Raoul was visiting the Crown Branch in the Ayrica Kingdom.
Tamara, the Branch Manager, sat before him.
The Crown Branch of the Ayrica Kingdom was originally established to open an Adventurer Division.
However, at some point, a problem arose concerning adventurers’ activities.
Therefore, Tamara worked to establish a Material Purchase Counter within the branch.
When it came to installing a Material Purchase Counter, it naturally became Raoul’s area of responsibility.
Although Tamara had smoothed many things over with the Kingdom, various issues had arisen because it involved commerce.
In business, due to numerous forces both inside and outside the kingdom viewing the Crown’s expanding influence as a danger, only a Material Purchase Counter was established at the branch.
This was because if materials were directly purchased from adventurers and then released into the market, it would cause confusion.
There were voices within the Crown suggesting they should establish their own counters, but it was decided that it was unnecessary to create a spark for dispute, leading to the current situation.
Until now, the Ayrica Kingdom had operated on a procurement system where they would issue requests to obtain only the materials they needed.
If they were to directly purchase them from adventurers, only the large organizations with significant financial power would survive.
Furthermore, a problem arose where the Material Purchase Counter, established to boost adventurer activity, led to a drastic decrease in original requests.
The subjugation requests issued by towns and villages were made with the intent of reducing surrounding monsters and were thus unaffected.
However, material purchase requests issued by craft guilds and merchant guilds were directly impacted.
After all, the prices at which the Material Purchase Counter bought materials were lower than the amounts for the requests.
It was more profitable to buy cheap materials from the Crown rather than paying high prices for requests.
In fact, for a time after the Material Purchase Counter was established, the number of material recovery requests decreased.
It seemed to have returned to about eighty percent of its previous level, but it was still not a full recovery.
The reason for Raoul’s involvement this time was that Tamara, who was not adept at business, had requested support from the Crown Headquarters to confirm and adjust these various situations.
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“However, I never expected Lord Raoul to come here,” Tamara said after they exchanged initial greetings.
When she requested support from Headquarters, she had expected someone of a lower rank to come.
Instead, the person who arrived was Raoul, who oversaw the purchase of materials related to the Crown.
It was understandable why Tamara was surprised.
Raoul replied to Tamara with a laugh.
“Hahaha. In principle, I should have sent one of my subordinates, but I just can’t shake off the habits from my traveling merchant days.”
During his time as a traveling merchant, he had handled everything himself, from developing routes to procuring goods.
Normally, with his organizational position, he should have had subordinates handle things, but Raoul still hadn’t let go of those old habits.
It was akin to the CEO personally handling issues, which was not a good state of affairs.
However, Raoul had a proper reason for taking action himself this time.
“Besides, while it’s good for me to see things with my own eyes, I also intend to train one of my subordinates here this time.”
“Oh?”
Tamara raised her eyebrows with interest at Raoul’s words.
“I can’t possibly handle everything myself whenever something comes up, so I want to train someone capable of handling at least some of the tasks.”
Currently, there were several individuals at the branch knowledgeable about materials who were stationed at the purchase counter.
He intended to entrust the responsibility of this branch to one of them, or perhaps to entirely new talent.
However, this was not a simple task.
After all, in some situations, they might have to deal with the Kingdom itself.
It was impossible to place someone at this branch who had the authority to make immediate decisions when dealing with a nation.
This was partly because the branch had not yet grown to that extent, but the negotiation that could determine the fate of the Crown if handled incorrectly was too heavy a responsibility for the person in charge of the Material Purchase Counter.
In the first place, Raoul himself did not possess such authority.
Frankly, Raoul did not want such authority.
“…I see. I’m not very knowledgeable about business, so I would be grateful if you could do that.”
“If someone of your caliber, Lady Tamara, were to handle business as well, we younger folks wouldn’t have a place to stand.”
Raoul laughed.
Tamara returned a wry smile and then her expression turned serious.
“So? How are the purchases going?”
“Frankly, it’s not going smoothly. I can understand why the purchase system hasn’t taken root on this continent.”
As he spoke, Raoul lowered his gaze to some documents.
The documents listed the materials brought to the Material Purchase Counter and their quantities up to that point.
The contents were undeniably very skewed.
This could also be attributed to the fact that the monsters adventurers encountered were limited.
If a public guild of a single city were to implement this purchase system, rather than a massive organization like the Crown, it would lead to unmanageable figures.
“I see. So there’s a reason why the purchase system didn’t take root.”
Nodding at Tamara’s words, Raoul continued.
“Another thing is, adventurers seem to have issues too.”
“You mean?”
“It might be because the system has just started and they’re not used to it, but they give the impression of only subjugating monsters they happen to encounter.”
Hearing this, Tamara tilted her head.
“Is that not good?”
As far as Tamara was concerned, she had established the Material Purchase Counter with the intention of making more profit.
Naturally, she believed that buying materials from monsters encountered during requests was sufficient.
Raoul shook his head in response.
“If that’s the case, eventually the purchase of materials will become skewed, prices will drop, and no one will bring any materials anymore.”
Even with a Material Purchase Counter, they couldn’t continuously buy at the same price indefinitely.
Simply put, if someone brought in materials from a slime that even a child could defeat, it would only be worth a pittance.
The price changes based on the volume of circulation, as is the case with any product.
“Mu…”
Perhaps realizing this, Tamara frowned.
The Material Purchase Counter was established to help adventurers level up and increase their numbers, but if things turned out that way, it would defeat its purpose.
“That’s precisely why we need to encourage adventurers to actively hunt for materials, not just as a convenience during requests.”
“…What do you mean?”
“We need to inform them periodically about which materials are currently valuable or what price we’re buying them at, adjusting for the adventurers’ levels. Well, I’ll be instilling these principles in the subordinate I’m about to train.”
“Ah, I see. In that regard, it’s best to leave it to you, Lord Raoul.”
Tamara nodded, looking extremely impressed.
“Ordinarily, we would train those who stand at the counter in such matters, but we were in a rush with the initial setup. It’s about time we started that kind of education.”
“Indeed. I’ll leave it to you. Or rather, I’d like you to teach me as well.”
“Hahaha. Lady Tamara, you wouldn’t need to memorize every single item. I believe understanding what I’ve just explained should be sufficient.”
Raoul cautioned Tamara, who was showing enthusiasm.
And so, this was the current situation report from the Ayrica Kingdom.
From here, we will move forward step by step.
You may find it frustrating, but if we were to change things all at once, it would simply become a revolution.
