Chapter 169: The Speed Limitation
I took the compiled price survey documents and noted them down on paper.
I wrote two copies; one I tucked into my own pocket.
AndI handed the other one to Gigi, giving him instructions.
“The rice from Almeria has become cheaper. Use this for comparison in the next report; remember it well so you can present it when needed. This is crucial.”
“Y-yes! I will remember!”
Gigi stiffened with anticipation as he accepted the paper, his body tense with a sharp focus. I stood up and, while walking, spoke to Don.
“I’m going out for a bit. Leave the rest to you.”
“Should we send someone to Almeria?”
“Yeah… It’s still Evelyn in Almeria, isn’t it?”
“Yes, she is a member of Your Majesty’s household.”
“Take care. When inquiring, just ask Evelyn, ‘Is there anything unusual?’ That’s sufficient.”
“Understood. Have a good trip.”
☆
After changing into casual clothes, I left the detached palace and got into a carriage.
It wasn’t one reserved for the Emperor, but rather a carriage of decent status used by the Emperor’s envoys.
I chose this form so as not to attract too much attention since I was still on a campaign, and I was planning to act based on the information gathered by spies.
The carriage went directly to Byron Alan’s residence.
It was a mansion I had visited many times since childhood.
Unlike before, it now displayed the crest associated with my family, and it was much more lavishly constructed than in the past.
As expected, there was a guard at the entrance.
However, the carriage I was riding in had the status befitting an “envoy of the Emperor.”
After the driver exchanged a few words with the guard, he easily let the carriage pass.
The carriage stopped in front of the main building of the mansion, and I waited for the driver to bring me a stepping stool before I got out.
In the meantime, word had already been sent ahead, and Byron came out from within the mansion.
The moment Byron saw me, he showed a face of shock and hurriedly approached, wanting to kneel on the spot.
“I was unaware of Your Majesty’s presence; I apologize sincerely—”
“That’s fine, let’s talk inside.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
While stopping Byron, I proceeded into the mansion.
He quickly followed, leading me as he went.
Along the way, he gave instructions to the staff regarding my reception.
After that, we were led to the mansion’s most luxurious reception room, a place I had visited many times before.
Once the staff had retreated, leaving just the two of us, Byron knelt before me again, this time with a more formal bow.
“You needn’t be so formal. You should understand from the carriage, this is a private visit.”
“Y-yes.”
“I have something to discuss. First, sit down.”
“Thank you.”
Byron waited for my permission before sitting down across from me at the table.
“First, take a look at this.”
I said this and took out the paper I had tucked away, handing it to Byron.
It contained the same information I had given to Gigi, a price list of civilian goods in Almeria.
Byron accepted it and promptly skimmed through the contents. As he read, he furrowed his brow and looked at me with a confused expression.
“What is this…?”
“It’s from Almeria. The items and numbers are unchanged. These are the market prices from recent times.”
“Wha—!?”
Byron was surprised and looked down at the memo again.
“Remarkable… This aligns perfectly with what I have in my records—no, it’s even more detailed.”
“I have a few questions. First, do you believe this information is accurate?”
“Y-yes… I believe it is mostly correct.”
“I see. Do you understand why only the price of rice has dropped?”
“Huh?”
Byron hurriedly took another look at the memo.
After staring at it for a while and showing a troubled expression, he said,
“Indeed… compared to this time last year, the price has clearly fallen.”
“…Hmm.”
“Could it be attributed to a good harvest?”
“I doubt that.”
“Is the report from Almeria not indicating a good harvest?”
Typically, reports on harvest conditions come from the local governors.
Some submit false reports to curry favor with the Emperor, claiming wealthy harvests, but the governor of Almeria is Evelyn.
She knows me well and never lies about good or bad harvests affected by the weather; she always reports the truth.
The report from Evelyn, the governor of Almeria, indicates that the weather this year has been as usual, neither a bountiful harvest nor a poor one.
“There isn’t a governor who would fail to report good news about a bountiful harvest. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a good harvest.”
“Indeed!”
Byron nodded greatly.
In this area, as someone who uses subordinates, he understood well that “there is no good news that goes unreported.”
“On the contrary, a good harvest wouldn’t lead to this.”
“What do you mean…?”
“A good harvest occurs because 99% of it is favored by the climate.”
“That is exactly right.”
“The climate is widespread. The prices of other grains in the same region have hardly fluctuated.”
“Eh? … Ah.”
“This kind of thing has some variation, but it always moves in the same trend. Right?”
“As expected of Your Majesty. You are correct.”
Byron looked down at his notes again and pondered seriously.
“So… a rebellion?”
“While it’s not zero, I think that possibility is slim.”
Byron’s guess is a standard one.
When a planned rebellion or coup occurs, fluctuations in grain prices almost invariably happen. If the decision is made with a clear objective, the scale of it would be significant, and a rebellion of that scale would require securing food supplies.
That too should cause fluctuations, though perhaps with some variation.
“With a rebellion, the prices wouldn’t go down but up, right?”
“Ah… I-I apologize.”
Byron hurriedly bowed his head in apology.
Collecting more than the usual amount means there are more buyers.
If there are more buyers than usual, it doesn’t logically follow that the price would drop.
Byron suddenly realized that his speculation was off the mark with my pointing it out and hastily apologized.
“…”
I looked at Byron for a moment and decided to change the subject.
“Well, it’s fine. You also don’t understand it well. Just realizing that is a harvest in itself.”
“I-I am truly sorry. Please give me a moment; I will send someone out to investigate immediately.”
“Ah, but what an inconvenient thing this is.”
“W-What do you mean?”
“I was just thinking about how long it would take, for example, for you, Byron, to send someone to Almeria to investigate? Even at the fastest, it would take around ten days, wouldn’t it?”
“I-I apologize.”
“I’m not blaming you. I’m similar in that regard. In times like these, I think to myself, ‘I wish I could exchange information instantly.'”
“Yes… Unlike goods, if it’s simple information, using pigeons or the like would convey it faster than people or horses, but even so, with the distance to Almeria, a round trip would take three days…”
“Indeed.”
I nodded firmly.
Byron was right.
Three days for carrier pigeons is effectively the fastest, but it’s still slow.
I want to be able to transmit information more quickly.
If a round trip to Almeria could be done in a day, many things would change.
“This is something… even we merchants, who value the freshness of information, can’t do anything about.”
“That’s true… huh?”
I was about to nod in agreement when I caught something in Byron’s words and opened my eyes wide, staring at him. Suddenly being gazed at by me, Byron became flustered.
“W-What is it, Your Majesty?”
“What did you just say?”
“Huh?”
“Freshness of information…”
“Y-Yes. For merchants, the freshness of information is more important than life… but…?”
Byron had a look on his face that asked what that meant.
That itself is not a problem, there is no issue at all.
Everyone agrees that freshness of information is more crucial than anything for merchants.
The problem doesn’t lie with the merchants.
Freshness of information.
Upon hearing that phrase, the image that surfaced in my mind was of my father.
☆
Inside the palace, in my father’s bedroom.
Just like last night, having infiltrated, I stood before my father.
Since this was already the second time, and I was no longer hiding things from him.
My father wasn’t surprised by my visit.
“It seems you could not obtain the desired information from the merchants.”
As expected of my father.
He seemed to grasp everything, not just that I visited Byron’s residence, but also my purpose and all the exchanges I had with Byron.
I nodded slightly and, with a sighed tone, said,
“Byron Alan won’t be of much use for a while.”
“Oh? Is it because you couldn’t obtain any information?”
“No, that’s not it. The problem is that he didn’t notice the discrepancies in last year’s figures until we pointed it out.”
“I see.”
“More than the freshness of information, having the figures from before and after and not noticing the market fluctuations is more critical.”
“I hear you’ve become quite the nurturing parent lately.”
“When a man’s first child is born at that age, it can’t be helped.”
I spoke with a serious expression.
It’s not a bad thing in itself.
Not bad, but…
It also means that being so focused on the children slightly increases the possibility that I might end up neglecting Cindy in the future.
I thought it would be better to clearly establish my dominance over Cindy at an opportune moment.
“Let’s move on from Byron. Instead, I’d like to ask you, Father.”
“Hmm.”
“Is there anything you can suggest for faster transmission of information?”
“Why do you ask me?”
“You have built the most sophisticated information network in this Empire and still operate it.”
He even knew that I visited Byron, and that’s exactly why.
“The dissatisfaction I feel now is something you must have gone through decades ago.”
I said this and looked directly at my father.
That was the reason I came here.
Just like I feel dissatisfied with the current slow transmission of information, if Father has dealt with information in various ways, he must have experienced similar frustrations with that slowness.
It would be impossible for him to have done nothing about it.
So, I came here to directly ask him.
“…Impressive, Noah.”
Father looked at me for a while, his admiration evident as he spoke.
“Have you ever played with itoden?” [TN: 糸伝 {ito-denwa}, ‘String telephone’]
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