In the Name of the Queen

"I've been there. Of course I remember what my sister said."

Roland responded with a smile.

Seeing Roland responding gently to Lisa, Sif felt inexplicably annoyed.

Oh, I remembered.

It's working time now, so she's unhappy.

"Captain, let me remind you that you should address each other by your position when working. You said that yourself."

"Yes, Your Excellency the Chief Instructor!"

Roland responded with a serious face, and then continued to report on his work.

"I first went to the Little Pudding Alchemy Workshop, where the price was the cheapest, and saw the notice board saying that the boss had made enough money and went home. Then I went to the Baker Street Alchemy Workshop and met Miss Elizabeth."

He recounted the things he encountered when purchasing yesterday in detail.

Including the fact that he went to other stores after leaving the Baker Street Alchemy Workshop, but found that the prices were exactly the same.

It was obvious that this was a premeditated and organized price increase.

"This is a monopoly." Roland concluded calmly.

"What is a monopoly?" Sif and Lisa asked in unison.

It's not surprising that they don't know about monopolies.

In this era dominated by feudalism, the concept of capital has not yet been fully popularized, let alone the high-end concept of monopoly.

Although there were state-led monopolies in special industries in the feudal era, monopolies in the form of business alliances were extremely rare.

Roland transformed into Mr. Luo and gave Lisa and Sif a simple and easy-to-understand economics class.

Although Roland himself was only half-baked, he had a super memory and could draw nutrition from the knowledge base of another world.

He explained monopoly in localized popular language.

Lisa and Sif listened very seriously.

Although my head was swollen and itchy, I still understood a little.

"You mean, they used various means to suppress and acquire shops that refused to join the alliance, and finally formed a price alliance to achieve the purpose of monopoly?"

Lisa asked in surprise.

Roland nodded and smiled with satisfaction.

What an excellent listener.

Sif frowned slightly, her brain working fast.

She had thought of it just now, but she was just a step late. Now she must have a deeper understanding.

Her eyes lit up, and she said solemnly: "The purpose of monopoly is to make more money?"

"That's right, but the harm of monopoly is far more than that."

Roland said in a deep voice: "Do you think monopoly is just to make more money? No, what they want is to have complete control of the discourse power, to sell at any price they want, and to provide any product they want."

"I could buy something at a price of more than 20% yesterday, 50% tomorrow, and even not the day after tomorrow, because merchants think it's a hassle."

"Looking for death!"

Sif tapped the table and asked in a deep voice: "This kind of behavior that disrupts the market and undermines the economic order must be brought to justice!"

Roland kept winking at her, signaling her to pay attention to her identity, and then smiled and said:

"Your Excellency the Chief Instructor, this matter is under the jurisdiction of the cabinet minister in charge of finance and economy. What we need to consider is how to replenish the supplies for the Knights."

"But."

Sif wanted to say something, and suddenly thought of a sentence Roland once said.

If the citizens of the imperial capital are not allowed to feel the greed of the cabinet ministers, how can they think well of the queen?

When the imperial capital was in dire straits, the good news that the three overseas provinces were living and working in peace and contentment kept coming from afar, and the upper class in the old imperial capital could not sit still.

At that time, they would naturally know who to support.

Sif fell into silence, carefully recalling the lesson Roland had just taught, and even began to think about how to eliminate this phenomenon in the three overseas provinces in the future.

While Sif racked her brains to think about the future, Lisa was thinking about practical problems.

"Captain, what should we do now? Otherwise, I will go to Elizabeth to discuss and give us special care?"

Roland shook his head slowly, "They have formed a price alliance, and Elizabeth can't change anything. Not to mention that she may not be willing to make concessions, even if she wants to, she has to consider many factors."

At least Roland couldn't think of a reason to significantly reduce the price.

Even if the price is reduced this time, what about next time, and the next time? You can't always ask people for help, don't you want your sister's face?

"It's a pity that the boss of Little Pudding has made enough money, otherwise you can ask him."

Lisa also felt that asking Elizabeth for help was unreliable, and sighed softly.

Roland shook his head slowly and said in a deep voice: "He didn't make enough money, but was 'made enough'. If I guess correctly, he was most likely forced to close the shop and leave, and even signed an agreement not to open an alchemy workshop in other places."

"This is called a non-compete agreement."

Sif woke up from her meditation and just heard Roland say that the boss of Little Pudding might have been forced to withdraw. She said coldly:

"Let's go find him and hire him as the armorer of the Knights. I want to see which blind merchant dares to be an enemy of the royal family."

"Okay, let's do it!"

Roland made a decision with a smile.

Lisa was stunned for a few seconds, and then she reacted quickly.

Since the alchemy industry has formed a business alliance, it is difficult to break the price monopoly.

It would be a favor to negotiate the price with Elizabeth, and it would only be a temporary solution.

She also had other reasons not to go to Elizabeth.

Roland.

Although she once thought that Elizabeth was the best choice, the past was the past, and the present is now.

Roland is the leader of the Royal Knights and a close confidant of the Queen, and has already entered the upper elite circle.

In Lisa's opinion, Elizabeth is no longer worthy of Roland.

To become Roland's wife, she must be a noble girl of noble birth or a supernatural person with outstanding strength, and she must be beautiful.

Who is Elizabeth? I don't know her.

Roland is still young, not even 19 years old, so he is not in a hurry to get married.

In two or three years, maybe he will be an earl, a marquis or even a duke.

Young people should focus on their careers and not be distracted by love.

Lisa thought seriously, selectively forgetting who had urged Roland to go on a blind date before.

Everyone thinks that finding the owner of the Little Pudding Workshop is the best choice, but how to find him?

First of all, it is ruled out to find someone through the military intelligence department.

The Military Intelligence Bureau is not so useless that it can't even handle such a small matter, but Sif has no right to mobilize them.

Lisa asked tentatively: "Captain, I remember that you have a good relationship with Alina. It should be okay to find the owner of the Little Pudding through her? We can pay according to the market price."

"Of course there is a problem, and it is a big one!"

Before Roland could speak, Sif flatly rejected Lisa's ridiculous suggestion.

"Chief Logistics Officer, we are serving the Queen of the Sussex Empire! Do you know what Alina is? She is nominally the Golden Kite Special Envoy, but in fact she is a standard foreign spy chief."

"Even if there is no extra cost to ask her to do things, I don't agree. If the matter gets out, will Her Majesty still have face? Sussex will become an international joke!"

"Since it costs money to do things, it is better to go directly to the mercenary guild. Although it costs more, it is worse than finding a foreign spy."

Sif and Lisa cast their eyes on Roland at the same time and asked in unison:

"Captain, what do you think?"

What do I think? I just want to faint immediately.

Roland complained silently.

When girls have different opinions, no matter which side they support, they will immediately offend the other side.

Girls are emotional and have no rationality at all.

He really wants to agree with everything, but the positive and negative sides of the coin cannot be obtained at the same time.

Then let the coin stand up.

Roland said calmly, "I don't think either is possible."

He pressed his hands down, motioning Lisa and Sif, who had already stood up, to sit down, and said slowly:

"Alina is a friend, but she is also a foreign spy. Between friendship and national interests, she will choose the latter without hesitation."

"Unless we have to, we shouldn't look for her."

Sif's mouth corners slightly raised, her smile as bright as the sun.

Roland coughed lightly and continued, "Looking for the mercenary guild is possible, but it costs a lot of money and is not efficient. It will take at least several days to wait for their news. It's too slow."

Lisa's mouth corners slightly raised, and her dimples were filled with joy.

Facing the expectant eyes of the two ladies, Roland said calmly, "Why not tap the potential from within? We have the best paparazzi, and he is now the captain of the reconnaissance team."