King Balm Edria Corum was lost in thought in his office.
He should have been busy organizing documents, but sometimes he would ponder things like this.
King Balm had many concerns, but the issue that occupied most of his time was the Central Continent.
The Corum Kingdom had meddled with the Central Continent before, but for the time being, there were no resurgence of such voices domestically.
However, it was not impossible for calls to attack again to emerge at any time.
Ultimately, the fleet his own country had dispatched was the only one that had taken military action on the Central Continent so far.
Balm had expected other countries to try to interfere immediately, but the unexpected offensive power of Amamiya Tower had put a stop to it.
Some countries dismissed it as mere rumor, but among the information Balm possessed, there were no countries that had actually acted upon it.
A little while ago, there seemed to have been a pirate disturbance in the northern part of the Central Continent, but that too has subsided.
There were also rumors that some nation was involved behind the scenes in the Corum Kingdom, which was geographically distant, but it seemed that no significant effect was achieved.
Balm hoped that the nation behind it would lose patience and take direct action, but as is the way of the world, things don’t always go as smoothly as one would wish.
Regarding Amamiya Tower, it was already in the process of establishing itself as a nation.
However, it lacked the existence of an army, which a nation should have, but even if a guard force was necessary, an army wasn’t immediately required.
After all, nations had not existed on that continent until now.
It was a unique continent, but it was common knowledge that the situation changed drastically after the tower was conquered.
The existence of a Teleport Gate had greatly influenced the continent’s situation.
The Corum Kingdom, located on the West Continent, also naturally had towers, and some of them had been conquered.
However, for some reason, he had never heard of anything like a Teleport Gate.
Or perhaps, there was a possibility that they existed, hidden for times of need.
A means to instantly move to the safe zone of a tower might be treated as a secret passage that royalty should conceal.
If Balm were the owner of a tower and a Teleport Gate existed, he might treat it as such.
Or perhaps, the Teleport Gate itself did not exist within that tower.
After all, since the tower had been conquered in the past and its owner had changed many times, it was possible that the transfer of ownership had not been properly handled.
In fact, this was a more likely possibility.
It was unlikely that they would hand over such an important asset as a tower to a hostile nation.
Since he didn’t fully understand the tower’s system, his reasoning was bound to be speculation.
Having thought that far, Balm realized there was no point in dwelling on what wasn’t there and brought his wandering thoughts back to the present.
What needed to be considered now was how the Corum Kingdom should deal with Amamiya Tower.
For the time being, the hardliners had not spoken of sending troops again.
However, it was not impossible for such voices to emerge again.
At that time, they would need something to silence the hardliners.
Balm had no intention of crossing a dangerous bridge and had no plans to dispatch the navy.
However, it was a fact that if those voices grew louder, they could not be ignored.
As King Balm was pondering these things, his gaze fell upon a certain document.
It was one of the reports he was scheduled to process.
Furthermore, it was related to the Crown.
As if it were a mere coincidence, King Balm began to read the document.
Soon, his expression relaxed.
If that report was accurate, it might be possible to silence the hardliners.
He absolutely needed to hear the details.
He immediately summoned the important figure in charge of that document.
♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦
The person summoned by Balm was from the tax-related department.
The report indicated an increase in tax revenue from the merchant guilds related to the Crown.
In absolute terms, it was not a large amount.
However, in terms of growth rate, it was higher than any other merchant guild.
Of course, this was not limited to merchant guilds.
The craft guilds, which processed goods imported from the Crown, were in a similar situation.
“This report is from last month, but what about before that?”
“Y-yes. The situation became noticeable last month, and before that, it wasn’t significant. However, it seems to be increasing further this month.”
Balm tilted his head at the attendant’s report.
“Why are these businesses growing?”
“Um…”
“Don’t worry. Speak even if it’s just a guess.”
Seeing the attendant hesitate, Balm sensed it and prompted him to continue.
“It’s probably because the quality of the materials from the Crown is good.”
With that statement, the attendant understood what he wanted to say.
“…Is it that much?”
“As far as we’ve investigated, it’s quite remarkable for handicrafts, industrial goods, and even luxury items. Domestically, but above all, exports are increasing.”
In the Corum Kingdom, they purchased products originating from Amamiya Tower as raw materials and processed them.
They had already been importing materials from the Central Continent, so they had the technical foundation for such work.
Moreover, the materials from the Central Continent were famous for their high quality.
Materials produced from the tower were either equivalent to them or even superior in some cases.
Selling such items abroad brought in high prices, leading to increased sales for the guilds involved in such businesses.
As a result, tax revenue increased.
“Is there a possibility that the Crown is intentionally increasing exports to our country?”
His intention in asking that question was to suspect, given the previous disturbance, whether they were strengthening commercial ties.
“I cannot ascertain the situation in other countries accurately, but it is likely not the case. It seems that the production of resources from Amamiya Tower has simply increased.”
It was said that the increase in resource production was due to the increase in adventurers active in the tower or those engaged in related work.
Naturally, this also meant an increase in the amount of resources that could be exported.
As a result, the amount of materials entering the Corum Kingdom increased, and the sales of related guilds grew.
The problem was, how far would this growth continue?
Even with the tower, resources wouldn’t be infinite.
Or, there might not be enough adventurers to collect them.
The growth would inevitably stop somewhere.
It was impossible to predict that accurately.
Some degree of estimation might be possible, but that was just speculation, not certainty.
However, putting that aside, this situation could be utilized by the country.
After all, tax revenues were increasing.
A rash move could result in the loss of those revenues.
This could serve as a material to silence the hardliners.
However, there were those among them who would argue that this was precisely why they should attack.
Fortunately, there weren’t that many such short-sighted individuals.
The increase in tax revenue due to materials from the Central Continent would be beneficial for the Corum Kingdom in the short term.
However, whether it would be beneficial in the long term, or when a nation centered around the tower would be established on the Central Continent, remained unknown. Balm etched this thought into his heart.
