Commerce Chairman Litges.

　As soon as we left the village of Lax, we headed to the next town.
　The next town was Campbell Street.

　To carry out our plan from before.

"You fool...!　The last chance we gave you, you left me hanging...!

　Litges was a pathological pragmatist.
　For this reason, he pursued what was most profitable, and there was no morality or pride involved.

　He visited LUX village on his own because it was the most profitable for him.

　LUX Village has expertise in the sale of mithril.
　If we could capture this know-how, we would be able to sell mithril to the maximum extent possible, which would benefit our business association.

　That's why I've sent Akinami many times before, inviting him to partner with Lax Village, but the other party didn't take me up on it.
　The chief must be stubborn.

　The Chamber of Commerce has sales channels throughout the human territory. It is a vital organization in this society.
　How could he refuse to cooperate with such a Chamber of Commerce?
　It was the height of folly.

　It was the justice of the world to obey the Chamber of Commerce and to keep the money according to the Chamber of Commerce.

　Those who refused to do so had no choice but to be crushed as enemies of the world.

''Don't underestimate the power of a large organization...!

　The alliance with Campbell Street, where Litges was currently heading, had already been concluded.

　It's a good thing that they are not at ease with that city, geographically speaking, because it's the one that doesn't have the most peace of mind for Lax Village.
　It's a good idea to reiterate the hostility.

　Campbell Street is the largest in the area and takes pride in being the center of the city.
　It's status is threatened by the rise of Lax Village.

　Most of the money and people flowing into Lax Village, which has experienced an unprecedented rise in popularity due to Mithril, should have originally flowed into Campbell Street.
　On the contrary, it is not uncommon for those who originally lived on Campbell Street to move to Lax Village in search of a more affluent life.

　Leaving Lax Village on the loose any longer would be a threat to the survival of that city.
　That's probably why they jumped at the offer from the Chamber of Commerce.

　The route between the Mithril Mine and Lax Village is completely different from the route between the Mithril Mine and Lax Village, and is a transport route that originates from Campbell Street.

　If this route were to open, Campbell Street would be able to enjoy the benefits of mithril transportation and be on par with the village of Lax.

　However, even though this is easier said than done, some things are harder said than done.
　It was supposed to be an unprecedentedly large project, and the reason they couldn't go ahead with it even though they knew it would bring great benefits is that Campbell Street didn't have the financial and organizational strength to do it.

　So, through gritted teeth, I watched the village of Luxe thrive sideways, but things changed when the Chamber of Commerce got involved.

　It was because the Chamber of Commerce took the funds and manpower for the problem on its shoulders, making it possible to construct the opening construction.

　Given the blade of vengeance, Campbell Street rallied to work on the opening construction.
　Thanks to this, the construction work progressed faster than they could have imagined, and they have already opened the road to traffic.

　The Chamber of Commerce was not without speculation.

　As a matter of fact, Litges knew about it.
　Even if a second route was created to connect Campbell Street to the Mithril mine, Campbell Street would never surpass the village of Lax.

　First of all, due to the problem of the terrain, which was out of man's control, Campbell Street would only be able to carve out a large detour, and it would never surpass the Lax Village route due to efficiency issues.
　In terms of labor and other expenditures, it is one and a half times more expensive than the Lax Village route. It had already been calculated that the burden would increase by a factor of five.

　Also, the Mithril Forge, the largest profit-producing institution in Lax Village, has a skill that is out of the gate.

　Campbell Street would never be able to rival it with its brand power, and even if the same amount of skills were to be nurtured from scratch, it wasn't known how many decades it would take.

　So, inevitably, even if they could bring it into the race for mithril transportation, Campbell Street would not stand a chance.

　Even if the Chamber of Commerce had Campbell Street's backing, it was an act that was not even remotely profitable, as the money invested in it would just bubble up and disappear.

　Of course, the Chamber of Commerce cannot become a giant organization that controls the commerce of the human race if it doesn't seem to understand that.

　Litges had other intentions.
　He said that Campbell Street was just a stepping stone to reach his goal........

◆

　Arriving in Campbell Street, Litges was immediately met with a grand welcome.

'Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce!　Welcome!

　From the town's mayor to the guild master to the head of the chamber of commerce branch and more.
　The town's main and most talented people were all there to greet them. It was incomparable to the time in Lax Village.

''That's right. A merchant president is supposed to be treated to the fullest extent like this.......!

　Litges chuckled in his mind.
　He was still unhappy with the rough treatment he received in Lax Village.

It's a great honor to have the head of the Chamber of Commerce come to visit us for the first time since Campbell Street began!　Please make yourself at ease as we offer you a wholehearted hospitality!

　Although Campbell Street was also showing the top development in the area, it was still located in an area that was not so different from Lax Village.
　It was, so to speak, a remote provincial city.

　For that reason, the visit of the world's most powerful person, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, was sure to be a historic event.

It's a great honor to have the head of the Chamber of Commerce visit us!　Never before!　There is no other settlement in this region that would have such an honor as ours on Campbell Street!　I'd be terrified if the upstart Lax Village found out!

　The one who would be shaken would be the mayor who controlled Campbell Street, but he didn't know.

　The fact that the chairman of the merchant association had already visited Lax Village and then came to his town.

　On the contrary, the village of Lax Village has been visited by a hero, the president of the Center Guild, the previous hero who was touted as the strongest of all time, the previous four heavenly kings as well, several current four heavenly kings, the Lord of Hell, and the Demon King, among other eminent men and women.

　It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with your friends and family.

I'm grateful for the welcome, Mayor, but I'm here for a very specific purpose. I need to finish my business first.
'Quite right, sir!　The new transport route extending from our city is already open, sir!
Huh?

　Ritges was deeply impressed by the progress that had been made beyond what he had expected.
　He had expected it to take a few dozen more days in his estimation, but had the city's resentment towards the neighboring villages hastened the work?

　What was frightening was the power of human vindictiveness, but it was the merchant's way of using that vindictiveness to make a profit.
　In that sense, the people here in Campbell Street are very good pawns.

　They have worked hard for the Chamber of Commerce because of their hatred for Lax Village.

''I can only say thank you to the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce!　Thanks to the Chamber of Commerce for providing financial and human resources!　Because we, Campbell Street, have been able to establish a transport route with the Mithril mine that we have dreamed of for years!　If this is a 50-50 situation with Lax Village, then there's no way our Campbell Street, the original center of the city, can be defeated by a dying country village!

　Rittges thought that this was both low and old-fashioned.

　The village of Lax may have once been a cold village on the verge of extinction, but it has grown to become one of the most advanced cities in the world, not just in its neighborhood.

　If possible, Litges, as the chairman of the board of directors, wanted to make Lax Village a better business partner than Campbell Street.
　That's why he reluctantly stopped by LUX Village before coming here.

　The village chief of Lax Village is conversely too wise to accept the control of the Chamber of Commerce.

　It was still better to be foolish than overly wise.
　To manipulate him as a pawn.

　Avoiding the best and taking the next best is also necessary in business.

　But Campbell Street and the Chamber of Commerce were very different in their perceptions while working together.

　The Chamber of Commerce does not consider Campbell Street to be a business partner in the slightest, and their perception of it is that it is a "pawn".
　They were just tools to be used to achieve their goals.

　That's why Litges cleverly hid the fact that the opening of the new route alone would not be enough to defeat Lax Village in any case.
　It wasn't just their own stupidity that prevented those in Campbell Street from realizing the fact that they should be aware of it.

　After all, it was none other than the Chamber of Commerce that would benefit from the plans they had made.
　That was the case with all of the plans they had hatched so far.

　Lax Village, Campbell Street, and all the people and wealth on this earth were made to kneel to the Chamber of Commerce.
　In order to retain that ironclad rule, the Chamber of Commerce had to get it.

　The Mithril mine.

'Then let us go. To the source of wealth.

　For that reason he has put the fools to the sword and prepared the way for their glory.

　Fools always work tirelessly for the sake of the wise, with the convenient illusion that it is for their own good.
　The fool always works in the wise man's favor, with the convenient illusion that it is for his own good.