Lawrence pursed his lips at her tease, and Holo cackled.
“Anyway. Everyone needs lumber right now. It’s not easy to get in bulk. The Winfiel Kingdom, especially—it’s the land of sheep. All the forests were cut down long ago, so they have no choice but to rely on the mainland for it.”
Lawrence and Holo once ventured to the kingdom together. They had visited a monastery where sheep spirits lived secretly among the regular sheep, and had seen never-ending stretches of field.
“And so I’m here to secure some. But of course, I’m not here to trade the Twilight Cardinal’s gracious authority for lumber, no matter how much they need. That cute little Col will be as furious with me as an inquisitor if I did.”
“……”
A half-hearted smile crossed Lawrence’s face at the exaggeration, but Eve did not smile.
“Forget that—I make him a little sad, and that stubborn little wolf will immediately turn her fangs on me. I think they’re turning me into an angelic merchant.”
It was Holo’s discretion that allowed Myuri to accompany Col on his journey, and perhaps that ultimate judgment was the reason why she was called the wisewolf.
Col was earnest and had such a strong sense of right and wrong that it made Lawrence nervous sometimes; having an ally like Myuri, who unconditionally stuck by his side, armed with the raw power of fang and claw, was almost necessary.
Even if the unconditional part of that statement made her father Lawrence very antsy.
“I plan to trade lumber and wool at market price. But I’ve put in an order for as much lumber as possible. So if Lord Tonneburg feels like his forest is in danger, then that’s the fault of the people from Karlan.”
It was much too early to tell if Eve was shifting the blame for what was happening. Matthias himself did not trust the merchants from Karlan.
“He thinks that if he does not fulfill your order, then he won’t get any protection from the Twilight Cardinal. What do you have to say about that?”
Lawrence’s question was cutting, but Eve only canted her head to the side.
“They’re welcome to think that, but we have no intention of doing so. I’m just here because I have a need to trade here.”
Lawrence made a mental note to investigate whether or not that statement was true, and only nodded in affirmation for the moment.
“Then is the reason the Karlan merchants are trying to gather as much lumber as possible because they’re trying to make this trade as big as they can, then make a profit through mediation fees?”
“That’s possible,” Eve said, and paused to think for a moment. “Have you heard about the tariffs in this town?”
The strangest topic arose at the most unexpected time.
“I have. I was wondering what sort of things they were planning,” Lawrence said, but he also quietly wondered to himself if this was Eve’s plan, as she was attempting to absorb as much cheap lumber as possible.
“They have it rough here since they started developing late. But they’re full of pluck. They’re doing everything they can to grow the city. I like the atmosphere it creates, but that’s just a part of it.”
Back in Tonneburg, Lawrence had sat before the map and mused about this and that. Karlan was surrounded by opposing forces on all sides, and their only option for a trade breakthrough was the planned road through Tonneburg.
“Karlan wants to expand by lowering their taxes.”
But what Eve ultimately said was so unexpected that Lawrence almost missed it.
“…What?”
“Don’t give me that. You used to be a merchant, didn’t you? Didn’t you look at the duty listings at the towns you stopped in to see where its opinions lay?”
Lawrence blinked, hurriedly rummaging through his brain.
Tax was often thought as something the rich and powerful levied to line their own pockets, and while those cases did exist, they were mostly put to use for the sake of the public.
Tariffs were a specific type of tax that were unique, and their effects were slightly different from other taxes. In a way, they acted as a city’s walls.
Tariffs dictated what goods could easily come in and out of a city. For example, if there was a city home to many furriers, then imported furs would be subject to high import fees to protect the artisans; any food that came into a town that could not produce its own foodstuffs was practically free, yet it would cost a pretty penny to take any food out of the town, which meant food would effectively gather within the town.
And so what sort of situation would bring about rumors that tariffs for all incoming items would be removed? Especially considering the town was planning on expanding.
“Is the city planning on absorbing all of the raw material?”
Eve nodded. “The people here have been wanting to cut down the Tonneburg Woods and build a road through it for ages, but it’s too much work for only the people of a city this size to undertake. And while Lord Tonneburg isn’t a fool, he’s too kind. He said he would only agree to building the road if his people would not be whipped while working on it.”
One often saw the commonfolk being treated like slave labor in large construction projects.
While Lawrence was both relieved and understanding that Matthias was not that sort of lord, they would still need a lot of workers to help cut down the forest. And hiring workers did not end when the call was put out and the desired number of people approached. They needed a place to sleep, they needed rations to eat and drink. In their old journeys, they had come across a place where a waterwheel was under construction, and he had made a fortune bringing in bread and grilled meats to the workers amid the chaos when they realized they were out of food.
If they were to collect all of the people needed to cut down the trees and build the road, then find a place to house them, then they would have to collect many raw building materials, even if it meant doing away with the city tariffs entirely.
“The city looked at its own circumstances, how the world was progressing, and came up with a plan. It’s not a perfect plan, and it was easily ruined by some merchant out in Salonia. All that has agitated everything, and it’s perfectly reasonable for people like Lord Tonneburg to start doubting if things will really be all right. There are fickle rich people out there like me, after all. But—” Eve gave a faint smile, looked at the drink in her hand, and closed her eyes. “—I just love that positive greed.”
All Lawrence could do was try and picture what sort of business ventures were playing behind her eyelids.
Perhaps the fight she had with Lawrence in Lenos and the way she almost died in Kerube were fun memories for her now.
But as he studied her placid smile, a thought came to him.
Eve did not hate anything right now.
She was simply concentrating on what she loved most—trade—and was having the time of her life.
“Same with the tavern. They’re trying so hard to learn about southern food and dances because it’s part of their grand plan. They want to start accommodating trade ships from the south, you know.”
The food Holo had brought with her from the tavern was all slathered in pungent spice.
Though it was not exactly refined, it was plenty exotic.