Chapter 629

Preparing Trade with the Darshe Principality and the Isles of the Eight Gods
“Hm. So these are the Isles of the Eight Gods’ requests.”

I didn’t have the Trade Guild members sit in on my meeting with Lady Kiri and Lord Riku.
After all, I wanted to keep this as a friendly exchange rather than a formal negotiation.
Instead, our maids are carefully noting down the requests from both sides.
They’re quite capable, really.

“As for magic tools, that will require some thought. The Saltas Company doesn’t have a magic tool division, and we’ll need to determine just how much export is acceptable.”

“I understand. By the way, what’s the status of the regular shipping route to the Isles of the Eight Gods you mentioned back in spring?”

“They’re still preparing on their end. That ship involves the interests of several merchants, all of whom are trying to load as much cargo as possible to maximize their own profits.”

“Ah, so it’s the usual case of what the other merchants have to say, then.”

“Lady Lily, I believe you no longer need to concern yourself with that vessel. Shall we withdraw our investment?”

“Yes, let’s do that. Without our cargo, there’ll be more room for theirs anyway.”

“(If the Saltas Company pulls out, that’ll reduce the overall investment in the regular route by thirty percent, though...)”

“Something the matter?”

“No, nothing at all.”

Well, setting the regular route aside, we’ll need our own ship.
That’s true for both the Darshe Principality and the Isles of the Eight Gods—
they’re both across the sea, after all.
Without ships, we can’t even begin.
Now, which vessels should we prepare?

“As for ships... there are a few makers. The question is whether to use high-speed magic vessels or the larger, steadier ones that carry more cargo.”

According to Alizée, the high-speed magic ships can move quickly but have limited capacity.
Standard ships, on the other hand, can haul a great deal more if we purchase a large model.
It’s a tough choice, but for now, I think the high-speed ones should come first.

“I agree. We should prioritize high-speed magic ships. Whether with Darshe or the Isles of the Eight Gods, trade will start with small-scale exchanges. Using large ships and taking our time simply isn’t practical.”

So the large vessels don’t really offer any advantages yet.
Once trade grows busier and the amount of goods increases, those big ships will have their turn.
But for now, the cargo space of high-speed ships should be plenty.

As for how we’ll actually conduct the trade—well, there’s no point in overthinking that now.
We can decide based on what kinds of goods move and in what quantities once operations actually begin.
For the time being, I’ll move forward with this setup.

What do you think about this chapter?