Ability to make houses 62Driad Kingdom - 1On top of a castle 1 kilometer diameter in size, the capital city of Driad kingdom Dorisben was huge.
As everyone knows, it is a prominent metropolis in the continent with a population of about seven thousand and with long a history, it also has fostered a very rich culture and art. From its brilliance, it"s called the Flower Town.
However, in reality, there"s a dark shadow behind all this brilliance.
For example, the population number. It won"t be an exaggeration to say that this is a bit wrong. Among the "about" seven thousand population, only five thousand or so have been registered.
Then what about the remaining two thousand? They are basically refugees who do not pay tax.
They had formed a slum outside one side of the castle and were supporting Dorisben as laborers working for a very low wage.
And there"s more. Behind the gorgeous and luxurious lifestyle of the n.o.bles lie a large sum of debt. Even their culture and arts are only just about boasting about the past now.
Moving on, there"s a castle called Rishundet in the middle of the capital where the young queen lives.
And in one of the rooms in the castle—a cabinet minister"s office, to be more precise—there was someone who was groaning.
"Hmm, it will be tough this month as well."
An old man with white hair and white beard which reached his stomach, glaring at the report doc.u.ments of each department.
His name was Youran Ingval Idenstam and he was the prime minister of Driad kingdom supervising all the cabinets.
"What should we do about this…"
Idenstam let out, with a hurtful voice.
The royal family"s financial situation was in dire straits.
Although they are making an effort to be moderate in their spending, in the inner palace where the current queen"s mother—the queen of the previous king lives, they are living extravagantly as if they don"t even know of the financial condition.
At this point, they were so deep in dept that Idenstam was racking his brains thinking about how to get through this month.
And just then, a low rank official came knocking on the door.
"Idenstam-sama, there"s a person requesting a meeting."
"What do they want?"
"It seems they have come to buy the land."
"What?!"
Idenstam was so surprised that he almost stood up from his seat. However, that"s a good kind of surprise.
This was because the land sales recently had not been going too well.
Zero sales since last year. After all, no one wished to buy these lands.
He knew the reason behind it.
The rich people had their worries about the current conditions of the continent.
War occurred frequently in all the areas. Everyone was thinking if that was a sign for a big war ahead.
If, by chance, a big war occurs and the Driad kingdom is involved in it, the people who bought the lands and have become landlords would need to pay a huge war fee as it would be their responsibility then.
And even besides that, the price of the lands and the yearly tax is definitely not insignificant.
In situations like this, only idiots would buy lands aiming to be a n.o.ble.
Idenstam was knew that just sitting still wouldn"t do any good and was considering decreasing the selling price.
"Well? Who is this person?"
"Yes, they have introduced themselves as Elza Polo, the president of the Polo company."
"What?!"
This time he stood all the way up.
Speaking of Polo company, they are a new company and are rising up in name recently.
However, one shouldn"t underestimate them just because they are new. The product Polo company deals with is pepper.
It"s a mysterious spice and even in the Driad kingdom, only few has tasted it including the royalty.
That is because the price is very high since it"s rare.
Only recently a good amount of it started circulating in the marketplace.
"Polo company has come to our land…"
Idenstam was trembling in his feet.
Polo company"s base was in the far south-east direction, at Sandora kingdom.
They surely won"t be transferring their base.
Polo company and Sandora kingdom is surely connected.
"….A base in the west, eh?"
Although pepper has finally started going around in the marketplace, this decision is probably because Sandora kingdom is focusing on the east side.
There"s no proper foothold to sell in the west side.
And so after coming this way, they approached Driad kingdom.
It would be natural to think that they are planning to build a base in the west.
"I can"t be wasting time here! Eeii, let them into the guest room immediately! I will be heading there as well!"
"Y-yes!"
After ordering the attendant, he went to his own room to get ready.
He can"t let this opportunity go. Polo company is basically rain to their dry lands in this situation.
A bird who lays golden eggs have approached them. If he is successful in taking them in and having them cultivate pepper there, he can save Driad kingdom from a thousand years of economic difficulties.
"It has been 10 years since I became the minister with unswerving determination and now it finally looks like luck has come around to our country. Wahahaha!"
Idenstam laughed as if he aimed for this and quickly walked through the corridor.
The surrounding people thought that Idenstam had finally lost it after working too much and shed a tear for his diligent work day in and out.
After tidying up his appearance at his room, Idenstam went and knocked on the guests" room.
And when opened, he found a pair of man and woman there.