Chapter 51. Paper is a great way to make money. (6) Around that time, Queen Elia let out a deep sigh.
“The world really only turns against its will.”
“mother. What do you mean?”
Hearing the muttering of his mother, her son, the first prince, asked in a worried tone.
As a mother who always smiles benevolently, it seems that she does not fully understand the meaning of the sigh.
Moreover, now my son and I are drinking tea alone.
It was all the more strange that my mother rarely sighed at a time like this.
Elia slowly shook her head in concern for her son.
“It is nothing. There were some decorations that I didn’t like.”
decoration? What are you talking about?
“It was a decoration that really wasn’t the mother’s taste. The color is dull and there is no quality. First of all, really cheeky decorations.”
Can decor be cheeky?
Jeil felt something strange, but didn’t think about it any further.
“Then can’t we just clean it up?”
Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of the things you don’t like or put them in a warehouse or somewhere out of sight?
When her son asked, Elia nodded.
“So I put it away. But you stand out again.”
At that moment, the emotion that dwelled in her gaze was really hateful and dying… All kinds of negative emotions when I saw something I didn’t want to see.
However, Jeil did not notice her mother’s sincerity.
“I don’t know what it is, but shall I clean it up then?”
“no. It’s not your main concern. That kind of thing can only be left to others.”
Well, could I just ask the lady-in-waiting to clean it up?
Jeil dipped the car again without any doubt.
“This mother said something strange.”
“no. Everyone has at least a little trouble.”
“More than that, did you like the sword your mother gave you?”
Recently, Elia borrowed her family’s connections and half-forcedly commissioned the forge of the famous dwarves to give her son a special sword as a gift.
Even at the price, it cost more than enough money to build several luxurious mansions on a single sack.
“Wouldn’t it suit you if it was that black?”
Her son is the future heir to the kingdom.
He thought that a sword like that would be worthy of dignity.
Yes. The position, the sword, and everything had to be of that level of dignity to be worthy of him as the successor.
“Something that really fits in my hand. Thanks to that, I feel like my sword skills are better than before.”
Jeil happily boasted about the sword he received like a child.
Of course, if a boy who claimed to be a pro in his previous life heard this conversation, he would have clicked his tongue, saying, ‘Can you improve your skills with tembal?’
“By the way, today’s tea smells good.”
“I see.”
She smiled and affirmed, but her voice trembled slightly.
“I don’t think this is the tea I usually drink, is it?”
“Whoops. You are quick-witted. The youngest prince, who went to Fahilia a while ago, sent it as a return for the last coat.”
It also sent the finest tea leaves imported from foreign countries and said to be more expensive than gold.
“okay. Come to think of it, I heard that Fahilia has been revived quite a bit.”
“It went really well.”
Elia’s hand shook slightly as she said that.
After the afternoon tea time, Jeil left first, saying that he had work to do.
Elia saw her son off with a smile, and when she couldn’t see her son anymore, her expression froze coldly as if the smile from earlier had never existed.
“okay. Even if you put it away, you really don’t like it.”
Elia glared at the refreshments on the table, as if in a bad mood.
Like tea, it was a refreshment sent by Arell as a gift.
I didn’t hear anything like poison, but the current refreshment seemed more unpleasant to Elia.
Light pink paper wrapped in refreshments. It seems that it is a newly developed species in Fahilia recently.
It seemed that not only white and clean paper, but also a new product with color was released.
“I never thought I would hear its name even if I removed it.”
I put it away so that it wouldn’t be intrusive at best, but even there, the child’s whereabouts are coming into my ears.
They say that they revived the dying territory again, or that they are making profits by developing new paper.
Recently, its name has been heard even in the social world.
Even Elia’s home.
It made her even more uncomfortable to hear the voice of dissatisfaction.
“Why should I care about such a child…”
Her real name.
Elia Prace.
Among the items handled by the trading house, where her home, the Pratse family’s breath, was paper that had previously been imported from abroad.
There were two types of paper produced in foreign countries.
One is paper developed in the Merman Empire.
However, this does not enter the kingdom of Ernesia. This is because the import of paper developed in the empire was banned after the conflict with the empire in the past.
It was because they could not rely on the goods of the enemy country.
Of course, the quality is not good either. There was also the point that there was no reason to use it compared to parchment. don’t bother writing
The other is paper produced in the far eastern continent.
Unlike imperial paper, this one was of better quality than parchment, so it was suitable for rare books and important documents.
However, it is not easy to import, and it is impossible even in a dream to handle it at a tolerable merchant.
Pratze Street has been selling things brought in from there. It is also the only trading company that almost monopolizes the trade routes with the East.
The head family monopolized it and made quite a profit.
Then, Arel came up with a new paper.
Of course, I had to take a hit.
Thanks to that, secret letters full of protest against the youngest prince arrive from the hometown every day, and they are piling up day by day.
“It is really distasteful. What should I do at a time like this…”
Are you talking to someone?
Elia was about to take another sip of the tea, but thumped! and put down the teacup.
It smelled nice, but it just felt really bitter to her.
* * *
I quietly came out of the bedroom in the morning.
Fearing that someone might hear my footsteps, I silently walked down the hallway and down the stairs toward the front door.
Outside, a wagon is already waiting as I ordered.
And a soldier with a grim face looked at me and shuddered.
“…Lord… are you really okay with this?”
“I’m fine, what are you doing?”
We talked in silence, as if no one would hear.
“Get off quickly. It’s hard to get caught.”
I quickly opened the carriage door and got in.
Okay, it was a quick move.
good. Close the door now…
Before I could reach, she reached out from inside the carriage and closed the door for me.
Ugh!?
“Arell? What do you mean you’re in trouble?”
Asha was waiting for me with a bright smile.
Ugh I’m screwed
* * *
After actually confirming that paper can be quite lucrative, I immediately went somewhere.
It’s a place I’ve been to before.
“Arel! I didn’t expect to see you again already!”
Ian is the manager of the number one slave market in the capital.
He still greeted me with the smirk typical of a merchant.
But this is a slave market.
Almost a year and a half?
The reunited Ian approached me, lowered his head, and whispered in a low voice.
“…Could it be that this time you came to rescue sex slaves?”
“…Unfortunately not. And please don’t talk like that.”
I also said, holding my breath, so that someone behind me would listen.
“Arel.”
Did you hear our conversation?
Asha called me with a calmer voice than usual.
“I didn’t say anything strange!”
Actually, I was going to leave Asha alone.
Now, I’m also an adult by convention.
yes, i’m an adult
You can shop more freely than ever before!
I thought.
“It’s ridiculous that you’re leaving me as an escort!”
Somehow he knew I was planning to visit the slave market, and I was waiting in advance for the wagon I was going to sneak out.
Why?
I asked Asha to keep it a secret until the very day, but where did my perfect plan go wrong?
And even now, from behind, it casts warning glances at me.
….isn’t this an escort, not a surveillance?
“Seina didn’t say anything.”
“That’s why she’s weird.”
In the case of Seina, who didn’t follow me, he was surprisingly generous with me regardless of whether I went to the slave market or what I did.
On the other hand, she seemed genuinely to think that it would be a disgrace to me to purchase slaves for odd uses.
I can’t.
“Therefore, today I am going to buy a slave for normal use.”
Today too, let’s just buy something to buy and go back.
“Are you looking for people who are smart and have no problems with their identity?”
Ian asked as if he would save any slave.
I shook my head.
This time, I won’t be as strict about the conditions as last time.
“I only want guys who are strong against the cold and have good stamina. This time I want a real slave.”
“What is your purpose?”
“I will use you as a soldier.”
“Are you a soldier this time? okay.
Are you going to use it as an army for Yeongji?”
Yes.
The purpose of the slaves this time is that I want soldiers to be used as troops to protect my territory, Pahilia.
Knights, Ashana Seina, and Kania noona, who will be smashing the training ground hard again in the manor.
Three knights are enough.
However, what is lacking is the number of heads.
The number of ordinary soldiers is insufficient.
This time, while the road was being cleared, a business was established, and there was a reason that more soldiers were needed.
Coincidentally, my current title as lord is almost equal to that of a count.
On paper, if there is a cause, the number of soldiers can be increased to 50,000.
However, 50,000 is a bit excessive.
It’s a problem to put it in the first place, but the maintenance cost is no joke.
Realistically, I think just 5,000 is the right line for now.
I think it’s an appropriate number, including the soldiers to protect the village and the place where I need soldiers decisively.
“By the way, did I tell Ian that I had been appointed Lord of Fahilia?”
I don’t remember telling you yet?
Then, as if I was joking, Ian smiled with a flattering heart.
“Arel-nim is appointed as the lord, and at least the Merchant Naburang knows about the achievements he has made.”
“is it?”
“You can tell just by looking at our ledger.”
Ian showed me the ledger used by his slave dealer.
“Isn’t this also written with the paper that Arel-sama developed?”
“Well, if you’re a merchant, everyone should know.”
There is no other profession that wrestles with papers and numbers more than they do.
Of course, they will be the ones who use the paper I made the most.
“How much do you need this time?”
I spread five fingers.
