Chapter 31
After watching Master Ganze leave, Mia-san cautiously asked me a question.
"Um, Romelia-sama. Is it all right if no gold comes out of the mine?"
Apparently, she couldn't reconcile that with our earlier conversation.
"It would be a problem if no gold came out at all, but it doesn't have to produce that much. The port is more important."
The gold mine was merely a pretext for building a city here and gathering people. I needed it to yield some gold as a foothold for building the port, but once the port was up and running, it would no longer be necessary.
"The port is more important than gold?"
Mia-san looked as though she couldn't understand. The gesture was so cute that I felt like playing at being a teacher for a bit.
"All right, Mia-san. It's time for a lesson."
I brandished an imaginary pointer.
Quinz-sensei looked dignified when she wielded a pointer, and she was someone I admired. Thinking I was imitating her, I naturally felt rather proud.
"First, gold deposits are depleted the more gold you extract. They don't increase. What do you think will happen to this place after all the gold is mined?"
"It will... decline."
There are countless examples of mines and nearby post towns that once flourished, then declined as soon as the ore veins ran dry, eventually becoming ruins.
"Exactly. For Kashu to prosper in the long term, we need something sustainable and capable of continued growth. What do you think that might be?"
"Perhaps... agriculture?"
That wasn't entirely wrong.
"Fields are a heavenly blessing that brings a harvest every year. However, they offer little in terms of growth. That would be different if there were plenty of arable land left, but in places where development is already mostly complete, or in a place like Kashu, where mountains make it difficult to secure farmland, there is little room for expansion. Methods such as fertilizer and improving crop varieties exist, but they do not produce results quickly, so we cannot rely on them either. What else can you think of?"
"Um, I don't know."
Mia-san raised the white flag. The gesture was utterly adorable.
"Distribution."
"Distribution?"
"Yes. The movement of goods, along with the roads, bridges, and ports that support it, is worth more than gold. Roads, bridges, and ports do not run dry like a gold mine. They are sources of profit that continue creating value indefinitely. If we can build a port in Gilie Valley, it will never run dry and could generate profits even a hundred years from now."
"Is that really so?"
My passionate explanation still did not seem to have sunk in for Mia-san.
"The kingdom currently has no access to the sea, so we transport goods overseas by traveling downriver. But if we build a port here, we will no longer need to send goods downriver. Most of the goods produced in the eastern part of the kingdom will gather in Kashu. Naturally, the same amount of goods will flow in from abroad. By trading goods, we can make enormous profits from the difference in price. You can imagine how much that would yield, can't you? And wherever goods gather, people gather as well. They will need places to sleep and food to eat, and countless horse-drawn wagons will come here. The enormous quantity of fodder those horses consume will be another source of demand. None of these things will run out like the gold in a mine. Do you understand, Mia-san? Furthermore, if we offer merchants tax incentives to attract them, market trading and finance will flourish as well. If everything develops smoothly, Kashu could become one of the kingdom's foremost commercial cities—or even the greatest commercial city in the kingdom."
As I imagined a city that would continue growing and developing, I unconsciously clenched my fist tighter.
However, when I looked at Mia-san, she seemed stunned and unable to think of anything to say.
"...Ahem. Well, that's the gist of it: we do this and that, and building a port here makes us a lot of money."
When I put it in terms anyone could understand, Mia-san nodded as if she was convinced.
"I see. So that's how it works."
She probably still didn't understand, but I decided that was good enough. Quinz-sensei and the others could probably have talked enthusiastically about this all night.
"Still, Romelia-sama, you're amazing. I could never understand any of this."
Mia-san was belittling herself, but that sort of attitude wasn't good.
"It's not like that. It's something you can understand if you study it."
You mustn't underestimate yourself or make that an excuse to give up.
Mia-san's inability to understand was entirely due to her lack of education.
Education was not readily available to commoners, and even among nobles, intelligent women were not exactly well received.
For noblewomen, education meant dancing, reciting poetry, music, and the like. The only accomplishment expected of commoner women was usually the ability to read the Bible—and even that was frowned upon by men who were illiterate themselves.
As a result, someone as learned as Quinz-sensei was not appreciated, and she had to work as a private tutor on the side or as a filing clerk at a government office, merely writing down whatever she was told.
If Quinz-sensei had been a man, she would have risen through the ranks by now, eventually becoming a minister and changing the country.
It was absurd when you thought about it. Simply being born male or female could change how one lived and how one was valued.
"In any case, we have to make sure development here proceeds smoothly. If the mine yields a decent amount of gold and the port project succeeds, our funds will grow. Then we can expand our military even further."
"Are there still not enough soldiers?"
"No, we're still short. We'll need more and more soldiers. The number of wounded will increase too, so you'll have to work hard as well, all right?"
"Yes."
Mia-san replied with a tense expression.
There was not much time left.
I thought of the royal capital in the west, and of the Demon King's main army.
It would soon be time for them to make their move.