Chapter 81

Chapter 81: The Eve.

“Hoo… Then what do you want from us?”

The man finally backed off.

He implicitly admitted his fault.

Seeing the man show signs of resignation, the emissary took a sip of water and stated his terms.

“We have two requests for you.”

“Let me hear them.”

The emissary folded his fingers and continued.

“The first one is to cut off contact with the instigators of this incident. We won’t demand that your warriors participate in this war. But, never contact the instigators again.”

After hearing the first condition, the man slowly nodded.

They had been willing to listen to the empire’s demands since they heard that an emissary was coming.

They didn’t want to be mercilessly trampled by the enraged imperial army.

Among them, they thought that the empire might ask for direct deployment.

But what the empire wanted was not deployment, but just a ban on contact with the instigators.

The man thought that he could agree to that.

‘Anyway, they won’t last long.’

He would have considered it if they were in good shape when trouble broke out, but they were doomed to be destroyed anyway.

It was not a wise choice to help them.

“What do you think?”

“I’ll tell you after I hear the second condition.”

The emissary noticed. 

He was quite positive about the first proposal.

But the second condition was a very sensitive issue. 

So the emissary paused for a moment and cautiously opened his mouth.

“Since the war with Aztec ended, all trade has been done in the direct jurisdiction.”

“Hmm…”

As soon as trade was mentioned, the man felt uneasy.

But he couldn’t deny it.

The current trade system of the central continent was like this.

First, imperial goods came by ship from the mainland.

Of course, nowadays, some merchants started producing goods in the direct jurisdiction to save on logistics costs, but not all of them did.

Anyway, various kinds of goods gathered in the direct jurisdiction were sold to merchants belonging to various factions near the border of the direct jurisdiction.

And they returned to their regions and sold the goods to the residents.

In other words, imperial merchants could not directly operate in various regions.

The emissary pointed this out.

“The second condition is simple. We hope that you will allow imperial merchants to trade in this region as well.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the man’s face hardened.

“That’s too much to ask.”

The man said flatly. 

It was a condition that he couldn’t easily agree to.

The nobles and high-ranking warriors of the region, including the man, had accumulated enormous wealth through trade with the empire.

They sold goods bought from the direct jurisdiction at several times, or even tens of times, the price to the residents in their region.

This was possible because they didn’t directly compete with imperial merchants.

Since they could only buy imperial goods through them, residents had no choice but to buy them at exorbitant prices.

Of course, imperial merchants hated this situation.

It was like they were doing all the work and someone else was getting all the money.

And because of the excessive exploitation, the growth rate of trade volume was lower than expected.

As a result, merchants had been constantly expressing their dissatisfaction, and Kim Ki-woo wanted to alleviate this situation through this opportunity.

“Really? Even if imperial merchants come into this region, they won’t lower their prices so much that local merchants will starve to death. If you want, we can make this clear in writing.”

“…Can’t you tell me another condition besides trade? That condition is too harsh.”

He was adamant about his position, despite the envoy’s words.

He knew that he could not exploit the people as he had done before, even if he refused to accept any price below a certain level, once the imperial merchants arrived.

The local nobles had already fallen deeply into the sweet taste of money.

They used the money they had earned to buy the luxurious goods that were popular in the empire, and ate delicacies every day.

The worst scenario for them was to lose their source of income in this situation.

“Unfortunately, there are no other conditions besides these two. If you find it hard to accept them… then we will proceed according to the principle.”

“What do you mean by principle?”

“Well, don’t you think you should pay for your sins against us with blood?”

“Wha-what!”

The man’s face turned pale.

This was a blatant threat.

But they had no power to fight against the empire. 

If a war broke out, defeat was inevitable.

Soon, the man’s expression changed to desperation.

“Oh, please, don’t do this. If I go back with this result of negotiation, I will surely be killed by all the nobles and high warriors!”

“That’s not something I need to interfere with.”

“Please, think again!”

“Hmm…”

The envoy stroked his chin and pretended to ponder for a long time.

When the man’s anxiety reached its peak, the envoy opened his mouth with a reluctant expression.

“If you insist… then I will only give the imperial merchants the trade rights for some items. I will not interfere with any other goods.”

“…”

The man’s eyes rolled around. 

He was trying to see if he could get a better deal.

But the envoy drew a firm line.

“This is the best offer I can give you. Don’t ask me to make any more concessions.”

“…I’ll have to discuss it with our side.”

“Fine. I’ll wait for your good answer.”

A few days later.

“We accept the empire’s conditions.”

“You made a wise decision. Then let’s discuss the trade items.”

In the end, they accepted the empire’s conditions.

This was not only true for them. 

All the regions that were somehow related to this incident accepted the same demands from the empire.

There was not a single place that did not accept the two conditions. 

They were afraid of a direct war with the empire, and they did not want to be completely cut off from the huge wealth they had been accumulating.

Of course, this was only a part of the vast central continent.

But it was a very meaningful step for the imperial merchants to go beyond their direct territories and enter other regions.

The merchants at the top of the trade hierarchy in the central continent thought so too.

“Finally, we can sell our goods directly to other regions!”

“Haha! How angry we were to see their outrageous profits! Now is not the time for that, let’s prepare for our trade expedition!”

Thanks to this, many merchants became busy.

***

“W-we were wrong! We will do anything you want, please spare us!”

“I want to tear you apart, but it is the empire’s policy not to attack envoys unless necessary. So go back. I have no intention of negotiating with you.”

“P-please reconsider…”

Clang!

He drew his steel sword from his waist and pointed it at the man’s neck.

“Gah!”

The man’s face turned white.

This was a clear intimidation.

“I will not say any more. You may leave now.”

“…”

He begged and pleaded, but when he saw no hope, the envoy of the main force behind this incident bowed his head and left the building.

Even when he was talking to the leaders of various regions in the empire, some of the instigators had asked for surrender.

But the empire did not accept their surrender request this time.

Nor was it easy for them to abandon their region and flee in large numbers while the imperial army was preparing.

The empire had already announced that they would punish those who had contact with them.

There was no benefit in being involved with them, so the guard was tightened to prevent them from escaping their region.

There were even cases where they caught those who attempted desperate escapes and handed them over to the empire as new recruits.

“You did the right thing. Here, this is the reward from the empire.”

“Ha ha. I didn’t do it for this… But thank you anyway.”

At such times, the empire paid them a corresponding price.

Thanks to that, even before the expedition of the empire was over, there were warriors who caught and handed them over for the bounty.

“How did things turn out like this…”

In the end, the instigators of the missionary incident were isolated in their region, waiting for the imperial army to advance.

And finally, the expedition of the imperial army was completed.

“I am very angry! The missionaries went to faraway lands without hesitation to spread the true story of the great spirits! But those wicked writers kidnapped and tortured innocent missionaries, and not only killed them mercilessly, but also insulted the great spirits! How can we forgive this!”

Kim Ki-woo paused his speech for a moment and looked around at the countless imperial warriors gathered in the square.

It was so quiet that it was hard to believe that there were so many warriors. 

They were listening to Kim Ki-woo’s words attentively.

“When this expedition is over, the whole world will know what happens when you dare to insult the empire’s missionaries and the great spirits! We will win again, and as long as the empire exists, we will prosper under the blessing of the great spirits forever! Always remember that this is all possible thanks to you!”

Swoosh!

Kim Ki-woo drew out his emperor’s sword and raised it high toward the sky.

“All troops, march!”

“Woo! Woo! Woo!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thus, the expeditionary force left the imperial mainland and headed for the central continent.

***

The second expeditionary force was very different from the first one.

First of all, its scale was much smaller.

There was a huge difference between a war with a giant Aztec and a punishment of forces that were not so large.

Also, there was a big difference in armament.

Most of the imperial army were gunners with firearms.

Of course, cold weapons could not be ignored because of the mountainous terrain, but it was not easy to break through a large group of gunners in a group battle.

Moreover, they had a lot of cannons for siege.

Therefore, the imperial warriors who left for expedition were confident.

“Heh heh. I heard they’re shaking in fear.”

“Of course! It’s natural when they see the imperial army coming!”

The warriors did not doubt their victory.

In this atmosphere, the imperial army set foot on the central continent.

And they slowly moved toward the heart of their enemies.

“Huh… Amazing. Is that what I’ve only heard of, the imperial army?”

“Wow!”

Beyond the direct territory, as they passed through various regions, the residents of those regions cheered and admired at the sight of the imperial army.

After walking and walking like that.

Finally, they reached their destination.