Baron Arash's castle was surrounded by its own walls made of stone and alloy. In the middle of it was his castle, which was standing proudly. It was two stories high and had four domes on its four corners that had roofs made of red tiles. Its gray stone walls, which had yet to have scratches, indicated how new it was.
"Sir, this way." The guard with him, brought him back from his sightseeing and led him inside the castle.
Benimaru followed behind him and met with many things, like a walkway laid with carpet, various chandeliers to light up a giant room, some water canals on the corner to move away any water, and many other things that he could get for his own castle.
After a few twists and turns, he finally arrived inside a room on the top floor, where he saw many people beside a big oval table. He could recognize the ones on the sides, as they were some influential businessmen, and he also recognized the one on the far end, who was guarded by two men in armor.
He was none other than Arash, the ruler of Migotanie City. Arash, who was chatting with the gentleman beside him, noticed Benimaru's arrival and greeted him with a smile. "Welcome, mister Benimaru. Come have a seat quickly; we are about to start the discussion."
"I will, my lord." Benimaru slightly bowed at Arash, putting his right hand on his chest, and went to take an empty seat on the side.
Just as Benimaru took his seat, he noticed the person in front of him. 'He is also invited.'
The man Benimaru was talking about was Okarino. Identically, Okarino was also looking at Benimaru, but he was not as surprised as Benimaru. He expected Benimaru to be invited, given how popular he was becoming.
"Now that everyone is present, I would like to start the discussion I brought you all here for." Arash said it softly, but it was clear to everyone's ears.
Benimaru and others waited for Arash to start a dispute, being very curious. But one fellow couldn't help himself from asking. "Lord, what is this about anyway? If you wanted to buy something from us, you could have just sent your messenger."
'Thanks for asking, dum dum.' Benimaru was inches away from face palming himself. They were all curious about it, but they didn't ask because they knew Arash would explain it to them anyway.
Fortunately, Arash didn't mind his stupidity. He answered back with a chuckle. "I have not called you all here just to buy your stuff but to talk about something more important."
Everyone became surprised as they couldn't help but wonder what could be more important to discuss with them than selling their stuff.
Arash could see the doubt and curiosity on their faces. So he didn't let them wait anymore and explained thoroughly. "Recently, the scouts in the army have noticed strange activities on the north side of the forest. The general sent a squad to fully check it out, and they found a giant army, consisting of demons. They were gathering up all kinds of weapons and building war machines."
The room descended into pin-drop silence as they were dumbfounded by this sudden reveal. Then it exploded with various questions, assaulting Arash.
"Lord, will we be going to war?"
"Lord, I will immediately order my team to start mass producing as many weapons as possible."
"Lord, what should we do?"
"Lord….."
The veins on Arash's forehead started to twitch, annoyed by their continuous questions.
"Everyone, calm down." Arash spoke lightly, yet with a slight anger in his voice. All the businessmen in the room felt that and instantly went quiet.
"Now listen up. I have invited all the best alchemy and weapon shop owners here for you guys to mass produce as much as possible. I don't know what might happen, but I want to stay prepared. Also, I want you all to lower the prices of your items."
They were all happy to hear Arash wanted to buy their products, but their faces darkened upon hearing Arash order them to lower the prices. They could do anything but sell their products at a low price, as it was impossible!
However, there were only a few people who thought things critically, one of them being Benimaru.
'He wants to keep the influx of adventurers coming. In troubled times, they might not want to come here, but giving them missions and letting them have things at a cheap price would make adventurers think they are benefiting. But it is he who is benefiting the most. Having free labor to clean up the demons and using those demons to profit back. He is not bad.' Benimaru couldn't help but admire Arash's vision.
However, something caught his eye at that moment. He saw a maniacal grin on Okarino's face, which only flashed for a second, but it was enough to ring multiple bells inside Benimaru's heart. 'This guy… Looks like I have to keep a close eye on him.'
Arash sighed helplessly, seeing the grim faces of the businessmen. "I hope you guys follow my order. It is for the greater good of this city."
Everyone looked at each other, a bit hesitant, but eventually agreed with Arash as they had no choice.
Arash's face glowed brightly after hearing them agree with him. "Thank you, everyone. I wish for happy cooperation. But before that, let's have breakfast. I can't leave my guests with an empty stomach."
Afterwards, they started eating the dishes presented before them and chatted among themselves about other things, Arash also joined in with them from time to time.
Only Benimaru, Okarino, and a few others were silently eating and thinking to themselves.
Taking a bite of the bread filled with fillings made of various meats and vegetables, Benimaru pondered. 'It looks like I have to go full throttle with my production. It would have been very hard to mass produce if it had been at the time I came here, but fortunately, Ragnar conquered more Demon Knights and their forces, increasing the manpower under me. Now, I have more workers in the blacksmithing department.'
Thinking to this point, Benimaru's eyes started to glow, imagining all the wealth he could pocket in. 'Also, I can use this opportunity to strike the church.'
"Mr. Benimaru. Mr. Benimaru."
'Heh..I am getting some great ideas..'
"Mr. Benimaru. Mr. Benimaru. Mr. Benimaru!"
"Huh?" Suddenly, Benimaru woke up from his daydream from the sudden shout and looked for the source of it. He saw everyone staring at him with weird gazes, but he ignored them and found the source of it which was none other than Arash.
Benimaru quickly stood up and bowed to him, humbly apologizing. "I am sorry, My Lord. I was busy thinking of something else."
"It's okay." Arash waved his hands, not thinking too much about it. "But, I am curious about what you were thinking that was so engrossing to you?"
Benimaru's mind started moving at rapid speed, trying to think of a way to lie. All of a sudden, something popped up in his head, letting him grin secretly. But he didn't show that outside but asked curiously. "Lord, I was wondering if the church would join to help the city?"
"This…" Arash was stumped at first, and then he became a bit dispirited. "I do not know. But if the demons attacked the city, it would also bring disaster to their church, so they had to help us. However, as far as I know, the church doesn't meddle unless it is truly fetal for them."
"I see." Benimaru went silent afterwards, not asking anything further as he might bring suspicion toward them. "By the way, Lord. Why did you call me?"
"Oh, I would have almost forgotten if you didn't ask me." Arash came out of his dispirited state and began to remember why he called Benimaru in the first place. "I was curious about the weapons you sell. I have never seen this much growth from a new shop. Only Mr. Okarino was able to match your growth."
Everyone gave a short glance at Okarino, who was silently listening to them as if these praises meant nothing to him.
"I was just lucky. None here were able to compete with my items; if they were than I could have stood no chance." Benimaru said it humbly, but everyone could sense the sheer arrogance in them, which tickled many's egos here.
And this was what Benimaru wanted—to incite hatred and jealousy in them. Benimaru doesn't like to be high profile, but he did here because he wanted to weed out the rotten eggs that had been troubling him these past few days. Every time his team would go to bring back the supply, they would meet with multiple stalkers, which caused Benimaru headaches.
So, by doing this, he would force the worst-intentioned people out.
Benimaru smirked in his heart, glancing at everyone. 'I hope some of you took the bait.'
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