Reincarnated as an Alchemist - If i have no cheat then, i just have to make one

Chapter 83 - The Meeting (2)

"Let's move to the next topic."

I picked the next batch of documents. It was a quite thick report compared to the previous one. 

"This report came from a team of two consisting of Trull and Billy. I tasked them with the mission of being an information gatherer from merchant circles. I had Trull to open a smithy in the ducal town of the Maximillian Territory with Billy acting as the clerk as well as the guard of the store.

After a long time doing business, he had managed to make contact with various firms and companies. There were many famous adventurers and upper echelon nobles and military personnel who had indebted to Trull's weapons and skill.

In this document, there's a list of nobles who hold neutrality against the current Maximillian Government. There are also several major companies that had moved their main office outside the Maximillian Territory. As for military personnel, after the church started producing the 'Holy Arms' the number of the upper echelons of the Military had been decreasing their visit on Trull's smithy. The same thing also happened in the other smithy Trull knew from the Blacksmith association.

Billy had also included some reports on the price fluctuation inside Maximillian prior to the throne's usurpation. From the gist of things, the prices of the food and common commodities had increased tenfold. This price probably will still rise to several-fold than today after the Maximillian had decided to eradicate the beastkin."

I said finishing the summary of the report. Mother's expression tensed up. It seems like she felt the graveness of the situation in Maximillian. As a former saint, she probably felt conflicted seeing the people of her homeland had suffered from the tyranny of their lord.

"Ren-sama"

Karina raised her hand.

"I would like to express my opinion on this. In this case, the Maximillian had its economy declining as they had been losing the trust of many major firms and companies. The rising prices mean that the merchants inside the territory had to import most of the commodities from outside. However, in the report, it was said that the military had gradually stopped visiting the smithy after the development of 'Holy Arms' by the church. It also can be said that the military had completely depended on the 'Holy Arms' instead of the good and high-quality weapons made by a skilled blacksmith. And about this 'Holy Arms', I bet everyone here wished to know what they are and where they come from."

Karina said.

"Thank you, Karina. About the 'Holy Arms', the detail will be explained in the next report."

I said. I put down Trull's report and picked a large batch of the report. This was the thickest report among the reports coming from outside.

"Etto, is that report about the 'Holy Arms'?"

Nova asked. He had thought that the piles of paper were consisting of many reports on different aspects. He wouldn't even thought that half of them was only consisting of the movements of the church.

"Half of them is, but mostly this report only based on the gathered rumor on the slums, pubs, adventurer guilds, and only several parts are coming from direct investigation."

I said.

"In this report, it was explained that the church had gathered many orphans, homeless, and some criminals throughout the capital and its surroundings. This was done under the pretense of giving them shelter and guidance for the teaching of their faith.

When he was undergoing his investigation on this matter under the disguise of searching the lost pet, our agent, Callisto, had witnessed the direct kidnapping done by the church's agent. The victim in this report indicated that the kidnapping target had moved toward the ordinary civilians living in the slums.