Helping with Adventurer Party Management - Chapter 197

With the normalization of distribution by inter-city merchants, I find myself with a substantial amount of capital.

This capital will likely decrease as the demand for Guardian Shoes falls and prices stabilize, but that’s still in the future, and I actually want to stabilize the prices.

What’s important is that as a manufacturer of Guardian Shoes, I continue to produce a large quantity of shoes at a consistent pace and provide them to adventurers.

Only through stable, long-term supply can customers feel secure, and inter-city merchants engaged in distribution can support the business with a long-term perspective.

Trust cannot be established by one party making demands alone. We must also build a track record with the inter-city merchants to establish a trust relationship.

The track record our company needs to build is to continuously supply excellent products.

By doing so, the profit per pair may gradually decrease, but I hope the inter-city merchants will continue to form alliances and expand their business scale. I envision businesses emerging that pursue economies of scale and the benefits that come with it. As long as the business environment for the shoes we provide remains stable, larger distributors will surely emerge.

I want the distribution industry to transition from an adventurous, gambling business into a stable profession. It’s a long road ahead, but if we don’t support and develop the distribution industry in this manner, our company will face difficulties in the long run.

I want the inter-city merchants to understand that business is not a zero-sum game where one person’s gain results in another’s loss, but rather a win-win scenario where mutual cooperation increases profits for all.

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With the distribution issues among inter-city merchants somewhat resolved, I return to the business plan for the church.

The prototype for pioneers shoes have been completed, and with the dramatic increase in business revenue, the business plan becomes much easier.

That said, it would be best if the shoe business for pioneers could turn a profit from the start.

Since Father Nicolo has moved to another city with the Cardinal, I won’t be able to speak with him directly for several months.

He is likely energetically working to provide funds to another noble, separate from the Count.

High-ranking priests like the Cardinal have a high level of credibility. With that credibility, they can raise funds at lower interest rates. By lending the funds procured at low rates to noble pioneers with less trustworthiness than themselves, the Cardinal earns a profit on the interest, while the nobles can obtain funds at lower rates than if they sourced them on their own, thus easing the burden of interest on the vast amounts of capital needed for their ventures.

Even if a noble were to default on the loan, it wouldn’t be a problem. An organization as powerful as the church has no trouble wielding the authority needed for collection, and there is no shortage of noble assets to collect from.

All they have to do is buy the profitable privileges from the nobles, such as the right to tax crops, the right to use port facilities, and the poll tax from citizens. However, since the church’s authority would be compromised if it collected debts directly, they rely on the cooperation of wealthy merchants who collect the debts and turn them into cash. But those wealthy merchants have the nobles and the church backing them.

The world may have changed, but it is still structured in a way that benefits those with significant capital and power. In that environment, Father Nicolo continues to serve as the Cardinal’s trusted adviser, working to raise funds for the church. The thought of needing to devise a business plan convincing enough to impress such a shrewd man makes my stomach churn.

Fortunately, Father Nicolo is absent, but Deacon Michelino appears to be staying in the city. I decided to visit Deacon Michelino in the living quarters attached to the cathedral in the first-class district, armed with a prototype shoe and a rough business plan. I want to gauge his thoughts on it before the actual presentation to Father Nicolo.

By the way, Anne hasn’t mentioned joining me this time. Apparently, she is still quite upset about not being able to meet the Cardinal during her previous visit.