Needless to say, the so-called Knight of the Kingdom of Falmuth was naturally just another plant arranged by Ren Kuroda.
That said, while the tactic might have been somewhat old-fashioned, its effectiveness was undeniably outstanding.
After all, the cards circulating throughout the Kingdom of Falmuth were genuine. Under normal circumstances, no one would dare make jokes about the five great figures depicted on the back of those cards.
Interestingly, the first people who believed in the existence of the Underground Labyrinth were not the merchants trading with Falmuth.
They were the nobles of Falmuth themselves.
In the past, the nobles of Falmuth wouldn't have believed a single word Ren said—not even the punctuation.
But after witnessing a series of his actions, they gradually realized something.
No matter how absurd their king's decisions appeared at first…
They somehow always turned out beneficial in the end.
When Ren first collected funds to build roads, the nobles assumed His Majesty was trying to suppress them.
Now, however, those who had invested the most money were earning massive profits.
Then came the expedition to subjugate a Demon Lord.
Those who had followed him with the mindset that they might die in battle not only gained military honors, but their strength had increased dramatically as well.
In the end, what they thought would be a life-or-death campaign had turned out to feel like nothing more than a pleasant outing.
After that, when the western nations saw their king become a Demon Lord, they tried to use the Holy Empire of Lubelius to step on Falmuth.
Instead, the divine Luminous herself personally came to pay a visit.
The nobles of Falmuth knew that their king had been away for several days recently.
So there was no doubt in their minds—
This so-called Underground Labyrinth must be yet another brilliant scheme devised by their brave and wise king.
In short, after everything that had happened, the nobles of Falmuth now possessed a rather mysterious level of trust in Ren.
Setting aside their king's… unusual personal preferences…
Everything he had created so far had turned into something that made money.
At this point, if their king suddenly claimed that even human waste could generate profit, the nobles would probably believe it without hesitation.
Therefore, this Underground Labyrinth must also be profitable.
Before the foreign merchants had even realized what was happening, the nobles of Falmuth had already begun taking action.
As a result, a rather bizarre scene began appearing frequently throughout the kingdom.
Whenever merchants visiting Falmuth received a special souvenir card from local traders…
A steward or servant from some noble household would immediately approach them to buy the card.
And the prices offered became more outrageous each time.
Sometimes several noble families would even start competing fiercely over a single card.
Merchants were among the most perceptive groups of people.
After observing the strange behavior of the Falmuth nobles, many of them began to suspect that these cards were far from ordinary.
Following a series of quiet investigations, the merchants who had come to Falmuth finally uncovered the secret behind the cards.
They were essentially admission tickets that allowed people to become stronger.
And after further inquiries, they also discovered that both the Underground Labyrinth and the stories of gaining strength there were completely real.
Rumors among the nobles of Falmuth were plentiful.
Stories circulated about the eldest son of one noble family—or the daughter of another—suddenly achieving breakthroughs in strength within a short period of time.
Once the foreign merchants learned the truth, they were filled with painful regret.
They had actually sold such valuable items to those blasted nobles for cheap prices!
Worse still—
These cards had originally been distributed by the King of Falmuth as benefits specifically for the merchants themselves.
Yet those greedy nobles had taken advantage of their ignorance and snapped them up at bargain prices!
Feeling that their interests had been severely harmed, many merchants rushed to the royal palace to lodge complaints.
They claimed they had been oppressed by the nobles of Falmuth.
Most merchants who traded with Falmuth knew something about its king.
Aside from his reputation as a lolicon, he also had a long-standing dislike of nobles.
However, this time their expectations were completely overturned.
Ren did not side with them.
Instead, he calmly stated that the nobles had purchased the cards through legal means.
A willing buyer and a willing seller.
If they failed to recognize the value of the cards, that was their own problem.
There had been no oppression whatsoever.
As foreign merchants, they had no leverage against the nobles of Falmuth.
And since the king refused to intervene, they could only leave the palace in frustration.
Many of them silently resolved that if they ever received such cards again, they would never sell them—no matter the price.
Unfortunately for them…
Just as they decided to begin collecting the cards themselves, the King of Falmuth changed the rules again.
Previously, foreign merchants only needed to complete trade transactions within Falmuth to have a chance of receiving cards among their goods.
Now, however, merchants would only receive cards if their total trade volume in the kingdom reached a certain threshold.
Even then, the cards would appear randomly among their goods.
Furthermore, the number of cards distributed each day was strictly limited.
Even if merchants reached the required transaction amount, obtaining a card would still depend entirely on luck.
As for the cards Ren had distributed to local merchants, private resale was strictly forbidden.
Anyone caught doing so would be immediately expelled from the merchant guild and permanently banned from entering the Kingdom of Falmuth.
For the local merchants, the temptation of gaining strength was far less appealing than earning wealth.
After all, they were ordinary people.
Even if they possessed the cards, they couldn't challenge the labyrinth themselves.
The cards were merely something to sell for money.
Compared to the risks of illegal trading, following the king's policies brought daily profits.
There was simply no reason to take unnecessary risks.
The advertising campaign had already been launched.
Now it was time for the next step—
Scarcity marketing.
As soon as Ren's new policies were announced, not only did the merchants trading in Falmuth become anxious—
Even the nobles of Falmuth grew restless.
Because the rumors about the Underground Labyrinth were absolutely true.
Many nobles had already gained tangible benefits from it.
They already possessed status and wealth.
What they wanted now was power, so their families could continue prospering.
But with Ren's new system in place, the foreign merchants had grown wiser.
The cards known as "Proof of the Strong" had instantly become an extremely scarce resource.
Nowadays, even noble gatherings in Falmuth revolved around a single topic.
"How many sets of cards have you collected?"
"Do you have any particular types you'd be willing to sell?"
At one such gathering, a noble spoke up.
"Duke Brans, surely you have the largest number of cards in your possession?"
"I heard that when the Proof of the Strong cards first appeared on the market, your family seized the opportunity immediately."
"I've even heard that your eldest son and your granddaughter have entered the Underground Labyrinth several times already."
"Their strength has improved tremendously—and your granddaughter Alice is now the Kingdom's Number One Knight."
Another noble quickly added,
"Indeed, Your Grace. We are all nobles of Falmuth here, so I truly don't understand."
"With such a great opportunity, why would His Majesty allow foreigners to benefit from it?"
"You've managed to obtain so many sets of the Proof of the Strong."
"Do you perhaps have some… special channel?"
"Could you share a little information with us?"
Duke Brans gently swirled the red wine in his glass.
A confident smile spread across his aged face.
"Gentlemen," he said leisurely.
"Have you forgotten?"
"The Underground Labyrinth was jointly created by His Majesty Ren Kuroda and several other Demon Lords."
"And the Proof of the Strong cards are not only available in our kingdom."
"If merchants reach the required trade amount, they can also obtain them in several other regions."
"For example—the Tempest Federation, the Beast Kingdom Eurazania, the dwarven nation Dwargon, and even the territory of the Winged Folk."