Chapter 13
—Did Hebron fall?
—Tch tch. Looks like they lost their forces trying to get through the forest.
—Shouldn’t we report this to the Baron?
—Leave it. Word will come from inside anyway.
Hebron’s soldiers arriving in Baron Nurha’s territory at this time of year—it was the first time in decades.
I said casually to the soldiers guarding the fence.
“The goblins in the forest have been exterminated. No need to stay so tense on guard. You can enter the woods without fear from now on. Of course, if you're caught hunting recklessly, there’ll be a fine.”
The eastern forest belonged to the Hebron territory. It just hadn’t been properly managed for a long time.
The soldiers looked at me in surprise, but I waved and continued deeper into Baron Nurha’s land.
‘So quiet.’
The vast plains were empty of people. Only the occasional breeze blew by, carrying the scent of humanity, mostly foul.
The barony’s residents mostly lived inside the stone walls. That was where the peddlers and merchant carriages gathered.
Baron Nurha’s land had a relatively prosperous marketplace. It was little more than a countryside fair by Breio’s standards, but after spending time in Hebron—where one could scarcely even see a merchant—the act of buying and selling itself seemed novel.
A second checkpoint awaited at the stone wall. The first one was merely to distinguish between humans and monsters, but here they verified the identity of those entering.
I presented the Hebron family’s crest to the soldiers and said.
“I am Louis de Hebron.”
I visited Baron Nurha’s domain once a year. This was my fourth time, so the guards recognized me.
Once again, I informed them of the goblin extermination.
The news would spread like wildfire.
‘Weaker territories are easily shaken by mere rumors.’
As soon as I entered the barony, I headed straight for the market. Stalls were set up along the edges of the plaza, and goods hung from merchant carriages. People bustled about, eagerly buying and selling. The smell of cheap spices and food filled the air.
At the entrance to the market, in the most prominent corner, was a familiar trading company.
Serpens Trading Company.
It was a small business unworthy of mention in the memories of Louis de Breio, but in this region, it was one of the larger ones.
It had four branches and owned fifteen merchant carriages. Their guards were competent enough that when mercenaries were scarce during tax season, the barony would sometimes hire from Serpens instead.
A merchant from the company recognized me. Wearing the exaggerated expression typical of salesmen, he rushed over and asked.
“Young master of Hebron, is that you? You’ve grown so much in just a few months—I hardly recognized you! But what brings you here at this time of year?”
“I have some goods I’d like to sell. Can you take a look?”
“Of course!”
The merchant dashed toward where the Hebron carriages were parked.
He was shocked to see the carriages filled with iron swords and goblin teeth.
When a Hebron soldier told him we had brought three carriages, he practically leapt in the air, dashing between them.
He turned to me, eyes wide with excitement.
“Wh-what is all this?”
“These are spoils from the goblin extermination. Some are scorched by spirit fire, but we picked out the useful ones.”
“P-Please wait just a moment!”
The merchant ran off to summon the person in charge—who had apparently been lounging somewhere.
Despite it being midday, the man stumbled over with tousled hair and a bleary look.
He reeked of alcohol and perfume—likely an attempt to mask the alcohol smell with a heavy dose of perfume.
“This is the master of the Serpens Trading Company.”
I hadn’t expected the head of Serpens to be in such a backwater place. He seemed to have handed off the routine work and was enjoying a bit of vacation.
The head of Serpens was in his late forties—a silver spoon who’d inherited the family business.
“I am Louis de Hebron.”
“A mage appeared in Hebron?”
What drew the Serpens master out wasn’t the goods themselves—it was the residue they bore. Dozens of goblin iron swords bore burn marks.
We’d tried to clean them, but we couldn’t undo the damage where the metal had melted.
“Not a mage. A spirit summoner. Inferno.”
Inferno answered my call. The hulking man appeared and stood at my side like a statue, radiating the presence of a mid-tier spirit.
He gave me a grumpy look, but I raised an eyebrow at him.
That meant: No orders for now.
“C-Congratulations!”
The Serpens master’s voice trembled.
His eyes sparkled. It was no small feat for the heir of the Hebron barony to summon a mid-tier fire spirit and exterminate the goblins that had infested the eastern forest.
He could smell the money.
“I’d like to sell all this.”
Whatever the Serpens master was thinking didn’t matter. I needed money.
To strengthen my domain, I needed capital.
“Let me take a look.”
The head of the Serpens, personally inspected the items in the carriage, checking them one by one, while a merchant followed behind, diligently writing down the inventory on a sheet of paper.
One carriage was filled with miscellaneous items obtained from hunting goblins, and the other carried byproducts from various beasts.
In particular, there was a large quantity of high-quality ash-gray wolf pelts, which looked to bring in a decent profit.
“…..437 gold and 40 silver.”
That was more than Hebron’s entire annual tax revenue of 300 gold.
And even that required squeezing every last coin from the territory for a year straight—some years, they even had to borrow to meet the quota.
As expected, the fine pelts from ferocious beasts sold for high prices. The amount was more than I anticipated, likely because the Serpens guildmaster offered a generous valuation to earn my favor.
I was overwhelmed with emotion. Back when I lived in House Breio, I spent money like water. Sometimes, I used rare materials or ancient books that money couldn’t even buy.
‘Money earned through sweat feels different.’
This was money earned by clearing out the goblins—and even the wild beasts—from the eastern forest. While the number of animals would dwindle in the future, Hebron had secured a safe route.
I pulled a box out of the carriage I had ridden in.
“I’d like to sell these as well.”
The merchant opened the box, examined its contents, and answered promptly.
“The Baron made these, right? His craftsmanship is well known. There are 27 sets here—I’ll buy them for 3 gold.”
A single gold coin could sustain a poor four-person household in Hebron for over half a year. So 3 gold was not a small amount—but after earning 437 gold, I felt nothing.
The Serpens guildmaster then asked me.
“Did you really defeat the goblins?”
“Do you need more proof than this?”
Half the goods sold to the Serpens guildmaster had come from the goblins.
I had several sacks full of goblin teeth alone, which would’ve otherwise been sold cheaply to a mage.
“N-no, of course. That was foolish of me. I’ll send a merchant carriage to Hebron. What size escort do you think would be appropriate?”
As expected of a merchant, the guildmaster phrased it carefully. He was trying to assess the security of the eastern forest based on the number of guards required.
“Even three would be too many. All the beasts dangerous to people have already been hunted.”
“Huh…!”
In any area without secure roads, sending a merchant carriage with only three escorts was unthinkable.
What I meant was that the eastern forest was now nearly completely secure.
Serpens' guildmaster dismissed those around him.
He then led me to a quiet place and spoke in a low voice.
“Two centuries ago, Hebron was a strategic stronghold.”
“I heard that was before the name Hebron came into use.”
“There used to be a bridge across the western cliffs. Merchants traveled that route.”
The history of Hebron was deeply tied to what was called the ‘Cloud Bridge.’
It was over a kilometer long but had been destroyed more than a hundred years ago.
When war broke out in the territory, one of my ancestors burned it as a last resort.
Beyond the Cloud Bridge was the domain of Viscount Zylson.
Once Hebron’s closest ally—but that was two centuries ago.
The Viscounty of Zylson was a bustling city, incomparable to a barony like Nurha. Traveling through Zylson would also shorten the route to the capital, where we paid our taxes.
Lately, there had been rumors of strange sounds from the forest beyond the cliff, but cries from beasts were common. Most likely, it was just a loud one. Such animals tended to get hunted first anyway.
“Do you want to rebuild the bridge?”
“Merchants don’t build bridges. That’s a lord’s duty.”
The guildmaster didn’t take the bait easily. But I knew exactly what merchants like him truly wanted. Back in House Breio, I’d witnessed many negotiations, tho it was only from the sidelines.
“What if I said a merchant who builds the bridge will be exempt from all taxes?”
“…Are you serious?”
“I have no reason to lie.”
Serpens' guildmaster appeared to be doing calculations in his head. Not just toll fees, but all taxes on transactions within Hebron or passing through it would be exempt.
It would be a massive loss in the short term, but if trade continued, the profits could be immense, assuming Hebron grew significantly. If not, the Serpens Guildmaster would fall along with Hebron.
Logically, he had no reason to accept my offer. The idea that grass-eating Hebron could become prosperous was completely absurd.
And yet, that absurdity had just become reality.
Three carriages worth of goods were proof of that.
“Give me some time.”
“Take all the time you need. Hebron isn’t in a rush right now—we only just cleared the eastern forest.”
The guildmaster called over a few merchants and headed to his lodgings, leaving one merchant to guard the carriages.
I handed the remaining merchant a list of items the Barony of Hebron needed.
“I’ll prepare them.”
“If anything can’t be obtained immediately, we’ll take delivery next month. I’ll be visiting Nurha monthly from now on. Or you can bring the goods when you come to Hebron.”
“Yes, young master.”
“And bring a few outfits that are currently in fashion.”
The merchant seemed used to requests like that and brought out one outfit per gender and age group.
“Here they are. This red dress is our best-seller. I sold two today alone.”
“This is the latest fashion?”
I could hardly believe my eyes. The design was utterly tasteless. Even ignoring the poor-quality fabric, the style looked like something out of the ancestral portraits at House Breio.
The price tag on the supposedly best-selling outfit read 2.5G. Two gold and fifty silver—more expensive than twenty of the clothes my father had made.
“Yes. It follows the current trend in the capital…..”
“For a capital trend, this dress is far too long. Weren’t dresses below the knee the fashion? And this frill—this style hasn’t been in vogue for a century. Wearing this in the capital would only invite ridicule.”
Fashion trends in the capital of the Xenon Kingdom and House Breio occurred simultaneously. Designers worked in both regions, and their products were shipped to both areas immediately.
For those trends to reach other territories, it took anywhere from months to years.
Especially in a rural territory like this.
The merchant stared at me, taken aback. Clearly, he hadn’t expected someone in this backwater to recite the latest capital fashion trends.
And to think that someone was the young master who’d supposedly lived his entire life confined to Hebron—it was enough to leave anyone speechless.
The merchant couldn’t refute my words.
“Just bring some fabric instead. That purple one is somewhat close to the trendy color. That white and yellow one too. Also…”
I continued placing my order.
