Trading Guns for Wheat
“Does the bread not suit your taste?”
“Ah, no. I was just a little surprised. Could I have another one?”
He took a big bite of the bread and showed a surprised expression.
“Why are you like that, Captain?”
“Is there poison in it?”
“It tastes good.”
“Ah~”
“I was wondering what you’d say.”
The guards relaxed their alert posture.
“No, really, it’s delicious. What is this? How can bread without any sugar taste this good?”
“Is that all?”
“Give me one too.”
The guards each picked up a bread, opened their helmets, brought the bread to their mouths, and started eating it. They sighed in admiration.
“Wow, it’s really delicious.”
“It seems better than the bakery in the capital.”
“You haven’t been to the capital, have you?”
“That’s what you say.”
They finished the bowl of bread in an instant and asked for more.
“I’ll bill you for the bread.”
“Of course. Throw in some bullets too.”
They continued to eat the bread, and soon two more plates were emptied, and they patted their stomachs satisfiedly.
“This bread is really delicious. I want to eat it every day?”
“If you buy wheat from us, you can eat it every day.”
“Unfortunately, that won’t happen. We don’t buy to eat, we buy to sell. Who makes bread inside a spaceship? It’s a canned life.”
“I haven’t been on a spaceship, so I didn’t know.”
“What? None? Oh, right. Natives. Just from how you speak, you seem like people from the Galactic Empire.”
“That’s fortunate. I went through all this trouble to look like a person from the Galactic Empire in the first place.”
“Good, it feels good. Add 20% to the standard wheat price. Oh, right, you said to pay with weapons?”
“Yes.”
“What about this?”
He handed me the gun he was holding.
“AP-106. A brand new model released last year. The latest electronic assault rifle developed by Marinus, a company that has developed various luxury bulletproof vests and firearms. Excellent range and destructive power. I’ll give you 10 of these guns and 50,000 bullets. Let me tell you, it’s not even enough to fire for a lifetime.”
“10 guns...”
With this much wheat, only 10 rifles? The wheat price is ridiculous. But 10 is not a small number to decide the tide. Even if it’s a future gun, it will be better than modern ones. 10 marksmen could easily take out 200 primitive warriors.
“May I think about it for a moment?”
“Of course.”
“While thinking, as a guest, I’ll serve you. Balibali!”
“Yes, Chief!”
“Bring some alcohol and meat for these people. If there’s anything else they want, bring it as much as possible.”
“Understood!”
Balibali guided the merchants, and village girls started carrying alcohol and meat.
Meanwhile, I decided to consult Hildebard first.
-----
“So… you’re going to give 10 APS-106 assault rifles and 50,000 bullets. What do you think?”
Hildebard, who heard my consultation, let out a snort.
“Bad stock.”
“What?”
She asked in surprise.
“He didn’t lie. APS-106 is quite expensive. 10 of them are worth much more than 500,000 Erans of wheat and 30,000 livestock. About 1.26 times more. You definitely raised the value of the wheat you have.”
“Then the bad stock...?”
“Marinus, which developed the AP-106, is a quite famous firearms maker, and they also developed masterpieces like the AP-93 or APS-93. They are also famous for bulletproof vests.”
“So?”
“APS-106. It is definitely functional. It’s not a lie that it has high destructive power and long range. But despite that, the APS-106 is called a failure. Do you know why?”
I don’t know that, you idiot. What do you think I am? A primitive.
“I don’t know.”
“It has a lot of malfunctions. If it’s just misfires, it’s good, but sometimes it explodes in the hand and causes burns. No matter how high the destructive power, if something like that happens during a war, it’s obviously a disadvantage. That’s why he’s trying to dump this bad stock. That man.”
“Wow, he went through all the trouble to pretend to be nice and got cheated. It’s unfair, I should quit being a primitive.”
She chuckled.
“If that were the case, I’d like it too. Ask for AP-93 instead of APS-106. How many... well. About 36 would be good.”
“So many?”
“APS-106 is an electronic assault rifle, and AP-93 is a conventional firearm. Moreover, AP-93 has been adopted as a standard firearm by many countries, so it’s mass-produced. The unit price will naturally be different. It’s cheaper, has good performance, and most merchants handle it, so it’s easy to get spare parts or ammunition. For you, the best option is not a shining failure like APS-106, but a practical gun like AP-93.”
“Hildebard...”
It’s touching. If she hadn’t been there, I would have been screwed.
When I looked out, the merchant group was laughing and chatting with the village youths. Although they don’t understand the language, it was good not to break the mood, so I decided to wait until tomorrow.
And when the next day came.
“Instead of APS-106, give me AP-93.”
“Wha, what?”
“AP-93. There must be some, right?”
“There is. But... you don’t know much, so I’ll tell you. AP-93 is a 24-year-old product, and APS-106 is a brand new model released last year. Of course, the new one is much stronger.”
“We have a saying on our planet. The old ones are the best.”
“...Then I’ll give you AP-93. About 33 rifles and 150,000 bullets would be fine, right?”
“36 rifles and 180,000 bullets would match the calculation.”
He opened his mouth in shock. Of course, because this was the upper limit I got from Hildebard.
“Wow, you raised it ambiguously so it’s hard to refuse... What are you? A native, right?”
“Assuming so. 36 AP-93 rifles and 180,000 bullets. Will you do it?”
“Well... I can’t give up such good wheat.”
I extended my hand, and he shook it.
“When is the next harvest?”
“In three months, but I might take a break from farming then.”
“Hah? With such good wheat, why?”
I smiled slyly.
“We’re going to have a war.”
-----
At that time, it was the 16th century on Earth, the era when bows and guns coexisted.
Guns quickly took the place of bows, and archers started picking up guns one by one.
Why?
There are hundreds of reasons, but the biggest is that it’s very easy to learn how to use a gun.
For bows, it takes 13 years for a skilled archer to be born, but for guns, if you focus on shooting practice for two weeks, you can roughly shoot.
Guns are overwhelmingly easier to learn than bows. That’s why guns quickly replaced bows.
I gave 26 out of 36 rifles to the soldiers, and kept 10 as reserves.
I also stored the Galactic Empire-style clothing I received for the next trade, and put the self-defense revolver I received on my waist.
One month later. We used the bullets we received to train the warriors in shooting. At first, they seemed to dislike it, but the more they used it, the more they admired the overwhelming power of the automatic rifle and used it satisfactorily.
Harvest season was approaching. During harvest season, we have to pay tribute. But the problem was that I no longer had any intention of paying tribute. Why pay tribute when I have guns?
Without reading the mood, an envoy from the wild dog tribe came to demand tribute. Malrog. This guy was born in our tribe, and when he became an adult, he defected to the wild dog tribe after being lured by them. He knows our tribe’s grain situation better than anyone, so he was sent to gauge our changes.
Malrog approached arrogantly, with two young women on his arm from afar.
When Malrog approached, Kumpa pointed his bow at Malrog with an displeased expression.
“Stop. Entry of outsiders is prohibited.”
“I’m not an outsider, right? And, if I shoot at me with a bow, can you handle it? You’ll all die?”
It wasn’t wrong. If it were like before. Kumpa looked at me for permission, and I ordered Kumpa.
“Tell him to come in.”
“Hah? Chief. Aren’t we fighting a war?”
Kumpa whispered.
“We are going to fight a war. But before that, I need to deal with that guy, don’t you think?”
The wild dog tribe is like nomads. It’s hard to know their location because they always wander.
So, it’s more efficient for the wild dog tribe to come to us than for us to go to them.
If I make Malrog half-brain and send him back, the wild dog tribe will definitely come to plunder us with revenge in mind. To them, we looked like a golden land they wanted to plunder since the old days. Plus, they have a reason, so what’s there to fear?
If I break Malrog in a few places and leave him appropriately in the wild dog tribe’s territory, the wild dog tribe will definitely come in with that as a reason. And they will wipe out the snipers who secretly raised the wild dog tribe that came in. That was my plan.
“Tell him to come in. Our Malrog, we have to treat him nicely after a long time.”
Treat him by hitting him.
“Haha! As I thought, only Sihyun can understand the language? Open the door and bring some women too. Then maybe the tribute amount will decrease.”
He was still strutting. He has no right to reduce the tribute amount. Yet he acts like that. A weird guy in many ways.
A traitor who is from our tribe but points a bow at the origin tribe. From today, he will no longer be able to challenge our tribe.