Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Dead Stock
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I reject slavery.
I believe that no person can own another person's life. No. I know that no person can own another person's life.
The Earth is round,
Apollo 11 landed on the moon with humans aboard,
humans built the pyramids,
and human rights are inalienable, unable to be seized or transferred.
These are facts.
Facts exist in place even if denied or distorted.
Facts may be unpleasant, but they cannot disappear. The more one flees from facts, the steeper the irreversible fall.
The deeper the night, the closer the dawn,
and dawn comes even if you wring a rooster's neck.
This world is heading down the wrong path.
Or perhaps it's moving toward the right path but currently stands on the wrong one.
Yeah.
I could confidently declare it so.
"Your Excellency. Are you all right?"
"No."
And so, my mood was utterly foul.
I knew exactly how contradictory and foolish my verdict was—to sell that damned treasurer into slavery at the stone mines.
To reject slavery,
I enslave a 'person' who affirms slavery.
What nonsense.
Doesn't it remind you of idiots who start a war against the whole world to end all wars?
"It's a horrible feeling."
A sigh escaped me.
No.
Why is it so damn hard to just live treating each other as 'humans' with respect?
"And yet, I also feel a bit relieved."
Until now, treating people as 'slaves' had given me some resistance.
No.
It was closer to denying reality than resistance.
My mind understood it, my senses grasped it, my eyes, ears, nose, and skin perceived it, my compassion and sense of justice acknowledged it,
but the soul of the modern man within me
refused to accept the existence of the slave class as real.
But the moment I decided to sell off the treasurer as a slave,
everything became crystal clear.
Slaves exist in this world.
"No person can own another" is as obvious a fact as "the Earth is round,"
and yet,
slaves exist in this world.
I am right.
Therefore, the world must be wrong.
"I know what I have to do."
"What you have to do...?"
"Yeah."
I lack confidence in surviving in a world like this,
so I'm going to change the world.
But to change the world, I must first adapt to it.
Preserve my identity,
while learning to utilize what is not me.
"From the start, I've been too passive in buying slaves."
One who fights monsters must guard against becoming a monster themselves.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, daß er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird.
Nietzsche's words.
I have no intention of adapting to this world and becoming a 'slave trader.'
No matter how many years I spend here, I'll remain a 'modern man,' continuing moral terraforming to make this world one where a modern man can survive.
Borrowing Nietzsche's expression,
I'll struggle to avoid becoming a monster.
I won't think of people as objects.
I won't avert my eyes from the contradictions of slavery.
I'll survive.
However, what Nietzsche didn't say is
that to fight monsters, you need to wear at least a Godzilla costume.
"Torsso. How do normal shops handle 'dead stock'?"
"Dead stock, you say?"
Yeah.
If you call me a 'slave trader,' then I'll truly become one.
But not a good one.
No matter how good the merchandise, a merchant who fails demand forecasting and piles up dead stock is a failed merchant, right?
"Well, it depends on the product type, doesn't it? Sell at a discount, bundle with other goods, or if all else fails, dispose of it to cut maintenance costs."
"Right. That's how it goes."
If you turn human rights into merchandise and put it on the market,
I'll buy it all.
Stuff myself until my belly bursts,
then slit it open to flood everything back into the world.
I'll teach you that owning people is a loss,
and only owning yourself is a gain.
I'll fight with this world's logic,
the market logic you can easily understand.
In the end, just turn every person in this world into 'dead stock' that no one wants to buy.
"How are slaves usually 'produced'?"
"Produced... Ah, you mean how the merchandise is sourced."
To do that,
I need to buy more slaves first.
No.
Buying alone isn't enough.
I need to produce them.
Overproduce until a Great Depression hits.
"There are many routes. Traders buy cheap labor from foreign ethnic nations across the sea, armies contract with merchant companies to sell captured pagans or enemy soldiers, people become slaves for unpaid debts, or criminals lose their freedom. Especially trade with foreigners is tough without military support, so House Parkinson, closely tied to the imperial family, monopolizes most routes. Criminals and debtors are handled similarly by House Parkinson."
"Is kidnapping now called 'trade' these days?"
"Well, what can you do? It's that kind of era."
"Yeah. It's that kind of era..."
Perfect timing, really.
War boom.
Factories multiply daily due to the war with the demon race,
the imperial family prints currency at will,
securities and insurance markets churn out complex products and seemingly legitimate lotteries,
those lotteries trade like cash,
and debtors, widows, and orphans increase day by day.
The capital's infrastructure can't handle the growing population,
land reforms boost food production,
but with all administrative power poured into the war, food distribution fails across regions.
The cheapest era for human rights.
The easiest era to produce something.
And thus, an era where selling goods is starting to get tough.
Warehouses are finite,
and buyers even more so.
"We have that reconstruction project with House Parkinson, right?"
"Yes. We boost their prestige while securing real profits for ourselves."
House Parkinson is a merchant house.
Not traditional nobility,
but one that bought its power with money.
Naturally, more sensitive to gains and losses than other nobles.
Yet, despite repeated encroachments on their interests, they were unusually quiet.
They took a bit of prestige and retreated too meekly.
"Tell House Parkinson we'll share the profits too."
"Pardon?"
"Profits from construction contracts, long-term gains from infrastructure, short-term from real estate—let's split it all."
"...That's difficult. We're supplying all the funds and manpower. House Riddle won't accept such terms, and House Parkinson will suspect our intentions."
"In exchange, ask for just one thing."
"One... thing?"
"Yeah."
"...What should we ask for?"
Even when I impulsively wrecked the slave auction,
House Parkinson didn't stand on pride,
but instead signed a long-term contract to supply us directly with the slaves they sold at auction.
In other words, House Parkinson had already judged that
the slave business
would likely be a long-term loss.
Perhaps it was already burdensome to cover maintenance and investment costs.
"Their entire slave business."
"Hm. Will House Parkinson accept that?"
"They will."
Even now,
slave prices have risen because I've vacuumed up all the supply on the market,
but demand hasn't surged.
On the contrary, with the slave dispatch business enabling 'efficient labor allocation,'
fewer people buy slaves outright.
Using dispatch slaves alone covers most labor needs anyway.
This, despite me expanding businesses to increase slave uses
and investing long-term in education for value appreciation.
"They know we're leading the paradigm shift in the slave business. If we don't buy, they have nowhere to sell. Better to hand over the business itself and secure real gains."
"...You're right. Understood. I'll convey the proposal to House Parkinson."
In truth, my slaves being 'too valuable' plays a role too.
My slaves are all robust,
smart about work,
and motivated to obey and focus on labor.
In short,
highly efficient.
Same people doing more work means fewer needed, naturally.
Plus, thorough hygiene training means they don't die easily.
This trend will intensify.
Once academy-trained slaves hit the market one by one, there's no turning back.
"Once we take over the business, secure as many slaves as possible immediately. Debtors, beggars, widows, foreigners, pagans—buy anyone desperate enough to sell their life cheap."
"...Sounds like you're planning a new venture."
"Yeah. Got a brilliant vision."
When the war boom ends
and slave value dips below maintenance costs,
all slaves become dead stock.
Pretty vicious vision for this brutal world, huh?
"I'll do my utmost to satisfy you, Your Excellency."
"Thanks as always, Torsso."
"It's my joy."