Chapter 36
Chapter 36. Cola Just Helped (3)
Quite some time had passed since Cola sales began.
The beverage industry market situation proceeded not much different from Baron Keystone's predictions.
"Oh dear, the line's the same today too."
"I wonder if I'll get to drink it once before I die."
"There's no way... But I hear the dealers are reselling like crazy these days?"
"Even so, paying a whole shilling per bottle is a bit..."
First, Cola's position itself was solid.
The public still wanted Cola.
Most still hadn't tasted even a single sip, and even those who'd tried it once gladly lined up in front of the wholesale direct sales location.
20,000 bottles per day sold like hotcakes without leaving even a bit of inventory.
However, supply far too small compared to demand caused consumer fatigue and dissatisfaction.
"Hey, is Cola the only thing to drink?"
"Standing in line for hours just to drink one bottle of Cola is a bit much."
"But is there anything besides alcohol? The lemonade they sold at stores is gradually selling out too."
Consumers who were ready to open their wallets for 'beverages' quickly went looking for substitutes.
"I hear 'Berrymix' is that delicious?"
"I've been seeing it everywhere lately. Is the taste okay?"
"I don't know if it's better than Cola, but it's much better than lemonade. Even the price is cheap."
"How much?"
"1 pence per bottle. But I heard if you buy one bottle, they give you another."
A large-scale volume offensive prepared for bleeding, considering even distribution costs.
Berrymix melted entirely into the distribution network Polar Sun had built, occupying shelves, taverns, and street shops.
People a bit tired of their usual drinks and wanting to drink something refreshing chose Berrymix, which they could easily obtain.
"Aaaah...! This is really pretty good?"
"Sweet and sour and super refreshing!"
"Owner, give me a bottle of that Mixberry or whatever it's called here too!"
It began instantly replacing the market that existing lemonade had occupied.
***
Vehicles exist in Britannia, and limousines exist too.
Of course, they differ from the long, flat sedans commonly imagined on modern Earth.
Rather, the exterior is closer to a carriage.
Instead, they separate the driver's seat and back seat with a partition wall and equip cutting-edge suspension—the highest-priced vehicle focused entirely on privacy and ride comfort.
Sending such a limousine to pick up a guest meant exactly 'I want to receive you with the utmost courtesy.'
Penelope grumbled to Jurgen sitting beside her in the limousine's back seat.
"I didn't know they'd come in swinging this hard."
"It shows how attractive the Nortaris beverage market is."
Penelope monitoring market trends didn't know how many times her heart went cold.
She knew competitors would emerge, but she didn't know Polar Sun had erected monopoly barriers at this level.
Who'd have thought they were even blocking Keystone Company?
If it's Keystone Company, it's Golden Hill's largest food company.
The company's weight class was high enough that dairy products and meat sold in Nortaris almost all came from there.
Even Berrymix, which branched off as a side business, was quite a thug.
Believing in their weight class, they deployed a 1+1 low-price volume offensive, with estimates of close to 2 million bottles released to the market.
They released in just a few days the volume that would take 100 days of full operation of the Cola factory to barely supply.
"Isn't that what competition is?"
"Who doesn't know? They're not only doing fair things though, right?"
If it were just that, she'd acknowledge it.
A company trying to push out competitors through legitimate competition isn't doing something dirty.
Rather, Blyton who erected monopoly walls was the bad guy.
But Y&P had recently been under attack from strangely various angles.
Sugar prices suddenly fluctuating, all the empty bottles they'd outsourced arriving completely broken, the city hall conducting a surprise hygiene inspection, detecting movements of organized forces reselling Cola.
Too suspicious to be coincidence, creaking erupted everywhere.
Fortunately they had sugar stockpiles, and Penelope responded quickly so it didn't spread to bigger fires, but...
"But this is a bit much."
Penelope put down the newspaper with a thud.
There was a 4-panel cartoon-style advertisement printed there.
A cartoon where nobles threw Cola they'd been drinking into a trash can, then people in shabby clothes rummaged through the trash to find and drink Cola while laughing with stupid expressions.
The last panel had a female boss licking her lips while counting gold coins drawn comically, with the initials P.R. engraved.
A character obviously caricaturing Penelope.
They'd put out a kind of satirical, sniping advertisement about commoners picking up and drinking Cola that had already passed its peak in social circles.
"Ugh, annoying. Why draw a person like this? Have they even seen me? I'd like to see what their faces looks like once."
Penelope, possessor of delicate sensibility, was very angry.
Conversely, it also meant she had enough leeway to get angry at trivial things.
"Aren't we preparing to land a blow too?"
"One blow? Not enough. I'll pay back 100 times over."
She didn't know how fortunate it was that Jurgen was here in this situation.
Honestly, if Penelope were alone, even if she'd secured investment, she would have struggled.
Probably even if she'd attempted increased production through normal methods, it would've been after Berrymix dominated the market.
In the worst case, after struggling to increase production, there might not have been enough demand to run the factory at full capacity.
She couldn't have dreamed of 'counterattacking' like now.
"We've arrived."
The place the limousine arrived at was a mansion on 'Avenly Hill.'
The wealthy kept townhouses near the city for convenience of social activities, government affairs, and business, and Avenly Hill was a hill where such top-class townhouses gathered.
The mansion visible as soon as they got out of the limousine was also extremely luxurious.
Modest in scale befitting a townhouse, but the well-maintained garden and decorations everywhere gave off the smell of refined money.
"Please come in. Miss Penelope Rosemore, I hope there were no inconveniences on your way?"
"Thanks to your consideration, I came comfortably. I'm concerned whether I'm imposing on your holiday."
The person who invited the two to his private residence was Gideon Belheim.
The branch manager of Devon Trust Bank who'd first given Penelope a business card the other day.
When she contacted him saying there were parts she wanted to discuss regarding business, he immediately sent a vehicle.
"Haha, no way. I'm only sorry I couldn't come pick you up personally."
Though this was the first proper conversation, how should she put it...
The refined suit, monocle, and sophisticated pronunciation gave off a strong feeling of a capable banker.
Yet there was a strange atmosphere that made the other person comfortable.
Well, Devon Trust was a bank with lots of money even throughout all of Britannia.
Since he'd secured that branch manager position at what appeared to be his early thirties, he must be no ordinary wheeler-dealer.
"The gentleman beside you must be Mr. Jurgen?"
"Yes, he's my business partner. He's helped a lot from business conception to execution."
Penelope preemptively packaged him, worried he might disregard Jurgen as a commoner.
"Hmm..."
Belheim glanced at Jurgen.
Jurgen seemed to have no particular thoughts, but Penelope could see it.
Belheim just executed the social circles advanced skill 'side-eye.'
A scanning that instantly measures status and asset scale by comprehensively assessing the other party's atmosphere, gaze, attitude, attire, etc.
You might think that's nothing special, but that's ignorant talk.
Those with high skill levels can hit the mark down to 'how many sets of silver cutlery are in the other party's kitchen.'
"To ease Miss Penelope's worries a bit, I don't think the measure of competence lies in status."
Having finished scanning, Belheim showed a cheerful expression he'd probably practiced in front of a mirror multiple times.
And offered a handshake without reserve.
"Welcome, Mr. Jurgen. I hope to continue a good relationship going forward."
"Sir Belheim, thank you for the hospitality. You seem quite competent as well."
"Oh my, even a sense of humor."
He even burst out laughing at Jurgen's unique speech pattern, creating a harmonious atmosphere.
"We can't converse in the garden, so I'll show you inside."
Moving locations to a reception room tidily arranged without a speck of dust.
After tossing a few frivolous jokes, Belheim immediately brought out the main point.
"Did you come find me because of Keystone Company?"
"Yes, that's right."
"I understood you wanted to discuss investment-related matters with our bank to respond to Keystone's 'Berrymix' offensive."
"...That's also right."
"May I make the first proposal?"
"...As you're comfortable."
As soon as work talk started, Penelope felt slightly overwhelmed.
They were both smiling the same way, but as soon as work talk came up, the sharpness in his eyes changed.
"Y&P's Cola myth was impressive. Whatever social circles chatter about, or however they disparage Cola, that's their business, and I definitely smelled 'money.'"
Belheim snapped his fingers as he spoke.
"Our trust will invest 30,000 Crowns in Y&P."
"Th-thirty thousand...?"
At the enormous sum far exceeding imagination, Penelope gasped.
He'd casually stated the amount that would come from combining all other investment proposals.
"I'll complete the credit procedures by evening. Whether it's funds to expand production facilities or marketing funds, you can immediately inject them where needed. Since time must be tight, I'll also connect you with workshops needed for equipment manufacturing. They're friends with clean skills and tight lips."
Belheim took out documents and a fountain pen and placed them on the table.
"In exchange, I require 40% of Y&P Trading Company's stake."
She'd expected him to request stake.
But 40%?
Considering Jurgen and Penelope were splitting the stake fifty-fifty, it was essentially a declaration to become a co-owner.
Not stopping there, Belheim added as calmly as discussing weather.
"Additionally, we need safeguards. Please share financial statements and internal company information transparently. And if Y&P sells, transfers, or provides core assets as collateral, you must go through my prior written consent. Finally, if Y&P attempts to procure additional funds from sources other than Devon Trust, the final decision rights regarding those conditions and execution will also belong to me."
"...Branch Manager Belheim, you were scarier than you look."
"Really? My fiancée is much scarier. Oops, please keep that comment confidential."
So this was why so many nobles cursed Devon Trust.
To summarize simply, it was a proposal to suck them dry to the bone marrow in exchange for lending urgent money.
"It's extremely regrettable for me as well... But prudent investment is our bank's policy. If you'd come a bit earlier, the story would have been different—how unfortunate."
However, Belheim's words also made sense.
No one predicted Keystone Company would use Rex as a front man for a rapid southward advance.
Even if they had, they didn't know it would be this fast.
The expected startup Cola was placed in a precarious situation faster than anticipated, and the nobles who'd proposed early investment withdrew their proposals one after another.
Devon Trust understood it was the only lifeline and was simply maximizing its use.
"I hope you understand this is a generous proposal from my position."
Thus, Devon Trust's main money-making strategy was to lend or invest, then when opportunities arose, quickly swallow undervalued assets.
The so-called 'value recovery maximization strategy.'
If they'd come without any countermeasure, they would've had to make an extreme binary choice: 'receive investment and live with a leech' or '(with high probability) just wither and die.'
If there had been no other method, that is.
"Then shall you hear our proposal too? Competent banker."
At Jurgen's sly attitude, one of Belheim's eyebrows rose.
Not an angry feeling.
Just smiling as if amused, he spread his clasped hands.
"Of course. Mr. Jurgen. You seem to have prepared something... Please surprise me."
"It'll be quite a sting."
Jurgen put down documents containing 'a really big blow.'