Trade volume between the United Kingdom of Aphrasia and the Forest Kingdom of Levresta was increasing by the day.
At first, trade had been conducted in East Gate City, but once it became clear that continuous, large-scale exchange of goods was possible, merchants from the Forest Kingdom of Levresta began flocking toward the small town one after another.
And East Gate City did not have the capacity to handle them all.
Of course, if <The Tree> stepped in to reinforce it, the problem could be solved any number of ways.
However, the I-class Strategic AI <Fragaria Zero>, who was in charge of East Gate City, had adopted a policy of prioritizing employment for local residents, and <The Tree> was taking care not to intervene directly.
That said, this did not mean everything was being handled by hand exactly as before.
Heavy machinery was used as needed, and tools were being provided as well.
They were merely restraining the rapid transformation that would come from super-science.
Incidentally, the heavy machinery was being leased out at almost market price, on the grounds that the adventurers of Northend City could perform similar work.
Under those circumstances, East Gate City was continuing to expand, but it was still nowhere near enough. Even when large numbers of foreign merchants arrived, there were situations where they had trouble finding a bed for the night.
Thus, forced to respond to that problem, the Forest Kingdom of Levresta built a new post town—or perhaps a checkpoint—within its own territory near the border.
The town’s name was Luwana.
It was a major logistics hub where vast quantities of <Paraiso>-made supplies were brought in, and where all manner of goods from within the Forest Kingdom of Levresta gathered.
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“Keep going, keep going... Yes! Stop! Good!”
At the loading yard, a guide was loudly directing a multi-wheeled transport vehicle.
The multi-wheeled transport vehicle was a large cargo vehicle leased from the United Kingdom of Aphrasia—or rather, from <Paraiso>.
The one driving it was personnel from the Forest Kingdom of Levresta.
Goods were loaded at East Gate City and unloaded at Luwana.
Then another load would be taken on at Luwana and carried into East Gate City.
Horse-drawn wagons had poor transport efficiency, so <Paraiso> had offered to provide the vehicles, and the Forest Kingdom of Levresta had reluctantly accepted.
From the Forest Kingdom of Levresta’s perspective, they likely wanted to avoid the influx of cargo vehicles and automated machines that were clearly more advanced than anything in their own country.
It could very well devastate their domestic industries. Naturally, they were cautious.
For the time being, operation was permitted only between East Gate City and Luwana.
Naturally, the merchants were unhappy about that. The vehicles could travel several times faster than horse-drawn wagons and carry dozens of times more cargo at once. Even if there was a usage fee, compared to the cost of maintaining horses and wagons... or so their thinking seemed to go.
For that reason, transport from Luwana to the rest of the Forest Kingdom of Levresta was being handled by horse-drawn wagons and water transport. Those routes were currently being improved at a feverish pace, and people were saying everywhere that travel had become much easier.
“I heard the badgers were getting excited, but really, they’ve sent us something outrageous.”
In particular, there were all sorts of parts related to the undercarriage, which directly affected transport efficiency.
Because they had already been relying on imports from the Rock Country of Dradia for these parts, the Forest Kingdom of Levresta accepted them relatively smoothly.
And their performance was considerably higher than the previous goods.
“The badgers are skilled too, but apparently they can’t believe every single piece has exactly the same shape.”
“Even we struggle to produce large quantities of the same thing. I can understand why the Council of Elders Le-Elfia would get involved personally.”
Discussions like that were held every day in the newly established Luwana Council.
They had to examine the goods that <Paraiso> was bringing in one after another and decide whether to permit their import.
In particular, metal parts that were beginning to play a major role in domestic logistics had to be handled with caution.
Depending on how things went, they could become strategic materials that allowed the country’s domestic industries to be held hostage.
“If we introduce them in large quantities, we must limit ourselves to things that have alternatives in the event trade volume is restricted, [N O V E L I G H T] then.”
“In practice, can the badgers really make them? This is the opposite side of the country from us. The information lag is unbearable.”
The badgers—the Drada, the main constituent race of the Rock Country of Dradia—were a people who traditionally lived underground in mountainous regions.
They had bodies specialized for life in underground roads dug through stone: short in stature, with extremely tough muscles covering their entire bodies. They were a stocky, thickset race.
And precisely because of that ecology, their skill at mining and using the minerals they extracted was extremely high.
For the people of Levresta, who were poor at handling metal products in general, they were an indispensable partner.
However, there was also the problem that clashes arising from personality differences occurred fairly often between the Drada, a race with a strong fixation on handicraft and little interest in life in general outside of that, and the people of Levresta, many of whom valued appearance and carried themselves with pride.
That said, both were long-lived races, and because each side understood that, however irritating the other might be, they were indispensable trading partners, their relationship had continued for ages despite all the friction.
For the Rock Country of Dradia as well, its relationship with the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, which supplied large quantities of food and <Magic Stones> that served as power sources for magical tools, was important.
“For now, a few items made with those technologies have made their way to us. They say they can produce something with similar precision, given time. But the price is high, and apparently producing large quantities in exactly the same shape is still difficult.”
“I asked the <Paraiso> people about various things too. They said it becomes cheaper precisely because they make large quantities of the same item. If they only make a single one-off piece, the individual price becomes much higher.”
“I heard that as well. If we only need one of something, it would be cheaper to ask the badgers.”
Producing large quantities of the same item.
It would be ideal if the Rock Country of Dradia could somehow master that technology, but even the Forest Kingdom of Levresta itself had not really achieved it.
They had only just reached the point where looms were starting to operate stably.
And cloth, too, had begun to be supplied in large quantities by <Paraiso>.
“I heard the central looms have improved considerably thanks to <Paraiso> parts...”
“I also heard they finally decided they had no choice and proposed joint development with the Rock Country of Dradia.”
Once domestic looms in the Forest Kingdom of Levresta showed prospects of stable operation, at least imports of thread and cloth would likely be able to increase in volume.
Fortunately, <Paraiso>-made cloth was—probably out of goodwill on the girls’ part—being traded at quite high prices, and the quantity in circulation was being strictly controlled.
For the time being, it would be used domestically as a luxury good.
And domestically woven cloth could increase its circulation as everyday-use fabric.
Of course, that expectation also depended on the looms functioning properly.
“Samples of glass products and ceramics have arrived as well. These too... the quantity they proposed is on a completely different scale...”
“That’s the same as our country’s annual consumption. Impossible. Completely impossible.”
The logistics specialists continued their meeting, arguing this way and that.
In the end, they settled on importing not finished glass and ceramic goods, but raw materials instead. If they used clean raw materials without impurities, they would be able to produce beautiful items free of admixture.
In the worst case, even if imports were interrupted, they would simply have to use the conventional materials produced domestically.
The appearance would likely suffer, but they would not become unusable.
“The only saving grace is that our country is able to export goods as well...”
“That’s because we can give priority to sending over materials from the Soul Butterfly monster. With the sheer quantity involved, we were starting to have a surplus. That helps, and we can probably produce large amounts for the next several years, but...”
“Once that territorial dispute settles down, it goes right back to being a rare material...”
The Soul Butterfly monster, which was currently the Forest Kingdom of Levresta’s main export to <Paraiso>, was appearing in vast numbers due to the aftereffects of what was believed to be some kind of territorial dispute between powerful monsters deep within the <Demon Forest>.
Once that territorial dispute settled, its appearance frequency would naturally decline as well.
In other words, if they did not start looking now for an export to replace it, domestic distribution might turn into a screaming hell a few years down the line.
“This is another headache...”
“For the time being, all we can do is put out high-added-value magical tools or craft goods...”
At this point, perhaps it would be better to simply ask the girls of <Paraiso> for help.
The Luwana Council had descended into such confusion that even an idiotic opinion like that could come up.
