King-Chapter 1083 - 157, Times have changed

It had become clear that the issue couldn’t be resolved by discussion alone.

Scanning the countries on the Continent, Shelter VII had stubbornly failed to find a single influential ally.

Aside from the Clergy’s subordinates, the stance of the nations could generally be separated into two types: those directly opposing the Clergy and those neutrally opposing the Clergy.

The former were represented by the Frank Kingdom and the Alpha Kingdom, while the latter were represented by the Iberia Kingdom, the Three Kingdoms in the Central Continent, and numerous small nations across the Continent.

Of course, what was actually done differed from what was said.

As soon as the news of the Frank Kingdom establishing an independent Clergy broke, the Iberian People immediately came out to condemn it, and then their Clergy started making subtle moves.

The behavior of the Three Kingdoms in the Central Continent was also quite interesting, calling for calm on one hand while sending representatives to attend the conference for the independent Clergy initiated by the Frank Kingdom on the other.

The Alpha Kingdom just briefly constrained the Clergy’s tyranny without seeking further presence, but their Clergy had already entirely copied the multitude of institutions from the Clergy.

Their rebellious intentions were laid out in plain sight; no one would be surprised if a Northern Continental Church emerged one day.

Luckily, the Human Alliance Council was in a closed session, otherwise, with such turmoil, the Alliance would have been worn down to breaking point.

Mediation was impossible; the several major powers of the Human Race were the main characters in the tumult, and who among the smaller nations would dare to make thoughtless comments!

With no one within the Human Race to intervene, the Alien Coalition from outside relished the thought of them starting a direct fight, each busy fanning the flames from behind.

Fortunately, the Divine Spirit favored the Human Race. As the major Human forces fought among themselves, the internal contradictions of the Alien Coalition were gradually intensified.

It’s difficult to share adversity; it’s even harder to share prosperity.

The allocation of spoils from earlier conflicts had already caused discord among the Different Races in the Central Continent, and the imbalance in internal trade only exacerbated these tensions.

At the center of the maelstrom stood the Dwarf Kingdom, which, thanks to its monopoly in the arms market, held top positions in the trade chain.

The Elf Race was similarly among the beneficiaries; while the Dwarves forged weapons and equipment, the elves provided Magicians to inscribe Magic Formations, taking a dominant position in the high-end arms industry.

A piece of standard equipment could be traded for tons of grain and ore. Magic Equipment was invaluable, often taking a Ten Thousand People Tribe several years’ worth of work to obtain.

In the beginning, nobody noticed any problems, after all, this was just the market price.

With weapon prices remaining high, the issue wasn’t solely technical monopolies but also a lack of transparency in information.

To all Races, the advanced weapons surely cost a pretty penny to make, and so their high prices seemed justified.

But as exposure increased over time, the situation gradually changed.

Everyone was astonished to discover the production costs of these weapons and equipment were much lower than they had initially envisioned.

A threefold to fivefold profit was, after all, considered a "discounted" friendly price. Exorbitant markups of tenfold were the norm.

For some masterwork pieces, inflating the price to a hundred times the production cost was entirely possible.

With greater knowledge came imbalance in sentiments. Unwilling to be exploited, the Different Races banded together to demand the Dwarves lower their prices.

Naturally, such "unreasonable requests" were impossible to be granted.

Dwarven weapons had always been in short supply; they opened up supplies to their allies as a favor, considering everyone was in the coalition.

Outsiders looking to buy would have to pay premium prices just to get their hands on the goods.

Take it or leave it, the Dwarves did business in a straightforward manner.

The Orcs were the most miserable; due to distance, they had to make a huge detour through Alien Coalition territories to purchase weapons and equipment.

After paying the tolls along the way, the already sky-high prices were sent beyond the stratosphere. ƒrēenovelkiss.com

The exorbitant prices were not even the worst part; the true tragedy was that they were purely buyers, their domestic goods could hardly be sold.

It was not a conscious effort by their allies to drive down prices; it was the geographical location that dictated the situation.

The sea trade routes were tightly blocked by the Alpha Kingdom, and the land routes had to cross the World of Ice and Snow before they could trade with the Ancient Heritage Alliance.

Their terrible travel conditions caused most of the goods they produced to lose their trade value.

The only items left for trade were some hard commodities, such as Magic Crystals, Magic Nuclei, and Magical Materials.

Under these circumstances, the Orc Empire purchased very few weapons and equipment, yet suffered extensive outflows of wealth.

In the past, the best way to mitigate trade deficits was to take the troops and plunder the Human Race.

At this moment, the various Orc tribes within the Orc Empire were preoccupied with infighting, completely unable to join forces for plundering.

Of course, the most important reason was that there was nothing to plunder.

The Near East was only territory on paper for the Alpha Kingdom; even port locations had not been selected, and people were scarce.

The Seven Northern Provinces had just suffered calamity and were left with nothing but land and the remnants of Castles. Further afield, the Northern Border belonged to those poor yet tough to crack.

Perhaps in the hearts of many Orc tribes, there was still the expectation for the Alpha Kingdom to quickly develop the Near East and cultivate the "leeks."

Everyone was preoccupied with their own troubles, and as a result, the Continent of Aslante found itself in a period of unexpected peace. Aside from the occasional skirmish between Orc tribes, the overall situation was gradually stabilizing.

The independent Clergy scandal continued, but Hudson was no longer worried. The lack of immediate action from the Clergy meant they intended to resolve the issue diplomatically.

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