Cthulhu Gonfalon

Towards the two marquis and earls, Hauss Bell paused for a while before saying, “Actually, I’m not someone who likes to cause trouble. Since we risk implicating the Republic of Northwest, I think we should just get our troops to retreat.”

“Thank you!” Marquis Yug smiled and nodded. “I will compensate you for your loss.”

“it’s not about “me,” but “us.” It’s true that Hauss suffered a loss this time. Since he chose to retreat for the benefit of the aristocrats, it is natural that we compensate him together. Hauss, I will send someone to send you twenty sets of slats.” Marquis Gordon said.

Upon hearing this, more than one earl frowned.

The slats were armors that we were made of iron. While it was slightly bulky, it provided good protection for the wearer, and it was an excellent suit for the soldiers at the basic level. As long as one wore a slat, they did not worry about getting injured by bows and swords. If one wore the slat and put on a shield, they would be like walking bars of iron—strong and mighty.

Although standard slats were mass-produced by the Republic of Northwest, which caused its price to drop, a standard slat was still worth at least two hundred gold coins. Twenty slats would then be worth 4000 gold coins. While this was not a huge amount, the earls would have to contribute at least 2000 gold coins out of their own pockets. Thus, those that frowned signaled their displeasure at having to pay so much themselves.

However, Marquis Yug immediately took the initiative to mention that he could contribute ten slats as well as a large silver shield with a tinplate. This was worth about 6000 gold coins alone. The other earls who did not have a good relationship with Hauss frowned further, and their faces darkened. They were unable to voice out their actual displeasure, however, as the two daxies had already shown their approval. In the end, the other earls pooled their resources together to gather about 2000 gold coins.

Hauss smiled in pleasure. Although he had suffered some losses, the compensation of more than 30,000 gold coins was more than enough to make up for it.

With such profits, he could also forget the scary events that he had gone through.

A few days later, the good arrived at Hauss Bell’s house—these items were impossible to be transferred all the way from the capital or from the earls’ houses. Thus, they were directly brought to him from the union near his territory, which was responsible for preparing supplies for Marquis Gordon.

It was not that the aristocratic faction didn’t have merchants. For example, every pair of earls had a rather sizeable merchant’s union. Marquis Gordon’s union worked with the shop near Hauss’ territory that facilitated trade. Materials were all prepaid and sent over, and the materials demanded by the majority were re-ordered.

With the shipments, Hauss hurried to call for his troops to retreat. On the other hand, the aristocrats sent their messengers to speak with the merchants on how to resolve the overall conflict.

In the beginning, Hauss was unsure over the confrontation with the different unions and did not dare to pursue the matter. Although they had started the fight in anger, the anger alone could not fuel the disparity in terms of skills. Previously, in small confrontations, the merchants who placed high regard on their troops had faced great losses rather than their expected victories. In these sorts of situations, watching Hauss retreat, they assumed that there was some sort of danger and thus did not pursue the matter as well. Instead, they desperately ran for cover.

A few days later, the aristocrats sent their messengers to resolve any misunderstandings.

Some of the more intense people had felt that they had missed a good opportunity and were full of regret. On the other hand, those who were more traditional were secretly thankful that the war over the border could be resolved peacefully.

The merchants had simply lusted over more wealth, so what was the use of going to battle? Even if they had reaped some profits, they would still have to pay their troops.

With such a mindset on both sides, the peace talks proceeded smoothly.

Truthfully, the merchants did not have solid evidence to prove that the soldiers who had attacked their people belonged to the aristocrats. The messengers in charge of the negotiations directly took out the murder weapon and said that the priests of the Master of Justice’s (God of Law) church could vouch for the aristocrats’ troops. They would supervise the aristocratic troops, and if they found out that they had harmed the merchants’ people, they would call them out and execute them on the spot.

This meant that even the more intense merchants were put at ease, and there was only the issue of money left to discuss.

However, this was not a big problem.

The aristocrats were dangerous to anger and usually were not the first to surrender. Although it was unclear why they were willing to retreat this time, if one were to be too greedy and provoke them, it would become a catastrophe. If both sides started an actual war, neither side would benefit from it. Securing the black sheep of the group allowed for smooth negotiations on both sides. Both could settle the issue in detail and even sign some conditions, creating a successful contract. This contract was rather fair and did not disadvantage any side. In the end, the representative from the aristocrats insisted that the clause of “if it is discovered that the disruptions are caused by an external third party, we must unite with each other” be added, causing the merchants to feel more assured. No one does things without reason—the aristocrats would not have done so if they had not felt that something was not right.

After the talks, the merchants immediately contacted the core members of the group and reported the happenings to the Chambers of Commerce. The chambers were actively involved in this matter and immediately called for their own internal meeting. Several big merchants went through several rounds of discussion before deciding to liaise with the aristocrats to investigate this matter and ensure that those who were causing trouble were caught and dealt with. Normally, the merchants only valued money and did not care much for other matters. However, now that there was a chance of foul play instigating a war between them and the aristocrats, they would definitely not be satisfied, even if it meant spending money and losing lives in war.

Spending money made the merchants’ heart bleed. However, the idea of death scared them even more. The idea that they nearly fell into a trap made them extremely angry. No matter who had caused this trouble, they would have to be prepared to face the wrath of the merchants now.

After about half a month, the aristocrats and merchants’ joint investigative team eventually set out and started to investigate the matter of the attacks on both sides of the border.