Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
The city of Kennelsen was an agricultural town surrounded by fertile land.
Many of the agricultural products produced here were exported all over the continent.
In the Central Continent, it was very difficult to secure land due to the large number of monsters.
As a result, most of the cities relied on imports for grain, and Kennelsen was the town that produced the most grains.
In this sense, the agricultural area of Kennelsen could be said to be the sole provider of food for the Central Continent.
Of course, there were other products besides grains.
Meat could be obtained from monsters, so if Kennelsen were to fall, it would not immediately destroy the Central Continent. Nonetheless, Kennelsen was still a very important part of the Central Continent’s food supply.
Considering the fact that most of the grains of the four major cities of the Central Continent were imported from other continents by sea other than those that come from Kennelsen, one could understand how significant the change would be.
Mixen, despite being a city directly opposite to Kennelsen, did not experience high grain prices due to its location. The reason was because they used grain in lieu of cash as donations.
Merchants bought the grain stored in the church and sold it at the same price as the other cities.
The surrounding towns benefited from this arrangement, and grain does not become unnecessarily expensive.
The Central Continent’s food supply, that was how the people saw Kennelsen.
It was Kennelsen’s people, who were first to notice that their town’s reputation was about to change.
“This is… We’ve been had”
Hewrick muttered as he looked at the documents in his hands.
Inside the document was the most recent information on food trade.
For Kennelsen, the grain trade was the lifeline of the town, so the grain trade was strictly controlled.
Therefore, relatively accurate information was available, and his men were the first to inform him.
What was written was bad news.
“… Contact me for a meeting of the Six Marquis immediately. The sooner, the better.”
After telling this to the subordinate who brought the documents, Hewrick looked down at the documents to examine the information further.
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The Six Marquis controlled the economy and politics of Kennelsen.
It was decided because there were originally six representatives of the people who pioneered Kennelsen.
Because of the complete segregation of products, there were few conflicts among the Six Marquis.
There was a case in the past when conflict arose due to the overlapping of products. However, that was a case which appeared due to the intervention from the outside. Ever since then, the overlapping of products among the Six Marquis has been strictly prohibited.
Of course, new crops have emerged in the long history of the city, and where to produce them have been decided based on the discussion between the Six Marquis.
Therefore, it was not an exaggeration to say that the future of Kennelsen was determined by the decisions made at the Six Marquis Conference.
The meeting of the Six Marquis was being held at Hewrick’s call.
“I know you’re busy, but I’m sorry for calling you all here.”
Hewrick, who did not look sorry at all, started by saying so.
It had been an established rule for a long time that the person who called for the meeting of the Six Marquis, would preside over the meeting.
However, even in the case of an emergency, there was no obligation for any of the Marquis to attend.
It was possible to be absent at one’s own discretion.
Therefore, it was not unusual for the meeting to be held with missing members. In fact, it was uncommon for all members to be present.
This time, however, everyone was present.
That was why Hewrick held the meeting, because it was a serious matter for all of them.
“… We’re all here. I guess that answers one question.”
One of the Six Marquises said to him.
The other lords nodded.
“I see. Thank you for coming so quickly.”
The Six Marquises have a keen sense of smell when it comes to products such as grain.
This was probably one of the reasons why they have dominated Kennelsen for so many years.
“Well, I’ll be damned if I still need to let you see this document… I assume you’ve all done with your information gathering?”
“Of course.”
It was the only woman in Six Marquis who said that.
She was the only woman in the Six Marquis, but in the past, there was a time when all the Six Marquis had been women.
The Six Marquises themselves were chosen by their families, but it was not a matter of the eldest child becoming one, it was completely based on merit.
Unless they were born in the family, they cannot become a Six Marquis.
“As for me, I already told everyone about the situation before I hosted this meeting. Before the meeting began, I even went to investigate deeper, but the results didn’t make much difference.”
“We’re in a similar situation.”
“Mine, too.”
Hewrick’s words were followed by a series of nods from the others.
“… I see. They’ve got a perfect hit on us. Whether it was intentional or just a coincidence is a bit of a mystery.”
“The Schmidt there is said to have been a peddler. It seems that he has a strong connection with the agricultural side of the business.”
What they were now concerned about was the grain that Crown’s commercial division in Amamiya Tower was purchasing from Kennelsen.
Under normal circumstances, Kennelsen would be pleased, as it would increase their exports.
But there were circumstances that prevented them from simply being pleased.
About 10% of the current crop trade was being bought by Crown.
If that were all, there would be no problem. No, that would be a large amount, but it was not an issue because the transaction itself benefits Kennelsen as well.
What was the concern was the content.
Most of that 10% was through private producers and private merchants.
Of course, there were also purchases from places under the control of Six Marquis, but they were small in volume.
In the first place, it was already known that Schmidt had been buying from Kennelsen when he was a peddler.
It was also known that he was buying through the private producers and merchants mentioned above.
This was not surprising, since a merchant rarely purchased from the Merchant Associations.
This time, however, it was to their disadvantage.
Crown was now too big to be considered as a single Merchant Association, in the eyes of those who saw and judged it.
In a sense, it was only natural, since Crown was taking care of almost all the commerce of a small town.
As Crown held almost all the town’s commerce, the transactions it conducted would naturally be enormous.
They knew about this from the fact that Schmidt accounts for 10% of Kennelsen’s business.
The issue was that the transactions were done by individual producers and private merchants.
This meant that Crown could invite people to leave Kennelsen at any time.
Just like Crown’s adventurer division had done with their adventurers.
“Is that a problem?”
One of the Six Marquises questioned, but it turned out to be a confirmation, and one that was shared by everyone present.
“But how do we stop the outflow?”
The Six Marquises’ concern here were the private producers that Crown picked up.
If the producers were invited into the Tower, Kennelsen’s advantage could be lost.
No one here was delusional enough to believe that there was no such thing as farming inside the Towers.
They have visited the site and know that it was a good environment for production, even from the perspective of Monsters.
The Six Marquises were well aware of what would happen if individual producers used their skills to expand production in the Tower.
And that was nothing but a threat to Kennelsen.
“The outflow of people… We won’t be able to stop it. I’m more afraid of the repercussions of stopping it.”
Everyone let out a sigh at the conclusion of what one of them had said.
Because they all had to agree with what they concluded.
Coincidentally or inevitably, the meeting of those who were aware that Crown’s commercial activities were shaking the town of Kennelsen continued.