Wilhelm entered the conference room at the Trading House and welcomed the employees who came in after him as they greeted him.
Only after the seats were filled one by one, until every seat was occupied, did Wilhelm begin the meeting.
“Regrettably, one of the three rewards already has a confirmed recipient.”
“!?”
Every attendee present, from the Chief Agents up to the Managers, immediately understood what that bombshell declaration meant.
‘Not even half a week has passed since the assignment was given...!’
‘All three of those tasks are far from easy...!’
‘There is someone who has already solved one of them?’
Just what kind of monstrous bastard had popped up, and from where?
The employees were swept up in a tidal wave of shock, horror, and confusion, their mouths hanging open.
Wilhelm looked around as if savoring their dazed expressions, then answered their question.
“My son, Friedrich Medichin.”
“Young Master...?”
“He accomplished... that?”
Please, keep your jokes within reason!
A little boy who had only just turned fourteen, and one who had kept his distance from commerce and politics until now, clinging instead to classics, music, and art almost obsessively!
He had solved one of the assignments that even they, who had been worn down to the bone in this field, had failed to solve? In only a few days?
Even if the Young Master’s position was unstable, inheriting the position of Head of Medichin Konzern, the empire’s foremost Merchant Caravan, was no easy matter.
As the employees swallowed all manner of unpleasant emotions—discontent, suspicion, bewilderment, absurdity—Wilhelm reached for the documents he had placed on the table.
“This is the proof. Pass it around.”
Wilhelm waved the papers before everyone’s eyes and handed them to Peter Andersson, who was seated closest to him.
“Hmm...”
Setting his emotions aside and putting only the questions of truth and profit first, Peter Andersson began by checking the handwriting.
‘This is certainly not the Mayor’s handwriting...’
After that, Peter Andersson focused on judging how valuable the contents made up by that handwriting truly were.
It did not take long for an exclamation to escape his lips as he examined the contents.
“Huh...!”
Would you look at this?
The more he looked, the more novel and incisive the proposed Patent-Intellectual Property Law appeared. He put the documents down without even reading the rest.
THUMP! THUMP!
“Mayor! This bill! You absolutely must pass it!”
He was so excited that he struck the documents repeatedly with his palm as he responded with fervor, and Wilhelm smiled faintly at him.
“Now then, I will take it that Manager Andersson is in favor. Next.”
After him, the other Managers, Deputy Managers, and even the Chief Agents burst into exclamations the more they looked at the documents.
“Hah!”
“This, this is truly...!”
“This is it! This is the answer!”
“We must pass it at once!”
Only after the wave of cheers and praise subsided did Wilhelm lift the documents he had received back and speak.
“This very bill, which all of you support, will ensure that the Tragedy of the Carrack Ships is never repeated.”
“That is right, Mayor! If this bill is submitted, the rights and costs for every new product, new technology, and new knowledge we develop will be guaranteed!”
“We must prepare to pass it immediately, Mayor!”
To the employees, who spoke with one voice and called for the bill’s passage, Wilhelm gave the order with sharp eyes, as if he had been waiting for this moment.
“Contact the delinquent debtors immediately. Tell them that if they do not support the bill I submit to the Imperial Diet, they had better be prepared to have their bellies cut open.”
The “delinquent debtors” Wilhelm referred to were the imperial assemblymen who occupied seats in the Imperial Diet.
Those incompetent fools had borrowed money from Medichin Konzern’s Banking Division, yet had even fallen behind on their interest!
Cold smiles spread across the faces of the employees attending the meeting at the thought of threatening those men to their faces.
‘There may be no immediate profit, but...!’
‘The interest we have not been able to collect until now...!’
‘This time, we will get it back!’
House Medichin, Medichin Konzern, and the Etilant Autonomous Territory had maintained their present position despite being located on the fringe of the Astella Empire, and at that, in the farthest reaches south of the Asfrus Mountains in the southern Imperial Mainland, because of the Banking Division’s loan ledgers—in other words, its black ledger.
In addition to declaring that he would use the black ledger, something he had not once used since becoming the Family Head of House Medichin, Wilhelm still had more to announce.
“Furthermore, I swear before all the gods and our ancestors that Friedrich created this bill from beginning to end entirely on his own. If that is still insufficient, I will request a truth appraisal from the High Priest of the Merkl Religious Order.”
“!!!”
The employees’ eyes widened as if they might pop out, and their mouths fell open so far that they seemed to need bibs.
‘If the Mayor is going this far...?’
‘Does that mean the Young Master truly created that bill? Truly?’
As if an oath sworn before all gods and ancestors, a solemn pledge that not even the emperor of the Astella Empire would dare break, were not enough.
If he was willing to accept even a truth appraisal performed through divine authority by the High Priest of the Merkl Religious Order, which refused to show leniency even to House Medichin, its greatest patron, then they could no longer dare to doubt it.
Only now did the employees accept the truth, and their throats visibly bobbed.
‘If the First Young Master created that law...’
‘He will become someone as terrifying as the Mayor...’
‘Still, there should be no issue with carrying on the current prosperity...’
‘Rather, it may even flourish further...’
‘But how much more hardship will we have to suffer...?'
Perhaps because countless emotions crossed their minds about a future that was bright, yet would be all the more arduous, the employees’ faces were stained with ambiguous smiles without exception.
“We will follow you, Mayor!”
“Good. And as soon as the preliminary work is finished, send someone to the Billen Konzern trading house.”
“!!!”
The employees were startled once again by Wilhelm’s order to make contact with Billen Konzern, which had received woolen technology and know-how long ago, yet had declared its entry into Banking and repaid kindness with enmity.
To those employees, Wilhelm revealed his intention.
“My thought is that even if we fight when it is time to fight, it is better to cooperate where cooperation is due. Because both sides have engaged in bleeding competition, our profit relative to sales has been decreasing, has it not?”
“Ah...”
As soon as Billen Konzern declared its entry into Banking, Medichin Konzern retaliated by collecting all the loans it had issued to the Flandern Autonomous Territory and withdrawing even the trading houses it had established there.
As if that were not enough, throughout the empire, Medichin trading houses whose commercial spheres overlapped with Billen Konzern’s were pressuring them by selling overlapping items at lower prices.
In this situation, when Wilhelm said he would meet Orenje Billen, Head of Billen Konzern and Consul of the Flandern Autonomous Territory, the employees diligently set their minds to work.
‘Even if those bastards are chasing right under our jaws...’
‘It is indeed time to stop this competition that cuts into our own flesh.’
‘Even they will find it difficult to refuse this bill...’
‘Two hands helping are better than one...’
‘If things go well, we might use this incident to open the way for compromise...’
‘Or we could enlarge the pie and take greater profits...’
Like veterans of Medichin Konzern who had weathered every kind of hardship, the employees busily devoted themselves to calculating profit and loss in their heads.
After completing their calculations, they answered Wilhelm, who had been waiting for their reply, in firm voices.
“The Mayor’s words are correct!”
“I believe it would be right to use this opportunity to renew the atmosphere!”
Wilhelm smiled at the employees, who all expressed their approval without exception.
“Good! Then let us begin immediately!”
After vigorously ordering them into action, Wilhelm’s expression turned pleased.
‘That boy.’
Wilhelm recalled the conversation he had shared with his son over a sip of tea after finishing lunch.
***
“You are telling me to join hands with Orenje and pass this bill?”
“Yes.”
To his son, who answered innocently, Wilhelm offered a question rather than a reply.
“It must be because of the commonality that both are Free Cities.”
Friedrich smiled at Wilhelm, who had pierced to the heart of the matter in an instant, and added an explanation.
“The people who will welcome this bill the most are the merchants, artisans, and scholars of the Free Cities. They are the ones who will register the greatest number of patents and intellectual property rights if the Patent-Intellectual Property Law is passed, are they not?”
“Yes. Among them, our Firenburg, and Anstelda of the Flandern Autonomous Territory, are considered the finest Free Cities in the empire.”
“That is correct. Moreover, if we prepare the groundwork on our side and then make the proposal, it will appear as if we are first making a friendly gesture toward the Flandern Autonomous Territory, including Anstelda.”
“A friendly gesture...”
Wilhelm trailed off as though tasting the words and sank into thought. Soon, he read the sinister smile on Friedrich’s face and grinned.
“That would not be bad either. We could make them lower their guard and then strike them from behind.”
“Exactly, Father. Nobles steeped in empty formalities may point fingers and call it cowardly or sordid, but is the one who survives to the very end not the truly strong one?”
“That is right. The one who survives until the end obtains everything, so of course he is the strong one!”
As Wilhelm agreed with his son’s smooth, flowing eloquence, he could not hide his satisfaction.
“I do not know how a boy who has not even undergone his Coming-of-Age Ceremony can devise such schemes. Hahahaha!”
To Wilhelm, who laughed in good spirits, Friedrich added one more thing.
“At the same time, we can stop the bleeding competition and secure time to catch our breath, so it will be two gains from one move.”
“Hmm, that also has reason behind it. We have taken considerable losses ourselves while trying to make them collapse somehow.”
Wilhelm could not have found his son more admirable. To think the boy knew how to scratch exactly where he itched!
“Very well. I will consider it positively, haha.”
He phrased it indirectly because he could not appear to accept everything unconditionally.
But the moment he heard his son’s words, Wilhelm Medichin had already decided to do exactly as he said.
***
Friedrich knew what was in his father’s heart.
“By now, he should be doing as I said.”
Judging by what he had heard when he stopped by the Medichin Trading House, everyone from Wilhelm to all the employees would be uncomfortable with the bleeding competition against Billen Konzern.
‘Nothing in the world is more foolish than cutting into your own flesh.’
A proper Merchant had to buy low and sell high.
From that point of view, Friedrich judged that Wilhelm, who had led this matter, was likely under the greatest stress. After all, he was the greatest merchant in the empire.
‘He had no choice but to play a game of chicken to kill his competitor, but he must have been troubled because he had no exit strategy.’
That was why he had advised Wilhelm to propose that they join hands to pass this bill and stop the bleeding competition as well. How could he miss such a good chance to score points?
‘Besides, there will be many places to spend money in the future, and if the roots are weak, we will not be able to endure. No matter how impressive our family’s treasury may be.’
Aside from Medichin Konzern, House Medichin was said to have a separate treasury where wealth accumulated by generations of ancestors was stored. However, if they suddenly released a vast amount of money, both the economy and public sentiment of the autonomous territory would fall into chaos, beginning with soaring prices.
In that sense.
The proposals Friedrich had made to Wilhelm were, in effect, preliminary work to smoothly unfold his own plan.
‘Once this Imperial Diet ends, things are going to get busy. The problem is the foundational knowledge...’
As for gunpowder and firearms, he had handled them until he was sick of them during his time in the Special Forces, so he could make them easily. However, he could not guarantee how much time, manpower, and budget the rest would consume.
‘For now, shall I prepare to launder the source?’
No sooner had Friedrich made his decision than he went to find Johanna.
“You want to buy books?”
“Yes. I do not know when I will come again, so I want to buy quite a lot.”
“You are not planning to buy literature books again, are you, my son?”
Although he had promised to enter the path of the heir, Johanna could not hide her anxiety, and Friedrich shook his head.
“No. I plan to buy books on technology, military science, Magic, and history.”
Only then did Johanna’s face brighten.
“Do so. If you show our family’s Gold Plaque, you may buy as much as you want, so go comfortably.”
“Yes!”
After receiving his mother’s refreshing approval, Friedrich immediately went with Merlin to the bookstore district inside Asteldorf Castle.
“Please bring me one copy of every book written here.”
“This one, this one, this one... and from here to here, among the titles on this list, please put one copy of each unmarked title on a cart and deliver them to the House Medichin encampment. You can do that, right?”
Each time he entered a bookstore, dozens of books disappeared from the shelves. Thanks to the appearance of a rare big spender, the bookstore owners’ faces were filled with excitement.
“Thank you, Young Master Friedrich!”
“I will come again next time!”
Friedrich waved to the bookstore owner, who bowed repeatedly all the way to his waist as he saw him off, then walked down the street while whistling.
Beside him, Merlin was looking at Friedrich with an expression of utter overwhelm.
‘We have already stopped by three bookstores...’
All of those bookstores were large stores that ranked among the three biggest in Asteldorf.
And yet this young lord had shown the bookstore owners House Medichin’s Gold Plaque and had practically swept up every book they had in stock, except for literature.
‘Books do not cost only a coin or two!’
Given the nature of the current publishing industry, where each book was made by copying text by hand onto Parchment made from lambskin, the price of a single book started at no less than the level of silver coins.
Still, Friedrich was the eldest son of House Medichin, which boasted the greatest wealth in the empire, and he was buying books, not spending money on something useless, so there should have been no worry over the cost.
Even so, Merlin was completely overwhelmed by Friedrich’s spending, as he splurged on such expensive books as though he were buying sweets.
In the end, unable to endure his complicated emotions, Merlin blurted out a remark.
“Are you not buying too many?”
“Too many? It is still not enough.”
“It is... not enough?”
“To succeed the Mayor, I have to study everything diligently. If I do not buy them this time, I will have to come back half a year later to buy them, so I should splurge while I can, should I not?”
Unlike Friedrich, who smiled faintly, Merlin could not hold back a hollow laugh.
‘Whew, he truly is remarkable. So this is what the heir of House Medichin is like.’
Whether it was his spending or his hunger for knowledge, Friedrich’s age-inappropriate conduct was itself a new shock to Merlin.
‘I must prove my value. That way, I too...’
Could sign a Regular Employment Contract!
Receive a salary and buy books!
And buy research materials and tools!
“Now then, let us visit a few more bookstores.”
“Let us do so, haha...”
At Friedrich’s words, Merlin could not hide his envy as he followed after him.
Along with his desperate yearning for Regular Employment(?).