Chapter 92 : Gold
Chapter 92. Gold
Gold!
Beneath the waters of the Island of Boundaries, along the continental slope, one ton of gold lay buried.
Converted into ducats at the current rate, that came to roughly 280,000 ducats.
Its value had risen compared to before it was stored here. Incredible. Was it true that gold was invincible as an investment? From now on, instead of dividend stocks and that sort of thing, perhaps I should invest in gold……
“Ahem.”
This was an enormous amount of wealth earned from Krelsite, which no one else had been supplying. A considerable portion of it had been exchanged into gold and stored away by Yul.
A medium merchant vessel costs around 15,000 ducats, and a frigate about 30,000 ducats, so this was enough to outfit a small naval fleet.
It was what he had gathered in order to complete a quest.
‘With this, the funds are more than sufficient.’
There had already been a fair amount of money in his bank account, but there was a reason he was taking out the gold here.
Under normal circumstances, transporting this much gold would have been an enormous burden.
But the current Yul had an overwhelming patron named Lui.
He could very easily exchange the gold Yul brought him and eliminate the associated risks as well.
‘Even after leaving it in a ten-year deposit and forgetting about it, the principal had increased.’
The reliability of the Royal Bank of Frangia was remarkably high. He knew that from experience.
He intended to reseal the gold inside the massive cargo chest he had brought this time and take it back with him.
* * *
After arriving in Frangia, Yul met Lui again at his villa.
“Yul!”
“Have you been well?”
Lui Trombon. The son of the Sun King.
Having faced rebellion during the succession process, he steadily defeated the traitors one by one, ascended the throne, and eliminated the opposition.
The absolute monarch known by the epithet Victory King was currently lazing about.
Wearing sunglasses that blocked the warm sunlight and a loose shirt, he sat beneath a palm tree drinking a beverage, with beautiful women on either side fanning him.
“Well then, I must speak with my friend, so begone! All of you, leave.”
With a gesture, Lui dismissed everyone around him.
“Is it really okay for you to lounge around like this? You’re the king.”
“Hehehe. Of course. Count Ferrand is handling the work at the moment.”
Count Ferrand? Yul soon realized he meant Martin Ferrand.
Had he risen from commoner to count? Impressive ability.
“My father was always exhausted from handling affairs personally, his brow constantly furrowed with wrinkles. Every single day, he labored as harshly as the dockworkers of the sea. But I am different. While I’m relaxing like this, my capable subordinates take care of the rest…….”
That shameless mindset of ‘why should I work?’ Lui was right.
“Did you make good use of the supplies I sent? What did you need pioneer supplies for in such a hurry?”
“I used them on my ‘island’ in the southern sea.”
“An island? You own an island!?”
“Yes. It’s in a tropical region. Unlike this territory, it doesn’t generate profit.”
The County of Provence that Yul possessed was generating considerable income.
After Hugh Letel took office in the territory, he restructured its economic system, increasing revenue to around 10,000 ducats annually.
A letter had arrived at the university where Yul was currently staying, saying that if this momentum continued, the profits would keep rising, and Yul had replied that several matters could be handled remotely.
Lui’ eyes sparkled as he asked about the island.
“How far away is it?”
“Hmm. Perhaps four or five times the distance from here to the capital of Aragon? I’m not sure exactly. I’ve never measured it precisely.”
“An island that far away…….”
“Oh, right. Take a look at this.”
Yul took a small box from his pocket. With such a major client present, of course, he needed to make a sales pitch.
“It’s a specialty product from the island, called Silver Moon Leaf. It’s cultivated by the sea elves, the people of my island.”
“S-sea elves? There are such elves?”
“You can think of them as different from the forest elves on the continent. Their hair is closer to teal, and they are the people of my island.”
Yul refrained from saying anything unnecessary. There was no need to mention the rejection symptoms that appeared in some sea elves.
“If you brew Silver Moon Leaf as tea, it’s excellent. According to the elderly elves, it calms the mind and helps gather a small amount of magic. I brought it as a gift.”
“It has such effects? You there, prepare tea with this.”
A maid who had been waiting at a distance approached and took the leaves.
But this maid was no ordinary human.
“What is it, a bodyguard?”
“Oh. You noticed the true identity of my attendant? She is not merely a guard…….”
“Ah, the Flanders Assassins, was it? They’re subordinates of the Sun King, aren’t they?”
“……Correct. It seems my father truly left nothing unsaid. That is highly classified information.”
That also meant he trusted Yul that much.
“The Flanders Assassins are a group of mages who use magic as assassination techniques. After I reclaimed the throne, I discovered a classified record detailing authority over them and have been using it. I now sponsor them.”
“I see.”
From a human perspective, they exuded quite a dangerous aura.
A short while later, the maid returned with the tea, and Lui took a sip.
“The effect…… manifests quickly.”
“Nice, isn’t it? The aroma is good too.”
“Indeed. This is truly a fine tea.”
“So I’m thinking of opening a trade route.”
“Oh! Truly? Of course.”
“I haven’t decided what else to develop as trade goods from the island. For now, it’s this Silver Moon Leaf tea and shipbuilding timber, I suppose.”
“Does the island need manpower?”
“It does, but I’ll have to consider whether to accept humans.”
Lui’s eyes sparkled, but Yul had absolutely no intention of agreeing.
'As if I’d let you stake a claim on my island.'
At present, the sea elves were few in number. If humans entered, they would be pushed out instead.
“That is unfortunate.”
“More importantly, what happened with sending the fleet?”
"It looks like we'll set sail within the next year. While we in Frangia are trying to send it quite methodically, seeing the Kingdom of Aragon or Britain depart before us makes me feel we've fallen quite behind."
“But you’re sending a fleet of giant sailing ships, aren’t you?”
Frangia had even recruited settlers to send to the island, preparing them in large numbers.
They likely intended to establish a firm foothold on the newly emerged island in the Great Azure Ocean. Compared to the rather haphazard operations of Aragon and Britain, it was a far more solid plan.
“In that sense, I’m planning to sell some gold.”
“Hm? Gold?”
“About one ton of it. I’ll convert it into ducats and deposit it in the Royal Bank. There’s no longer any need to keep it in physical form.”
“Oh. Is that so? I welcome it anytime. I’ll have my subordinates purchase the gold at once.”
With this, he could easily turn the gold into a bank balance. Lui took another sip of tea and told them to bring more. He seemed to like it quite a bit.
"Yul, do you happen to need any slaves?"
"Slaves? Why would I need slaves?"
“I’m looking to sell some. But this is tied to what’s happening in the east. You’ve probably seen it in the newspapers, the situation in the former Empire’s territory.”
At Lui’s words, Yul nodded.
“I didn’t know it either, but when I looked at the materials Martin gave me last time, it was chilling. All sorts of things are happening in the former Empire. Massacres between different races, mages conducting human experimentation, turning people into fertilizer and plants, the necromancer faction raising undead armies, enslaving captured enemies…… If I told you that enslavement is the most moral of these, would you believe me?”
“Insane.”
Lui was describing matters in far more detail than the newspapers ever did.
Just because this was a world with magic didn’t mean they were more moral than modern humans.
Rather, because magic existed, they were committing acts even more horrific than those of modern times.
“Shall I show you the power map of the former Empire?”
Lui spread out a map, revealing a patchwork of brightly colored territories.
“It’s a mess.”
“Exactly. First, there are the remnants of the former Demon King’s army and the adventurer factions, including the party that fought alongside Sone Helvich. On top of that, southern heretical forces are creeping upward, trying to take advantage of the Empire’s collapse.”
Each of these forces had splintered into three to seven fragmented groups. By now, they were so far removed from one another that they had nearly forgotten their original roots.
“And the result is this colorful map.”
“But what does that have to do with slaves?”
“It’s a matter of national religion. A kingdom that commands the undead, a kingdom that turns its opponents into plants, a kingdom that carries out massacres of other races within its borders, a kingdom that captures enemies as slaves and sells them. Yul, which one would you establish diplomatic relations with?”
“I wouldn’t choose any of them.”
“I thought the same and got thoroughly scolded by Martin. He said it might be an admirable thought as a civilian, but as the king of a nation, it’s an absolutely unacceptable judgment.”
Each of these forces amounted to only about a third or a quarter of Frangia’s strength, yet there were more than twenty such powers in the former Imperial territory.
“He politely cursed me, saying international politics is ruthless and you must choose a side no matter what. It’s not just us engaging in diplomacy—Britain and Aragon are also seeking partners they’d rather not have.”
The four factions Martin had pointed out were ones neither Britain nor Aragon had yet chosen. They were the powers that those kingdoms had carefully narrowed down.
“The adventurers are breaking what are considered taboos in order to establish their own nation.”
“…….”
“I chose the kingdom that captures and sells enemies as slaves. By my standards, that’s the ‘least evil.’ And that kingdom is selling slaves to the western nations. Naturally, our three coastal kingdoms are among their clients.”
Aragon, Britain, and Frangia all permitted the slave trade.
So he had chosen the lesser evil to avoid the worst.
“So you’re offering to sell slaves to me?”
“Exactly. Orc slaves are difficult to handle.”
“Orcs…….”
The remnants of the Demon King's army were being processed as slaves. If that was the ‘lesser evil,’ Yul couldn't imagine what the ‘worst’ looked like.
The remnants of the Demon King’s army were being processed into slaves. If that wasn’t the worst option, what on earth was happening elsewhere?
‘As expected, humans are truly the most dangerous creatures.’
If someone was going to try to plant themselves somewhere by force, then orcs—who could at least be controlled—might be the lesser concern.
“I’ll…… think about the slaves. If I truly need manpower, I’ll buy some.”
“Really? Well, there are plenty of buyers. And Yul, have you heard about the cannibal Seaborn?”
Yul frowned.
“Not long ago, near the Frangian shipyards, a Seaborn was seen devouring another Seaborn.”
“Yes. So you’re aware. It’s about that mad knight Henry and the cannibal Seaborn, Padur.”
From the brief glimpse he had seen, Henry and Padur had not seemed sane.
‘Is it really that repulsive for a Seaborn to eat another Seaborn?’
Originally, all Seaborn had been sea creatures. And sea creatures lived in a cycle of devouring and being devoured.
In that sense, a Seaborn consuming another Seaborn could be considered natural…… yet something about it was unsettling.
“The monster in the form of a dugong called Padur went beyond eating Seaborn. It soon began eating people. And its first victim was its own Sinker, Henry.”
“That’s insane…….”
A Seaborn devouring the Sinker it had established Communion with?
“I don’t know the reason. But that cannibal Seaborn has become quite a problem. Yul, if you’re willing, could you deal with it? I’ll compensate you. One thousand duca…….”
“I’ll do it.”
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(T/N): Motivaaatiooon where are yoouuu…
Oh. Today is Valentine's Day. Happy Hearts Day~