And there is only one place to get borut grains...
The biggest producer of borut is the South Danlia Company, owned by the Danlia family.
Founded over 2000 years ago by Frankë Danlia based in Gwanya, the Danlia family is now worth an estimated 40~50 billion gold combined while South Danlia Company has assets upwards of 100 billion gold. Yikes. They also own around 40% of the market share of food products according to some economic teachers of the princes and princesses that I bumped into.
They also donated a bunch of gold to the academy that we are going to, Sheppard Academy. Today marks the 15th day of our arrival and we are going to the Sheppard Academy once again to learn about the geography and geopolitical nature of this continent.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am your exclusive geography teacher, Mrs. Uria. Since this is the first day together, let's learn the basics, the surrounding countries and their specialities, okkkk~?"
""Yesss~~""
"Great! Now, let's talk about our continent, Calko..."
According to our geography teacher, Mrs. Uria, there are 4 main countries that are around Destinasia in the northern part of this continent named 'Calko', after a great empire that once conquered this continent 2000 years ago. In this world, Calko is on massive landmass in the ocean, think of it like a Pangea-type mega-continent.
To the north of Destinasia is Gwanya. Gwanya is the smallest country in the continent but has the highest GDP of all countries due to it's relatively low taxes but incredibly high income residents, the Monaco of this world with no total leader, instead lead by the wealthiest and most successful merchants. Rosé Danlia, the great great great great great great great great great great great great great great granddaughter of Frankë is included.
Restinasia, a country to the northeast of Destinasia, is mostly a militarist state with a dictator named Christian Ulysses Nathan Timothy the V of house Sukle. A very strict state, most small crimes like pickpocketing and mugging can be sentenced to 30 years in a mine... yikes.
To the south of Destinasia is Kameh, a relatively peaceful state who has ties all over the continent with their amazing crop production. They most known for their heroes because The Honorable William Buford, a summoned hero around 1000 years ago, killed the previous demon king alone. That's right, ALONE.
Oh, there is one more country to the west, Darcy. Led by Pope Frankë the V, they worship the Goddess Bumi and all her sons and daughters. They're a very new country formed only 800 years ago and this is the first time they are summoning heroes so there is some interest in them but, most of the sponsors are small to medium sized companies.
With a country filled with 20 million fanatics who'd set themselves on fire to kill you by hugging, no company is willing to risk it. Known for their fair court, they are the place most people go to settle disputes. Fucking crazies.
I wonder what their heroes will turn out to be... some kind of crazy priestess? Kinda hot, not gonna lie, I may be looking forward to that. If they are the same as the crazies in Darcy, I'd easily make them do my bidding by using Bumi as the convincer.
Countries aside, the only reason I talk about the Danlia family so extensively is because... they came over to visit during the second week of training.
Apparently, every time heroes are summoned by the different countries, the numerous merchant companies, adventurer guilds and smithy groups all gather to the palace where the heroes are kept. Gwanya's heroes being the most popular, followed by Kameh to the south of Destinasia, Restinasia in northeast and Destinasia following behind.
The sponsored heroes, in turn, advertise on their armor, equipment, posters and word of mouth to the towns people. They are also encouraged to brag about the quality of the items from the sponsoring company.
This year however, Restinasia and Kameh's summoning both failed spectacularly, killing 1 archmage, 41 royal guards and knights, 10 mages and even 2 dukes in total.
And with 2 of the 5 hero-summoning countries out of the sponsor game, that leaves the over sponsored Gwanya, the newcomer Darcy and the regular Destinasia. Most of the time, the massive conglomerates such as South Danlia and Lambert Blacksmiths can afford to sponsor 2~3 heroes so they do. Gwanya's heroes were summoned a little later than us so their sponsor viewing is delayed by around 3 weeks. If they could, they'd probably sponsor all of the heroes but various laws forbid that. They also forbid poaching, price gouging and similar acts.
And this year, South Danlia Company, DW Inc, Lambert Blacksmiths and other various guilds and companies came to sponsor us. Obviously, they have to check the goods and they had to send the leaders and CEOs of the companies to show their sincerity. Amongst them, Rosé Danlia and her CFO and younger sister, Poppy Danlia with other various family member visited.
"It's been such a long time, no Aria?" (Rosé)
[indeed, indeed. And welcome, Poppy, Lily, Daisy, Dahlia] (Aria)
Yes, you heard that right... Dorian Danlia, Rosé's father, had 2 kids and they were all women. In addition, all of his grandchildren are women too. Lily is the daughter of Poppy while Daisy and Dahlia are the daughters of Rosé. Rosé being 31, Poppy at 28, Lily at 12, Daisy and Dahlia being twins at 15.
Luckily, the South Danlia Company's Board of Directors are known for their indifferent attitude towards their CEO's gender. Anyways, the board of directors of South Danlia Company will accept anyone be it a woman, a demon or a slime. As long as. They. Make. Money.
And boyyy~ did Rosé make money...
"Wahhhhh~~ the castle's sooo prettyyy" (Daisy)
"I know, I know! Hey, hey, let's check out the heroes!" (Dahlia)
"Yes, yes! I hope they look cool~ hahaha" (Lily)
'Mwuahahaha! Finally, husband hunting time! Ever since my husband died 10 years ago, I've been searching and now... I get to have an otherworlder as a lover!!! Bwahaha, Chloe and Lani with be sooo mad~~' (Poppy)
"Girls! Don't bother the heroes during training, only watch, got it?" (Rosé)
""Okayyy mommm~~~"" (Poppy, Lily, Daisy, Dahlia)
"Wha-, I'm not your mom Poppy!!!" (Rosé)
After making a ruckus in the royal tea room, the 4 sisters ran off to watch the heroes training and to hopefully, find a 'cool' hero and for Poppy, a 'cute' one.
[hahaha, what cute little troublemakers you have, Rosé] (Aria)
*sigh* "they are very troublesome... oh by the way, do you have any heroes to watch out for, Sister Aria?" (Rosé)
[huhuhu... watch then pick. I'll tell you if they're the one I had in mind...] (Aria)
9 a.m. Training Grounds, Destinasia
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[WHAT ARE YOUUU?!!!]
""HEROES, SIR DUNN!!!""
[WHO ARE YOUUU?!!!]
""HEROES, SIR DUNN!!!""
[AND WHY ARE TRAINING???]
""TO GET RICH, SIR DUNN!!!""
'Fuck, this is brutal. 1 hour of muscle building, 2 hour lessons on magic use and spell-casting 2 times a day, 2 hours of geography, philosophy, etiquette, culture and political lessons, 20 laps around the track with 25 kg weight and finally, 3 hours of weapons training'
[alright, good work heroes. Now, you all know about the sponsor event and showing that we are holding? Its today]
""Haaahh??!!""
[yes, now. Greet the honorable sponsors, heroes]
The Danlia family, Lambert family, Greggory Lester, Anastasia Dellum, Aaron Lancaster, Daniel Whittaker the X and more. All of them combined have a worth upwards of 50 billion gold and are powerhouses that not even Restinasia, the cocky nation would offend.
If one of these companies or people stop business with your country, that's an entire supply of armor, food, goods, jewelry, etc. gone in an instant. However, befriend them and enjoy the benefits forever. That's what I plan on doing.
'And plus... they have something I need more than money right now... connections'
Connections to Gwanya, befriending their wives who are friends with duchesses of their respective region, having dinner with their sons and daughters and giving favors to the taxman. All of these are necessary for me if I want to get wealthy.
Absolute power.
Monopoly.
Fear.
[now, heroes. Time to showcase what you can do. Min-chul, you first]
'Huh? Me first? That's a bit much for those after me, whatever'
Murmurs of the crowds of socialites included 'good looking', 'perfect advertising' and 'if he's good, he'll make a fine son-in-law'.
"Haaahh... Ashes"
BOOM!!!
A massive crater the size of a mansion forms in the training ground after casting the chantless spell. A chantless spell caster insanely rare, not even speaking about the power of that spell I cast. I heard from my nights with Aria and from Dunn that I'm insanely talented as a magic caster and will probably be a hot commodity for the merchants.
However, since the power of this spell is a little too much for me, I lose over 90% of my mana power. Too much mana use can cause dizziness, headaches, sleepiness and vomiting. Luckily, I could hold in the vomit and appear to be fine. Anyways, fake it till' you make it, right? It doesn't matter since it's only the first month of arriving, improving is a given.
'I wonder if the Danlias are intrigued by me... getting sponsored by the one of the richest families doesn't sound too bad.'
After a few seconds of surprised silence from the crowds, they all start murmuring and talking amongst their friends and secretaries.
"E-ehh, no way... c-chantless?"
"Wh-what kind of power..."
"We must get him, now!"
After that, only Ha-neul and Anna were able to get close to the reaction the sponsors had and immediately, I was swarmed by either young, good looking female secretaries or fat, sweaty men in expensive suits.
"Yo-young man! Please take my card, I'm the CEO of Pael-Dorrson Fashion, consider us, please!"
"Dear hero, please accept my humble card. I am the secretary of the chairman of Sentinel, a military goods producing company, do consider contacting us for a sponsor opportunity"
"Hero! Hero! Take my card! I'm the vice-guild master of William Dalakey Adventurers Guild! Do accept our card"
'Hmmm, seems like my performance was good enough for the sponsors... the only problem is that Aria told me all of the big names and none of them are approaching me yet'
As soon as I mention that...
"Good day young man. I am Corey Lambert of Lambert Blacksmiths, I'd like to offer you an opportunity to let us support you"
"Huhuhu, you are very talented young man. I am Daniel Whittaker of DW Inc. we make armor and weapons, would you spare some time to have tea with a geezer like me?"
'Huh, not bad. Lambert Blacksmiths and DW Inc., I heard that they both controlled over 40% of the armor supply in Restinasia after forming a trade alliance, LxDW... well, I guess in the face of an amazing hero, they'd be willing to disregard that alliance altogether'
Meanwhile in the stands. Rosé, Poppy and their daughters are speaking amongst themselves on whether or not to get the talented boy in the crowd. Rosé showing reluctance, Poppy showing intense want for him and their daughters feeling... various feelings.
"No! Poppy, you do understand when someone is that wanted, they will use it against us to up their price?" (Rosé)
"Hmph, how much gold did we reserve for the hero sponsor again? 50,000 gold! No company is willing to spend that much on a dispensable asset!" (Poppy)
"That 'asset', Poppy, is a true first-class hero... what do you think happens when they request more than 50,000? And oh yeah, 50,000 gold is for the 2 heroes! What happens if they die in the first mission from an accident? And besides, DW and Lambert both have eyes on him, he'd be foolish not take them into account when pricing himself" (Rosé)
'Hmph! Sister just doesn't want me to get married again' (Poppy)
'Waaaa~ hero so coollll' (Daughters)
[We don't know if they will request that much, no?] (Aria)
"Yeah! Listen to sister Aria, at least try" (Poppy)
*sigh* "fine... fine..." (Rosé)
After much convincing, Aria gave into her sister's nagging while massaging the middle of her brows and creasing them until they are wrinkled. The family and Aria start walking towards the hero and the merchants and secretaries immediately give way, though reluctantly.
"Good morning, hero. I am Rosé, you are?"
"Greetings, I am Min-chul"
'Damn, the Danlias are showing interest?'
'Tsk tsk tsk, aren't you bastards rich enough?'
'Fuck, I'd better back off. Anyways, there are other heroes'
"Shall we have a chat in the tea room?"
"Certainly, madam"
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(A.N) Loooooongg chapter timeee~~ 2100+ words... phew! So show your support for daddy koppa and for the flowers of Danlia!!! Wooooooo!!!