Chapter 143
Chapter 143: It’s Really a Great Opportunity, You Know? (1)
From the day after the banquet ended, things started moving quickly.
Under the orders of Marquis Branford, slave traders from various regions came to see Ghislaine.
Considering they dealt with other-race slaves, these were big shots, but in front of Ghislaine, they all floundered.
“Um… Are you really able to handle such a large quantity? I know you’re very interested in other-race slaves, but the numbers are too much.”
“If your cash flow gets blocked, you might go bankrupt. Other-race slaves are proud; they’ll be difficult to manage.”
It was an ironic situation where the sellers worrying more than the buyer themselves.
Ghislaine responded with a relaxed expression.
“I see the merchants are worried about their customers. Don’t worry; I’ll have the money ready, and I’ll manage them myself.”
The slave traders exchanged furtive glances and nodded slightly.
‘Ugh, making a big deal with such a rookie is taboo…’
‘But it’s someone the Marquis Branford is pushing. There’s no way to refuse. Most of the Crown Prince faction nobles support this, right?’
Ghislaine stared at the hesitating slave traders and issued a warning.
“You need to bring every single one without fail. If there’s a problem… you know what that means, right?”
“Is there a question about it? Don’t worry. But please, I do ask that the payment be made promptly. The amount is so large that it makes me a little anxious.”
“I’ll give you the remaining balance on the promised date, so just send the people over.”
Ghislaine replied curtly.
Even though cosmetics were selling well, she couldn’t handle that enormous sum at once.
However, considering the amount, the slave traders insisted they wouldn’t accept installments without collateral.
“Don’t forget that the Perdium Territory is being used as collateral.”
“I get it. Just make sure the work is done properly.”
“Did you get permission from Count Perdium?”
Ghislaine spoke boldly without batting an eye.
“I’m the heir there, so don’t worry, just go.”
“Ahem, understood. Then I will prepare as quickly as possible. See you in the territory.”
“Oh, and don’t forget to send the dwarves first. Especially the ones I mentioned must be brought back safely.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll handle that as a top priority.”
“Right, they won’t be going far.”
The slave traders left with uneasy expressions.
‘Damn it, if things go wrong, I’ll have to protest to the Branford house and shift the responsibility… Will they accept it?’
‘The collateral territory is a barren place at the northern edge, right? The thought of splitting it to sell makes my head hurt.’
‘With everything sold, I should be feeling good, but why do I feel so uneasy?’
Once the slave traders left, Belinda clicked her tongue and murmured.
“If Count Perdium hears about this, he’ll faint.”
“It’s fine. Father is always in trouble regardless of me.”
Belinda sighed heavily and shook her head.
“Buying slaves is one thing. What are you going to do about the immigrants?”
“What do you mean?”
“Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands might come. We’ll have to provide food, clothing, and shelter until they settle down; that’s going to cost an astronomical sum.”
“It’s fine. I saw how wheat will grow then. We can handle it all.”
“No, can a person live on bread alone? What about the other things?”
“Sure, it’ll cost money while settling in at first, but once we grow in numbers, the market will activate quickly.”
That wasn’t false. However, it would only be possible once the fundamental problems were resolved.
“Suddenly relocated people don’t have any money. How are they supposed to go to the market? They need jobs to earn and spend money.”
“People in urgent need can be put to work immediately on the territory’s facilities. And…”
“And what?”
“All the able-bodied men will be made soldiers. Our territory is severely lacking in standing troops. That should solve the problem, right?”
“Whoa…”
Belinda was speechless at the sheer scale of the idea.
To make every last one a soldier was no small feat.
Belinda grabbed Claude and asked.
“Is that even feasible? Can it really be done?”
Claude nodded.
It’s a radical idea, but a plausible one. At this time, there are plenty of people who will become soldiers if you just feed and shelter them.
It’s just that nobody has the money for it, so they can’t try.
“It’s possible if we funnel all the profits from the Runestones and cosmetics into it. If we can just hold on until the economy activates to some degree early on, it should run smoothly. But…”
“But what?”
“The problem is that you’ll spend every penny you earn. The finances will be tight for a few years.”
“That’s what I figured, right? The volume will increase over time, so why the rush?”
Claude scratched his chin and voiced his thoughts.
“Well… Isn’t it about preparing for war?”
“War?!”
Belinda exclaimed loudly, then quickly covered her mouth in shock.
Then she asked quietly again.
“War? With whom? Who’s coming?”
“Um, there are plenty of places that could invade. Desmond might come for a revenge raid… or other territories might take an interest in ours.”
Belinda squinted her eyes and asked back.
“Desmond, I can understand, but what about other places?”
“It’s about food. Right now, we’ve got the territory under maximum lockdown, but eventually, rumors will spread that production capacity has increased. Then more people will come looking for it.”
“Yeah, we were preparing for war back when we first got the Runestones for similar reasons.”
Claude nodded and then slyly looked at Ghislaine while lowering his voice.
“I think I’m right. The Lord won’t just attack someone out of the blue, right?”
“Of course not, our Young Master isn’t that kind of person.”
“Right, if he did it without reason, he’d just be a thug. It fits, though. Hahaha.”
“I can hear you, slave.”
Ghislaine narrowed her eyes and glared at Claude.
Startled, Claude, who had been laughing and joking with Belinda, hurriedly retreated at her look.
Ghislaine clicked her tongue and fell back into contemplation.
‘My budget is too tight. It’s hard to start the next plan under these circumstances. I can’t sell all the Runestones since I have other uses for them.’
To execute the next plan, an astronomical sum is needed, and under the current conditions, it would take too long.
‘I need to find a way to generate a lump sum faster.’
Having met with the slave traders, there was no longer a reason to stay in the capital.
With the cosmetics sale stabilizing, she thought it was time to return to the territory and look for other income sources.
Unless the situation took a strange turn, that is.
“Hey, move aside!”
“Oh! I was here first!”
“Won’t you step aside right now?”
The entrance to the Crow mansion was packed with customers coming to buy cosmetics.
After the banquet ended, more people started showing up, and it eventually got to the point where they couldn’t fit any more guests inside the mansion.
“I heard Baron Penris treated the Young Lady’s illness?”
“Apparently, it’s all thanks to that cosmetic’s effectiveness.”
“Oh my, I need to buy that quickly!”
Hearing the rumors, noblemen living in the capital, as well as local lords and fast-moving merchants flocked to the mansion.
At first, it was manageable since only the servants of noble families came, but when impatient nobles started arriving in person, the problem escalated.
They were the kind of people who had never stood in line or taken turns in their entire lives.
Line? What’s that? Is it something to eat?
“Hey! Who do you think you are blocking my way!”
With a single shout from a noble, the servants who had been standing in line disappeared in fear.
But would the nobles remain quiet upon hearing their servants were thrown out?
Thus began a vicious cycle where arriving nobles would throw out their servants, only for them to return again.
Claude tried to step forward and control the crowd, but it was completely ineffective.
“Please, form a line! A line!”
No matter how much he shouted, the proud nobles paid him no mind.
If there was a difference in rank, they could at least stand in line according to that, but among nobles of similar rank and influence, that method didn’t work either.
Due to nobles coming from all over the kingdom, it made no sense to divide them into ranks.
Some lower-ranking nobles started glaring at each other and arguing.
“I was here first!”
“What are you talking about? I was here first! Did you leave your eyes at home?”
“What? Do you know who’s behind me? The Count Boyer won’t let this slide!”
“How dare you use someone’s name? If you don’t want to get in trouble with Count Bromson, you better clear off!”
This kind of back-and-forth using acquaintances’ names happened many times a day.
Those who only argued were considered the more reasonable ones.
Nobles who typically didn’t get along saw each other in front of the mansion and immediately drew swords.
“You chose the wrong day to mess with me. I have the justification to strike first.”
“Ha! It seems you have finally picked your day to die! What an excellent day it is!”
Clang!
The hapless guard knights could only swing their swords at each other, unable to disobey their masters’ orders.
“A fight! A fight!”
Of course, no one wanted to miss such a fun spectacle.
Even those nearby who weren’t planning on buying cosmetics gathered in front of the mansion to watch the fight.
“Uh-oh, it’s a disaster. The area in front of the mansion has turned into chaos. We can’t let anyone in. If we’re not careful, there might be a riot.”
Claude hurriedly came to inform Ghislaine. Ghislaine, flustered, rushed to the front of the mansion.
“Whoa… This wasn’t part of the plan.”
The entrance to the mansion was pure chaos.
People were fighting, others were watching, and even neighborhood dogs that had followed their owners mixed in, creating utter pandemonium. A battlefield wouldn’t ever be this chaotic.
“Please move aside a bit! Don’t block the way!”
“I was here first! Ah, don’t push me!”
Woof! Bark!
“Hey! Can you keep the dog barking down?!”
Ghislaine, staring dumbstruck at the scene, chuckled and said.
“Wow, this is really a mess.”
Claude, looking completely deflated, grumbled.
“They’re all trying to get in first, so we’ve shut the door for now. If we open it now, the mansion will be taken over by those guys. They’ll just take the cosmetics with them. What do we do now?”
“Um…”
Ghislaine found herself in a challenging situation. She couldn’t just smash everyone in her path.
“Oh, we need to return to the territory.”
As Ghislaine muttered, Claude looked at her in disbelief.
“In this state? If we go back now, the mansion will be stripped bare! The servants won’t be able to stop them.”
“What should we do then?”
“We need to stay and manage it somehow.”
“Ah, I need to get back soon.”
“It’s not something that can be discussed. We can’t handle this right now, understand? The servants won’t hold out.”
Ghislaine pondered for a moment before speaking.
“If it’s unmanageable, then we need to let someone who can manage it take over.”
“What?”
“We’re halting sales for the time being.”
“What do you mean…?”
Before Claude could finish his sentence, Ghislaine leaped up onto one wall of the mansion and shouted.
“We are suspending sales for the time being! Please disperse! We will reopen in a few days!”
At her words, the nobles gathered shouted in confusion.
“What do you mean? We’ve been waiting since morning! I absolutely need to buy something today!”
“Baron Penris! It’s me! Me! You saw me at the banquet, didn’t you?”
“Baron Penris! You can’t do this! Please let us buy first!”
As Ghislaine appeared, the commotion only grew louder.
With no hesitation, Ghislaine yelled back at the nobles’ protests.
“Hey! Block the main entrance completely! Sales are ending today!”
Claude and the close associates exchanged startled glances, bewildered.
Things were just starting to pick up, and if they drove all the guests away like this, who knows what would be said afterward.
“My Lord… No matter how you look at it, this many guests…”
Claude cautiously opened his mouth, but Ghislaine cut him off with an irritated tone.
“What are you doing? Hurry up and close the door completely.”
‘Ah, what’s with her now?’
Claude muttered inwardly and called for the mercenaries.
If a disturbance broke out, he prepped wooden boards and carts that were ready to block the entrance to the mansion.
Bang! Bang!
As the bars on the main entrance were all covered, preventing view from the inside, the nobles protested loudly.
“This is treating us with complete disregard!”
“Why aren’t you selling!”
“Open the door quickly! Let’s talk for a bit!”
But there was no response from behind the blocked door.
