Chapter 490

Meeting with the Eight Seats – On the Education of Merchants
Yesterday’s surprise at Parfe’s proposal left me flustered, but today was the meeting with the Eight Seats.
I dressed once more in formal attire and headed for the Grand Temple of the Eight Gods.
I have to get through today smoothly.

Upon arriving at the Grand Temple of the Eight Gods, I rested a little before being led to the meeting room.
There, I joined up with the members of the Eight Seats and entered the chamber.
Just as the meeting was about to begin, Lord Riku spoke up with an apology.

“My apologies, Lady Lily. I never imagined that the Parfes would want to be taken outside.”

“Please, don’t worry about it. By the way, is it alright to take them out?”

“Their wishes have already been confirmed. As long as we acknowledge it as an agenda item here, it won’t be a problem. But first, let’s deal with the matters we must decide today. We’ll discuss that afterwards.”

“Understood. I appreciate your time when we get to that.”

Honestly, even from my point of view, that was completely unexpected.
There’s no way Lord Riku could have known.
Anyway, we have to deal with the matters at hand first.
The first topic on the agenda is about the education of merchants.

“To begin, as the Light Seat, I’ll speak first. Regarding the request from the Vardmoi Trade Guild for merchant educators, it has been decided that we will accept them on the central island.”

“The central island? Not on one of the gateway islands like Daikoto Island that has ports connected to the outside?”

Priscilla’s doubt was valid.
If we’re talking about educating people for external trade, it would be most efficient to do it on an island with a port connected to the outside.
Even if the central island is large, there’s a risk of instructional gaps.
Will that really be alright?

“We held discussions with the merchant union alongside the other Seats, but even if we are acting in good faith, it seems they still find it hard to immediately trust merchants coming from outside. Instead, we will train instructors on the central island, who will then be dispatched to each Isle of the Eight Gods. That way, it will also reduce the burden on the Vardmoi Trade Guild.”

“That’s true, but… will that really be okay?”

“We’ll have to try trusting the merchant union this time. Even if they have our endorsement, they likely don’t want to place outsiders directly in positions to teach their merchants.”

I see. It’s probably a precaution against having misinformation or unnecessary things instilled in them.
But this may be the best possible compromise.
Besides, Priscilla also mentioned that she can’t immediately arrange for additional personnel.
In that case, going along with this proposal is the best move.
Thinking it over, this is something that needs to be taught to all merchants across the Isles of the Eight Gods, and we’re severely short on numbers.

What do you think about this chapter?