Isekai Nonbiri Nouka

I needed to decide what items to bid on at the auction.

Since I couldn’t handle it alone, I asked the villagers for help.

The official auction is still a bit away, so they had some time to go.

-0-

Loo and Tier went and added a few more items to the candidate list.

Malbit and a few of the angels went next, and several more items were added.

Representatives from the Minotaurs of Village Two and the Centaurs of Village Three also went, but they said the items were so expensive that they couldn’t even feel the desire to want them.

Also, since there was the matter of the Jupiter, I had Bell from Village Four go as well.

Since sending Bell alone would be risky, a few of the civil servant girls accompanied her.

Did something happen with the Jupiter?

「No! It’s something even more serious!」

Something serious?

「The armaments from Sun Castle!」

…Sun Castle was the former name of Village Four.

If I remember it correctly…. those armaments were sold off by the previous owners?

「That’s right. And now, several of those armaments are up for auction!」

Oh!

That’s great news.

Then we should bid for them, right?

「Ah, well, what should we do? There’s no use for them… right?」

…Now that you mention it.

Yeah, at this point, there’s no plan to militarize Village Four.

Ah, though, maybe they could be useful for security?

「They’re a bit too dangerous to be called security tools… Honestly, with the number of dragons around, there’s no real concern about safety.」

I see.

Well then, maybe we should just bid on them as mementos for you and the others?

It’s not like we have to actually use them just because we win the bid.

「Yes, that would be best…Also, please make absolutely sure that Yoru doesn’t find out about this.」

Yoru… Bell’s subordinate, currently managing the teleportation gate in the hot springs area. She’s the one who loves weapons.

If she finds out, she’ll probably push to re-equip Village Four.

「That would be the least of our worries… The real concern is, now that there’s no more fuel issue for Sun Castle, she’ll start demanding to fire the weapons.」

Ah—yeah, she totally would.

「So please, keep this a secret from Yoru.」

We had this conversation in my office at my mansion in Big Tree Village, but somehow, it seems word got out.

Yoru came straight to me, clutching her reward medals, requesting a direct meeting.

……

Got it.

Once we win the bid, the armaments will be installed in Village Four.

Probably sometime in the fall, we’ll conduct a test firing.

And of course, Yoru will be in full command of the operation!

At my response, Yoru gave me the crispest, most perfect salute I’d ever seen.

-0-

Just to be safe, I investigated how exactly Yoru found out about the armaments.

After all, important discussions happen in my office.

If someone can eavesdrop, that’s a problem.

The result? One of the civil servant girls who had accompanied Bell turned out to be the source.

She didn’t say anything directly, though.

While at the auction site, that civil servant girl had been looking for Versa’s hobby books.

While reporting to Yoru about a book she’d found, she happened to mention that there was something strange and unidentifiable at the venue.

Normally, the conversation would’ve ended there.

But for some reason, Yoru got curious.

To the point of being disturbed.

So disturbed that she asked the Arachne Arako to take over gatekeeping duties at the hot springs, and made her way to the auction hall herself.

That’s apparently how it all went down.

I see.

On a side note, when Yoru reunited with the armaments of Sun Castle, she apparently acted disinterested and went to look at other items.

If she had cried or made a fuss right there, it would’ve been like advertising to the other bidders(buyers) that the items were valuable.

I could feel her silent determination to win the bid no matter what.

Yeah… that test firing is definitely happening.

Absolutely.

Still, I didn’t expect Yoru to be interested in Versa’s hobby books too…

I see.

-0-

This auction sure is different from the previous ones—there’s a lot more stuff coming out this time.

And a lot of high-priced items, too.

I figured there had to be a reason behind it… and yeah, there is.

The Demon King’s Kingdom.

Apparently, it all started after they made their victory declaration and publicly announced that there wouldn’t be any wars for a while.

See, most of the Demon King’s Kingdom’s nobles are heavily in debt to merchants and others.

It takes serious money to raise troops, procure weapons, and gather supplies.

If they could handle it on their own, great—but war is a bottomless pit of consumption.

Productivity? Not even a sliver of it.

Only a very select few can manage things independently—those who have real business sense.

The Four Heavenly Kings—Beezel, Glatts, Hou, and Randan—have managed to hold their own.

As expected of them.

But outside of those exceptions, things are rough.

Everyone else is drowning in debt.

They did have a plan to pay it off, though—technically.

Win the war.

Take reparations from the enemy to wipe out their debt.

That was the idea.

The lenders knew it was a shaky gamble, but they still lent the money anyway. Because if they didn’t fund the war and their side lost, they’d lose everything.

So they gambled.

Hoping victory would turn things around.

But then the Demon King’s Kingdom declared victory.

And when asked about the reparations, they basically threw the whole thing into the hands of the Six Dragon God Kingdom.

Now, keep in mind—this was a long, drawn-out war.

Any reparations demanded would naturally be astronomical, and there’s no way the other side would agree to pay.

But at the same time, the Demon King’s Kingdom couldn’t just ask for a lower amount either.

There’s no middle ground. No chance of negotiation.

It’s a complete stalemate.

If they demanded reparations in return, it would only spark another war.

That’s what the Demon King believed, so he gave up on the idea of reparations.

But the nobles and merchants who had been counting on that money couldn’t just let it go.

They pleaded with him to find a way to extract reparations from the enemy.

If nothing was done, noble houses would collapse, and the merchants who had lent them money would go down with them.

In that case, why not rebel?

Topple the Demon King who refuses to claim reparations!

…Such sentiments began to spread.

Of course, that couldn’t be ignored. As Demon King, he had to protect the nobles and merchants to some extent.

However, that didn’t mean the Demon King’s Kingdom could cover their debts or lend them money.

If the kingdom recklessly stepped in, the idea that the nation would always bail them out would take root.

If the debts had only been for war expenses, the Demon King’s Kingdom might have considered covering them. But there was no way the nobles’ debts were limited to that.

That’s why paying them off wasn’t an option.

Even lending money required some form of collateral.

As long as there was collateral, lending was possible.

Land or whatever else, if they could put it up, that would be enough.

But here came the issue of noble pride.

「That house is only surviving because they borrowed money from the kingdom」

「If you put your land up as collateral, you’re not even a noble anymore」

When they heard things like that, the nobles couldn’t bear it.

Some didn’t care, but the larger the noble house, the more they did.

They couldn’t help but care.

So they couldn’t openly borrow money.

Even if they borrowed it in secret, once discovered, it was over.

Grr… so a rebellion really is the only option?

Just as those thoughts were beginning to take shape, it seemed an invitation from the Demon King to an auction arrived.

-0-

「Even if the item is worthless, the Demon King’s Kingdom intends to place the winning bid」

The Demon King said this as he stroked the anenekos resting comfortably on his lap.

I see.

By winning the bids, the Demon King’s Kingdom isn’t technically lending money. And on the other side, the nobles can claim they raised funds through the auction.

That explains why the number of items up for auction has doubled.

But where did they even find things to put up for sale?

Wouldn’t anything valuable have already been taken as collateral for their debts?

「The larger the noble house, the more meaningless heirlooms they tend to hoard—things that are worthless in terms of money」

So that includes the Sun Castle weaponry and those Jupiter-related items.

「That’s why, in this auction, several items have been assigned unusually high minimum bid prices. Sorry about that」

No, it’s not a problem…

「Anyway, if there’s something you want to bid on and it’s being offered by a noble, we’ll secure it on our end. There’s no need for you to pay an inflated price」

Is that really okay?

「The money was going to come from the Demon King’s Kingdom in the first place」

For items offered by nobles, an agent of the Demon King’s Kingdom would enter the minimum bid.

After that, only interested buyers would bid against each other.

The Demon King’s Kingdom’s agent wouldn’t compete.

If no one else wanted the item, then the seller would simply receive the minimum bid amount they’d set.

Did they let the sellers decide those minimum prices?

「We didn’t give them that much freedom. We sent people capable of appraising the goods and had them set the prices. The evaluations were quite generous, though」

Huh.

Did the Goroun Company and the Dalfon Company hear about this?

「Of course, we’ve already laid the groundwork. Michael from Goroun and Ridley from Dalfon made bitter faces about it. But we plan to compensate them in some form」

Got it.

I’ll submit a list of items I want to bid on soon.

「Thank you」

Better than having a civil war break out.

Also, I’m still free to participate in the regular auctions, right?

「Of course」

-0-

Noble: 「It’s war! We need money! Lend it!」

Merchant: 「If we lose, our business is finished… Fine, I’ll offer this much!」

Noble: 「The war continues! We need more money!」

Merchant: 「If you lose, we won’t get back what we already lent. Here’s more!」

Noble: 「More, more money!」

Merchant: 「Double down!」

-0-

Demon King’s Kingdom: 「We’ve won! There won’t be any war for a while!」

Merchant: 「Since the war is over, we’d like our money back」

Noble: 「We’ve managed so far without paying anything back, right? So you can wait, can’t you?」

Merchant: 「We held off on collecting because the war was ongoing」

Noble: 「So what are you saying?」

Merchant: 「Now that the war is over, we’re demanding repayment. We can’t wait anymore」

Noble: 「Ggh…」

-0-

Demon King’s Kingdom: 「Isn’t an auction wonderful? (Use it to deal with your debts)」

Noble: 「W-Wonderful! (Much appreciated!)」

Merchant: 「This too! Please put this item up for auction too!」

Demon King’s Kingdom: 「Leave it to us」

-0-

Goroun Company: 「…(Our auction…)」

Dalfon Company: 「…(Our auction…)」

Demon King’s Kingdom: 「S-Sorry. We’re causing trouble. We’ll compensate you with some kind of rights or privileges」

-0-

Village Chief: 「There are a lot of high-priced items this time, huh」

Demon King’s Kingdom: 「We’re terribly sorry! Please forgive the inconvenience! We’ll purchase whatever you need and hand it over, so please be understanding」