In the middle of the conversation, Andrew seemed to remember something and asked Rockefeller for permission.
"Rockefeller hyung, I think I need to leave first. I have something to do. I have to urgently gather the captains of the mercenary troops nearby by the commander's order. I think the Imperial Army will probably assign roles to the hired mercenary troops."
"Alright, I understand. Let's see each other again when we have time. Or talk to me. I can get you out of there easily."
At Rockefeller's words, all Andrew could do was smile.
"You don't have to go that far. Well, I'll go ahead then."
Andrew quickly left, and Rockefeller, who had been watching him leave, became lost in thought.
'I wish Andrew would give up his dangerous officer life and come work here...'
However, he didn't think his brother would want to work under him.
'As a soldier, he definitely has some shortcomings. Our family is completely talentless on that side.'
Nevertheless, Andrew was treated better than other officers because he was a direct subordinate of the commander, and that was due to Rockefeller's powerful influence in the empire.
'If it weren't for me, he would have been dismissed or sent to a dangerous battlefield by now.'
Rockefeller didn't worry too much about Andrew becoming an officer because he had made various efforts to ensure Andrew's safety.
'Anyway, it's a relief he looks healthy.'
As the Goldmine War began and some time passed, the price of beer began to rise unexpectedly.
The price of beer, which had been showing signs of skyrocketing even before the Goldmine War, soared to an unprecedented level along with the Dwarves' propaganda.
So, it was a great boon for Rockefeller, who had been planning to continue his beer business with Priest Carter.
The problem was that the price of beer had risen too high.
'Who would have thought we'd encounter a beer bubble in a situation like this?'
The only bubble Rockefeller knew of was the Tulip Bubble.
But who would have thought there would be a bubble in beer, of all things!
It was truly surprising, but there were more than a few suspicious points.
'No matter how I look at it, something is strange. I can understand that the price of beer is rising due to limited supply, but there's absolutely no reason for the price to jump this much...'
So, after looking into it from various angles, he found out that his brother Joshua was buying up beer indiscriminately.
And he was doing so while competing with some other force.
'I can understand Joshua buying beer, but...'
Joshua was aggressively buying up beer, which wasn't a big problem for Rockefeller.
After all, thanks to Joshua, his beer business was thriving.
However, the problem was that there was another giant force buying up beer on an even larger scale than Joshua.
'Who the hell are these people? Who on earth...'
So, through his wife and the intelligence of the Ismail family, he secretly investigated those who were buying up large quantities of beer besides Joshua.
And the result was truly shocking.
My goodness!
He never would have thought that they would be involved.
'It's truly surprising.'
Only then did Rockefeller understand why the price of beer had risen so absurdly.
It was partly due to Joshua, but in the end, they had also played a significant role.
'They really do anything that makes money.'
* * *
The Goblin Bank, which had bought up almost all of the bonds issued by the empire, began to take an interest in an intriguing event that had occurred in the empire before the outbreak of the Goldmine War.
It was the soaring price of beer.
The beer they knew was nothing more than a cheap, popular food enjoyed by humans, dwarves, and a few other races.
But now the price of that beer had risen to an unbelievable level.
"Did you hear about that? The price of beer has risen incredibly."
There had been people who had profited from the beer business during the Totem War with the dwarves, and it seemed that someone was now hoarding beer using that as a model.
"Is that true? The price of beer has risen that much?"
"It's amazing. But even so, it's just beer. No matter how much it rises, how much could it possibly be? Right?"
"Still, it's risen quite a bit. Look, this is how much the price of beer has risen."
"Hehe..."
It was an unbelievable figure.
An unprecedented event in the history of the continent.
"Is this even possible? This is just beer, after all."
"But the risen price doesn't lie."
"It seems that some people in the empire are hoarding a large amount of it, causing the price to rise like this."
As the beer talk went back and forth, someone brought up the idea.
"Hey, if we do this right, the price of beer could rise even more. Since it's come to this, why don't we buy some up and give them a taste of it?"
"Give who a taste?"
"Who else? The fools who are investing in this beer craze."
As Morgan chuckled, JP and Goldman began to smile as well.
"True, there hasn't been a single thing we've touched that didn't work out."
"There's no one richer than us in this world. If they sell, we just have to grab it all and raise the price even more."
It would have been impossible for anyone else.
But for them, nothing was impossible.
They were the richest on the continent, after all.
"How about meddling with beer while we're dealing with bonds? Not just the beer in the empire, but buying up all the beer held by elves and other races as well. Then we can control the price."
"That's a good idea. I'm in favor of it. We need to show those foolish humans the bitter taste of beer. Hehehe."
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Just when you think the beer arc is done, it pulls you back in. 😒
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