About a week's sailing distance from the eastern port of the continent where the empire was located, there was a new land that the people of the continent generally called the eastern continent.
Even though the distance between the two continents was relatively close, there was not much exchange between them until two hundred years ago.
The reason was that the continent was in a turbulent chaos at that time, but also that people had no interest in the eastern continent itself.
The navigation skills and shipbuilding skills to withstand the rough waves were not well developed, and there were few countries that had enough resources to go to the eastern continent.
Besides, all the countries on the continent were suffering from wars, so they couldn't afford to pay attention.
But a man who suddenly appeared from the east made the name of the eastern continent widely known.
Player Manbyongwang Lee Cheongmun!
His fame became comparable to that of Scharnos Emperor, who was dominating the continent with his overwhelming power at that time, in less than ten years after he appeared.
'The strongest among the players is one of these two.'
But contrary to everyone's expectation of their showdown, an unexpected situation happened.
It was that Lee Cheongmun, who always worked hard, joined Scharnos Emperor's camp.
Their alliance, which was second to none among the players at that time, was like adding wings to a tiger.
Of course, the chaos on the continent was quickly resolved, and there were many people who asked him about the mysterious east.
"I came from 'Hwan' across the sea."
He didn't say anything else, and soon after, the players disappeared from the continent.
Since then, the eastern continent left a strong impression in people's minds.
As a result, Scharnos Empire was the first to send an envoy to the east.
The result was surprising.
There was a huge country in the east that had a culture similar to that of the empire, although its race and lifestyle were somewhat different.
[Hwan Empire]
It was an ancient country that had existed in the east for hundreds of years.
Of course, Lee Cheongmun was also a legendary warrior there.
The two continents cautiously tried to contact each other, and after a hundred years, they became quite friendly.
Recently, trade has also become active, and it is not uncommon to see people from the eastern continent with brown skin in major cities of the empire.
Among them, the Blue Dragon Merchant Guild, which came into the continent most actively and pursued business, had already made its name known in the empire.
Of course, there was no need to say more about why.
"Your Highness! Welcome!"
Marius greeted Eurius with a fuss.
"It's been a while. How have you been?"
Eurius finally arrived at Stefan, a city designated as the first development base in the north.
It was also where the northern road construction, which was about to be completed recently, started.
"How is the progress of the construction?"
"Count Anderson is giving us enough support. I think there won't be any problem until Your Highness arrives at Valdes Fortress."
Count Anderson was one of the two superhumans who were outside of the empire.
He was an experienced veteran who had spent almost his entire life defending against the immigrants in the north.
"If he's taking care of it, there's no need to worry."
Eurius answered nonchalantly and followed Marius's guidance into Stefan.
From the entrance, many bureaucrats who came for construction bowed to him.
"Greetings to Your Highness!"
He casually waved his hand in response and looked around at
the city's situation.
'The development progress is better than expected. Is it because of the early contact with Blue Dragon Merchant Guild?'
Stefan was originally not a big city as it was the only city in existence in
the north before road construction began.
But with the influx of materials and workers from the guild for road construction and the residents who were slowly moving northward for
the development of the north, it achieved considerable growth.
Now it was a medium-sized city with many people moving busily.
Eurius looked around Stefan with bureaucrats for a while and then went into the official residence under
the pretext of relieving his travel fatigue.
He didn't come out for a day.
The reason was obvious: he still had steps left for contacting Blue Dragon Merchant Guild.
"Do you really have to meet them in person? If Shin goes instead…"
Marius looked at him with a worried expression.
"Isn't that what they requested? And they did a good job for me, so I have to respond with a corresponding condition. That's the basic of trade."
Eurius didn't have a bit of worry, so he answered casually and asked again.
"Anyway, I want to check the basic information again after four years of trading. What do you think of Blue Dragon Merchant Guild?"
"Hmm…"
Marius thought for a moment and then his face became more worried.
"Actually, they were more outstanding than we expected."
Blue Dragon Merchant Guild belonged to one of the major guilds that everyone knew in the east.
However, Marius was an elite among elites in the continent.
He secretly looked down on them as mere merchants, but the negotiation was not easy from the first deal.
"I will give you some favors within a reasonable range. So…"
"Thank you for your kindness, but I don't think we need that."
"...!?"
Marius chose Blue Dragon Merchant Guild to get rid of Wallace.
It didn't suit his personality, but he was willing to take some losses and help them.
But he was rejected in one word.
In front of Marius, a young man with brown skin wearing a neat eastern-style outfit appeared as the guild master.
'He said they were well-known in Hwan, but this brat is the guild master?'
Marius was caught off guard by this unexpected twist.
"Haha, but Ryan Trading Guild, which competes with you, is the largest guild in our Sharnos Empire. It will be quite difficult to surpass their standards?
"We have some conditions that we can offer from our side."
A young woman came out from behind the young man and brought some documents related to the construction.
"Hmm?"
The bidding conditions were not bad.
With this, he could refuse Wallace's demands and he wouldn't be able to say anything.
'He must have put some effort into it since it's his first entry. It's not surprising that he would invest that much to come to another continent.'
At first, Marius didn't think much of it.
There were plenty of guilds that invested boldly even if they had to take some losses.
But as the construction progressed, he had to change his mind.
'This guild is not ordinary in terms of skills.'
Of course, Marius didn't completely ignore their convenience. The prejudice itself that they were foreigners from across the sea was a big barrier.
But even considering that, the expansion ability of Blue Dragon Merchant Guild was extraordinary.
'At this rate, they could have achieved their original goal even without my support.'
Blue Dragon Merchant Guild gradually took over the share that Ryan Trading Guild should have taken with their amazing skills, and finally surpassed them in terms of influence in the north.
That was why Wallace Duke was so furious.
They were too good for a guild that just jumped in from another continent.
That was fine, but another problem arose.
'But that's the problem.'
His original plan was to give them some favors and make them virtually inseparable from him.
But contrary to his plan, this guild grew almost on their own.
In other words, they exceeded his level of control.
And a few years ago, they started making this request.
"We want to see your boss."
"That's a bit difficult."
"Is there any special reason?"
Marius had nothing to say.
He couldn't bring Eurius who was in the palace, and he seemed to have figured out that there was someone behind him even though he thought he had hidden it.
So he sent a letter to Eurius in the palace and got this reply.
"I'll go see them after I finish my coming-of-age ceremony. They probably won't say much even if it takes a while. I'll have to go see the northern construction anyway by then."
"...!?"
What does that mean? Marius realized as soon as he received that letter.
'His Highness Eurius is trying to build his reputation in the north!'
He tried to dissuade him several times because it was too dangerous, but he didn't listen.
He tried to divert his attention by sending him abroad for study, but it ended up differently from what he intended and Eurius came to the north.
After finishing his flashback, Marius said with a slightly gloomy expression.
"The appointment with the guild master is set for tomorrow night."
"You've worked hard. I'm more interested now."
"As I told you, he's not an easy one. I don't doubt your ability, but please be careful."
Eurius didn't really care what conditions they would offer him for meeting him.
'I have one or two things to ask them anyway. I can't miss this opportunity.'
And the day came for him to contact them.
[Blue Dragon Merchant Guild]
Eurius was guided into a building with a sign written in eastern letters.
"Your Highness, if anything happens, please call me right away."
He brought some trustworthy knights including Heinz outside just in case.
'Well, I won't need to call them.'
If something happened to him here, it wouldn't matter if he called them or not.
"This is it."
Eurius was guided to the highest floor of the guild and saw the young guild master who Marius had mentioned as soon as he entered the room.
"Greetings to the First Prince of the Empire."
As soon as he appeared, the guild master greeted him politely and Eurius clicked his tongue inwardly.
'As I expected, he knew everything and called me.'
Blue Dragon Merchant Guild had a more formidable background than what was known in the continent.
No matter how much he tried to hide it, the most likely one to be behind him was himself if they investigated properly.
They thought they had poked the emperor's pride by this sudden greeting.
'But… I also know a thing or two about you guys.'
Eurius smiled and greeted him back.
"I'm honored to meet the people of [Je Gal Se Ga], the disciples of the famous Manbyongwang!"