CH 396

The Merchant’s Rule

Southeast of the Tearmoon Empire, past a group of small countries, lay a huge port. The Holy Principality of Belluga’s harbor city of St. Baleine was an independent port city that was proud and quiet. When neighboring countries kept fighting over who had the right to use the harbor, the Belluga stepped in. They took over the surrounding lands and let traders from all the nearby places use the harbor. Then, they got a number of businesses to form a group called a “merchant’s guild.” This group was in charge of maintaining and improving the facilities of both the harbor and the town. Belluga had made the town its territory in name only. They set up a system to make sure that all material gains were shared with other countries in the area.

At first, this change was met with a never-ending stream of complaints from the neighbors. All the people involved wanted to control the port’s possibility for making money. But as time went on and they started to see the benefits of Belluga’s method, the voices against it got quieter. Business activity in and of itself was a good thing. Regional players quickly figured out that the current setup might be better than having one person own the port alone. Having a fountain of gold in your own garden made you a very obvious target, and it wasn’t cheap to protect it. It could save everyone money if it wasn’t in anyone’s yard. So, the port of peace grew and became one of the most important trade hubs on the continent. It was known as a merchant’s paradise.

There, at this huge port, was Marco Forkroad looked up at the Auro Vangelo, a big commercial ship owned by his company, and sighed. “Who would have guessed…?”

The ship was going to a country across the ocean where there was a lot of wheat. Mia Luna Tearmoon, princess of the Tearmoon Empire, had hired the ship to go there.

“The way things are now… Did the princess know this would happen? If she did, that makes her a very scary person.”

Marco remembered the face of the princess who had become close friends with his daughter. He smiled in a way that showed both pride and worry. “God, Chloe, what kind of person did you make friends with?”

“Oh? Well, if it’s not Marco of Forkroad & Co.”

When Marco heard his name, he turned around to see a man with a big belly and a curly beard standing in front of him. The man greeted him with a huge smile, but it was clear that it was only on the surface. Marco knew him well. He was a man who had never smiled from the heart.

“Hello, Shalloak! It’s been a while.”

Shalloak Cornrogue was a wealthy trader whose business was so big that it covered the whole continent. He traded everything from food to silk goods to weapons. No matter what it was or where it fit, if there was money to be made, he sold it. Marco didn’t like being around him because of how ruthlessly he focused on making money in business. Shalloak was a very ruthless businessman, which worried him because Shalloak was right. As a businessman, Marco knew that being ruthless was the right thing to do. He also knew that he didn’t have that ability.

Well, it had made him feel bad. Now, all of that was in the past because Marco had found something more brilliant and more wonderful than the right way to do business.

How amazingly interesting! Whenever I was with him, I felt like a fool, but now…

He shook his head and smiled again in a sarcastic way.

Shalloak said, “Oh ho ho, I know that grin,” as he twisted his moustache. “That smile is from someone who just made his enemies look like complete fools. Well done. When you first started trading in wheat from other countries, I thought you had gone crazy. I remember calling it the height of stupidity. And now look at you, your wheat must be worth three times what you paid for it. How does it feel to have made us all look bad, hm?”

Marco gave a shrug. “I’m glad you’re interested in this, but the selling price of the wheat I recently brought in was already set before I brought it in.”

“ Oh?” Shalloak asked with a knowing smile, “Would that be through a contract with the so-called Great Wisdom of the Empire?”

“ How did you—”

“Oh ho ho, but I know, of course. Keep your ears open, and whispers will come from everywhere.”

Information is a very important tool for traders. Because of this, Marco had made sure that as few people as possible knew about his deal with Mia. But still…

After giving it some thought, Marco let out a sigh of resignation. “I guess there’s no point in trying to hide it now. As you said, it is a part of my agreement with Her Highness.”

“And you’re going to follow this agreement? To the word?”

“Of course. For us traders, contracts are holy and can’t be broken. Do you think I should go back on what I said I would do?”

“Now, come on. It’s not a matter of right or wrong, but of how to do things. There are many ways to do it. You can, for example, first sell some to another kingdom for a better price. The empire can wait.”

Marco, who was usually a nice guy, gave Shalloak a hard look. His voice started to sound a little angry. “You can’t really mean that.”

“Yes, but why can’t I? I have never been more serious than I am right now. This is, if anything, what makes us traders, isn’t it? We only stick to contracts because they help us keep customers for longer, which means we make more money than if we didn’t. But if there is a way to make even more money,” Shalloak said, narrowing his eyes, “you should use every bit of knowledge you have to find a way out of that stupid contract. Due to last year’s bad harvest, wheat costs have gone through the roof. It would be a shame if you didn’t make the most of this. We’re business people. The heart of business is being loyal to money. We’ll find a way to sell the ashes if war burns this land to the ground. That’s what it means to be a business owner.”

“Lord above all… I don’t think Shalloak and I will ever agree on anything. I hope that your business does well for a long time. At least I can do that much.”

“I’ll take it. When you’re running a business, every little bit helps.” Marco turned around and walked away. Shalloak gave him a smile that wasn’t quite friendly as he left.