Volume 2 Maps and Explanations

The Stage of Danger — The Central Continent —

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The Central Continent is the centre of civilisation in this world. It is warm enough for the cultivation of wheat throughout the land and is also a manufacturing base, truly the centre of human civilisation.

However, because of its rich, viable land, wars have been fought continuously to gain control of it. At the very least, the region has been locked in conflict for hundreds of years.

As a result, much of the arable land has become wasteland and the blessings of the earth are not appropriately utilised.

However, everything changed twenty years ago in response to the Demon Invasion. The consensus was that the Human Kingdoms should no longer fight among each other, but instead respond to the bigger Demon threat. The Central Continent thus united and wars between countries were effectively abolished.

As a result of this, the agricultural sector stabilised and the economy became far stronger than it used to be. Of course, a lot of financial aid was also provided to the Kingdoms in the South.

The now-united Central Continent boasted an economic power, political power, and military power that far exceeded any of the Kingdoms throughout the Human World. No Kingdom could exist so long as it opposed the might of the Central Continent.

The Kingdoms of the South which had to face the brunt of the Demon Invasion found themselves especially bound to the Central Continent through financial and food aid.

At the heart of the Central Continent is the Holy Empire, where the Primarch of the Church of the Holy Spirit resides. Since all Kingdoms receive their mandate to rule from the Holy Spirit himself through the Church of Light, the Holy Church and the Holy Empire have unparalleled power.

In the Central Continent, some might even say the Holy Church and the Holy Empire are one.

The Stage of Danger — The Demon World —

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The Demon World is devoid of seas. As a result, salt is a true luxury. However, there are still streams and lakes flowing through the Demon World. Some of these lakes have very high salt contents, similar to the Dead Sea in the real world. These are, although, insufficient to feed the demand for salt for the entire Demon World.

The Demon World is not structured into countries, but rather organised into Tribes without clear delineations and borders between them.

As a result, arable and liveable land is quickly claimed and settled by some Tribes, while land in which it is very difficult to support life is owned and lived by nobody.

The Demon World offers many disadvantages from the Human World, but many advantages as well. The Demon World is far warmer, due to its position on the latitude, and hence the weather does not change very much. This is very suitable for growing crops. Therefore the Demon World has such an abundance of food crops that famine is almost unheard of.

Trenches and Oblique Formations

Young Merchant: “That is correct. Let’s assume that next year, the production of wheat goes up by 10%, either way I’ve bought 20% of all the wheat. In other words, as long as the production of wheat doesn’t go up dramatically, the total amount of wheat in the market has effectively decreased. And hence, prices cannot rise.”

Fire Dragon Lady: “—”

Young Merchant: “Moreover, I knew there was going to be a war. With the focus of the labour market and the economy shifting away, there’s no way a satisfactory harvest can be achieved. On top of that, when people hear that I’ve been buying wheat like crazy, they’ll jump on the bandwagon and further increase the demand of wheat from the market. That’s what causes inflation.”

Fire Dragon Lady: “So you’re trying to artificially create a shortage of wheat? That’s a bloodstained path…”

Young Merchant: “That’s not actually something the Union can do, but in any case, it’s an unavoidable scenario. In preparation for the war, the Landlords would have been buying up great stocks of wheat. If I stay silent, then there really will be a shortage of wheat. The most I can do is to try to discipline this shortage.”

Fire Dragon Lady: “Discipline—”

Young Merchant: “That’s right, it’s a matter of lives here. This has a 90% success rate, but some unexpected things could occur. If the production of wheat doubles from last year, then my plan would have failed tremendously. If that happens, the Union would probably have to disband.”

Fire Dragon Lady: (If that happens, there would probably be a lot of people trying to assassinate the Young Merchant. He’s playing with his life here…)

Young Merchant: “I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but don’t worry. If soldiers have to risk their lives on the battlefield, it’s not that far-fetched for me to do the same here.

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