The Eastern Principalities' Madness
The moment Lillian mentioned taking her to the Eltio Peninsula, she suddenly dropped a bombshell about the current state of the continent. It was so abrupt and out of nowhere that I actually paused, falling into serious thought for a moment.
The civil war between Iregos, Balta, and Den Barbier. The single most decisive cause that completely devastated the eastern part of the continent and ultimately set it on an irreversible path to ruin. It all began with a sudden—and horrifically brutal—falling out between those three principalities, which had once maintained a solid alliance as a united kingdom.
And lurking behind that tragic civil war were the colossal disasters of the main story. The so-called Beasts of the Beginning.
To be precise, it was all the machinations of the Puppet of Tears, one of the Beasts of the Beginning.
The sole heir of the Iregos Principality, whose reason and emotions had been utterly toyed with by the Puppet, committed the horrific act of forcibly taking the princess of the Den Barbier Principality one day. After that, the heir—now a puppet of the Puppet—didn’t stop hurling unspeakable provocations and insults at Den Barbier. The relationship between the two principalities, engulfed in fierce rage, spiraled into complete catastrophe.
And then there was Balta Principality, tangled up with the Witch of No Desire.
The Balta Principality had secretly tried to make a deal with the Witch of No Desire, another one of the Beasts of the Beginning, in an attempt to unify the principalities. But everything went horribly wrong from the start. In the end, driven mad and cornered, they threw themselves into a war of annihilation, ready to burn everything around them to ash.
While the three principalities tore at each other’s throats in a slaughter, the Puppet of Tears and the Witch of No Desire devoured the massive karma and vengeful spirits pouring out from the battlefield. Having absorbed power far beyond what they could handle, the two beasts gradually began to crumble everything around them, reigning as true calamities that turned the entire eastern continent into hell.
Hmm. If I could somehow prevent the beginning of this insane tragedy… it would delay the era of disasters hitting the continent by quite a bit.
I unconsciously started turning the gears in my head. Delaying the disasters meant I could safely and securely amass an even more solid retirement fund, extending the peaceful lifespan of my sweet escape to the Eltio Peninsula where I could just kick back and live the good life.
But no matter how positively I tried to spin it, the numbers just wouldn’t add up.
Sure, it’s one of the continent’s top merchant guilds, but what can a mere moneychanger guild leader like me possibly do to intervene in another country’s civil war?
And pulling out the title of youngest son of the Calydia ducal family wouldn’t carry much weight over there. The limits of power were one thing, but the most despairing wall of all was the sheer physical distance.
From the Serbenrote Empire where we were to the far eastern edge of the continent where those three principalities sat, it was an insane distance that would take a full month of nonstop travel to reach. Factoring in having to pass through the outskirts of the Forest of Disaster… you’d realistically need to budget a comfortable three months for a round trip.
When I was already busy just trying to keep my own head above water, there wasn’t a single madman who would set off on an expedition thousands of kilometers away to solve someone else’s national drama and scandals.
No… let’s put that aside for later. It’s not something I can recklessly touch right now.
Having reached that conclusion, I lightly shook my head and spoke up.
“Well, power struggles between the high and mighty are hardly anything new. It’s not like it’s only been happening for a day or two.”
At my indifferent reply, Lillian carefully nodded.
“Haha, that’s true, but… still, among the eastern merchant guilds, there’s a growing movement to stockpile food and weapons in preparation for a possible war. I wanted to ask how our Calydia Merchant Guild should respond.”
“It’s best not to waste energy on pointless things.”
I wore an endlessly relaxed smile on my lips.
“Whether they’re growling at each other like they want to kill one another or not, it won’t cause even the slightest hitch in the grand plan I’m drawing. Lillian, you just focus on the magic stone fruit cultivation and the migration preparations like you’ve been doing. Don’t get distracted by anything else.”
It was an arrogantly confident tone, as if I had already perfectly controlled every variable in the world.
“I see. As expected of the guild leader!”
Once again, Lillian was completely fooled by my shameless acting.
“Good. Since we still have some time, why don’t we have lunch together?”
“…!! I-It would be an honor!”
I had been certain there was nothing to worry about for the time being. After all, relations between the Serbenrote Empire and the Principality Alliance had never been particularly friendly.
So why, the moment Lillian brought it up, did this completely out-of-left-field letter come flying in from the principalities?
The sole heir of Iregos, Lord Bahel Iregos, has expressed his desire to personally taste the magic stone cultivation fruits that have recently been making a name for themselves across the continent. He asks that this message be conveyed to the new leader of the Calydia Merchant Guild, Lord Ideon Calydia.
That much was just formal courtesy. But the moment I turned to the next page, the contents became downright ridiculous.
Furthermore, if you would provide regular exclusive deliveries of the highest-grade products sufficient for His Highness the Duke and the numerous nobles who lead the principality, we promise to bestow upon the Calydia Merchant Guild immense wealth in the name of Iregos.
In addition, for the upcoming ‘Great Holy War,’ we intend to entrust the entirety of the guild’s large-scale military provisions, weapons, and the hiring of mercenary companies to your esteemed guild. As an outstanding guild leader who has already proven his capabilities the moment he debuted, I am certain you understand the meaning behind Iregos’s words.
I had no idea what was so special about some magic stone cultivation fruits that they were praising me like this… That alone was absurd enough, but—
“The Great Holy War… Heh, wow.”
A dry laugh escaped me. In this peaceful time when things were merely a bit tense and there weren’t even any signs of war yet, openly advertising to a foreign guild that they wanted to stockpile war supplies was, quite literally, the talk of a madman.
But what truly made me doubt my eyes was the arrogant, hastily scribbled personal postscript from Bahel Iregos himself at the bottom.
Although the insolent princess of Den Barbier has offended me, she will soon kneel at my feet, shedding tears and begging for mercy. For the blessing bestowed by the Puppet of Tears and this great contract will lead me to become the one and only true ruler of the eastern continent.
“……”
Without realizing it, I tightened my grip on the paper. So Bahel Iregos… this crazy bastard wasn’t some poor puppet whose mind had been forcibly eroded by the Puppet of Tears?
Just like how the Balta Principality had secretly dealt with the Witch of No Desire, this insane heir had willingly formed a horrific contract with one of the Beasts of the Beginning from the very beginning, all to fulfill his own ambitions?
This is insane. I really wasn’t expecting an event like this.
At least, the princess of Den Barbier hadn’t suffered any humiliation yet. Forget civil war—the three principalities were simply wrapped in a taut tension. That meant, at this point in time, the Iregos Principality was sending an overt love call to us, the continent’s top merchant guild, in preparation for a full-scale civil war.
Unlike the original story. And the reason was probably those damn magic stone fruits.
That stupid magic stone… Haah.
In the end, the situation had become incredibly complicated. From the moment I first became guild leader, I had been overflowing with ideas on how to completely bankrupt the guild. But while I could certainly try, I had zero intention of just watching the continent turn into a sea of fire after I ran off to Eltio.
Then what if I gladly accept this proposal, burrow deep into their heartland, and…?
And at the most critical moment, every single provision and weapon I’d supplied turned out to be defective. What if I gave them a massive slap in the back and flipped the entire board?
The Iregos Principality, having lost their war supplies, would be immediately tied down. It would also cut off the two Beasts of the Beginning from using the chaos to build up their power. On top of that, the Calydia Merchant Guild would have to pay an astronomical penalty for breaking the contract and its credibility would hit rock bottom.
Of course, since it carried the Calydia name, it wouldn’t come anywhere near complete bankruptcy. But still… didn’t my ultimate goal and the peace of the eastern continent line up pretty nicely here?
I guess I have no choice but to do it.
Instead, I would have to thoroughly hide the fact that I had intentionally sabotaged them. I’d need to package it as the stupid mistake of an incompetent guild leader, flawlessly orchestrated from the very foundation. Most of all, I had to conceal the fact that he was entangled with the Puppet of Tears.
“…Alright. Let’s give it a shot.”
Having made up my mind, I immediately reached for the magic communication device sitting on the corner of my desk and called for the vice guild leader.
And not even five minutes later—
With a loud bang, the door to the guild leader’s office burst open. Eleanor, whose mentality had clearly shattered from the eight thousand gold approval I’d given her earlier, stormed in, huffing and puffing. She looked ready to smack me over the head with a stack of documents at any second.
“I’d like to hear just what kind of outrageous thing you’re planning to do this time that you called me in for.”
She was still maintaining her usual polite formal speech, but the way her voice trembled at the end was clear proof that she was barely clinging to the thread of her sanity.
I pretended to be perfectly calm, brushing dust off the desk with a few light taps, and spoke.
“Don’t get so worked up. It’s nothing major. It looks like I’ll need to go on a long-term business trip to the far eastern edge of the continent soon.”
“The East? In this climate, what business could possibly take you all the way to the Principality Alliance?”
“The Iregos Principality sent a rather interesting exclusive trade proposal. Since things have come to this, I figured I might as well go myself and give the board a good, solid shake.”
“……”
Eleanor raised an eyebrow at my casual tone, as if I were just talking about taking a stroll around the neighborhood. I cleared my throat once and casually dropped the main point.
“Ahem. Given the distance, the journey will probably be quite rough. I’d like to hire the strongest possible escort. So, about that…”
As carefully and gently as possible.
“Would it be alright if I borrowed one of the masters who hold the title of the Seven Star Swords?”
“……”
For a moment, Eleanor’s breathing, which had been filling the guild leader’s office, came to an abrupt stop. In the heavy silence that pressed down on us, she stared at me with her mouth half-open, completely dazed. She looked like her brain had crashed and couldn’t process what she had just heard.
Before long, a dry, breathless laugh slipped out from between her lips.
“Ha, haha… The Seven Star Swords? You want to hire one of those living legends—only seven of whom exist across the entire continent—as an escort for a mere business trip for a guild?”
“Mere guild? It’s the empire’s greatest Calydia Merchant Guild. Can’t we afford that much? If they want something other than money, I’ll talk to them separately. If that doesn’t work, we can even offer them some guild shares.”
The moment the words “guild shares” left my mouth, I could practically hear the last thread of Eleanor’s sanity snapping with a clean twang.
She strode right up to the desk and slammed both hands down on it with a loud bang.
“Whoa! You scared me.”
“Guild Leader… No, Young Master.”
Big, fat tears welled up in the corners of her eyes.
“Please… I’m begging you, just take it easy! It hasn’t even been an hour since you burned eight thousand gold on defense costs for that wasteland territory! And now you want to hire one of the Seven Star Swords as an escort and even hand over guild shares for safety?”
She leaned her upper body far forward, finishing with a truly desperate voice.
“Are you so eager to completely annihilate the Calydia Merchant Guild that there won’t even be a trace left?! Why are you doing this?!”
In the middle of it all, I caught a glimpse of something between her shirt. It was a slightly purplish… No, never mind. It was a truly earnest and pitiful plea, the kind that made it seem like she might collapse at any moment and start sobbing uncontrollably.
From the perspective of someone who had lived her entire life as a workaholic, my insane behavior of ripping out the guild’s very foundations and throwing them onto a gambling table must have been an absolute disaster she couldn’t endure with a sane mind.
Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to look at that desperate face. I averted my gaze, staring out the window at some random clouds instead.
I know how loyal and affectionate you are… I’m really sorry about this.
But in return, when hell unfolds across the empire someday, I’ll make sure to take you to the safe Eltio Peninsula.
That should be enough, right?