The more chaotic the Orc Empire became, the more peaceful the Near East Region grew. Great nobles who had initially lacked confidence in the Near East development plan could not help increasing their bets after seeing the Orc Empire descend into civil war.
For a time, New Moon Port became even more prosperous. Ships came and went every day in an endless stream.
Although transit taxes had been waived, the massive flow of people still brought countless riches to Snow Moon Territory. Other places continued to lose money as they should, but New Moon Port achieved a balance between income and expenditure.
Even without counting the monopoly businesses under the Ministry of Commerce, ordinary commercial taxes and rent alone covered administrative costs, with a surplus to spare.
Without question, this was a good start. This year's shop rents had only been charged symbolically. With the current volume of traffic, failing to add a zero to next year's rental income would be letting all those customers down.
As time passed and the Near East Region underwent deeper development, New Moon Port's visitor traffic would continue to rise.
By then, commercial tax revenues and rental income would rise with the tide, giving the port the ability to support the territory in return.
The good news did not end there. With war raging in the Orc Empire, smuggling became increasingly prosperous as well.
The prices of all goods related to war kept climbing. Whatever stock the smugglers had, the Beastfolk bought it all.
If they lacked enough cash to pay, they used slaves and livestock to settle their debts. Since the war began, the number of livestock and slaves pouring into Snow Moon Territory had directly increased fivefold.
The side effect of the rapidly increasing supply was a swift collapse in prices. If