The butler, Fiebel, also looked very tired. He said he had been up almost all night from three days ago. But I felt no pity. He moved his hand vigorously without a murmur. He was certainly a capable man. Fievel was a young man brought in by my grandfather one day. The age difference between me and him was about eight years, but I had no exact information about what he was doing.
“Butler Fiebel.”
“Yes, lady.”
When I called, he responded immediately, got up from his seat, and approached me. I held out my hand to mean that it was okay and stopped Fievel from approaching, then asked him who was standing there awkwardly.
“Did you gather and bring the information I told you last time?”
“Oh, that.”
He let out a short sigh and then approached from the corner carrying a stack of papers. I struggled to accept the document, which at first glance seemed quite heavy.
“Public sector projects being implemented in the empire tend to be implemented from the capital city as a starting point. However, as you know, considering the distribution rate of each class residing in the capital city, I think it is a project for nobles or the wealthy class equivalent to it. You can do it.”
“…surely.”
It was said that if water was stagnant, it would rot. From the outside, this country seems to be prosperous and peaceful, but when you opened the lid, it was not at all. Most of the public sector projects that were said to be at best were for the luxury of the nobility. The current imperial family was receiving quite a lot of praise from people. It was because 60 years ago, it had a great effect by establishing a plan to stably overcome the periodic bad harvest. Thanks to this, the imperial family’s share price was considerable. Loyalty was great
“As you can see, the central government is presenting policies for public welfare in each manor, but they are not being followed. For example, ‘Establish and operate a nursery school for children who have lost their parents.’ The Viscounty of Ajstain is an exception, but one of the reasons why many people flock to our territory is that public sector projects are brisk.”
“Because it’s family policy to fulfill your responsibilities.”
“I think it’s a great thing to follow that policy.”
Butler Fiebel’s words suddenly reminded me of Ian. It sounded like his voice was ringing in my ears, telling me to be proud of what I take for granted. Suddenly, the man… I shook my head hurriedly and looked down at the papers.
“Currently, looking at the budgets of welfare projects in other areas other than our territory, the total amount of the place that sets the largest budget for the year is only about 200 gold coins.”
“It’s not even a chin.”
“For aristocrats, that money would be a pity.”
I smiled softly at the remarks of Butler Fiebel, who did not express his emotions well. My grandfather’s human eye was certainly accurate. Fievel was an attendant who reminded me of a class that I would never have thought of as an aristocrat from birth. I moved my hand quickly to check the papers and set the heavy wad down on my desk.
“Butler Fiebel, what do you think of this situation?”
“I think it sucks.”
I nodded. It sucks. No, it’s not good if you rate it that way. This wasn’t to the point of being inconvenient. It was terrible. I tapped the papers with my fingers.
“Thousands of people die on the streets every year because they can’t eat enough. Winter is especially severe. Also, many children commit crimes even when they become adults because they are not properly educated. I guess you could say that’s what it means.”
“Yes, but we don’t have the discretion to give instructions to each person. They also keep the central policy to a minimum. So we can’t comment directly.”
“I don’t intend to comment.”
His head rolled quickly. After all, if no one in the world benefits them, he didn’t move first. Me too. But this was a good opportunity for me.
“You know the saying, kill two birds with one stone?”
“Suddenly, why is that…”
I took out the business plan I had prepared last night from the drawer and spread it out on the desk with a grin.
“Because I came up with something really cool.”
* * *
The Rirüs Empire has been busy putting the name of a woman and her family in her mouth recently. It was to the point where it wouldn’t be strange to hear them singing a hymn about her. By the time the scent of winter covered the empire and the people were greeted with white snow powder, the new business started by the Ajstain family took root throughout the empire.
Ajstain’s heir distributed food, clothes, and fuel such as firewood to countless poor people free of charge with the purpose of helping people livelihood. At the same time, it bought a local vacant lot and built a building to temporarily shelter from the cold there, giving people shelter. This was also free. It did not stop there, but conducted a project to educate and take care of children during the winter period in connection with each temple, nursery school, and private school. It was all done with Ajstein’s money. Even if it was carried out in one territory, it was an amount that was enough to carry hundreds of gold coins. However, the Ajstein family carried out the same project in all 162 territories throughout the empire.
The overall manager of this project was not the head of the household, Feldun Ajstain, but his granddaughter, Lawrence. On the day the project was implemented, she circulated information to each local daily newspaper and encouraged them to use the facility.
People disbelieved that they could use and benefit from these facilities for free and without charge. I looked at it with my eyes wide open to see if the food had gone bad or if it was a low-key trick to extort money later. Because of that, visitors were few in the beginning. But there was no price at all. As soon as word of mouth spread, the praise for Lawrence Ajstain, who carried out this project, only increased. By the time the days passed and a week had passed, she had become so famous in the Empire that even a passing dog knew Lawrence’s name.
As a result, many people naturally looked at her with suspicion and were jealous of her. It was because they were being compared to her and swearing at her, or because they were forced to imitate something similar by unnecessarily loosening their gold. Aristocrats and wealthy people claimed that Lawrence’s reckless use of money would eventually lead to bankruptcy. However, the Ajstain family increased their investment and business despite these criticisms and suspicions.
A month later, Laurencia published the budget set for this project in a daily newspaper. It was a shame for everyone.
The Ajstain family has prepared a budget of about 87,000 gold coins to help people livelihood this time. It was an investment for the people of the empire, so please use it a lot. The Empire insisted that an immediate tax investigation should be conducted on a huge budget, but people’s criticism for this increased. The tax investigation naturally fizzled out and ended without an attempt.
Eventually, amidst numerous support, the Ajstain family gained a reputation among the people.
* * *
After checking the daily newspaper, he looked at the papers on the desk with a satisfied face. It was a contract with a pretty grandiose title and a huge amount written on it.
When I raised my eyes, a man who was looking at me with an anxious face came into my field of vision.
“Count Nemir, thank you very much for accepting this investment.”
With the last words, I removed the family ring from my hand and pressed the candle wax enchanted with the contract to finish the signature. At that moment, the man looked at the contract with a happy face as he bent down.
“Did you really sign it?”
“Yes, that’s right. For the next three years, the Ajstain family will pay 20,000 gold coins every year as an investment. As written in the contract, we plan to take 30% of the profits.”
After the final confirmation, they sign the signature. Before I could even finish talking, he stamped the seal in an instant and handed it to me.
“Thank you for doing this.”
“No. My lady, I really appreciate you investing so much! Thank you!”
An elderly middle-aged man, especially a man with the title of count, bowed to me and thanked me. He liked it so much.
But I was truly grateful. Why was I willing to agree to the contract? I lowered my eyes slightly to examine the completed contract. Laughter came out of nowhere. The contract with Count Nemir would allow me to earn so much money that 20,000 gold coins were nothing. The public livelihood relief project that was sown over the past month, and this contract, gradually came together as a puzzle.
“I hope Count Nemir’s business goes well in the future.”
Butler Fiebel entered after him as he left the office with a thank you to the end. He greeted Nemir lightly, then came up to me and handed me the papers.
“I like it very much.”
“It’s a pleasure to receive a huge investment.”
“But I’m concerned. Will these businesses really make money?”
Yes, it was like that in the past too. When he said that he was selling his estate and doing business, he thought it was a reckless gamble. But it took him only 5 years. Within five years he had expanded his business to the size of an empire, with great success. In terms of the value of gold coins, it was not 100,000 or 200,000 units, but a million units. It was amazing.
“Do you know how many medicines are consumed each year?”
“The price range is quite high, so I don’t think there is general consumption. It’s mostly for wealthy people.”
“That’s right. That’s why even if you catch a cold, you have to wait for it to get better while drinking a cup of tea, let alone medicine. The nobles don’t know, but even children or adults living in poor places are likely to lose their lives if they catch a cold in such a state.”
Medicines were quite expensive. Even one cold medicine had to use gold coins for the transaction. Going to the hospital was a privilege only for those with money. When the poor get sick, they live and die as they get sick. That’s probably why fake drugs sold by scumbags who prey on people on the street are sold. Because I’m desperate.
However, this situation will change in about 5 years. By Count Nemir.
“I think if only the medicine that Count Nemir is making is invented, the price of medicine will plummet. When medicine becomes popular, the price will collapse and a huge market will be formed. Do you know what kind of market it is?”
He frowned. It was incomprehensible that medicines were becoming popular, but the next market was absurd. I too was bewildered. The world was really unpredictable.
“The medical industry. Now the temples are doing it almost independently, but not in the future. People will buy medicines cheaply. Then the hospitals that will lose competitiveness will lower the cost of treatment throughout the empire. Can you imagine? It means that you can do business with the entire empire.”
“…I don’t quite understand.”
I understood. Because I was like him too.
“For this, we need to build a reputation. Using that reputation, we can start business right away as long as Count Nemir completes the development of medicines. Then, even if we estimate the annual income alone, it is about 300,000 gold coins. Among them At 30%, we could earn 90,000 gold coins a year.”
It was a colossal figure that could not be seen as a project accomplished by one person. Even if he brought only 30% of it, it was a figure comparable to the empire’s normal budget.
“But isn’t it supposed? If it fails. If so, the amount invested this time and the amount used to rescue the people’s livelihood…”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“A business for the relief of the people’s livelihood is not an investment.”
“What…?”
I smiled at him with a puzzled look on his face.
“It’s just welfare work. I don’t intend to make money.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. Thank you very much for reading.
Next post will be released on April, 13.
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