Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: The First Credit Trade
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Hwikyeong lightly tapped his forehead as if realizing something belatedly.
"Ah, right. Elves don't have any money. Money—you know what I mean by that, right?"
"...You're talking about those iron coins minted in Automaton City, aren't you?"
"Yeah. That's what most transactions use these days."
"Yes. I know."
Leonar gave an awkward smile.
He had been a merchant until he became tribal chief.
There was no way he wouldn't know what Hwikyeong meant.
"But... we don't have any money."
"Don't you have anything else that could be turned into money? Crafts, maybe. Elven clothes could be worn by humans too."
"...We don't."
The elves had long since discarded heavy luggage while wandering.
Hwikyeong turned to Sairan.
"Sairan, was there... anything valuable we could use for money?"
"Nothing at all on the surface. Unless the elf himself becomes the merchandise."
At those words, Leonar widened his eyes.
But before Leonar could open his mouth, Hwikyeong waved his hand.
"No. You seem short on labor too, so trading people isn't feasible. Right?"
"Y-yes, that's right."
"Then there's nothing to be done."
Hwikyeong put the grain seeds back into his pouch.
Leonar watched the motion with regret.
"The god told us to help you, but even divine words can't mean we work for free. There are Lizardmen who fervently believe in the god, but we're not—not me, at least."
At that, Sairan swatted Hwikyeong's shoulder with his tail.
Hwikyeong rubbed the spot and glared at Sairan, who pretended innocence by staring at the ceiling.
Hwikyeong nudged Sairan with his shoulder and looked back at Leonar.
"Well, regretfully, we'll be on our way."
"......"
As Hwikyeong placed his hand on the floor to stand, Leonar spoke.
"Cut the act, Lord of Automaton City, Hwikyeong. I was a merchant too."
"What act?"
"You didn't come all this way to this distant land for a deal that might not even work for a single tribe. Especially bringing the Chosen of the Black Scale Tribe."
Hwikyeong sat back down.
"Go on."
"I know you came wanting something from us."
"You said yourselves you have nothing. So what are we taking?"
Leonar stood and fetched a white silk cloth from the corner.
Though their silk was scarce and mostly made into clothes, Leonar valued the information drawn on it more.
Hwikyeong recognized what was on the silk.
"A map."
"It's what the ogres had combined with our own verifications. This is the path you came from, and we're around here."
"Convenient. But the map won't fetch a price you're satisfied with."
"I'm not selling the map."
"Then?"
Leonar pointed to various spots on the map.
"There's an open-pit mine here. Iron comes out. You know the quality since ogre iron circulated in Automaton City. It's not bad. Also, downriver here, the soil is good. Farmers say the grain will grow well if it withstands the weather. Above all, the trees here grow straight and true. Solid inside. We'll offer all this to Automaton City at better prices than others. How much better? We'll negotiate that."
Hwikyeong snorted.
"Leonar, anyone can boast like that. Draw a map, point out resources, promise huge profits. Falling for it means getting scammed. Isn't that right?"
"My words aren't empty boasts from frauds. I'm selling the future ahead and Elf Leonar's trust."
Wrinkle formed on Hwikyeong's forehead, his voice rising.
"What? Are you sane? Selling the future and trust?"
"Yes."
"Trading invisible things right here for seeds you can see, touch, smell, even taste?"
"Yes."
Hwikyeong pocketed the pouch of seeds he had been shaking.
Hwikyeong smiled.
"Fine."
"I figured you'd say that."
Leonar was calm.
He had expected it and had some faith.
The Lizardman beside him had remained composed even as Hwikyeong heated up.
Hwikyeong said,
"Buying the future and trust? I've never heard of such a deal."
"Some might call it eccentric."
"But we're right. Sairan. Silk and charcoal?"
Sairan pulled out silk and charcoal, and Hwikyeong began writing right there.
Chungmun couldn't yet fully depict individual names.
Thus, the contract was between Automaton City's humans and the northern coast's elves.
As Hwikyeong wrote the contract, serious negotiations flew.
How cheap the iron, how long the timber harvest could last.
Leonar offered generously while demanding more in return.
Roads must widen for trade, bridges built to shorten distances, goblin and ogre threats further quelled.
Hwikyeong accepted some, rejected others.
But this didn't end their deal.
For the guest rite, they soaked their hands in the blood of a hunted deer and pressed prints.
As Leonar lifted his palm, he said,
"This contract will be upheld. I swear by the god."
"Swear by the god? Good. Me too. The contract will be kept. I swear by the god."
Leonar sighed in relief.
'Following the god was right. Though the future price will be high, without this deal, there might be no immediate future. Yes, it's natural. Nothing is given freely. Everything is a trade.'
Eldar, reading Leonar's thoughts, agonized that it was just his own lack of ability. Leonar had no choice but to price the future low due to urgency, but Eldar, seeing farther, viewed it as his elf being long-term screwed.
Seong-un teased such Eldar.
But from a slightly different perspective.
'Credit trading has begun. That means a culture of verifying each other's credit has started too.'
Spotting and initiating credit trade first was a good point.
Such deals make intangibles into assets, evolving later into trading value itself.
Previously, credit was impossible. Contracts couldn't bind, and parties could flee unknown, leaving losses.
But settlers took roots, nomads followed fixed paths, and contracts began being recorded in writing.
'Before, Lost World's entities saw the world as just their tribe. Other tribes were mere threats to it. But not anymore. Paths are drawn on maps, tales of fights spread, reputation and credit matter. The world has widened.'
To Seong-un, this expanded world was a major task for progress.
'...How to rule this widened world?'
On the peninsula's south, dwarves resisted tenaciously, but Rakrak won again.
The dwarf main force, already cut off from supplies by endless ant swarms, was utterly defeated by Rakrak's 100 cockatrice warriors.
Losing all warriors, the dwarves fled their village seeking life.
It was a peak body blessed by the god, wielding even electric demonic power.
Rakrak passed the dwarf village and kept walking.
Soon the brush ended, entering land filled with white sand grains.
Rakrak kept walking.
The sandy land scattered dead conches, starfish, unknown fish bones.
Rakrak walked further.
White-foamed gentle waves lapped to Rakrak's toes and receded.
Rakrak stood still a moment.
Stronger waves pushed the sandbar, wrapping his ankle once before retreating.
"This is the end."
Rakrak gazed at the endless sea.
Where he stood was the peninsula's tip.
Now, in Automaton City's east, the wilds, northern coast above, peninsula below—no one was ignorant of Rakrak and the Black Scale Tribe.
Rakrak had fulfilled the god's will throughout.
He had no doubt the god's will was his own.
Some tribes had vicious customs, others dared oppose Black Scales. Some held incomprehensible hostility from misunderstandings—Rakrak pitied those.
Regardless, Rakrak conquered the peninsula's end as the Blue Insect God desired.
But the god, who always gave new tasks before old ones ended, made no special demand this time.
Rakrak thought he understood.
'No land left to conquer now.'
He knew many tribes west of Automaton City, but tasks came first.
Rakrak figured that's why the Blue Insect God's will was delayed.
'...How to rule this vast land?'
The Black Scale Tribe's land under Rakrak's influence was broad.
The entire peninsula, wilds, Automaton City, to the northern coast.
Northern coast tip to elves, Automaton City humans live there—but Rakrak saw it all as his.
'But...'
Rakrak thought it all his, Black Scales agreed, Hwikyeong of Automaton City and Leonar of northern coast would think so, even the god—yet occasionally, dissenters appeared sparsely.
In Rakrak's wake, some unheard of him claimed the land theirs.
Rakrak had met such before, persuading mostly with words and spear-tips.
Rakrak was confident he'd persuade future claimants whose land this was.
But thinking how long this persuasion lasts tired him.
'Ride cockatrice forever? Hm...'
Rakrak realized it wasn't so bad.
He'd done it so far; could continue.
His top warrior Yur said he'd follow anywhere Rakrak went.
But his mate Jaol disagreed.
"That's not efficient."
True.
He sometimes forgot, but Rakrak hated waste.
He, Yur, warriors could run forever, but the whole tribe had children and elders.
Without them, no warriors.
'Then what to do?'
Seong-un had his own answer.
"Eldar, how should one rule vast lands?"
"Hm... Usually choose one of two methods."
"Tell me."
Eldar couldn't fathom why Seong-un asked what any decent player knew.
But knowing Seong-un's temperament, he didn't want to upset him.
Eldar said,
"Feudalism and monarchy."