Latten took a look around the palace. People were busy working in various spots. It was a communal space, a palace only in name. Looking back to me, he said, “One choice you have if you don’t have any excess production is to sell people. Not as slaves, mind you. When a nation’s population grows too big for its territory, they give some citizens to those who don’t have enough. As far as I can see, though, you don’t have enough people to be able to auction anyone.”
“Any less than this, and our nation won’t be able to function,” Mizuho cut in.
“Indeed. Your next option is to sell land. Not every room you take control of while exploring the labyrinth will be usable. This goes hand in hand with population, too. People get ahead of themselves and build facilities that end up going unused all the time. I can purchase things like that as well, but…”
“We started with only this palace, so we can’t afford to lose what scant territory we possess,” Troach commented.
“I figured as much. Which means there is only one thing remaining you can trade—and that is information.”
“Information…”
“Even rumors have worth in this world, where every place is isolated. Legends, stories of the past, maps, magic research materials… A simple book could get you food for a few days. So? What do you think? Have any news you believe valuable?”
Troach and I both turned to Mizuho. She widened her eyes, but then she snapped out of it and said, “Yes! I’m a storyteller! One with a very long lineage, too, so I have plenty of tales and legends!”
Latten twisted his mouth into a grin. “See? Everyone underestimates the worth of what they have. The trick in business is to carefully dig up what that is.” Tapping his pipe to get rid of the tobacco leaf and putting in a new one, he continued. “Let us begin the negotiations.”
Talks proceeded, with lunch in between. (Greatbat and boiled bloodsucking kudzu sprouts were the only things on the menu.) Mizuho would briefly mention things she knew as they came to mind, and Latten would set a price for the information as a whole. Along the way, he would propose items we could purchase for that price, and we told him what we wanted.
About three hours passed before talks wrapped up. Thankfully, in addition to securing several kinds of resources, we were able to buy some of the weapons and armor Latten had brought with him as immediate trades.
Latten rolled up his rug, stood up, and stretched his back, seeming satisfied. “Phew! Splendid, splendid. I do love good business. The next time I come, it will be with the goods, so tell me the rest of the information I purchased at that time. And don’t sell it to any other merchants before that, please!”
After seeing off Latten, Troach came up to me and asked quietly, “Hey, Taiga, why didn’t we sell any of the gold?”
“We probably wouldn’t have been able to buy much with it.”
“I suppose not, but still…”
“More importantly, what was that all about?!” demanded Mizuho angrily, pressuring me. “Leaving us to make money? This isn’t a joke! Don’t you understand how much everyone depends on you, Taiga?! Leaving alone to work… It’s…”
“I understand that, but I thought it would be quickest if I were to sell my skills—”
“No! Never say anything like that again. If you’re going to insist you’re not our King, then as Minister, I forbid it. I hereby forbid any Landmaker from leaving the Great Camp Bravo Kingdom without permission!”
Finished, Mizuho spun around and walked away, her boots clicking on the floor.
“Now she’s mad…,” I murmured.
Troach said, “Look, I get it. In general, I think more like you do than she does. But…do you remember the song called ‘Red Rain of Bells’ that Mizuho brought up to the merchant?”
“I recall the title. He didn’t buy it, saying it was one everyone knew, but…”
“It’s about a man who leaves his wife to go on a journey. When he returns, there’s an extra wall that wasn’t there before, and he weeps now that he’s separated from his kingdom for life. Little changes often happen due to dungeoncore shifts. I don’t know how things were back in your world, but in Million Dungeon, not being able to see someone again after parting happens all the time. Plus, Mizuho was just forever separated from a lot of her acquaintances herself. You may not have meant it like that, but I think she took it differently.”
“…I see.”
“This is just my guess; I’m not Mizuho. Still, I don’t want you to leave again, either, Taiga. You’re unlike any man I’ve ever met before, and without you, things would be boring,” Troach stated, scratching her neck. “I’m gonna go check on her. See you later.”
She went off to follow Mizuho, leaving me behind alone. My eyes were on Latten as he loaded his things back into the goldfish’s saddlebag. I left the palace and walked over to him.
After turning around, the merchant asked, “Forget to buy something?”
“It’s a personal request, but… Do you deal in tea? I’d like some tea leaves.”
“I get a lot of orders for tobacco and alcohol, but not tea. How much would you like?”
After asking several people, it turned out tea leaves were not commonplace in this world. As far as drinks went, booze was far more well-loved. Funnily enough, coffee existed as a luxury item, but they said it was no drink for commoners. Roasted wheat and beans, as well as boiled-down nuts and fruits, were on the markets as “tea,” but actual teas weren’t very popular, possibly given the high price of the leaves.
“Tea leaves dampen quickly, so I don’t normally deal in them. But if I get any, I’ll bring them to you.”
“Thanks for that.”
Latten brought the goldfish so low that it was almost touching the ground, then climbed up onto the saddle.
“Come to think of it,” I began, “how did you get here? Traveled through the dungeon?”
“No, no. I followed the Great Fracture here. You’ve built a nation in a good place. Really stands out both from above and from the other side.”
That was when it first hit me. Latten was riding a flying mount. Thus, he could travel between the two sides of the Great Fracture. He freely could move up and down the steep cliffsides as well.
Which meant you could easily attack this nation from across the Fracture using the same means of transportation… I’d thought having our settlement against the cliffside would make it defensible, but the truth couldn’t have been more different.
“My, that is a severe look,” the merchant remarked.
“Sorry… It just doesn’t seem like an excellent location to me.”
“Hmm? Oh—you’re worried about being invaded? You’ll be fine. Most people would be too scared to cross such a wide-open area. The divide is so large that it might actually go up to the heavenfloors and down to the deepfloors. Landmakers aside, ordinary people would probably soil themselves at the prospect. I actually passed by several kingdoms as I traveled along the Fracture to reach you, but most of them built walls on the side of the canyon to block out the chasm for fear of large areas.”
Latten pointed to the other side of the Great Fracture.
“Right across from here, two floors up, there’s another nation. Though I visited it, they didn’t talk to me. I’m not sure why they were so cautious, but they fired a large crossbow at me. From the looks of it, they weren’t affected too heavily by the dungeonstorm. Still, something must be wrong.”
“Didn’t crossing the gap make you nervous?” I asked.
Latten offered an intrepid grin. “Of course. But I couldn’t pass up a chance like this. The sweetest places to do business are the ones where fellow merchants won’t go.”
Latten swung the reins, and his goldfish rose without a sound, its fins fluttering as it turned its rear end to me.
“Honestly, don’t worry yourself over it. The only ones who would ever travel along this cliff are merchants like me, who simply do not care, and reckless daredevil heroes. A polite reception is never a bad choice when dealing with either. See you again!”
Swinging its tail fin, the goldfish left, crossing the river and turning out of sight around a bend in the gorge.
I returned to the palace feeling anxious. The nation on the opposite cliff face concerned me, but I’d belatedly realized that the Great Fracture itself was a complete and utter security concern. Million Dungeon was apparently no stranger to invasions and wars.
Despite what Latten said, we couldn’t afford to leave the matter be, either. The people of our country were proof enough of that. Initially, the Great Fracture induced vertigo and nausea in them. However, after only a few days, they’d grown so accustomed to it that heading to the river and bathing was no problem. This was partly out of necessity, but if they overcame their agoraphobic tendencies, others would, too, in time.
Humans weren’t the only threat, either. I had to assume there were monsters capable of flying across the gap, like Latten’s goldfish, or crawling along the cliff walls. We were utterly defenseless as it was.
And that was how I ended up worrying myself sick over how we’d deal with an attack from the Great Fracture.
Contrary to my expectations, however, our first invader came from inside the dungeon.