episode_0045

When I discovered Levs, I naturally couldn’t hide my surprise. This is because I had no idea that it had been so long since I had applied for a permit, and that Levs, who must have been in the capital, would have already come all the way here.

No, I didn’t expect Refs to come just because I applied for a permit in the first place. I just thought there would be an official in a reasonably high position.

However, the reason Refs came was slightly different from the reason I requested permission to build the facility.

“Permission? What else are you doing? The situation is already noisy thanks to you.”

“Yes?”

It didn’t seem like he came to me for a particularly good reason either.

“Are you making a fuss because of me?”

“It’s because you took all the blacksmiths from Carbon and moved their residence. Why on earth is that like that? Fortunately, the lord of Carbone has a very moderate personality and is a member of the royalist faction, so he did not attack you right away and asked me to mediate.”

“… … Ah!”

It was only after Levs’ words that I realized why he had come. He was the eldest son of the duke, the head of the royalist faction, and had come to mediate the strife that arose within the faction.

And, I was able to realize that the turmoil was caused by me. I took the blacksmiths without much thought, but now that I think about it, it was closer to a challenge to the Lord of Cabron or a challenge to a duel. Being a blacksmith is an important human resource, but it has been stolen.

“Why on earth did they take the blacksmiths from Carbon? Isn’t it difficult for you to make things even without other blacksmiths?”

“They were taken for research purposes, not for product production. To develop methods of handling iron and new types of objects. When I opened a franchise in Carbon, there was also a problem with the blacksmiths’ livelihood. I couldn’t starve them to death, and I couldn’t close down my business, so I hired them as researchers… … .”

I explained why I had taken the blacksmiths with me. I just needed to appeal that I didn’t recklessly take the blacksmith.

Levs listened to my explanation for a while and slowly nodded. It seemed like he fully understood.

“Whether I took him or not, the result would have been similar.”

“That’s right. He must have quit being a blacksmith because he went bankrupt, or moved to another area.”

The blacksmiths in Carbon may have good skills, but they were not at a level that could compete with me in terms of price, and as a result, it was as if the blacksmiths in Carbon were destined to disappear altogether.

Anyway, Levs, who seemed to understand the situation, looked a little troubled. After all, he had received a request for mediation, so he had to do something, but he was clearly worried about how best to handle it.

“What the Lord of Carbon wants is the production of iron products, right? After all, we are making blacksmiths produce goods in lieu of taxes.”

“If you look at it broadly, yes.”

“Then let’s say I deliver it. Anyway, my franchise will be run by Carbon, so if you ask me through that, wouldn’t it be okay to just charge the price of the raw materials and make it for me? As much as the blacksmiths would have paid in taxes.”

Compared to just selling it, you may incur a small loss, but if you think of it as the cost of establishing a friendly relationship with the lord of the territory where the franchise will be located, it is nothing that cannot be avoided.

“As a result, the lord will do the same as before, ensuring that there is nothing to lose?”

“It might actually be better. No matter how many blacksmiths there are, they can’t make more or faster than I can, right? Imagine being able to arm yourself faster and with more weapons. The answer comes to mind if you think that the hostile territory armes one person per day, but I arm ten people per day. Wouldn’t it be bigger if you think about purchasing it in addition to simply requesting it for tax purposes?”

In a situation where the Royalist faction was weaker than the Noble faction, what I said was the perfect part to draw Levs’ attention. This meant that the power gap with the noble faction could be narrowed quickly.

Levs must have been absorbed in that part as well, so he kept nodding his head.

“It’s not that there are no advantages. In that case, if you grant me one condition, I will appease Lord Carbon’s protest.”

“Conditions? What is it?”

“It’s simple. For the time being, please allow the franchise to only be offered to the fiefdoms of nobles belonging to the Royalist faction. If you do that, I will help you get the cooperation of royalist nobles. If you’re thinking of hiring additional blacksmiths, we’ll help you with that, and if that’s difficult, we’ll even help you find a royalist noble’s territory that has no or few blacksmiths.”

Levs’ will to quickly increase the power of the royalists was clearly felt. The request to provide franchises only in the territories of royalist nobles meant that they would quickly increase the power of the royalist faction and fight against the nobles.

Anyway, after hearing that story, I decided to accept the conditions. Although there are some limitations, it is not a big limitation for me now.

My capabilities were not yet at a level to cover this entire kingdom, so even just the royalists would provide a sufficient market. Also, it was obvious that if the royalist faction began to grow with my help, there would be people who would switch from the aristocratic faction to the royalist faction, so I couldn’t say that the market would be narrow forever.

“If you want to open a new franchise, let me know. I’ll find people in the royalist faction who will grant you franchise. If you tell the story to the officials in this territory, I will send someone.”

They even said they would find people who would become franchise owners, so it was strange for them to refuse. Although there is only one franchise, the revenue coming in through that franchise is by no means small. It is very easy to increase such franchises, but it would have been foolish to refuse just because of a small loss.

“Good. Let’s do that.”

At this rate, I should have worried that Levs would change his mind.

However, there was one problem: did Refs really have the authority to proceed with such a task?

“By the way, is it okay to proceed with something like this without permission from His Majesty the King or the Crown Prince?”

“Don’t worry. His Majesty the Crown Prince is also considering ways to quickly increase the power of the royalists. Moreover, since this is a kind of intra-factional dispute, it can be handled under my authority.”

I nodded lightly in response to Levs’ rant. Yes, you are the future Duke, so you will have this level of authority.

“Okay, then let’s assume this issue is resolved. Can you explain what the permission you mentioned earlier means?”

“Ah!”

As we were happily anticipating the profits that would be made from the multiple franchises that would open in the future, Refs brought up the topic of licensing. Only then did I remember that the first thing he said when I met him was to get permission to install a smelting facility.

“I found a way to efficiently smelt iron in large quantities at once… … . To do that, you need a wide space. Moreover, since ore must be continuously supplied, it is necessary to be close to the mine. So, I tried to get permission to use some of the land around the mine.”

“Is it possible to smelt large quantities at once?”

“Yes, there is a disadvantage in that the size of the facility increases. I can probably easily smelt the iron ore I get from the mine I’m currently mining.”

“To handle such a large amount lightly… … .”

“It’s not just about processing a lot. It is possible to easily produce high-quality iron with fewer impurities using less fuel and fewer auxiliary materials. Since you can smelt iron faster and more, you can make more iron products if you increase the amount of mining. Of course, we can produce more weapons to sell to royalist nobles.”

Levs’s eyes changed when he heard that if he built a large facility and made more iron, he could sell a large amount of weapons to the royalists.

“Are you saying that weapons production can be increased?”

“That’s right.”

Levs was so focused on increasing the power of the royalist faction that it seemed like he had some kind of grudge against the noble faction. However, since it seemed like it would be easy to get permission by poking at that part, I persistently targeted that part.

“I had some failures while making the Skeleton Mage this time, right? I couldn’t throw it all away, so I modified it so that it could be used in blacksmith shops and mines. Using it, I could produce an incomparably large amount of iron compared to before. You can use it to make things like swords, spearheads, flails, helmets, armor, shields, etc. You can make more of all kinds of things.”

“More weapons… … ?”

“If we make something to simply arm ordinary infantrymen, we might be able to make enough to arm about a hundred people a day. Well, there will be a huge disruption in the production of daily necessities, but even taking that into account, it is not a small number.”

“Anyway, in an emergency situation, isn’t it possible to produce about 100 infantrymen wearing all the basic weapons a day?”

At the sound of producing about a hundred armed soldiers a day, Levs expanded his nostrils and began to snort loudly.

“How much space is needed to build that facility? And, where will you build it? Is there any other terrain required? Hurry up and say something!”

And, Levs, who was extremely excited, grabbed me by the collar and started shaking me, urging me to build the facility right away.

Shaking back and forth and being urged on by Levs, I had no choice but to point to the place I had seen beforehand. It seemed like it would take some time to get permission, so it was a good thing I looked at the location in advance.

“If that place… … . It won’t be difficult. I’ll do my best to get permission, so get ready to build the facility in advance!”

Levs looked as if he was calculating something for a moment while looking at the place I pointed to, then suddenly turned and left. Those who were guarding him out of sight nearby suddenly appeared, perhaps in a panic, and were seen leaving after him.

“What is this all of a sudden…? … .”

I was very shocked to see Levs disappearing in an instant, but I thought it was the same as permission to build a facility to smelt iron on a large scale.

In the end, like Levs, I left the place very quickly. This is because in order to build the facility, researchers who would be working hard on research and development in the village were needed.

And, when I returned to the village and returned to the site where I was planning to build the facility with a total of seven blacksmiths, excluding a few, I was able to see Lefs again, who seemed to be waiting for me.

“The Crown Prince has given permission to lease this land to you.”

“When you say rent, does that mean you have to pay?”

“No matter how idle the land is, isn’t it definitely the royal family’s? So you have to pay rent. Still, it won’t be that expensive for you.”

I nodded when told to pay a rental fee to use the land, just like paying 20% for developing a mine. However, I was a little worried about how much money I would have to pay.

But as Levs said, the cost of using the land was not that expensive.

“We have decided to replace the rental fee by smelting the iron ore that you mine and deliver to the royal family, as well as smelting the iron ore that the royal family requests to be smelted. Oh, if the royal family requests smelting, the cost of fuel or auxiliary materials will be paid.”

Just as iron ore was mined and the iron ore must be paid in return, since the purpose was to smelt the iron ore, the iron ore must be smelted and paid in return.

Of course, I had no reason to refuse. Using the smelting method created by researchers, smelting could be done cheaper than before, so it was almost like renting land for free.

Anyway, after renting the land to build the facility, I immediately started building the facility. Of course, I didn’t build it myself. This time, skeletons were used again.