Chapter 189 - 189 – The Council Meeting IV

The idea caused some disagreement amongst the Council, but they couldn’t deny that it had its merits. The most obvious challenge was personnel, but once Lew explained that they didn’t need a specific place for it since liquor could be sold in the food stores, the idea became possible. Even so, it would require transportation, both from AP to the Capital and from the Serion Kingdom to AP.

Actually, the Council didn’t like giving money to the Kingdom, but they had to come to terms with it until they could trade directly with the Democracy. Introducing drinking in a workaholic community had its own risks, even more since they didn’t have any previous contact with it. However, if they could do it slowly and carefully, it might help them mitigate the accumulated stress on their workers.

Said and Mary were totally against it. From what they knew, liquor would intoxicate the body, which somehow was the purpose of most drinkers. Physical consequences aside, according to Lew, the practice would help relax and deal with the ails of the mind. So, the trick was on the dosage, drinking enough to wash your concerns away without hurting your body. Though, such a dosage might not even exist.

Minister Lonni, on the other hand, looked satisfied with the prospect of the new source of income.. Unfortunately, the feeling didn’t last long as he started to go through the numbers of the next report with his secretary.

“Once more, our earnings weren’t enough to cover the Ministries’ budget. The last seasonal budget was set to one million crystals, but we came short of almost 200 thousand crystals. The difference was covered by the mined crystals, but we estimate that only half of the amount actually represents our growth.”

Although the councilors had been successfully warned by elder Lonni’s tone, only Marlen and Omero thoroughly understood the situation. The specifics of the lesson taught by their trading teachers had already faded from memory, but core parts still remained. A nation’s economy is based on the balance between supply and demand, but demand is often represented by money instead of need. So, excess demand without proper supply would create a cascade of problems.

When Lonni took over the seat, they spend a whole afternoon trying to explain the financial concept, though they barely understood it themselves. Soon, it became clear that they made a mistake. The wages on AK were too high, and the citizens didn’t have the means to spend it. Everybody who hesitated to buy a house was now looking for the city planners to place an order, which filled the constructing team’s schedule for the next two years.

The first and easier course of action would be to increase the prices, but that would generate another problem itself. If the food at the restaurants and stalls cost any higher, many would go back to prepare their meals at home, which meant less spending and a decrease in overall productivity. People were used to eating out, but they were in no way incapable of preparing their own food if need.

Fortunately, the responsible citizens were saving crystals for the promise of magic tools instead of overbuying other things. In the end, the trick was finding new ways to fork the money back to the Council with something their people would be happy to pay for. Sadly, until they could solve the workforce problem, crafting Alchemy tools was out of the table. Encouraging a clothing trend and introducing liquor to the food stores would be good short-term solutions, but far from enough to last more than a couple of seasons.

Karl had a few ideas but with little to no impact on the general consumption, so he chose to save them for his Ministry’s presentation. The finance report came to an end with another sour taste of leaving something unsolved, but they couldn’t stop and nobody seemed to have a solution.

With the first part of the meeting over, the councilors stopped to eat something and agreed to reconvene in an hour. Moira wasn’t sure if she should leave before or after the meal, so she decided to avoid any embarrassment and excuse herself after paying compliments to the Council members.

***

“The first part of Sandine war mission is complete and now we need to decide if we want to keep arming the Sandines. We have three shadows watching over the tribes and the frontier. Thanks to the two towers constructed towards the south we have daily updates. Still, we need to train more beast messengers. Right now, information is our best advantage.”

Usually, the Ministry of Governance’s report would come first, but Omero asked to be left for last. So, Lew started his report through the operators. With the introduction of the display module, the operators relayed the messages faster. Even so, typing the message took a lot longer than speaking.

“How many soldiers they have and how many weapons we sold?”

Omero’s question made most councilors shiver. It was easy to forget how their nation was ridiculously smaller than others in terms of population.

“The Kingdom’s forces have something around 90 thousand soldiers, but the Mages regiment was pulled back before we intervene. They would account for something between 500 and one thousand Mages. The Beastkin just received reinforcements, and now amount to roughly 20 thousand, 300 already armed with our weapons.”

Even though the operator was the one relaying the message, the Council realized the cues on the report, especially the one about the Mages regiment being absent. The two former democracy agents exchanged a look, and Omero continued asking:

“Do you think they can take back the Oasis? What’s the risk if we keep supplying weapons?”

The reply came almost a minute later.

“The Sandines are confident they can push the Serions back. I think they were ready to give up on the Oasis and retreat for a couple of years, but the weapons gave whoever is in the position of War Supreme Commander the chance to retaliate and keep the seat longer. Once they take the Oasis back, the Mages should be called back. Usually, after spending a lot, the regions involved would receive an additional influx of resources from the conquered land. It’s an unofficial compensation for the war expenses. So, I bet that even those arrogant Elementalists would be forced back if their rewards were to be taken. There’s a small chance of escalating the war and drawing more attention to our weapons, but the Wardens wouldn’t let others meddle in so easily. The Fire Duchess is too proud and the new Wind Lord can’t afford it.”