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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Raul was checking the documents sent from the stores on the Tower Floor.
The documents contain detailed information on the types and quantities of materials purchased at each counter.
As the person in charge of purchasing materials, Raul had to compile these documents and report them at the monthly meeting of all managers.
The materials obtained at Crown’s purchasing offices in the Tower and the Central Continent were either processed or sold as they were, and this was an important part of Crown’s sales. It involved the procurement of materials that supported Crown’s income, so it was an essential department.
To begin with, Raul was a peddler who traveled around the Central Continent before Crown was established. Not just Raul, but many of the people in charge of the trading department at Crown have a background as peddlers.
Even the head of the department, who could be said to be the second most important person in the trading department, was a former peddler. In a way, this was a common sight.
After all, Schmidt, the head of the department, used his own connections to recruit people and expand the trading department in the early days of Crown. Raul had joined Crown for this reason.
Although he did not know Schmidt personally, he was introduced through a senior merchant who was on friendly terms with both of them.
Schmidt had originally been trying to recruit that senior merchant, but it appears that the senior merchant himself was thinking about retiring soon. Thus, he had recommended Raul as his replacement.
However, Schmidt, who would later be known as a great merchant, naturally could not put Raul, who he had just met, into an important position.
Thus, he was first put in charge of Crown’s purchasing department.
Raul had always been confident about the materials he sold when he was a peddler, so he was not dissatisfied with the job. On the contrary, he was excited. He was handling materials that were difficult to obtain when he was peddling, and he was becoming more and more absorbed in his work.
Raul was not aware of it, but this won Schmidt’s trust.
At around the same time, a safety point was set up in the Tower, and as there were now multiple points for purchasing items. Raul was appointed as the person in charge of coordinating the various points.
As Crown continued to grow, Raul also steadily advanced in his career.
However, Raul was not the only one to follow this career path within Crown. His colleagues, who joined at the same time, were also following a similar path.
Of course, the most successful of them all was Schmidt.
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Raul was looking at the reports that had come in from various places, and when he saw a report from a certain Floor, he frowned.
What was written there was also the number of materials purchased that had not been requested by the Adventurers’ Department.
The number of materials from that Floor had been increasing significantly for several days.
“…Are monsters becoming more active?”
He furrowed his brow and thought about it, but he could not make a judgment based on this information alone.
There were no other signs of anything unusual, so it might simply be that they have entered their breeding season. However, there had been no evidence of them entering their breeding season at this time in the last few years.
“There’s no point in thinking about it here.” Raul shook his head and stopped thinking, and called out to his subordinate, who was preparing materials nearby.
“I’m sorry, but could you ask the department manager to spare some time for me? There are some disturbing figures.”
“Yes, sir.”
The female subordinate bowed to Raul and then left the room.
She was a former slave who had been Raul’s subordinate since the time he was responsible for one of the company’s contact points.
She was very talented, and she was still useful to him.
Although she had now been freed from slavery, she had requested to continue working under Raul.
Now, she had completely taken on the role of Raul’s secretary.
Incidentally, there were quite a few people within Crown who were former slaves. This was because the slaves that Crown hired in the early days were able to demonstrate their abilities and successfully purchase themselves out of slavery.
Some of the former slaves were even in the same position as Raul.
Normally, there would be slanderous comments like ‘former slaves’ when someone heard about them, but since they have risen to the top through their abilities, there was barely any opposition over their formal identities.
On the contrary, those who made such slanderous remarks were unable to advance in their careers.
At least on the surface, no one in Crown slandered slaves.
At first, there were some who were confused about how to treat the slaves, but now, it could be said that an etiquette has become completely established.
As Raul was thinking about this, his subordinate returned, looking flustered.
“Master Raul.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Well, I went to make a reservation, and they said you could meet them right away. Are you okay with this?”
“I’ll be there right away.”
It was a sudden invitation, but Raul immediately moved without hesitation.
Everyone in the trading department knew that Schmidt was a busy person. If he missed this, it was possible that he would not be able to see him for the whole day.
Given the nature of the matter, Raul could not decide whether it was okay to wait that long. If he could see him right away, that would be best.
“Let’s take a look at the documents.”
As soon as they reached Schmidt’s room, Raul was asked to hand over the documents.
This was a process they had gone through several times before, so they did not bother with any unnecessary words.
Raul also seemed to be used to this, and he handed over the documents he had just mentioned.
“…I see.”
Schmidt looked at the documents for a few minutes, nodded once, and then looked at Raul.
“Is this all?”
“Yes, that’s all. I just hope it’s not an abnormal proliferation…”
“Yes, that’s right. Just a moment, please.”
Schmidt said this and reached for a corner of his desk. There, he found a magical device for communication.
It was an expensive magical tool that was given to each department head for emergency communication.
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If Schmidt was the head of the Merchant’s Guild, Gazeran was the head of the Adventurers’ Guild.
Gazeran, having received a message from Schmidt, promised to investigate immediately, and the meeting was adjourned for now.
The only thing that was certain was that the number of materials being collected was increasing, so the breeding between monsters may be only temporarily increasing.
For this reason, they had to dispatch adventurers to the relevant Floor to conduct a more detailed investigation.
It would take several days to report the results, so they would have to wait for the results.
In conclusion, there were no signs of a Flood, and it was thought that the number of monsters had only temporarily increased.
If a Flood were to occur, it would be a matter of concern for Crown, so this matter was investigated in detail, but the results were reported as ‘no change from usual’.
Since the results of the survey were gathered by adventurers who were actually out in the field, Raul had no intention of pursuing the matter any further.
Even if it turns out that the number of monsters had no change as the adventurers have reported, it would still be a useful reference for the future.
The accumulation of this kind of data would become an important asset for Crown, which were active within the Tower.
With these thoughts in mind, Raul continued to organize his reports.
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