Wizards: Starting as a Potions Master!

Chapter 110 The Malicious Competition of the Othello Family

Pera conveyed two messages to Sunan through the wolf pack effect. The first was that Baron Simon had recently, for some unknown reason, gained the support of the Othello family, the monopolistic merchants of the Platinum Commercial Republic.

Baron Simon, who was originally terrified of Su Nan, immediately stood up straight.

Baron Simon and the Othello family established a commercial town within Simon's territory that looked exactly like Maple Leaf Town.

Furthermore, the town they established, called "Simon Town," disregarded the enormous losses of dozens of gold coins they were losing every day and provided huge cost subsidies to all merchants and customers.

In this way, customers in the surrounding commercial town hardly needed to spend any money when buying things.

Merchants entering Simon Town also benefited; although their goods were sold almost for free, they could seek subsidies from the Othello family.

On the contrary, they can sell faster, so it's a very good thing for them.

After all, what merchants fear most is having their goods stuck with them, so even just buying all the goods they have at the average price is a dream come true for them.

But this is a completely unprofitable deal.

The Othello family is losing money every single moment.

This is not normal business at all.

Su Nan immediately realized that this was a competitive approach with characteristics of early-stage capital.

Monopoly capital thinks it has more money than others, so it doesn't compete with others on who has better technology or who provides better service. What if it can't compete on technology?

What if we can't compete on service?

Then just throw money at it!

They initially operate at a loss, then forcefully use excessive funds to crush their competitors.

Because of the low price, competitors cannot operate at a loss indefinitely.

After monopolizing the industry, they can then raise prices and sell goods at extremely high prices to recoup the costs incurred previously.

Even in the past, this was just a despicable practice in the early days of capitalism.

This approach benefits no one but the capital itself, not even the customers.

It's a huge blow to the entire industry!

In a mature capitalist society, there would be a series of laws to restrict and combat such egregious behavior.

But in this day and age, the Platinum Commercial Republic operates as a maritime trade republic, reaping wealth from other countries through trade, so it doesn't need to care about legality.

This is the main source of income for that country.

Otherwise, it would just be a broken, isolated island nation.

In fact, the Platinum Commercial Republic is also a country that has long been involved in the Storm Kingdom, after all, the Storm Knights and these merchants once occupied the current land together.

However, the Platinum Commercial Republic has long been active in the Stormwind Keep capital region, and even owns many islands there that were seized from other countries for trade. But no one expected that they would intervene in the Southern Thrace region, which is far away from the Stormwind Keep capital region and the Duke's city region.

Su Nan raised an eyebrow and told Pera to hold back and ignore Baron Simon and everyone from the Platinum Commercial Republic, even though they were currently engaging in some provocative behavior.

Pera told Sunan that Baron Simon and the Othello family had actually gone directly into their market, telling merchants and customers about the many benefits of entering their town of Simon.

However, Su Nan instructed Pera to remain inactive for the time being.

First, he now needs to focus most of his energy on digesting the Four Seasons Garden. Second, Maple Leaf Town has become a market with a relatively stable channel for exchanging ancient books, which Su Nan will not easily give up.

Baron Simon and the Othello family wanted to use business tactics to undermine their Maple Leaf Town, but they forgot one thing...

I don't need to care what business tactics they use at all...

Just flip the table and burn down the commercial town they've built. They can build it and burn it down every time.

The reason why the Othello family was able to succeed in many countries and regions, easily crushing the local economy with money and then controlling the local area through trade and economy, was simply because the countries they dealt with were relatively small and chaotic.

For example, the Storm Kingdom is a typical example.

If the Storm Kingdom were an authoritarian state like the Eastern Empire, or a powerful and well-equipped Western United Empire, where every lord was formidable, then the Platinum Commercial Republic, which dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, would have been utterly defeated long ago.

Therefore, Su Nan decided to ignore this matter for the time being and let them work hard first. When he returned, he would wipe out the town they had built overnight.

Su Nan muttered to himself, "I really need to establish a few puppet nobles around my territory. That way, there won't be any foolish barons daring to provoke me."

"But if that's the case, then let's just find a way to get me promoted to a noble title. To get promoted, we either need the help of the Archbishop of the Storm Church, or we need the help of the royal family."

However, the royal family has just lost a king, and their own territory may also be without a bishop.

It seems that neither side is in a good mood right now.

It doesn't matter, their bad mood has nothing to do with me. Even if everyone is in a bad mood, it won't affect my upgrading of territory and title.

Pera then told Sunan a second piece of information: Julia Peter, his cousin who was closely related to him and was the daughter of his father's brother, had recently started dating.

Su Nan initially found it strange. Julia was almost twenty years old, so it was normal for her to want to get married. As a noblewoman, she would naturally plan ahead and marry a nobleman with a deep and prestigious background.

In this era, a noblewoman without suitors might be questioned about whether she possessed sufficient charm.

It's quite normal for a noblewoman to be surrounded by several young men.

This is quite different from the practice of keeping a backup lover in later generations. After all, noblewomen have a high status, and Julia also has the right to inherit a vineyard in another territory. Marrying her would mean receiving a vineyard with relatively high economic value as a dowry, so even young barons might be motivated to pursue her.

However, Pera points out that the man currently pursuing Julia is none other than Galen Othello, a nobleman from a core family of the Othello family who recently arrived in Simon Territory on behalf of the Othello family.

Su Nan narrowed his eyes. As a commercial nobleman of the Platinum Commercial Republic and a member of one of the five hundred noble families that dominate the Republic behind the scenes, Galen Othello's father was likely a member of the Committee of Ten or the Council of Sixty. Therefore, his purpose in pursuing his cousin Julia, who was not famous and seemed very ordinary, seemed very suspicious.

Su Nan asked from among the wolves, "So what's Julia's attitude?"

Su Nan immediately considered several possibilities. If Julia had developed a romantic mindset, he would have to send her directly back to her own estate.

Pera said, "Miss Julia, I have refused many times, but as an outsider and servant, it is inappropriate for me to interfere in matters between my masters. Young master, you are the head of the household; perhaps only you can inquire about this matter directly."

In this era, women's rights were still greatly suppressed. For example, unmarried noblewomen needed to be accompanied by maids when they went out and could not walk on the street alone.

However, this can actually be considered a form of protection.

After all, the world is not yet safe enough for a young noblewoman to travel alone without encountering any danger.

Su Nan said, "I understand. Keep an eye on her for now. I have more important things to do."

"That's all for now."

"I will handle this matter separately when I get back."

"Julia is usually a pretty smart girl. I don't think she'd be stupid enough to fall for a boy from a rival family after being pursued a few times. Tell my uncle, Father Louis, about this. He has the right and the authority to handle this matter."

"Don't contact me for the next half day, because I may need to maintain a high level of concentration for a while."

Su Nan gestured to Wolf Two with his eyes to first go up the wooden stairs and enter the wizard tower to test the female sorcerer who might be inside.

(End of this chapter)