Parallel (A Virtual Gamer's Story) [Vol.1 - Vol.4 Complete]

Chapter 125: A Merchant's Battle

"What is a merchant?"

What's a merchant!? The merchants' brows rose in unison, wondering what the heck kinda dumb question that was. Who didn't know what a merchant was? Even tiny children barely out of their diapers could answer that!

Marlo Coop's brows furrowed. "You kidding?"

Miote smiled. "I know what you must be thinking. Merchants are people who buy and sell products and services. Simple, right?" At Coop's humph, he finished, "Well, I do not see it that way."

Joanne Frye's tapping slowed as she pondered on his words. With a narrow gaze, she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Consider this," Miote began, index finger raised in front of him. "Every kingdom, no matter how powerful or weak, no matter how large or small, depends on one thing to survive."

"Money?"

"Not exactly," Miote said with a shake of his head. "People. It depends on its people. Without people, there is no kingdom. An angry populace leads to a disjointed kingdom, which leads to war, which ends up in extinction."

"What's your point?" Jon Fox demanded dryly.

"What do people depend on?" Miote continued, fingers rising as he enumerated, "Food; Water; Clothing; Shelter; Medicine. These five fundamentals are imperative for every hume on this earth. And how are these essentials delivered to the people?" Miote paused, letting his words sink in as he placed his hand on the table. "Sure, if smart or strong enough, they could probably provide themselves with two to three of these necessities. But sure enough, a man good with an ax might not be as good with a hoe, nor might he be as good with a needle. Such a man would have to get these other necessities in one way or another. What is the easiest way for such a man in a rural village?"

"Trade?" Fox asked.

"Wrong," Miote refuted with a shake of his head. "There is no guarantee the woman who sells food will require the wood the first chops. To get the food he needs, he would first have to find out what the woman needs, then see if he can trade in his wood for that, before returning with it, and hoping said woman has not already sold to someone else."

"What use is this idle fallacy," Coop snorted, contempt in his gaze. "We have syros. No one trades by barter anymore."

"Yes, syros," Miote concurred, a glint in his eyes. "A universal currency accepted throughout the land, from peddlers in the swamps of Gockt, to great merchants in the Imperial City. Everyone can easily trade-in whatever they have for these pieces of 'money' and use that to get what they want for themselves. It's that simple right?"

The merchants paused, realizing the chesch was going somewhere with all this. Of them all, only Damah Dumm had a spark in his eyes, which portrayed his surprise and hidden joy.

"Wrong," Miote said, his tone grave. "Such a thought is so very wrong. Let's return to the previous example. Say, our village axeman can now trade his wood for syros. He can then use that syros to buy food. Easy." Miote paused, taking a sip from his mug before he continued, "In that village, there is a fixed amount of syros that circulates around its inhabitants forever, just on, and on, and on, without any influx from anywhere. That village will never improve, remaining stuck in its ways forever.

"Imagine a great mine with plenty of gold is found. With no way to get it out of the village, the mine becomes worthless as the inhabitants would use it up among themselves without bringing in any extra wealth.

"Worse yet, in the event, there is a commodity they do not have—say medicine, for example—they would not have a way to get it except one villager suddenly received a burst of enlightenment from the gods... hehe."