Chapter 248 Blending Good And Bad
"We are merchants. Isn't it natural to trade with those who offer better profits?"
"I think the Silt Merchant Guild is your enemy in the current situation."
"That may be true for the Grandchester territory and Avalon. However, for the Sophia Merchant Guild, they are one of our trading partners. There are no enemies or allies among trading partners. It all depends on whether there is profit or not."
Sophia said this casually, which made Crown Prince Gerhart uncomfortable.
"Are you the same as those Coastal Union guys? Don't merchants have any sense of reason? Helping those who harm your own country is betrayal!"
Crown Prince Gerhart slammed his fist on the table and glared at Sophia.
"What kind of 'reason' do you mean, Your Highness?"
"I believe it is the right way for a person to act."
"And who decides what is right? Can you say for sure that you always act correctly, Your Highness?"
"I can't say I'm always right. But I do think I should be."
"I see. Then I recommend you give up your position as Crown Prince right now."
This response came not from Crown Prince Gerhart himself, but from Baron Jilbafuchs.
"What did you say! Sophia, that's too disrespectful!"
"What do you want me to respect about Crown Prince Gerhart? His royal bloodline? But this isn't Roisen, and I'm not a citizen of Roisen. If you're talking about respect for guests, then you are not my guests. To put it simply, from the perspective of the Grandchester family, you would just be a troublesome guest complaining about merchants entering a house that invited them. Ah, if I were to be rude to my guests, I might face punishment from the Grandchester family."
Sophia glanced briefly at Marquis Grandchester.
"Don't ask me to do something impossible."
"But if this continues, I think I won't be able to stop being rude to the guests of the Grandchester family."
"If the guests find that unpleasant and decide they don't want to hear any more of your words, then you can leave. I will allow it."
"Understood."
With an elegant smile, Sophia stood up gracefully.
"I apologize for my rudeness. I will take my leave now."
As Sophia tried to exit the room, she was hurriedly stopped by Crown Prince Gerhart.
"Wait. I'm not such a narrow-minded man that I can't listen to advice."
"I'm sorry, but I don't have the feelings to offer advice to Your Highness the Crown Prince Gerhart. It's just a simple observation of facts and my personal opinion."
"Ugh... I see... Even so, that's fine. For now, I want to hear the rest of what you have to say."
'Oh dear, His Highness the Crown Prince Gerhart's face is all twisted. Well, it's not like there's anyone around here who would act like that. Baron Jilbafuchs seems angry. But I guess it's fine since it looks like I won't have to dance later.'
"I understand you want me to continue, but..."
"Why should I, who tries to be correct, give up being the Crown Prince?"
"Your commitment to righteousness and justice is admirable. A ruler without any sense of morality is terrifying. However, don't you think it's foolish to consider your own sense of rightness as absolute?"
"I don't think it's foolish. It's important as a person."
"A ruler exists to protect the people. And sometimes, you need to be ready to accept both good and bad. If you always want to be right, you might as well become a priest. I've heard something about this from someone."
"What did they say?"
"People like to claim their values of 'good and evil' or 'justice' and want to justify their conflicts. There have been kings who spoke of wanting to enrich their country 'for the people' as a noble cause, while invading other nations. Many people argue that invading other countries is evil, but the king wins the war, is celebrated as a hero, and is remembered as a good king who enriched his nation. I have no idea how to understand the shifting nature of good and evil or justice based on position and situation."
'Oh no. The words I said to Noir are coming back to me. How rude I must have been to the fairy who has always been by the ruler's side...'
"That's true."
"I'm sure that if a good king sacrifices innocent people from other countries to make his own people rich, then only the winners can boldly claim to be just. No matter how much those without power shout about justice, the people's stomachs won't be filled. And if merchants like me get caught up in this empty 'righteousness,' all that awaits us is ruin. It's not just me who will face ruin. The employees of the Sophia Merchant Guild and their families, as well as many of our business partners, will suffer too. Yet, Your Highness has given me no alternative but to say, 'Do not sell wheat to the Silt Merchant Guild,' and when I expressed my concerns, I was scolded with, 'Is there no reason to this?' It's like telling us to 'die with a huge stock of wheat on hand.'."
'Well, we won't die from that, but a normal merchant guild would go bankrupt.'
"Are you saying that the powerless... Roisen is powerless?"
"I want to ask you the opposite: What do you think about the situation where ypu can't prevent the decline of national power, marry queens and concubines from other countries, and are still trying to extract food from Avalon through political marriages? For the Coastal Union, which is based on commerce, Roisen right now is like a ripe fruit ready to fall from the tree. Don't you think they believe they can just wait under the tree and enjoy the fruits? I mean, isn't that why Your Highness the Crown Prince Gerhart came to Avalon?"
"...That's true. I won't deny it. I just didn't want to admit it."
"Your Highness..."
Crown Prince Gerhart and Baron Jilbafuchs looked downcast.
"I feel a bit hesitant to say this in front of Lady Orson, but..."
"That's fine. Please share what Sophia thinks."
Rebecca smiled brightly.
"I believe that ten years ago, Prince Adolf's claim to invade other countries was his own sense of justice. The second prince, who felt a sense of crisis in Roisen, which still had enough power to overwhelm Avalon, might have had strong abilities as a ruler. The Lady Orson he sought as a concubine is also a saint who formed a friendship with fairies. She possesses beauty that hasn't faded over a long time and high healing magic abilities. She would have been effective as a symbol to boost the morale of the people."
"I don't really get what you mean by beauty, Sophia, but I'm honored by your compliment."
'I guess she didn't know that their land isn't loved by fairies.'
"If it weren't for the troubles ten years ago, I wouldn't have been pulled out as Crown Prince."
"Please save those kinds of comments for when you return to your country and can complain to the people involved, Your Highness."
"I'll do that."
'However, considering the various attacks on Grandchester, it's indeed frustrating that the Silt Merchant Guild easily received wheat.'
Edward was still angry. It was highly likely that his debt was set up, and during the riots, his father almost got assassinated. It was unreasonable to tell him not to be angry.
"The Silt Merchant Guild in Avalon is paying taxes to Avalon. They are not someone we can just get rid of for no reason. Right now, all I can do is sell wheat at a high price to the merchant guild connected to the Silt Merchant Guild."
"Sophia, is there any way we can give the Coastal Union a hard time?"
Edward pressed further.
"The Young Marquis seems really frustrated."
"I feel the same way."
Robert agreed with Edward.
'Hmm. It's hard to refuse when my father and uncle say something like that.'
"I could do it, but it wouldn't benefit the Sophia Merchant Guild at all."
"Do you just need to prepare the money?"
"Young Marquis, you haven't forgotten that your debt was refinanced with the Sophia Merchant Guild, right? And Sir Robert, do you remember the promissory notes for all those fancy Spieluhr you bought for Roisen? Both of those are quite a lot of money, you know?"
"Ugh."
"Yikes."
'These brothers are so similar in this way. I wonder if my dad was like this when he was cornered?'
"What about the mine? The one that's under mortgage. It borders the Grandchester territory, and it should be easy to develop with the Sophia Merchant Guild, right?"
"Hmm. It sounds attractive, but don't you think it's unbalanced? You're asking us to win a war against the allied nations, right?"
"Then let's add the Roisen mines. In my territory, there are 3 mines located along the border of Avalon. I will transfer all of these to the Sophia Merchant Guild. I don't have the authority to redraw the border, but since I own the rights to the mines, it's fine to transfer them. We can also relax the restrictions on crossing the border as a special zone."
'Hmm... not a bad deal, but... what should I do?'
Sophia thought for a moment, and everyone around her silently watched.
"I don't understand the level of 'making Grandchester Young Marquis gasp.' They must have a lot of wheat stockpiled to sell at high prices, looking down on Roisen. If we can supply a large amount of food to Roisen at a fair price, the Coastal Union merchants will struggle with their unsold wheat stock. Some merchant guilds might even go bankrupt. Is that level of problem acceptable?"
"Is there a higher level?"
"Well... the highest level would be 'turning the entire coastal area into a wasteland,' but the next one would probably be 'cutting off the heads of the leadership,' physically speaking."
"That doesn't have to be physical, does it?"
"I think it would be nice to be quiet, but it's a bit extreme, isn't it?"
Everyone there wondered, 'a bit?' but didn't say anything.
"So, basically, we need to make it clear that if they touch Avalon, we won't hold back, and we should show that Roisen has Avalon as a backing, right?"
"That's right."
"And then, should we make them cry and bow down, asking Roisen to 'please buy their wheat, even if it's cheap'?"
"We don't really need to make them cry, though..."
"Oh, Crown Prince Gerhart, I thought you must have experienced quite a bit of humiliation, but it seems that's not the case?"
"No, I do think it would be quite refreshing if it actually happened, so it was humiliating."
However, as Rebecca listened to Sophia's explanation, she voiced her doubts.
"Sophia, you said you would supply a lot of food, not just a lot of wheat, right?"
"Yes. Wheat and barley are strategic resources, so there are export restrictions on them, but there are no restrictions on other food. However, to get through this, we need to implement food reforms in Roisen."
"What do you mean?"
"We need to have people eat foods that are not made from wheat, like bread. If they don't reduce their dependence on wheat, they will keep facing the same problems."
Hearing this, Crown Prince Gerhart looked sad.
"Will the rich soil of Roisen ever return...? The Knightheart territory where I spent my childhood was a granary that could rival Grandchester. How did it end up like this?"
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