Chapter 235 - Goroun Company’s Meeting
Chapter 235 – Goroun Company’s Meeting
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There’s a small wyvern that’s going back and forth from the Big Tree Village to the Goroun Company every few days.
To be more specific, it flies once a week.
Once it arrives at the Big Tree Village, it will rest for a day then flies back to Goroun Company.
The Big Tree Village is on the other side of the dragon mountain. According to the rumor, it is at the centermost part of the forest of death.
Flying to that place is already no joke and it is also really far.
If not for the rabbit meat, it probably wouldn’t dare go there.
The Goroun Company built a special hut just for small wyverns.
They did it in order to lay down proper groundworks for the city, in addition, to prevent adventurers from subduing small wyverns.
Maa, only a fool will attack a small wyvern that has a leash but the president of the company is cautious so I even have an excellent scarf around my neck.
There was a rumor of him retiring one time but he looks really energetic recently.
He even looks rejuvenated.
If possible, I want him to teach me his secret.
Oh, there it is.
The small wyvern came so I call it.
I’ll give you rabbit meat immediately.
Hahaha, can’t wait?
Eat slowly or you’ll upset your stomach.
Ah…..
A pity I can’t take you home, small wyvern.
My name is Side Row.
I’m working for Goroun Company for the last 60 years.
An oldie who’s over 70…..No, I’m not old.
As expected, everyone was called for a meeting immediately.
A meeting.
The top business executives of the Goroun Company are now gathered.
The participants: President of the company, Michael Goroun.
Next president Maron Goroun.
Finance Director, Tito Goroun.
Purchasing Director, Randy Goroun.
Aside from these four….
The president’s secretary.
The domestic logistics manager.
The trading manager.
The shipping manager.
The foreign affairs manager for nobles.
The foreign affairs (aside from nobles) manager.
The production manager.
The security manager.
And me, the store manager of the head office in Shashaato City.
The president also performs similar to a store manager but he leave things to me since he became so busy.
We all know what will be the content of the meeting.
It will surely be related to Big Roof Shashaato.
Though the company has a little direct profit from it, nobody belittles the value of that place.
Therefore, no matter how busy everybody is, they’ll surely participate in the meeting.
Maa, there are also those whose real aim is the food after the meeting…..nobody minds though.
It’s delicious.
The meeting chairman is young master Maron.
「In spite of your busy schedule, thank you for joining. Now, let’s begin at once….」
Ever since the management of Big Roof Shashaato was entrusted to us, everyone has become more energetic.
Some were uneasy upon the news of the president stepping down a while ago but now, everything’s running okay.
「The land south of Big Roof Shashaato, the next step has been decided.」
Voices from the participants of the meeting break out.
We heard the content of each letter exchange so far in every meeting.
We heard things like “large bathhouse”, “school”, “training center”, and “casino”.
There are also a lot of unknown things suggested by village chief.
The first unknown thing he proposed is “aquarium”.
“Aquarium”, when we heard about it for the first time, all of us tilt our necks.
It seems to be a facility that displays uncooked seafood in water tanks.
That kind of facility never existed before.
Village chief suggested it because sea creatures are easy to gather because we are a port city.
We thought that such a thing is unnecessary because everyone knows about it, I mean, look how close we are to the sea…..but upon investigation, we were surprised that the residents of this city don’t know much about fishes.
Though people generally understand what a fish or a shellfish is, no one knows what kind of fish or shellfish they are.
According to village chief, its purpose is to educate everyone about sea creatures especially about the creatures that can’t be eaten.
Indeed, I thought.
There are many kinds of fishes and shellfish and there are a lot of them who are poisonous.
Because of that, we can’t just classify every fish as fish and every shellfish as shellfish.
There’s a talk about Curry Store Marla preparing to introduce seafood products too, so this might also be a part of a major plan.
So deep.
Moreover, if the merchants were informed about the names of fishes and shellfish, they can restock supply and sell easier.
If they want to order a kind of fish to the fishermen, they’ll just have to say the name.
Currently, it is hard for someone to find the fish they are looking for even to fishermen because every fish is called fish.
As for the fishermen, they don’t know which fish is rare or expensive, so the price is the same for everyone.
The present situation is full of holes and is being exploited by those with more knowledge or experience.
However, there’s no complaint since they don’t even know that they were being exploited.
Great.
However, there’s a problem.
Big Roof Shashaato is on the north side of the city.
The sea is in the south.
Village chief is worried about the location so a small water tank was prepared….
It was a serious experiment.
Fish was brought from the sea along with seawater.
However, it still failed.
According to village chief, there should be a device that must be attached to the water tank to keep the sea creatures alive.
It was a difficult conversation but it seems like Maron understands it.
Because of that, the “aquarium” plan was canceled.
However, a construction will start near the port but that’s still in the future.
So, what has been decided….
「I’ll have to say this first. What we are about to discuss is strictly confidential. You will say nothing about it even to your wife, children, parents, or siblings.」
The usual lines.
Maa, I don’t think there’s that kind of fool given the participants of this meeting.
However, a reminder is a must today.
For what reason? Since “it” has already been decided.
If any information leaks out or the plan was obstructed, even if the Goroun Company is a large company, the Goroun Company will lose face.
I heard that village chief is a tolerant person but we must not aggravate him and lose trust in the company.
We must proceed with caution.
「The land at the south of Big Roof Shashaato, we’ll turn it into a “terminal”.」
……….
I tilt my neck.
When it comes to village chief’s idea, I often don’t get them.
「Excuse me but, what kind of facility is this “terminal”?」
The first one to break the silence is the young production manager.
Young master Maron seems to have expected that question.
He took out a map he prepared.
It is a rough map of Shashaato City.
There is a marked place in the map at it is none other than the land at the south side of Big Roof Shashaato.
There are several lines that stretch from there.
It is easy to notice them since they are of different colors but….what are those lines?
They seem to go along with the main street….
「These lines are the carriage routes. A “terminal” is a resting place for horses, maintenance place of the carriage, and where the customers will get on and off.」
「So, a sort of luggage area? But, aren’t there already big ones on the east side and on the west side of the city?」
The trading manager asked that question.
He’s in charge of anything related to carriage.
「That’s not it. The one that those carriages will carry are people.」
「Even so, aren’t there already a lot of personel carriages at the east side and west side of the city?」
「They are used for traveling to another city or town. As for our carriages, they will be used to travel around this city.」
「Only around this city?」
「That’s right. The carriage will move along the route at a specific time. Anyone can get on and off anywhere they want but only along the route. The plan is to have a carriage move on a route every 30 minutes. A round trip is about an hour.」
「I see, so that’s how it is. This is in order to pull people from the facilities along the main street.」
Certainly. The routes are all extended to important facilities in the north, south, east, and west.
There’s even one of them that will pass through the Goroun Company.
「Anyone is free to get on and off wherever they want, but how will you charge the people who’ll ride them? 」
Indeed.
Riding a carriage is comfortable but it’s not cheap.
Therefore, you can say that it is a symbol of the rich too.
If one were to come to a large company to negotiate without riding a wagon, that person will probably won’t even be able to enter the door.
Someone who needs to use carriage regularly will buy a carriage and those who don’t have the ability to buy one will call out to the carriage association for services.
The people who might want to use our service will be minimal.
No, are there even people who’ll use it?
They’ll surely be anxious about the charges.
「How much will be the charge?」
Young master Randy asks immediately.
On the other hand, young master Maron did not answer immediately.
「Free of charge.」
The meeting becomes quiet.
Free?
You’re going to let everyone ride carriage for free?
There will surely be people who’ll ride them if that’s the case.
However, what are you going to do with the maintenance and other costs of running a carriage service?
Fodder is necessary for the horse and wage is necessary for the coachman.
We are all full of doubts but it seems to be expected too.
Young master Maron continues speaking.
「It will be coming from the money taken from advertisements.」
What does advertisements money means?
Money taken from advertisements?
What is that?
「We will install signboards inside and outside the carriage. The contents will be…I’ll give you an example.」
“Freshly baked soft bread.
Maron’s Bakery.
Located at Hokkaido Boulevard.”
I see.
So that’s advertising.
Currently, signboards are only located at the actual location.
Even notices are written on the wall of the facility itself.
We’ll put them now on the carriage.
Everyone who the carriage passed by will surely see it and the effect will be at the fullest when the carriage stopped when a customer will get on or off.
「At first, the Goroun Company and the Curry Store Marla will take all the advertisement rights. However, as soon as others notice the effect, they’ll surely take out money.」
Right.
Certainly.
That is something worth paying for.
No one will object.
And then, I noticed.
…….
The free carriage will go back and forth around the city.
The customers will get on.
Up to now, there’s no convenient thing that they can use to move from one place to another.
The customer’s flow will change.
And there’s more.
The value of land will change too.
The price of the land close to the route of the carriage will rise and the price of the land far from the route will drop.
…..
That kind of hit literally made me dizzy.
The city itself will change.
The others seem to have noticed it too.
After that, young master Maron,
「I’ll say it again. The content of this meeting is absolutely confidential. The draft of the route is exactly as what’s drawn on the map….if there will be change after this, whether it is increase or decrease, it is already entrusted to us, the Goroun Company. However, the condition is for the route to start at the south of Big Roof Shashaato.」
…….
In other words, we are free to do what we want on the route.
The flow of the customers and even the price of the land are within our control.
This is the same as Goroun Company amassing a massive amount of wealth.
Though we already have power in this city, with this, we will have a power that no one can defy.
Frightening.
Truly frightening.
Who in the world could think of such a scheme?
I’m sure it’s not young master Maron.
It’s not the president either.
But it is obvious since even though the Goroun Company will execute this scheme, Big Roof Shashaato will not be at any disadvantage.
There will be more customers which means more money.
The domestic logistics manager asks a question….it is only for confirmation.
「Is this village chief’s idea? I heard that he’s only been here for a few days but….he’s peerless. He is like the god of business.」
Certainly.
Let’s go to the church after this and donate.
No, let’s think about that later. Let’s get back to business.
「When this plan advances, the land at the south of Big Roof Shashaato might not be enough. I want to make it bigger in order not to get too cramped.」
「We need to hurry up and secure coachmen, horses, and carriage too.」
「I want to secure lands along the routes.」
「Don’t overdo it. If you go too far, you will win antipathy.」
「A person who’ll notice will surely appear too.」
「Have you contacted the governor?」
「I didn’t tell him the details but he already approved. However, it is the governor so there’s a possibility that the already noticed it.」
「We might need to share profits to the governor to some degree.」
「Right. However, he’s the kind that won’t take anything openly. It will be slightly troublesome.」
「Won’t it be enough to pay land tax at the future rate?」
「Land tax is it? That might cause some trouble.」
「How about non-monetary things? Why not give the governor artworks from the western country?」
Maa, this has become a casual meeting.
The real thing will start after this.
The “terminal” system.
The carriage service will be paid by advertisement money and we will profit from the land and customer flow control.
Other cities and towns will surely mimic this.
However, even if they do, they won’t achieve the same result.
In other words, they won’t be able to reach Goroun Company’s level.
「They will catch the eyes of the nobles and will be robbed. In this city, the existence of village chief protects us from any external power but if we’ll do this kind of scheme in other cities…..won’t we be inviting trouble?」
「How about trying it in a city where we are in a close relationship with nobles….」
「That might work. But let’s not do this all the places that satisfy that condition. Let’s choose big cities.」
「As for other towns and cities, let’s teach them. It will be a way of selling favor.」
「Let’s not get in touch with them first. Let’s wait for them to see the result and wait for them to lower their heads first before teaching them.」
「That might work.」
「Right.」
「Ah, but the most important thing is….」
「What are we going to do with the capital?」
「Let’s have the president and the next president have an audience with demon king-sama….」
The president and Maron shook their heads non-stop to refuse.
Wonderfully synchronized.
Truly father and son.
After a few more important points, the meeting ended.
The meeting was over.
The delicious food will be here at any moment.
They are also related to village chief.
I’m the manager of the headquarters so I have a lot of chances to eat with the president but I don’t get tired of it.
Every food is delicious.
According to village chief’s vision, commoners can eat them too.
A magnificent vision.
However, if it’s him, he might be able to do it.
Though I’ve only met him once.
「Manager Side Row. Do you have a moment?」
Oh, the president is calling.
「How can I help you?」
「It is about the breeding of the small wyvern that you proposed. You are now permitted to do so.」
Oohhh.
That’s the proposal I’ve been requesting for a long time. It is now permitted?
I love the….no, that’s not what I want to say.
Breeding small wyvern will make communication denser and will surely contribute to the administration.
「This time, a VIP will come over, may I entrust him to you?」
「Leave him to me. Should I prepare anything?」
「For the time being, everything has been taken care of. Also, since I don’t want anything bad to happen, I ask you, a well-experienced person, to do it.」
「I understand.」
After hearing my answer, the president’s atmosphere changes.
「Father-in-law-san, are you really okay with it?」
Michael Goroun.
My daughter’s husband.
「What are you worried about? Though I’m a poor grandfather now, back in the days, I managed to have a business talk with someone from the royal family.」
「As expected of father-in-law-san. Now, then….. I just want to tell you that no matter what happens, don’t let the gate-keeper dragon be angry.」
「….eh?」
「He seems to be really interested in Curry Store Marla so he’ll come here. He’s also the one who’ll teach you about breeding. Ah, he’s a shy guy so don’t take him to a place with a lot of people. If you’re troubled with anything, you can ask his servant Gucci, he’ll come with him too.」
「Wa-wait SON IN LAW!」
「It’s alright, he’ll be visiting in his human form! It’s the same as dealing with someone from the royal family!」
「What royal family! The royal family is nothing before him! How can I treat him like that!」
「Thank you in advance! I’ll have to go for a few days!」
「Waiiiii!!!!!」
The Goroun Company is busy today as usual.