kscans

Chapter 116 - Chapter 4: Part 2. Piggyback Business

"Who will speak, Prince Delnius or Grand Duke Kurtheite?"

At the Chancellor's words, the two men pointed at each other. The agitation on the left side of the room grew. The Chancellor maintained a polite silence. After a silent battle of wills, the Second Prince restlessly stood up. Since Prince Craig was the one who was supposed to be here, it was only fitting that Delnius should be the one to rise. Perhaps the Chancellor’s asking was a calculated move.

"I... if only the relationship between the Kingdom and the Empire were maintained, a ridiculous situation like this would never have happened," the Second Prince said.

After that disgraceful display, and with the discussion now based on our own assumptions, the debate was already over. In the first place...

I glanced at the expressions of the neutral faction. The Prince was speaking of the disadvantages of losing trade with the Empire, yet his conciliatory argument was barely holding their attention. The neutral nobles were whispering amongst themselves, their anxiety focused on the future danger that had just been so clearly demonstrated.

People hate fear. They possess an innate desire to ignore it. And because they hate fear, they wish to side with optimism. This is especially true of fears that are vague and ambiguous.

But the moment a fear is recognized as something that cannot be ignored, the opposite is true.

Fear grips the human mind with a force far stronger than optimism. In other words, they could no longer spare any thought for the Second Prince's optimistic peace talks.

It is the same as how a starving man cannot find it in himself to admire a beautiful flower. That is because the role of the emotion called fear is to prioritize our response to a threat against our very survival.

"Th... then if this is an Imperial invasion, why doesn't the crystal of prophecy announce it? Isn't that strange?" the Second Prince said, clenching his fists as if spitting out the words.

"Sage Fulsy, your opinion?" the Chancellor asked in a calm tone.

"Prince Delnius makes a rather good point. From our analysis so far, the crystal's prophecies correspond to changes in the mana veins. Therefore, if the prophecy were to indicate an Imperial invasion, it would have to have been at least five years ago," Fulsy stated.

At Fulsy's words, the Second Prince powerlessly lowered his arms. That must have been his last card. Of course, we had already considered that possibility. I have no idea who the Oracle Princess was five years ago, but she must have been nothing more than a figurehead.

"Those in favor of strengthening our preparations against the Empire, please raise your hands."

At the Chancellor's words, the majority of the assembly signaled their approval. In response, the King slowly nodded.

"However, to crush any possibility of avoiding war would also be a foolish plan. I would like Grand Duke Kurtheite to use his existing relationship with the Empire and take charge of negotiations for Princess Lisabet's return."

An expression of overt relief washed over Grand Duke Kurtheite’s face. He must think he has saved face as a pro-Imperial noble.

Well, if it can delay the start of the war by even a single day, it’s a small price to pay. For the sake of their own profit and pride, I hope he and the Second Prince do their very best.

◇◇

The meeting concluded without incident, and we returned to the waiting room.

I think I managed to play a good background role this time. I didn't challenge the Chancellor or appeal directly to the King. From a self-preservation standpoint, I was quite satisfied.

"Making me speak about how to destroy the Kingdom. You haven't changed a bit, Ricardo," Craig said.

"You were perfect for the role."

If this prince had been born in the Empire, he might have actually done it.

"Even the Commander of the First Knight Order couldn't resist and took the bait," Euphillia said with a wry smile.

"You decided the outcome of the debate without saying a single word in the meeting. I had heard from the Prince and the Grand Duchess that you were unskilled in politics and negotiations, but what was all that about?" the Chancellor said, looking at me.

"No, no, even if I'd had the right to speak, I couldn't have swayed a single person. It was just a bit of unconventional thinking, the kind only a commoner would have."

All it was was a little knowledge of behavioral economics.

"...In any case, turning that situation around was a great achievement. Next, we will pretend to assist the negotiations between the Empire and Kurtheite while deliberately dragging them out. We shall make a move to ensure the First Knight Order and the Second Prince Faction fight over custody of Princess Lisabet," the Chancellor said.

So, buy time while driving a wedge between the commander of the First Knight Order, who has significant influence over the neutral faction, and his rivals. See? The professionals in politics are on a whole other level of deviousness.

"Let's ensure that information about the Imperial Princess grasping the secret to defeating the dragon reaches the Empire through a channel completely unrelated to the Second Prince Faction. Then, we will make them believe they can obtain a portion of the pollen stored by the Anti-Monster Knight Order."

"There are men in the Anti-Monster Knight Order with ties to the Second Prince Faction. We shall use them."

After setting the stage perfectly, we would then hand the pollen to Lisabet ourselves. By confusing the Empire with information from multiple sources, we would force them into a position where they had no choice but to test the pollen's power.

"So, what will you do now?"

"Let's see. I'd like to do something much more fitting for a merchant than helping with today's meeting."

I wanted to take advantage of the current situation as well. To use the state of war to change existing regulations. First on the list was putting the finishing touches on my logistics revolution.

"I want the Kingdom to establish a standard unit for cargo," I said.

In the language of my former world, it was the establishment of standards for containers. The concept of conducting all transport using a single, standardized box. On Earth, goods could travel from their point of origin by truck to a train, from the train to a ship at port, and from the arrival port by train and then truck, ultimately reaching their destination without ever being reloaded.

Conversely, one could say that trucks, freight trains, and container ships were all built to accommodate these containers.

Of course, containers were viable largely due to the ability to bundle heavy loads with machinery, the high degree of product standardization, and above all, the necessity of mass long-distance transport.

This world has goods of varying densities, and transport is fundamentally reliant on human and horse power. Naturally, the true standard is weight. However, as a rough guideline for management, volume can provide a common standard.

I believe it would be useful, for instance, in calculating how many standard-sized boxes can be loaded onto a carriage bed.

The rest will be up to the ingenuity of each industry. Given the current crisis, we'll use food, a standardized product transported in massive quantities during wartime, as the baseline. From there, other industries can use that as a reference to innovate and adapt.

"It won't be ready right from the start. But it will streamline supplies, the most crucial element of war. And by unifying the standard, cooperation between the private and military sectors will become much smoother. We'll use that as a model case to spread it as a standard for all commercial activity."

Of course, we at the Bertold Workshop, who have this information early, will be one or two steps ahead of everyone else in manufacturing carriage beds that fit the new standard.

I've been worked to the bone without a single day off. If I don't get at least this much profit out of it, I can't go on.

"Ricardo, now is—"

"Ah, and when we think about future trade with the Empire, we must also consider loading onto ships," I added. After the war, assuming we make it there safely, we will need to foster vigorous trade with the Empire. That is how we will prevent the next war.

"...While I am worried about the damage to Bertold, you are already talking about making a profit," Euphillia murmured.

"This is related to the Knight Order's preparations. Let's consider cooperation with the Food Guild. Adele," Craig commanded one of his subordinates.

"Yes, sir. I will move on it immediately."

Now, what about the masterminds of the regulations? Both Grand Duke Kurtheite and the head of the Carriage Guild were the de facto war criminals of the last disaster. Even the Chancellor shouldn't be able to object.

"Given the circumstances, the Chancellor's Office will also cooperate," the Chancellor said, sounding displeased.

War is a misfortune. In the grand calculus of profit and loss, it is undoubtedly a negative. But that doesn't mean there are no means to extract a positive from it. For example, though the circumstances were different, the Empire likely strengthened itself through its endless battles with monsters.

Well, whatever the case, none of this matters unless we defeat the Empire. And to do that, there are two things that must be done.

"The rest is up to the Great Sage," I said, as if my part was over, glancing at the old man dozing in the corner of the room. We had to develop a fundamental countermeasure to the Empire's superior magic technology. Until that is accomplished, no matter how much time we buy, the Kingdom's chances of victory will remain slim.

We will have to visit Rubel Wald, the Red Forest. I'll need Craig to provide some knight escorts.