System vs Rebirth

"What? Why can't you sell it?" A middle-aged man roared at the staff.

"I'm sorry, sir. The president has told us that anyone related to Lounstein can't purchase the items."

"Do you understand what you're saying right now?"

The staff couldn't say or sell anything no matter how the middle-aged man pressured him.

"You…" The middle-aged man gritted his teeth, glaring at the staff. When he looked around, the people were staring at him in disdain. He snorted and walked away. "Just you wait. I'll remember this."

This interaction was actually observed by none other than President Matthew from the upper floor.

Next to him was Earl Canmond.

"That should be the worker from the Remane Company. It seems that they have joined hands with the Ardagan family," said Matthew with a mocking smile.

"So, that's your plan. To think you would approach me and join me in imposing the trade ban on the Ardagan family…" Earl Canmond's expression turned serious.

"Of course, unlike the Remane Company, I have two of the biggest companies in this kingdom. A lot of merchants also don't dare mess with me. Because of that, no one will be selling anything to those who are related to the Ardagan family. Without long, they will run out of supplies."

Earl Canmond looked at the middle-aged man's back. "That's good. We'll isolate him in the north. Without any more supplies, the only thing he can rely on is the Greenwood Kingdom. But he surely knows that the moment he becomes too reliant on the Greenwood Kingdom, this kingdom will use it against him."

"Of course." Matthew nodded in agreement. While he didn't care about the royal family's intervention, he certainly wanted to crush the Ardagan family. It could be said that the reason he joined their side was because their interests aligned.

"What about the price?"

"The price has been reduced to 80% of the original price because of the decrease in demand. It can't be helped, considering the Ardagan family has a lot of demands for those items."

"In that case, it will be better to decrease the production of those items for the time being."

"Yes. While the profits will decrease for a while, it should be enough to cripple the Ardagan family sooner or later."

Earl Canmond thought for a moment. "What if we sell them for ten times the original price to the Ardagan family?"

"That can't be done, Earl Canmond. If you want to make them desperate enough, you will have to force them into the corner."

Earl Canmond fell silent. On the one hand, he had been pondering all kinds of things Noel could do when backed into the corner. On the other hand, he is also suffering financially because of this.

"I'm aware of your situation, Earl Canmond. Instead of selling it to the Ardagan family, how about selling it to the people in the center of the kingdoms?"

"But won't we have to clash with the nobles around that area?"

"It can't be helped. However, there is one thing clear. Because of the reduced price, they will choose our goods instead of theirs. This should give us enough money to last until the Ardagan family collapses."

Earl Canmond contemplated. What Matthew said made sense. If they could get enough money until all of this was over, they could simply ask the royal family to take care of the mediation between them and the nobles in the center of the kingdom.

After all, they did this under the order of the royal family.

Earl Canmond asked, "In your perspective, how long will they last?"

"I believe that the Marquis was bluffing. It would be impossible to last for more than six months. But because the winter is approaching, I believe he will only last for three months. The winter is where everything begins to collapse." Matthew explained.

"I'll tell the other lords about it. Take care of the merchants."

"Understood." Matthew politely bowed with a smile. He couldn't wait for the time when Noel apologized on his knees. "How dare you look down on me, Marquis? Even if you are strong, business is a different thing."

…

"Countess. We have received the news that the nobles are starting to intrude on the market in our territory."

Countess Christina was looking at the documents when she was bothered by this piece of news. She said, "Tell those nobles not to buy anything from them."

"But won't that cause a problem? If they come here at a discounted price, we can acquire more goods from them. Besides, if we send those items to the Marquis, we can help him even more."

"What the Marquis wants is for them to be crushed. By buying the items from them, it's the same as prolonging this trade war. It's better to let them destroy themselves as the price becomes lower and lower. Only when the price is lower than half of the market price will we begin purchasing them and send them to the marquis."

Her assistant seemed not to understand the current plan. He thought that it would be beneficial to buy them right away. Unfortunately, the mistress he served had made her decision.

"Enough about that stuff, their fate is already sealed the moment they impose the trade ban. Instead, what is the progress of the road?"

Her assistant paused for a moment, gathering the reports in his mind. "We have gotten all the funds and materials. We've employed more than a thousand people just to build the road and it's expected to reach Baron Schlein in another two weeks.

"Duke Lorelei has helped us convince all the lords. They have begun making the road as well. In one month, we should be connected to Lounstein."

"How about the west?"

"The Stargaze family has done the same thing. Their progress is much faster than ours, but Earl Timberlain is much slower due to their reach."

"Good." Christina nodded, satisfied with the progress. "Just pay attention to the price and all the people that buy their products."

"Yes."

What Earl Canmond and Matthew didn't know was how much Noel's influence was at the center of the kingdom.

A lot of nobles in this area were in Noel and Stargaze's faction while the royal family faction was located much further south near the capital.

Obviously, once they heard that Marquis Ardagan was in trouble, they were eager to offer their help to relieve the situation. This would make them look like good allies.

In fact, they had been sending letters about buying the goods for him. Those were the letters that Rose gave him in the past, including the one from Christina.

However, Noel's strength was actually much more powerful than Earl Canmond and Matthew had realized.

Noel indeed asked for their help. But it wasn't in the way they would buy the items from these nobles. Instead, he wanted them to actually not purchase anything.

Countess Christina had actually purchased all those items and stored them in bulk. The item was so much that it should be enough for a month or two. Lounstein's population was still small after all.

Without the nobles purchasing them, the demands would decrease even further.

In addition, there were still some nobles from the neutral faction. When they saw that the other nobles didn't take the opportunity, they thought it would be good to get it and wait until the price returned to normal.

Yet, that was a mistake. Without other nobles purchasing those items, the price would only decrease. So they thought it would be useless to hold those items and take advantage of the opportunity.

Some of the nobles from the neutral faction were actually approached by those in Noel's faction. They were trying to convert them into Noel's faction.

They didn't understand what was going on, but it was clear that these nobles were planning something.

And that was when the price for those items dropped once more.

…

Two weeks later.

"What is happening?" Earl Canmond shouted in anger.

"…" Matthew couldn't answer him. He was also in trouble.

"Why don't you answer me? The demands drop even further. No one is buying our goods even at such a price." Earl Canmond glared at Matthew. Everything looked fine at first, but after the initial surge of demand, it kept plummeting every single day.

"The nobles have lost their desire to purchase our goods because they already have too much and the price doesn't increase anymore because the other nobles aren't purchasing them. Some of them are even thinking about selling it even lower because they want to cut their losses."

"Are you kidding me? You said that everything is going to be fine and those nobles won't be able to do anything."

Matthew bit his lips. "I don't know. The Ardagan family should also be suffering right now. We haven't heard anything about them purchasing anything. Even those merchants are currently suffering with him. If we continue doing this, they will also collapse."

"Then what? What are we supposed to do? We won't be able to last long! All the goods that are banned have their prices decreased by an average of 35%. If we continue at this rate, it will only take one more week for the price to be half."

"You have to convince those nobles, Earl. Or how about asking the nobles in the south? There are a lot of nobles from the royal faction, right?"

"Are you suggesting that I bow my head to those neutral nobles?"

"Then, do you want the economy of your city to collapse?"

Earl Canmond clenched his fists. To calm down his anger, he stepped to the side and looked at the city. Everything had begun to crumble the moment he imposed the ban. The situation in his city had reached a point where the unrest had crawled into the people's hearts.

Earl Canmond turned around while saying, "I'm going to meet the other three nobles to discuss this."