Monopolizing Goods #3(1)
The monopoly and scarcity of everything related to beer, led by the church, continued for several months.
As a result, a phenomenon of beer scarcity occurred in all places, including the Montefeltro territory and nearby territories. The people, unable to drink beer to soothe their hardships, turned to wine as a substitute, but it could not completely suppress their demand for beer.
And since this was an issue led by the church, no one dared to express their complaints towards the church, and this applied to the lord of the territory as well.
'They've completely monopolized beer to the point of drying up the supply.'
Due to the outbreak of the Totem War, a full-scale conflict between two forces in the adjacent area.
The lord, who had even employed a giant wyvern, once again thought about the beer monopoly and scarcity that had become a hot topic recently, as he stroked his beloved wyvern.
'If they were planning to monopolize and profit from it, they really went all in. There's no one to criticize them, so they're running wild like a horse with a loose rein.'
His expression was dark.
'If only it wasn't led by the church.'
The complaints and dissatisfaction caused by the scarcity of beer were, absurdly, directed at him instead of the church.
People thought it was his fault for not properly convincing the church, which monopolized beer.
Although it was partly due to the atmosphere of not daring to go against the church's will, people had nowhere else to blame and inadvertently dumped their anger on him.
'Why do I have to be blamed for what the church did? Being a lord is so annoying.'
However, he didn't take it too seriously, because once the church started to release the monopolized beer, everyone's dissatisfaction would quickly subside.
The only problem was the timing.
'When are they going to release the monopolized beer? It seems like it's about time.'
But the damn church showed no intention of releasing the beer.
It was as if they were waiting for a specific moment.
'It has nothing to do with me anyway. If they're going to sell it, they should do it quickly.'
The matter of the church profiting from the beer monopoly was completely unrelated to him.
'And it's not like I can tax it.'
The lord, who could only sigh, flew up into the sky on his wyvern and looked around the fortress that had been under construction for the past few months.
The huge defensive facility being built near the border was being constructed very sturdily, enough to withstand a siege from the enemy.
And behind it, a mercenary force of about a thousand soldiers was stationed, who would help him defend his territory in case of emergency. It was a force he couldn't have afforded without borrowing money from the bank.
'The fortress is almost complete. Money really does wonders. I didn't expect such a large-scale construction to be completed in such a short time.'
If he had tried to build it with just the territory's tax revenue, it would have taken years.
'Everything is fine, but...'
The lord, flying on his wyvern above the nearly completed fortress, darkened his expression.
'The interest is higher than I thought.'
Although it wasn't unbearable as long as there were no problems in the territory, the interest he had to pay to the bank could become a burden if there were changes in the territory's annual tax revenue due to good harvests, wars, and other factors.
'It's okay. There's nothing to worry about. And even if there is...'
The lord, with a determined expression, turned the wyvern's head towards the lord's castle.
'I'm the one in charge here. What can those bank guys do to me? If I'm having a hard time, they'll have to crawl on their own.'
With that thought, time passed, and beer had almost dried up in Montefeltro and the surrounding areas.
As Rockefeller had predicted, a dwarf delegation from Thunder Mountain came to Montefeltro.
Their reason for coming was simple.
The war with the Redskins had dragged on longer than expected, and they needed to supplement their scarce supplies. So they brought their gold sovereigns to the adjacent imperial lands.
The visiting dwarf delegation consisted of dwarves from Thunder Mountain, who were subordinates of Grom Stark, known by the fearsome epithet "The Thunder Breathing."
The dwarf delegation was made up of 10 members, and as rumored, they were typical dwarves, short in stature with beards.
The only distinguishing feature was that, true to their Thunder Mountain origins, their hair and beards were disheveled.
The dwarves, who had arrived at the lord's garden in the Montefeltro territory, immediately requested an audience with the lord. The lord, who had been apprehensive about the sparks from the conflict between the dwarves and the Redskins, could not refuse their request and welcomed them.
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