The Lampari Kingdom's royal family suddenly announced that it would publicly auction two iron mines within Bunta City's territory, attracting the attention of nearly every merchant guild of any means in the kingdom within a very short time.
Once the news was confirmed, the merchant guilds that flocked to Bunta City to take part in the auction included practically all of the Lampari Kingdom's leading guilds.
Everyone knew this was an excellent opportunity.
Before this, almost all the iron mines in the Lampari Kingdom had been controlled by the Joseph Family, leaving no room for anyone else.
Now, however, His Majesty the King had put two iron mines up for public auction. This undoubtedly signaled a change in the royal family's attitude toward the Joseph Family: it had begun tacitly allowing other merchant guilds to enter the iron-mining industry.
Everyone had different theories about why the royal family had suddenly done this.
The most widespread theory was that His Majesty the King had finally shown his dissatisfaction with the Joseph Family's monopoly over the kingdom's iron-mining industry, and this was a sign that he intended to move against them.
The next most common theory came from people who knew more about the Kingdom Treasury.
The Kingdom Treasury had remained at an extremely low level for years. Even when His Majesty the King wanted to take action, financial constraints always prevented him from carrying out his plans.
Left with no other choice, His Majesty the King had finally decided to exchange mineral resources owned by the royal family for enough revenue to support his other plans.
This theory was actually fairly close to the truth. Broadly speaking, the situation had indeed arisen because His Majesty the King was constrained by the Kingdom Treasury. He could not afford to buy the tens