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TL: ALT
Chapter 18 – Further Plans
In the end, the price of coffee was set at twenty gold coins per sack after roasting.
This was a concession to William, who had insisted on it.
It seems extremely cheap compared to sugar, but the problem was that no one understood coffee’s value in the first place.
If you think about it in terms of tea in this world, it is impossible to put a price on it like sugar, no matter how high quality it is.
If you drink it as medicine, that’s one thing, but if you drink it as a luxury item, the price is outrageous.
One gold coin is worth about one million yen in Japanese currency today. Even if you can drink about 25 cups from a bag, that’s 800,000 yen per cup.
Even if the person you’re dealing with is a nobleman, if you think about it calmly, it’s not a reasonable price.
As a comparison on Earth, there is the price of tea when it first came to England in the 17th century.
It was eight shillings a pound.
Roughly speaking, that would be about 24,000 yen.
It was probably William’s skill that was truly remarkable, as he boasted that he could sell it for 20 gold coins.
It was probably purchased not only for its novelty value or to gain the initiative in the transaction but also to stay on the cutting edge of fashion.
It was thought that the purchase was made not only for the coffee itself but also with the “added value” of various other considerations in mind.
“I always think when I’m with you, but is it really that easy to make money?”
“No, I’m just extraordinarily blessed. I think it’s actually a lot harder than it looks.”
“Yes, I know. Even when I worked as a mercenary or a warrior, I never made so much money so easily”.
Aire said, looking somewhat dejected.
Indeed, considering the circumstances under which she ended up as a slave despite her incredibly superior abilities, it’s not surprising that she feels out of place in her current situation.
In addition, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Wataru himself was making too much money.
“I don’t mind making money, but it’s not a healthy price, is it?”
“Master is the same. I think I feel a bit relieved.”
“I guess so. I’ve always lived a pretty ordinary life.”
“Maybe it’s better not to think about it too much?”
“That’s true, but I’d like to see more people able to drink it at a more reasonable price. But that’s hard to do right now.”
Wataru felt a little uncomfortable, although he felt bad for Mariel for trying to comfort him.
The only way to lower the price is to increase the amount in circulation.
But to do that, they would either have to increase the number of people going through the gate, or Wataru and the others would have to work hard all day long.
Both of these things are possible, but there are issues of trust and available time that stand in the way.
“By the way, Master, what are your plans for the future?”
“Well, I’ll tell you while I’m at it. Let’s hear what Aire has to say as well.”
“Yes. That’s rare. Does it have something to do with me?”
“Yes. I’m thinking of growing these coffee beans in this world. That should solve the distribution bottleneck.”
“What? Growing new crops in another world? Is that even possible? It would certainly solve the gate problem.”
Mariel looked puzzled at Wataru’s comment.
It was a reaction that said she hadn’t thought of that.
Aire’s reaction was hard to read.
She nodded and concentrated on her escort duties.
But it seemed that she was still listening to what Wataru had to say because her magnificent tiger ears twisted in response to his words.
“I don’t know. It might be possible, or it might not. I wouldn’t know even if I tried.”
“That’s true. But it seems like it would be worth a try.”
“Do you think so, Mariel?”
“Yes. If we do it now, we can solve the problem that keeps coming back.”
Mariel’s expression is radiant.
She is clearly interested.
Was she interested in taking the coffee beans to another world instead of just continuing to move them between worlds?
Or maybe it’s because this is a scene where she can use her skills.
“Coffee trees that produce coffee beans don’t grow well just anywhere on Earth.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. They tend to die easily when it gets cold, so they can only be grown in warm regions, even in winter.”
“How warm does it have to be?”
“It has to be around a certain temperature. If it’s a windy place, it can die at 5 degrees. It also needs a certain amount of rainfall. If you look at a map, you’ll see that it clearly only grows in certain areas that stretch horizontally, which is why it’s called the ‘coffee belt.'”
Coffee trees grow densely in temperate regions.
In recent years, China and other countries have been planting to meet the huge demand for coffee. It is not impossible to grow coffee in Japan if you take steps to protect it from the cold, such as covering it with plastic, but the cost is unavoidable.
If possible, it would be best to grow coffee in a natural environment.
Mariel nodded in agreement with Wataru’s explanation and began to think.
“I see. They don’t grow anywhere, do they?”
“Ah, that’s why I want to know where to plant them.”
“There are places with a certain amount of heat and rain and where the land is not attacked by monsters to the extent that it can be used for plantations. If that’s the case, then the places available here will also be limited to a certain extent.”
“Ah, so we also have to consider the effects of the monsters?”
“Depending on the location, there are cases where cultivated land has to be abandoned, so it’s a very important factor.”
Wataru hadn’t thought about the monsters at first, but now that he was told about them, they certainly seemed to be an important factor.
It could be a matter of life and death for the farmers, and the coffee trees might attract the monsters’ attention.
The search would be limited to the safest areas.
Mariel groaned and seemed reluctant to say anything.
She seemed to have an idea, but her attitude could also be interpreted as not wanting to say it.
(What is she worried about?)
“Well… no, but…”
“What, do you have a candidate in mind?”
“Y-yes… I think it fits the conditions well enough.”
“If you can, please tell me. I’ll decide whether to choose it or not after I hear it.”
After Mariel was further troubled by Wataru’s words, she bit her lip once as if she had made up her mind and then muttered.
“It’s my former territory.”
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He’s not thinking too much about the future. Sure, he wants to give commoners his coffee, but he forgets how evil nobles can be. He’s gonna make himself a target.
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Scarcity premium, huh. And a territory of fallen noble family might be involved. Was it someone’s scheme? They might now target the unknown upstart waving lots of money around as well.
Anyway, it’s pointless to worry about access to coffee by commoners too. It’s clearly a luxury item, not a necessity. You can live perfectly well without it at all.
Coincidentally, I think I’d be happy if this message box I’m typing in had disabled the keyboard shortcut Shift+Backspace. Deleting the whole paragraph by accident is too easy if you can’t even undo the action you did.
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*message box –> comment box
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