Evil Merchants Permanently Banned
The personal villa of the Third Imperial Princess, Luluen von Waldemar. In a reception room thick with the scent of fruit, Guenter, the head of the Golden Scales Merchant Guild, bowed repeatedly at the waist.
His guild primarily supplied construction materials to the North. Thanks to the ongoing urban development projects in Wintervalt, Guenter's coffers were swelling to the bursting point.
But he hadn't risen this far through merchant skill alone. For years, he'd been in cahoots with the Third Princess, cornering premium information and scraping together dirty money—a thoroughly corrupt trader.
"Your Highness, you summoned me?"
"Indeed, Guenter. I've heard the material shipments to the North are going splendidly."
"Yes! It's all thanks to Your Highness's backing."
The Third Princess smiled gracefully.
"Then it's time to raise the material prices. Starting tomorrow, increase payments for all shipments heading North by 50%."
"Pardon...? Fifty percent?"
Guenter jerked his head up in shock.
"Your Highness! That's impossible! Do you know who the Northern Duke is? The Monster Duke! A Swordmaster! If we toy with material prices, my head will roll first on his blade!"
Rumors even swirled that the massive wall guarding the North was stuffed with the heads of corrupt nobles.
"Oh, don't make such a fuss. No matter how lofty the Northern Duke's status, he can't execute a guild master without breaking imperial law."
"What do you...?"
Luluen folded her fan and whispered.
"This morning, in the imperial council, the sandworm outbreak in the Ravien Plains area was declared a national disaster."
The Ravien Plains did lie along one of the key trade routes linking the central continent to the North.
"You're well aware of the Imperial Guild Protection Act, aren't you?"
There was indeed a clause allowing legal price hikes on shipments if guilds suffered losses from monster waves, wars, or natural disasters.
But 50%? That was absurd. And the Golden Scales Guild had already secured detours, suffering zero losses.
Still, disaster investigations are led by auditors dispatched from the central imperial court, not the North. And those auditors are all the Third Princess's lapdogs anyway!
All he had to do was whine, "Our wagons got smashed by sandworms carrying materials—massive losses!" He'd pulled similar scams before and pocketed easy cash.
"Think about it, Guenter. Word is, in the North, they're fleecing merchants with payments for buildings that don't even exist yet. What happens to those barbarians' city if construction materials dry up?"
"W-Well, certainly..."
The Third Princess kept needling him relentlessly. The North could afford it now that they were rich. It was because he supplied the materials that the North was succeeding. Wasn't he entitled to a little extra profit?
Guenter's head spun as he weighed profit against peril.
Fine... If I fall out of favor with Her Highness, I won't have a place anywhere on the central continent!
He decided to look on the bright side. Even if not 50%, a mere 10% hike would balloon his profits enormously.
"That lowly bastard born out of wedlock... She should've just frozen to death quietly up North after being sold off. My little sister, but she really doesn't know her place."
Guenter, lost in happy calculations, missed the Third Princess's venomous mutterings laced with jealousy.
"I'll remember, Your Highness! I'll plunder the North's vaults clean. Hahaha!"
Several days later.
"Damn it! What did I tell you? A 50% hike was insane!!"
In the Golden Scales Guild's meeting room, Guenter slumped at the desk, face ashen. In his limp hand was the missive from a Northern courier.
The Golden Scales Merchant Guild and all its subsidiaries are permanently banned from entering the North.
"We already borrowed to stockpile goods—what now?!"
"W-Wait! They can't finish construction without southern materials. We bow our heads to the Northern Duke, negotiate back to normal prices..."
BAM!!
The guild masters, who'd been sucking honey thanks to Guenter, slammed desks and grabbed collars, spewing curses.
"Still clueless? We're dead men walking. You think that monster duke will let us off?"
"I-I'm not involved! Don't drag my guild down!"
Guenter wanted to persuade them but couldn't mention the Third Princess. In the end, he was left alone in the meeting room.
The situation was spiraling beyond his control.
While the Golden Scales Guild self-destructed in isolation, Northern Duke Kailan moved swiftly.
No construction materials? We'll mine our own.
Knight and adventurers stepped into a cave bubbling with watery pools. Leading them were Northern Duke Kailan and Guild Master Walter.
"All units, advance! His Grace leads us!"
"Woooooo!!"
The Silent Glacier Cave, one of the North's unexplored zones. In the old corrupt days, even repelling monster waves had been overwhelming, so such monster dens were left untouched.
But things had changed. Thanks to Wintervalt Guild's progressive welfare policies, adventurers flooded the North—supply outstripping demand. Jobs were so scarce they brawled daily at the guild board, cheering at monster waves.
In that climate, who wouldn't join when the Duke himself led the charge?
"Kyuruluk! Glub, glub!"
Wolf-sized slimes oozed from crevices everywhere, trailing mucus. Monsters nearly immune to swords or axes.
But the prepared adventurers didn't flinch. Kailan knew every monster in the North from the novel's lore.
"Mage unit! Ready!"
At Knight Captain Cedric's command, rear mages began chanting in unison.
Whoosh!
Enchanted arrows from aligned archer adventurers glowed red-hot.
"Fire!!"
Shwoooo! KABOOM!!
Speed-boosted fire arrows pierced the heat-weak slimes' soft bodies, nailing their cores dead-on.
Rick, the veteran southern adventurer, grinned while nocking another.
"Heh! Bro! Rare slime magic stones everywhere. Sell these, and house prices ain't a worry!"
Gail laughed heartily, piercing cores with godlike aim. Monster cores were magic stones—killing slimes damaged them inevitably, yet they fetched high prices.
"Archery's our southern specialty!!"
"Hahaha! Compared to sniping harpies over the coast, these slowpokes are just targets. Cheers to the mages!"
In the rear, Viscount Arzen scooped slime mucus, baring his teeth in a grin.
"Hahaha! Your Grace! With this much slime goo, the lime mortar from the south is plenty! Buildings'll be tougher than ever!"
"You heard him! Porters, scrape every drop!!"
Kailan laughed heartily atop his black horse but burned inside.
Dare make my wife cry?!
It seems because of them, the North is suffering major losses.
What nonsense is that?
Eleanor had finally opened up about her dark past she never wanted to reveal—slowly recounting how imperial kin had scorned her.
She even knew that Guenter-or-whatever, that oddly named guild master, was the Third Princess's money man. Learning her bullying half-sister now tormented her Northern home brought tears.
Heh. So that's what had you brooding alone over nothing.
Pardon?
—No big deal. I'll fix the materials issue right away. Consult me on everything from now on.
Your Grace...!
My love...!
I'll follow Your Grace forever.
The unstoppable force halted before a massive lake at the cave's depths.
Rumble rumble!
The surface swirled, house-sized slimes rising. They merged into a ceiling-touching behemoth.
"Kyurrrruk!!"
Its overwhelming size and icy aura made adventurers hesitate.
"Shoot!!"
Dozens of arrows flew, but hissed out upon hitting the King Slime's body.
Too massive for aura blades to reach the core. Even Expert knights like Cedric focused on blocking tentacles.
"Nngh! No good, Your Grace! Body's too thick—can't sever the tentacles!"
As Kailan stepped forward knowingly.
"I'll handle it, Your Grace!"
"You?"
A woman who'd followed under knight escort shed her robe.
It was the Fourth Imperial Princess, Eleanor.
Damn merchants—unforgivable. Daring to sabotage my wife's project!? How much stress to stubbornly tag along like this! Sniff...
Unlike Kailan's thoughts, her clear blue eyes burned resolute, some shift in her heart.
"Radiance of the sun...!"
Fwaaaaa!
A sun illuminated the cave's dark, scorching the King Slime. Not her usual gentle work light for melting frozen ground at sites.
This was murderous, forcing moisture to evaporate in extreme heat.
"Kikikikik!!"
Direct sunlight boiled its surface, spewing steam as it shrank.
Still terrifyingly huge, but...
"Your Grace! Now!"
As the King Slime fled Eleanor's spell, Kailan erupted blue aura and leaped.
"Well done! My lady!"
Sslash!
Frost Fang plunged into its crown. Freezing aura froze and shattered the elastic body, straight for the core.
The weakened King Slime spewed acid in frenzy, but couldn't scratch the Northern Duke, fueled 200% by love for his wife.
Crack! KABOOM!!
The house-sized core split, colossal goo collapsing powerless.
All of it—pure profit.
"Claim the spoils! Gather magic stones and mucus!! Victory is ours!!"
"Woooooo!!"
"Long live Duke Kailan! Long live the Princess!!"
Victory cheers shook the cave.
Kailan left the roaring adventurers, scooping up the staggering Eleanor—who'd expended much mana—into his arms.
"You've suffered too, Eleanor."
"Your Grace... hic."
Tension released, she buried her face in his chest and sobbed bitterly.