Free Web NovelChapter 196: Chapter 181: The Fall of the Silver-White City State (Part 2)
’A coincidence. It must be a coincidence.’
The City Lord came down from the balcony and ordered a Human servant in the City Lord’s Mansion, "Go to that specialty store and buy a Magic Vision Device."
The servant left.
"There’s one more thing." Antinoya hesitated, unsure if she should bring it up now. The City Lord didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know Simon, right?"
"That genius artisan?" The City Lord recognized the name. His family had crafted the City Lord’s crown.
If he remembered correctly, his father had seemingly gone mad and caused the biggest explosion the city had seen in over a century.
"What about him?"
"He..." Antinoya glanced at the City Lord with some embarrassment, then said after a few seconds, "He’s in Furnace Castle right now, learning Dwarven forging techniques?"
"What did you say?" The City Lord’s composure finally broke, a look of confusion on his face. "Don’t tell me Simon is the Elf who made it to the final round?"
Antinoya couldn’t answer.
But the City Lord understood. It was Simon.
Finally, a real piece of news had surfaced.
"Why would he go learn from the Dwarves?" The City Lord couldn’t understand.
"He said he was pursuing the techniques of his dreams."
"An Elf’s dream techniques are Dwarven techniques?"
’It’s over. It’s all over.’
The City Lord was floored.
The outcome of the bladesmithing competition was completely irrelevant now. Whether they won or lost, the Elves lost.
A loss would mean the Elves weren’t good enough.
A win would mean the Dwarves were good teachers.
He had no doubt the Dwarves would think this way and promote it as such, regardless of what Simon actually learned or whether it was useful for the competition.
Then, Dwarven craftsmanship would gain greater recognition and further encroach on the Elven market.
The City State’s economy would suffer, and all sorts of hidden problems would be exposed at once.
’I’ll go down as a failed City Lord.’
"Alright, that’s enough of a report on the bladesmithing competition for today."
The City Lord waved his hand, dismissing Antinoya.
After the artisan representative left the room, the City Lord slumped into a chair with a sigh. Thanks to the minimalist decor, there wasn’t a single comfortable chair in the mansion.
It felt like everything was working against him.
He couldn’t even have a comfortable chair in his own mansion. As the City Lord, he couldn’t abandon traditional Elven aesthetics, or he would face strong opposition from the conservatives.
And if he didn’t get their votes, the City Lord would no longer be the City Lord.
’So exhausting.’
He was only a little over five hundred years old. Who knew being a City Lord would be so much trouble?
The universal suffrage system that had elected him seemed like a stumbling block, hindering change in the City State. That was another one of the hidden problems.
But he no longer wanted to think about how to change the current situation.
He just wanted that servant to come back. Forget buying the Magic Vision Device. He might as well not watch the bladesmithing competition at all.
But with his identity and status, going back on his word over a simple purchase might damage his image.
’What if I paint the Zog Group’s products as something hostile to the Elves?’
’Creating an external enemy could effectively unite the residents of the City State.’
’As the central figure uniting all factions, I would naturally become the next leader.’
’A brilliant idea!’
’Hah, what do those young Elves, only three or four hundred years old, have to compete with me? They can all take notes.’
’What crime should I pin on the Zog Group?’
’Disrupting the Elven market, destroying Elven tradition, attempting to replace the superior culture of the Elves with a blunt, overly entertaining one, making future generations of Elves adopt the same aesthetics as Dwarves.’
’Are Elves who have lost their cultural superiority still true Elves?’
’That’s a good line. It can be a slogan.’
’This is a cultural war!’
’The theme... I have a theme.’
’As for why the home of the City Lord who is boycotting Zog Group products would have a Magic Vision Device...’
’It’s for critical research, you see. As a leader, one must naturally understand one’s enemy.’
The City Lord was very pleased with his plan. In a little while, he would go and personally "critique" that Zog Group specialty store in the city.
「At the same time.」
On Tulip Street, inside the Zog Group’s specialty store for the Silver-White City State.
The store manager was bored out of his mind, playing tic-tac-toe against himself.
Even though the store was full of game consoles, he had already played them all and was now in a gaming drought.
The only reason he, the store manager, had so much time to play games was because this store had absolutely no business.
He remembered how, a month ago, he had been so excited he could barely speak when he was notified of his promotion to become the Zog Group’s Regional Sales Manager for the Silver-White City State.
He had come to the City State in high spirits and opened the shop.
After seeing how wealthy the Elves were, he was filled with hope, determined to make a name for himself here.
’I’ll become the sales champion of all the Group’s major regions, get promotions and raises, and reach the pinnacle of my life.’
However, things didn’t go as planned. The Elves were rich, alright, but they seemed to have no desire to spend.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t run promotional events. He had replicated every single event he had learned about during his training in Twin Tower City right here in the Silver-White City State.
It was useless.
Now, he wasn’t even sure if this bunch of Elves was interested in his products or not.
The Elves he managed to attract with his events were all very polite. When asked if they wanted to buy something, they would all say "yes," but that they needed to "think about it."
And then they would disappear without a trace.
But the events weren’t completely ineffective; they did attract some people.
For example, the Humans, Beastmen, Dragon-men, and Dwarfs who worked in the city.
They filled the store every day.
It made it look as if business was booming.
But this lot came to the Silver-White City State to work and earn money, not to spend it.
Every day, they’d come in, plop down in front of a Magic Vision Device, and start watching Demon Vision for free.
They even developed a seat-saving service for a fee.
The store manager thought, ’If someone can make money off this, why can’t I? It might not be much, but it’s something.’
But as soon as he started charging to watch Demon Vision, the crowd stopped coming inside.
They still came, though. They just squatted outside the store.
This, in turn, gave rise to a telescope rental service.
He was running a store; he couldn’t just keep the doors closed all day.
Besides, even if he closed the doors, the Magic Vision Devices in the display windows ran 24/7.
This was written into the detailed construction plans for authorized Zog Group stores.
All types of Zog Group stores had a very specific set of rules for decoration and operation.
The goal was that no matter where someone was, seeing such a store would immediately make them think of the Zog Group. This was called brand effect.
Keeping the Magic Vision Devices in the window display on at all times was one of those rules.
In the end, he had no choice but to cancel the plan to charge for watching Demon Vision in the store.
’Having people in the store is better than having no one. Even a false boom is still a boom.’
’Weren’t there plenty of new stores in Twin Tower City that paid a huge crowd of people to line up for their grand opening?’
After playing 22 games of tic-tac-toe against himself, racking up a 22-game winning streak and, simultaneously, a 22-game losing streak...
The store manager stood up. The evening sun was glaring, and he felt a little dazed.
Today was supposed to be a day of celebration.
He had made his first sale since the grand opening. A person dressed as a servant came into the store and bought a Magic Vision Device.
When the man first came in, he had assumed he was just another freeloader.
Just then, however, the people in the store seemed to notice something and quickly left, keeping their heads down.
"What’s going on?" the store manager asked, but no one answered.
He followed them out of the shop and saw a platform set up across the street with an Elf standing on it.
A banner was also unfurled.
On it was written: "Beware the Zog Group’s Low-Class Cultural Entertainment Corrupting Elven Civilization."
’What is this?’
’A boycott against the Zog Group? Is this the result of all my hard work promoting the store?’
He took a closer look and realized he recognized the Elf on the stage.
’If you’re doing business, you have to know the important political figures in the city.’
The one on stage was one of the candidates for the City Lord election to be held in two years.
’These Elves are nuts. Their election cycles last for decades.’
Just as he was about to get a better look at what was happening, he saw another Elf approaching from the other end of the street.
This one was even more familiar—it was the current City Lord.
’What’s the situation?’
He hadn’t been too worried when a candidate started boycotting the Zog Group. Candidates would shout all sorts of strange slogans.
Whether they could get elected or implement their policies was anyone’s guess.
But now, seeing the City Lord, he was genuinely starting to panic.
If the entire City State were to actually boycott the Zog Group, it was not something a mere regional manager like him could handle.
While the store manager was stunned, the City Lord was also panicking.
He had also noticed the platform that had been set up.
’What’s going on? Did another Elf steal the campaign idea I worked so hard to come up with?’
’Then what’s my platform going to be?’
At that moment, he noticed the store manager standing outside the shop.
’The enemy of my enemy is my friend.’
’As a political Elf, one must naturally have a flexible stance.’
He walked over to the store manager and said, "I’d like to plan an event called the ’Silver-White City State & Zog Group Cultural Exchange and Promotion Week.’ To encourage this cultural exchange, I, as the representative of the Elves, will begin by purchasing one hundred Magic Vision Devices to give to the Elves who wish to participate in the event week. What do you think?"
