Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Even for those who had surpassed human limits and were not interested in kingdoms possessed their own interests and needs. For Leon, although he was a super master who was not interested in being a king, he was interested in developing Garth City and the Void Mask Church.
“Lord, do you have an interest in reading our policy report? Every year, I will form a report on our policies and analyze the year’s happenings. Through this, I’ve found that my governing skills and administrative skills are lacking, and I made changes accordingly. However, these flaws have lessened over the years. Maybe I’m just not observant enough anymore.”
Sui Xiong agreed and took a copy of a report. This was from last year, and it reported that the biggest issue was that some merchant partners were unstable.
Garth City had several trade routes, and they were connected by a few important merchant partners. Last year, the two merchant partners in the South were not doing well. For example, the Mifata Federation’s Yun-ta City had originally sold Garth City large amounts of art and raw materials from the Orcs in exchange for spices and deep-sea gems. However, from last year, they reduced their sales and only sold about 70% of what they had offered the previous year.
“How about this year? How’s the condition with Yun-ta City?” Sui Xiong asked curiously.
“Currently, it’s fine. It’s still at about 70%. However, ever since Golden Tower City was destroyed, these numbers have been threateningly unstable. To be blunt, this route was meant to collect materials from Mifata’s northwestern area to be transported to Yun-ta City before being transferred to Garth. With the independence of Golden Tower City previously, it had already greatly impacted the route’s usage. Now, with the city gone, the route has met with severe issues, and we are unsure when this will be resolved.”
“Golden Tower City? Mifata still allowed them to maintain the route despite gaining independence?”
“Politics are politics, but trade is trade. The only difference would be that Mifata could impose extra taxes. However, it would be tough to do so as Golden Tower City is rather strong, and there aren’t many strong cities along the route. Golden Tower City had altered the route to prevent intersection with powerful cities and specifically allowed the weaker cities to increase their capital over time. Overall, the route is feasible.”
“So… In that case, even with the destruction of Golden Tower City, the route should still function, right? It links the northwestern part of Mifata to Garth City and should be functional without Golden Tower City as a middleman.”
“No, there is a big difference. Golden Tower City was the business hub of northwestern Mifata, and many items are sold and gathered there. With its loss, that function will not be possible. However, Yun-ta City has expressed that they are finding an alternative. They estimate that after one to two years, this route can be fully restored. However, prices may increase by 50%.”
“With such prices, is trade still worthwhile?”
“Of course, we ourselves experience inflation too. Trade is like that; we follow the general economic trend. Even if overall trade falls a little, it will not affect our profits too much.”
“If we slightly decrease our profit margin, can we maintain our current trade framework?” Sui Xiong asked.
“I’ve calculated this before. From an economic sense, it would be feasible. However, from a governor’s perspective, no. Furthermore, Yun-ta City is not our only partner. If they raise prices, so will others, and we will suffer losses.”
“Why would others follow suit? They’re not losing anything currently.”
“Merchants do not care about that. They only bother about rising and falling prices. Trade is like fighting a war. The reasons don’t matter; what matters is victory. Similarly, merchants only care about profit. At the end of the day, we are still doing business; we are not a charity. We cannot go against our own framework because of others’ ill luck. I know you’re worried about the smaller merchants as well as hunters and explorers. Well, I can compensate them in other ways such as by starting a subsidy scheme… but I cannot give way in the sense of prices as that would be a business mistake.”
Sui Xiong nodded in satisfaction as he trusted Leon to do what he promised.
He did not really care about the merchants’ profits as they were already wealthy. Even if they splurged excessively now, their current wealth would be able to sustain them for decades. Conversely, the smaller merchants or the “providers” at the bottom of the merchants’ social hierarchy worried him.
With the increase in prices and the narrowing of trade, these providers’ profits would take a hit. Items of low quality may be rejected, or larger merchants could take this chance to force providers to sign unfair contracts. This was to be expected and was common. Thus, Sui Xiong wished to protect the interests of these providers and not cause them to become victims. Since Leon had already made plans, Sui Xiong did not nag further as he had faith in Leon.
Over these few years, Leon had always handled matters well.
After the trade discussion, Sui Xiong queried on why there had been nothing special or unique that happened this year.
After some consideration, Leon mentioned, “This is probably because this year during summer, I felt that there were some powerful currents in the sea near our city, but only for a while. At that time, I was preoccupied and did not investigate further. Afterward, I never felt it again and thus left the matter alone.”
“Oh? What kind of force was it?”
“Something similar to that of Angry Tide Heimsarah. It’s just that it felt more recognizable and calmer, akin to that of a sharp knife being whittled to a strong iron ball…”
Sui Xiong was joyful. Previously, when Angry Tide Heimsarah had chosen to take a deep sleep near Garth City, it was meant to protect the city. Although Leon was now strong enough to protect the city himself, Angry Tide Heimsarah still lived up to his promise.
Upon hearing Leon, Sui Xiong could assume that Angry Tide Heimsarah had managed to fully harness its own strength, which it had previously mentioned would take at least 100 to 300 years. Sui Xiong thus bid farewell to Leon and flew out of Garth City to pay Angry Tide Heimsarah a visit at the bottom of the sea.
