Episode 102: Hustle and Bustle
“The basic unit of length used in the Forest Country (Lebresta) is the TAN, which is about 1.53m. The standard for volume is one-tenth of a tan cubed, called MIKUS, about 3.8L. The basic unit of weight is RUK, which is about 0.43kg. As expected of an embassy, they had a complete set of standard measuring instruments.”
“Is there an error between the definition and the actual volume…?”
“…Probably… the replication of the standard instruments… the accuracy… might be bad…”
“Maybe they’re fudging the weight~?”
“Bad magistrate, huh? Are they up to no good~?”
In trade with the Forest Country (Lebresta), aligning values is taking a lot of time. Moreover, because the other side thinks they are in a superior position, they basically try to take advantage of us.
Well, as far as ＜Paraiso＞ is concerned, since supplies are provided unlimitedly from ＜The Tree＞, being slightly overcharged doesn’t hurt at all, but accepting it meekly would just lead to being looked down upon.
Therefore, the Local Strategic AI, with the support of ＜Ringo＞, is calmly negotiating the terms.
And the Five Sisters were noisily checking the contents (logs) of the negotiation.
“The oil plant has settled down for now, and these girls have had a good experience, right? It’s quiet around here, so how about going back to our daily routine for about a week?”
To Commander (Eve)’s suggestion, ＜Ringo＞ also agreed, and the Five Sisters happily went on a consecutive vacation. Well, even though it’s called a vacation, they end up doing things like command exercises and future predictions, so it’s still like work.
Since Onee-sama (Eve) is participating with them, it will be a fun time for the Five Sisters.
Putting aside how Commander (Eve) perceives it, the sisters were enjoying their long-awaited time together.
“Magic Stones are set as something of value to both sides, and this is the standard for calculating all compensation. Are Magic Stones valuable even within the Afrasia United Kingdom?”
“Yeah… they can be exchanged for coins at a certain rate… or so the person in charge at East Gate city said… maybe…?”
“Hmm. There’s a commercial guild, and they accept exchanges there. Magic Stones are the power source for Magic Tools, apparently. Magic Tools?”
“They can heat things up, create wind, or ignite Fire, apparently~?”
The sisters are currently checking the trade results and negotiation contents with the Forest Country (Lebresta).
Connecting to the network and downloading would be a snap, but they are reading the materials as a break.
Since a report meeting (chat) with Commander (Onee-sama) is waiting for them after this meeting, they were seriously discussing it.
“In the current state of the Afrasia United Kingdom, Magic Stones are much more valuable than coins, aren’t they?”
“In the first place, the quality of the coins is bad. Lots of impurities. That’s why Lebresta doesn’t use coins as the exchange standard.”
“It seems that the various ingots prepared by ＜Paraiso＞ can be exchanged for Lebresta coins of the same weight.”
“But~, when it comes to impurities, Lebresta’s coins aren’t that good either~. Our ingots are 99.9% (three nines), right~? The rate is too bad~.”
“…Probably, they don’t have the technology to distinguish that much…”
By the way, if we wanted to, we could manufacture 99.9999999% (eleven nines), but there’s no point in making it that pure, so we’re keeping it within a reasonable range.
Unfortunately, it seems to be out of sync with the common sense of this world. The refining technology was unknown, so it couldn’t be helped.
“For ＜Paraiso＞, the exchange rate is high for Cellulose thread and Cellulose cloth. It seems there’s a demand for them as high-end clothing materials.”
“They’re bleached pure white, after all~. Unless you have good bleach, you can’t make it by hand, can you~?”
“Dyed thread and dyed cloth are also highly valued~. After all, it seems that the lack of color unevenness is good~.”
“According to a Lebresta popular entertainment book I obtained, people of high status prefer to wear cloth that is close to white. Even with the advanced bleaching technology of today, that custom remains traditionally.”
“Akane, I am not aware of that information. Can you share it with me?”
“Ah, us too, please~”
“Understood. It’s the content of a book I got in exchange for bleached paper, so it’s not directly related to the transaction with Lebresta. I think it didn’t get caught by the search tags.”
By chance, she was able to obtain several magazines that were stored as books in the Lebresta Embassy.
In the first place, mass-produced plant paper seems to be circulating to some extent in Lebresta. According to the ambassador, it’s not that cheap, but popular magazines are also published, and reading them is popular among the upper class as a kind of status symbol.
As part of that, popular magazines seem to be delivered to the embassy regularly.
Exchanging magazines for bleached paper of the same weight is a bit of a low rate, but since we can get general common sense knowledge, we are actively exchanging them.
“There are many special features on celebrities’ private information (scandals) and rumors of unknown authenticity. There were also some that contained complaints against the Council of Elders. However, since there were hardly any such articles, it can be inferred that they are governing well, or that freedom of speech is being suppressed.”
“I see. If it’s being controlled, then a certain amount of venting is allowed. It seems they understand how to manipulate public opinion.”
“Aren’t they really good politicians~?”
“Like a kind old man~?”
“What’s more likely is that speech is being controlled. If speech is not being controlled under good governance, a certain amount of criticism of the government will occur, as can be read from history books. Also, if they are liked, there should be a certain number of articles praising them. Unfortunately, I don’t see any of those.”
“It looks peaceful, but the darkness is deep.”
“…Scary. Let’s not get close…”
＜Ringo＞ has already carried out this kind of consideration. And since she is coming to almost the same conclusion as that result, it can be said that Akane’s insight is very high.
However, since she has not been able to incorporate Magic (Fantasy)-like assumptions, the probability at this point is 60%, according to the number given by ＜Ringo＞. There is too much unknown information, and accurate consideration cannot be made.
“This month’s new item~. A coat made of Grassland rabbit fur~”
“Lucky item~. Grassland Stone necklace~? Something good might happen??”
“Advertisements for clothing stores and advertisements for accessory shops. Paper-based advertising has begun. It’s not yet sophisticated. I infer that sharp-eyed merchants have started to use it.”
“…The media is immature, it seems…”
“It seems to be mass printing using woodcuts. Is it letterpress printing?”
“There are also three-color printed pages. Front-page feature. At least, the pictures seem to be woodcuts. The text may be a different technology. It seems too uniform for letterpress printing. However, since there are also ink smudges, it is highly likely that printing using plates is being used.”
“You can infer various levels of technology from just one book. So, it doesn’t feel like it’s an automatic printing machine?”
“The Lebresta ambassador said that the circulation of this magazine is several hundred. Even if there are plates, I think it’s definitely hand-printed.”
“Several hundred, huh? With ＜The Tree＞, we can easily make several thousand copies in an hour.”
“…Leave it to me. I can prepare a printing machine, including the printing press, within two hours…”
“As expected of Olive~. I don’t think Erika can do it~.”
“I don’t think Utsugi can do it either~.”
Reaffirming the high level of technology of ＜The Tree＞ and the low level of technology of this world, they further read the materials.
“I want to analyze even a simple Magic Tool. Can’t I get one in Flattala City?”
“Hmm… it seems like there are some? It seems that Magic Tools are widespread in Flattala City.”
“The Local Strategic AI seems to be sending some for analysis~. Olive, why don’t you take a look later~?”
“Mm…”