Chapter 17 - 17 Trading Begins Next Month
Viscount Karsh had arrived at his townhouse in Sowell Land. Built with his abundant funds, the building was the most magnificent noble residence in Sowell Land, second only to that of Margrave Sowell.
The reason Viscount Karsh was here was that, having suffered losses due to Steve's trickery last time, he had come to Sowell Land—where the futures exchange was located—to take direct command himself.
However, Viscount Karsh had not realized that the primary seller was Steve; he believed Aurora was the one behind it.
Furthermore, since Aurora had been buying back copper when it was cheap, he predicted that her holdings were likely small. Since the opponent was a noble, he felt it would be too heavy a burden for Valier to investigate, so Viscount Karsh was conducting the investigation himself.
Then, a report came in from the Viscount family's intelligence department. He received the report from a man of the intelligence department in the townhouse's office.
"After providing gold to someone in the Margrave's household to confirm, it appears that most of their copper inventory consists of what was bought on the market last month. At most, it likely doesn't even reach 20 tons."
"Good work. I will have Valier look into the purchase volume on the market. As for you, continue to search for any movements by the Margrave to procure copper."
"As you wish."
Once the man from the intelligence department withdrew, Viscount Karsh broke into a smile in the room where he was now alone.
"That Valier, getting caught in such a simple trick. No, perhaps it was his subordinates' mismanagement. Well, fine. I shall take direct command and show both Valier and that vixen the difference in our standing."
Before departing for Sowell Land, Viscount Karsh had issued orders in his territory to permit no passage of copper, regardless of the reason. With this, the transport of copper via land routes within the country was effectively blockaded. Otherwise, one would have to use sea routes, but ships cannot be arranged so readily.
Beyond that, there was the option of importing from the Kingdom of Forest, a potential enemy state, but it was impossible to import copper—a material for weapons—in large quantities from such a nation. It would lead to suspicions that they were preparing for war. With this, Aurora's side had reached a complete dead end regarding the procurement of copper.
Viscount Karsh believed that this time, he would crush Aurora by cornering the copper market and show the other lords who the true leader of the Western region was.
Around that time, Steve had also come to Sowell Land. His location was the Emmanuel Trading Company. He was holding a secret meeting with Emmanuel in a room used for business negotiations.
"Emmanuel, I want you to buy as much copper as you can right now."
"You want to buy even more copper now!?"
Emmanuel was surprised by Steve's instruction to buy copper. The price of copper had temporarily returned to its original level, but it was showing signs of rising momentum again. Furthermore, since copper was being produced somewhere in the Archibalt Territory, he had thought they could obtain it without buying it on the market, so the talk of buying copper while the price was high surprised him.
"If we put the copper produced from the Archibalt Territory on the market now, it would suppress the price of the copper that 'certain someone' is trying to corner, and it would make the person cornering the market realize there are other routes for copper to enter Sowell Land. In that case, it's better to play along with the opponent's intentions and corner the copper together for now."
"I see. I understand. In that case, as for our side, let us also buy up the physical goods put up for sale."
"Not just physical goods, but futures too. Keep buying aggressively."
When told to buy futures as well, Emmanuel showed a look of perplexity. Steve noticed this.
"Is there a problem?"
"Ah, it showed on my face, didn't it? I've failed as a merchant. The reason is the concern that I might end up being glared at by Her Excellency the Margrave. Her Excellency does not look kindly upon the rise in copper prices, so I wondered what kind of scolding there might be if we are seen contributing to the price hike. If it's just physical goods, it can be excused as a procurement request from a client, but I thought it might be an issue if we buy futures in a way that stands out as well."
Emmanuel's concern was justified. One could not do business in Sowell Land if glared at by Aurora. It would be fine if one had the backing of a noble like Viscount Karsh, as Valier did, but a trading company like Emmanuel's, which did not have a powerful noble as a patron, wanted to avoid a clash with Aurora at all costs.
Steve told the worried Emmanuel there was no need for concern.
"Since I am the mastermind of this market manipulation, you don't need to worry about that. Her Excellency has already given her consent. In fact, trading companies under the influence of the Salieri Trading Company are also placing buy orders for copper futures. To make the primary buyer pay a high price, we need to drive the price up even further."
"If that is the case, I shall buy with peace of mind."
"I want you to drive it up as much as possible while doing wash trades among ourselves."
Wash trading refers to transactions where buying and selling are repeated to increase trading volume without increasing the overall position. Here, the goal was to drive up the price by having members of the group place buy orders and buy, then having the one who bought place an order at a slightly higher price for another member to buy, repeating the process.
Since the funds only circulate within the group, it doesn't require much capital. Emmanuel intended to use his own proprietary orders and the orders from Steve to drive up the futures price. Naturally, the Salieri Trading Company would likely match their orders with perfect timing.
"I'm going to plunge all of last month's profits into this."
"Does His Lordship the Knight also know about this?"
"............"
From that silence, Emmanuel sensed something. Steve intended to carry out the finishing touches of this market manipulation without obtaining Brian's permission. From Steve's perspective, it was a battle he could absolutely win, but proving that to Brian would take time. Therefore, using Aurora as a pretext, he had resolved to engage in a gamble involving funds so vast that even selling the territory wouldn't cover the debt.
Even if Brian said something, he intended to get retroactive approval by claiming it was Aurora's instruction.
To anyone other than Steve, the stakes seemed like nothing short of madness, but for Steve, who could create copper with magic, this market situation was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to obtain the funds to rebuild the territory.
And for Emmanuel, it was the same. Though he had been an unremarkable individual shopkeeper until the beginning of the year, he had risen rapidly and was now even a broker, a position with a narrow gate. If so, he decided he would stick with Steve until the end.
"Well, since I've sided with Steve-sama rather than His Lordship this time, I shall accompany you to the end."
"Thank you. I won't let you lose money."
"Yes, I'm sure of it. I haven't lost money once since the start of this year. This is all thanks to Steve-sama."
This was not mere flattery; it was Emmanuel's true feeling. He felt that since he had come this far, he would follow Steve to the very end. For Emmanuel, if he achieved a great victory here, he would be able to stand above the brokers who were currently selling. He had decided to bet his life on his own merchant's intuition.
"By the way, if the price of copper eventually collapses, won't the Archibalt Territory, for which it is a major export, be in trouble?"
"That's true, but I'm thinking of making and selling copper pots. They have good heat conductivity, so they're great for preventing food from falling apart while simmering."
What Steve was imagining here was a copper Oden Pot. He had seen a company belonging to a colleague in his previous life making them, and he thought he could just sell those. Making thin copper plates is a lot of work, but with Steve's magic, even that wouldn't be a burden.
If it didn't take much effort, he wouldn't lose in a price war, so he was planning to turn it into a business.
"If the material costs go down, they'll be at a price even commoners can afford. If the number of buyers increases, it will certainly be viable as a business."
Emmanuel was already looking ahead to the aftermath of the market manipulation. He judged that if there was a product that could target commoners as a way to do business with devalued copper, it would be perfectly viable.
"That aside, I'd also like to ask you to obtain sesame and green onions."
"I shall continue to look for them."
He had asked Emmanuel to obtain sesame and green onions as condiments for Soba, but he had been unable to get them until now.
Green onions in particular take time to harvest, so he wanted to get them early. Incidentally, the Soba served in Sowell Land and the Royal Capital comes with such condiments, and one can obtain them if they pay enough. However, he thought that if he could cultivate them in his own territory, he could provide them at the inn and earn a profit.
Even now it was profitable, but he wanted the condiments in order to sell it as a local specialty. He was one step away from achieving his plan of making the flavors eaten by nobles available at a price within reach of commoners.
As for shiso, it had been obtained and production had begun. And while he was also looking for myouga (T/N: Japanese ginger), its existence had not been confirmed so far. He had given up on basil because it was difficult to produce. He might produce it in the future, but for now, there were more pressing matters to prioritize.
"My people are also looking forward to the Soba from the Archibalt Territory. If it's improved even further, they will surely place orders."
"The women of my house are in charge of the development, so I'll tell them the reputation is excellent."
As Steve said, Abigail took the lead in improving the Soba, with Sherry and Christina helping out. The nominal reason was to create a local specialty for the territory, but the motivation was the desire to use the budget to eat delicious things.
In particular, Christina's family home was sending seasonings in exchange for buckwheat flour, and there was no end to their ingenuity in flavoring. They had also come to realize that it was better to change the seasoning depending on whether it was the first, second, or third press of the flour, and there was no end in sight for that research. Still, they made sure to provide things that seemed sellable at the inn.
When the meeting with Emmanuel ended, Steve returned to his territory. There, he told Christina and the others, who were striving with prototypes in the kitchen, that Emmanuel had praised the taste of the Soba.
"Chris, Emmanuel said the Soba at the inn is popular with the people of his trading company."
"Really? I'm so happy."
Beside the rejoicing Christina, Sherry had a smug look on her face.
"It's only natural, since I'm the one who does the tasting and makes the final judgment."
"Sherry, you should help with the cooking at least a little. Even though Soba is our territory's specialty, if you can't cook, you'll be laughed at by your in-laws."
Abigail's nagging flew at Sherry.
"It's fine because I'll marry a wealthy noble and have the chef make what I instruct them to."
She made that excuse, but everyone gave a wry smile. Since Sherry was saying it in earnest, she got a bit grumpy. Abigail had a headache over her child who was dreaming of marrying into wealth.
"Ane-ue, what did you help with besides the tasting?"
Steve asked Sherry.
"I picked shiso from the backyard. It was a big job."
"A big job?"
"What is it, Steve? It's hard work picking shiso under the strong rays of the sun."
"Ah, yes. Ow-ow-ow-ow."
Steve, who had directed a look of pity at Sherry's response, had his cheek pinched by her.
"Steve, you should go and procure more seasonings from the Royal Capital. I want to try even newer flavors."
When Sherry said that, Abigail added:
"You're not just doing the tasting. Who do you think is the one cooking using the new seasonings?"
"I-I want to become able to cook too, you know."
"Then hold a knife starting tomorrow."
"I'm scared of blades, so I want the job of watching the heat."
"Then don't just watch the heat, do the seasoning too. I won't forgive sloppy seasoning like you usually do."
Sherry's seasoning was very sloppy. Since she added things like salt by feel without measuring, the taste was different every time. Although the Archibalt Territory had money now, Abigail, who knew the times of poverty, was strict about wastefulness.
For that reason, she could not remain silent about ingredients going to waste due to her daughter's careless seasoning.
Furthermore, based on their family rank, Sherry's future husband would be a Baron at best, and unless they held an extremely wealthy territory, they wouldn't be able to make prototypes of dishes using seasonings in abundance. Also, since there were only a handful of such wealthy Barons in the Kingdom of Cascade, the kind of cooking instructions at her future home that Sherry spoke of would be difficult to realize.
"I want to find a husband who will let me eat as much Soba and pasta as I want."
It was Sherry's earnest wish, driven by bare desire.