansion.
“Wait… This wasn’t part of the plan?”
The entrance of the mansion was pure chaos.
Fighting people, spectators, and even the neighborhood mutts that followed the crowd were all mixed together—it was a total disaster. A battlefield wouldn’t even be this chaotic.
“Make way up front! Don’t block the road!”
“I was here first! Hey, don’t shove!”
Woof woof! Bark bark!
“Hey! Keep that barking down!”
Ghislaine, blankly observing the scene, couldn’t help but chuckle in admiration.
“Wow, this is really a mess.”
Claude grumbled with a drained expression.
“They’re all trying to get in first, so we’ve closed the door for now. If we open the door now, those guys will completely overrun the mansion. They’ll even take the cosmetics with them. What are we supposed to do now?”
“Hmm…”
Ghislaine found it hard to solve the situation. They couldn’t just beat everyone up in a fit of rage.
“Oh, I need to go back to the territory.”
As Ghislaine mumbled this, Claude looked at him in disbelief.
“In this state? If we go back now, the mansion will be completely looted. The servants won’t be able to stop them.”
“Then what should we do?”
“We need to stay and manage the situation somehow.”
“Oh, but I should be going back soon.”
“No way, it’s impossible to handle this right now. Can the servants hold them off?”
Ghislaine pondered for a moment before speaking.
“If we can’t manage it, we need to hand it over to someone who can.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let’s halt trade for a while.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
Before Claude could finish his sentence, Ghislaine jumped onto one wall of the mansion and shouted loudly.
“Sales are temporarily suspended! Everyone go home! We’ll reopen in a few days!”
At her announcement, the gathered nobles erupted in protest.
“What do you mean! We’ve been waiting since morning! I absolutely need to buy something today!”
“Baron Penris! It’s me! Remember me from the feast?”
“Baron Penris! You can’t do this! Let us buy first at least!”
With Ghislaine’s appearance, the commotion only grew.
Of course, despite the nobles’ protests, Ghislaine shouted without blinking.
“Hey! Block the main entrance completely! We’re stopping trade today!”
Claude and the close associates exchanged bewildered glances.
They were in the midst of a heated situation, and chasing away all the customers like this could lead to hefty repercussions.
“Um, Lord… Even so, with so many guests…”
Claude cautiously opened his mouth, but Ghislaine interrupted him with an annoyed tone.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and block the doors.”
‘What’s got him all fired up now?’
Claude grumbled inwardly and called for the mercenaries.
He prepared to block the entrance of the mansion with wooden planks and wagons they’d set up in case trouble broke out.
Thud! Thud!
As the main door was entirely obscured, leaving the inside invisible, the nobles began to complain loudly.
“This is a total disregard for us!”
“Why aren’t you selling?!”
“Open the door quickly! Let’s talk!”
However, there was no response from inside the blocked door.
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