The Wheat Trade and the First Pirate Assault
“Baron Rittenberg is a noble with a favorable stance toward Marinus Corporation. I wish to maintain a good relationship with the Rittenberg family for a long time, considering their future.”
“Ah…”
“However, what is the relationship between this planet and Baron Rittenberg?”
“Well, I wonder what kind of relationship it is. What kind of relationship would make Baron Rittenberg write a recommendation letter?”
“I am selling wheat to Baron Rittenberg.”
“Wheat…?”
She looked at me with an expression of disbelief.
“It seems Baron Rittenberg was quite pleased with the transaction. He is not someone who would easily write a recommendation letter.”
It seemed so. Seeing him bring a messenger directly to buy wheat, one could tell.
“We take pride in the quality of our wheat.”
“…Could I see a sample of the wheat?”
“Marinus Corporation does not only deal in weapons, do they?”
“Of course. We do not accept transactions other than weapons. However, if we determine that the quality of this planet’s wheat is exceptional, we can offer better terms for future transactions.”
One word, if the planet has potential, they will give weapons cheaper. Having powerful friends is good, even if the mindset is a bit materialistic, the fact that he doesn’t hide it is appealing.
“Balibali.”
“Yes, chief.”
“Bring bread. A little low-proof beer too.”
“Understood.”
Balibali soon returned with the bread and beer, and the woman who ate the bread wore a delighted expression.
“It’s quite delicious. I’ve tasted many breads, but this is on another level. The beer also tastes good, so the wheat quality must be quite high.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. This wheat will become a powerful weapon for this planet. In about ten years, it might even be available to taste in the capital after being branded.”
Will it take ten years? Looking at the current growth rate, it seems imminent.
“I will report the details related to wheat to the upper echelons. That way, the next transaction will be smoother. Then, for the installation of the Petron Cannon, please consult with the technicians. After a quality inspection of the landing craft, if there are no problems, the installation and payment of the Petron Cannon will be carried out.”
“Yes.”
“I am Ilia, a weapons merchant. I look forward to our future cooperation, Lord Sihyun.”
She left on her spaceship, and the technicians who disembarked from another ship moved quickly to inspect the landing craft’s status.
“The spaceship’s status is good! It seems well-maintained, and there are no issues. Where would you like to install the cannons?”
“There are barracks around the village. Please install them there.”
“Understood!”
They stayed for three days, installed the cannons, and received the remaining 1275 ducats as change. With this, they could somewhat prevent pirate invasions.
“This is all good…”
The technician who installed the cannons said.
“Is there something wrong?”
“The buildings in the barracks are all made of wood.”
“Ah, yes. It’s embarrassing, but our tribe’s technology isn’t very good.”
“Could I borrow your ear for a moment?”
Sihyun approached the technician.
The technician whispered.
“This will be a problem if they bomb from the sky.”
“Why? There’s a Petron Cannon to block the bombings, right?”
“That’s right. But… when war breaks out, there’s no guarantee it won’t be hit even once. And with so many grasses around, if a bomb hits, the fire will spread through the weeds. What will happen to the fire that spreads? It will reach the ammunition depot. But if the ammunition depot here is made of stone, it’s fine, but it’s wood. The fire will spread quickly and raise the internal temperature, and if the internal temperature rises too much, the shells might explode from the heat. Then…”
“Extinction…”
“Yes, extinction. The entire city will burn down. It’s recommended to make all buildings in the city out of stone and concrete if possible, but given the situation on this planet, that might be difficult, so it would be better to mine some bricks and make the ammunition depot. It’s originally good to lay cement on the floor around, but if that’s not possible, you should regularly cut down the grass. So the fire won’t spread.”
“What are bricks?”
“Simply put, it’s like bricks. By applying mortar and covering with clay, you can build a building the size of an ammunition depot.”
“…”
Sihyun understood the meaning even if he didn’t know the technical terms. The message was that wooden houses are dangerous, so change to brick houses.
“Understood. I will somehow turn the arsenal into stone. Thank you for the advice.”
“It’s nothing. I, on the other hand, learned a lot from this rare sight.”
“A rare sight?”
“The sight of a primitive planet rapidly civilizing at a fast pace. Watching it gives me a strange thrill. I will support you in the future.”
The man said that, bowed, and left with the other technicians.
“Stone construction…”
It’s not a genre that a beginner can easily handle. It would be better to bring a proper construction expert from a civilized planet.
“Kumpa!”
“Yes, chief.”
“Have the warriors clear the grass around the arsenal. And Balibali, get some animal hides. Apply oil and attach them to the arsenal.”
“Understood.”
“Understood!”
The two immediately ran off. The best would be to use stone, but since there was none, it seemed better to temporarily attach hides to prevent fire.
However, he knew that it wouldn’t be a fundamental solution. Eventually, he would need to find a proper architect. Not just construction, but politics, economy, administration, military. Many fields require experts. To grow larger than now, many experts and resources are needed.
In the end, it’s people. Just having money isn’t enough. He would have to find people, technicians somehow.
At that time, a strange rumor spread in space.
There was a story about a primitive tribe selling incredibly delicious wheat.
That story heated the hearts of many merchants. Because if they bought that wheat and resold it, they could make a huge amount of money.
And at the same time, it heated the hearts of pirates. Because if those primitives had received a lot of money from selling the wheat, and if they stole that money, they could reverse their fortunes in an instant.
Everyone was looking for that planet. Many planets were candidates. Most were simple guesses or lies, but among them, there were people who actually found Sihyun’s planet.
Planet code BK-201. Three forces visited this nameless planet that hadn’t received a proper name yet. Independent merchant Martinez, Imperial noble Baron Rittenberg, and Marinus Corporation employee Ilia.
Of course, these people were tight-lipped, but it was nearly impossible for all the crew members who came with them to be tight-lipped. Through the crew, the location of BK-201 spread as rumors, and some truth leaked out among many lies.
Many pirates headed to BK-201. Of course, they weren’t heading with certainty that this planet was the right one. It was just a whim to come once since there was such a rumor. In the worst case, they planned to capture the natives and sell them as slaves.
And when the pirates entered the atmosphere.
“Eh, what do you think? This seems to be the right place?”
“Down there, there seems to be a big village…”
“Wheat fields! Wheat fields?”
“Wheat fields… wheat fields… Oh! That yellow thing!”
“Yellow thing? Move! Oh! It’s wheat fields! It’s wheat fields! And there are so many of them! This is it!”
The pirate captain was thrilled and made a fuss. He thought it was just a matter of time before they got revenge. But…
*BOOM!*
At that moment, the spaceship shook violently and began to fall.
“Shit, what the hell is this!”
“There seems to be an anti-aircraft gun on the ground! A Petron Cannon, right?”
“Petron Cannon? Why is such a cutting-edge weapon here! It’s a crazy cannon that can even reach orbit!”
“I don’t know! It seems like these aren’t simple primitives!”
“Turn the ship’s bow quickly… Aaaah!”
*BOOM!*
Again, with another explosion, the spaceship shook violently, lost balance, and began to fall to the ground.
The pirate ship made an emergency landing on the plain around.
Many pirates got off the pirate ship.
And where they landed, there were the native defenders led by Kumpa. The native defenders now had some combat experience and their shooting skills were quite good.
Moreover, the weapons they were using, Marinus Corporation’s AP-93, was a weapon renowned even in space, and it was completely different in performance from the junk guns the pirates used.
After a one-sided victory in the shooting battle, when they boarded the pirate ship, there were crew members and technicians without combat ability. Some of them had boarded the ship with the intention of piracy, but some were prisoners captured from other merchant ships, so Sihyun decided to capture them and use them as slaves.
Thus, there were a total of 11 pirate raids. At first, the scary pirates were now like golden goblins. It was to the point where he thought, ‘I wish there were pirate raids every day.’
However, after the 11th time, the pirates never came again. It was because the rumor that there was a Petron Cannon on our planet had spread in space.
However, it could be seen as sufficient profit even if the pirates didn’t come. Because the money we earned in the meantime exceeded 50,000 ducats.
Eleven broken pirate ships. The broken parts were sold for scrap value, and the intact parts were dismantled and sold by using technician slaves. The price of parts was asked from the technicians. The technician slaves told us as much information as possible to look good to us.
To say how much 50,000 ducats is… Our money from selling wheat to Martinez was 525 ducats. We had quickly obtained a fortune close to 100 times the sales amount.
However, he knew that the profit from capturing pirate ships was very temporary. Such luck would not come again in the future. So, it would be better to diligently invest the money gained from luck to earn more money.
Thus, we began to grow our forces smoothly.