Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt - Chapter 85



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Infinite Reincarnation – Arthur Hurt Chapter 85

17-War

Arthur responded to Jaran’s words.

In fact, it was Arthur’s contribution that made the sugar merchants change their minds and stop attacking Total Care.

Arthur’s influence was also involved in the development of the new snacks for the recently launched Ridis Club.

Previously, sweet tastes that were tooth-numbingly sweet were popular, but Lydis Club introduced a sophisticated sweet taste that used sugar appropriately, and received great reviews even during the war.

At first glance, it may seem like a wicked tactic to reduce sugar demand because it doesn’t use too much sugar, but since it uses less sugar, the cost is lower, so there is a wider potential customer base. For example, up to the middle and upper class.

Moreover, thanks to the fact that they decided to share the recipe cheaply, the sugar merchants stopped attacking Total Care.

Looking at the way things are going, even if it weren’t for Total Care, the demand for sugar would have decreased because of the war. So, I can’t help but welcome the suggestion of a method to increase the demand for sugar.

However, Jaran felt a strange sense of guilt about Arthur’s strategy.

“Total Care is a business that warns against sweet addiction… … .”

And yet, behind the scenes, he used a method to increase the demand for sugar. Even though it was to end the dispute with the sugar merchant, my conscience was pricked.

Arthur responded.

“Even though the concept of sweet addiction has become known, the demand for sugar will only increase, not decrease.”

The human desire for sweetness is enormous. No matter how much sweet addiction is considered a disease, there are not many people who can escape the devilishness of sweetness. It is clear that they will try to feel sweetness as much as possible without becoming addicted to sweetness.

Arthur’s judgment was that the decrease in demand due to the total care service would only be a temporary phenomenon, and that demand for sugar would increase again from those who decided that they were not addicted to sweets or those who had figured out how much they needed to eat without gaining weight.

“That’s true, but… … .”

“Honestly, it’s not like anyone is threatening you with a knife and telling you to eat sugar.”

“Oh my.”

Speaking of which.

As I grew older and grew closer to Arthur, I often discovered Arthur’s personality that I knew but didn’t know. When I saw him donating to orphanages, he seemed very cold and cynical.

And I still had no idea where that boundary was. So I always had a cautious side to me when dealing with Arthur.

“Anyway, thank you for your hard work. You really are very talented.”

“Anyone in my shoes could have figured it out.”

Arthur tried to be humble when he heard Jaran’s compliments.

If I say it’s because of my past life experience, you’ll think I’m crazy. No, it’s better to think of me as crazy. If you believe in Arthur’s infinite past life, that could cause trouble in its own way. This was a fact based on experience.

“By the way, the war can’t be prolonged.”

“That’s why.”

Arthur chimed in with concern at Jaran’s growing concerns.

The royal family announced that the Kingdom of Skara has 20,000 elite standing troops and will defeat the Kingdom of Jatra’s army in the shortest possible time?

But Arthur did not believe such words. War always included variables. He fought the war confidently and confidently, but he could not know what would happen.

And as he feared, the war did not end quickly.

Promises to end the war before summer had disappeared, and with victory just around the corner, war bonds were being sold to civilians.

“Are you going to buy war bonds?”

“yes.”

Arthur nodded to Jaran’s question.

“how much?”

“A lot.”

“Are you confident that we will win the war?”

“no.”

Jaran’s heart sank when he heard that he had bought war bonds because he thought he would win the war.

“But why?”

“To avoid responsibility for defeat.”

If the war was lost, the royal family could blame the war not on themselves, who had started it, but on those who had not helped the country and had satisfied their own greed. And they had that much power. Buying war bonds was insurance against that.

Jarani asked with a serious expression.

“… … Do you think we’ll lose?”

“At least I don’t think we’ll win easily. Things have changed since we started the war.”

That meant things didn’t go as planned, so there was a good chance that any assurances made now could be wrong at any time.

“Even if we win, if the damage is great, our taxes will increase.”

Arthur nodded at Jaran’s muttering and gave advice.

“Consider setting aside some money for that occasion.”

Buying war bonds was insurance, but it was low-risk insurance. You also need insurance when the risk is high. That was the flight of money.

“… … You?”

Arthur waved his hand at Jaran’s words.

“I plan to secure a farm as soon as possible. I plan to contact my brother-in-law.”

War consumes enormous amounts of material. If the war did not yield sufficient benefits, it was clear that the prices of basic necessities of life would soar in the market.

In preparation for such a time, farmland had to be secured. Food was not. Unless it could be thoroughly hidden, the accumulation of food could actually incur the wrath of the royal family. If food prices fluctuated, so would public sentiment.

Of course, all of this was assuming that the war would not end well. But Arthur wasn’t saying this for nothing.

“Will things get that difficult?”

“I’m anxious. There’s no basis for it.”

Arthur’s premonitions were not always right. But it was better to be prepared and not face a crisis than to be unprepared and face a crisis.

Zarn began to ponder about hiding slush funds at Arthur’s words, and Arthur mentioned his concerns to Mrs. Zeltney and advised her to manage her risks as well.

“What should we do?”

In response to Mrs. Zeltney’s question, Arthur said:

“First of all, you need to have an emergency fund and enough assets that can be converted into cash.”

As a merchant, I guess I’ll need to come up with my own methods, but is that all that a craftsman or artisan like Mrs. Zeltney or Arthur can do?

“But you bought the land?”

“Even if you have money, you should avoid a situation where you have nothing to eat.”

In times of great famine, great riches are made, because people sell their assets for a pittance to those who have stockpiled food in order to survive.

So Arthur had already told his brother-in-law Logan about it, telling him to stockpile enough food to sustain the whole family for a year or two.

Arthur’s words made Mrs. Zeltney also feel the need to prepare for any eventuality.

“Should we first ask Catherine or Countess Tzaq?”

Arthur heeded Mrs. Zeltney’s words.

“You can’t show any signs of anxiety because you might lose the battle. Your superiors will really, really, really hate it.”

The fact that Arthur emphasized it three times meant that a much stronger reaction was expected.

Originally, rumors were often punishable as treason. In particular, rumors that could tarnish a leader’s power could lead to beheading.

At Arthur’s words, Mrs. Zeltney nodded with a stern expression and grumbled:

“It’s better not to ask.”

“I’ll look into it further and tell you how.”

“Please.”

Arthur secretly asked people around him who were in similar situations as him about hiding slush funds and how to deal with tax increases.

“Bribe the tax collector.”

“We try to keep the cost as low as possible without causing problems.”

“I will consult with a lawyer and reduce taxes as much as possible.”

Samuel, Holden, and Inuang answered in turn.

For Samuel, who had a lot of tax to pay due to his extensive commercial activities, bribing the tax collectors was the cheapest way to do so. As a guild clerk, Holden was best served by suggesting tax-saving measures to minimize the burden on the guild.

In Inuang’s case, as a salaried worker, he proposed the most moderate plan.

In the case of slush funds, he advised all three to secretly put the money in a safe containing hidden precious metals and hide it.

Arthur followed the advice and dug a hole in the corner of the house, dug up some floorboards, and buried about 20 gold bars the size of a finger. Afterwards, he covered the floorboards with the ones he had dug up, and it was perfect.

“You should also remember this well. So that you can take it out and use it when needed.”

“Things are not good?”

“Let’s prepare for any eventuality.”

Arthur didn’t bother to make Viana anxious by telling her his analysis of the current situation. Viana knew that the prices were strange anyway.

The two men buried their emergency funds in their memories and returned to their daily lives. However, the aftereffects of the war gradually spread throughout the kingdom.

“Sales are down.”

These were the words of Samuel, who manages the Ridis Club.

Arthur asked.

“Aren’t we just being pushed out by other competitors?”

“No. I found out that the entire industry is seeing declining sales.”

“So you’re cutting down on extravagances?”

“It means that the nobles are being so cautious that they have to cut down on their extravagance.”

For the aristocrats, luxury was a process of confirming their power, influence, and identity as a noble. In other words, it was something they had to do even if they didn’t want to.

But would they reduce their extravagance by looking at someone else’s face? Only the royal family could do that.

Arthur spoke quietly.

“It looks like the situation at the front is not good.”

If the war was going well, there was no reason for the nobles to be concerned about the royal family’s opinion. Rather, they would have enjoyed the kingdom’s victory by living in luxury.

“Are you going to cut staff?”

“That can’t be. It’s not a factory.”

The employees of the Lydis Club were high-class personnel who had been trained in etiquette for entertaining the nobility. They were not disposable workers who could be easily replaced like factory workers.

“Still, we need to cut down on expenses where we can.”

Arthur asked Samuel’s words.

“Which part?”

“uh…….”

Samuel looked at Arthur and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Amelia. Should I keep her?”

From Samuel’s perspective, Amelia was like a burden. The only thing she could do was sing in the third section, and Samuel thought that the popularity of ‘a young, cute, and good singer’ would not last any longer.

Arthur asked openly.

“Is Amelia’s popularity waning?”

“Uh. Kind of like that.”

At Samuel’s words, Arthur decided to check the situation for himself.

Arthur quietly entered the back door of the Lydis Club without notifying Amelia or Cho-Leng and went into the servants’ passage.

I was able to hear Amelia sing because I came in just in time for her to sing in Hall 3.

Arthur closed his eyes and listened to Amelia’s song.

After the promotional song for Lidis, Cho-reng prepared several songs. Although they were quite famous songs, they did not suit the girl’s voice.

It was natural for a young girl to sing songs sung by adult female singers, but it was also because the girl had not yet figured out how to sing the song to suit herself.

After the song ended and there was a small round of applause, Amelia came out of the third hall. The girl looked somewhat dejected as she came out. Perhaps it was because the audience’s reaction was not as good as before.