Chapter 7: Rapid Merchant Guild (1)
The royal capital of the Daon Kingdom.
Someone arrived at the headquarters of the Rapid Merchant Guild located in its central district.
“Where have you come from?”
“……I came from the Ragnar Territory. I came because the Head of the Family has an urgent letter that must be delivered to the Merchant Guild Head.”
At the words that he had come from the Ragnar Territory, the expression of the employee guarding the headquarters entrance changed.
A relationship that the Rapid Merchant Guild could never sever.
Although all ties had been cut for now, the owner of the Rapid Merchant Guild often said that the connection would be restored someday.
“Please wait a moment. I will report to the Merchant Guild Head.”
“Of course.”
The employee hurried inside the headquarters.
A man who had come all the way up to the royal capital under Pramo’s orders.
Akun, Vice-Commander of the Ragnar Knight Order, looked at the Rapid Merchant Guild headquarters and smiled faintly.
After about ten minutes had passed, the employee who had gone inside appeared again at the entrance.
And behind that employee walked an elderly man wearing glasses.
“Isn’t that Sir Akun?”
“It has been a while, Merchant Guild Head Tade.”
The owner of the Rapid Merchant Guild, Merchant Guild Head Tade, grasped Akun’s hand with a gentle smile.
“I heard that the Orc Legion invaded. Is everyone safe?”
“Yes, as you can see, we are safe.”
“That is a relief. Ah, I’ve kept my guest standing for too long. Come inside.”
At his words, Akun bowed his head and entered the headquarters.
Soon after, Akun arrived at Merchant Guild Head Tade’s office and, without even sitting down, delivered the letter first.
“This is the letter that the Head of the Family told me to deliver to the Merchant Guild Head.”
“……Is the Head of the Family doing well? I don’t know how troubled my heart has been since the trade was unilaterally suspended.”
“The Head of the Family has always felt sorry toward Merchant Guild Head Tade.”
Akun clasped both hands together and bowed his head.
That he had failed to protect his son, Reni.
He had lived always with guilt.
The end of a man who had rolled up his sleeves to help the Ragnar Territory should not have ended that way.
Akun raised his head and continued speaking.
“I, too, as a knight of the Ragnar Territory, wished to personally offer my apology.”
“It was the child’s own choice. Since it was the Ragnar family, I do not harbor resentment.”
“……Merchant Guild Head.”
Though he continued speaking calmly, sorrow was deeply etched in Merchant Guild Head Tade’s eyes.
How much time passed like that?
After remaining silent for a long while, Merchant Guild Head Tade opened the tightly sealed letter.
After confirming its contents, his eyes widened in shock.
“Has that person truly returned?”
“He has returned. The one who stopped the Orc Legion was also Young Master Kyle. If he had not returned, I likely would not even be standing before you now.”
Kyle Ragnar.
The eldest son of the Ragnar family, who had been missing for fifteen years.
Merchant Guild Head Tade, who had been staring intently at the letter, closed his eyes.
“The wish that the Previous Head of the Family so desperately hoped for has come true.”
“……Merchant Guild Head.”
“The contents of the letter say that I was summoned. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Then of course I must go. Even if this is an old body, if the Guardian Sword of the Ragnar family calls for me, I cannot remain idle.”
Merchant Guild Head Tade carefully folded the letter, placed it into his chest, and stood up.
At that moment, Akun stepped forward and blocked his path as he was about to leave.
“Merchant Guild Head, Young Master Kyle left some words. May I deliver them to you now?”
“He left words for me as well?”
“Yes. He said that food supplies are needed.”
“It sounds like he is telling me not to come personally, but to come through a trading caravan. What do you think, Sir?”
“I share the same thoughts as the Merchant Guild Head.”
“I see. It will take about a week to prepare a trading caravan. Will that be acceptable?”
“That will be fine.”
At Akun’s words, Merchant Guild Head Tade chuckled softly and shook his head.
“It feels as though a wind difficult to bear is blowing through the Territory right now. Shouldn’t you, as Vice-Commander of the Ragnar Knight Order, be there?”
“That is why I plan to return to the Territory immediately.”
A sense of loneliness settled in Merchant Guild Head Tade’s eyes.
It was regrettable to see off a member of the Ragnar Territory after meeting them again, only to part so quickly.
“Is that so…….”
“Instead, someone other than me will take responsibility for the Merchant Guild Head’s safety.”
At that moment, the door to the Merchant Guild Head’s office opened, and a robed figure revealed himself.
They had thought that only Akun had come from the Ragnar Territory, but upon seeing the figure who appeared behind him, Merchant Guild Head Tade’s eyes widened.
The person who had pulled the robe deep over his head spoke to Merchant Guild Head Tade in a low voice.
“I put the escort mercenaries to sleep for a while.”
“……Who are you?”
“It has been a while, Merchant Guild Head.”
Srrrk—
As he removed the robe covering his face, white hair was revealed.
Kyle, who had come personally to negotiate with Merchant Guild Head Tade, smiled faintly.
Merchant Guild Head Tade gaped in shock, and Akun spoke to Kyle in his stead.
“I will now return to the Territory, Young Master.”
“You left the Territory without informing Pramo, so explain things to him properly.”
“I will do so.”
“And as soon as you arrive at the Territory, gather the Ragnar Knight Order. Seros will handle the rest. I will return together with Merchant Guild Head Tade in one week.”
At Kyle’s words, Akun bowed his head and exited the Merchant Guild Head’s office.
Turning his gaze back, Kyle looked once more at Merchant Guild Head Tade with a serious expression.
“I heard about Reni from Pramo.”
“……That child made his own decision, and I believe it was a choice made for honor. Therefore, I have never once resented the Ragnar Territory.”
“I expected as much. I also respect Reni’s choice, so I have no intention of apologizing for that.”
Kyle did not apologize for the incident in which Reni lost his life in the Territory.
That was because there was something else he needed to apologize for.
“I do not know why my father made such a decision, but it is regrettable that suspending the trade caused trust between Ragnar and Rapid to collapse. For that matter, I will offer my apology.”
When Kyle bowed his head, Merchant Guild Head Tade waved his hands.
Though he could not say that he understood the decision of Rai, the Previous Head of the Family, he had still tried to understand it.
Moreover, he had long waited for the day when Ragnar would call upon Rapid once more.
Merchant Guild Head Tade waited for Kyle to raise his head, and only then did he finally open his mouth.
“No. I failed to persuade the Previous Head of the Family.”
“My father would not have suspended the trade on impulse. Since the Rapid Merchant Guild was only suffering losses while trading with Ragnar, I believe it was simply a decision made out of regret.”
Merchant Guild Head Tade looked calmly at Kyle.
Meanwhile, Kyle sat down in the seat beside Merchant Guild Head Tade and took out a portion of the gold coins recovered from the elders’ mansions from his chest.
“Please purchase as much food and daily necessities as possible. Is that feasible?”
“This money is……?”
“These are assets that came out of the elders’ mansions.”
“Are you saying that Ragnar’s elders privately amassed wealth?”
Since the trade had been suspended, Merchant Guild Head Tade had not visited the Ragnar Territory even once, so he had been unable to grasp the true situation.
Moreover, most of the elders he knew were those who had followed Rai Ragnar.
Because of that, it was something he had never expected—that Ragnar’s elders would be blinded by greed.
Kyle nodded with a look that conveyed his understanding of Merchant Guild Head Tade.
“It is clear that the elders joined hands with the Slave Merchant Guild. We also found evidence that they conducted slave trade using the Territory’s residents.”
“How could Ragnar’s elders possibly conduct slave trade against the Territory’s residents?!”
Merchant Guild Head Tade sprang up from his seat and slammed his fist hard onto the table.
“That is how much of a mess the Territory is in.”
“……Young Master.”
“Regardless of whatever happened in the past, please trust me just once.”
At Kyle’s emotionless voice, Merchant Guild Head Tade nodded his head firmly.
He had waited for this very day.
For Ragnar to call upon Rapid once more.
However, he had expected that the opportunity would come only after his own death.
Yet that wish was fulfilled while Merchant Guild Head Tade was still alive, and his face brightened noticeably.
“That will be so.”
“Merchant Guild Head, leave the past behind and grant Ragnar another chance.”
“Of course.”
Merchant Guild Head Tade nodded and bowed his head respectfully.
“Within one year, or at most two, the Iron Mine will be restored. I only hope that the Rapid Merchant Guild will make a good choice.”
“I will prepare as much food and daily necessities as possible.”
“And there is one more thing I would like to ask. Could you look into the main base of a place called the Sinoah Merchant Guild?”
Merchant Guild Head Tade knew virtually every merchant guild active within the Daon Kingdom.
He was a figure who exerted great influence over the entire kingdom’s economy.
Yet even such a Merchant Guild Head Tade shook his head at Kyle’s question.
“It is a merchant guild I have never heard of.”
“I believe there is a high possibility that they are disguised as an ordinary merchant guild. They are likely a guild that operates quietly in the shadows.”
“Could it be……?”
“It will be as you are expecting. They are the ones who dragged away Ragnar’s Territory residents as slaves.”
“We will look into it.”
Since Aron had been sent to the Tylers Empire, information about the Sinoah Merchant Guild would be gathered on its own.
However, it was impossible to leave everything to Emperor Adrian.
For that reason, Kyle had also brought the matter up to Merchant Guild Head Tade.
Having heard his reply, Kyle, having come here to negotiate, presented conditions that would satisfy him as well.
“Merchant Guild Head, this time we obtained quite a large amount of Orc byproducts. We will also hand over monster byproducts during this trading caravan.”
At Kyle’s words, Merchant Guild Head Tade clenched both fists tightly.
At present, monster byproducts from the Northern Monsters had run completely dry within the Daon Kingdom.
More precisely, monster byproducts from the northern territories did exist, but most of those goods flowed directly to the royal family.
“This is welcome news for the Rapid Merchant Guild.”
“Please consider it the price for waiting. Since the Ragnar Territory is exempt from paying taxes to the royal family, there should be no issue even if distribution takes place.”
The benefit the Ragnar family had secured in exchange for blocking off the Monster Mountain Range.
It was the condition that all taxes owed to the royal family were exempted.
It was also the factor that had barely allowed the Ragnar Territory to endure.
“Thank you for granting the Rapid Merchant Guild the first opportunity.”
“Then please prepare the trading caravan. The branch heads of the Rapid Merchant Guild will not oppose it once they hear about the monster byproducts.”
“I will immediately convene a branch head meeting and plan the trading caravan.”
“I am counting on you.”
“In the meantime, where do you plan to stay, Young Master?”
“If the Merchant Guild Head is agreeable, I would like to stay here. While staying here, I plan to look around the royal capital.”
Kyle was the greatest elder of the Ragnar bloodline and a figure destined to become the pillar of the family.
At the words that such a Kyle would stay at the Rapid Merchant Guild’s headquarters, Merchant Guild Head Tade nodded with a delighted expression.
The moment permission was given, Kyle rose from his seat, took a step forward, then turned back as if he still had something to say.
“I will disguise myself and guard the Merchant Guild Head. Therefore, do not disclose my existence.”
“……May I ask the reason?”
“Just understand that it is in preparation for any unforeseen circumstances.”
Sensing something ominous in Kyle’s peculiar tone, Merchant Guild Head Tade nodded his head.
After Kyle exited the Merchant Guild Head’s office, Merchant Guild Head Tade fell into thought about what Kyle had meant by his words.
Only after a long while did the mercenaries responsible for Merchant Guild Head Tade’s security rush into the office all at once.
“Merchant Guild Head! There was an intruder at the merchant guild headquarters. Are you unharmed?”
After confirming that Merchant Guild Head Tade was safe, the mercenaries let out sighs of relief and bowed their heads.
“We apologize. Some of the mercenaries responsible for your protection were subdued and knocked unconscious.”
“I am fine, so that will do…… Still, it seems we must increase security.”
“We will ensure that nothing like this happens again. We apologize.”
“Are the mercenaries who lost consciousness all right?”
“They were merely knocked out. They did not suffer any physical injuries.”
“That is a relief. Do not scold them too harshly. Are they not those whom I am grateful to for guarding my side?”
“Thank you for caring about mercenaries like us.”
“Do not say such things. The reason the Rapid Merchant Guild was able to rise this far is all thanks to you. Therefore, do not impose any punishment whatsoever.”
Merchant Guild Head Tade stood up and patted the mercenary on the shoulder.
“Ah, and also, inform the branch heads that a meeting is being convened. It is an important matter.”
“I will deliver the message immediately.”
After even the mercenaries had left, silence settled over the Merchant Guild Head’s office.
Merchant Guild Head Tade, sitting alone in his chair, soon opened his closed eyes and looked up at the ceiling.
‘Reni, do you know why I cannot abandon Ragnar?’
They know honor, know how to repay kindness, and know how to repay enmity twofold.
Now that Kyle Ragnar had returned, the declining fortunes of the Ragnar family would not only recover quickly but prosper more than ever before.
‘Everything gained through this opportunity you created, I will pass on entirely to your son.’
Thinking of his grandson—Reni’s son—he curled his lips into a grin.