#683 Capitalism’s Poison

Thus, the irregular Orkubo’s Castle: Snow Festival Arc comes to a peaceful close, and life returns to our usual farm routine.

Then again, it’s still winter, so there isn’t much to do.

Winter is basically the farming off-season, after all.

With lots of time on our hands, I spent mine leisurely with Junior and Norito, but then...

Mr. Shax the demon merchant arrived.

Mr. Shax is the chairman of the largest company among demons.

In other words, he’s a top figure in the business world.

He frequently visits the farm, even sometimes dropping by unannounced.

“Lord Saint, will you be holding an exhibition this year...?”

“Isn’t winter almost over? Even if we start now, we won’t have enough time.”

It seems he also wants to make the farm-sponsored events an annual tradition in the Demon Kingdom.

So he brings up various topics every time he visits, and today’s topic was this:

“Do you know about the War God Velesares and Hephaestus, the God of Crafting?”

“Yes?”

Well...

I’ve met both of them in person, so...

“Both were born as sons of the celestial god Zeus and are famous divine beings among the human race. However, something strange has happened recently.”

“What’s that?”

“In the Demon King’s Castle in the Demon Kingdom, magnificent statues of Velesares and Hephaestus have been placed. It’s unprecedented for statues of celestial gods to be placed in a public place in the Demon Kingdom.”

“Is that so...!”

It’s like placing a Buddhist statue in a church, huh?

Why do I feel like this story hits close to home?

“Furthermore, it’s even more peculiar that similar statues of Velesares and Hephaestus have been placed in the army’s headquarters. And it happened simultaneously. The political and military centers of the Demon Kingdom began to treat the same gods with great respect at the exact same time. What on earth is happening?”

“Err... perhaps it’s just a coincidence?”

“However, according to the stories I’ve heard, there seem to be more places where these two pairs of statues have been placed. The Adventurer’s Guild headquarters in the Human Kingdom and even in the Mermaid Kingdom...!”

Right now, a rapid search is being conducted in my mind.

The prizes given to the winners of the recent snowball fight competition... those were the replicas of the Velesares statue made by the elves and the Hephaestus statue by the dwarves.

The originals, made of snow, had long since melted and flowed into rivers.

To remember the excitement of that day, we sent the representative sculptures, replicated in never-melting metal, to those who played a significant role in the competition...

I’ve finished conducting my search.

Demon King’s Castle = Mr. Lucife Focale’s gift.

Demon Army HQ = Mamoru’s gift.

Adventurer’s Guild HQ = Silver Wolf’s gift.

Mermaid Kingdom = Zoth Syra’s gift.

“Statues of the two gods have been erected simultaneously in major important locations worldwide. It’s hard to believe that this is just a coincidence. Perhaps these two gods have a significant impact on the world?”

I don’t think that’s the case!

However, they have been placed in remarkably selected important locations.

It’s like the deadly fist successors hitting vital pressure points.

What a winning team the snowball fight tournament had!

“Furthermore, there’s one more place where the same statues face each other in the Human Kingdom in a mundane village. What could the common point be?”

That must be Neyote’s village!

I’m sorry, boy! I can picture your village being in havoc right now, all because you were a member of the Selfless Workaholics!

In an ordinary village where a hardworking boy lived, it suddenly became on par with the Demon King’s castle, the Demon King’s army headquarters, the Adventurer’s Guild headquarters, and the Mermaid Kingdom’s capital in just one night!

“Could it be that these two gods have begun to rule the world instead of the Three Realm Deities? And the statues placed in all the major locations are proof that the world’s leaders have accepted this...?”

“Please don’t make the story any biggerrrrrrrrrrr!!!”

As things were heading in a direction that would cause trouble for Velesares, Hephaestus, and the chief gods, I confessed everything honestly.

It’s all our fault for being so thoughtlesssssss!

“Lord Saint was involved, after all. That explains everything.”

“While we were doing it, we thought everyone would be happy. That what we were doing would lead to everyone’s happiness. But after it was over and we looked back calmly... we realized how reckless we were!!!”

“Please calm down. I’m sure everyone is happy...”

Is that really the case?

Maybe so!

...Yeah, I bet it is!!!

“More importantly, I’m interested in your method to create multiple identical statues. Could you please teach me the mechanism behind it?”

As expected of Mr. Shax, he’s focusing on that aspect as a merchant.

Since there’s no reason to hide it, I openly explained the casting process using beeswax and mana metal to replicate the sculptures.

Mr. Shax listened to my explanation in silence. After a while, he finally spoke...

“...............Lord Saint, may I adopt that technology in our firm?”

He immediately tried to turn it into a profit-making venture.

“For example, if we mass-produce statues of more popular gods in the Demon Kingdom like Hades or Demetersephone, I think they’ll sell like hotcakes. If the common people are devout, they’d want to offer prayers to their ancestral gods every morning and evening. But with the current method of craftsmen carving each statue by hand, the cost is too high for common people to afford...!”

“Is it okay to mass-produce idols?”

Won’t making it too simple and easy result in losing its sacredness?

There’s this saying that though it may have the form, it cannot capture the spirit. Idol or not.

“As long as the appearance is in order, it’s fine. People would prefer to have a proper object to pray to rather than to empty space, right?”

Let’s not delve into this topic any further, as it seems dangerous.

“How about asking the elves to make an original statue of a god and reproducing it? If they can create the frame for the replicas, we can take care of the rest of the process with our workforce and financial resources...!”

“Well, if our elves are okay with it...”

It seems likely they’ll agree.

The elves living on our farm are all eager to create, after all...

“But even if you can mass-produce them easily, I don’t think you can keep the price down. I mean, they’re made of mana metal...!”

“Really, Lord Saint, why do you keep insisting on making them all out of mana metal?! You could keep the cost down if you made them out of iron, copper, or brass! Even clay would work!”

Ah, there was also that option, huh.

“Then, why not make each statue small enough to fit in your hand? The smaller the item, the lower the cost...”

“You make a very compelling point.”

And so, the negotiations continued.

Before I knew it, I, too was enjoying the project and started suggesting various ideas.

I wanted to utilize the new possibilities that came with Royal Honeybee’s arrival at the farm.

“So, for the first round, the types of statues we’ve decided to produce are...”

Hades, Demetersephone, Poseidon, Velesares, and Hephaestus (dwarf version).

“Surprisingly, it’s not just underworld gods; there’s quite a variety, huh?”

“Well, now that we’re mingling with other races, gods from other places have become quite popular. Eventually, we want to expand sales outside the demon society, so I consider this a stepping stone.”

I see.

As expected of a merchant, they have a different perspective on things.

That being said, choosing the merfolk’s chief god Poseidon made sense.

But what about the other two gods...?

“Velesares and Hephaestus have become more well-known because they’re displayed at important places in various nations. It’s a bit of a trend. As a merchant, I have to ride that wave...!”

As expected of a merchant!!!

With such calculated decisions... I feel like suggesting a new idea too!

“Mr. Shax...what about something like this?”

“Oh?”

I decided to bring up a culture I experienced in my world.

“You put the finished statues in a box and sell them without revealing what’s inside.”

“But won’t customers have a hard time getting the specific statue they want, Lord Saint?!”

That’s the point!

That’s why the customers will continue to buy until they get the one they want.

If they get dupes...

Completing the entire collection would be more challenging!

As they struggle with the duplicates, they can’t help but keep buying!

Some people might buy out the store’s inventory to complete their collection.

And the manufacturer would make a fortune.

This is the law of making a killinggggggggg!!!

Just as I got excited, the door slammed open.

It was Platy.

“Dear! That’s a sinful culture!”

...Ack!

Right... My wife’s rebuke brought me back to my senses.

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man was ready to introduce gacha