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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Silavin
Along with the report that the number of Divine Engravers had been decided to be increased, Sarasa added another report.
“The current Transfer Gates in the four cardinal directions are to be increased to double the number.”
The attendees at the meeting were stunned by this news.
The murmur was more of a sign of welcome. These were expressions of hope that the increase in Transfer Gates would lead to an increase in the volume of goods in circulation.
Nevertheless, there were naturally sighs and resigned expressions. After all, if that happens, they would be even busier.
Of course, everyone here was a merchant. There was not a single person here who did not welcome this change, which they knew would increase their profits.
The plan to double the number of Transfer Gates this time was not to install more Transfer Gates in the same location, where the original Transfer Gates were. Rather, it was to install them in locations close to the ports of each town.
By installing them close to the ports, which were gateways to other continents, they were hoping that they would be used for logistics-specific purposes.
The original Transfer Gate, which had been used for both logistics and human movement, was also expected to be able to handle more people now that the logistics focus had been moved to the new Transfer Gate.
Whether it would be possible to make such a clean distinction was unknown, but at the very least, it would be possible to reduce the costs of moving goods to the port as before.
Thinking this far, it would seem like there were no disadvantages for Crown, but that was not the case.
The most obvious example of this was the fee for using the Transfer Gate.
“With the increase in Transfer Gates, will there be any change in usage fees?” The person in charge of distribution asked Sarasa this question.
At present, the rights’ holder for Transfer Gate was listed as Razequa Amamiya.
All the Transfer Gates that have been installed were concentrated on the 5th Floor, where Razequa Amamiya’s capital was located, so that was only natural.
It was not Crown, but Razequa Amamiya, that controlled the flow of people to and from the 5th Floor.
This has not changed since the time when it was an administrative organization that was the predecessor to the nation of Razequa Amamiya.
For this reason, Crown paid Razequa Amamiya a large amount of money for the use of the Transfer Gate.
From Razequa Amamiya’s point of view, Crown was a major customer for Transfer Gate usage.
Sarasa shook her head at the question from the person in charge.
“There’s no official notice yet. I can only say that it’s probably going to be the same as before.”
“I see.”
“For this, it’s up to Razequa Amamiya to decide.”
“That’s true.”
The usage fees for Transfer Gate were now based on a flat fee per person for passenger transfers. For logistical transport, it was a flat fee per volume.
That was unlikely to change significantly, but there might be some minor changes to the fees.
The usage fees, which until now have been the same, no matter where one wanted go within the Central Continent, would most likely be changed.
For Crown, which included Transfer Gate usage fees in its operating costs, Transfer Gate usage fees were the most sensitive part of its business. Especially for the adventurer sector, which was based on the premise of human movement. It was a headache inducing problem, not to mention the merchant sector, which could include the usage fee in the selling price as part of the cost.
However, the towns on the 5th Floor would not be able to exist without adventurers, so the usage fees were quite preferential for adventurers.
Even so, it was not completely free, so the fee was set at a fairly low level.
It was not like the adventurers did not have to pay a usage fee if they have a Crown Card and the fee only applies to adventurers not affiliated with Crown. It was more like Crown was paying the fee on their behalf.
It was impossible for Crown to go bankrupt due to the usage fees for Transfer Gate, but it was definitely a significant cost for Crown’s operations.
However, this was conditional on the current fees being maintained.
If the fee suddenly doubled, even Crown would find it difficult to cope.
Razequa Amamiya would never do something so unreasonable, but it was necessary to at least plan for the worst-case scenario while going about running an organization.
If the Transfer Gate usage fee were doubled, there would definitely be a sharp decrease in the number of people entering and leaving the Tower.
Even those affiliated with Crown, excluding adventurers, would have to pay for their own travel through the Transfer Gate during work hours, so they would no longer be able to come and go from the Tower as they pleased.
If there was no longer any traffic between the Tower and the outside world, there was no doubt that the development of the town on the 5th Floor would slow down.
Even if only goods and adventurers come and go, there was no way that the city would be able to develop significantly.
Razequa Amamiya, who was well aware of this, would never take such a measure.
However, it was also true that Razequa Amamiya was an organization run by people. It was possible that the management policy could suddenly change.
It was important to think carefully about how to respond to any of such changes.
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“Speaking of which, does that mean that the person in question is also moving?”
One of the participants in the meeting asked Sarasa this.
“Of course.”
“I see.”
Sarasa’s reply made many of the people nod in agreement.
Even though Razequa Amamiya was the one who managed the Transfer Gate, everyone here knows that it was the administrator, or the living god, who was ultimately in charge of setting it up.
They could not ignore the will of the living god and set up Transfer Gates on their own. In that sense, both the Razequa Amamiya Kingdom and Crown could be said to be organizations that have grown and prospered greatly thanks to the blessings of the living god.
Of course, since both of them were started by the living god, they could be called sibling organizations.
However, the focus of the two were very different.
“…I don’t know how to say this, but whenever we seem to be at a dead end, that person always comes to our aid.”
Some of the executives were smiling wryly at what he said.
As long as the headquarters was located in the Tower, it was only natural that the management relied on the administrators. However, for the merchant department of Crown in particular, they received a lot of help from them. Mainly in relation to the production of magical tools.
The materials that could be obtained in the Tower were only sold because there were products that used them.
The majority of the materials used in such products were monster materials, and these were used to make magical tools.
God Kousuke, the administrator, had been creating innovative magical tools one after another, and they had brought great benefits to Crown, which sold them.
Despite the rapid growth, the existence of such magical tools was also essential for the merchant department to be able to smoothly operate.
From the perspective of Crown, they considered Kousuke as the God of adventurers and the God who creates innovative magical tools.
Schmidt let out a sigh at the words of the executive.
“We can’t keep relying on him forever. But, it’s not in his and our interest to give away the things he’s made either.”
“In fact, I don’t think Kousuke-sama has ever thought about such a thing, right?”
Sarasa replied with a straight face to Schmidt’s grumbling.
Schmidt, who had met Kousuke many times before, knew this as well.
Even if accused of favoritism, Kousuke would probably give the sales rights for the magical tools he developed to Crown.
As long as the other party was a God, it was impossible to know how long this relationship would last, but Schmidt hoped that it would continue for as long as possible.
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