A group of people declared that if they brought a large amount of food and met their conditions, they would resolve the situation.

And then, the public sentiment began to waver, ready to riot at any moment in agreement with them.

In such a situation, the Lord felt a serious danger and decided to meet the representative of these people.

“Uh, well… yes… I appreciate you bringing food from so far away. What do you want?”

The representative was essentially brandishing a sword named ‘crowd’ just outside the Lord’s Castle.

Feeling a deep anxiety about this fact, the Lord asked with a trembling voice, and the representative calmly extended a piece of paper in front of him.

“…What is this?”

“The contract conditions we requested are in there. Please check it yourself.”

“Uh…”

Feeling intense tension at the representative’s words, the Lord looked over its contents.

Immediately after that, his face, which was gripped by anxiety, hardened in an instant.

“Three times… you say?”

“Yes, that’s correct. As you know, this terrible famine is affecting not just the Empire but the entire continent. I believe you know that paying around three times the price isn’t excessively expensive under such circumstances.”

“Is… is this really not extortion? Besides, we don’t even have enough money to pay that.”

“Well, if you’re short on cash, we have our ways. Here’s a promissory note; just sign it. The interest rate won’t be great on our part either, so we’ll set it at 30% annually. But once this famine ends and next year comes, it should be easy enough to pay back that small sum then.”

“Uh… well…”

The Lord had taken a particularly hard hit during this famine.

As a result, not only the wheat but also their main products, grapes and wine, were in a dire situation.

However, if next year happened to bring a good harvest, surely gathering enough money to cover the cost of the food purchased now wouldn’t be too hard.

Of course, if next year continued to be a famine year, then things would get serious… but he thought it was unlikely that such a situation would happen two years in a row.

‘Especially since a furious crowd is growling outside the gates… Given the circumstances, shouldn’t I be at least thankful that they presented somewhat acceptable terms, even if a bit forced?’

In any case, from the start, the Lord didn’t have much choice.

Thus, feeling somewhat reluctant, he had no option but to sign the contract and promissory note.

“By the way… who are you people, really? Where are you from to bring such a large amount of food?”

The Lord asked, filled with questions while signing.

In response, the representative smiled calmly and said,

“We are merely merchants acting in case danger strikes the continent. We’ve been gathering food since the past, worried that a situation like this might arise. Isn’t there a mention of this in the Holy Scripture? The story of the prime minister who stored food in preparation for seven years of famine.”

“Ah… that story does exist…”

“We, too, follow the words of the scripture and are devout believers serving the Great Saint Magdalena. Although it’s unfortunate that we have to charge such a high price due to the current circumstances and the numerous offers of aid from elsewhere, we hope you understand that we have no wicked intent.”

By invoking the scripture and indicating they were fellow believers, the representative showed a sense of camaraderie.

Hearing his words, the Lord still harbored doubts, but he slowly nodded, thinking it might not be a bad thing.

“Ah… I understand, I won’t forget your dedication.”

“Thank you for saying that. As soon as we receive the payment, we will hand over the food to you. The distribution will be for you to decide.”

“Understood, let’s proceed with that.”

Even though he had to pay a large sum, the Lord felt some gratitude toward those who had provided him a way to breathe a little easier.

At the same time, he felt a slight affinity towards their attitudes, suggesting they were nobly dedicated to their mission.

He had no idea how this would come back to him…

*

Across the entire Empire, in a dire crisis due to the famine. However, they were able to breathe a sigh of relief thanks to food sold by a suddenly appearing mysterious group.

Although they demanded a price that was three times the city rate, which certainly could not be considered cheap, none of the Lords were cursing them.

‘We should be grateful that they’re selling us food at a time like this…’

‘They say it’s the same in other regions too, right? In these times of severe food shortages, they definitely needed that money to do this.’

‘Besides, they live following the will of the Great Saint. I can’t view the aid of fellow believers negatively.’

Of course, if they had demanded three times the price under ordinary circumstances, the Lords wouldn’t have even considered it.

Yet, in a crisis like this, they felt they had to be grateful just for the fact that food was being made available.

Thus, among the Lords, while there was some discomfort, no one spoke ill of those following the will of the Great Saint, and a somewhat positive sentiment began to form.

And at this moment…

The leader of the mysterious group, the real head of the Heretic Alliance, Santana Andreas, started to smile broadly as he looked over the staggering amount of treasure piled up in front of him.

*

“How much is all this?”

An enormous sum of money piled up like a mountain.

Seeing the staggering amounts, totaling at least several million talents, I couldn’t suppress my excitement.

‘Truly, the saying that life is about one big break is no lie. There’s a reason people cling to presents.’

Food sold at three times the normal rate.

However, this food was actually obtained from the Dragona Empire at prices below half that of the usual Sacred Empire rates, meaning our profits could be almost six times.

Additionally, since we also lent money at high interest to some Lords who were struggling financially, the long-term gains would be significant.

‘This can be called the victory of capitalism. And the time to make money hasn’t ended yet.’

At this moment, while thinking that if we could just get through this crisis, the Lords who bought food at exorbitant prices were not aware that the famine wouldn’t end so easily.

‘In the original work, the famine lasted about three years. That means we’ll have to do this three more times. And during that time, we’ll get to enjoy the honey.’

If greedily trying to take too much at once, there was a danger that the other side might get angry and overturn the table.

To maximize efficiency, the best course was to hide any hostility towards the opponent and gently coax them while securing profit.

The reason I deliberately mentioned conditions they could agree to and invoked the name of the Great Saint was all intentional.

‘With that much funding, I could turn this unfavorable situation around. Having crossed the river of no return, I’ll make sure to thoroughly put the Sacred Empire in its place.’