Merchant association was like a tight-knit family of scammers. Most, if not all of them had their dirty secrets. Thus no one dared to go against the others in fear that their business venture would be ruined if their secrets got out. That was also the reason why most of them 'helped' each other out in times of need.
Right now, there was one such time of need. A silly good-for-nothing brat had dared to defame a merchant's products! How could they let it pass without getting proper compensation first?
Obviously, all these reasons were bullshit, but it didn't matter to the merchants as long as they earned some extra money. Thus, Ashton became the target for the owner of the shop to extort some money.
