SSS Ranked Merchant: Rebuilding a Broken Kingdom With Unlimited Wealth-Chapter 20: Artificial Scarcity

Lyrasia adjusted the fabric of her outfit as she and her family stepped into the grand but slightly dusty house of the village head. The building sat at the heart of the village like a dignified elder watching over its people.

Made of sturdy wood and stone, its high ceilings and carved wooden beams gave it an air of importance, though Lyrasia was pretty sure she spotted a spider chilling in the corner like it owned the place.

A butler, yes, apparently the village head had a butler, ushered them inside with a deep bow before leading them toward a grand dining hall.

The moment they entered, Sir Telio, the village head himself, stood up from his seat with open arms, his round face shining with sweat, possibly from stress... or just from existing in a humid room.

"Ah! The Eldar family, my most valued villagers! Please, sit!"

Felix, Lyrasia's father, exchanged a polite nod with Telio while Lilith curtsied gracefully, making it all seem like some noble meeting rather than a simple village dinner.

Meanwhile, Ruan was already subtly inching toward Lyrasia's side, likely to intercept her the moment she attempted anything stupid,like escape.

As the food was served, conversation remained pleasant enough. That was, until Telio cleared his throat, his voice dropping into something serious.

"I won't waste your time, Felix," he began, swirling his wine glass with an almost nervous air. "Given the importance of your family's contributions, I'd like to formally offer you a seat in the Council of Five, as the Agriculture Overseer."

"The Council of Five?"

"Yes," he nodded. "We are in need of stronger leadership over our food supply. Your knowledge and skills are invaluable. This would give you influence in village policies—"

As Telio kept talking, Lyrasia felt a wave of dread creeping in.

Politics. She hated it.

It was all bullshit.

Manipulation, deals behind closed doors, fake smiles hiding knives.

The fact that her own family was about to be roped into it? Unacceptable.

Without thinking, she quietly pushed her chair back and stood up.

That was when Ruan slid in front of her like a wall of mischief.

"Where do you think you're going?" she whispered, voice laced with amusement.

"Out."

"And miss out on this fine adult conversation?" Ruan smirked. "No way. I'm coming with you."

"Fine, let's go."

Slipping out while the adults engaged in their serious discussions, Lyrasia and Ruan crept through the hallways of the house.

While the house itself wasn't exactly a mansion, it was far too big for just Telio and his family.

A little too extravagant for a village head, don't you think?

"I don't trust this," Lyrasia muttered, scanning the area as they passed doors.

"Oh? Suspicious already?" Ruan grinned. "Didn't take you for a conspiracy theorist."

Lyrasia ignored her.

After taking a random turn, they stopped.

At the end of the hallway, was a door left slightly open. And from it? The unmistakable scent of fruit.

Ruan raised an eyebrow. "...That's weird."

They pushed the door open. And there it was.

A storage room. Packed with fresh, untouched fruits, the very same fruits that were supposedly scarce in the village. Oranges, apples, bananas, and even exotic berries sat in crates, stacked neatly as if waiting to be sold.

"Artificial scarcity..." she muttered.

Ruan crossed her arms. "Well. This just got interesting."

Artificial scarcity is when a product or resource that should be widely available is intentionally limited to drive up demand and prices.

This can be done by businesses, governments, or individuals who control the supply.

Instead of this being a natural issue like soil problems, someone was likely controlling the supply on purpose. That means the villagers weren't struggling due to bad harvests but because someone was making sure that food was distributed unevenly, probably for their own gain.

"I'm surprised. Whoever is doing this is certainly educated. They're smart."

"Seriously? You think it's impressive they're hiding this?"

"Didn't you notice anything about the flow of the products?"

"Flow what now?"

There was no use explaining this to a child so she sighed.

"Someone's trying to keep sources so that it'll be rare."

"Eh? This could just be a rich people thing."

For once, they had a point. It was harsh to conclude that this was artificial scarcity as she didn't have much faith if they could really pull a trick like this.

But if this wasn't proof of artificial scarcity, nothing was. The village had been struggling to find fruits, yet here was a hidden hoard, untouched and left to waste.

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Someone was controlling the supply, and whoever it was had no problem letting people believe fruit was scarce while keeping a secret stash for themselves.

Lyrasia wasn't satisfied with just looking. She needed more proof.

"Let's check the dates," she said. "If there are fresh ones hidden here too, then someone is actively restocking this place."

She shuffled closer, barely suppressing a groan at her tiny baby legs, while Ruan helped move a few boxes. Beneath the older crates filled with rotting fruit, there were fresher ones, far too new to belong to last season's harvest.

"This proves it," she said. "Someone's hiding fruit from the village, and they're still getting more."

"But who?"

The two of them exchanged glances, their minds spinning with possibilities. The village head? His council? A secret underground fruit-smuggling operation?

THUD!

A single box, perched precariously at the top, wobbled and then toppled over.

"Ah, I accidentally... hit it..."

The fruit inside tumbled, bouncing, rolling, and splattering across the floor in a sticky, chaotic mess.

Lyrasia and Ruan looked at each other, then at the door, just as it swung open.

"What on earth are you two doing here?!"

The old man stormed inside, eyes wide with horror at the fruit carnage before him. His sunken eyes flickered with something dangerous.

'Oh no,' Lyrasia knew that look.

The look of a man who hated witnesses.

Beside her, Ruan stiffened. Lyrasia could already see it—interrogations, suspicious glances, a one-way trip to the village's underground fruit dungeon, if that even existed. She had to do something.

Something drastic.

Something foolproof.

Something baby.

She took a deep breath.

"WAAAAAHHHHHH!!"

The sheer volume of her wailing shook the room. If the fruit disaster wasn't enough of a mess, this definitely was.

"W-Wait, why is she crying?!" the village chief's wife gasped.

"She—She saw the fruits fall, and it—traumatized her!" Ruan stammered, immediately catching on.

"Oh gods! I—We—What do we do?!" he panicked, wringing his hands.

BAM!

"Lyrasia?! What happened?!" Lilith rushed to scoop her up, eyes darting between her bawling child and the mess of fruit.

Felix frowned. "Did something happen here?"

The village chief stiffened.

'I suppose having a baby does have it perks...'