I Became A Black Merchant In Another World

Long-distance travel in the medieval times, with no TV or smartphones, is a battle against boredom, to say the least.

However, I had no time to feel bored right now.

It wasn’t because of some kind of accident.

“Chloe, the Young Lord is going to Guillaume City to buy materials needed for making textiles. But why go all the way to Guillaume City?”

Chloe hesitated for a moment, then cautiously replied.

“There are many territories in the Lion Kingdom specialized in wool and cotton production, like the Count of Flanders and the Baron of Amore. So, they can procure high-quality raw materials.”

“But considering transportation costs, wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy domestically?”

“The Young Lord is planning to smuggle. This means that the fewer people in the Toscan Empire who know about it, the better. Even if the raw material prices are a bit higher, I think it’s correct to buy them in Guillaume City.”

In our Toscan Empire, the quality of wool and cotton is pretty decent.

Though the terrain is quite mountainous, making it difficult to graze thousands of sheep at once, so our annual production is a bit lower.

And in the long run, the fact that I am running a textile factory will eventually leak out.

When it seems like I’m about to be found out, I should also purchase a reasonable amount of domestic wool and cotton to process into textiles for sale.

Of course, only to match the conventional production rate of this world.

If I start producing textiles endlessly, Duke and His Majesty would ask me to share the technology, and that would lead to an industrial revolution.

In short, I wouldn’t be able to monopolize it all.

I won’t be able to enjoy it all to myself; ain’t that something?

Chris lightly tapped Chloe on the shoulder and praised her.

“You’ve been studying hard, haven’t you?”

“I want to be of help to the Young Lord, so I’ve been studying diligently. If I can become like Chris…”

Chloe ended that sentence with her face turning as red as an apple.

Chris, seeing this, chuckled.

“Though I’ve never been in love, our Young Lord is quite popular with women. Even the maids in the mansion are after him, and I’ve heard the other noble daughters are too…”

“But still…”

“Maybe you should gather some courage. Ah, there’s the Young Lord.”

Chloe, blushing deep, immediately lowered her head.

“Chris, thanks for teaching Chloe various things, but don’t tease her too much.”

“She’s just too cute.”

For a moment, I almost accepted that reasoning.

After all, Chloe is incredibly cute.

Then Chris leaned in and whispered softly in my ear.

“You know that girl loves the Young Lord, right? Why not give her an even bigger reward?”

Just looking at Chloe makes me smile unconsciously.

But then there are times when she’s working and suddenly turns red just from looking at me or tries her best to look pretty in front of me.

Seeing that, it’s as if I haven’t eaten those feelings at all; I find it hard not to notice.

“If the Young Lord and Chloe end up together, I think it would be wonderful.”

She added,

“Then…”

But I couldn’t hear those words.

A loud bell chimed from the ship, heralding our arrival.

“We’re almost at Guillaume City! Get the unloading ready! Let’s show our skills to Young Lord Fabio!”

What skills are we showing in a non-battle situation?

These folks are fussing like crazy.

I pushed aside what Chris was about to say and readied to disembark.

Sure, it would be nice to have a moment’s rest, but I felt there would be quite a few people who would greet me.

Shortly after I disembarked in Guillaume City, Captain Charles of the guard welcomed us very respectfully.

“Greetings, Young Lord Fabio!”

Geez, I just earned my title of knight.

There’s no need for you, a foreign captain, to be so humble towards me.

“Just call me casually.”

“The Mayor ordered that Young Lord Fabio be treated as the city’s highest guest. Thanks to you, our Guillaume City is developing at an amazing rate.”

A city must naturally develop in a traffic hub where many people come and go.

On the Albania Continent, if nobles are obsessed with importing goods, even a desert gets developed into a city.

Since we have become the only port capable of monopolizing seaweed for over three years, the city must have developed significantly.

The land prices must have risen at a speed that puts Gangnam apartment prices to shame.

“Besides that, I’ve benefited from the Young Lord too. Look at my badge.”

Captain Charles had one dung sticker instead of three diamonds on his badge.

He advanced just one rank in a couple of months?

“You’ve been promoted?”

“Thanks to Young Lord Fabio cleaning out that incompetent HR Head and his faction, several higher positions opened up, and I was lucky to advance! I’m only 32 years old and already a major! I might even get promoted to lieutenant colonel before I’m 40!”

In our continent, even the highest noble rank is equivalent to the privileges awarded by military or civil service ranks.

Once you achieve a certain rank, you’re guaranteed a noble title.

For example, if a commoner spends a fortune to be promoted to an officer and earns fame, they will certainly be granted a baron title upon retirement.

That’s when the pleasant noble life starts for their children.

So, I guess he is happy that his promotions are speeding up like crazy.

“Also, our city decided not to impose the same tariffs on the goods you bring as other merchants. Seaweed will be completely tax-free, and for the other products, we’ll only charge about half of what we charge other merchants. This law just passed in the city council. And if you’re not too tired, how about visiting the Mayor first?”

They abolished the tariffs on seaweed and granted different tariffs to the other goods, so even if I’m exhausted, I must express my gratitude first.

“Of course, we should go. If you could wait a moment, I’ll leave the remaining tasks to my secretary and come back.”

“Thank you, Young Lord.”

I informed Christina of the unloading policy and where I would be and headed straight to the city hall.

I had a feeling the negotiations would go smoothly.

As I entered the city hall, Mayor Guillaume welcomed me as if he were going to hug me.

“Thanks to you, Guillaume City has achieved tremendous development. Merchants from all over the country are begging me to sell seaweed! Hahaha!”

Here, the mayor holds practical influence equivalent to that of a baron, and the merchants hold power strong enough to intimidate even barons.

There’s no way those rich merchants would act so humbly in front of the mayor.

‘Such a bit of hubris, eh?’

Remarks like that suggest that commerce is thriving, so there’s no downside for me.

“The commerce is booming, and now we have plans to set up not just five, no, seven commercial districts here.”

Seven commercial districts? That means there will be seven mayors in this city!

While it’s true that ginseng once accounted for 10% of the national tax revenue in Korea, and in France, sugar sales accounted for 30% of national revenue…

I can’t believe seaweed would take a similar position.

All of this was possible because I held the exclusive rights to produce seaweed, right?

It’s truly best to monopolize everything.

“Next year’s tax revenue is expected to double. With everyone migrating here, I’ve been too busy to even leave work on time.”

Government workers hate overtime more than French people hate British cuisine.

Yet that guy is chuckling as if he enjoys the overtime work.

“Well, it’s the city that developed during my time. Even Duke Guillaume plans to recognize my merits and grant me the title of baron within two years. Now, being the mayor of this Guillaume City requires a noble title of at least a baron or higher.”

Most mayors are elected from among the nobles with knight titles.

In our country, a city mayor in a metropolitan area is elected from among barons, whereas mayors of significant cities are drawn from viscounts.

Therefore, Guillaume City is now quite an important city even in the Lion Kingdom.

If a mayor has achieved this…

“I have about ten more years until I can work in public office, and I might end up as the head of a department like the Commercial Affairs Ministry. If I’m lucky, I might even get a foot in the noble ranks too. This is all thanks to you.”

“It’s an honor, Mayor.”

“By the way, what brings you here this time?”

I answered right away.

“I’ve come to offer you an even better opportunity.”

I spoke like a merchant promoting a product, but the mayor’s eyes sparkled like I was turning sand into rice.

Everything is going according to plan.

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