Survival Strategy for Weak Territories! ~ My Territory Will Be Destroyed No Matter How Many Times It Is Repeated. How Can This Be Saved? ~ - Chapter 24

“Hm. So Saga and Hermes are teaming up to try to poison Klein-sama.”

“Yes. I’m not at liberty to divulge the source of my information.”

“No problem.”

When Trek heard about the secret source, the first thing he thought of was the first prince.

“The Hermes Company seems to be working hand in hand with Marquis Laguna and doing a lot of things in the dark. As soon as my poisoning plan is exposed, Brynhilde will probably interfere with the investigation.”

“Your Secretary? Oh, I see. So now is not the right time.”

As expected of someone who has worked in a top company in the Royal Capital, he wrapped his head around it quickly.

He came up with the situation that “the prince’s side does not want to seize any weakness at this stage.”

The most effective way to seize a political enemy’s weakness is to keep it under the radar and unnoticed by the other side.

If it is revealed at a time when the opponent is least expecting it, it is possible to inflict damage without allowing the opponent to take countermeasures in advance.

It is probably undesirable to make a big investigation and have countermeasures taken against them.

After thinking so, I added one more thing

“I know that there is tension between the Marquis and His Highness, but, well, I guess there is no way for His Highness to strike at the present situation.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, because his support base is too weak. Certainly, exposing something right now would be a problem.”

Even if they seize a weakness, it will be less effective if the First Prince’s side do not have enough power to begin with.

The first thing to do is to make sure that you have a good base of support.

The prince would probably want to attack after securing enough forces to become a political enemy of the marquis.

Since he had not yet finished looking for allies, it was immediately clear that it would be a bad idea to launch an all-out war right now.

“But even if we prevented the poisoning and crushed the Saga Company, it would be a loss for Klein-sama.”

“Oh?”

“Simply put, there will be one less trading company in this area. There are only a few merchant associations that are currently involved in the business in the Asgard Territory that have trade connections to the east.”

“I see, the disappearance of the saga will make it harder to do business with the east.”

The east is in the midst of a war against a foreign tribe. The east is in a constant state of warfare against different ethnic groups.

Because their culture is unique, there is a high degree of difficulty in developing new trading connections, and a trading company that can export and import on a large scale from the east was very valuable.

“I wish we could take their place but it would be difficult to do so on short notice.”

“I understand. The wounds sustained from the Royal Capital have not fully recovered yet, right?

The reason why we’re able to attend the meeting with the financial strength of the Saga Company, which is leaning so heavily that it may collapse at any moment, is because we are valued for their valuableness.

“If we can clean out the inventory in the Asgard Territory, we can make it as big as it was before.”

“Well, good luck with that. …… whatever it is, we want to reduce the percentage of Hermes and Saga involved.”

Klein has not heard the details of what happened, but the Trek-led Suluz Company was still in a period of recovery.

If they were going to move on a large scale, they had to gain solid ground first.

“As for the saga, he should just confiscate their property as punishment for plotting an assassination.”

“Wouldn’t that antagonize them?”

If I were a merchant, what would I do?

I would not want to associate with a lord who would confiscate a merchant’s property, Klein thought. To this, Trek shook his head comfortably.

“Don’t worry. There was a fool who fell from grace by picking a fight with the nobility. He’ll probably be laughed off as a joke.”

“Is that how it’s done?”

“That’s how it is among commoners. And they are merchants, too, and unless they are very aggressive, they will go with the one who has the most profit. From a merchant’s point of view, that’s how it is.”

It’s not rare for nobles, to poison, exterminate the whole house, and steal their fortunes.

Even though the Asgard Territory is peaceful, such incidents occur every day in the area a little north of the city where the small nobles were concentrated.

Adding such information, Trek concluded as if nothing had happened.

“Well, if it’s the Saga Company, it will be settled when the evidence of the poisoning comes to light. If we expose them at the meeting, there won’t be any problem.”

The reason why he can say it so casually is because he was in a different position than Klein.

He knows the difference between the way commoners and nobles think.

He understands the situation in other areas.

And he himself understands how merchants think.

When it comes to Hermes, however, Trek also has a difficult time.

“”

“…… But the Hermes Trading Company does a lot of different things. It would be difficult to suddenly reduce their business.”

“I think that’s true. I’ve noticed that we’ve become almost dependent on them.”

The population was booming in the Asgard Territory, and all kinds of goods are always in short supply.

Even the current situation was just barely enough.

For now, the country’s top merchants are working energetically for us.

If they were to suddenly disappear, of course, there would be an inevitable negative impact on the economy.

“Are there any companies that would be trustworthy from Trek’s point of view?”

Klein asked Trek, recognizing that it would be difficult to do something about it all at once.

Then Trek answered with a smirk.

“I think we can trust the Bragi Trading Company, the arms dealer, or the Helmose Trading Company, the mail company.”

“And your reason?”

Those two are middle-ranking merchants, the kind of merchants that Klein  has never paid particular attention to.

“”

When asked why he recommends them, Trek says in a light tone,

“They don’t raise their prices, they’re always stable, and I’d feel comfortable with them if I were to work with them.”

“I see.”

That would be reliable as a business partner, but that wasn’t what Klein wanted to hear.

Trek who seemed to notice that added a few more lines.

“And by the way, for the size of the company, they don’t have a lot of relationships with the nobility. Well, from a merchant’s point of view, the first two reasons are pretty important.”

“…..From my point of view, the latter reason is more important.”

For Klein, he would like to increase his connections with merchants, so as long as they don’t reek of some strange conspiracy.

Trek had no objections to the proposal, and the two discussed the prospects for the future.

Gradually reduce the sphere of influence of merchants that are planning the assassination and build relationships with merchants we can trust.

With their immediate goals so set, they decided to make out the details of their plans.