Chapter 252


    Its been two months since I started living a calm life as if I were on a vacation in the seaside city of Amar. The rebuilding of the Royal Castle had only just begun, and the carefree days of escorting the Crown Prince and others continued.


    Today, Im visiting the Maridapanys merchant shipyard in Amar.


    Its good to see you safe, Malta-san.


    Its all thanks to Schwartz-san.


    In one corner of the office space on the second floor of the Merchant Shipyard, I was facing Malta-san in a reception space separated by a simple partition, enjoying green tea brewed with Japanese tea leaves I brought from arge shopping mart.


    But, this tea is really deliciousIs it the tea leaves from Schwartz-sans world?


    Perhaps he was worried about the other employees doing clerical work in the office space, the second half of his sentences was a whisper that only I could hear.


    Yes. This melty richness and mellow sweetness is the best, isnt it?


    This powdery and dark green color looks cheap at first nce, but this strong scent is definitely the mark of the best product.


    Its been a while since I had a tea party with Malta-san, but there are many things I want to confirm.


    So, how is the situation in the Royal Capital?


    Its going to be amazing.


    Huh? Is it Rafflesia again?!


    Eh? Youre wrong, the Royal Capital itself is peaceful.


    My and Malta-sans eyes unintentionally locked into each other. I was worried that the Rafflesia or Viceburn Empire had started to move again, but Malta-san immediately burst outughing and corrected me


    No, I mean, Schwartz-san, right now the most talked about topic in the Royal Capital is about the ck Hero Shaft who saved the Kingdom from its predicament.


    Those words made me want to facepalm.


    Again with that


    Againindeed. Rescuing the Royal family members from Flyhigh, repelling the attackers, and immediately after that, raiding the Yamigasa Company even though all those are amazing already, he also infiltrated the Royal Pce and rescued His Majesty the King and the captured Royal family members. At first, Schwartz-sans name was also mentioned, making the story a bit confusing. But nowadays, the info that circted around, not only in the Royal Capital, but also throughout the Kingdom, is that ck Hero Shaft did all that by himself.


    .So, what about the stuff I ordered?


    Those who are quick-witted merchants and influential people should already know, but the transfer circle connecting the Royal Capital and the mining city Baleira has been blocked


    Yes. In order to increase the safety of the seaside city of Amar, which is far from the Royal Capital, the transfer management office in the mining city Baleira, which was the nearest city, was closed. Malta-san only got to visit here two months after the rebellion of Rafflesia because he was unable to transfer and had to travel ovend.


    Boss, I apologize for interrupting. The shipment from Filtonia has arrived.


    The person who showed his face in the reception area was Bolroy, the Director of this merchant shipyard. A middle-aged cat-type beastkin, with an unkempt head and stubblerather than a merchant, hes more of a genuine man of the sea. Director Bolroy was holding arge wooden box in both hands. There is no doubt that it is the item I ordered.


    Thank you, Bolroy. Please put it on the table.


    With his thick arm that is as big as an adult males thigh, Director Bolroy lightly ced the wooden box on the table. Contrary to his light movement, it could be seen that the wooden box was of considerable weight.


    Director Bolroy left the wooden box behind. Malta-san turned the wooden box so that its front was facing me, then slowly opened the lid with a smile on his face.


    Oh!


    Arge amount of non-attribute magic stones were inside the wooden box.


    What do you think, Schwartz-san! These are the magic stones we imported from the Filtonia Inds Federation as soon as you contacted us.


    Thank you very much, Malta-san.


    I dont think the market in the Kingdom has calmed down yet. Now that the Rafflesia, which was the vanguard of thebyrinth subjugation, has disappeared, and adventurers has taken a major hit to their reputation in its wake, the distribution of not only non-attribute but also attribute magic stones will also be dyed.


    Due to the involvement of many adventurer ns in the rebellion of the Rafflesia, the distribution of permission to use the Transfer Circle Control Building to adventurers is currently annulled, and requests with high urgency and importance are no longer sent to the general guild.


    I suppose its going to be difficult to secure non-attribute magic stones for now?


    The domestic harvest will definitely decrease, but Yamigasa Company and many of its affiliates have been arrested, so I think the supply will increase and stabilize after a little more time.


    Until then, it looks like we will have to rely on imports from overseas. Im thinking of diving into thebyrinth myself, but is there abyrinth with reasonable value nearby?


    Well why dont you try crossing over to Filtonia? In the Filtonia Inds Federation, which consists of small inds of various sizes, it is not umon for the inhabitants of the inds to be annihted by the rampaging stampede from thebyrinth.


    Stampedes dont happen that often, do they?


    Thats right, but there is a sacrificial faith in Filtonia, and there are times when thebyrinth is allowed to run amok on purpose, causing an ind to be a nest for monsters.


    On purpose?


    Yes. the magic beasts cant cross the sea, so there is this tradition in Filtonia to feed ves and criminals into thebyrinth, so that they could hunt the overflowing monsters on the coastline.


    Filtonian Inds FederationTwo weeks of traveling south through the ocean on arge ship from Amar, one will reach the ship city of Bigship in the northernmost area of the Federation territory. Around 200rge and small ships gather in the ship city of Bigship, forming an artificial ind and a living environment. Bigship is the gateway to the Filtonia Inds Federation and a trading port that conductsmercial transactions with foreign countries.


    Merchant ships from Kurtmerga can only enter Filtonia up to this floating city, and formal immigration procedures are required tond on the actual inds.


    Malta-san said that there seems to be a small ind full ofbyrinth monsters about two days further south from Bigship, and there are about five other ces, but in fact there should be somebyrinths that are not known to foreign countries.


    Deliberately run thebyrinth out of control, and hunt the monsters that spill outside. If you think about it normally, its an extremely dangerous method, but there were several reasons why Filtonia took this method.


    That isthe Filtonia Inds Federation cannot meet its various domestic needs with their own domestic production alone, and foreign tradeespecially with Kurtmerga Kingdom and its neighboring countriesis essential. Filtonia did not have a strong domestic product to trade with other countries, thus had no choice but to rely on the collection of magic stones, which has an unchanging value in any country or region.


    However, its difficult to continue conqueringbyrinths reliably. Moreover, once thebyrinth has been conquered, their source of ie will temporarily disappear. Veins of magic water and ores would usually appear where abyrinth used to stand, but it takes a lot of time and money to develop and maintain them to the point where they can be shipped as a product.


    Rather than spending time and money on its development, the Congress of the Filtonia Inds Federation chose to effectively utilize unnecessary human resources and obtain magic stones with the minimum risk and effort.


    Its pretty muchusingbyrinths as some sort of livestock.


    However, even though it is easy to say, there are cases where it is actually unmanageable, isnt it?


    Its a question that naturally springs up after listening to the story. Ive never actually seen a stampede, but if its something that can be controlled by humans, it wouldnt be called a stampede in the first ce.


    Exactly. In addition, Filtonia does not allowbyrinth exploration by adventurers other than those registered in domestic guilds, and all collected magic stones are obliged to be wholesaled to the adventurers guild.


    If thats how it is I guess theres no point for me to go there?


    Thats true for the inds that Filtonia still manages. Howeverthere is an ind that has been abandoned due to the stampede being unable to be controlled.


    Abandoned ind?


    Yes. among the popce, it is known as the Labyrinth Ind.


    Malta-san, who raised the corners of his mouth as he said that, had a gleam in his eyes that a merchant usually doesnt show so often.Advertisement