Silver Speculation

I was making smoked goods as part of developing a new product line when the slaves came home.

Their packs were full and the quests seemed to have gone off without a hitch, but their faces told a different story.

I offered them drinks and some of the smoked prototypes as a welcome-back treat, then sat down to hear the report.

"This is OUTRAGEOUS!"

Alexia drained her glass of spirits and set it down.

I poured her a refill.

She popped a piece of smoked cheese into her mouth and threw back the fresh spirits in one go.

"Monopolizing a labyrinth! What are the Guild and the lord even thinking? The Church of the Sun God may be the continent's largest religion, but it isn't the Kingdom's state religion. And given that labyrinth's characteristics, it's practically a silver mine. This goes against the national interest."

She emptied her glass again.

Former noble or not, she was clearly no stranger to drinking.

"Wouldn't this happen in the Empire too?"

Alexia shook her head.

"Reserving a labyrinth in general, perhaps. But not one that produces resources. Absolutely not."

"The Church of the Sun God does have its spiritual seat in the Solar Union, after all," Elza said, sipping wine between nibbles of raisins.

"Exactly. Letting a foreign power monopolize a mine that requires no development and no miners is absurd."

… She had a point. It was odd.

Apparently they'd also sold the Great Lizard's carcass to those men.

Three gold coins. The Church of the Sun God had the manpower, and if they hauled it out and put it to good use, the body was worth a decent sum.

Azu couldn't follow the conversation and was sipping grape juice quietly.

She'd taken a liking to the smoked eggs and kept eating those.

Good to know. The product seemed viable.

"Anyway, glad you're all back safe. I've got an errand to run, so wrap things up whenever and get some rest."

"May I finish this bottle?"

"Go ahead."

"Oh, thanks."

"I'll be emptying this wine too."

The two older girls were already well on their way to drunk.

They could at least manage a bath, probably.

I left the rest to Azu and stepped out.

Azu was being used as Alexia's plaything.

I thought I saw her begging me for help, but it was probably my imagination.

I moved fast, pulling every connection I had to buy up silver.

That labyrinth had accounted for roughly ten percent of the area's silver output.

When silver prices rose, the labyrinth would be farmed more aggressively. That was the equilibrium.

Whether the Church of the Sun God had seized it for the silver or not, there was bound to be an impact.

I liquidated the ore Azu's group had brought back and used about twenty percent of my available funds to secure silver.

Even if nothing came of it, physical silver wouldn't lose much value.

I left the Damascus ore alone.

The Damascus ore from that labyrinth wasn't of a quality that could be worked.

Sure, you could amass a huge quantity and refine it for a tiny yield, but I doubted the cost would justify it.

I bought as much as I could without drawing attention. Though what I actually held were just promissory notes.

Still, it puzzled me.

I couldn't figure out the Church of the Sun God's objective, or why the lord had approved it.

The lord here was supposed to be a decent man… and I'd never heard he was a devout Sun God follower.

It might be worth gathering some intelligence.

When big currents start forming, you need to be prepared.

I returned to my room to find all three of them passed out inside it.

Empty bottles littered the floor.

I sighed and closed the door. Let them sleep.

Poor Azu had been turned into a body pillow by both Elza and Alexia.

A few days later, silver prices began a gradual climb.

Word had spread that the Ore Labyrinth was under the Church of the Sun God's control.

I sent the three girls out on whatever quests came up.

With the three of them, mid-tier quests were a breeze. Monster activity had apparently been picking up lately, so there was no shortage of work.

They earned pocket money from that while I kept a close watch on the silver market.

About a month passed.

Silver had risen roughly twenty percent.

Talk of silver being a profitable investment was starting to circulate.

On top of that, my acquaintance the Blacksmith began griping about the rising cost of silver and other ores.

I doubted even the Church of the Sun God could ignore this level of discontent.

Another month later. Silver was up thirty percent from its original price.

I decided to sell everything.

Silver's almost unbelievable rise was creating a sense of overheating in the market.

Anything beyond this was dangerous.

The clincher was when an acquaintance recommended I get into silver trading.

The inflated silver found buyers quickly.

I'd cleared about a hundred gold coins in profit.

To celebrate the windfall, I grilled up a grand feast of steaks from a One-Horned Bull Monster that Azu's group had brought back.

Everyone ate until they couldn't move, and drank their fill.

Alexia turned out to be a lightweight, but she clearly enjoyed her liquor.

Elza, perhaps because she was a priestess, drank nothing but wine. I'd never seen her drunk.

Azu turned beet-red from the smell of spirits alone.

A few days after that, the Ore Labyrinth was reopened, and the town's silver market crashed overnight.

I pressed my palms together in sympathy, then made a note to steer clear of that labyrinth for a while.

The intelligence I'd been gathering had built up to a decent amount.

The Church of the Sun God had apparently seized several other labyrinths in the same manner.

Silver prices in the Solar Union hadn't moved at all.

Either the silver from the labyrinths never made it there, or it had been consumed for some purpose.

On top of that, the continental price of Damascus steel had ticked upward.

The town's lord hadn't made a public appearance recently.

His child had been acting as proxy.

What was concerning was that the lord's child was reportedly a devout follower of the Church of the Sun God.

It was only a rumor, but there was also talk of the Church of the Sun God passing through the tariff checkpoint without inspection.

… If word of that reached the Kingdom's leadership, it wouldn't end well.

A story this big was beyond what a lone tool shop owner could act on.

But I'd keep the lord's situation on my radar.

I headed to the Adventurer's Guild to browse new quests.