Chapter 89 - Chapter 89: Cedar Futures
After defeating the combined army of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria and the Yellow Empire, Steve immediately attacked the Kingdom of Cryptomeria's royal castle.
Unlike usual, since there was no spare strength to send soldiers for occupation in the Eastern Region, he decided to strike the enemy's base directly. During Teleportation, he saw several units preparing to launch, but he didn't engage those soldiers, only snatching their food with Storage Magic. By doing this, he could delay the enemy's deployment.
The King of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria, who was in high spirits from reports of his own army continuing its rapid advance with the help of the Yellow Empire's Suit Knights, never dreamed of a royal castle attack by Steve, but now he was bound by magic and unable to move.
"Who are you?"
Even while bound, the King of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria, Cain Mil Cryptomeria, glared at Steve.
Steve glared back at such a king.
"Cascade Kingdom Dragon Head Medal, Steve Archibalt. To end this war, I have come to attack the base."
"You are that Dragon Head Medal?"
"Indeed. Now, shall we have everyone gathered here visit my country?"
Saying that, Steve teleported the King of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria and other high officials to the Kingdom of Cascade's royal castle. On the Kingdom of Cascade side, they sensed this would happen from when Steve moved, and without much confusion, accepted the Kingdom of Cryptomeria's key figures as prisoners.
After that, Steve teleported to the headquarters of the Yellow Empire's Eastern District Command where Knight of Sword had teleported. In the headquarters where the top of the Sword Knights Order was gone, nothing could stop Steve, and it was suppressed in a flash.
General Garrett, who was there, also became a prisoner and was sent to the Kingdom of Cascade.
"A child who suppresses quickly with a brilliant method. Are you Lord Archibalt?"
"Yes."
"As expected. If you have come here, it means the subordinates I sent to the Kingdom of Cryptomeria were defeated?"
When General Garrett realized the attacker was Steve, he knew of his subordinates' defeat. He had been reported that a battle occurred, but in this world where communication means were limited, it still took time for subsequent information to arrive.
So, he did not know the information that the three Suit Knights, Ace and King, plus the missing Queen, were defeated by Steve.
The answer derived from the fact that a battle occurred and Steve attacked here was the defeat of the Suit Knights. General Garrett sighed.
"I had no intention of fighting, and I sent those two so I could win whoever came."
"The battle was accidental, and besides, I would have lost alone. Winning was thanks to Nancy."
"Nancy? Could it be Queen of Sword?"
"Yes."
"She was alive?"
"I made her an ally with magic. Of course, that was also broken by your Ace's magic. In the end, I ended up defeating her with my own hands."
General Garrett was stunned by Steve's story. Three of the strongest in the Eastern District were defeated on one battlefield by a child who hadn't even reached adulthood. And then, he gave up.
"Will the Empire lose the Eastern Region because of this? My fate is also exhausted."
There was no combat power to stop Steve, and it was clear the Eastern District would be ravaged. And then, he realized his fate was to be killed here, or after becoming a prisoner, released and killed for taking responsibility for the Empire.
"I won't kill you here. I don't know what happens after that, as it's not my decision. Well, shall we travel together?"
Thus, General Garrett and the soldiers of the command unit were teleported to the Kingdom of Cascade.
Additionally, using location information of other garrisons and military bases obtained at headquarters, Steve attacked all major garrisons and bases of the Eastern District. Within one week from the start of the counterattack, the Yellow Empire's Eastern District lost its function.
Bella, who was with him, had something she wondered while looking at Steve's figure. She thought he was moving more severely than usual to forget losing Nancy, but somehow, she couldn't feel such anger or sense of loss from Steve. If you call it administrative, that's so, but as a childhood friend, it was strange that Steve didn't show emotions or seemed to suppress them at times like this.
However, she did not ask Steve about it verbally. Bella thought Steve should do as he pleased.
Steve, who had neutralized the combat power of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria and the Yellow Empire, thought he could finally return to Archibalt Territory and take time to relax. However, that did not come true.
Christina told Steve that there was a summons from Aurora.
"Actually, there was contact from Lord Sowell. He wants you to show your face."
"When was that?"
"There was contact three days ago, but since Lord Steve was busy, I did not report it by my judgment. Was it unnecessary?"
"No, thank you for your consideration. Anyway, I wouldn't have been able to show my face, and if I heard, it would have stuck in the corner of my head, and I think I wouldn't have been able to concentrate on the war."
Steve thanked Christina for her consideration. There was a need to strike before the opponent's formation was complete, and no matter it was Aurora's summons, it would have been put off in the end. However, if I worried about that, I don't know what kind of effect it would have on the battle.
In the end, not knowing was best.
Christina had stopped reporting to Steve with the resolve that if this summons was urgent and important, she would take responsibility. Steve of course thanked her with understanding of that resolve.
"Even so, what could Lord Sowell's business be?"
"He said he would talk about the business when I came. There was contact via light communication every day, but nothing about the business."
"Well, since it's communication you can see, if you look at the light, you'll know the content too."
Although encrypted, it is a simple cipher about how many shifts on the conversion table. Since it is a cipher only slightly more than plaintext, arranging sentences while looking at the light is not difficult to convert so they make sense. Therefore, using light communication for highly confidential content is avoided.
Research on ciphers is also just starting, and it takes time to bring it down to the operational level of the front lines.
"It's troubling if I wait too long and the request comes up, so I'll go for a bit."
"Be careful."
Steve decided to teleport to Aurora with Bella.
When he told Bella that, Bella gave Steve a warning.
"If you don't pay attention to Chris too much, you might get dumped."
"I am concerned about it. But the situation doesn't allow it easily."
The reason Steve was single in his previous life was also because he was busy and had no time to meet women. In this life, he could meet Christina early and get engaged, but the busy situation hasn't changed.
Although there is the fact that noble marriage is a connection between houses, it is also a fact that Christina currently likes Steve. He thought it was better to care before hearts drifted apart.
Being warned by Bella, he resolved anew that he must do so.
"After finishing Lord Sowell's talk, I'll try to make time with Christina."
"Even if everyone disappears, I will be here until the end."
"I'll make sure that future doesn't come."
Steve said that and teleported to Aurora with Bella.
Soon it became a meeting with Aurora, and as usual, it became a discussion between Steve, Aurora, and Harry.
"I wanted to see you. You haven't shown your face for a while, so I got jealous thinking you found a good partner somewhere else."
"I just broke up with a woman I love, so that's not it."
"I'm sorry about that matter. Other nobles don't know how much Lord loved Queen of Sword, so they are excited about defeating three Suit Knights at once."
It became known domestically that Steve defeated the three Suit Knights Ace, King, and Queen in the East, and naturally, Aurora had grasped that information.
While tracking Steve's movements, she learned he was participating in the battle against the combined army of the Kingdom of Cryptomeria and the Yellow Empire by order of the king, after helping with restoration work in the Eastern Region, and afterwards, obtained the story that he defeated the top 3 of the Sword Knights Order in front of Cleiman Land.
Regarding the Queen, there was a background where Steve spared her even overturning the king's order, and seeing how she was treated afterwards, even Aurora could guess what position she held. If Steve buried that Queen with his own hands, one can also guess his inner thoughts.
And, deliberately trying to shake him in that situation was Aurora's bad habit.
"So, you didn't call me to make me report the battle situation, right?"
"That's so, but actually, there is another person I want to come to this place today."
"Who is it?"
"Valier."
"Valier, is it?"
A name Steve hadn't thought of came out of Aurora's mouth, so Steve was surprised. Because Steve visited, Aurora quickly instructed to bring Valier, and now she is in a state of waiting for Valier's arrival.
"It takes time to arrive, so I will explain the situation from my side. The Yellow Empire's target this time wasn't just pressure behavior to the East, but also raising the Cedar Futures price within the Kingdom of Cascade. By raising the Cedar Futures price in the West, the aim was to delay the East's reconstruction and make them spend more on reconstruction budget than usual. The target there was buying Cedar Futures here. At first, I thought small trading companies joined hands and started hoarding, but the funds for that were the Empire. By the time I noticed, Valier also had a huge open position, and if they buy back, the price will skyrocket at once. However, there isn't enough cedar to deliver physically."
"That's quite a painful situation."
"It's not someone else's problem. Lord's factory also uses a lot of wood as raw material, right? Emmanuel Trading Company also tried to lower the futures price and put in a sell, but they are being carried along. They won't collapse, but I think it will affect Archibalt Territory too."
Against Steve who said it somewhat like it wasn't his problem, Aurora said Steve was also a party.
The cedar procurement price for the factory was a headache problem for Steve. Although agricultural production improved, it remains unchanged that the territory runs on money earned by the factory. If that factory goes into deficit, territory management will become difficult.
Moreover, Steve promised tax exemption with the money he earned, but he was asked by Sherry to use it for the Kingdom of Merda's compensation, so even if the factory is in surplus, it is quite difficult. Deficit absolutely had to be avoided.
While doing that, Valier arrived and it became a report from Valier.
"I heard the story. It seems you sold quite easily."
"I apologize, Lord. At first I thought four merchants were colluding, but another merchant entered later, and that was the trading company that put in the main fund."
The merchants Ino prepared were not just four. On the first delivery day, the fifth person did not appear. When Valier investigated the four, grasped their fund amount, and put in a sell, the fifth person put in a buy and lifted it up at once.
Emmanuel Trading Company was also carrying a lantern for Valier, and is being carried along together.
This was Joseph's strategy. Simply buying could raise the price, but more effective was the market manipulation by making them step on a sell. The price would overshoot and go higher.
Moreover, the fifth person's funds were made in another market, and increased more than when brought from the Empire.
As a result of Aurora investigating the four, she grasped the shadow of the Empire's agents, but at that time, the stepping up had already begun. Valier and Emmanuel did not step, but other lantern supporters couldn't endure and stepped, causing the Cedar Futures price to rise to double. With this, Valier and Emmanuel also needed to put in additional margin. At this time, the open position had increased, and even gathering cedar from the Western Region, it became impossible to deliver physically.
However, if they close the open position, the price will rise further.
Aurora conveyed the opponent's main fund information to Steve.
"The opponent's main fund is Joseph Frobel. A political merchant who makes the Yellow Empire's Eastern Region their activity base. Now staying at a lodge in Sowell Land under a pseudonym."
"Well, the enemy is clever. Coming from the Empire and manipulating Valier. But if you investigated that much, catch them and have the open position settled by Settlement by Compromise."
"I considered that too, but the fact of losing in the market cannot be erased. Also, if we create a precedent that price movements inconvenient for rulers become invalid, all participants will shrink. I thought it was better to defeat them in the market, so I consulted with Lord Sowell."
"That's so. Using force to crush is the last resort. That's why I wanted to consult on how to handle it there."
Steve grasped the general situation. Steve also thought market prices should be decided by market participants, not by the public. If so, without making a futures market, the lord or king should announce the price every day.
Actually, there are such efforts in communist countries, etc.
However, the Kingdom of Cascade is a free economy, and Steve thought that was what would lead to development. Excessive management shrinks the economy. If so, defeating the buyers with a sell is best this time too.
"I want you to tell me the open position and physical cedar available within the Western Region. I'll judge whether I can do something about it from then."
"Understood. I will immediately contact other trading companies to secure physical goods."
"My funds on hand are scarce, so I can't help with the sell-off."
"If it's funds, I'll lend as much as you want."
"Since the interest looks high, I'll stop."
"It's between me and Lord, so it's definitely cheap."
Rejecting Aurora's offer where he didn't know how serious she was, Steve thought about what to do with the market.
Thank you always for typo reports.