The Shepherds Are Dense – Chapter 757

Chapter 756
The Collapsing Star Antimony Economy

Accompanied by long, drawn-out sirens, police vehicles stopped far beyond the boundary of Piloty Manor.

But unlike the situation at the White Dove Opera House, this time the Police Department did not deploy their security fortress, the “Cordon,” directly to the entrance. Only a few old open-top cars, spewing black smoke and emitting noises like tractors, were present. Several experienced police officers gathered outside a barrier, continuously requesting reinforcements.

And two blocks away, no less than four “Cordons” completely blocked a four-way intersection.

In one of these “Cordons,” a female police officer, who looked no older than twenty, asked her senior with some bewilderment, “Are we just waiting here? But in this position… we can’t keep an eye on them at all?”

Merely blocking the intersection from a distance might be useful against crimes committed by ordinary Extraordinary individuals, but it was utterly meaningless against high-level Extraordinarys. Even if the streets were completely sealed off, climbing over walls or teleporting was not a difficult feat…

“It doesn’t matter.”

The robust officer, appearing to be in his fifties with a full beard, exuded a calm and unhurried demeanor. “This is clearly not something we can handle—do you want the General Bureau’s Seventh Division to be mobilized?”

“Why not?”

The young female officer retorted, “They can solve it, can’t they? Even a Fifth Tier criminal, they should be able to apprehend them smoothly!”

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged officer and the officers beside him burst into laughter.

They looked at the girl with a touch of nostalgia, their eyes filled with kindness, much like looking at their own past.

“Heh… even so.”

Her superior patted her shoulder heavily. “We still can’t make a move. This is Piloty Manor, you know. He’s the son of the Red Phase.”

“Alphonse von Piloty, of course I know him!”

The young female officer replied without hesitation, her voice even carrying a hint of urgency. “But precisely because of that, shouldn’t we quickly find out something and give Count Pomanach an explanation!”

It was evident that among the younger generation of girls, Alphonse’s popularity and reputation were quite high—even this young female officer held a considerable fondness for Alphonse.

“It’s precisely because this matter involves the Red Phase that we cannot act rashly.”

Finally, it was the senior officer who provided the answer. “Only a few individuals dare to directly confront the Red Phase. If they truly intend to tear down the facade and fight to the end this time, then of course we must stand on Count Leipzig’s side—after all, he’s the one who pays our salaries. Leipzig’s police officers earn twice as much as those in other parts of Star Antimony, second only to the capital… and most importantly, their salaries are never delayed.

“But Count Leipzig is both a high-ranking member of the Association and someone close to the Red Phase. Who knows which side the Count will take this time? If the Count doesn’t give an order, how can we act on our own?

“—To put it another way, if neither side intends to fight to the end this time, and we make a move… we’ll end up being thrown out as the culprits to take the blame.”

“…Where did these ideas come from?”

This newly graduated female officer wasn’t overly righteous, so she understood immediately, but her mind was still somewhat confused. “Why do you all seem to know…?”

“Because it’s always been like this.”

Someone replied, “This isn’t the first time there’s been a dispute. Last time it was the Red Phase and the Association, the time before that it was the Association and the Guild. The Association always likes to stir up trouble, but they do have the backing for it… And even further back, there have always been other conflicts. Even the Spirit Tower occasionally causes trouble.”

“Whoever makes a move takes the blame. And even if no one makes a move and something happens, the impact won’t be too significant in the end—because anything that escalates is not something we can resolve.”

The middle-aged police officer patted the young female officer, who was younger than his own daughter, and concluded, “So if we can avoid it, we won’t act.”

“In other words… it doesn’t matter who the culprit is?” The young female officer seemed to grasp something.

“It does matter… but work and money are more important, child. If you were to leave Leipzig and see other places… forget it, for your safety, it’s better not to go.”

The middle-aged officer patted her shoulder and sighed. “In my hometown, those who lost their jobs sit at the entrance of the relief center to receive bread and salt. They can fill the entire street, and the relief center’s volunteers work from morning till night without even a moment’s rest… The relief center even needs to apply for security from the police department to prevent vagrants from raiding the kitchen. The ‘kitchen guardian’ might even be the only one on the entire street with a salaried income.”

“—It’s all the fault of those damned Goblins for canceling their orders!”

A younger police officer exclaimed angrily.

The middle-aged officer pointed at him. “See, Jack—this is an example. Come on, Jack, tell our good girl.”

“Hey, how many times have I told this story…”

Jack shook his head somewhat irritably but still painstakingly recounted, “My father used to run a brick factory. It wasn’t a large business, but it was decent. Until those damned Goblin merchants—they’re a bunch of damn liars! They should be skinned and sent to the Spirit Tower to be made into sandwiches!”

Star Antimony’s high-strength bricks were a specialty. Through cooperation with the Royal Alchemical Association, they obtained a special alchemical potion that could increase the strength of the fired bricks to a level higher than concrete bricks. The formula for this potion was a secret of the Association.

The Royal Alchemical Association did not protect its formulas through patent registration like those weak Alchemists. They employed a more direct method—they directly cooperated with assassin organizations and the police department. Anyone who dared to try to pirate or crack the formula would be dealt with.

Police officer Jack continued, “Those liars paid a large deposit and urged my father to expedite production, saying they were paving roads and building houses on the Southern Continent and needed a large quantity of high-strength bricks. Because they promised further substantial orders later… so my father took the deposit and expanded the factory, and hired a large number of employees at high salaries—you had to offer high salaries back then to attract people, as everyone was competing for workers.

“To expand, we needed more capital. So we took out a loan from the bank opened by those Goblin merchants. My brother also dropped out of university because the family business was booming. He withdrew and went back to help his father with the business… The business did flourish for a few years, which is why I was able to attend university and, after graduating, was transferred here to Leipzig—fortunately, I wasn’t interested in business, completed my university studies, became an Extraordinary, and took power into my own hands!

“Because it had only been a few years—seeing that the business was good, we expanded year after year. But five years later, when the first phase of the contract expired, those cunning Goblins said that because their demand had decreased and market technology had improved, they would reduce the purchase quantity. But damn it, our family was clearly the best brick factory in the area, and we were the only ones selling honest, solid bricks!”

“…Is it possible,” the young female officer couldn’t help but ask, “that those greedy Goblins were actually looking for hollow bricks? After all, strengthened hollow bricks are sufficient for use…”

“Who knows—but anyway, my father pleaded and managed to retain eighty percent of the order volume. However, the price of acquisition was reduced by a tenth. This fatal one-tenth significantly decreased profits, and we had to produce more bricks to maintain the loan repayments. And then, those damn Goblins sent us a batch of new machinery… These new machines were essentially an interest-free loan. With them, we could produce high-strength bricks with higher efficiency.

“But after only two years, starting from the end of last year, we discovered that others also had these new machines. As a result, damn it—at the beginning of this year, those Goblins directly paid the breach of contract penalty and forcibly terminated the second phase of cooperation!

“—But with just this compensation, we couldn’t even repay the loan we borrowed from them! My father wanted to get rid of those bricks quickly… after all, they were worthless stacked up, and warehouses cost money, as did the workers. The loan for the machinery, and the share for those Alchemists…

“But there were too many bricks on the market, and no one would buy them. The few that could be sold were priced at less than one-tenth—even ordinary bricks were more expensive than this! Everyone kept lowering prices, but still, no one bought them.

“In the end, we couldn’t pay wages, our family factory went bankrupt, my father was killed, and my brother committed suicide… By then, the mountains of bricks were still unprocessed, so they were given to the workers as debt repayment. But how many bricks could they take away? The warehouse manager even had to pay out of pocket to find people to dispose of these bricks… because they were too strong, neither machines nor low-level Extraordinarys could handle them.”

Jack sighed. “Do you know? Our town only has a little over two thousand people, its population is not even comparable to a single district in Leipzig. And these unwanted bricks are piled up by the roadside, on the streets, indestructible and unshakable. Some people picked them up to build houses, but houses are meaningless… When reinforced bricks are flooding the market, houses are worthless.

“And those damned Goblins, what they bought from Star Antimony back then was far more than just bricks. They withdrew their orders, and they took our lives!”

“Do you understand?”

The middle-aged officer patted the young woman’s shoulder, his expression solemn. “Listen to me… If you still want to stay in the ‘Cordon’ and not go to the White Dove Opera House, it’s best not to get involved. You’re fortunate to live in Leipzig. At least our economy here doesn’t rely on supplying Goblins… Although prices have tripled in a year, our salaries have also increased accordingly.”

“…Being able to get into the White Dove Opera House is considered lucky. The Spirit Tower and the Association are also constantly short on supply… In this era, the living are the best hard currency.”

Someone else added with a sigh, “After all, Count Leipzig pays well— His Lordship is a truly good person.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, clearly deeply appreciative.

There was a dark joke: why was the Alchemical Association the poorest? Why did Alchemists become the weakest faction among Star Antimony’s powers?

It was simple logic… they had to obtain their alchemical materials from botanists, and the development of alchemy, as well as the ascension of Alchemists, required a large amount of alchemical materials.

But for the other factions, it was much simpler—they only needed to obtain “people.”

And in this era, the price of “people” was bound to decrease. Although there was currently a shortage of supply, it was uncertain how things would be in some time.

“…Is His Lordship a good person? Why?”

The young female officer clearly detested the White Dove Opera House and asked with a frown. “Others are also buying lives, and he is also buying lives. What’s the difference between buying lives and buying lives? After entering the White Dove Opera House, aren’t they all destined to die anyway?”

“Because the price is higher. You come from a good background, Liz, so you don’t know… When people are truly pushed to the brink, no matter how much money is offered, they will eventually sell. The only difference is whether they sell one person from their family or the entire family.

“Even if His Lordship offers less money, those unfortunate people are still desperate—they still have to choose between the Opera House or an even more tragic future, but he is willing to pay off their debts for them… When he can acquire these ill-fated people for less money, yet he voluntarily chooses to pay more, it’s a completely unnecessary ‘loss-making’ transaction.”

“…I think this is actually a form of hypocrisy.”

The female officer, called Liz, still frowned deeply. “Because he’s just selling his reputation. Although he buys at a higher price, his profit is also higher, so he ultimately doesn’t lose anything. And many more people flock to him because of this reason… I don’t think there’s any need for such an act. If it’s that bad, it’s better to go to the Iris Flower.”

“The Iris Flower isn’t that good either; everyone is pretty much the same. And hypocrisy is at least better than pure evil…”

The middle-aged officer sighed. “I’d rather Star Antimony had more influential figures willing to be hypocrites.”

In a place where everyone unabashedly displayed their sins, people would even fanatically worship those they knew to be hypocritical.

—Because in that way, perhaps more people would be willing to do so for their own benefit.

But at this moment, another young police officer raised a question. “I’ve been listening for a long time… but fundamentally, shouldn’t this be the fault of those Goblins?

“Why is no one holding those Goblins accountable? Is it because we can’t defeat them?

“Those banks are run by Goblins, aren’t they? If we take over the banks, won’t these people have money then?”

His words caused everyone to fall silent.

It wasn’t that he had said anything wrong, but rather that others genuinely did not understand why this was not done.

“Perhaps those above have their own ideas.”

Finally, the middle-aged officer concluded the discussion with these words.

However, today’s conversation had planted a seed in the hearts of everyone present.

—In the entire Star Antimony, was there not a single person who could step forward and lead them?

Was there no better choice than Count Leipzig?

“I think…”

The oldest police officer present said slowly, “No matter what, in the end, the Church won’t abandon us. They can’t just watch Star Antimony collapse, can they?

“Don’t forget, everyone… the current Pope is human.

“—His Holiness the Pope is merciful.”

He said slowly.

(End of this chapter)