Poznyu Encirclement Operation (5)

Najap and the rice merchants gathered once more. This time, even the big players who had jumped in late on the coarse grain speculation were there.

"It was such a shame three days ago."

"I thought it was finally breaking 10 silver, but tsk!"

"Why'd it drop the next day?"

"Tell me about it. The losses are massive."

Najap clicked his tongue as he listened to the merchants' chatter.

"Good grief... are you lot really merchants? Falling for such a simple trick."

"Pardon? What do you mean...?"

"Since when did the price he sets become the market ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rate for coarse grain?"

"Well... um?"

Only then did cracks appear on the faces of the merchants gathered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the tavern.

They too had unknowingly started treating the price Calix was offering as the actual market rate.

"Get your heads straight. The price he's posting isn't the real value of coarse grain. It's all just a game in the end. We need to figure out why he's dropping the price!"

"Damn...! Is he trying to buy up from those who can't hold out on their losses?"

Najap nodded.

"The coarse grain he borrowed amounts to about a third of the total food stock in the city. If he drags everyone with surplus food into this massive gamble and then drops the price?"

"He can sell high and buy low."

"Exactly. He sold at 9 silver and bought back at 6. That means he's actually making money."

In truth, Calix had never once bought any coarse grain. Whether at 9 silver or 6, he'd only ever sold.

But to those who didn't know the full story, Najap's interpretation sounded perfectly plausible.

Unease began to spread among the merchants.

"Lord Najap, please guide us."

"Show us the way!"

After a deliberate pause, he spoke.

"Buy up food from him."

"Pardon?"

The larger merchants just grimaced, but the small-timers turned pale.

"It's... we don't have the operating capital for that."

"I figured as much, so I spoke to Madam Hari. She'll lend up to 80% of your collateral's value."

"Y-you mean take out loans?"

Najap addressed the ashen-faced merchants.

"I'm still worried. If we all pull together and squeeze his neck, the coarse grain price has no choice but to rise. This is our turf, after all. But look at the situation now?"

The meeting room fell silent.

Everyone bowed their heads, avoiding Najap's gaze.

"This is all because someone's been sneaking food out the back door, one handful at a time. Short on funds? Take a loan. And buy up coarse grain."

The mood was turning ugly. Horadin eased the pressure just a touch.

"In return, I'll buy 500 gold worth myself."

"Gasp!"

500 gold—at the current rate of 6 silver per sack—equaled a bit over 1,500 sacks.

It wasn't much compared to the 100,000 sacks Calix had contracted, but it was still no small sum.

"This war comes down to who can mobilize more cash. And in Poznyu, no one has more liquid assets than us."

"Right you are. Let's show that fool what we're made of!"

As Horadin stood and rallied them, the energy reignited.

"Wooo! Najap! Najap!"

He savored the thrill as the merchants cheered.

The power of making the secure and complacent rely on him.

This was true authority.

As the contract deadline loomed closer, a feverish heat built among the hoarding merchants.

Grain trading wasn't hugely profitable to begin with. The unit price was low compared to the bulk and weight.

But it was an essential good no one could cut back on, with almost no credit sales—steady profits were guaranteed.

Or, put another way:

"Food is boring."

Calix muttered.

"A small merchant's yearly take is 10 to 30 gold at best. Mid-sized ones pull 50 to 100. The 30,000 gold I flashed, plus the Red Wolf Mercenary Corps' assets—that's a decade's pure profit in one shot."

Celestina Yurin gazed up at Calix, her eyes sparkling. To her, he outshone any fairy-tale prince on a white steed. Gold never betrayed.

Madam Hari, watching, clutched her temple against a sudden headache.

"Ugh... early education, my ass..."

Calix asked Madam Hari,

"You swept up the prime real estate, right?"

"Yes. Properties worth twice the market price and then some. But..."

Her expression was complicated.

"Are you the angel handing cheap coarse grain to the poor? Or the devil driving merchants to ruin? Plenty are gonna throw themselves in the Elrin River."

Calix gave a wry smile.

"What if I'd done nothing? Instead of them suiciding, hordes of poor would've starved. Can you deny it? It happened before during the famine."

Madam Hari bit her lip.

"But...!"

"How do you quantify the value of life? Poor folks' deaths versus greedy merchants'. 1,000 dead versus 100. Is the former an acceptable loss?"

She had no retort. She couldn't say which was better.

"Think simple. Which makes more money? I just figured fleecing those merchant bastards beats playing their hoarding game."

"So cool...!"

Yurin's eyes turned to hearts. Madam Hari gripped her head again.

Bam!

"Lord Najap! Disaster!"

"What is it?"

"He dropped the wheat price... to 1 silver!"

"What?!"

The rice merchants swarmed Najap's house. It was chaos like a marketplace brawl, everyone blaming everyone else amid the shouting.

It felt like his personal kingdom was crumbling. He slammed the table.

Bam!

"Quiet! All of you, shut up!"

Silence blanketed the room—like the calm before a storm. Faces flushed red with rage.

"Think rationally. We haven't imported food from outside in a month. Can Poznyu feed itself?"

"N-no. Self-sufficiency is under 20%."

"Our current wheat stock—compared to the city's reserves four weeks ago—is what percentage?"

"Roughly 40%, estimated."

"Then no need to worry. Factoring in what's already gone into bellies, even if we strip every citizen's wheat stash, it's less than what he borrowed."

"But... dropping coarse grain to 1 silver means he has an ace up his sleeve, right?"

"What is it, then?"

"Well..."

"Sounds more like bluffing to force this situation than any real plan. What do you think?"

"Y-yeah, that makes sense. No—Lord Najap is absolutely right."

Najap nodded slowly.

"So buy more. When we settle his debts later, those with the most stock get priority."

A faint ray of hope, but the merchants' faces remained grim. They'd already maxed loans against property and inventory.

They had no choice but to resort to their last option.

"You're ruthless. Body waiver deeds, really."

Madam Hari shuddered at Calix's cruelty. He'd used her to extend credit to indebted merchants, demanding family cosigners.

Slavery was strictly illegal in Lock Kingdom. But major debtors had to provide labor until principal was repaid.

"Link with the Red Wolf Mercenary Corps to watch the debtors. No escapes or suicides. Once bankruptcy's certain, chain 'em up and work 'em till their hair turns white."

"...Angel or devil, I can't tell anymore."

Najap quietly summoned a close aide.

"How's it looking? Stock levels?"

"Forgive me... I don't know his trick, but the city's total coarse grain stock is over three times normal. We're done for. S-sob!"

"I see..."

Unlike the sniffling aide, Najap stayed calm.

"Regrettable, but time to pull out."

"Pardon?"

"Tomorrow, quietly dump coarse grain on the market. In tiny amounts—no one'll notice if we're careful."

The aide's jaw dropped.

"You can't mean... pass it off to the other rice merchants...?"

"Tch! Should we sink too? Your wife's pregnant with your second—lose this gig, how'll you feed the family?"

His eyes wavered between guilt for fellow merchants and duty to his kin.

"Only we can track total city stock. As long as the secret sales stay secret, we're fine. Got it?"

"Y-yes, sir."

Repayment day had arrived. The contract stipulated by 6 p.m.

"Today's the day."

Scraggly beards grown wild, hollow eyes, sallow faces—the speculators looked like drug addicts.

"Pour everything in and buy now. He knows we're hoarding by now. But this is our home turf. Win, and we're golden."

Another nodded grimly.

"Just hold out today. Let's do this."

But just past noon, rumors spread.

Calix had already repaid Najap's loan—and had ample stock for the rest.

The merchants' alliance shattered. No time for mercy. They had to dump coarse grain to cut losses.

Prices plummeted to 5 coppers in a flash.

Ordinary folk could just eat the cheap coarse grain from Calix forever. But grain traders were different. In the frenzy, they'd bought more than they'd loaned him—without proper storage.

The damp-stored grain started rotting. Left as is, it'd all be lost. Sobbing, they dumped it out, praying someone would buy.

---