Overgeared

Chapter 221

Rabbit was from a rural part of the country, but his genius and talent caused him to rise to the top of the Mero Company. In the past, he was the first to recognize that the level 21 Grid had a huge talent and suggested a partnership.

“This commoner, Rabbit, greets the great hero, Duke Grid.”

Rabbit hadn’t changed since the first day they met. He wore thin-rimmed glasses and gave off the impression of a cultured gentleman. There were no signs of greed in his eyes, but he looked more like a saint than a merchant.

But what was the truth? Unlike his appearance, Rabbit was as greedy as Grid. That’s how he was able to succeed as a merchant.

‘A true charlatan gives a sense of confidence to the other person.’

Grid grinned with satisfaction and greeted Rabbit. “You must’ve had a hard time. Isn’t it nice to see people after being stuck in prison for a long time?”

“Thanks to the people of Winston treating me as a hero, Marquis Steim gave me many conveniences.”

“That’s good. I’m relieved to see that you’re healthy. It’s nice to meet you again.”

“…”

Rabbit’s insight detected the changes in Grid. His gestures, expressions, speech, etc. From head to toe, everything about the current Grid was completely different from the Grid of the past. It wasn’t a simple change, so Rabbit felt a thrill.

“I underestimated you.”

The future that Rabbit saw for Grid was the best blacksmith and the richest person. But the current Grid was…

“You are pursuing the path of rising to the top, where everyone will look up at you.”

It was heartfelt appreciation. The Grid from a while ago would’ve overreacted. But now Grid combined reality and humility.

“It’s a challenge. I’m lacking a lot, so I need your help. Will you serve me?”

Rabbit bowed. Then he answered formally, showing his loyalty with honest words.

“Duke Grid, I don’t doubt that you are the one who will make me the richest man on the continent. So I’m willing to follow you.”

Grid also responded honestly. “Not the richest person on the continent. I will be the richest person.”

“Haha, then I will just dream of being rich.”

“So be it.”

Grid smiled as he pulled out the Great Lord’s Sword and laid it on Rabbit’s shoulder. It wasn’t a problem that this was a smithy instead of a palace. Rather, it was more meaningful because a smithy was the place where Grid’s identity was established.

“From this moment on, you will be a viscount of the Eternal Kingdom. But you need only be loyal to me.”

When Marquis Steim was still an earl, he had appointed Grid as a viscount, despite Grid being a commoner. As a duke, Grid also had the authority to arbitrarily give someone a title. But he had no plans to abuse Rabbit, as he planned to give Rabbit a monthly salary that suited his title.

He could sell titles to users, but Lauel had dissuaded him from doing this.

“Both I and my descendants will be faithful only to My Lord.”

A notification window popped up the moment Rabbit made the oath.

[You have used your authority as a duke to appoint ‘Rabbit’ as a viscount.]

[You have an obligation to give Rabbit a monthly salary of 500 gold every month. Rabbit’s loyalty will fall if you don’t pay this salary.]

Delight appeared on Grid’s face.

‘As I expected, he’s a named NPC.’

Name: Rabbit

Age: 37 Gender: Male

Occupation: Merchant/ Viscount of the Eternal Kingdom

Title: Wealthy Merchant

* The best merchant of this era. He has the ability to create demand even for simple stones.

Level: 307

Strength: 49 Stamina: 380

Agility: 150 Intelligence: 2,241

Political Power: 1,505 Insight: 1,533

Leadership: 512 Charm: 210

Skills: Composure (A+), Detection (A+), Administration (S), Business Acumen (S+), Wisdom of a Great Merchant (SS).

Born in Winston, in the northern part of the kingdom. He was born a commoner, but he devoted himself to his studies. After proving that he had talent, he received a sponsorship to the Central Academy and graduated as the best student.

He served as a royal administrator, but received unfair treatment due to his commoner status. Therefore, he became a merchant and made the best achievements.

Due to his poor childhood, he has a tendency to cling to money.

[Composure (A+)]

No matter what situation he faces, he won’t lose his composure. It’s rare for him to make mistakes because his brain is active at all times.

[Detection (A+)]

Can see the essence of humans and objects. He can easily communicate with anyone and always gets the best results.

[Administration (S)]

If he belongs to a certain power, the ability to manage the affairs is excellent. It is at a level that can develop a small village into a city.

[Business Acumen (S+)]

The trading ability has reached the highest level. Even a piece of garbage can be made into a product.

[Wisdom of a Great Merchant (SS)]

The experience and know how of someone who made a large company.

‘S-grade Administration…’

The speed of development of a city was proportional to the grade of the administrator. The role of an administrator was very important, but it wasn’t an easy task to find one with a high rating. Winston was the second largest city in the north, and even Administrator Valdi only had a B-grade. Then how fast would a place grow with a S-grade administrator? He didn’t dare imagine it.

‘His ability as a merchant is S+ and SS…’

Rabbit even had the ability to make goods out of rubbish. Based on the description, it was a complete scam. Grid was confused.

‘How should I handle him?’

Should Rabbit serve as an administrator, or work as a merchant? Rabbit spoke while he couldn’t make a decision.

“Before I came to see you, I looked over Reidan. It’s good that you are clearing the fields and connecting waterways, but I feel like it’s too much.”

“Too much?”

“Doesn’t Reidan only have a population of 20,000? If the number of fields are reduced by a third, it will be enough to feed the people.”

Grid explained the situation. “Once the clearing of the fields is done, we plan to expand farming and build this up as an agricultural city. This will be the basis to become a commercial city.”

“It’s the wrong choice. Due to the hot climate of Reidan, only a limited number of crops can be grown. Reidan isn’t suitable as an agricultural city.”

“There are no problems with the species restrictions. In the first place, we were planning to concentrate and export the crops that can be harvested quickly.”

Lauel entered the smithy at this time and rebutted. He had an upset expression on his face and Rabbit responded appropriately.

“Crops that can be harvested quickly aren’t competitive. They are easy to get anywhere.”

Lauel glared at him.

“We can overcome it by selling a lot at a cheap price. Currently, the only advantage of Reidan is the spacious land. Using the land is the only way to build up funds, so the reality is that Reidan can only be an agricultural city. No, first, who are you?”

Grid introduced him. “This is Rabbit. He was once the number two of the Mero Company, the largest in the north.”

Lauel was angry. He was only the number two of a northern company, yet he dared try to decide the city’s policies.

Grid handed him the Great Lord’s Sword.

“What is this?”

Grid explained to the bewildered Lauel. “Wear it and examine Rabbit yourself.”

“What are you trying…”

Lauel was annoyed that Grid would listen to the opinion of a merchant over him. He grumbled as he wore the Great Lord’s Sword and observed Rabbit.

“Heok.”

These days, Lauel was often surprised.

Grid persuaded Lauel as he checked Rabbit’s stats and skills. “I’m not discrediting your abilities, but why don’t you try and listen to Rabbit’s thoughts? Who knows? It might help you as well.”

“…”

***

“I will entrust the overall management of the territory to Rabbit. I will work in the fields.”

Lauel decided. He recognized that Rabbit’s administrative ability was superior to his.

Grid questioned him. “Can’t you also show great abilities as an administrator? Isn’t it better to have Rabbit create a business company, since it will make more use of his talents?”

“Even though I have business ability, I don’t have the ‘Administration’ skill.”

In the end, Satisfy was a game. The importance of skills was higher than practical abilities. Administrators greatly increased the pace of domestic development because they had the Administration skill.

“In addition, diplomacy is included in the work of an administrator. Rabbit’s talent as a merchant will manifest itself in the form of diplomacy.

Lauel’s guess was correct.

After being appointed as the administrator, Rabbit reduced the scale of agriculture and invested in alchemy as well as facilities to amplify the value of blacksmiths, including Grid and Khan. At the same time, he exerted his talent as a merchant by talking diplomatically with ‘Baron Butin of the Saharan Empire.’

***

“The alchemists say that the sand of the desert has no value in alchemy.”

Currently, Reidan’s only available resource was sand. Sand was the basic material required for construction, but that was the role of sea sand. Unlike the sand at the sea, the desert sand was so fine that there was no place to use it.

Modern society could utilize the desert sand due to advanced technology, but Satisfy’s background was a medieval fantasy, so its technology was inferior to modern times. Rabbit tried to use the sand in magic and alchemy, but he couldn’t achieve satisfactory results.

Then one day.

“Let’s export the sand to Baron Butin.”

Rabbit came to Lauel and spoke nonsense. Lauel was perplexed. “Why should we export desert sand to Baron Butin?”

The desert was all over the west. There was an excess of sand so there was no point in exporting it. It was realistically impossible. Rabbit smiled at Lauel’s disapproval and explained.

“I will make it so that the baron has to import it.” Rabbit noted that Baron Butin owned one of the empire’s resorts where many wealthy people and nobles visited. “The people of Reidan have lived in this hot and desolate place for 10 years. I will advertise it like this. The sand of Reidan remedy of longevity that will improve human health.”

“…Huh?”

Lauel was stunned by the absurd words.

Rabbit continued. “It’s a luxury product made with magic, and those who don’t have it will covet it. I will set the price higher so that the image of a luxury product will be firmly established. The longevity remedy won’t be credible if it’s cheap.”

“No, what type of sophistry…?”

Lauel wondered if Rabbit was sane. But Rabbit didn’t care and kept talking.

“I will use Khan as my advertising model. He’s older than 60, so if we put him front and center, the trust of the customers will increase and the reputation of the longevity remedy will rise.”

Rabbit referred to the sands of Reidan as a ‘longevity remedy.’ Lauel was convinced that Rabbit was crazy. Rabbit had high stats and great skills as a named NPC, but he had a clear flaw in his personality.

But what was the truth?

“It’s selling well.”

The sands of Reidan were called the ‘Longevity Remedy’ and started to be imported at the mad price of 3 gold per 10 grams.

Once the nobles and wealthy people who visited the Butin Barony heard about the reason why the sand of Reidan was called the Longevity Remedy, they couldn’t resist buying out of curiosity.

“This might cause a serious problem in the future…”

Lauel was concerned, but Rabbit reassured him.

“3 gold is huge for a commoner, but this is trivial for the rich.”

Even if they knew it was a scam, they could just laugh it off. They didn’t have to get angry over that level of money. In the first place, there was no reason to call it a scam. How could people know their exact lifespan? There was no way to prove that the lifespan of a person was increased or not increased by the Longevity Remedy, so there was no reason to call it a scam.

“The one thing I regret is that there aren’t more people visiting the Butin Barony. For the moment, the profit from selling this will stay at around 800 gold per month. But if the rumors of the goods become widespread in the future, things will change again.”

“…This is a good idea.”

800 gold a month. It was a ridiculously small sum for a big city. But the product being sold was mere sand. They just needed to put the sand that could be found anywhere in pretty glass bottles and sell them for 3 gold each. The net profit was 99.9%. If the sales amount rose like Rabbit predicted, it would be a powerful revenue source for Reidan.

‘He truly is a wealthy merchant…’

‘This is a complete scam.’

Lauel and the Overgeared members were alerted to the true nature behind Rabbit’s face.

Grid just laughed.

All types of talented people were gathering around him.