“Ugh…! Ughhh!”
I was emptying the contents of my stomach into the latrine.
The cause of my vomiting was severe mental exhaustion…
Aurora Company!
What is that?!
There’s no way we can win!
They somehow manage to stockpile a massive amount of high-quality products out of nowhere, and then sell them at less than half the price of our domestic goods, at prices so low that it’s impossible to make a profit!
When they do that, there’s nothing we can do!
Selling more only deepens the deficit—there’s no way we can keep up with such a business!
How are they pulling this off? It’s a complete mystery!
And even when we tried attacking their shipments or kidnapping their employees… every single one of Aurora’s employees is a mage! How is that even possible?!
We can’t win, no matter what we do…!
Already, all of the merchants in this country, including myself, are on the brink of ruin, unable to continue business…
As merchants, we usually form guilds, regulate prices, and control the market.
If any store tries to gouge prices or sell at unreasonably low rates, other shops retaliate and impose sanctions. That’s how the system works…
Even if a shop tries to undercut others with low prices and high volume, guilds control the craftsmen who make the products and the merchants who sell raw materials to keep things in check.
But Aurora Company is different!
They belong to no guild whatsoever!
And yet, from somewhere, they manage to procure products!
We don’t know where they source their goods or who their craftsmen are, so we can’t stop them at all!
That’s why we had to bend the national policy and enact a new law: “Any foreign business operating in this country must receive approval from a national representative and allow a representative to join the board.”
It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but if we don’t, we won’t be able to survive!
If Aurora agrees to this, we might be able to infiltrate their organization and identify their suppliers and craftsmen.
We could even gain control of their management, which would allow us to take away Aurora’s overwhelming power!
That’s what we hoped for, what we were counting on…
…So what did they do?!
———’Aurora NPO! Grand Reopening!’
They, they!
They started giving away their products for free!
Their reasoning? “We’re a non-profit organization and we’re doing this for volunteer purposes, so we’re not accepting money. Therefore, we’re not a business.”
Are they insane?!
Certainly, if they aren’t accepting money, it’s no different from what churches do when they provide charity to the poor. Just like how churches hand out free soup to the needy, they can’t be treated as a business. There’s no way to tax or sanction charity.
But still! No! This is madness!
Everything, everything for free?!
This is insane—completely irrational!
But now I understand.
…Exus, Aurora’s leader!
He’s doing all of this just to torment and kill us!
He’s doing this ridiculous nonsense for that reason alone!
How… how evil can one person be?!
As Aurora began distributing free goods, the town itself started to change.
People stopped working.
The men drank from morning, then spent their time at Aurora’s brothels, only to nap afterward.
The women were no different, drinking and indulging with men, or hanging out in Aurora’s women-only establishments—what did they call them? Host clubs?
The children? They no longer helped their parents. They just played on Aurora’s gaming devices and gorged themselves on sweets at Aurora’s food courts…
No one does anything anymore.
Even the ships stopped moving. Not just transport ships, but even the fishing boats.
Because of this, exports and imports have ground to a halt, and we are all unable to do business…
Even when I order the sailors to work…
“Huh? Are you an idiot? Aurora gives us all the food, booze, and women we need. Why the hell should we bust our butts working for you?”
“You’re firing me? Hahaha! Great! Fine! Do whatever you want! I’m living my life with Aurora now!”
“Hah! Who’s gonna work for money these days? Can you give us better rewards than what Aurora provides?!”
It’s like this everywhere.
Not just the sailors—other citizens are saying the same things.
…The entire country has rotted.
Aurora has rotted it to the core!
Just because they didn’t like us, they’ve allowed the whole country to decay?
How twisted must someone be to even conceive of such a thing?!
And that’s not all!
Aurora’s also been recruiting the hard workers who remain unaffected by the rot, under the guise of “scouting”!
We are a nation of merchants, not nobles.
Even among the common folk, we know there are talented individuals.
We had intended to eventually create a system to nurture such talent, but we never had the funds…
It was one of our grand ambitions to someday gather up those skilled in the rough and give them a proper education…!
But Aurora, with its overwhelming capital, has already done it!
There are reports that they’ve been kidnapping boys and girls from the slums, sending them to their home country, Biltria, and educating them…!
Aurora Company is realizing our nation’s ideals…?!
Unforgivable!!!
It’s… it’s over.
I… I…
“Ugh?!”
M-my chest, my chest… hurts…
“Mr. Mac Clancy?!”
“S-someone get a doctor!!!”
“Nooooo!!!”
