Chapter 181 - 181 The Red Bean Market
It was Abigail's birthday, so the family had gathered. Sherry's family and Freya's family were also coming; Steve was sending and picking them up with teleportation magic, so everyone was gathered at the Archibalt Territory's lord's mansion on this day.
Since it was a gathering of only relatives, no other nobles came; it was a small-scale affair.
As the meal and conversation progressed, when it came time to serve dessert, the main guest, Abigail, smiled.
"I thought of something new for today."
What appeared upon saying that was soba-gaki topped with whole bean paste. In Kanto terms, it is zenzai.
As a side note, in Kanto, things with soup are called oshiruko, and things without soup are called zenzai, but in Kansai, warm soup with whole bean paste is called zenzai, and smooth bean paste is called osu.
Steve's past life was in Kanto, so he thought he was recreating zenzai.
Freya, holding that, looked at Abigail.
"Mother, is this soba-gaki?"
"Yes. You can season it with salt, but eating it like this with bean paste is good too, isn't it? If the demand for soba increases, more people will cultivate it. Soba, which can be grown even on poor land, should be produced even more. For that reason, I thought of a way to eat soba deliciously."
Abigail still had strong memories of when she was poor, and she felt a sense of crisis that industry and commerce were developing in the territory while there were few young people working in agriculture.
She believed that a low food self-sufficiency rate meant that a situation where they would struggle to eat would come in the future.
Therefore, she wanted to increase the harvest of soba, which could be cultivated even in the territory.
The idea was that if the deliciousness of soba spread, demand would rise and more people would cultivate it, so she devised this soba dessert.
Well, Steve's advice was also involved.
Freya took one bite.
"It's delicious. Do you intend to sell it?"
"It doesn't last long, so I can only sell it within the territory."
Abigail gave a bitter smile at her daughter, who was sensitive to the smell of money.
"Your place has red beans as a specialty, doesn't it? Why not try it?"
"Yes. It might be good to think of uses other than what is bought here."
Sherry, listening from the side, snatched the zenzai Freya was holding and quickly put it in her mouth.
"I'll just eat it."
"You should act a bit more like a queen."
Abigail's scolding flew out.
"When I come back here, I become a child again."
Sherry, acting as if the wind blew past her ears.
Isabella, watching that, spoke to Elizabeth next to her.
"Riz. Aunt Sherry is always like that every year."
"She becomes a child when she comes back here. If the people saw that, they would be disappointed."
"But she is a perfect queen when she returns to the country, isn't she?"
It was an annual occurrence that Sherry became sloppy when she returned to her parents' home, and Isabella and Elizabeth were amazed every year, wondering when this person would grow up even at her parents' home.
And the one who felt uncomfortable in this place was Heimdal.
Brian and Abigail's children were Freya, who was of the royal family, and Steve, who held the Dragon Head Medal, but his own family was a baronetcy.
No one spoke of status, but he couldn't help but worry about it, and he held a grudge against the cousins born into such a family.
The feeling that "you were simply born into a good family" was strong.
And he intended to make the people here bark at him.
Soon, that plan began to move.
When June arrived, the red bean futures price for October delivery began to rise.
Red bean futures started with October delivery, and the settlement date was every three months.
This was because the harvest began in September.
The price of red beans was roughly 10,000 Dora.
The domestic production volume in the Kingdom of Cascade was 10,000 tons.
In other words, it was a 100 billion Dora market, but the price could fluctuate depending on whether it was a bumper or poor harvest.
And 100 billion Dora was an amount that a rich person could buy up.
Along with futures, Loki was buying up the physical goods and even setting up green purchases on fields scheduled to be harvested this year.
As Heimdal said, based on past statistics, it seemed that this year would be a poor harvest for red beans, so he started buying up in preparation for the settlement date four months later.
Soon that information ran through the market, lanterns attached, and the price rise accelerated.
Soon the price jumped to 1.5 times.
Steve, of course, grasped that price movement.
Naturally, the main body did too.
He spoke to Isabella, Mikhail, and Arthur about this.
"This is troublesome.
Even the report from our meteorological forecasting department predicts a poor harvest for red beans.
I don't think that information leaked, but if someone made a similar prediction, what should we do?
And that, the main body is the Sowell family."
If Steve put his mind to it, he could produce a large amount of red beans in a short time with plant cultivation magic.
But that was not a sustainable method.
Taking this as a good educational opportunity, he posed the problem to the two young ones.
Isabella answered immediately.
"As per the original plan, we will import red beans from the Empire.
That lady's target is our confectionery business, which has been growing recently.
That's why she is driving up the price of red beans."
Isabella's tone sharpened.
Since the prediction of a poor harvest for red beans came out, she had been searching for procurement outside of domestic sources.
And Isabella, utilizing her position as an Empire noble, was plotting to procure within the Empire.
"Would Lord Sowell take such an obvious measure?"
Mikhail raised doubts about Isabella's opinion.
"That's what I can't accept.
She is cunning to the point of being annoying, but this setup is stupidly honest.
It's as if she is showing off her power."
"I can't read her intentions.
So, is it okay to simply switch to imports from the Empire?
If it were Lord Sowell, there is a possibility that she has set a trap for imports from the Empire."
Arthur suspected that the trap lay precisely where they were trying to move.
At this time, believing that if it were the Sowell family, Aurora would move, he did not think it was Loki's setup.
"We will not touch the red bean market.
To deal with the price surge, we will respond with imports from the Empire, not futures.
If they come to our place to buy, who knows how high it will go.
We must make up for the shortage of the portion we buy from the Parker family.
We must negotiate with the Empire soon."
Isabella concluded so.
Mikhail and Arthur also agreed.
If the Sowell family and the Archibalt family were buying red beans in futures, it was clear that an incredible number of lanterns would be attached.
That was why not touching it was reasonable.
However, since the Sowell family's target was unknown, a lingering unease remained.
That target became clear immediately.
"Shares of confectionery companies, including ours, are being sold in large quantities."
Isabella, looking at the stock prices, noticed that shares of confectionery companies were falling across the board.
If the price of the raw material, red beans, rose, it was natural that performance would worsen.
Selling was done in anticipation of that.
Also, the main body was the Sowell family.
Incidentally, shares of red bean wholesale companies rose.
This was also reasonable.
By manipulating the red bean price, they could also move the stock price of companies handling it.
From a mere 100 billion Dora market, the target had swelled to several times that size.
With this, profits as desired by the Sowell family would be generated.
By mid-June, the red bean price doubled, and some confectionery companies began to raise prices.
Places that did not raise prices either held red bean inventory or were cutting profits.
Archibalt Confectionery still held red beans, and the purchase price had not risen, but considering the purchase of red beans to be harvested this year, the atmosphere was turning toward a price increase within the year.
Amidst that, Steve was visiting an orphanage in the Royal Capital with Isabella, Mikhail, employees of the confectionery company and the automatic machine company, Ellie, and Nick, carrying anpan.
Children were shown taking bread with smiles on their faces.
"How is it? What is your impression of seeing that our work is not just making sweets and machines, but making smiles?
Jobs that only earn money will eventually reach a time when they are not needed by society, but jobs that make smiles will remain forever."
Everyone nodded at Steve's words.
Nick then continued.
"It might not leave a name in history, but it's a good thing to have a job that your children and grandchildren can be proud of.
Looking at this, can anyone say it can't be done immediately?"
"People in society are saying that red bean prices are rising and they will raise prices, but if so, only a part of people will be able to hold anpan.
We must eliminate waste in machines and bread making more, increase efficiency, and be able to sell at the same price without losing profits."
Steve continued so.
Deciding to raise prices is easy.
However, it is necessary to think about whether there is still something that can be done before that.
That was what he wanted to convey.
Hearing this, the designer Leon was particularly impressed and vowed to design without compromise.
Just as they were about to end with a good story, Ellie gave a bitter smile.
"So, the story the consultant thought of is about the villain trying to monopolize all the anpan in the world, and the anpan of the heroes of justice defeating them, right?
This time, you are also giving that picture book as a gift, aren't you?
Image strategy?"
"It is part of social contribution.
Providing bread and picture books for free.
Isn't it truly wonderful?"
Watching this exchange, Isabella felt that her father thought their methods were too soft.
She felt as if she was being told to fight the Sowell family, who were buying up red beans, and thought about how to get the red beans back.
And she reached a conclusion.
After the visit ended, Isabella asked Steve.
"Dad, I want you to take me to the Empire immediately."
"Where in the Empire?"
"To Aunt's place.
I can't go on a long journey leaving the children behind, so I want to borrow your power."
Steve nodded.