Koga City, Brookland Avenue.
The first time Sean saw this place, he thought it was enormous, with everything imaginable. But compared to a truly big city like Rietis, it felt rather ordinary—even the surrounding decor didn't seem as nice as Rietis's.
Sean followed the route in his memory toward Skov's shop. The place seemed much the same as ever...
Opening the door~
"What can I get for you today, customer?" Claude's head instantly popped up from behind the counter.
"Brother Sean!"
He looked toward the door in surprise.
"When did you get back?!" He jumped over the counter in excitement and ran up to Sean.
"No one here today?"
"Eh, it's always like this." Claude said casually.
Sometimes Sean really envied Skov's shop. Even though it was practically half-closed every day, it still pulled in so much monthly revenue. Just from repeat customers buying gunpowder rounds and pistol maintenance, they could charge a hefty sum.
Thinking it over, industrial goods were more profitable. If only his own Taylor Mian town weren't so small, and if the mountain folk had any clue about precision forging, he'd love to move Skov's shop into the mountains...
Seeing Sean back, Claude simply left the shop door ajar and dragged a stool over from behind the counter.
"Brother Sean, tell me quickly—how did things go with you and that Red Dragon Witch heading to Rietis City? And what happened over there in the end? Lately, everyone's been saying the southeastern city of Tacoma suffered an unprecedented attack. What did the Prince over in Rietis have to say about it?" Claude fired off a string of questions.
So news of Tacoma City had gradually spread this far...
Sean first glanced around the shop to see if Esmeralda was there, but Claude said his sister hadn't come back from the factory yet.
Perfect timing—he could tell Claude about the Rietis situation, and Claude could fill him in on what had been happening in Koga City lately...
In the end, the person who won the position of Count Hamilton was indeed Ryan Hamilton. Aria's older brother. Since he was the family's eldest son and had the Duke's support, he smoothly inherited the title of Count Hamilton.
Not long ago, the whole city of Koga had celebrated the occasion...
As for the eliminated Aria Hamilton and her other brother, they were assigned to estates on the city's outskirts.
"People in the city say the new Count Hamilton is very merciful, even arranging living quarters for his siblings," Claude said.
Competition and elimination among nobles were just as brutal. If you could secure the inheritance, that was best. But if you lost that title, after a few generations when ties grew distant, you wouldn't even dare use the name—just like that scholar Sean had met in the Rietis Scholar's Library.
What was his name again...
Harry Wallop.
Actually, it was just Harry. The surname was something he'd borrowed from his ancestors to get close to Sean, but calling it that now had no meaning. Thinking back, in the Prince's mansion, the current Count Wallop could still look down on him, while Harry had to smile and play nice.
The name Wallop held no real significance for him anymore.
If not for his scholar status, he probably couldn't even stay in the library...
Even commoners knew about this kind of thing, which was why everyone thought the current Ryan Hamilton was so merciful.
But really, since Koga City had just recently had the Count murdered, the new Count naturally had to show some magnanimity to win over the people.
Giving them estates, in Sean's view, was like saying: I'll give you some money and a house—go make a living on your own. If you can survive, great. If not, don't blame me.
People born into nobility, without specialized training, didn't necessarily understand business. Besides, back then, many merchants gave them face because of their family connections. Without that backing now, the whole market scene was uncertain.
Thinking of this, Sean suddenly remembered the things in his town...
"Have you heard any news from Taylor Mian lately? Did the trade market and mercenary guild pull out?" Sean asked.
Those were things Aria had promised back then. Now that she'd lost, he wondered if they could still hold up!
"Doesn't seem like it. The market's supply carts still head into the mountains every day, and I heard that since Taylor Mian grows a lot of fruit, many cart teams want a bigger piece of the pie," Claude said.
"I see."
That made sense...
Although Aria had made those promises back then, the subsidies and other things had all been approved by the previous Count Hamilton. If they pulled them back right after a change in leadership, people would gossip. Besides, Sean still held an official title. In their minds, he should still be in Rietis City. Doing that would just make him a laughingstock among other nobles.
"Brother Sean, are you worried the new Count will pull the people back?" Claude was sharp enough to catch on.
"Don't worry about it for now... At least they won't do that for a while."
"Why?"
"It's a bit complicated. I'll explain next time... Anything else?" Sean asked again.
Aside from local events, Koga City rarely had other news. If there was anything, it was the hot topic of the Tacoma region incident, which rumors had already tied to war.
Beyond the talk of ancient gods, some people thought an enemy nation had started attacking us, and the Empire was just using divine theories as a cover. This idea had surprisingly gained traction among a certain crowd.
"Thanks to those rumors, business at the shop has picked up lately. A lot of people are scared of another riot like last time, so they're buying guns... I heard iron ore supplies are almost stretched thin."
Uh...
Seeing Claude gloating, Sean had a fleeting thought that maybe these merchants had spread those rumors themselves.
"Oh, Brother Sean. Why don't you go find Sister Ignia? She comes by here a lot and talks about you... says you never write to her, and she gets really mad every time she brings it up. You should go cheer her up." At some point, this young guy had picked up this kind of talk.
Tsk~
Right, she was still in the city.
"Alright, I'll head to the Eileen Tower to find her later. And one more thing. Get this ready for me—I might head back to the town in a few days. Write to Luke and the others, and let your sister know too. I want her to come back with me..."
"Huh?" Claude stared wide-eyed.
"Yeah, I want to see what else in the town is worth developing."