That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Tensei shitara Slime datta Ken

[Kraco]

Episode 72


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I can't believe the author named it a "co-prosperity sphere". I wonder if it's because the Japanese schools teach nothing about their nation's imperialistic past or maybe it's just the kind of lowbrow nationalism LN/manga/anime is full of, to make the Japanese audience happier.

Anyway, it's good Rimuru is all the more certain Yuuki is an enemy. They are even drawing the adventurers' guild closer to be able to monitor it better and to create a lot of positive attitude toward Jura-Tempest within the adventurers' guild. That will make it harder for Yuuki to actually use the adventurers against Rimuru and the Jura-Tempest at large.

The merchants and dwarven gold scene was as weird as expected. "We are real merchants, we only trust the recognised currency of dwarven coins!". Then why the heck are you in Jura-Tempest, where that's not the official currency, huh? It's a pity that otherwise decent scheme was made somewhat hilarious by that nonsense detail. I wonder if the author tried to come up with a better solution but then simply gave up.

[DarthEnderX]

I can't believe the author named it a "co-prosperity sphere".

Lol! Right?!

I heard that and was like "Whoa. That's a loaded term."

I mean, on paper it sounds good. But Japan's history with executing the idea has been deeply problomatic.

[Buffalobiian]

It sounded fine to me.

I had more of an issue with how everyone were so comfortable with Veldora around.

Or the merchant who was bewildered at the coins being real. Of course being real would be the default answer.

[Kraco]

Or the merchant who was bewildered at the coins being real. Of course being real would be the default answer.

They weren't real merchants. No real merchant would behave like that. They were just pawns the "eastern merchants" tried to use to force Rimuru's hand. Considering who their master is, I reckon they might have just failed their mission and forfeited their reward, whatever it might be. I wonder if they even get to keep the dwarven gold they just received. The mafia might take all of that back. That's How Mafia Works.

[Buffalobiian]

I thought they were real merchants. I'm not sure how invested in the plan they were, but I think they were people who actually trade goods for a living and were actually interested in trading with Rimuru.

I'm not sure that there were any merchants who accepted payment in anything but Dwarven gold coins.

[Kraco]

There's no merchant that travels to Country X expecting the customers to pay in Country Y's currency, while all the time knowing full well Country X doesn't officially use that particular currency. Maybe that currency would exist in that country to some degree, maybe it wouldn't, but why would they specifically count on it? The only exception is if it was beforehand agreed that they would be paid in that currency. Like oil has been typically traded in dollars in our world. However, if that was the case, why did this whole incident happen? Rimuru would have known beforehand they need to have a lot of dwarven coin, so he would have arranged to have it ready and waiting. From this we know the foreign merchants most definitely were not promised dwarven coins when they were invited in.

Sure, technically those goons probably were merchants in their original countries, but they ceased to be merchants and became disposaple agents the moment they agreed to work for the mafia. They probably were promised some kind of big reward for it, in addition to any normal profit they would make by selling their goods. Otherwise they would have accepted any sort of valuable material as payment, knowing they could use it themselves or convert it into dwarven coins by reselling it later.

[Buffalobiian]

Sure, technically those goons probably were merchants in their original countries, but they ceased to be merchants and became disposaple agents the moment they agreed to work for the mafia. They probably were promised some kind of big reward for it, in addition to any normal profit they would make by selling their goods. Otherwise they would have accepted any sort of valuable material as payment, knowing they could use it themselves or convert it into dwarven coins by reselling it later.

"First of all, Demon Lord Clayman's assets can't be used as currency."
"They are not the currently globally-accepted currency issued by the Dwarven Kingdom."
"And stellar gold coins are worth so much that they can't be used for individual purchases."
...
"By the time I realised it, it was too late."
...
"The big store owners I'm acquainted with may be a bit more accommodating, but the small retail traders are demanding payment in cash."
"According to the rules set by the council, monetary payments must be made using coins minted in the Dwarven Kingdom."
"By the standards of the Western Provinces, the traders' demands are legitimate."
...
"Then what if we paid them in raw gold plus a little extra..."
"The traders who are wise to their own interests should agree to that... But I am vehemently opposed to it!"
...
"They'll remember us as a country that'll respond to unreasonable demands by suffering losses in the name of saving face!"
...(several episodes later)...
"I'm sure you're aware that Dwarven gold is the only currency that merchants trust."
...
"Well, as long as they're obeying international law, we won't complain."




The above is extracted from the relevant episode.




-Mjöllmile called this unreasonable towards the end of the conversation, but at the beginning he actually made it out to be quite reasonable.
-Mjöllmile said that the small merchants should be fine with gold, but they shot this down because he didn't want to set a precedent. There wasn't any actual evidence around the small merchants being pawns. It all sounds like they're here to do business, and when someone cast doubt on Rimuru's country's legitimacy, they demanded payment in the standard that they requested.
-Mjöllmile even said that the big store owners he's acquainted with might be more lenient, which implies that even those who weren't part of the setup would consider Dwarven coins the standard.

What IS quite weird is that this festival is organised as if people can eat for free or something, and Rimuru foots the bill afterwards (rather than citizens paying for their own goods). For something like this to occur, you would have expected payment methods to have been pre-organised and agreed upon. For there to be lackthereof suggests poor writing or inexperience by all trading parties (unlikely). You could chalk it up to gross assumptions (that anyone in the world would know that merchants accept only Dwarven gold - and any deal going forward implies this), but it'd still be something you'd bring up before making a deal.

[David75]

It's true that the problem is a bit contrived in that each individual merchant would have requested the proceedings of the deal BEFORE coming to Jura. They also need funds to restock, to travel to Jura. So they probably would have asked for cash before coming or at least right before the festival so that both parties show their good faith: merchant there and with goods, Jura paying a percentage upfront.
Also, no complaints about their jobs, so they are professionals who did their jobs right during the festival.
A strange situation indeed.

[Kraco]

The more details you list there, the more incompetent it just makes everyone look like. The only explanation, that woud save anyone's face, would be for the mafia (eastern merchants) to have been there from the beginning. If their man had acted as the middleman, handling those affected merchants' case with Jura-Tempest, it would have allowed them to make both parties have totally different understanding on the negotiation results. If there were no negotiations in the first place and Jura-Tempest just issued an open invitation to all foreign merchants, to come if they want to come, then it would be 100% those merchants' own fault. In fact, agreeing to pay them only in dwarven coins is the very thing that made Jura-Tempest lose face. I don't know what kind of backwards logic dictates that using your own payment method would be less honourable than using a foreign one.