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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Raul was currently attending a meeting.
Sarasa, the general manager, and all the other head office staff from the Merchant’s Department, including Schmidt, were all present.
A similar meeting was held once a month, but Sarasa rarely attended. She only came out when there was something important to discuss.
The last time Sarasa attended this meeting was when it was decided that a new branch would be opened.
When Sarasa appeared, it would mean that something important had happened, not only for the Merchant Guild, but also for the organization known as Crown.
Everyone present understood this, and thus the atmosphere was tense.
Sarasa was also aware of this, so she smiled and spoke first.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. I think you can guess what it is, but I’m here to make an important announcement, so please be prepared.”
When she said that, it was impossible for the other attendees not to be shaken.
There were many people exchanging glances with each other. Raul was the same, and he was exchanging glances with Amentre, who was sitting next to him.
“…You didn’t say that earlier?” As expected, it was Schmidt, who was used to Sarasa’s abruptness, who recovered quickly.
Sarasa tilted her head slightly towards Schmidt.
“I don’t mind telling you, but if I say it first, won’t your attention be drawn to me?” When she said so, they could not help but agree.
To begin with, this meeting was a regular monthly report.
This was an important meeting to confirm the situation over the past month and make plans for the future.
No matter how important Sarasa’s story was, this was not a meeting that could be easily postponed.
As Sarasa said, it would be better to finish the regular report first, and listen to important matters rather than having the meeting interrupted by her.
Everyone present nodded in agreement with Sarasa’s words.
At last, they recovered from the shock of Sarasa’s participation and started the meeting as it should be.
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Even if they call it the Merchant’s Department, the work was divided into several areas.
To begin with, it was not just a Merchant’s Department, but a part of an organization called Crown that included other departments as well.
It was not just about business dealings with the outside world, but also internal dealings.
Depending on how one would look at it, it could be said that the other departments were more of an external branch, but since Crown did not completely separate its departments, sometimes complex overlaps occurs.
This was most visible at the material purchase counter next to the Adventurer’s Window.
The people working at the purchase counter were not necessarily from the Merchant’s Department or the Adventurer’s Department.
If one would put a label on them, they mostly belong to a gray area, but they were versatile people who could handle both sides.
If the people there were to be completely separated, it would have been easier from human resources development’s perspective to manage, but that was not the policy that Crown had since its establishment.
For that reason, of course, it was not enough for Raul and the other executives to know only their own specialized fields.
If the workload increases partway through, people would complain, but if they knew how to deal with the problem from the start, they could try to deal with it on their own.
From the procurement of materials and supplies from other continents, to requesting the processing of goods by the crafts department, to the delivery of the final processed goods, all kinds of reports were made on the spot.
Finally, Schmidt would deliver a general announcement on how the income and expenditure for this month went, and the current status would be confirmed through the reports of different departments.
After that, the next step was to set out the policies and goals for the future.
Even if they called them goals, they were not things that they had to achieve at all costs, as they are dealing with something like monsters, which could appear at any time.
However, it was also true that if they did not set some kind of goal, the organization would slacken. For this reason, they would set some numerical targets.
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When the discussion was over and everyone had finished, everyone’s eyes turned to Sarasa.
“Are we done?” Sarasa tilted her head and everyone nodded.
“Yes, the usual debriefing is over.” Schmidt said to Sarasa.
“Right. Then, I’ll give my report. …If you’re nervous now, you won’t be able to make the right decisions, right?” Sarasa smiled at the nervous executives.
The executives’ expressions softened somewhat at the sight of her smile.
“First, thanks to the kindness of the living god, it has become possible to greatly increase the production of Divine Engravers. This has paved the way for greatly increasing the number of branch offices.”
The room was abuzz with excitement at the first report.
The reason why the number of branches had not increased much in the last decade or so was partly because of the different agendas of each country, but there was also the problem of the Divine Engraver.
“Does that mean that the installation cost has gone down even more than before?” Schmidt asked on behalf of the others.
Schmidt himself had heard from Kousuke that they were developing a lower-cost Divine Engraver, but he had not heard that they had succeeded in developing it.
“Yes, that’s right. They say they’ve managed to reduce the cost to less than a tenth of what it was before.”
The executives heard this and began to murmur.
The problem of the installation cost of the Divine Engraver was a major issue for Crown, but the burden of that cost would be greatly reduced.
If they could install it at the price Sarasa mentioned, it would be at a cost that would not be a problem for the department, at least for setting up branches in each country’s capital.
Even though the Divine Engraver was directly related to the Adventurer’s Department, it was also significant for the Merchant’s Department.
After all, the increase in the number of branches meant that the work of the purchasing counter would also increase.
In fact, the person in charge, Raul, was turning pale. The look on his face clearly indicated that he needed to train people quickly.
Sarasa continued speaking, perhaps sensing the thoughts of Raul and the other executives.
“Please discuss with the Adventurers’ Department how you will go about updating the existing Divine Engravers and installing them in new locations. There will also be maintenance issues to consider.”
Even though the Divine Engraver was a divine tool, it still needed maintenance.
To put it simply, it did not have any convenient functions that would allow it to go without being cleaned.
For this reason, the Divine Engraver that exists now all needed to be maintained. However, this did not include the part related to the status display.
“I see. We need to discuss this as soon as possible.”
Schmidt was ready to contact Gazeran right away, but Sarasa shook her head when she saw this.
“There’s no need to rush.”
“…What?”
“This time, I am simply reporting that a new Divine Engraver has been created. How you use it to expand Crown is up to you.”
Sarasa and the others no longer give detailed instructions on business policies.
Of course, they were still conducting audits, but they had left it to the department heads and other executives to decide on the details of how Crown would be managed.
Sarasa’s words mean that they would need to expand the scope of their work as far as they could, based on an understanding of the actual situation.
“I see.”
Crown had rapidly expanded its influence in the Central Continent, but this was due to a combination of various factors.
When it came to other continents, it was clear that it would not be so easy, as long as there were countries existing.
Schmidt, who had guessed what Sarasa was trying to say, nodded to calm his over-excited feelings.
This was true not only for Schmidt, but also for the other executives, including Raul.
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