"What do you plan to do if I don't help you?"
"I believe you will help me."
I stared straight into her eyes.
"Because you are my person. Anasha."
"If only you had given me an order, I would at least try to refuse..."
Anasha shook her head as if to say there was nothing she could do.
"If you strike at someone's weakness like that, they have no choice but to move."
I gave a faint smile at her declaration of surrender.
"I believe you will do even better than I expected."
"That is much scarier than being told to die if you don't succeed."
She let out a small chuckle. I sank deep into the sofa. The thought that I had finally convinced at least one person made my tense body relax.
Now that I had persuaded Anasha, the only one left was Evan. I had given up on the idea of persuading Sis and my father from the start. Their stubbornness was more tenacious and solid than I had imagined. Upon hearing my thoughts, my father even went so far as to impose a curfew on me, something he had never done before.
"Leaving me aside, how do you plan to persuade Evan?"
Anasha emptied the remaining tea in the cup in one gulp and continued speaking.
"Evan is a stubborn child. Bjornne, if he judges there is even the slightest possibility of a threat to your safety, he will absolutely not move, even if it means his own death. No matter who I am, I cannot move the entire merchant guild without the consent of Evan, the head of the guild."
The task I planned had to be carried out simultaneously across the entire region. The probability of success was higher if the entire top management stepped forward.
"First, I guess I need to meet Evan. Has Evan returned?"
Anasha's eyes trembled slightly at my question. She pondered for a moment, then cautiously opened her mouth.
"Actually, I wasn't planning to say anything for the time being..."
“What’s the problem?”
Anasha let out a low sigh.
"It's been a few days since he returned."
I frowned at Anasha's answer. I didn't need to know Evan's every move, but he should have at least contacted me if he had been away for a long time. Moreover, wasn't what Anasha said practically the same as admitting that she had intended to hide Evan's return from me?
Anasha and Evan are my people. The fact that they intentionally tried to hide it from me must be because they judged that there was nothing to gain from me finding out.
However, no matter how much it was for my sake, I did not want my people to struggle for me in places I did not know. I wanted to fight alongside my people, and I absolutely did not want to be protected from behind someone's back.
"Please tell me in detail what happened."
"Phew, you know Evan left in a hurry because something came up in the West, right?"
Anasha, who had started speaking with a sigh, glanced at the teacup as if her throat were dry. The teacup was placed in front of her.
Inside, the tea had already run its bottom.
I gestured to stop her from speaking and rang the bell. As soon as I rang the bell, the maid who had been waiting outside the drawing room entered and bowed. I ordered the maid to bring out some new tea. She quickly served the tea and left the drawing room.
Anasha seemed to have organized what she wanted to say while the tea was being prepared, as she started talking immediately while drinking her tea.
"The Western Branch was raided."
"What do you mean by a raid?"
I didn't understand what Anasha said right away.
The Pison Merchant Guild was second to none not only in the Empire but also across the entire continent. If the Pison Merchant Guild were to collapse, the impact on the continent would be unimaginably great. Even the Emperor of the Empire had to deliberate for a long time before touching the Pison Merchant Guild.
'The Pison trading company was attacked?'
Anasha is not someone who would talk nonsense to me. However, the story that the Pison Merchant Guild had been attacked was so hard to believe that I could not easily trust even Inasha’s words.
"Where did they raid the caravan?"
Evan, the head of the merchant guild, moved personally. If it was a matter he had to rush to, it meant it was by no means a small affair. After all, a merchant wouldn't move just because a petty thief broke into the branch.
Like other merchant guilds, the branches of the Pison Guild were located in cities where trade was active. Merchant guilds of Pison scale are generally situated in the city center. Inflicting damage severe enough to force the guild leader to take action on such a branch was by no means something an individual could have accomplished. This leads to the conclusion that the enemy that raided the guild branch was at least an organization or a country.
As if my hunch was right, Anasha's expression darkened as she spoke.
"I hear the attacker was Inayari."
“Inayari?”
My voice tone rose without me realizing it. It was because it was someone I hadn't even thought of.
Although the Inayari were a tribe prone to plunder, they merely enjoyed raiding caravans traveling through the west or small towns around cities at best. If the Inayari had been raiding cities, the nations involved would not have stood idly by. The Inayari were a troublesome presence for a single country to deal with, but they were a target that could be fully annihilated if several nations joined forces.
There is only one reason why neighboring countries remain silent despite knowing that the Inayari are plundering. It is because ignoring their plundering is cheaper than waging war to annihilate them.
The Inayari not only possessed naturally strong bodies, but every adult male was practically a warrior. Furthermore, the Inayari exerted even greater strength in their homeland, the desert. They habitually plundered the regions adjacent to the desert using hit-and-run tactics.
To annihilate them, even an empire had to endure heavy bloodshed. If that was the case even for an empire, what about the kingdoms weaker than the great empire?
There is only one way to exterminate the Inayari tribe using the minimum amount of power each nation possesses: for all nations to unite their strength and focus on eliminating them. However, this method was nearly impossible. The primary goal of any organization is its own self-interest. In fact, even if the Inayari tribe were wiped out, it would not benefit the nation in any way. At best, it would simply mean the disappearance of a target that had been periodically plundered. Rather, it would only result in the depletion of national power to get rid of them. No nation was willing to take the lead in such a troublesome and unprofitable undertaking.
Moreover, the places where the Inayari tribe mainly engaged in plunder were the outskirts of each country adjacent to the desert. It was not a matter significant enough to warrant expending national strength to subdue the Inayari tribe.
However, cities large enough to house a branch of the merchant guild were different. Knights and soldiers were stationed in the cities of every country, if only to maintain public order. Losing troops stationed in a city was tantamount to losing national power. It was a matter that no country could overlook.
“Are you sure?”
"Evan said he saw it himself."
Evan, who was guarding Rai, a half-Inayari, could not possibly have mistaken him for an Inayari. If he had seen him in person, he was definitely an Inayari.
"How extensive is the damage?"
"The building collapsed, and food and supplies disappeared. There aren't many fatalities, but there are quite a few injured."
“Is it looting?”
"Yes."
I tapped the table with my fingers, lost in thought. Anasha remained silent, as if trying not to interrupt my thoughts.
What the Inayari tribe plunders is generally food. This is because grain cannot grow in desert regions. They mainly plundered livestock or grains that could be used for food. As food and goods disappeared, it is true that this was the plundering primarily practiced by the Inayari tribe. However, there were more than a few issues.
Raiding a caravan inside the city at great risk just to get food? It made no sense.
Raiding a city was a matter on a completely different level from plundering the hearts of the outskirts. It was a significant event that could trigger the Empire to step forward to subdue the Inayari tribe. No matter how barbaric they were, there was no way they were unaware of this fact.
“Where else?”
"Some top laners were hit as well, but we suffered the most damage."
“Why?”
"I heard that a fire broke out at the merchant branch building during the looting. They tried to bring it under control, but it seems the fire suppression was delayed because they were busy dealing with the raiders."
So that's the reason the building collapsed.
"Yes."
"What was the lord's reaction?"
"That is..."
Anasha wore a troubled expression.
“Anansha?”
"It is a place without a lord."
I instinctively frowned at Anasha's words. Except for the directly managed territories owned by the Emperor, the entire Empire was under the administration of lords. Although it was said that some territories in the Kingdom were occasionally managed by citizen representatives due to a lack of lords, such instances were extremely rare. Generally, territories that had lost their lords were bound to revert to the royal family.
In this respect, the Empire was more thorough than the Kingdom. If a noble possessing territory lost the ability to manage it, the Imperial Household would immediately dispatch an administrator to convert it into a direct imperial domain. There could be no territory in the Empire without a lord.
"Is it a direct imperial territory?"
"No."
Anasha shook her head. She picked up her teacup to quench her thirst, then met my eyes.
"According to the rules, it is the territory of the Duke of Deisha's family."
"So you mean not now?"
"Yes, ten years ago, it became a land entrusted to the autonomy of the citizens by order of Duke Deisha."
"Are you saying that Duke Deisha has given up all rights there?"
"Yes."
Giving up territorial rights is equivalent to giving up all products and taxes derived from the territory. Why did Duke Deisha commit such an act?
"Do you know the reason?"
"I heard that the person currently serving as the representative there saved Duke Deisha's life."
'Giving up territory to the citizens for the sake of a lifesaver...'
Tok tok tok.
The sound of fingernails hitting the table echoed through the drawing room.
"So that means the Empire won't be getting involved in this incident."
Anasha nodded.
For the Empire to intervene in this incident, the lord managing the territory had to personally request assistance from the Emperor. Fundamentally, managing the territory was the sole responsibility of the lord. Except for events like the outbreak of an epidemic that could spread and endanger the entire country, the state could not intervene in territorial affairs unless the lord requested help.
The location where the upper branch was situated is the territory of the Duke of Deisha's family. However, Duke Deisha used his right of territory and handed it over to the citizens. Although it may be officially the territory of the Duke of Deisha's family, it means that, in reality, it is territory without a lord.
The Empire does not regard the representatives of the citizens as lords. Even if they ask the Emperor for help, the Empire will never move.
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