Vol. 3 Chapter 55: Merchants of Wisteria (Part 4) (Patreon)

He was being dragged in both arms, his feet sliding on a solid floor. He breathed heavily through the bag covering his head, wondering what in the world was going on. Was he being brought to a prison? What would the royal knights want from him?

Have they discovered what he had done perhaps? No, impossible, the plan was perfect and undetectable. This could be regarding something else. He wanted to resist, but that may prove to be more damaging and suspicious considering that these were royal knights. It was best to behave for now. Besides, it was not like he was being hurt.

Although, he didn’t know what these knights had done to the men that were with him.

Before he knew it, he was carelessly pushed down on what felt like a chair. His bag was removed, he squinted his eyes as it refocused in the new lighting. There was a rectangular table in front of him, on each side were two familiar people.

On his right was a somewhat muscular man, crossing his arms, his leg was restless. He appeared to be somewhat angry, or perhaps annoyed. But one could imagine he was nervous as well. Egid recognized him. He was the head of an arms production business — the Bronwen company.

On his left was a woman with short hair, middle aged. Unlike the other one who was hiding his weakness, this one made no effort to do it. She was tightly pressing her lips together, looking around with blatant nervousness. No, perhaps she was trying to hide it, but just couldn’t. Egid knew her as well, much better than Bronwen, that was because they have worked together on many different occasions. She was the head of a transportation service, the Indira Transports Company. The company that usually transports the goods Egid’s company produces.

She turned towards him. “Egid, you’re here too. This could only me—”

“Stop, Sina. We did nothing.”

“...” she lowered her head, stiff.

When Egid turned his head to the right, Bronwen was staring at them with narrowed eyes.

What did he do?

Curious, why was the head of arms production brought here?

Egid looked around the building, walls made of wood. Given the large space they were in, this could be some sort of warehouse. Although he was clueless about where this place might be.

By the corners, there were men standing in the shadows. Despite announcing they were royal knights, they wore no armor nor sigil that would suggest they were. That could be a reason to doubt what they said they were. Perhaps they were lying about being royal knights just to intimidate Egid and the others, or make them hesitant to resist.

That was his theory at first, but then steps came walking towards them, from the entrance. There were five men in cloak, but in the wave of their steps revealed a glimpse of the Wisterian Royal Knight armor. They positioned themselves by the walls, but they kept their hoods over their heads.

Afterwards, another person walked in, behind her were four other men.

That person looked around. “Cozy and quiet, a perfect spot for a pleasant time with our esteemed guests. Good job.”

It was a feminine voice, sweet and soothing.

She slowly lowered her hood. The moment Egid and the others gazed on her face, their eyes widened, tracing the beautiful platinum colored hair. They seemed to glimmer even in this dim room, a quality much more valuable than any jewels they may possess.

Her pair of crimson eyes were something that was so special and unique, so mesmerizing. Her skin was as pale as the falling snow in winter, a shade on a person who no one else had seen in their life — except for one time. Yes, they recognized her, how could they not?

But of all places, they could never even begin to imagine that they would see her in a place like this.

She was smiling delightfully as she gently untied her cloak and gave it to a knight. The more Egid stared at her, the more the true meaning of beauty seemed to dismantle. Indeed, hers was a beauty not any commoner could ever hope to behold or comprehend, especially here up close. For her very presence destroyed the meaning of what was beauty, and rewrote it.

And it could potentially drive any person insane.

That was a fact.

Those who were not used to seeing beauty would definitely fall into madness upon beholding her. One could only imagine how a man would become at her slightest touch. One could imagine how her beauty would slowly corrupt the heart and the mind of those who fell in love with her.

She approached the other end of the table, in the direction Egid was facing.

“There’s no chair.” She looked directly at him. “Mr. Egid Gresnel...”

Egid’s breath caught up on his throat, it was not because this personification of beauty called him by name, but because she knew his name. Him, who seemed insignificant before her. He was not proud, but rather he disturbed. She spoke his name not with warmth, but there was something in her voice.

She continued. “There’s a chair behind you. Would you be so kind as to bring it to me?”

He looked around. Everyone was staring at him. Feeling tense, and with no other choice but to obey, he rose from his seat and grabbed the chair for her, wary as he did. After properly placing the chair, he slowly stepped back, then the lady smiled at him.

“Thank you.”

He didn’t know how to properly respond, so all he could do was bow his head and return to his seat.

The lady elegantly sat down and quietly stared at each one of them for a moment before asking, “Do you know who I am?”

The three looked at each other, hesitant to even speak.

“Come now, greatest merchants of Wisteria, can’t even answer such a simple question?”

“ — The princess.” The one to answer was Bronwen. “Princess Estelia…”

The princess’s smile widened, as if pleased. “Oh, I should express how much of an honor it is to be known by a great blacksmith such as you, Mr. Lobran Bronwen.”

“I mean… who wouldn’t know about you as the sole princess… Although, this is merely the second time I ever saw you.”

She giggled. “It’s nice to make your acquaintance. I suppose business is going well?”

“Y-Yes, your highness, thank you for asking.”

“I imagine demand must be soaring at these times.”

“...” His eyes blinked for a moment, as if pondering. Then he awkwardly smiled. “... I can’t really tell, but you could say that.”

“Don’t want to tell me the specifics? That’s alright, businesses have to keep their own secrets after all.” Her eyes and smile were so kind, all pure. “Say, Mr. Lobran, how are the kids?”

When he heard that question, the smile disappeared from Lobran’s face. “.... They… they’re doing fine, thank you for asking…”

“I heard your eldest son has been traveling for a while now, about… how long has it been since he left the city?”

“...... About two weeks ago…”

“Oh yes, two weeks ago. One could only wonder how far he had reached. He must be having a thrilling adventure, don’t you think?”

“I imagine so.”

“I hope you taught him any precautions in any unexpected danger.”

“... I have taught him all I know, he will be fine.”

“That’s good. As for your eight-year-old daughter, I heard she had a perfect score on her tutor’s monthly exam. Smart kid.”

“... How did you…? Princess… W-What…?”

“What? I am merely trying to get to know you more. Why? You don’t like it? Don’t you like talking with me?”

“N-No… that’s not —”

She sighed. “What a disappointment… I was looking forward to talking with other people for a change, but it would seem no one likes me…” her gaze shifted to another merchant, the woman, and tilted her head in curiosity. “Sina, are you feeling alright? Are you sick?”

She flinched. “N-Not exactly, your highness. Just a little headache.”

“Is that so?” she placed a finger on her cheek, thinking. “Can you endure it for a little while longer? We’ll be having a serious discussion in a moment.”

“T-That is completely fine with me, your h-highness.”

“Very good. Once we’re done, we can arrange for, what was his name again…? Ah, Garnel.”

At that name, Sina’s eyes widened, her mouth agape as she stared at the princess.

The princess continued as she turned towards a knight. “Maybe when we’re done, we can bring Garnel to come and pick her—”

“NO!”

Sina screamed, everyone other than the three pointed hostile gazes towards her. Sina froze in fear.

“What was that, Sina? No?” the princess asked in a gentle voice as she waved her hand up and down towards the knights, gesturing for them to settle down.

Sina forced herself to speak. “... T-There’s no need t-to call him.”

“Why? I thought you two had something special going on. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind picking you up.”

With little tears coming out of the corner of her eyes, she pursed her lips tight before squeezing out a few words. “... I will be alright in a few minutes…”

“Hm, if you say so. Then, seeing as Ms. Sina is not feeling well, I think we should get straight to business.” Her high and friendly smile dropped, her lips in a straight line. “We have discovered suspicious activities involving the biggest industries in our Kingdom. And these activities are certain to cause irreversible damage. Do you happen to have any idea about those?”

“... I don’t see how my weapons could cause irreversible damage to our nation.” Lobran answered confidently.

“You think so?” Her smile appeared again.

“Yes, your highness… However, there is one here whose business is essential to the whole of Wisteria.”

Lobran’s gaze shifted towards one man.

“Mr. Egid Gresnel,” the princess called out to him, staring directly into his eyes. “You have been awfully quiet. Care to share whatever knowledge you possess?”

Egid subtly swallowed before responding and speaking to the princess for the first time. “Your highness, I see and encounter problems of all kinds every day. If you may be more specific about which you refer?”

“... I think you know precisely what I’m talking about. The part where our food supplies are dwindling at a steady rate, where in one year we will face a high possibility of famine.”

Egid gripped the fabric of his trousers, trying to keep his composure, in an attempt to avoid looking suspicious. He noticed Sina’s terrified gaze pointed towards him.

After subtly taking a deep breath, he replied to the princess. “I apologize, but I am not aware of such.”

“You’re the head of your organization and you do not know something so critical? I find that hard to believe,” Lobran said with a scoff.

“He’s right, Mr. Gresnel. Your name appeared on all the papers we reviewed.”

Egid recalled the records the crown ordered to have. He didn’t want to give any to them, but it was a royal order, and refusing to cooperate would only serve to be his undoing. But to think they would go through all of it, they would have to go through thousands of pages to get the whole statistics of Wisteria’s situation. Simply absurd.

“Princess I—”

“I swear if you lie to my face again, I’ll make sure you’ll have no home to return to.”

Sweat beaded on his back, a cold sensation engulfed him as the princess’s gaze changed into something other than warmth and kindness they possessed just a second ago. “...”

“We surmised that you were not alone in the sabotage. Bandit activity has been on the rise ever since about three years ago, robbing cargos, mostly cargos that your company was managing, Ms. Sina. Barely a report was made to the authorities. What happened, Ms. Sina? I doubt a group of bandits could defeat guards under your employ.”

“I-I d-don’t…”

“Choose your next words carefully, Ms. Sina. Our words can have dire consequences.”

Sina lowered her head. “I’m sorry, princess. They made me do it.” She closed her eyes as tears fell down her cheek.

“What did they make you do?”

“To lower security of the goods under Gresnel’s company, and report no incidents. To allow the robbery to take place.”

“Why did you participate?”

“They said we will be rewarded when a new order arrives in return of… letting Wisteria suffer.”

“That’s treason!” Lobran roared, pointing his finger at her. “How could you?!”

“I-I didn’t want to! They would kill me if I refuse! Please understand! I didn’t have a choice!”

“What a fool!”

“ — Mr. Bronwen, I was speaking with her. Don’t you dare interrupt us again.”

Lobran froze with a stiff expression, glaring towards Sina before nodding his head. “Understood.”

“So, Ms. Sina. You are guilty.”

“B-But—”

“And your accomplice, Mr. Gresnel, seemed to be keen on hiding the truth.” She shifted her gaze towards him. “But don’t worry, I know what you have done. At least, enough to convict you of treason. But if you want to confess, I will allow it.”

Egid lowered his head. “I was ordered to gradually reduce Wisteria’s food supply, whether sabotaging the farms, robbery, or letting unprocessed crops rot.”

The princess’s expression turned blank as she asked a question. “Do you know what the punishment for treason is?”

“... Death.”

“Indeed. But your crimes seek to aid the complete downfall of our nation. Under my request, and I will, you will not die on the noose. Death would be too easy for you.”

Egid felt a chill down his spine.

“You three shall have a fate worse than death, hell in life.”

“Wait, three? Princess, I am not involved in this! I have nothing to do with anything.” he abruptly rose from his seat, looking downward towards the princess. “Why should I be punished for their crimes?! This is absurd!”

It was at that moment that the princess’s gaze changed. A blow of wind came out from nowhere, pushing Lobran to the point that he almost lost his balance. It was bewildering. There was no hole big enough around on the walls nor roof to allow a wind this strong to enter, and that wind precisely seemed to target him. But it was only strong enough to disorient him. That wind almost seemed calculated.

“Ggh!”

For unexplainable reason, Lobran began to choke, placing his hand on his chest as if he was having difficulty breathing. Both Egid and Sina could not understand what was going on.

Unable to endure it, Lobran dropped back down on his seat, his face red. Intense fear was written all over his face as he raised his eyes towards the other end of the table, towards who had been quietly staring at him. He knew it — everyone knew who was behind this. And those who were lucky to not taste her wrath felt chills down their spine.

“Fool, you see yourself as innocent? What do you even think is the reason you’re here, hm?”

Is that a noble’s magic?

She was doing nothing, not a gesture or anything. Egid had seen plenty of magic spells being cast, but not like this. He had never even heard a magic spell that chokes out a man with a mere gaze.

Just how powerful is a royal?

No, perhaps the real question was: Just how powerful was she?

“Perhaps you need some reminder,” the princess continued. “There were weapons that had no destination written in the records. Where they went, who knows? Perhaps you can tell us, Mr. Bronwen. Where did those weapons go?”

As if the pressure had been removed, Lobran coughed out loudly and panting heavily. “Hah, hah… Weapons… Ah…” Realization dawned on him, but that realization only intensified his fear after the close touch with death. “I… Those… weapons were brought to the forests.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“There, there were anonymous orders for arsenals, and they offered quite a hefty amount.” He took a deep breath. “They were to be delivered to various places.”

“What kind of places?”

“... Somewhere within forests. Secluded areas.”

“Who is receiving them? Surely you met at least a representative.”

“We were told to just leave them at the given location and leave.”

“Hm. Do you see the connection here, you traitorous three?”

The three of them bitterly looked at each other. They knew the answer, but it was hard to speak out. It was one crime of the highest degree, they were all connected to a conspiracy aiming to destroy Wisteria.

Due to their silent guilt, the princess answered for them. “The bandits used the weapons, which I guess one of the purposes is to attack cargos carrying our already dwindling food supply. Made even worse by the loose security and the lack of reports to the authorities. Three whole years of sabotage. We were lucky to discover the plot before it was too late.”

She fell silent, staring at each one of them with her eyes lacking emotion. The color that once filled with warmth, now turned dim and cold. Disappointment, resentment — no, there was none there at all. It was just indifference. Indifference towards the three of them, whatever their fate may end up, she would not care, nor would anything touch her heart.

Even if something terrible happened to them, her heart would not be tinged in the slightest.

Egid felt at that moment that they earned the ire far worse than the people from the empire that he met.

“Everything you have will be forfeit. Your enterprise, homes, your wealth, all will be taken as your punishment. There will be nothing left for you and your family. Can you imagine how it would be for you? Even that is hard for me, I have to admit.”

She chuckled. “No soft bed to sleep on, searching food in the trash, no beautiful yard with a fountain to be seen every day. What a terrible thing to experience. But I digress, you will be left with nothing, those that you intend your children to inherit,” the princess stared directly into Egid’s eyes. “Gone. Hell in life.”

Egid lowered his head, hands and legs trembling at the idea of losing everything. It was unthinkable. Generations of history and hard work to be reduced to nothing, forgotten. What his son was supposed to inherit, what his family was supposed to live on… how could they hope to live?

How could they hope to survive without a home, without wealth, without anything? How could they live like a beggar on the street, stomach aching due to hunger in most days? His family would suffer a hellish life.

Egid heard the muffled crying of Sina, while Lobran remained frozen.

“Is it too scary? I’m sorry, perhaps you would like to calm your nerves.”

Egid slowly raised his eyes to see the princess waving at a knight. She received a bottle of wine.

“One of the finest in the palace’s collection. I heard it’s very expensive,” she smiled before sliding it on the table towards the three. “I’m sure you will enjoy it.”

The three looked at each other, unsure of how to react.

“Oh, I forgot about the wineglasses. I guess you will have to share.”

A drink, as if what one would have before their formal execution.

Egid slowly reached out for the bottle before him, his hand sweating and trembling. His chest was heavy, hard to breathe. The sensation of the cold glass bottle was so clear on his fingertips.

“But before that, I have something to propose.”

Everyone, puzzled while distressed, slowly shifted their eyes towards the princess. She was smiling softly.

“That was merely one of the options for punishment.”

“...One of the options…?” Lobran asked.

“The other option aside from the first, well in this one you can keep all of that you have.”

“...”

“You will follow the crown’s orders, absolute obedience. You will directly serve the crown, even your descendants, until the end of times. You will protect your homeland.”

At that, everyone's eyes lit up ever so slightly.

“However, at the first sign of betrayal and disobedience, the crown may do whatever it wishes to punish you. Either take everything from you, or execution.”

The three of them looked at each other.

Then the princess continued. “So? Which will you choose?”

Sina rose from her seat and deeply bowed her head. “I-I will serve!”

Then Lobran followed, rising and deeply bowing his head. “I, and my descendants, will serve the crown.”

Egid slowly rose. He pondered for a brief moment, would he really bound himself and his children, and their children’s children to the crown? To be servants, or perhaps, to be slaves? Was it truly the best option? To either suffer, or survive, which one would be the best?

Those thoughts plagued him. But he must make a choice here and now. If his family would have the best life, then, there would be no other choice but to choose the latter option. They may have to follow the crown’s biddings, but at least, for the most part, they’ll be alright.

“My bloodline, and our whole enterprise… will be faithfully loyal to the nation of Wisteria, and to the crown.”

He deeply bowed his head.

“I’m relieved to have this resolution.” The princess stood up, smiling brightly. “At least, no one has to suffer, and that makes me happy. For now, enjoy this day, do what you love, or enjoy some clam soup, or whatever.”

Egid clenched his trousers.

She waved to one of the knights to bring her cloak. “I will send a representative soon to give you your orders.”

Before she picked the cloak, she continued. “Raise your heads and look at me.”

And everyone did, and they stopped breathing as she spoke.

“Do not disappoint.”

She picked up the cloak and wrapped it around herself.

“Until next time, lady and gentlemen. May Wisteria prevail. Oh, and keep the wine. Hide it or drink it, it’s up to you.”

With that, the princess walked away, and the knights that were surrounding them marched behind her.

A moment later, there was silence as no one else remained but the three.

They looked at each other before Egid picked up the wine bottle.