Golden Mage - Chapter 97

“First, the Kingdom of Carmine is in a darn good spot, geographically speaking. It’s right smack in the middle of the continent, where the Empire from the east and the Kingdom from the west cross paths. That’s why I intend to invest all of Devell’s top funds into the Carmine Kingdom,” El explained.

King Astro raised an eyebrow at El’s words. “Huh! But this place you’ve got your eye on had a whopping debt, and I mean an insane amount of it. Unfortunately, it looks like the Gold Vault business is going down the drain. The amount of Light’s Gold has swelled to an unbearable level in the blink of an eye. Well, we can call it a lost cause now.”

El nodded, “That’s why I mentioned it, didn’t I? You have to build trust. Honestly, Gold War Top is among the top ten financially influential in the continent. However, even when it comes to cash reserves, Devell Top is not far behind. We’ll pay off the debt.”

King Astro suddenly stood up in surprise, “Wait, did you just say you’ll pay off the debt?”

El nodded again, “Yes, we’ll pay it off.”

Astro couldn’t believe his ears. What on earth did El just say? He’d pay off the entire debt?

Astro had a moment of doubt. Did his kingdom hold such value that someone like El, who seemed to know every little secret, would want to pay off its debt? Did they have some hidden magic metal mine or something?

No, they didn’t. El was fully aware of everything happening in the small territory of the Carmine Kingdom. El’s proposal was so radical that it seemed almost absurd.

But then El continued, and Astro’s mood improved significantly. After all, there wasn’t much to think about other than that.

“We do have one condition. We want the authority to buy and sell Carmine Kingdom’s territory granted to Devell Top.”

Astro furrowed his brow. Paying off the debt was nice, but what difference did it make?

Sensing Astro’s hesitation, El quickly added, “Of course, we’ll return the territorial management rights to the kingdom. We plan to create markets throughout the kingdom and sell plots of land to smaller businesses.”

Astro hummed in thought. It was, in fact, a favorable deal for his kingdom. El was already entangled with the Empire. Forming a business relationship like this wouldn’t change much in their current situation.

Astro nodded, “Alright, I accept the Gold Vault’s offer. Please take care of us from now on.”

El smiled, “Of course, Your Majesty. You won’t regret it.”

El then turned to Devell, and Devell pulled out a contract. He handed it over to King Astro, who took it and examined it carefully.

“We prepared a contract since it seems you might find it difficult to trust us completely,” El explained.

Astro nodded, “Of course, trust goes both ways.”

In the midst of his desperation, Astro was relieved that they had offered to draft a contract. El continued to smile as he wrote down the terms one by one, his anticipation of a brighter future growing.

El’s gaze was fixated on the distant horizon. He thought, ‘Soon, the continent will be in for a big surprise.’ El was excited about the impact his actions would have on the continent due to the wind he was about to unleash. Thus, the deal with the Carmine Kingdom was successfully concluded.

Chapter 3: Revolution

Three months had passed since El and King Astro of the unnoticed Carmine Kingdom had entered into a contract. In this otherwise quiet continent, a storm began to brew.

It all began in the prosperous agricultural nation of the Flon Kingdom, a country located in the northern central part of the continent. This kingdom, blessed with fertile black soil plains, produced an enormous amount of wheat each year. Yet, due to a shortage of labor, they couldn’t maximize their land’s potential.

The majority of Flon Kingdom’s citizens were farmers. The kingdom allocated land based on the number of family members, ensuring each family could harvest a fixed amount each year.

Mac was one of these farmers. Married with three daughters, he was granted land capable of supporting five families, but his household constantly lacked the necessary labor. This meant Mac had to toil tirelessly alone to meet the nation’s mandated harvest quotas.

In this era, women typically wove cloth and made clothes at home for their own use. Clothing was made by the people who would wear it.

While noble attire and clothing for travelers sold well, commoners like Mac didn’t usually make clothes for sale. After all, they couldn’t afford to go without clothes themselves.

Making clothes required a significant amount of labor, and yet the prices for such garments were ridiculously low.

Women could help with farming, but doing so would leave them with no time to make clothes, which they needed. Occasionally, women would assist with farming, but it wasn’t particularly helpful.

So what could they do?

One day, Mac noticed some clothes brought by a merchant. As he examined the clothes the merchant was selling, Mac’s eyes widened in surprise.

The reason was simple: among the clothes the merchant offered, there were garments suitable for people like them. Moreover, the prices were very affordable.

At such prices, there was no reason to continue making clothes at home. Buying and wearing these clothes wouldn’t strain their finances.

“What about the comfort?” Mac wondered and decided to try one on. He was once again astonished.

Despite the low price, the clothes were much more comfortable and provided better insulation than the ones they made at home.

“This is it! Exactly what we need!”

Mac immediately bought several sets of clothes and put his family to work in the fields. His wife and three daughters, who used to weave cloth at home, now joined him in farming. With their added labor, Mac was able to cultivate all the land he had.

For Mac, who had struggled to meet the annual harvest quota, a smile finally returned to his face. It was all thanks to the affordable clothes.

These clothes quietly spread throughout the continent. Their low price and excellent quality captured people’s hearts, and they no longer felt the need to weave cloth at home.

Making clothes required a significant amount of time and offered little profit compared to the effort involved. People realized that they could use their time more economically by doing other work instead.

This led to the collapse of cottage industries.

Since people now bought and wore clothes from merchants, those who used to specialize in making clothes lost their jobs.

El, the mastermind behind all of this, was on his way to a new facility established in Golden Valley.

Before him were several massive windmills, powered by the wind blowing through the valley.

Creak, creak.

Watching the windmills turn relentlessly in the strong wind, El opened a conversation with the elderly man beside him.

“Brush, is the textile machine running smoothly?” El asked.

Brush, a man in his seventies, nodded. “Yes, Marth, with everyone’s efforts, it’s gradually improving.”

El smiled at Brush’s words. “That’s good to hear.”

El then shifted his gaze back to the windmills.

What El had planned for a long time was to harness the wind blowing relentlessly through the valley.

After all, wind was a source of infinite natural energy. Inspired by ancient windmills used to grind grains, El envisioned using these windmills to generate power for a textile machine.

A textile machine wove cloth. It was a labor-intensive machine, and automating it with windmill power required hundreds of trial-and-error attempts.

However, with the assistance of people like Brush, who had been using textile machines for decades, they gradually overcame the challenges. Finally, they perfected an automatic textile machine powered by the windmills.

It wasn’t completely labor-free, as a certain number of people were required to prevent errors. However, the labor required was far from excessive. After promising generous compensation, El had no shortage of volunteers. They tirelessly wove cloth under El’s employment.

The result was a tremendous quantity of clothing, which was then distributed throughout the continent.