The deal was concluded successfully.
This was the first time either of them had brought in such a large amount of merchandise at one time, so neither was sure if the price was fair or not.
So neither side could overcharge or bargain, and the negotiations were conducted in good faith.
Also, one side was a merchant guild, and the other was a group of elderly people from a fishing village near a port city. If they made dishonest deals and it was later discovered, the guild would have a lot to lose.
In this world, cheating elderly people who have worked diligently for many years was despised as a heinous act. If they did something like that, the credibility of the merchant guild would plummet.
Moreover, it was a case involving the currently rumored "Idiot Storage Girls Squad."
First of all, there was no need to worry about being deceived.
However, no matter how rare they might have been until just a moment ago, if so many were brought in at once, the prices would plummet. They were not very durable, so even if they were to seize all the wagons from the carriage makers and transport them to nearby towns and villages, there was no telling whether they would be able to sell them all before they go bad.
Therefore, even the old people understood that they had no choice but to appraise the prices low, considering the loss from unsold products. Even an idiot could understand that, since they had been dealing in seafood for decades.
Besides, the old folks weren't planning on making a ton of money out of this.
The sight of their brave team setting out into the open sea.
The joy of having successfully defeated an arch enemy.
They wanted the townspeople to see this, and together they would crush their nemesis and have a satisfying meal.
But that was all.
...Well, of course, that didn't mean they didn't want money.
Well, maybe it's fine in moderation.
Then, Crimson Vow and the old men left the commercial guild.
All that remained to be done was to say goodbye, and the Crimson Vow would go to the reserved inn, while the old men would return to the fishing village...
"Ladies, there's something I'd like you to hear..."
It seemed like the old men had some business with the Crimson Vow.
"The truth is… We want to form a ship for raiding the open seas… No, open sea raid fleet…"
"Without us... no, without Mile, the bottom of the ship would be breached. Besides, you guys would have trouble defeating the sea serpents, and you'd end up being wiped out.
Do you really think you could have survived this time without us on your own?" (Reina)
Reina's attitude was cold.
Also, up until now she had been speaking quite politely to older people, but now she had suddenly started speaking rudely.
…It was likely an attitude they were taking to stop the over-confident old folks from doing anything reckless.
"First, we need a magician who can use underwater exploration magic and barrier magic, and three or four people who can kill a sea serpent that comes over the side with one hit. We need that many troops for each fishing boat.
Or, to protect the bottom of the ship, we could prepare an ironclad ship or an ironclad warship...
And it has to be a completely iron hull, not just a wooden ship with thin iron plates attached to it..." (Mile)
Mile says that, but...
"A ship made of iron cannot float on water!" (Reina)
Reina dismissed it.
But…….
"You could line the bottom of a transport with as much iron as it could carry without it sinking. ...So, if we build a ship out of steel that weighs the same as the wooden hull and its cargo combined, it will float, right? And metal basins float on water, right?" (Mile)
"Ah……"
"I see..."
Reina and the other two looked shocked, as if scales had fallen from their eyes.
"Also, we could make the sides higher..." (Mile)
Mile tried to continue explaining, but...
"Don't go ahead and assume we'll form a fleet!" (Reina)
She was scolded by Reina.
"Do you think it'll be okay without us, that is, without Mile's barrier and detection magic?" (Mavis)
Mavis ignored Reina's words and asked Mile, but...
"If the hull is made of iron… If all you need to do is defeat the sea serpents that climb over the side of the ship, a high C-rank vanguard or a magician who is good at offensive magic should be able to do it. You won't go out too far into the open sea, you'll go in a little and do some longline fishing, then you'll have a fight with some sea serpents, and then return to base quickly without pushing yourselves too hard. That way, you might get some injuries, but you can have a healing magician waiting in the village... Of course, there is a risk of deaths and ships sinking..." (Mile)
"Fishermen are always faced with that kind of danger! And the only people who can board the ships that raid the open seas are old people who don't mind dying for them! If word gets out, old fishermen from all over the continent will flock to our village..."
Saying this, the old men burst out laughing.
But…….
"...So, who's going to prepare this iron ship?" (Reina)
"…………" (4x fishermen)
When Reina pointed it out, the old men groaned and went quiet.
"That’s right… If we had a steel ship, it wouldn't be a problem even without my detection magic and barriers. If the deck is high and fairly spacious and stable, there are hunters who can easily defeat a sea serpent of that size. ...But I've never seen a steel ship like the one I'm thinking of, even at the city's pier..." (Mile)
"I've never even heard of a ship made of iron!" (Mavis)
Reina and the old men nodded enthusiastically at MEEVISU's words.
"As expected, me too, an iron ship... is..." (Mile)
As she said that, Mile suddenly realized something.
What if she ordered a Nanomachines to manufacture it?
It's not like they're building a powered boat.
If all they were doing was building an iron hull, surely there wouldn't be any prohibitions.
Besides, if she asked the Scavengers through the Slow Walker, she might be able to make something like that... if given enough iron or iron ore...
With Mile's infinite item box, it's easy for her to transport a large amounts of iron ore from the deposits.
Actually, with Mile's level 7 authorization, it might be possible to smelt iron directly from ore.
And they didn't have to go back to the old continent, just find the home of the Scavenger on this continent...
The Slow Walker have probably already restored the communications systems, contacted the Living Ruins around the world, and dispatched repair teams (Scavenger).
If they could make contact with the Scavenger on this continent, they would naturally be under the command of Mile, the Administrator, so her request should be granted...
(...No. No no no no!! Even if we did go to such lengths to build steel ships, what about repairs after we're gone? What about replacing the ones that have been sunk? What about investigation teams from all over the continent that will flock to the scene to find out where the ships came from? It's just not right to just pop out some out-of-place artifact that the local people can't manufacture or maintain and then forget about it! In addition, many ships will sink and many people will die. If there hadn't been steel ships (or anything like that), so many people would not have died, and would have been able to spend their retirement years surrounded by their grandchildren and great-grandchildren...) (Mile's mind)
"...Rejected!" (Mile)
"Whaaaaat?!!" (4x fishermen)
Author's Note
Announcement of new publication! (^^)/
...
Thank you very much! (^^)/