Ch.82Merchant (1)

In the past of Earth, which I could call my homeland—the era known as pre-modern—merchants and commerce were often despised across all times and cultures.

In nomadic cultures, this wasn’t as prevalent since many people engaged in trade, but in a significant number of settled civilizations, commerce was typically viewed as lowly work and treated with contempt.

This was because, from the perspective of people in ancient times, commerce seemed little different from cowardly fraud.

Regardless of the era, the essence of being a merchant is ultimately buying low and selling high, which in the eyes of ancient people would have appeared as profiting from information asymmetry.

The perception that vulgar merchants deceived honest people led to merchants being equated with swindlers. Moreover, weren’t merchants often wanderers who didn’t settle in one place?

Pre-modern rulers, who considered controlling and settling their subjects as paramount above all else…

But we can’t simply blame them for this attitude because, in truth, merchants of old were often no different from con artists and potential highway robbers.

One thing to keep in mind is that merchants of this era were barely affected by the law.

While they weren’t protected by property rights and often had their money taken by those in power, there were also virtually no legal restrictions on their commercial activities.

Charging exorbitant prices was just the beginning—they engaged in practices that would make modern Korean scammers (dragon, car, and phone scammers) look like amateurs, employing tactics so brutal they would be considered criminal even by modern standards.

Merchants didn’t hesitate to use force either. When necessary, they would use their considerable strength—characteristic of wanderers—to force sales of their goods, or if the situation seemed right and few people were around, they might rob passersby to make a living.

Especially in this harsh world, traveling merchants needed to possess at least some fighting ability to survive.

Many were essentially highway robbers who also happened to be merchants, and few could easily stop them.

Between monsters hunting for the tender flesh of traveling merchants, thieves eyeing their supposedly bulging purses, and the risk of betrayal from hired mercenaries or adventurers (of whom it’s said eight out of ten are potential thieves)…

At this point, it might seem better to just settle down somewhere safe rather than wander around in danger, but merchants of this era never behaved that way.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they couldn’t behave that way.

People of this era often lived with the mindset of “you only live once,” and many would be aptly described as “coin-chasers” in modern terms.

The only difference is that instead of placing their faith in some electronic “something,” they devoted themselves to “goods” with actual physical value.

Unless you were a wealthy merchant who planted informants in every major trading city or dealt with so-called “information guilds,” most merchants were often just vagabonds who turned to commerce because they had no other way to make a living.

Therefore, since those who relied solely on their limited information for trade were outstripped tenfold by those who lost everything, merchants naturally developed a tendency to seek immediate gains rather than gamble on an uncertain future.

Compared to modern times, death was so much closer, creating an environment where extreme thinking was all too easy to fall into…

And so these types, these reckless individuals, continued to appear.

‘Wow, they’ve got some nerve, trying to pull a scam here.’

To the point where idiots would try to pull off one big swindle even knowing this village was under my governance as the lord’s son.

“Corin, have you finished the interrogation?”

“Yes. They confessed quite readily.”

Looking at the merchants imprisoned in the unique underground dungeon dug into one side of the domain, their cheeks sunken as if they’d been starved for days, I questioned Corin, who calmly responded while glancing at certain “tools” in one corner of the prison.

…A scene of blood-covered hammers, chisels, nails, and scissors.

“How did it come to this?”

After removing those unpleasant sights from my view, I asked Corin, who remained silent for a moment as if organizing his thoughts… before finally beginning to explain.

This rather large group of traveling merchants were originally ordinary(?) traders who made their living selling furs around the neighboring territories, particularly centered around Baron Collant’s domain.

“…Fur trading must have made them decent money?”

“Yes. They claim to be ordinary, but it’s more likely they were quite well-off.”

Of course, in this era, fur is more than just a luxury clothing material as in modern times—it’s a potential core industry for nations, an essential item for survival against cold, and material for mid-range armor.

Furthermore, fur and leather are favored defensive gear for those who cannot wear armor for various reasons, and monster furs in particular possess genuine magical properties, making them premium goods among premium goods.

“…Judging by the scale of their operation, they must be quite substantial?”

With four wagons and a company of twenty merchants and workers, they were a fairly large trading operation. According to Corin, they even employed a small mercenary band—certainly not dismissible as mere peddlers.

“What about those mercenaries?”

“After confirming they had no connection to this incident, we released them with a small ransom. About thirty silver coins.”

“Hmm… at that price, they definitely weren’t involved.”

Thirty silver coins. A fortune that would make the poor or common folk go crazy, and even the middle class would bow deeply for such an amount.

In a sense, it’s also the cutoff point for resolving matters without either party losing face.

Anyway, now understanding clearly why the mercenaries they had employed were no longer present, I wanted to know why this trading company, which was presumably doing well, had gone out of their way to attempt a “scam.”

“So… what kind of scam were they trying to pull?”

“I’ll explain, Lord Alzar.”

Well, once Corin understood my intention, he related exactly what he had learned through those “tools.”

“Our village and the nearby pioneer settlements have quite a stockpile of furs, don’t they?”

“That’s right. Being pioneer settlements and all.”

In pioneer settlements that have received hunting rights from the lord for the wild animals in nearby forests, hunting typically becomes the core industry.

All beasts within the domain are nominally the lord’s property. Because of this, actively hunting is prohibited unless attacked first, but pioneer settlements are the exception—they can legitimately go hunting.

Therefore, it’s “common sense” that any decent pioneer settlement would have abundant furs, but the village under my rule was a step beyond that.

Originally, we were steadily accumulating furs thanks to skilled hunters, but then our village was joined by over twenty werewolves—natural-born warriors and hunters.

Just as they had done in their forest village, they continued to hunt in the woods, coming and going as they pleased, resulting in a stockpile of furs in our warehouse that would be quite valuable…

“Those merchants proposed disposing of the furs. At a ridiculously low price.”

“…Well, that’s what merchants tend to do.”

According to Corin, the merchants tried to take advantage at a level that was unbearable even considering the price difference between cities and pioneer settlements. The deal was completely nullified when the administrator Charlotte uncovered this.

However, the problem arose at this point.

“Having been caught trying to scam us once, we naturally didn’t want to trade with them anymore, but they seemed quite taken with our leather and furs.”

“…Did they steal them?”

“They didn’t steal. They just… surrounded our hunters coming out of the forest and forced them to sell the furs.”

“…Ah. So that’s how it ended up like this.”

Perhaps they thought that if they committed this insane act, they might be reported by their mercenaries.

These fools planned to surround the village hunters and extort something from them, but…

“…But that hunter happened to be Miss Hanna, who had gone hunting because she was bored.”

As it happened, the first hunter they targeted was Hanna.

Despite her brain appearing innocent due to her excessive love for battle, she is by no means stupid.

“So what happened then?”

“Yes. If it hadn’t been Miss Hanna, who knows what might have happened, which is why we detained these people.”

As Corin said, if that hunter hadn’t been Hanna, who was more than capable of defending herself, it was painfully obvious what kind of incident might have occurred…

“…Sigh, what should we do with them.”

I began to seriously consider how to deal with these merchants.

These pathetic fools who, after getting caught trying to scam us and having their contract canceled, became angry about their failed scam and swore revenge.