Beer Bubble #2(4)
"To Sam?"
"Yeah, Sam's over there. Let's get moving. We need to sell quickly before Sam changes his mind."
The two quickly moved and soon found themselves in front of Sam.
"Sam, you're not buying at this price, are you?"
Sam immediately understood why the two had come to see him.
"Are you selling beer?"
"Of course we're here to sell. The price has dropped by half. Who would want to hold onto it?"
At a time when everyone was clamoring to sell their plummeting beer stocks,
Sam was trying to buy back the temporarily collapsed beer using the high-quality information only he knew.
'Given the size of the Rothsmedici army and the dwarf army, this war is bound to be a long one. And neither side's main forces have even arrived yet.'
On top of that, the empire and the dwarves had a clear reason they couldn't compromise with each other.
'It's the largest gold mining area on the continent after the great upheaval. It's ridiculous to think they'd just hand it over to the other side.'
"Yes, I actually think this is an opportunity. As long as I have money, I can monopolize the supply."
At Sam's words, Bob was dumbfounded.
'Is he saying this is an opportunity? He can't be serious, can he?'
Sam looked at the panic buyers who were all trying to sell their beer before answering.
Just yesterday, these people were boasting about not selling their beer.
'This is just a temporary phenomenon. When beer becomes scarce again, the price will rise even higher. I'm sure of it.'
"If you're selling, I'll buy it all."
Bell and Bob could not empathize with Sam's actions at all.
"No, it's not just about the war. The beer prices are insane. It's already expensive, and we have no idea how much it'll drop, but you're still saying that?"
"Isn't life a gamble, after all?"
And so, Bell and Bob hurriedly sold their beer to Sam, securing a profit of 120 times their original price.
"Phew... at least we sold it at this price. Honestly, it was a crazy price. I mean, what kind of beer price jumps 240 times? It's just insane."
Feeling disillusioned with the crazy beer prices, Bob spoke, and Bell could not help but strongly agree.
"Of course. Who would think that price is right? It's just beer, after all. Even if it's become harder to find recently."
"No matter how cursed the beer is, as long as the dwarves don't get shot in the head, buying at that price is laughable."
"We sold it well. Honestly, this is our victory for selling at 120 times the price. Sam will definitely regret it."
"Right. We sold well. With 120 times the profit, we can live lavishly now. We're rich!"
"That's right! Our lives are just beginning!"
After that day, Bell and Bob packed up and left the Montefeltro territory to return to their hometown of Black Label.
On their way back, they occasionally checked the fluctuating beer prices, but for some reason, they never strayed far from the price they had sold at.
"The beer prices aren't dropping as much as I thought. This can't be going up, can it?"
"What nonsense are you talking about? It's going to rise even more? No way, man. That's not it."
"Right? I'm just thinking wrong, aren't I?"
"Of course. Just forget about it. Stocks are the same. They seem like they'll rise, but they don't. In my opinion, this is a fake. It'll drop soon, so just forget about it."
They tried to forget about the beer prices, but as soon as they arrived in Black Label, the prices started to skyrocket as if it was a promise.
This was due to the short-lived Gold Vein War turning into a long-term conflict due to the uncompromising positions of the empire and the dwarves, which caused the issue that had lowered the beer prices to fade, and the suppressed prices to rise again.
"Is this... even possible?"
Upon arriving in Black Label and checking the beer prices with the locals, Bob was dumbfounded.
Just a few days ago, the beer prices had been stagnant, but now they had jumped threefold overnight.
"Is, is this crazy? It's just beer, after all. But why is the price going up?"
The 120-fold price they had settled on was already insane, and now the beer prices had jumped to 360 times.
"It seems Sam was right. The prolonged war caused the beer prices to skyrocket again."
"No, no matter what, that's not it. The price is crazy, and people are still buying it? Are all these people shot in the head?"
What Bob couldn't understand the most was this.
"We raised the price through speculation, so I understand that. But if the dwarves don't buy at that price, it's over, right? And yet they still raise the beer prices?"
"The beer prices have risen not only in the empire but also across the continent. I mean, honestly, because of people like us, beer has become extremely scarce."
"That's true, but... still, this isn't right."
Bob couldn't help but shake his head.
"It's too expensive. At this rate, it's no different from alcohol brewed with gold."
Bell couldn't help but agree on this matter.
"Yeah. Honestly, at that price, who would buy beer when they could just brew alcohol with gold instead?"
As the price had increased threefold, Bob, whose heart was shaken, soon regained his composure and spoke to Bell.
"No, this is temporary. The price is already crazy. It's really ridiculous to think it'll go up even more."
"That's right. It's ridiculous, right?"
"Of course, it's ridiculous. Let's just ignore it and live our lives while doing what we need to do. We've already made a ridiculous 120-fold profit, right? That's enough. We can live comfortably from now on."
"I think so too. How much more can it go up? It won't go up by much."
"Right. It's definitely a bubble. Let's ignore it, forget about it, and move on."
That's what they said, but...
They were sick to their stomachs every day as the beer prices soared.
Before long, the price of beer showed a phenomenon of jumping up to 700 times the original price, and now beer could secure a position as a kind of faith.
Even among nobles, beer became a measure of wealth in the empire, to the point where they were distinguished by those who could drink it and those who couldn't.
"700 times... what is this..."
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It won't be possible unless someone had unlimited money like our guy have
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