356 Establishing a Republic (2)
With the current amount of money that we could move, it was nowhere near the amount needed to even sustain operations for a month. In short, if we don't do something, then the kingdom's various facilities will end up having delays, needing to close temporarily, and other such shortstop measures.
"Right, the previous royal capital did get razed to the ground, I heard."
Max sighed, leaning toward the table as he placed his hands on his chin, brooding with a sharp gaze.
"Given that barely two months have passed since then, I guess we only have about 200 billion credits available? That's not really reassuring... What do you think, Milly?"
Max turned to Millinda Quartz, who was chosen as a representative too. Uncharacteristic of her, a frown was on her face.
"This is hard... Well, if the country really needs money, then all I can suggest is to borrow some from banks and other kingdoms."
As expected, that's the first suggestion that anyone with at least half a mind would give.
"Actually, it's not that we don't have a solution; however, it'll require your cooperation to achieve. Ember."
Having her name called, Ember stood up promptly, opening her [Spatial Storage] and taking out a few samples to show to everyone.
"This is...!"
The first to react was Millinda, staring at the items with sparkling eyes. After all, as someone with a merchant's heart, she's sensitive to the smell of profits.
"This is a weapon called a gun. It's something that was used as a mainstream weapon during ancient times, but its method of creation was lost along with the changing eras."
From what I learned through Fang and Fina, guns existed only in history books and haven't been seen for literally thousands of years. And such a weapon was now before everyone, looking like toys being thrown around the table without care.
"Thankfully, we found the crafting method for it and asked the dwarves to make some. However, due to the lack of materials, the production quantity is limited."
Of course, this part's plain BS. With Ember's ability, not only would creating one be easy, but she could even "transmute" the materials from one of her clones. Zero cost and zero labor. Still, raising it as a rare item would definitely crack up its price.
"That... I've seen that before!"
One of the representatives, the one from the north, commented with sparkling eyes.
"This is the weapon you used to kill demons two or more stages above you, right? President Will?"
Of course, everyone heard his words. Some couldn't believe it, hearing that a single gun managed to bridge the gap between levels, allowing me to kill demons way above my rank.
"You're Yatsuhisa of the Crescent Moon Clan, right? A subsidiary of the Seimei? Yes, I did use this weapon to slay demons more powerful than I."
*OOOOH!*
A wave of amazement hit everyone in the room, causing a heated discussion among their neighbors. At that moment, Millinda raised her hand, standing up from her seat with a wide smile.
"So, you want us to sell this to those who want it, right? Then allow me to handle everything! I promise you I'd get more than 120% of its marked price!"
"Dame Millinda, that's unfair! Our commerce team would want to take part in this too!"
"Me too!"
Voices started to rise one after another, causing another wild discussion and clamor. I simply smiled, waiting for their discussion to die down a little before clearing my throat and getting their attention.
"First, I plan to sell this locally, a test case of some sort. Then, we'll move on to selling them to other kingdoms. Those who are confident in selling things beyond our borders, raise your hand!"
Millinda and two more raised their hands, showing a fierce flame burning within their gazes. A weapon that can bridge a gap of two ranks. For sure, the demand would be astonishing! Now, if we limit the export volume, then that's a rare and premium product, enabling us to increase the price beyond the normal range.
"In short, we can spy on the other kingdom's situations without earning any suspicions!"
17:19
Millinda sighed in awe. Well, it might be some sort of avant-garde thinking here, but it was a common method used in my previous world. I feel a little awkward getting looks of admiration, even though I'm simply applying what is within my amateur knowledge.
"But wouldn't it be dangerous to sell such powerful weapons to other kingdoms? What would happen if they bare their fangs against us?"
"That, and what if they copied the weapon? Wouldn't we be losing a lot more than our possible profit?"
As expected, questions didn't stop. I patiently explained my plan, only telling them what the abstract was, and quickly gained their support.
Just to make sure, Ember did place a three-layer safety on the guns. The first layer is the one that enables her to jam the guns if pointed at a resident of our country. The second layer protects it from being dismantled and studied, and the third is something similar to a black box, recording the users who touched the gun, the number of times it was used, their targets, and so on.
The data gathered through this black box would be sent to Ember every 24 hours, allowing us to have a general overview of how the others are using the guns they bought.
"In short, we can spy on the other kingdom's situations without earning any suspicions!"
Millinda sighed in awe. Well, it might be some sort of avant-garde thinking here, but it was a common method used in my previous world. I feel a little awkward getting looks of admiration, even though I'm simply applying what is within my amateur knowledge.
After that, the discussion went on and on, but mostly on deciding the price of each weapon. Since the cost of creating it was all free, I decided to reference modern weapon prices and tag the rifles with a total of 100,000 credits each.
"That's too cheap!"
Or so Millinda countered. Right, as a rare product, the base price was a little too low, I guess. After a long debate, we ramped up the price of each gun to 5 million credits at the lowest. When selling locally, the price would be 50% of that, roughly 2.5 million credits.
After splitting the profits, Ember would be getting a total of 2 million for the material and crafting costs, the kingdom would gain 2.5 million, and the merchants would get 500,000 credits per unit.
After passing a small amount of 300 units of guns to each of the three who raised their hands, to be sold locally first, we would be expecting about 900 million credits within the day.
I nodded my head, satisfied. After all, bullets are sold separately. What? Underhanded? It's a proper technique to squeeze money from buyers! Just like that certain brand that sells expensive phones, where their innovations cause their users more grief!
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