[Still Driving That Old Thing? (2)]
“Whoa, whoa there.”
Hiiiiiing-!
The middle-aged merchant galloped for a long time before finally returning to the carriage workshop. In truth, he didn’t want to return. He felt like he could have driven that carriage for another half-day just like that. Then, a sudden thought struck him.
‘Wait, if I don’t sign the contract now, won’t I have to wait?’
At that moment, his eyes lit up. He hadn’t known it before, but the merchant, having awakened a wild instinct he never knew he possessed, couldn’t even bear to imagine the reality of not being able to own this carriage right now.
“How is it? It’s different when you drive it yourself, isn’t it?”
Sure enough, the employee who had been assisting him asked with a grin, taking the whip back.
“Different? It’s a whole new world.”
As a merchant, he knew the basic rule of bargaining: no matter how much you like something, never let the other party know. But he was no longer the penny-pinching miser who would engage in a fierce battle of wits over a single coin. Standing before this sleek, pitch-black, entirely new carriage, he felt like a man among men—bold and unhindered. That was who he was now.
The middle-aged merchant had just forged a new self-identity that even his family—and he himself—had never known. Sometimes, things with wheels have a way of shattering a man’s metacognition.
“I want to sign a contract for one.”
Because of that, he blurted it out without even asking the price. It was behavior he would never have engaged in normally. Yet, the thrill of this deviation was spine-tinglingly electric.
‘Kuh-!’
The sheer confidence of demanding the contract without asking the price! He didn’t know for sure, but surely this employee at a backwater carriage workshop must see him as an incredibly wealthy tycoon, right? Just thinking about it made his mouth go dry, even though he hadn’t moved a single finger. It was because the adrenaline, comparable to closing a massive deal, was surging from his head to his toes.
“Thank you! The moment you sat in the carriage earlier, I thought, ‘Ah! This is definitely for this customer!’ I really did. If you come this way, I’ll help you fill out the contract.”
“Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
Behind the employee assisting him, the other staff members who had been dealing with other customers all bowed in acknowledgment of the successful sale. At this very moment, the middle-aged merchant didn’t envy the nobles at all.
“...Th-the price is...”
However, the bravado was short-lived. Even though he had expected it to be more expensive than a regular carriage, his pupils shook incessantly at a price nearly ten times higher.
“It is a bit pricier than a standard carriage, isn’t it? But I trust you know that luxury goods are always worth the value. Haha!”
“Y-yes, that’s true.”
He couldn’t possibly lose face here by saying, ‘It’s more expensive than I thought, so I can’t do it!’
‘I did think it would be about five or six times more expensive than a regular one, so...’
In reality, it was nearly twice as expensive as his original estimate, but it wasn’t an amount he couldn’t afford if he pushed himself. The middle-aged merchant was, in fact, quite a bit wealthier than he looked.
“Oh, and where would you like us to engrave the mark?”
“...Engrave?”
“If you purchase now, you become our seventh customer. For customers who wish, we engrave this release number on the side of the carriage.”
“A release number, you say.”
“For customers up to the double digits in order of purchase, we provide a service of engraving it in gold leaf, as they are the ones who recognized the true value of this carriage so quickly. You know how the names of those who recognize and sponsor an artist’s genius early on go down in history together? Our workshop’s carriage is more than just a simple means of transport; it’s a work of art, so it’s only natural to take pride in it. Hehe.”
At that moment, the intuition of a man who had survived as a merchant for a long time flashed.
This is something I absolutely have to buy right now.
What did double digits matter?
“So, if I buy it now, I’m the seventh?”
“Yes, you will be the seventh owner, sir.”
“I’ll pay with a promissory note right now!”
“Thank you!”
“When can I receive the carriage?”
“How long do you plan on staying in the North?”
“I’m planning to stay at the trade post for about a week...”
“Ah, then you can drive the carriage away before you leave. It’s ready for release in three days.”
“Oho, is that so?”
“Or we have a delivery service to your desired location. Though, there is an additional fee for that...”
“Of course I’ll drive it myself!”
“Shall we send it to your inn?”
“Good. My lodging is...”
As he would learn later, the middle-aged merchant was a man with quite a wide network.
“Aigoo. Have you all been well?”
“We meet again like this.”
“Ah, this is my second son. I’m bringing him along to teach him the trade business.”
The first-floor dining hall of the inn was packed with merchants. They sat at other tables without hesitation, introducing their connections to one another or introducing themselves. This was because of the North’s unique principle that trade was only possible with a trade permit received from the Lord’s Castle, which had fostered a sense of camaraderie among the merchants active in this land.
Furthermore, because the power structure of the merchant world in the North hadn’t yet clearly solidified, there was no need to walk on eggshells based on the size of a merchant group, their influence, or the prestige and power of their sponsors. For merchants who liked to act pompous, this free-spirited attitude might have been quite unappealing, but for small-to-medium or new merchant groups, this unique Northern atmosphere was nothing but welcome.
“I heard several wood processing plants have been set up near the forest zone.”
“Really? Doesn’t timber trade require separate permission from the Lord’s Castle?”
“Exporting it outside the North does, yes.”
“I’ll have to put in an inquiry.”
“By the way, it looks like your merchant group brought quite a bit of spices this time.”
“Hoho. When did you see that? Yes. A few village chiefs asked me to. They wanted me to source a variety of spices and seasonings. Once people start making a living, the first thing they do is start indulging in luxuries related to what they eat, don’t they?”
“Hmm. Then I should probably look into sourcing some silk and embroidery next time.”
“There will likely be quite a demand for it.”
Exchanging information they each held was also natural. These were seasoned, hardened merchants who would never easily give away their own secrets if they met elsewhere, but for some reason, their hearts softened strangely whenever they came to the North. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they became more generous—or perhaps, they wanted to appear generous.
If they were all in a situation where they were trembling over a coin or two, giving away a line of information would be a painful loss. But after watching, over the course of several seasons, buildings rising by the dozen, roads being paved, and the residents’ attire changing every time they went on a trade route,
- Don’t we merchants actually have a fair share in this development?
- Everyone points fingers at us, calling us money-grubbing misers, but look at this! Look at how money-obsessed ghosts—neither nobles nor knights—are changing the world!
They felt a sense of pride in their hearts without even realizing it. Their hometowns were all different, but having affection for the North was a common trait among the merchants, and people don’t consider it a loss to share some help with a hometown they have an attachment to. They began to think about the future of the land, which was growing like a living organism, rather than just the single coin that would land in their pockets.
“Whoa, look at that!”
“Waaaah. It’s even cooler in person.”
“They say the driving experience is incredible.”
“Driving experience? Did the coachman say that?”
“Coachman, my foot. I heard it clearly from the Lord’s adjutant.”
“If it’s the adjutant... Ah, Jamie!”
Just as the merchants were boisterously sharing information and intoxicated by the feeling of being ‘a man among men who, while not a Northerner, is just as good as one,’ several Northerners huddled by the window and began to exclaim in admiration at something.
“......?”
“Jamie?”
They didn’t know what they were looking at, but there wasn’t a merchant who didn’t know Jamie. Wasn’t he one of the highest authorities in the North? Furthermore, for any man, there was no choice but to admire his overwhelming physique and the strength that matched it, even without that authority. Although Jamie was always being scolded by Aiden, outside, he was the epitome of a ‘Northern man’ who led quite a following.
‘What is that guy doing now? Is he driving a carriage? Why would the adjutant?’
Just as that question arose, the person who walked into the inn was someone the merchants knew well.
“Oh, brother! You’ve arrived!”
“Haha. You guys were already here!”
The middle-aged merchant who had become the seventh owner of the Wolf was the protagonist.
“Sir, Merchant Sir! Are you the owner of that ‘Wolf’ you just drove in?”
“I heard that no one but the Lord’s closest aides possessed that Wolf yet...! May I ask what number your release is?”
“Hmm, hmm. It’s the seventh.”
“The seventh!”
The onlookers approached and cheered among themselves, then whispered.
“What is it, brother?”
“What on earth is the seventh?”
“And what about Jamie?”
As the onlookers retreated, fellow merchants who couldn’t overcome their curiosity swarmed around the middle-aged merchant.
“Ah, I picked up a carriage this time.”
“A carriage?”
It was a somewhat underwhelming answer.
“Ah. I saw that a carriage workshop had been set up. You mean the one right in front, right?”
“Yes. That one.”
“I heard it was a dwarf’s workshop...”
The other merchants couldn’t have missed the carriage workshop set up right next to the trade post. However, since a dwarf’s carriage workshop didn’t align with the merchants’ primary need—which was producing carts in large quantities at a low price—unlike the middle-aged merchant, they hadn’t even bothered to go inside.
“Tsk tsk. You guys. You didn’t even go to take a look? If you’re a merchant, shouldn’t you keep your eyes wide open to see what kind of products are coming into the world?”
“Even if it’s a dwarf-made carriage, isn’t it difficult to match the flashy tastes of the high-ranking people? The trends in the center change so fast...”
“Besides, even if the North is developing rapidly, the number of people who will readily buy those expensive luxury carriages is obvious, so naturally, there’s a limit to that level.”
The merchants’ judgment also had its own logic.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
But there are always exceptions in the world.
“Don’t we see it sometimes? Not products that lead the market, but products that change the landscape of the market entirely.”
“Pardon?”
“No need for words, I’ll show you. My ‘Wolf’. Haha!”
“?”
They wondered what kind of cringey line that was, but thinking that there must be something to it if he was going this far, the merchants followed him out. Most of them had their eyes opened wide after taking a test ride in a carriage of a form they had never seen in their lives. Humans are, by nature, beasts vulnerable to stimulation.
“Administrator! The revenue from the carriage workshop...!”
Even Kalisa, who always maintained her composure, had her eyes lit up. She looked like she might even drool if left alone.
“Calm down.”
“How can I be calm? This is, literally, a jackpot...!”
“I told you. I said this would work.”
“If the amount coming in to us is this much...”
“A significant portion of the budget increase for the Department of Technical Labor will be resolved, right?”
“Resolved? It’s more than that! With this current rate of profit growth, the trend is such that I can’t even imagine how much bigger it will get!”
“That’s why I told you not to be stingy about supporting the talent.”
“Yes.”
At the sound of money coming in, even Kalisa became a gentle lamb. It seems it’s a truth that for a head of household’s words to carry weight, they must bring home the money.
“Still, a significant portion of that incoming money has a place it needs to be used immediately.”
“...Pardon?”
Just look at that. As soon as I told her to hand over the money that came in, her eyes turned into triangles again.
“It’s unavoidable for even greater revenue.”
“...Where are you planning to use it?”
“I’m going to pave roads.”
“Even now, the area around the Lord’s Castle is sufficient for carts and carriages to pass through.”
That was thanks to pouring money into road and infrastructure construction whenever a little bit piled up.
“Still, that’s not enough. I intend to build a proper highway.”
“Is such a thing necessary?”
“Sometimes, you don’t build things because they’re necessary, but because demand is created once you build them.”
Our customers, who have awakened to speed. To keep them tied to the North instead of going elsewhere, I have to pave the roads once and for all.
‘I was planning to trigger a proper construction boom someday anyway, so now is the perfect time.’
I intended to supply a massive amount of jobs to the Northerners, who were still wandering around looking for odd jobs, except for the few hours they spent farming.