“The domestic situation in the Forest Kingdom of Levresta appears to have stabilized for the most part. From this point forward, we plan to increase trade volume while gathering information on magic-fantasy-related technology.”
“We’re sending caravans, right?”
“Yes, Commander Ma’am. We are having them make regular round trips.”
In the usual command room, Eve was receiving a status report from <Ringo>.
And today, there was one more person present.
More precisely, one more body.
<Fragaria Zero>, the Strategic AI in charge of East {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} Gate City, was participating in the report meeting.
Although it was remote operation, she stood before Eve using a doll-machine communicator.
“The caravan consists of one Little Whale fusion-reactor-equipped power vehicle, two multi-wheeled transport vehicles, four multi-legged tanks, and one multi-legged ground carrier platform <Planner>. In addition, there are eight doll-machine communicators. This time, we are carrying Stirling engines and steam engines designed with burnstone use in mind.”
“Thank you for the report, Fragaria Zero. So you’re handing over heat engines. How’s the response?”
“Favorable.”
They had extracted information from the Kingdom of Lepuitari, estimated the technological level of the southern region of the northern continent, and gone out of their way to manufacture monkey-model heat engines that could be reproduced at that level.
In broad terms, they were Olive’s toys.
And they had sold those to the Forest Kingdom of Levresta in the form of technology provision.
“Most rotary power comes from wind or water. The Kingdom of Lepuitari has a monopoly on steam-engine know-how. It appears they were also careful about preventing technology leaks, so the Forest Kingdom of Levresta had not yet managed to reproduce it even at the laboratory level. That said, their metallurgical technology appears to be reasonably capable, so I believe reproducing Stirling engines may be possible.”
“I see,” Eve said, nodding at <Fragaria Zero>’s answer.
“In that case, some kind of breakthrough might happen. If I remember right, what they used for power was a box that generated a mysterious wind, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, Big Sister. It seems there had been almost no progress for many years, but if engines become practical, a major change is expected to occur. Asahi said that with the advancement of science and technology, magic technology may become obsolete, potentially inducing technology leakage. This is part of that plan.”
“...That’s a pretty brutal thing to think up...”
That said.
In practice, as far as observation showed, the Forest Kingdom of Levresta took the form of a state where the ruling class held extremely strong authority.
Furthermore, it had also become clear that they were apparently a long-lived race.
Because of that, the Council of Elders Le-Elfia, their political core, had an extremely high ability to maintain control, and the effectiveness of political and economic invasion was expected to be limited.
If they were a nation dominated by capitalism, public opinion could likely have been guided through economic pressure.
But with the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, that did not seem likely to work to that extent.
“Asahi said it should be fine to think of it as a lucky hit if it works.”
“Well, that’s about right. Sounds fine to me.”
In the first place, even when trying to expand trade, the goods that seemed likely to have the highest demand and be consumed steadily had been rejected almost across the board.
At that point, the plan to seize control of daily necessities had failed. It was a sign that the Forest Kingdom of Levresta was extremely wary.
“We are able to conduct stable trade in <Big Moth> materials. We have also successfully traded for magical tools and other items beyond that. Collection of magic technology is proceeding smoothly.”
And many kinds of devices not based on science and technology—those called magical tools—had also been imported.
Originally, most of the magical tools in the United Kingdom of Aphrasia had been produced in the Forest Kingdom of Levresta.
Most of them were common goods within the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, and they were active exports as well, so they could be made exchange goods without any particular negotiations arising.
The magical tools from the United Kingdom of Aphrasia that they had obtained at first were quite simple in structure. Compared with those, the products from the Forest Kingdom of Levresta seemed to be constructed with what could fairly be called precision.
“We have multiple magical tools with the same function, but their dimensions differ from one individual unit to the next. We infer that even among goods in general circulation, most are manufactured by hand.”
“I see. So it still isn’t the age of mass production.”
“Magic technology is worthy of astonishment, but it does not surpass the science and technology we possess. No, some parts may surpass it, but... at least judging from their response to the monster <Death March>, the Forest Kingdom of Levresta cannot be said to pose an especially high threat.”
And that was <Fragaria Zero>’s assessment.
In other words, with <The Tree> now acquiring vast quantities of resources, even the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, which likely possessed considerable national power, could be countered sufficiently.
They were still terribly lacking when it came to clashing with a force on the same level as themselves, but at least against the nations they had currently confirmed, they could crush them without issue.
That was the idea.
Of course, there were no plans for that for the time being.
Now that they had acquired the vast territories of the United Kingdom of Aphrasia and the Prava Divine Kingdom, there were no factors that would obstruct their expansion of power for years to come.
There was still plenty of land to develop.
“The domestic situation in the Forest Kingdom of Levresta also appears to be quite calm. They seem to have suppressed the <Death March>, and we have confirmed the return of evacuees and the resumption of economic activity.”
“Now that they have an export partner here too, I imagine they’re fired up.”
To the Forest Kingdom of Levresta, <Paraiso> was a neighbor they needed to be wary of, but at the same time, it was also a benefactor that had extended a helping hand, as well as an excellent business partner capable of continuing equal trade.
They should want to maintain the relationship over the long term while remaining cautious.
“We have also provided samples of shaped burnstone. We have informed them that we can prepare large quantities formed into whatever shape they desire.”
“Ah. They seem to want burnstone, though not as much as the Kingdom of Lepuitari does. I wonder how large the reserves are...”
“It has been reported as unknown, but is someone investigating?”
“Mm-hm, Asahi is. Apparently our sensors can’t detect it. She can just barely distinguish something like it with acoustic sensors, but she can’t get accurate data. For now, we’re measuring output at the mining sites, so we can make predictions based on that.”
Burnstone was an important trade good for the Forest Kingdom of Levresta. They were currently trading all sorts of goods, but among them, it was the most valuable.
At the moment, they were trading it in the form of mined natural ore, but from this point forward, they planned to shift toward processed goods of fixed size.
Naturally, those were priced higher than natural pieces, but the Forest Kingdom of Levresta’s response was quite good.
“If trade in shaped goods gets on track, circulation of the gram currency may become possible as well.”
“Oh... Come to think of it, we did make that paper money...”
What <Fragaria Zero> was referring to was the paper currency issued by <Paraiso>, mainly used in transactions with the western nations, including the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
The gram currency.
It was a currency that guaranteed an exchange rate of one one-gram bill for one gram of burnstone.
Incidentally, because burnstone became higher-performance the greater its mass was, one gram and one hundred grams differed in value by more than a thousandfold.
Of course, if one gathered one hundred one-gram bills, exchange for a one-hundred-gram lump of burnstone was possible.
By guaranteeing that kind of exchange, gram bills possessed value.
It was expected that this value would also fluctuate depending on circumstances, so it would likely become a fairly acrobatic currency.
The fact that the only force able to guarantee exchange was <Paraiso> would also make it a currency that worked very much to <The Tree>’s advantage.
Incidentally, in the Kingdom of Lepuitari, payments from <Paraiso> were handled exclusively with gram bills, and they were gradually spreading.
Moreover, Duke Silverhead, who was effectively at the top of the state, had authorized them, so there was no concern that they would be regulated in the future.
