I Became A Black Merchant In Another World

It’s important to develop the New World, but it’s also crucial to manage the procurement office well.

If the procurement office runs smoothly, the Toscani Empire can win the war against the Holy Empire, and our family will make tremendous profits.

‘A business that determines the fate of the family, no, the future of the nation.’

“Sebastian.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“How much have we raised from the war bonds and donations in the Toscani Empire?”

“9,503,152 gold coins. It’s indeed an enormous amount, but compared to what we earned from the investment scam in the Kingdom of Lyon, it’s still lacking.”

“That was a truly incredible sum.”

The Emperor and Duke Visconti will never know, but I pulled the foundation, no, the very pillar out from under the Kingdom of Lyon with a Ponzi scheme.

The King of Lyon tried with all his might to save his country, or rather, to prevent the nation from facing an uncontrollable ‘Revolution.’

But at best, his efforts served to delay the wrath of the war’s madness from turning against him and his kingdom...

‘It’s not my problem.’

Dynasties change like this, and when the Lyon dynasty collapses, and a new one rises, as long as I avoid getting caught in another ‘investment scam,’ it’ll be fine.

In truth, I may just be an honest person who charged a bit too high a tuition fee.

“Thinking about it again, it’s exhilarating. 14 million gold coins. I could buy a small country with that.”

“It’s a pity there’s no king willing to sell their country.”

“Well, I could buy the New World with that. The gold and silver buried there would easily be worth 14 million gold coins, wouldn’t it?”

This is something I vaguely learned while studying: during the time when Spain was simultaneously ruling the Holy Roman Empire and Spain/Portugal, the gold and silver brought from the New World surpassed the total gold and silver in Europe by over ten times.

At first, the abundance of gold was good, but then inflation hit, and Spain’s financial deficit caused the country to go down the path of ruin.

I hope the New World here has gold and silver in such abundance.

“Enough small talk, Sebastian. There’s something I need to ask you that I can only ask of you.”

“Please, speak, my lord.”

“When the Toscani Empire goes to war, I want you to personally oversee all the supplies for the war.”

Upon hearing this, Sebastian’s eyes widened.

He looked around, seemingly in shock.

“You’re not talking about someone else, but about me?”

“I’ll be going to the New World. While the people of the Toscani Empire are consumed by war, I must go as quickly as possible.”

“I’m guessing you’re worried that if you secretly take money, it’ll leave traces because of the scale of it... Am I right?”

“You guessed correctly, Sebastian. Right now, everyone’s obsessed with war, so no one will be chasing after me if I go out and expand markets. But under normal circumstances, if I were to go out, they would follow me like moths to a flame, wouldn’t they?”

When I was running my Ponzi scheme, there were even people trying to follow me all the way to the New World.

Of course, they were taken advantage of by Orsini and ended up facing unfortunate consequences...

That incident almost exposed my scam and revealed the existence of the New World.

Such risks nearly arose even in the Kingdom of Lyon, and there’s no guarantee a similar event won’t occur in the Toscani Empire.

It’s best to handle things while I can avoid people’s gaze.

“From now on, Rothschild Company will act as the procurement office and will have the authority to manage all supplies for this war. When it comes to procuring weapons, we’ll allow only those who offer the lowest price, by making competing factories bid for the supply.”

“We’ll assign the work to those offering the lowest price, but we must thoroughly inspect companies that offer unreasonably low prices. If there’s evidence of fraud...”

“Of course, we must deal with them harshly.”

Military corruption leads directly to killing our own.

If we contract with companies that supply spoiled food, food poisoning could spread and wipe out entire squads.

If the guns are defective, a soldier could die when the barrel explodes just as he’s about to fire the first shot.

If the spears aren’t made properly, they’ll just leave shallow scratches on the enemy and break when used.

“The companies supplying the goods will have accountants and staff from our company inspect them regularly. There will definitely be some rotten individuals trying to deceive me.”

Humans have a spirit of challenge.

Thanks to that spirit, humanity has made progress, but there are sometimes people who misjudge reality and make foolish challenges.

Some people start a restaurant thinking it will surely succeed, only to lose 3 million per month in losses, wiping out their retirement funds and ending up living off their children’s earnings.

Others recklessly destroy their family’s fortune and then expect to lord over their children while living off them.

Likewise, there will definitely be people trying to deceive me.

As a wise person once said, among five people, one will always be trash.

“In addition, for those who win bids at auctions, we’ll offer some of the secrets from the Rothschild factories, and those who deal honestly will receive various benefits.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“The rest will be entirely up to you, Sebastian.”

I trust Sebastian will handle everything else with his usual skill.

“By the way, Sebastian, you don’t seem too worried.”

Sebastian smiled slyly.

“You told me I could handle this, so what’s there to worry about? My lord, you’ve given me tough tasks before, but you’ve never asked the impossible.”

“No, I think I’ve given you some pretty difficult tasks.”

“Every one of them has been doable. This will go smoothly as well.”

“And beyond that, while I’m in the New World, you’ll need to help with supplies and financial support. Erika, Chris, Teresa, Chloe... oh, Chloe is only concerned with managing the mansion, so leave her out. Even if those three help, the only person I can truly rely on is you.”

“Are you sure this burden on me isn’t too heavy?”

“You said you could do it.”

Sebastian smiled at me again.

“Then, when you return from the New World, you must keep your promise.”

“I’ll give you a barony, whether it’s in the Holy Empire or the New World.”

“That’s a promise, my lord.”

For some reason, Sebastian was acting unusually age-appropriate today.

It was as though he were an old man, anxious about tomorrow despite being healthy today, like seniors who fear their health might deteriorate the next day.

Thinking about it, Sebastian was already getting quite old.

“When this is over, you can retire and rest if you want.”

“No, I don’t want that. I’m still healthy, but I don’t want to sit around in a corner and waste time on a young concubine’s chest.”

It may sound childish, but for some reason, I feel like this is something I need to do.

“Sebastian, I promise.”

“Does it need to be said?”

I spoke, and with that, I hooked my pinky and made the promise with Sebastian.

“I’ll leave the procurement office to you.”

As soon as Fabio left, Sebastian felt a cough rise in his throat.

He covered his mouth and coughed, and his palm was left with phlegm tinged with a bit of blood.

“... I only want to live another 20 years.”

Since he was already beyond middle age and nearing old age, living another 20 years was unreasonable.

But still, Sebastian wanted to live longer.

“I want to see Leo become an adult, and I also want to see the young lord who will succeed my lord become an adult.”

In truth, Sebastian didn’t consider success to be of much value anymore.

His family’s rank had already risen to a baronet, and their family vault was full of tremendous wealth.

His sons were earning huge salaries as key vassals of the Rothschild family...

‘I’ve accomplished everything I need to.’

Thus, the most important thing to him now was Fabio.

The young lord he had watched grow up, who had now become a true noble, even a dragon leading the Empire.

Watching how far he would soar had become his greatest joy.

“People who say that when they grow old, their only pleasure is living in the countryside with a young concubine have empty heads. How wasteful is it for someone to live without doing anything?”

Sebastian took the medicine given to him by his personal doctor.

“Did the doctor say I don’t have much time left? Ridiculous.”

It wasn’t really a ridiculous thing, but he decided to laugh it off.

And he swore, with his own will, to hold on until the very end.

“I’ll protect this family until my lord returns. He trusted me with it.”