Chapter 79
There's a story called the prisoner's dilemma.
It's about inducing confessions by imprisoning two criminals.
If only one of them confesses, the one who keeps silent takes the blame for both their sentences.
If neither confesses, they receive only very light punishments as the crime isn't proven, and if both confess, both are punished equally - that's the dilemma.
Theoretically, the best move here is for both not to confess, but in reality when similar situations occur, they say both confess.
Why? Because they can't trust each other, like the executive in front of me now.
"Speak specifically."
The executive, our spice guild director, continued speaking as if he had a motor attached to his mouth.
"As Viscount Medici knows, spice trade is done with infidels, and among infidels, with powerful merchant families, isn't it?"
He said powerful merchant families, but the Alsini family that passes goods to us is the in-law family of a big city governor.
Strictly speaking, it's more like a young lady from the Alsini family entered as the governor's concubine.
Since they formed a familial relationship with a high-ranking person, they can essentially be seen as nobles.
'In other words, it means they can't be taken lightly even if they're infidels.'
"So we need to please those high-ranking people well. Otherwise, we don't know when the deal might be cut off."
In most cases, the buyer is the superior party and the seller is the inferior party.
However, spices are essentially monopolized and supplied by the Alsini family, and they're treasures that definitely make money if bought.
So the Alsini family selling spices becomes the superior party.
Alsini can just not sell if they don't want to, but great merchants buying spices lose both credit and money if the deal is cut off.
'That's why I went crazy when the sugar deal was cut off.'
"Just as we like brown-skinned infidel sex slaves, they extremely prefer white-skinned beauties. So every time we trade, we supply a set number of women."
I didn't do that when I traded.
Even so, was I able to build a good relationship with Alsini because that gentleman considered that a direct male from the Medici baron family came?
Or did he make concessions seeing my potential, geez.
'It's really a dirty and terrible world.'
They say human rights don't exist in the Albania continent, but isn't this too much?
"Ah, of course, we don't often exchange sex slaves when just trading spices. However, if we continuously skip this, they become reluctant."
"Is it because you're skipping profitable deals?"
"Yes, that's right. Although it costs us money to buy Tuscan Empire serf women or poor girls, feed them well, house them and educate them. But they make nearly 30 times the profit we invest over there. Conversely, when we sell Sultanate sex slaves, we make about that much profit too."
I once again realize why the Deus Knights Order Grand Master tried to give me such a gift.
It's nobles' job to show off all sorts of rare things, and among them, if you put Arab-style beautiful sex slaves in maid uniforms and appropriately boast in front of guests.
It's like showing you have a precious item equivalent to, if not quite Lu Bu's Red Hare or Excalibur.
'Add to that fulfilling conquest desires with actual use? The pleasure must be no joke.'
Emotionally it's disgusting because of memories from before being possessed, but rationally I seem to understand why this trade inevitably flourishes.
Humans are a species that wage war knowing tens of thousands of other humans besides themselves will die if it makes money.
"The profit mentioned here is the minimum profit. It's 30 times for selling an ugly girl, and 100 times for selling a decent-looking one. The most expensive woman traded was at a price that could buy one viscount territory."
"You take interest through usury, and deliberately impose 'unpayable interest' on villages with beauties to trade, I suppose."
The executive showed no signs of guilt.
"Yes, because it makes money."
If I hadn't bought Chloe, she probably would have been sold to the Sultanate by this method.
And they would have broken the record for the highest price they've traded.
This isn't because I'm blinded by love, I can say this because even Duke Visconti, who's over 60, opened his eyes wide and stared when he saw Chloe.
That gentleman the Duke lives surrounded by beauties at idol group level, geez.
"What was the scale?"
"We're not the only ones doing this slave trade, but our guild alone sold about 2,000 people to them annually. They bought and sold on the same scale from their side too."
Since it's not just us doing it, including trades through other routes, transactions might be happening in units of tens of thousands.
'About 7 million African blacks were sold as slaves?'
That's about how much was officially grasped, so including unofficial ones, it would be 4-5 times that.
Transactions would have happened with that kind of feeling.
"Of course, since slave trading is against the law, we offered appropriate gifts to high-ranking people to make it 'non-existent transactions'."
So you didn't leave any records, concealed it a bit, and didn't even pay 0.001% tax.
Well, this transaction is like putting taxes from cocaine trade into the government treasury by Korean standards.
'It would be even stranger if taxes were paid.'
"Besides that, we modified cargo holds so that when passing through customs at ports, we didn't pay taxes on 30-40% of the volume we imported at all. Also, 70% of the profits generated in our guild were offered to great merchants including the Medici baron family."
Albert, you bastard, you really almost became a bird.
Know that you lived because you had a good father and good younger brother.
I'll specially bury this.
I don't care if Albert dies alone, but what if sparks fly to me too?
It's obviously a situation where I'd be caught by Duke Visconti or the Emperor and confirmed for lifelong, no, hereditary slave employment.
'They'll both grind me like King Sejong ground Hwang Hee.'
"We also collaborated with the Red Beard Pirates to sink ships of those hostile to or competing with great merchants as 'infidel actions'. As written in the ledgers, times when costs were unusually high for purchasing 1 ton of pepper/salt were when we collaborated with infidel pirate groups."
They're really doing well.
If I arrest them for this too, the great merchants entangled there will try to kill me.
With just slave trading and deceiving customs, I can already crush this guild once anyway...
'Not just the Medici Trading Company, but other great merchants will consider that I stopped here as owing a debt.'
If I just show the circumstances without threatening, piles of grateful gifts would come from those bastards.
Perhaps I could break through the glass ceiling of being a great merchant with help from those three bastards of the Medici Trading Company, who have no choice but to unconditionally support me due to their 'limits'.
"Very interesting. Interesting. Just this much alone makes this the empire's worst criminal organization."
Applause came naturally.
These are really not empty words.
Even the yakuza, triads, and mafia would learn a thing or two from these guys.
Is this why people say you need to learn old things to learn new things?
I had no intention of letting the spice guild directors and guild master who touched me live in the first place, but these guys can just be eliminated.
"I see."
The executive immediately bowed his head and started begging.
"I have a bear-like wife and rabbit-like children, please! Please just protect my life and property! If you just let me live, I'll get out of this country."
...... No, you're going to die.
Still, it would be good if more information that can be used comes out.
Moreover, it's more miserable when people think they might be able to live, then later fall into despair that they're going to die.
'You must have been prepared since you tried to deal a huge blow to my trading company.'
"I'll leave paper, pen, and ink here, so write down everything you remember. I'll unlock the handcuffs."
What's important now is giving false hope.
Lowering a 'rope' that they might be able to live, then cutting it is the best revenge.
As I was leaving, I pretended to accidentally let words slip:
"Judge Andante, I'd like to investigate the prisoners in other rooms now too. Yes, including the guild master, we should interview them all."
At the same time, the door closed.
And when we were further away from that room, Andante asked:
"Since Chief Justice Mancini and His Grace the Duke are backing you, you could acquit a few people if you wanted. Isn't this too much? Even though investigating this case is important..."
I shook my head.
"When people think they're already dead, they tend to give up and try to keep their loyalty since they're going to die anyway. They think they might be able to protect their family that way."
Hearing my words, Judge Andante opened his eyes wide.
"But there's no human in this world who wants to die. So if you throw them hope that they can live when in danger of death, they abandon their comrades just to live. Especially such dirty ones."
Even when investigating, police are given various authorities.
The right to pressure by saying sentences will be increased if they don't confess here now.
The right to tell 'benevolent lies' that slightly violate criminal law for the progress of investigation, and so on.
It's their role to use this to progress case investigations in the right direction, but some police stations abused this authority to try to bury one person's life.
'It's a relatively common occurrence.'
That's why law firms tell you to appoint a lawyer first if you have to be investigated by the police.
Even if it costs hundreds of thousands, it's 100 billion times better than ruining your life unfairly by handling it poorly.
I've just lied to guys who deserve to die anyway, so there's nothing wrong.
"They'll be truly ugly until the end."