Chapter 2. Visitors from the Empire  

‘This is the last of the money I had left.’

The money I had left would be gone once I paid for the carriage fare to the library.

For other matters, I would have walked, but today I couldn’t do that. I needed to finish what I was doing and return home as quickly as possible before my parents or Elise woke up.

However, contrary to Ael’s anxious heart, the road became so congested near the central square that it was difficult for the carriage to pass.

“Miss, it seems a ship from the Ash Merchant Guild has arrived at the port. It looks like there will be some traffic.”

The coachman spoke as if the congestion was not his fault.

Ael looked toward the port.

As the carriage moved a little further and entered the central square, eight main roads stretched out before her. Ael looked at the eastern road that led to the port.

“Wow!”

The moment she saw the port, an exclamation burst from Ael’s lips.

She wasn’t the only one who reacted that way.

Everyone passing through the square couldn’t close their mouths at the sight of the massive sailing ships docked at the port.

Children ran with cheers, and even dignified gentlemen couldn’t help but stop in their tracks, unable to take their eyes off the scene in amazement.

“Amazing…….”

Ael also looked at the ships, trying to calm her pounding heart.

The names of each ship were written on the bow. Unlike the ships of the Kingdom of Denertum, which always named their ships after women, the ships from the Ash Merchant Guild from the Empire all borrowed names from legendary heroes.

And below the place where each ship’s name was written, there was another name engraved, and all the ships had the same name there.

It was the name of the owner of the guild.

“Callon Ash…….”

Callon Ash.

The owner of the Ash Merchant Guild, which has the most branches and the highest volume of trade on the continent.

People whispered that his wealth might surpass that of the Emperor of the Empire. As evidence, even the arrogant Emperor was said to stop whatever he was doing to welcome him whenever he visited.

However, people didn’t know how old he was or where he was from.

In fact, even though the name was masculine, people weren’t sure if he was a man or a woman. No one had ever seen him in person.

Operating mainly around the Empire, he only met directly with a handful of people, never appearing at official events.

Because of this, people speculated that Callon Ash must be at least a middle-aged man in his 50s, recalling that the Ash Merchant Guild began to stand out about 25 years ago.

Ael looked at the ship with envious eyes.

She genuinely envied Callon Ash.

It wasn’t just his immense wealth from owning all those ships; what Ael truly envied was something else.

‘He can go anywhere he wants, can’t he?’

He could sail on those many ships and head anywhere in the world, like the wind.

While Ael was absentmindedly watching the ship, envying someone she had never even seen, she heard the voices of people passing by the carriage.

“Is Callon Ash coming to this country?”

What?

At the unexpected words, Ael paused and listened closely to the conversation.

She wasn’t the only one surprised.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Shh! Shh! Lower your voice! Someone might hear!”

The person who brought it up quickly spoke, grabbing his companion’s shoulder. As he feared, Ael, who had been eavesdropping, also held her breath even more.

“Is Callon Ash really coming to Denertum? Before that, are you sure it’s really Callon Ash? Didn’t you just hear some strange rumor?”

“No, really. I worked at the Ash Merchant Guild’s warehouse yesterday. I was so tired that I was resting behind some boxes when the guild managers came. I thought I’d get scolded if they saw me, so I hid quickly.”

“So, you were slacking off?”

“No, that’s not the point right now. Anyway, thinking there was no one around, they started whispering among themselves. One of them was even the Denertum branch manager of the Ash Merchant Guild.”

“Oh, that guy? Doesn’t he have any pride? I heard the branch manager is a woman, so why work under a woman like that?”

“They say the Empire gives high positions to women too. Anyway, he was talking. He asked if everything was prepared since Callon would be coming soon. At that moment, I remembered how the people at the Ash Merchant Guild had been unusually on edge lately. It turns out it was because Callon Ash was coming himself!”

“No wonder. There was a reason.”

“And you know, right? The mansion on the hill northeast of the capital. It was bought by the Ash Merchant Guild, wasn’t it? If they bought that expensive place and are even repairing it, it means Callon Ash will stay for at least a year, not just a short visit……!”

“Hey, lower your voice. Everyone can hear.”

Despite telling him to be quiet, the speaker seemed excited, and his voice rose again. Because of this, his friend, who was listening, stopped him from talking further.

The two quickly left, perhaps thinking there were too many people around.

“Haa…….”

Ael couldn’t hide her regret at not being able to hear more of the conversation and sighed.

‘Is Callon Ash really coming to our country?’

Denertum, Ael’s country, is located in the northeastern corner of the continent.

It is a country that takes the greatest pride in being one of the five ancient kingdoms with the longest history on the continent.

Just as people who only boast about their age are unimpressive, the kingdom is the same.

While other kingdoms boast of fertile granaries, gold-rich mines, rapidly advancing technology, and increasing trade volumes, Denertum still hasn’t created anything to boast about other than its long history.

About 50 years ago, when Karan Den, calling itself an empire, was expanding through war, the only reason Denertum wasn’t absorbed by the empire was because it was tucked away in a corner of the continent, without any presence, leading to ridicule.

Two years ago, an imperial delegation arrived in Denertum.

They told the Denertum royal family that they hoped to establish a good relationship and asked them to accept imperial merchants as a start.

The royal family, despite their high pride, was not foolish.

Other countries were already trying to deepen their friendship with the empire and accept their advanced technology. In such a situation, the empire was reaching out first.

There was no reason for the royal family to refuse. Of course, it wasn’t accepted easily. Voices were strong, especially around the first prince, known for his conservative nature, arguing that it was an imperial scheme and should be rejected.

However, their anxiety about the future eventually won.

The second prince was known for his open-mindedness, and the nobles knew this was their last chance.

Nearby kingdoms, which had similar circumstances, were accepting the empire’s technology and growing rapidly.

The royal family granted permission for trade, and as if they were waiting for this, imperial merchant ships flocked to the port of Denertum’s capital. The Ash Merchant Guild sent the most ships among them.

It wasn’t unusual. The Ash Merchant Guild was the largest merchant guild not only in the empire but on the entire continent.

Having obtained freedom of operation from the royal family, the Ash Merchant Guild also secured permission to use part of the port and quickly completed the port reinforcement work with overwhelming technology, manpower, and financial power.

From then on, the port of Denertum’s capital saw massive sailing ships, unlike anything people had seen before, coming and going incessantly.

Now, two years later, the capital of Denertum has undergone many changes.

Through the Ash Merchant Guild, advanced imperial technology arrived. People saw fruits they had never seen before and goods of much higher quality appearing before their eyes.

The Ash Merchant Guild didn’t flood the market with everything.

They seemed accustomed to entering such a closed kingdom, expanding their business step by step, minimizing social chaos, and doing so with careful precision.

Thanks to this, Denertum accepted the imperial culture without major shocks and confusion.

Simple farming tools and even factory machinery were replaced, giving people more leisure time.

The people who disliked these changes the most were the nobles. As commoners gained more leisure and wealth, a new class emerged, threatening the nobles’ positions.

Ael’s father also disliked commoners who made money through trade with the empire. He went further and cursed the imperial merchants.

〈They are vulgar people who sold their souls for money. Ignorant of the value of the blood they were born with!〉

He even boasted that if the imperial merchants appeared before him, he would humiliate them and chase them away.

But Ael knew the truth. The reason her father cursed and hated the imperial merchants so much was because they had rejected his ludicrous business proposal.