Black Gold (1)

As I looked at the ship handed over by the Lilith Trading Company, I felt my chest swell with a strangely reassuring sense of solidity.

“It’s awesome. So that ship is our ship, huh?”

The Lilith Trading Company had already set sail for the Northern Continent, and we had been moving forward with departure preparations by training those with prior experience handling ships in calculations and the like, then assigning several of them to each vessel.

Honestly, there was little to worry about: the advantage of the fleet we were preparing was that we only needed to stock food and water for one or two people, and the Whale Beastkin all handled food, clothing, and shelter out at sea, so they did not require separate resupply.

“But will it really work out?”

“If chocolate doesn’t work, then this world’s palate is the problem. Honestly, after even a dragon got hooked on chocolate, I can’t sincerely understand how an ordinary living creature wouldn’t be bewitched by it.”

At my words, Linda and Matilda nodded. The preparation had been solid. We had already conducted training for over a month.

Moreover, since it was winter, the weather was cool everywhere except for a few regions, which made it suitable for transporting chocolate without melting. We had also placed magical items that lowered temperature in the cargo hold to prevent any chance of melting.

The only real issue was if the ship sank…

‘Do I just have to leave that part to luck…?’

I had asked the Whale Beastkin to protect the ships no matter what and to steer safely, but there was no telling how it would go.

Still, thanks to those who enthusiastically followed what I said, it was practically the same as having finished all preparations.

“But are you really going to name the merchant company that?”

At Linda’s words, I recalled the Whale Beastkin merchant-company name I had chosen after much deliberation and nodded.

“So what? Isn’t it cool?”

“…It feels kind of like a villainous merchant company…”

“There’s definitely a bit of that vibe, but I guess there’s no room for reconsideration, right?”

I thought both women had no sense of romance.

“The Black Gold Merchant Company. How romantic is that?”

I was certain chocolate was a treasure that would bring in vast amounts of gold, and thinking it matched chocolate in some way, I had named it that—but the two women did not seem to like it.

But we had already marked “Black Gold Merchant Company” on the mast and all over the ship. Trying to change it now would only waste time. And I had no intention of changing it.

“Let’s go as-is!”

“…Haa….”

The two women sighed deeply, but what could they do?

There was no retainer who could break a lord’s stubbornness. And so I watched as the chocolate was loaded onto the ship and the crew boarded. There were quite a few people who had done fishing, so we put them in charge of steering and trained them, which took a bit more time, but I believed they would manage well.

First, several Whale Beastkin were scheduled to remain in the sea at all times to monitor conditions. If they found reefs or coral, they would relay it to the merchant ships so they could avoid them. We also assigned one Whale Beastkin shaman with exceptional intuition to each ship, so that if they encountered erratic squalls or it seemed like a natural disaster was about to hit, they could come up with a way to evade it in advance.

So I figured there was no real reason for problems to happen.

Besides, for pirate ships in certain waters—or certain royal privateers disguised as pirate ships—I had even issued orders to thoroughly smash their vessels so they could not attack our merchant company.

To put it bluntly, if a few Whale Beastkin transformed and latched onto a privateer, I thought the crew would simply drown. And to prevent future issues, I had even told them to collect the flags and insignia from any ships they sank.

Bluntly speaking, it was evidence I intended to present later if problems arose.

According to Ulde—whose words had allowed me to make this decision—there were no beings at sea that could contend with them aside from a few ancient magical beasts. I trusted that and made the call, and now the combined result of all those decisions was slowly moving away from the pier.

The anchor was raised, and the sails were lowered. The sails unfurled into the wind and swelled powerfully, pushing the ship farther and farther out to the open sea—and it looked so magnificent.

‘If I get the chance later, I should ride a ship too…’

Even on Earth, I had never once been on a ship. So my curiosity had been stirred. Still, I was not planning to board one right now.

Later—when this domain could become free even from external pressure—I hoped I could ride a ship and travel the faraway seas at least once.

“Alright, we’d have to watch all day for every ship to fully depart, so let’s head back.”

At my words, the two women said they understood.

I was worried. What if the amount of chocolate loaded was not enough?

What if it spoiled along the way?

What if it sank before we could even trade—or got plundered by pirates?

Carrying all sorts of worries, I could only return to the lord’s official residence, hoping the ships leaving would sail safely and come back, making my worries feel pointless.

“I will deliver the regular report.”

At Linda’s words, I nodded. It had already been a week since the ships left, and there was still no notable news. Meanwhile, I had been suffering daily annoyance because of visiting merchants’ grievances and a few low-ranking nobles who showed interest in the lavish, gigantic structure prepared behind the lord’s official residence.

Among those, the biggest problem by far was the princess who had occupied an entire annex and settled in.

“Um… do you have something on your mind?”

“No. Let’s hear the report.”

“Yes. First, this is the report recording this month’s net revenue.”

Linda handed me a thick stack of documents. As for total revenue, I could just check the very last page. But I needed to see where the revenue mainly came from, so I flipped through the pages one by one, and Linda’s voice followed along.

“Currently, the biggest source of revenue is ‘alcohol.’ For the herbal liquor, we have been focusing on selling the ten-year-aged batches, and thanks to the unique taste and aroma—and the limited quantity—the price has been soaring day by day.”

“Ten large gold coins per bottle? That’s too expensive.”

“For the ten-year-aged batches, most of it is being consumed by nobles. Moreover, alcohol aged even longer than that is being supplied to a few royal houses.”

“To royal houses, too… it’s going in there?”

“That’s right. At the banquet held by the imperial family this time, it seems Her Majesty the Empress let royal guests taste the ‘Royal Rum’ and showed off a bit.”

I thought that woman had a surprisingly strong streak of vanity. But in the case of Royal Rum, we had been sending at minimum a thirty-one-year-aged liquor. The quantity was small, but we had also deliberately tried to “premiumize” it.

That had been Linda’s argument, and the result had translated directly into profit, selling at an enormous price. But because of that, the alcohol itself had been getting more expensive.

Since I had not intended to sell it at such a high price, I spoke to Linda.

“First, let’s release some five-year-aged liquor for general supply, too. In my opinion, if we let only nobles consume all the stock, it’s a loss in the long run.”

“Five years… understood.”

Linda checked something off, and then the next report concerned medicine.

“The medicine selling the most right now is ‘Tiger Balm.’ Once word spread among women, it has been consumed heavily for a dual purpose: scar removal and beauty care. In addition, several newly produced ‘cosmetics’ have also been improving in sales day by day, and it’s expected they will soon surpass even God’s Blessing, which is currently our number-two in revenue.”

When I thought about the sales volume of God’s Blessing, it was hard to understand, so I asked just in case.

“Tiger Balm… how much is it selling?”

“For Tiger Balm made from the Tiger’s Fang Grass within the domain, it is traded at one gold coin per jar. For Tiger Balm made from Tiger’s Fang Grass from the Forest of the Demon Dragon, it is traded at ten gold coins.”

“Because of the difference in effect?”

“That’s right.”

I thought it was absurd that it was being traded at such prices. Tiger’s Fang Grass had been treated as basically a “weed” in this world. You could harvest it anywhere, and by this world’s standards, it was practically like “grass.” And yet, this kind of revenue…

I could only click my tongue again at women’s fervor.

‘Targeted products really do sell well… but…’

“The quantity of healing potions is surging?”

At my question, Linda pulled out a new sheet and spoke.

“Currently, the war in the Atoon Kingdom, which borders the empire, is intensifying.”

“Sounds like you’re obtaining information separately?”

“Yes. International affairs are important. First, in Atoon’s case, it appears they pulled every army that had been holding the front line back to the capital, effectively yielding the battlefield to the Demon Tribe.”

“…Are they insane?”

“It seems so. At present, Atoon’s situation has been investigated as follows: the king was deposed, and the First Prince, Jillien de Atoon, took the seat and is running state affairs. Near the capital, the elite of House Ishtain and the elite of the Terakan Empire have formed a combined front line and are trying to prevent the capital’s fall somehow, but the outlook is that it’s uncertain whether it will work.”

“So that’s why the healing potions being sold there are surging, right?”

At my words, Linda shook her head and said that was not it. I wondered what it was, and Linda sighed before speaking to me.

“There is news that war profiteers are price-gouging, and we are trying to control it for now, but it isn’t easy.”

At the words “war profiteers,” I frowned. They were people who followed dangerous battlefields to make money, and they were the kind who gouged prices. I was sure they were selling healing potions to the war zone at an outrageous markup.

“What is the empire saying?”

“They say there is no way to stop them. So they’ve sent a negotiation proposal suggesting that, if possible, you personally persuade Princess Riana and send a large shipment of healing potions there.”

“I’ve never seen— Ah, is this it…?”

I awkwardly looked at Linda while staring at the ornate stack of documents buried under the pile, and she spoke to me.

“I know you’re busy, but I have reminded you several times to treat documents from the imperial household as high priority…”

At the nagging, I smiled awkwardly and hurriedly began reviewing the papers. And as I clearly sensed how bad the situation at the front was, I asked Linda.

“At what level do you think we should set the price of the healing potions?”

“The released supply is one factor, but I think we also need to account for lowering the inflated prices war profiteers have created. Moreover, if we sell too cheaply, soldiers might sell them off to war profiteers for personal gain instead of using them as supplies…”

“That is definitely a problem…”

I could not get a feel for how to rein it in. But leaving it alone felt like I would just be fattening the wrong people, and as I worried, one idea came to mind.

“How about taking tips?”

“Tips?”

“Yes. If someone reports—with evidence—that a war profiteer marked up goods bought from our merchant company by more than double, we reward the tip.”

“And then?”

“After warning that merchant, if they’re caught a second time, we put them on a monitored blacklist so they can’t buy the goods at all.”

“Will it work…?”

“It will work better than doing nothing, but I want to say this means it’s time to bring in an information guild.”

At my words, Linda let out a sigh.