Chapter 53

Clara-sama stared at the 66.7 million Marques spread across the table in a daze, while Yoshioka wore a fearless grin.

“I honestly didn’t think we’d sell every single item,” I remarked.

“They must have more money than they know what to do with,” Yoshioka replied.

Marquis Berlion and his associates had purchased everything we brought. What’s more, they paid in cold, hard cash. Initially, the Marquis and his friends tried to buy on credit, but when we firmly refused—stating we only accepted immediate payment—they instantly contacted their purveyors to have gold coins delivered. They likely keep their funds managed by merchants for investment.

By the end, we were given formal permission to come and go as we pleased at the Marquis’s estate, two Earls’ estates, and a Baron’s manor whenever we acquired new “rarities.”

Business concluded successfully, but I was shocked to see the Marquis and his friends immediately start a new game of cards, wagering the very tea sets and glasses they had just bought from us. As a commoner, I still can’t wrap my head around the financial sensibilities of the high nobility.

“Once we move the next batch of inventory, we’ll finally have the capital to buy a storefront,” Yoshioka said.

If we can sell 66.7 million yen worth of goods at a 12-fold markup as we have been, that’s about 800 million Marques in revenue. Even if we only sell a quarter of that, it’ll be plenty.

“We should start scoutng for a location now.”

“If we’re opening a shop, it has to be inside the city walls,” Yoshioka added.

Since our target audience is the nobility and the wealthy, that’s a given. Most commoners can’t read, so the people capable of reading our future newspaper are all residents within the walls anyway.

“The next repatriation is the day after tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah. It’s going to be busy.”

The problem is that when we get sent back, it will be 10:00 PM on December 20th, Japan time. I want to source goods immediately, but the shops will already be closed on the 20th, and the 21st is a Tuesday—meaning we have work.

“Maybe we should just both hand in our resignations tomorrow,” Yoshioka suggested.

“I’d feel bad for the others…”

The faces of my colleagues flashed through my mind. We don’t hang out privately, but we’ve built good working relationships. It would be a huge burden if two people from the same department suddenly vanished.

“Saegusa-san is so diligent; I bet she’d end up staying until the last train every day to cover for us.”

Saegusa-san is the veteran “office lady” of our department. She’s looked after me since I was a rookie. She’s quite plain and a bit plump, so she isn’t exactly the office heartthrob, but she’s capable, caring, and a great cook. I’ve always liked her.

“I do feel bad for Saegusa-san,” Yoshioka admitted. “But when I think of the Manager, all I can think is ‘serves him right!’ …Though I don’t expect to be able to leave the very day I hand in my notice.”

Under Japanese Civil Law, a labor contract isn’t officially terminated until two weeks after the expression of intent to resign. So, if the company asks us to keep coming in, we’d have to show up for at least a fortnight. Still, I plan to quit eventually. It’s better to make my intentions known early so we can discuss the transition.

Maybe I’ll tell them I’ve decided to move back to the countryside following my divorce. I just won’t mention that the “countryside” is in the Kingdom of Saxens.

“It would be easier if we could just reset everything to zero,” I muttered.

“That’s the hard part, isn’t it?”

I thought to myself that quitting a job is actually much more of a hassle than getting a divorce, but I kept that to myself.

Regardless—66.7 million Marques. Sourcing that much inventory is going to be a challenge. Even if I buy sets worth 1 million yen each, that’s over 66 sets. Buying them is one thing, but transporting them is the real hurdle. My Spatial Storage is only 33cm x 38cm x 63cm. It’s grown a little bit, but that’s still just a drop in the bucket.

“Using all of it for inventory is practically impossible, so should we try putting some of it to work?”

“Hmm. We could lend it to a merchant or an individual. There’s also a system for lending to the State,” Clara-sama noted. Being a territory manager, she was well-versed in these matters.

Essentially, there are three ways to grow money in this world. The first is entrusting it to a merchant you know…

Merchants take the entrusted funds as capital for their business and, in return, pay out dividends. Since the interest is a percentage of the net profit, the returns can be massive if the business thrives. On the other hand, if the business fails, no profit is generated, and you might get back less than what you provided—there’s a real risk of losing your principal. As a system, it’s quite similar to stock investing on Earth.

Next, there’s private lending. In Japan, when you borrow money from a financial institution, the legal interest rate is capped at 15% to 20%. You aren’t allowed to charge more than that. If you borrow 1 million yen, the annual interest won’t exceed 150,000 yen.

So, how about the Kingdom of Saxens? Surprisingly, the interest rates are lower than in Japan. The cap is 7%. If you’re going to borrow money, it’s much cheaper to do it in Saxens than from a Japanese bank or a moneylender.

But, there’s a catch. In the Kingdom of Saxens, human beings can be used as collateral. So, it’s apparently common for daughters or children to be sold to brothels to settle a debt. Alternatively, one might be forced to serve as a crew member on a merchant ship heading for the West Continent. In Japanese terms, I guess it’s like being sent off to a tuna fishing boat?

Finally, there’s lending to the State, which is essentially like buying government bonds.

“The House of Ansbach has also lent a bit of money to the State,” Clara-sama mentioned.

“Well, you can trust the government as a partner, right?” Yoshioka said, but Clara-sama frowned slightly.

“Not necessarily. It was my late father who lent the money. He applied when the government was soliciting loans from the nobility to cover war expenses. It seems there was a bit of vanity involved, being a newly established noble house.”

It sounds like it was a semi-forced request. The loan term is five years, with an annual interest rate of 14%.

“That’s an incredible rate! That’s over 200 times the rate of Japanese government bonds.”

“Yeah, Japan has been stuck in a super-low interest environment for a long time,” I added.

Japanese government bonds have hovered below 1% for ages. Since the government is the counterparty, it’s considered a safe investment, though I’ve never bought any myself. However, the situation in Saxens seems to have a different nature than a standard bond.

“Still, in your country, the loan is guaranteed to be returned, right?” Clara-sama asked.

Wait. Do they not return it in Saxens?

“The source of the repayment is the tax-collecting rights of the territories we seize from the Kingdom of Portland.”

In other words, if they don’t expand their territory through war, the lent money won’t be coming back.

“That’s… how should I put it…”

“Absurd, isn’t it? My father fought desperately to achieve military merit because of it. If we didn’t win the war, his meager savings would vanish. It’s one of the reasons the population of Ebba-berg decreased.”

Lower-ranking nobles have it rough, but the commoners have it even worse.

“For that reason, I cannot recommend lending to the State.”

Clara-sama’s cynical smile made my heart ache. The war situation is currently in Saxens’ favor; they’ve reportedly besieged several towns along the border. If those cities surrender, Clara-sama’s funds will increase. But if Portland’s reinforcements break the siege, or if the rumored intervention of the Duchy of Ostrea becomes a reality, there’s no telling how the situation will change. We weren’t keen on investing in something that felt like it could default at any moment.

“Entrusting money to a merchant is the safest bet, but the most popular choice right now is investing in the West Continent Company.”

The West Continent Company is a Royal Chartered company granted a monopoly on trade with the West Continent. They call it a “company,” but it has strong characteristics of a merchant guild.

“It’s like the East India Company on Earth. With mercantilism and a focus on trade balance, it’s bound to be profitable,” Yoshioka said, looking quite eager.

I, however, wasn’t feeling it. If the West Continent Company is profiting, it means the beastmen of the West Continent are being exploited. When I think about the side being colonized, I just can’t get into the mood for a “casual” investment.

I’m not conscious of it myself, but apparently, I have a “dog-like” face, right? Ever since I met those cat-folk siblings by the Reinga River, I’ve felt a strange sense of kinship with the beastmen.

Since there was no rush to invest and dividends would be far in the future anyway, we put the idea on hold for now. For the time being, let’s focus on our honest business of “overcharging” people. We decided that once we returned to Japan, we’d source as many high-priced items as possible. I might even buy two lightweight aluminum pack frames to try and increase our transport capacity.

Between writing my resignation letter and creating Saxens-language fonts for the next repatriation, I had a lot on my plate.