Chapter 165: (Self Edited) Trade Report

“Yuri, I need to talk to you a little bit.” (Cuffe)When I went to the office of Hou and Associates at the end of February, Cuffe said to me with a serious look. However, he always had a serious look, so I couldn’t measure how serious the matter was.

“Alright.” (Yuri)

“Is it alright if we use the conference room?” (Cuffe)

“Yes.” (Yuri)

I followed Cuff’s back as he started to walk to the conference room. I climbed the wooden stairs and arrived at a room.

He leaned out through the windows that were open for ventilation and inspected the walls to see if there was anything. There was a bugging device once.

The wiretapping device wasn’t an electronic device, but a stethoscope was attached to the outer wall, and the thread was stretched from there in the form of a string telephone. As soon as anyone wanted to track the thread, the thread was cut on the other side, and the taut thread was hung down.

Of course, since it was a live broadcast, there were people on the other side.

I closed the window for soundproofing. It was covered with glass, so the light could reach through it, but it was distorted to the point I couldn’t see the outside. I sat in a chair and…

“Alright, what is it?” (Yuri)

“Last night, a trade ship from the Albio Republic arrived at Suomi. I received a report by eagle mail.” (Cuffe)

Cuffe put an envelope on the desk.

“You should read it first. It’s Lirica’s report.” (Cuffe)

Lirica Kucririson, who graduated from the school of Liberal Arts last year, had been asked to stay as an expatriate over there. This was because it had become necessary as the scale of trade had increased.

To begin with, Harold had to go to the New World route, so if we wanted to send a fleet without Harold to the Albio Republic, we would definitely need a Telor language speaker. I also ordered ships, so we need to visit the ships under construction on a regular basis.

Also, if there is a resident expatriate, we could participate in the auction award of captured vessels.

If a ship was privately plundered by a pirate ship, it would be damaged or torched in a fierce battle and eventually sank, but if it surrendered early on, giving up the chance of winning, the ship would be intact. It would then be shipped to the main island of Albio for auction.

“Is it alright to read it now?” (Yuri)

“Yes, I’ll be waiting.” (Cuffe)

‘Wait, huh?’

“You can go and do another job if you want. This is going to take about ten minutes.” (Yuri)

“No, I’ll wait.” (Cuffe)

‘It seems you’re going to wait. Are you that free?’

“Alright…” (Yuri)

I started reading.

—

I: General Matters

The same number of printed scriptures were ordered as last time. As originally planned, it appears that priority is being given to continental countries farther away from the Papal States.

However, there was a protest from the Kalghi Sect against the parliament and there was a request to replace the contents of the scriptures with one similar to the Kalghi Sect. The decision is pending. There’s no hard-line or high-pressure attitude in the parliament, and it seems to be rather sympathetic here.

The cause of the protest seems to be that there is a demand for cheap scriptures within the Albio Republic and that a portion of the scriptures that were sold wholesale were distributed within the Republic. A list of change requests was requested and enclosed is the list that was returned in response.

(Note: I have read the scriptures, but when I read the request, I had no idea what the problem was. Is it a backstory kind of thing?)

II: Information

The order to form the Crusaders for the second time was issued.

However, the Papal States were still in turmoil, and the war-seekers and the truce factions were fighting each other. There seems to be confusion because only the call was issued without clarifying the partner country. There is a development in the Republic that fears that they may be targeted.

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I brought a large quantity of Kururuan perfumes to the market. They said that stable supply is difficult.

(Note: I think it would sell well to female customers. It smells so good.)

Although the sales of the scriptures are good, it was pointed out that there may be a demand range for those with a little flashier binding and higher prices. I don’t know what it is, so I had a design draft made. I don’t think it’s very good, but it’s enclosed. A different merchant ordered me to send him a bare book without binding. The price is the same.

(Note: I’m told that this is Eisa-sensei’s preference, but I still think it’s too plain.)

IV: Ship.

Completed the handover of Mailte XIV. It has been loaded with goods and returned to the port.

—

To sum it up in a nutshell, it is something like this.

As for the Crusade, the man, Epitapth Palazzo or something, was the guy I dealt with before and he seemed to be a pretty crazy guy. He was thinking of making the Crusade an annual event instead of the usual once every five years or so. This guy was the leader of the war seeker faction, and the others who said ‘Oi, oi, let’s take a break…’ are those from the truce faction. Perhaps, there’s not much confrontation, but more of a one-sided embarrassment for the truce faction.

It seems that he was trying hard to hold it last year, but it was impossible. No matter how much he tried, and even he tried his best this year, it seemed impossible, so he sent out a notice on his own. It was four months ago that he issued a proclamation to the nations on his own, without the Pope’s permission. In the end, the proclamation was wrong, and a formal letter was sent to all parties, cancelling the proclamation.

‘Did he do it again? I have to be vigilant, but how?

Another issue was the Karurugi sect’s protest, so I think it would be nice to have Eisa-sensei write a letter.

The Kalghi sect is a sect created by a military priest named Kalghinion Pestpaseri, but when I studied it in detail, I found many strange things about it. The tendency of ideologically sharp people to unconsciously disregard or ignore the parts that contradict their ideas is really apparent, and to be specific, in the process of creating a new doctrine, he ignores the descriptions in the book of Egin and Noam from the top of his head. However, the doctrine of the time of Xerxes is said to have been terrible, so it may be natural to think of it as a religion born as a reaction to that.

On the other hand, from the point of view of the Catholic Sect that appeared after the Kalghi Sect, the early Catholic Sect was formed in the style of Stra studies, which means that in order to understand the scripture accurately, one must first examine the history and study the literature of the time. In other words, one must examine the background of the text in detail, and then, understand it through discussion, and never interpret it arbitrarily. Since it was formed in that style…

“No, if I think thoroughly, the Kalghi-san’s interpretation is wrong. He was confidently saying all these things, but they are all arbitrary interpretations. Look at verse 13 of the Book of Egin, verse 42 of the Book of Noam, didn’t he ignore these two?” (Yuri)

…it would become like that. By the way, the Eisa Sect is a development of the early Catholic Sect.

Certainly, sharp ideas are attractive in some respects, but when it comes to debate, they can be a bit of a sticking point where people can poke fun at. As a missionary to the continent, it’s not possible to distribute such a text.

“As always, don’t spread the news.” (Yuri)

I handed the paper to Cuffe.

“The only part that matters is the third.” (Yuri)

“Hmm.” (Cuffe)

I wait for Cuffe to finish reading. After a while, he placed the paper on the desk.

‘I guess he finished reading.’

“As for the design, let’s try it once. Well, I don’t know about the trend and the taste of the other side. If that doesn’t work, I can’t help it. Let’s give it a bare version.” (Yuri)

I said.

“Yes. I’ve heard that the text decoration is popular, but it might be more to their liking if they do it themselves.” (Cuffe)

‘In the case of manuscripts, it’s common to enlarge only the first letter of each chapter and decorate the letters with color to make them fashionable. It’s not calligraphy, but rather artistic decoration, such as stretching the edges of a large initial letter to make a pattern like branches and leaves, attaching gold leaf to make it gaudy, or making the letter itself into a lattice pattern.’

‘The same is true of the printed scriptures here, which are printed and then decorated by hand. Unlike parchment manuscripts, they aren’t covered with gold leaf, but they are beautifully finished.’

‘This is the only part of the black-and-white print that can be colored, so it gives a colorful and fun impression. It may not be necessary, but it will be fun to read, and I personally like this kind of processing. It’s just that it still costs money, and if you don’t need it, or if it sells better without it, then so be it.’

“For the time being, let’s pull it out of the bookbinding process and secure about a hundred bare copies. Let’s send a hundred copies without text decoration.” (Yuri)

I said.

“Well, the rest is the Kururuan perfumes… this is interesting, but will it sell?” (Cuffe)

“What’s wrong with it?” (Yuri)

‘I’m sure it’ll sell like hotcakes.’

“It’s because the Witches’ purse strings are getting tighter. You see, the sales of paper in the royal capital have been rising recently.” (Cuffe)

“Aah, yes.” (Yuri)

“The people who used to use parchment for luxury reasons are now reluctant to spend money on it. It’s a bit of an exaggeration to say they’re in dire straits, but they;re not doing so well.” (Cuffe)

‘Hmm… I wonder why. Did something happen to make them suddenly stop getting paid? I can understand if there’s a cause for it, like the royal castle rapidly changing the distribution of concessions, but there’s no such development.’

“Why did that happen? Was there something that reduced their earnings?” (Yuri)

“Wouldn’t they worry about the future? I’ve heard that’s why a lot of them are reluctant to pay the protection status fee. That has spread to the Witches, and the purse strings are getting stiff.” (Cuffe)

“Hmm… aah, this is about perfume though.” (Yuri)

“Ooh? It’s not like it’s a permanent business, and the amount we bring in will be sold at some point.” (Cuffe)

“Isn’t there a demand for them in luxury brothels and the like?” (Yuri)

“Oh yes.” (Cuffe)

Cuffe looked unusually astonished. The image of a pink room in luxury brothels with an exotic scent in the air must have felt right.

“That sounds good.” (Cuffe)

“Well, I guess that’s it then.” (Yuri)

‘I have to cut out Lirica’s report and send it to the royal castle. I don’t know if that make sense, but I don’t want them to think that I’m hiding something.’

“No, I still have something.” (Cuffe)

“What? Is it the paper?” (Yuri)

“It’s… aah… uhm.” (Cuffe)

‘What? It’s not every day that Cuffe stutters. If it’s a small mistake or loss, he knows that I won’t get angry, so he’ll report it normally. I wonder what happened. Did a loss occur that was more than a little? That’s scary.’

“Uhmm…” (Cuffe)

“Just say it. It’s scary, you know.” (Yuri)

When I said that, Cuffe stood up from his chair and bent his waist at the right angle and bowed to me. His forehead hit the desk, and the desk suddenly shook, so I was surprised.

“I want to marry Beaure! So, please give me your blessing!” (Cuffe)

Cuffe shouted loudly. It was sudden.

‘Eh? Beaure? That Beaure who’s always playing with an abacus? Beure Emernon? The cousin on my mother’s side?’

“Eh, for real?” (Yuri)

“Yes, it’s for real. I want to marry her.” (Cuffe)

Cuffe raised his face with his hands on the desk and said it.

“Well, it’s fine, but… really?” (Yuri)

‘Yeah. I mean you should tell that to her parents. And what’s with the enthusiasm? She is the daughter of Suzuya’s Onii-chan. So, save that enthusiasm until you meet him.’

“Will you bless me?” (Cuffe)

“I don’t mind.” (Yuri)

‘Only if Beaure wants to. I mean, is it necessary to get my blessing?’

“Aah, I would like to hear this. Did Beaure agree to this?” (Yuri)

‘You’re not harassing her or anything, right?’

“Of course.” (Cuffe)

‘Hmm… I’m pretty sure Beaure had her birthday the other day, so she just turned eighteen. How old is Cuff? I would say he is already over thirty. It feels pretty alarming. I wonder if Suzuya would agree…’

“Have you done ‘that’? That… thing done as a couple.” (Yuri)

‘I can’t say that.’

“I haven’t.” (Cuffe)

“I’ll be honest. It’s not that I’m angry.” (Yuri)

“I’m not brave enough to have premarital sex with someone who is the cousin of my employer, and he is the heir of the Hou Household.” (Cuffe)

‘That was convincing. It seems he hasn’t done it. Amazing. I’ve done it with the royal family. But if you don’t, the parents’ impression will be very different. Especially when it’s a marriage with an age difference.’

“Then, that’s fine, right? If anything, it’s you, Cuffe. I’ll help you persuade her parents.” (Yuri)

“R-really!?” (Cuffe)

Cuffe looked hopeful.

‘It’s the first time he shows such a happy face.’

“But you’ve got to get Beaure here right now and explain to me how you both get to this point.” (Yuri)

“Eh…” (Cuffe)

The smile became cloudy.

“Isn’t it obvious? If not, how am I supposed to convince them otherwise?” (Yuri)

“A-aah… yeah. I’ll bring her in.” (Cuffe)

Cuffe said bitterly. I was looking forward to having enough material to make fun of him for the rest of his life.

Cuffe walked out of the conference room. Even so, happy talks didn’t come successively.