“Eeeeh~, I thought you came here to see me.”
My senior instantly looked dissatisfied with what I had said.
“O-of course, that’s the first thing on my mind when I got here! Ah….”
Yet when I burst out my true feelings, my senior smiled at me.
I have been had.
“I’m just kidding. I was pretty selfish there, wasn’t I? You’re a traveling merchant, so you should always be thinking more about your job instead of me.”
Ha, I guess I must have fallen for her when I was a child because she naturally says things like this that make people misunderstand her.
“But you’re right about that part. For traveling merchants like you, it’s not easy to take a bite of big business opportunities like this, especially if you are coming from afar. And news is that it has gotten even tougher these days.”
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“Can you elaborate on that part?”
“I’m talking about the Minister of Finance.”
Of course, I know Andersen’s Minister of Finance.
He is, as I recall, a young minister in his late thirties who is rumored to have been chosen by the emperor for this important position.
“I see. If he is a Minister of Finance chosen by the emperor, then he must be good.”
Good, meaning he will probably regulate the circulation of materials and money to benefit more the emperor’s people and manipulate the supply of materials from other countries in a way that will prioritize them – especially those materials that his country lacks.
After all, a booming economy is meaningless if the benefits are not directed to the people of one’s own country.
If I talk about the specifics, the government will probably balance regulation and relaxation by regulating foreign investment such as land, implementing quantitative easing by the central bank, and establishing tariffs to their advantage.
“You are correct about that part. What’s more, I heard that the current Minister of Finance is the leading force behind Andersen’s recovery from the recession a year ago to this point. Rumor has it that they were even involved in the recruitment of the Heroes.”
“Then, do you know where traveling merchants like me do their business? I kept hearing that Andersen had gathered quite a lot of us these days.”
“I think most of them are on the black market outside the city walls. Since it is outside the gate, the government can’t really do much about it, so everyone there was doing their businesses in their own small ways.”
“Outside the city walls, huh? I see.”
I was thinking about something else while I was muttering that.
Traveling merchants also make money by taking advantage of the country’s misgovernance. If yo u a re abl e to re ad th is mes sa ge, yo u a re re ad ing fr om an un au thor ized ag gre gate sit e. Re ad at my Wor dPre ss at stabb ing wit h a syr inge. ho me. bl og to su ppo rt me and my tra nsla tions.
No matter how excellent a minister is, there will always be a way to top them over.
Whether you are a minister or a merchant, it’s just human nature not to be satisfied with meager profits, especially when you also have the opportunity to grab for more.
It doesn’t matter if it’s illegal or not. As long as it’s dangling in front of them, and the benefit is big enough, there will always be people that are eager to pounce and grab it.
“Thank you, senior. You really helped me much today.”
“Don’t mention it. Also, you are welcome to come again, even if you are still in the preparation stage for your business.”
My senior gave me a bright and angelic smile.
Whenever I see my senior smiling at me like that, I tend to think she’s cute, and I will always feel safe. Is this what they call imprinting?
“Ah, right. Senior, do you need anything right now? I’ll give you a special price if I have it in stock.”
“I was actually waiting for you to say that. Actually, I have something I‘ve been wanting to buy. Still, you’re always working hard, aren’t you? Good boy.”
Senior patted me on the head like in the old days.
“Oh, come on, senior. I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Fufufu, sorry about that.”
I felt as if the time had gone back more than a decade, and my heart began to fill up once again.
“So, what is it that you want? I’ve got some pretty good tea sets, but I’ll have yet to stock up on the tea leaves and stuff.”
“No, that’s not it… what I want is… those so-called… adult toys I am hearing? I’m not sure if it’s the proper term, though.”
!
“Ah, no, it’s not what you think! I’m not the one using it. It’s… yes, it’s for a customer who was interested in those kinds of things but was too shy to buy them personally. It’s their birthday next week, and I was thinking I could bring that as a gift….”
“I-I see. After all, there’s no possibility that you would use that for yourself, wouldn’t you?”
“I-isn’t that obvious? Also, you’ve always been a pervy boy, so I thought you might be able to handle those kinds of products.”
“Wait a minute. I’m not a pervy boy!”
But seriously, though. Even if that is real, who in the right mind would bring a sex toy as a birthday gift?
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It would be best if you practiced more on your lies, miss.
Well, I do have some in stock, though.
“You’re saying that, but you used to peek in my bathtub a lot, didn’t you?”
Oh, you knew about that.
“So… when you say adult toys, do you mean, for example… magical mushrooms?”
“That customer said they already had a Magical Mushroom, so I’d prefer something different.”
As I thought, the years really went by and changed us when I was traveling.
Just who would have thought that after seeing my first love for a long time, the first thing she would request from me as a merchant was a type of sex toy?
Trying my best not to grab another light, I continued my conversation with my long-missed senior in the cafe.
○●
A lot of shocking things happened today, enough for my ribs to ache even more.
Not to mention I have used quite a lot of higher-ranking spells just this day alone, so my mana is almost nearing empty.
Having no other choice, I decided to stop by my carriage to recover.
The carriage is parked by the castle gate.
In case you are wondering, the place is paid for and costs 50 Bonds per day.
It is rather expensive, but it is a great help because the contractor takes care of everything.
The reason why carriages are not allowed inside the city walls is because of the customs duty. Th is ch ap ter tran slat ion is ma de pos sib le by sta bbing wi th a syr i nge tran slatio ns. Ch eck on ly u p-to- da te tra nslati ons on my Word pre ss sit e.
Customs duty, aka tariffs or tax of imported goods, is collected twice here: once at the border gate and once in the town or castle.
But, of course, this is only for merchants that are not native to Andersen.
As for the merchants under Andersen’s rule, they do not have to pay any tariffs when they bring their goods within the city walls.
The inventory of strangers like me, i.e., merchants who pass through the border, is notified to each castle and town by communication magic, and based on this information, tariffs are then charged to us at the castle gates.
The tariffs are computed via a percentage of each item brought into the city, so everything inside your carriage, once within the city walls, will be subject to tariffs, regardless if they sell or don’t sell.
Because of this, most traveling merchants, not just me, would tie up their wagons outside and bring only what they were selling or planning to sell inside to lessen the tax.
“Hello. I’m gonna go and check my carriage.”
I went to one of the carriage keepers next to the gate.
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I wrote my name and deposit number on the designated form and stamped it.
“Phew. That feels better.”
After restoring my ribs with the medicinal herbs stored in the carriage and my magic power with the magical ore, also called the “magic power source,” I decided to look around outside the castle walls.
According to my senior, traveling merchants have gathered at this black market, so I thought I might get some useful tips from their side.
And so I began my information gathering.
○●
“Well, there is not really much of a choice for us traveling merchants but to do business in this area, as the policing here is relatively lax.”
“As expected, huh. Still, has there been a traveling merchant that was able to take a bite of the big cake?”
“Not that I know of. Sure, there were several in the early days of the economic boom, though It was limited to those who dealt mainly in goods not produced in Andersen. Now, they got their own clients, so you’re not going to get much from them.”
It was generally like this, no matter who I asked.
The delay in rushing to Andersen surely gave me quite a handicap.
Damn it… huh?
As I walked along, cursing myself, I seemed to have entered a mysterious section.
“Doujin Shunpon?”
I read out the words on the signboard posted in the area.
“Doujin” refers to a group of like-minded people, and “Shunpon” is, to put it bluntly, an erotic book.
In other words, it is a store where like-minded people make sexually explicit books and magazines and sell them.
Good grief, if only the crackdown is enforced properly, stores like this will see the light of day.
It’s inexcusable.
So, I went to the store right away.
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