"Well, what do you think, Mr. Peggin Borntov?"

"Gnu......"

Pegin Borntov's face is twisted in frustration.

"Have you seen what I've discovered about mages?"

Paelova boasts.

At this moment the Prince interrupted.

"That's enough. Paelova's mage skills are first-rate, everyone knows that.

This may have been intended to prevent further discord between the two men, but it proved fruitless. Peggin uttered a line that could be taken as a sigh of defeat.

"I admit that you are the best. But is it the best?　You'll have to wait until you see the golem that our Gloma Tray is making."

Paelova snickered at that.

"I see. So you're bragging after the fact. That's quite a trick, isn't it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"......I understand your feelings, Sir, but we've already exceeded the time of today's meeting. This is the end of the meeting.

With that, the spoon-fed Duke turned and disappeared into the back of the room.

"Indeed, we can't afford to get bogged down in trivial matters, can we? I will leave you now at ......, Pegin-Borntov."

Paelova also said this and left without waiting for Pegin's reply.

Behind her back, she seemed to hear and , but she ignored them all with the confidence of a victor.

The winner ignored everything with an air of composure.

You did good today, didn't you?

"Yes, sir."

Paelova and Jed were talking alone.

"I hope we've been able to keep the Committee of Ten in check a little.

"It could be considered so. But there's still a long way to go.

"Yes, but there is still a long way to go. ...... that Peggin is not so easy to deal with. If we can handle him, the other nine will be no problem.

That's for sure.

Jin, huh? I'm starting to have a hard time believing ...... that his memory is hazy. I don't know what the hell he's doing here.

I have no idea. I can't read it.

Jed Alamordo also tilted his head.

"The most likely explanation is that he is lost, but I still have no idea how he could have ended up in the village of Tadzie.

"You have no idea either. ......"

"Not at all."

Good, at least we're not enemies.

Well, he's not aggressive, so as long as we don't try anything rash, I think we'll be fine.

I understand. But that's not the point. Definitely get Jin to ......, and Eira and Katya too. Do not let them go. It would be a loss for our country."

"I'm sorry, sir. We will do everything we can.

"...... This is not going to get us out of this situation anytime soon."

* * *

Jin and his friends were having dinner together.

"The food in Gongwang Castle is delicious!

"It's delicious.

"The fish is fresh, the soup is rich in broth, and there must be plenty of seasonings."

Jin thought, "It's a good thing they have a warp gate for trade.

"And the tea is delicious."

As Jin sipped his after-dinner green tea, a question suddenly occurred to him about trade.

"......How do they finance the purchase of these goods?"

Katya took advantage of Jin's words.

"Oh, that's what I was wondering too. I wonder what they pay for it?"

The value of gold is almost the same in each country. The monetary economy of this world was based on the gold standard.

Or rather, paper money does not exist.

In the time Jin knows ......, that is, around the year 3460, the population was still in a state of decline due to the magical wars, so the gold coins issued before the wars and the silver coins and copper coins issued after the wars were in a state of surplus. The gold, silver, silver coins, and copper coins issued before the war were in abundance, and each country had to hold on to them to make adjustments.

What about this period?

The duchy can't issue money. If they paid in money, there would be no money left in the country.

Eira explained.

"I don't know much about economics either. I don't know much about the economy because I'm not familiar with it, but I heard that the big countries have some sort of to decide what kind of money to issue. Don't ask me what the criteria are or anything like that, okay?"

"The World Conference, ......."

Jin was deeply moved when he heard the word.

The world congress proposed by the Jin and others, which is probably still going on today.

"This country doesn't have anything to be proud of, does it?

Eira's voice snapped Jin out of his reverie.

"No matter how you look at it, I don't think we have the goods to match the magecrystals and magic tools.

"I think Eira's opinion is correct. If they are not paid in money, it means that they are goods that can be exchanged equivalently. ......"

He has no idea of such an item.

"You don't think it's ...... people, do you?"

"What?

"What?"

Eira and Kaechea responded to Jin's jokingly whispered words.

"People ...... or ......"

"You're encouraging high fertility. ....... I thought you were trying to grow the country by increasing the population. ......"

"Oh, come on, I was only joking."

It just reminded me of the stories you sometimes see in historical dramas, about the exfiltration of the Nanban trade, and the daughters who are kidnapped ...... in exchange.

"It's not funny because it's not impossible," he said.

"But how many people go missing?　Even Katya's brothers and sisters are there, aren't they?"

"I think ...... is ......, but ......."

The words came back to me in a halting tone.

"Oh, and there's also the possibility that they're not really independent, and that they're getting these supplies as a courtesy from the home country.

Jin tried to make up a theory, but it was completely unconvincing.

Then, he tried to forcefully change the subject.

"......Since we are in King's Landing, we might as well take the opportunity to ask them about it."

Jin said that he would not dare to ask Paelova or Jed because he felt that they would be indifferent to the question.

There was nothing to be gained by aggravating the relationship.

"Yes, that's true."

"I agree with you on that."

Katya and Eira agreed.

"Why don't you ask that guy ...... Gloma?"

When Jin said this, Eira gave him a look of obvious displeasure.

"I don't like him. He's kind of frivolous and I don't know what he's thinking. In the first place, a good mage wouldn't want to come all the way to this country.

Jin couldn't help but laugh at that line.

"Eira, you're putting yourself on the shelf, aren't you?"

"What?　......Woo......You're probably right. But I'm not happy with the way things are, and he seems to be happy with the way things are.

"Yeah, sure. <

"He said that?"

Eira said as if to throw up, "This is getting more and more suspicious.

In the end, the night in Mahaleague ended with many things remaining a mystery.