19. Broker

"This country is no good"

He slammed the 'banknotes' he was counting, a new bundle of money, on his desk, and the bald man spat out. There are two other people in the room besides him. There was a bald-looking man with brown hair and thin linen clothes, and a middle-aged man in a robe that looked a little better. They didn't say a word to the bald-headed grumble, but they seemed to listen.

"This is what business is about. Why did it end up like this when the ease of work was the selling point?"

The man distorted his mouth as he thumped the money he earned through unsound ways with the back of his hand. There was more resignation than anger.

"His occupation is a brokerage business." When he finds people who are in need of money for various reasons—it goes without saying that finding people in the slums of shanty towns is especially effective—he produces various criminal acts. Here in the royal capital, their existence goes to the underworld under the name of "broker". Brokers were a last resort for those in dire straits who had little money, no bed, or had someone to feed.

If the recommended job is successful, you will receive 40% of the total amount you got, and if you fail, you will receive nothing. Despite the simple remuneration system, the many mediations that were sent to those who had no tomorrow under careful research were mostly successful, and their profits were not small. We do not penalize those who fail. So, even if someone committed the blunder of being arrested by city guards, the name "broker" would never come out of his mouth during interrogation -- from the point of view of someone who had no choice but to commit a crime. Because that would be synonymous with letting his comrades in the same situation die.

Only a small number of customers and themselves know the astonishing fact that nearly half of the light and serious crimes rampant in the royal capital are induced by the mediation of "brokers". They were the very evil that nested in the heart of the Rilden Kingdom—but.

This country, which had settled down for ten years in anticipation of the ease of working, or rather the ease of letting people hide, has changed dramatically in the last few years. First of all, even the name is different from before. The Kingdom of Rilden was changed to the New Kingdom of Idea, and it is said that the ``Witch of the Primordial'' took the throne in place of the former king, who was misunderstood as a historical foolish king.

"What happened to make this happen?" For Baldhead and his companions, who didn't even believe in the existence of the Primordial Witch, it felt like they were having a strange dream, but what was even more important than that was the establishment of a new government. It was an accompanying change in policy.

A hotbed of crime, the existence of royalty and aristocrats who were the cause of it, has completely disappeared from the country, and the money that was sucked up is now pouring back into the citizens. Banknotes, paper money, have begun to circulate, and the flow of money not only in the royal capital but also in the country has changed completely. ── has already been confirmed.

While accelerating investment in education and welfare, the people of the upper class next to the aristocracy promised a reward for their children and asked for support, and the middle class was given a secondary role so that they could eventually aim for the upper class by revitalizing the economy. and provide direct assistance to the lower classes of the poor. That's all that's going on in this city, but how surreal it is to do that.

While reducing taxes, all of them are used only for the people. Too much selfless service policy that is too contrasting with the previous administration. They couldn't help but wonder how the state-run side was able to survive in the royal castle, but they couldn't help but wait and live, but the expected bankruptcy didn't come.

In the meantime, although they continued to do business stubbornly, things weren't going as well as before. In any case, the number of users and their candidates is decreasing day by day, and the security of specific places in the city has become stricter. It's clear that the country is doing everything in its power to eliminate the slums... Of course, it's not unbearable for the brokers who came together with the slums, but the people who live there are grateful for the support from the new government. trying to benefit. They were witnessing the collapse of what they had built.

Looking at the symbolic gold in his hand, the bald head said.

"This is just a fraction of what I've earned since the new king took the throne."

The new gold that was circulating, the old gold and silver coins, and the copper coins. At first glance, the money lined up on the desk seemed like a decent amount of money, but considering the amount of time it took to earn it and the number of people who used it, the change was good. This must be the broker's net profit, but these three are not the only comrades. It's been a few months and I can't talk about this.

"Because I already know the market price of banknotes, I'm sure I would have earned more than three times the amount here in the same period before." Therefore, even if he knows that being bald in a position like a leader within the organization is useless, he can't stop complaining.

The brown-haired man who had been silent until then gave a sarcastic smile.

"It can't be helped if I say something like that. Of course, this place was like a paradise, but it's not the time. I don't know what to do."

"I still can't believe it…I didn't expect the country to change so much in less than a year. what"

"That's right, I can say that."

The man in the robe picked up the mutter of the bald head and opened his mouth. The two of them looked at each other, not expecting him to enter the conversation, and then said to him.

"So, you said you went to the ceremony, right?"

"Are you actually looking at that Primordial Witch? What kind of person was she?"

"I can't help it. It's just like you said, 'monster'. I don't know any other words to describe it."

"The man who said that doesn't look good." He remembers—what he saw "half a year ago." The girl, who called herself the Primordial Witch, showed off to the crowd, the amount of magical power that was absurdly lacking in just one word! A man who had some confidence when it came to manipulating magic power, but there was a magical threat that he could not even compare with himself.

"I can't go against that. I can't even be noticed. If that happens, I can't do anything."

"Heha! Hey, hey, is that what the self-proclaimed number one magician in this country is saying? The title of a graduate of a magic school makes you cry, right?"

"No matter what... But don't forget that if I can't do anything, it means the end of the first chapter of your life."

"That's right! Hehaha"

The robed man, who was one of the newcomers among his peers, had brown hair and laughed jokingly, but the bald-headed man took the magician's words more seriously.

"Risks have gotten bigger. Returns have shrunk.

"Oh!"

"Oh, it's no use waiting any longer. Let's pull it out as soon as possible--but before that."

He leaves the country and embarks on another business. However, it is too optimistic to think that the move will be completed in its current form. In the worst case, I had a bald head that I wanted to pick up useful human resources here so that I could survive even if the mediation business could not take shape.

"Old man.

Seeing the robed man's snort as a reply, he continued.

"That's it. Besides you and that woman, I'd like to have two or three more magicians, and I want to bring someone who can be useful.... If you've graduated from a magic school, you remember that kind of person, right? "

◇◇◇

"I don't know what's going on"

The recent changes were summarized in a list of graphs and submitted, but my eyes slipped. I didn't understand anything. No, you were underestimating me... It's so hard to run a country. Too much to look at and too complicated.

To my whining, Celia responded coolly.

"It's okay if you don't understand everything. As long as you have a rough understanding of what this policy is, that's it."

"Hmm, well, that's about it, but..."

Morrow and Danbas are almost without sleep, and at this stage they are completely unpaid. I know you are trying to encourage a change.

From the end of the ceremony, in other words, just before the '10th', stronger policies will be implemented, and the security system within the royal capital will soon be renewed, so the city will become even more lively. . I can't deny that I'm just watching the flow from above, and I can't deny that it's a bit of a mosquito net.

However, when this happened, the thought that I should solve the fundamental problem that I had been worried about for a long time began to rise, and I could no longer ignore it.

"Fundamental problem." In other words, it is about the overwhelming shortage of manpower in the current system.

"Hey, Celia. It's just a little suggestion from me."

"What'll we do"

"Why don't we hire more wizards in this royal castle?"