Raphael took a sip of coffee and calmly began weaving his lies. "I think we shouldn't focus on Backlund, but on the northern regions that suffered the worst losses.
"I've been there several times, both during the war and after it ended. There are far too many places that need rebuilding."
Raphael leaned forward and spoke in a compelling voice. "They don't lack building materials. They lack funds!
"Let's take Berdan as an example-"
Raphael had originally intended to use Conston as his example, since it had suffered greater destruction. However, just two days earlier, the newspapers had reported that all the damaged buildings in Conston had miraculously returned to their original state overnight.
Many people claimed to have made a wish to a "wandering magician," only for their wishes to actually come true. Many believed that this magician had worked the miracle.
Raphael knew perfectly well that Klein was digesting his potion.
The comparison left Raphael feeling thoroughly outclassed. Look at how a Seer could digest his potion by playing a holy man and doing good deeds. Meanwhile, Raphael could only digest his own through fraud and deception.
Giving his head a slight shake, Raphael continued in an honest, dependable tone. "Berdan changed hands twice in repeated fighting between the Loen and Feysac armies. There was even street fighting, so more than half the city's buildings suffered varying degrees of damage.
"But reconstruction in Berdan has been extremely slow. Feysac plundered these places so thoroughly that there simply aren't enough funds to rebuild them, and the banks can't offer many loans right now either.
"This is an enormous business opportunity. I've already held discussions with Berdan-no, with all the badly damaged cities in the north. The people currently rebuilding factories in Berdan are the merchants who originally operated them.