kscans

Chapter 25 - Chapter 5: Part 2. A Way to Share Risk and Return

I asked Rilka for the names of the merchant companies that were likely to be left out of the Shoken Festival.

"Are you sure about this?"

"It will be fine. I hear that Ricardo-kun is quite the strategist."

The princess must have picked up another strange word from Mia. I wish she wouldn’t keep raising the bar for me.

"The word ‘strategist’ feels so out of place with the princess’s look of complete trust. I get it. Um, the ones being left out, from under Kenwell, are Tritt, which is my family, Belmini, and Roston. As for the independents, there’s Dalgan, Meltil, Plural…"

Rilka rattled off the names effortlessly. It seemed her full name was Rilka Tritt. There were companies dealing in meat, dairy products, and vegetables, as well as those specializing in sweets. We had a pretty good lineup. There was even one for apparel. That could be useful for interior decorating.

"I haven’t heard of any of them."

"They’re all Silver members of the guild. Much more famous than Vinder. Just how little do you network?"

"Well, we’re only a Copper member."

And I’m a loner. Commercial Guild members are ranked. Dorefano, before his downfall, and the honorary noble Guild Master were sometimes given the special rank of Platinum. It’s disgusting. Normally, members belong to either the Gold, Silver, or Copper tiers. In Japanese terms, Gold would be like a major company listed on the main stock exchange. A great merchant with numerous companies under its umbrella. Silver members are either large independent companies or key subsidiaries under a Gold member. Copper is below Silver, what you would call small to medium sized enterprises. All of them are at a scale to operate a shop in the city.

Though our company is tiny in scale.

Traveling merchants belong to a separate Itinerant Merchant Guild, which is of course ranked below Copper. Until a few years ago, or what feels like yesterday from the perspective of the great merchants, that’s where we were.

"How can a Copper member afford to send two people to the academy? The more I think about it, the stranger it all seems."

"We just got lucky and struck it big with honey."

"And striking it big once lets you become friends with a princess and use a sage’s room whenever you please?"

"You’re getting off topic."

By the way, you’re probably already considered a friend in Her Highness’s mind. You’d better watch out for Claudia.

And with that, I finally had all the information I needed.

"Anyway. To sum up everything we’ve discussed."

I pointed to the academy schematic I had borrowed from Rilka. Everyone’s gaze focused on it.

"As for tenant spaces, these six rooms on the first floor are our prime targets."

"Wait a minute, aren’t those all tiny rooms? They’re barely a third the size of a classroom. Besides, most of them are just storage rooms. You can’t seat any customers in there, can you? The second floor would be better."

She had a point. The first floor had many cloakrooms and waiting rooms, so there were few proper spaces to begin with. But considering access to the courtyard, we had no other choice.

"The customers won’t go into the rooms. All six of these rooms face the courtyard, you see. We’ll do all the cooking inside, and the customers from all six shops will be seated out here."

I drew an oval in the courtyard. Yes, what I was trying to create was a food court, like the ones in the large shopping centers of my former world.

"A shared space!?"

"I’ll call it a food court. Customers will order from various shops and then come to the courtyard. The shops will deliver what was ordered. For instance, even if a group of friends wants to eat different things, they can each order from the shop they like and still eat together in the same place. Plus, since it’s shared by six shops, we’ll waste less seating."

Even a party of samurai and knights could dine without fighting. Not that we have any samurai here. I hammered home the advantages before Rilka could object. The approach is critical when explaining something completely new.

"Well, that sounds very lively and enjoyable."

That was Alfina’s take. She was right, this way we wouldn’t be a lonely little stall out in the courtyard. My escape from solitude. But I couldn’t rely on the senses of a princess who had recently been honing her commoner sensibilities. They were questionable to begin with.

The person I was counting on was the daughter of a merchant family that regularly dealt with nobles, unlike me or a count’s daughter.

"I’d like to hear Claudia-dono’s opinion."

"What will you do if it rains?"

Oh, she went right for a tough spot. I drew something like a large parasol on the stone slate.

"We’ll consider connecting it to the covered walkway and add a minimal roof. If the rain gets too heavy, we’ll have to retreat for the day. If people complain, we’ll just use this as the guest area."

I could probably work something out in the Sage’s room. After being pushed into using the courtyard, I couldn’t be expected to manage the rain, too. I’d just complain to the student council that it’s for the customers’ protection. I’d probably be disqualified for failing to meet the conditions of using the courtyard, but so be it.

"What about the seats?"

"There should be some spare ones from the classrooms. Rilka, your associates have secured rooms, haven’t they? Can you arrange to borrow some?"

"I think I can manage that if I ask."

"Also, I hear the original desks and chairs from here were tossed into a storage room, so we’ll use those as well."

"Senpai, I don’t believe they were very clean."

"They’re the legendary desks where the Sage devised his plans to save the nation."

It wouldn’t be nearly enough for six separate shops, but with a food court model, we’d only need about half that number at most.

"Anything else?"

"…………Where do you intend for Her Highness to sit?"

"Position wise, I plan to set up something like a management office right around here. A spot where anyone coming to greet Alfina-sama will have a full view of all the participating shop fronts."

"Do you intend to use Her Highness as a lure for customers?"

"...My apologies. She won’t have to recommend any of the shops."

I apologized to Claudia. I had wanted Alfina to enjoy the festival as naturally as possible, but it couldn’t be helped.

"I would be happy to be of service. Though I know it will be a burden for you, Clau."

"Not at all, if that is what Your Highness wishes. …Vinder, that is all from me."

"That was a great help. Rilka?"

Her points were different from what I’d expected, but Claudia had clearly given it some thought. Next up was the girl staring at the floor plan with an anxious look on her face.

"I’ve never heard of a method like this, but it certainly solves our biggest problem of limited space. I think the format itself has a certain novelty. But, it’s no good. There are far too many problems."

Rilka stood up and pointed at the courtyard.

"Even if we bring out chairs and tables, creating a seating area for nobles in this empty space will require a significant investment. Even if it’s not for six full shops, you’ll need at least half that number of tables. Twenty, right? The umbrellas alone will cost a fortune, and we can’t just have them on the bare ground, so we’ll need flooring as well."

"The rent for the space should be cheap. You should complain endlessly about how small the tenant spaces are. You were going to need things like interior decorations, tablecloths, and napkins anyway, right? As for the cost of the food court. We’ll split that seven ways, among the six companies and us."

"Financially, that might work. But there’s no way seven separate merchant companies can run a shared space together. They’ll never reach an agreement. Besides, with you as the leader, well…"

Ah, I see. It would be like the Western Army at the Battle of Sekigahara, trying to fight under Ishida Mitsunari. I, Vinder, can’t even compare to Ishida Mitsunari. I’m more like Nagatsuka Masaie, or maybe Kasuya Takenori.

Rilka glanced at Alfina. She would certainly be a much more reliable figurehead than Toyotomi Hideyori. Of course, as I’d said earlier, I would have to make indirect use of her influence.

But if the supervisor gets directly involved in the management, there’s no telling what kind of false accusations we might face later.

And, though this is purely for my own convenience, it would diminish the evaluation of the system I’m trying to test on this occasion. I wouldn’t be able to persuade her aunt.

"I have an idea about how to bring everyone together."

"And what’s that?"

"We’ll create a temporary parent company through joint investment, with these seven companies as its subsidiaries. Let’s call it Mock Shop Holdings. We’ll have this holding company manage the shared space."

"A holding company? I’ve never heard of such a preposterous method. The children gathering to create a parent, instead of the other way around?"

Rilka looked dumbfounded. Of course, without any backing of power or legal guarantees, such a thing would normally be impossible. But this time, it only needs to last for twenty days at most. And we’re facing a common crisis. Even a castle made of sand should be able to stand for that long.

Provided, of course, that we operate under the assumption that there will be betrayals.

"We’ll use a form of investment called stocks. The stocks will be distributed according to the amount invested. To put it simply, if each of the seven companies invests ten gold coins, the holding company’s capital becomes seventy gold coins, right? In exchange, each company holds ten shares. Then, we use this capital to set up the seating in the courtyard. In other words, the enormous risk of creating a shared seating area gets distributed among seven companies."

"I see… But if the investment is equal, isn’t that more advantageous for the shops that get more customers?"

"We’ll charge a usage fee for each seat used by a shop. Those fees will be collected by the holding company and, at the very end, distributed according to the number of shares each company holds. If the food court thrives, everyone profits."

Rilka fell silent. I actually had one more trick up my sleeve, but I couldn’t say anything for certain until I saw the members.

"Distribute the risk, and distribute the profits in a clear-cut way… A system to bind disparate merchant companies together with risk and profit, uniting them as one. Why? This method sounds completely insane, yet it also sounds perfectly logical."

Of course it does. It’s a method that was refined over years in my old world for the purpose of managing organizations.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Recruit potential participants. In other words, find the companies that have been backed into a corner by the current rules and have no choice but to cling to this tall tale."

I said. Rilka clenched her hands into tight fists. In an instant, my classmate’s face had become that of a merchant.

"...I have no other choice. Fine, I’m in on this. However, the most I can do is bring the potential members to you."

"Yeah, that’s more than enough. If I were the one asking, not a single company would agree to join."

"That’s not something to be proud of."

Rilka gave a wry smile. I hope she can forgive me for that. It’s precisely because of my weakness that I have to rely on a system.

"...I’ll arrange for the tables and chairs as soon as possible. I’ll try to have it done by the time you give your explanation of Mock Shop Holdings."

"I appreciate it."

Just knowing that Kenwell is cooperative will be enough to put potential members at ease. I bowed my head to Rilka.

"But don’t think it’ll be easy. Those independent types are a proud bunch. Don’t assume they’ll just jump at the bait because they’re in trouble."

"I know."

I looked at Mia. My reliable secretary nodded. I would have her gather information on the prospective participants.

"That was a most interesting discussion. Do merchant families always have such conversations?"

Alfina said, sounding impressed.

"They do not, Your Highness. This man is definitely not normal."

Rilka said with an air of resignation. No, this was a perfectly normal way of doing things in my old world.

"Vinder…"

"Yeah. You were a big help today."

As the meeting concluded and everyone was preparing to leave, Rilka approached me.

"There’s something I want to say to you. Um… if things had stayed as they were, I don’t think we would have even been able to participate. So,"

"There’s no guarantee this will work out."

"Even if it doesn’t. Thank you. I’m grateful."

Rilka bowed her head to me.

"No, it’s fine. I wasn’t exactly thrilled about the idea of running a lonely food stall in the courtyard by myself either."

Besides, I have ulterior motives, like using this as a trial run to convince the Grand Duchess of the merits of a stock-based system. And I want information on the Empire, too. I’m making sure to secure my own profits.

"Can I ask just one more thing?"

"Go ahead."

"This holding company? You didn’t just come up with that on the spot, did you? How did you learn about it?"

"That’s a trade secret. Let’s just say I’ve been thinking about it for at least the last five years."

I used my ultimate technique. The trade secret. Rilka’s eyes searched mine for a moment, then she chuckled.

"Senpai is more incredible than the Sage, huh. I see."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, just talking to myself. I know I’m repeating myself, but you’d better be fired up when you try to persuade the other members. They’re not like the people here today."

"That’s right, Senpai. They aren’t as gullible as the people here."

"I am not gullible! That’s not the point, Mia. Vinder is unreliable, so I need you to get a firm grasp of all the participants."

The two of them began exchanging information. Gullible? If you ask me, the people gathered here are plenty troublesome in their own right.