episode_0198

“Congress… … .”

I looked at the piece of paper that was called an invitation to attend the council meeting, but also had a mandatory feel to it, and for a moment I knocked on the armrest of the chair.

I wondered what the agenda was regarding me.

But honestly, there was nothing to do other than worry about it. It was clear that my textile business, Cloth Skeleton, was eating up the domestic textile market in a big way.

I could only think that the Marquis of Kurid and the nobles of the aristocratic faction that followed him, or the royalist loyalists who were wary of the mayor falling into the hands of just one person, or the moderates who did not mix with factions, were wary of me and had put it on the agenda.

“Well, it won’t be a problem.”

After guessing what the agenda was for me, I nodded calmly and got up.

Since there was no problem anyway, I was thinking of heading to the capital. There was no need to worry about the council since the people who would become allies were created through the advice of the crown prince.

Even if there were people who didn’t like me swallowing up the entire market, my allies, known as cooperative families, would enthusiastically defend it. It was a matter directly related to their interests for me to dominate the market and produce more products.

Moreover, from what I heard, they even reduced the amount of food grown in their territory to grow flax and cotton, and even began supplying food from other territories, so there were more people who indirectly supported me.

It was obvious that those who sold food to cooperative families would also support me for profit. In order to sell food, the cooperative families had to stop growing food and instead focus on growing flax and cotton.

Even though tackles were coming towards me, I was confident that they could not reach me directly, so I moved to the capital just in time for the National Assembly to be held.

Giena and Amy expressed their desire to go together, but they did not go because they wanted to move as quickly as possible on their own. When alone, he could move quickly while frantically emitting dark magic full of the energy of death.

Of course, the princess did not accompany him, but was quietly doing the research she wanted to do at the Magic Tower. Perhaps because the incentives for elastic fibers were enormous, they were spending a lot of money and focusing on research to their heart’s content.

Anyway, I got on the wyvern and quickly flew through the sky, arriving in the capital in two and a half days. It wasn’t much different from when I came before. I don’t know if it was because of the council, but the only difference was that there were more nobles than when I came before.

Although I didn’t spend long enough in my city to make any changes in the first place.

“Oh! Aren’t you Viscount Steele? long time no see. How have you been?”

As I was walking along the streets of the capital, thinking that I was thinking about something useless, someone approached me and pretended to know me. I was thinking of someone, but it was Baron Profit Divide, one of the collaborating families.

“Baron Divide. long time no see. How have you been, Baron?”

“Haha, thanks to you, I was able to live very peacefully!”

He was very happy, saying that he was strengthening his territory with the money he earned from selling flax and cotton to me. They were even saying that they would soon devour a nearby hostile territory and grow flax and cotton in that area as well.

He seemed like a man who first overturned all the food farms in his territory and focused on growing flax and cotton, saying that growing flax and cotton was more profitable than growing food.

Of course, for me, it was just a thankful choice that allowed me to handle the ever-increasing demand.

Anyway, as I was talking about various things with Baron Divide, who had made such a grateful choice, Baron Divide quietly brought up another story.

“But, the reason the Viscount came to the capital like this… … ?”

“I was invited because there was an agenda related to me.”

“Tsk! The problem is those who misunderstand the Viscount’s intention to provide good products at low prices to the market so that all people can live more humane lives!”

I laughed inwardly at the sight of Baron Divide, who seemed to be so enthusiastically protecting me.

Although Manmin puts on a show and pretends to be a human being and all, in reality, it is only an appearance because my interests are directly connected to his interests.

I thought that if I made him reveal his true feelings, he might say something like, ‘The problem is those who try to reduce my profits.’

Well, it was only very helpful to me, so I didn’t intend to point it out or anything.

Rather, Baron Divide was spouting out various useful information. It started with a story about how many nobles were scheduled to attend the council, the power structure of the participating nobles, and information about key figures.

I guess I should say it was thanks to this, but I wasn’t even more worried about the Congress, which I wasn’t already worried about.

And, in fact, even though there was a lot of talk about me at the congress held the very next day, I wasn’t nervous at all.

“Is it possible for the domestic textile market to fall into the hands of just one individual?! And it’s not just fiber!”

“What can’t be done?”

“Are you asking because you really don’t know that? Just think about it for a moment and you will understand! It is obvious that if the person who controls the market even decides to make profit, the domestic economy will be destroyed!”

“But if not, isn’t that the same thing as saying there is no problem? See it now. Isn’t the economy growing stronger as Viscount Steel’s fibers are loosened? Is it just the economy? People’s lives are being enriched by inexpensive textiles. Do you know how much the lives of the people change just by being able to make cool clothes in the summer and warm clothes and blankets in the winter?”

The nobles participating in the council were debating with great enthusiasm. The tone of voice that was immediately heard sounded quite gentlemanly, but the actual appearance was rough enough to cause a fight.

But I just sat leisurely looking at it. This is because the people involved with me spoke so diligently on my behalf that I did not even have to say a word.

It was to the point where I didn’t have to focus on the back and forth between “Are you right” and “Am I right?”

Instead of focusing on what was going on in the council chamber, I looked at a man on the other side who looked like he had chewed something and was suppressing his anger.

He was a man with a lot of flesh, so much so that it could be said that he had gained a lot of weight, and the extra fat on his face was trembling due to anger.

Of course, that man was the Marquis of Kurid. Since I had already checked the picture depicting the Marquis Kurid’s appearance in the first place, it was not difficult to recognize the Marquis Kurid.

Even if that wasn’t the case, I was able to recognize him because he was the one who showed the most intense hostility in the formation of nobles.

And, as I was looking at Marquis Kurid like that, it seemed like Marquis Kurid felt my gaze.

He met my gaze and revealed even more intense hostility. Grinding my teeth was clearly visible.

The Marquis of Kurid, who was grinding his teeth to the point where he thought he might break them, appeared to be giving instructions to other nobles nearby. Then, a change occurred among those who were raising their voices.

“No matter what the reason, monopolies must be prevented! Viscount Steele has set a reasonable price for now, but since he is human, wouldn’t he be able to change the price at some point? If human beings are greedy even for a mere piece of bread, how long will they be able to maintain the price of fiber, which will inevitably lead to enormous profits!”

“If they were going to raise the price, they would have raised it in the first place! And you think everyone is greedy? I think they think that way because they are greedy.”

“Ha! That’s ridiculous! It must have been an attempt to dominate the market by intentionally setting a low price! With the intention of taking over the market and raising prices! Since you are currently doing business with Viscount Steel, aren’t you trying to protect him somehow?”

“Then why haven’t they raised the price yet? Hasn’t it been a day or two since they dominated the textile market?”

“It’s probably because we haven’t completely dominated the market yet!”

They started raising their voices at each other almost as if they were speaking informally, as if they had no intention of being polite to the other person.

From the looks of it, it seemed to be a ploy by the Marquis of Kurid to somehow prevent me from further dominating the textile market.

“Stop!”

And when it got to the point where they were fighting with each other raising their voices, the Crown Prince, who was giving a practical succession class on behalf of the King, slammed the table and shouted.

It felt like mediation was being done to prevent overheating.

However, the nobles showed no intention of bending their opinions despite the crown prince’s mediation. Since it was an issue linked to the interests of each faction, it felt like I couldn’t give up easily.

“Degradation! We need to enact a law to ban monopolies now! There must be strict restrictions so that no one can dare to profit through monopoly! Sanctions must be imposed to ensure that more than a certain portion of the market cannot be encroached upon!”

“Degradation! no! Restricting monopolies will only hinder our country’s technological development! As the author says, there may be negative effects from someone monopolizing the market, but it is possible to achieve greater development through monopoly! Even if you just look at Viscount Steele, he’s close to a monopoly on the market, but think about what he’s created! There is no beekeeper who does not collect honey for fear of being stung!”

The aristocratic faction seemed to be trying to stop me by making laws to prevent me from encroaching on the market. However, in the case of the royalists, many of whom had interests directly linked to mine, they were zealously trying to protect me.

However, the crown prince did not easily give up either of the two.

No matter how good my relationship with the crown prince was, he was in a position to lead the country as the next king. We could not just reject them as aristocrats, and we could not just accept their opinions as if they were royalists.

It is obvious that the moment anyone changes their mind, there will be severe disruption in running the country.

The Crown Prince began to think with his mouth firmly shut about what to do. And, after some time had passed, the crown prince opened his mouth as if he had made a decision.

“Both claims are judged to be reasonable opinions. Therefore, we will create a new law. We will maintain the stability of the domestic market by creating legislation that limits monopolies but does not impede technological development.”

The crown prince, who said he would make a new law, soon said he would also listen to the opinions of other nobles and began listening to various stories again.

Of course, this time too, the Royalists spared no effort to include content that would be helpful to them in any way possible.

In particular, my partner families, who benefited from selling more fiber and buying more flax and cotton, were very enthusiastic. By the end of the National Assembly, everyone was working so hard to get rid of the provisions that were unfavorable to me.

Thanks to this, I didn’t have to worry too much about the new law. Although there were some disappointing aspects due to the aristocratic faction biting like crazy dogs, overall it was a fairly reasonable law.

If I just carried on as usual, there was absolutely no reason to suffer any harm from this law.

Moreover, it wasn’t the kind of law that simply targeted only me. It was the kind of law that could also be applied to the Marquis of Kurid and others joining together to monopolize the market.

Although there were some restrictions on those who monopolized, it was also possible to sanction those who did everything to monopolize the market, like the Marquis of Kurid.