Merchant Reckoning and the Yalk Island Gambit
“Welcome. What brings you all the way to the battalion on such a chilly day?”
I addressed Hops—the same guy from last time—with a completely clueless look on my face.
Who’s that guy next to him?
Unlike the day he’d come with the village chief, there was a man standing beside Hops who looked younger.
Vice president or something like that?
I decided I didn’t need to know and turned my attention elsewhere for now.
“Company commander, we’ve heard some ridiculous rumor that you’ve set up a barbecue joint in the battalion and you’re grilling meat there.”
“Yeah, that’s right. Any reason it shouldn’t be?”
“Our village shops’ sales have plummeted because of it. How could you do this?”
“Hmm.”
Just as I’d expected from Hops.
I’d figured he’d come up with something a bit more plausible, but there wasn’t even a hint of actual thought put into it.
“So your sales are down, which makes the barbecue joint unreasonable? Whether we build one or not seems like the battalion’s business, doesn’t it?”
“This is about the livelihoods of the village folk. Are you telling us—the ones who’ve made a living selling to soldiers—to hit the streets now?”
“That’s right, company commander. Our butcher shop’s sales have halved in the past week. We’ll go under at this rate.”
The man beside him backed up Hops’s words.
“And who might you be?”
“I’m Horen, running Dongjang BBQ in Retop Village.”
“Ah, that place.”
“Have you been there before?”
“No. Just heard of it.”
To be precise, it was one of the shops that came up during my recent investigation.
“Come by the shop, and I’ll treat you like royalty. So please, spare me.”
Horen’s voice was desperate.
Honestly, I hadn’t liked him from the start.
“Let’s cut the crap. You should’ve known not to treat soldiers like total suckers. You crossed the line.”
“Pardon…?”
“What does that mean?”
They looked utterly baffled.
In the meantime, I picked up the documents I’d prepared.
“Let’s start with Dongjang BBQ, shall we? Hmm, looks like you jacked up prices just for soldiers. What kind of sales tactic is that?”
Regular customers paid 8 silver per serving of meat, but soldiers got hit with 10.
“That’s… now we charge more because soldiers order extra sides.”
“You sell fixed portions of meat, then hike the price using sides as an excuse. So what about the deputy company commander over there? She eats less than civilians, but has to pay more?”
“Uh…”
I pointed at Lieutenant Aisa, and Horen couldn’t muster a proper response.
“And the reason this hasn’t been an issue until now? You slapped a ‘soldiers only’ sign up but only gouged the rank-and-file. Officers got the normal price.”
It was nothing short of outright predatory.
“And the real problem is that most butcher shops pull the same stunt. I can’t wrap my head around it. Once the investigation wraps up, I’ll report it to the local lord—for the sake of my company’s soldiers.”
It was half intimidation, half sincere.
It’ll be a hassle, but if there’s no other way, I’ll wipe them out.
That would probably be the last resort.
“Report to the lord…? Company commander, please calm down first.”
The mention of the lord made their faces stiffen, and Hops’s voice trembled.
“It’s not just restaurants. Essentials that soldiers need to buy? All priced way beyond reason.”
Markups from 30 percent to triple the normal cost.
“I tried to find a way for us to coexist at first, but you make outrageous demands and scam soldiers. You think I’m a joke?”
“N-no… How could I dare treat the son of a count like—”
“So I’m not a joke, but the soldiers in my company are? That’s why you feel bold enough to scam them and waltz in here.”
I’d pressed them enough, so I took a sip of my coffee and caught my breath.
“The barbecue joint’s viable and proven effective, so it’ll spread across the entire 7th Legion. No way we’re tearing it down just because you want us to.”
“Yes, sir…”
Hops answered with a soulless expression.
In stark contrast, Horen—who actually ran a shop—looked even more broken, his legs shaking.
“If you don’t want this escalating to the lord, every shop in Retop Village needs to shape up. Not a single exception.”
“So… you’ll let it slide if we do?”
“If you actually change, yeah.”
Someone might ask why spare these scumbags.
Telling the lord would demolish the village, and plenty of company officers’ families live in Retop.
Lots of officers’ families work in the village. Wreck it, and they’re all unemployed.
Doing the right thing isn’t bad, but at my position, you have to consider the ripple effects.
“Understood. I’ll take responsibility and straighten out the bad apples.”
“I hope so. And…”
I paused, glancing back and forth between Hops and Horen.
“Soldiers put up with it because it wasn’t worth the hassle—they’re not idiots. Don’t let me see you here again.”
“W-we’ll be careful. Sorry.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re dismissed.”
They left at my order to get out.
And not long after, word came that Dongjang BBQ had gone bankrupt over gambling debts.
“We need to target Yalk Island as our top priority.”
Chief of Staff Bust spoke up the moment everyone gathered in the emperor’s office, launching into an unscripted topic.
“Chief of Staff, what on earth are you talking about? Why Yalk Island all of a sudden instead of Belgium Fortress?”
Most in the room nodded in agreement with Rosen’s words.
“Based on Intelligence Command’s reports and the high command’s deliberations, Yalk Island must be our next objective to win this war.”
“I know Yalk Island’s important, but realistically, it’s not easy to take.”
Yalk Island sat midway between Orisis Kingdom and the Aditz Empire, not far from the Lycan Empire—a key military hub.
“True. Painful as it is to admit, our navy lags behind theirs.”
The Aditz Empire allied with island kingdom Orisis, which boasted naval superiority—not just in warships like the Elt-class, but in maritime combat experience overall.
“Exactly. Which is why now is the perfect time.”
“Now’s the perfect time? What do you mean by that?”
The emperor’s intrigued expression flickered as he probed Bust’s baffling statement.
“Your Majesty, Orisis has its own monster headache, doesn’t it?”
Unlike the Gork Mountains, Orisis bordered the Red Sea, plagued by sea monsters.
Mountains could be walled off, but the ocean was different.
Monsters crossed at will, driven by weather or prey, making casualties impossible to tally accurately.
“You don’t mean…”
“Yes. We emphasize the magic tools’ dangers diplomatically and secure Orisis’s promise not to intervene when we hit Yalk Island.”
Yalk was tough because Aditz owned it, but Orisis would reinforce under treaty if attacked.
Without Orisis, success odds skyrocketed.
“Definitely… worth a shot.”
The emperor mentally crunched the numbers and nodded at the potential.
Still, pivoting from Belgium Fortress was risky and thin.
“Chief of Staff, even if Orisis sits it out, can we break Aditz’s navy? Doesn’t look easy to me.”
Rosen’s face had softened a bit, but he remained skeptical.
“Correct. Aditz’s navy is formidable. But it’s not all concentrated at Yalk Island.”
Bust pointed to a section of the map spread across the office center.
“A significant naval force is at Hasmon Fortress here, deploying only when needed.”
“A diversion hitting both spots at once?”
“Yes.”
Bust nodded gravely at the emperor’s question.
“Hmm. If we seize Yalk Island outright, it’d shift the entire war’s momentum.”
The island was tiny, but controlling it expanded operational range rivaling a kingdom.
“But we can’t just storm Hasmon Fortress directly.”
Reaching Hasmon required passing Cobalt and Belet Fortresses.
“Right. A straightforward land push would tip them off, concentrating forces at Hasmon and Yalk.”
“Yeah. The enemy’s no fool.”
Those two fortresses existed precisely for that.
“That’s why I propose not land routes, but ships to land here.”
Bust indicated the coastline midway between Hasmon and Belet.
“What…?”
“Chief of Staff? You’re serious?”
The emperor and Rosen went beyond surprise to outright shock.
A perfectly natural reaction.
Deep into enemy territory was suicide.
“When winter ends, Aditz deploys warships to hunt sea monsters.”
Unlike land monsters raging in winter, sea beasts peaked in spring’s thaw.
“Plus, tensions with Bellua Kingdom have confirmed additional ship deployments.”
“So their guard here is lax?”
Bust nodded at Minister Rosen’s question.
“Yes. We’d need recon, but with a secured route, my staff, the crown prince—His Highness himself came up with the landing idea—and I see high feasibility.”
Mention of the crown prince brought a hush to the room.
“Bern participated in planning?”
“His Highness suggested the landing operation.”
“I see.”
A brief reply, and visions formed in the emperor’s mind.
Assuming a successful landing, taking Hasmon wouldn’t take long.
Hasmon had basic defenses but wasn’t built for sieges.
Once we hit Hasmon and seize the harbor, no reinforcements to Yalk.
Then just mop up Yalk’s ships.
No Elt-class could stand against overwhelming numbers.
The issue is attacks after securing Hasmon.
If only Yalk fell, they could abandon Hasmon and link up.
The goal was Yalk, after all.