In Woz City, the royal capital, inside the palace Council Hall.
"Damn the Free Trade Alliance! They are showing me less and less respect as their king! I cannot tolerate such a thing continuing to run rampant in my kingdom!"
After the Old King died of illness last year, Herrian, who had only recently ascended the throne, wore a livid expression. He viciously slammed the golden scepter in his hand, topped with a sapphire, against the floor.
"Please calm your anger, His Majesty the King. May I ask what the Free Trade Alliance has done to provoke such fury from you? It is merely a commercial organization..."
Chancellor Charlie, who had kept his position through his skill at flattery, stepped forward and gently patted the young king's chest as he spoke in a mild, kindly tone.
"Merely a commercial organization?"
Herrian turned and sneered. "Chancellor Charlie, have you become senile? This commercial organization you speak of now dares to declare sanctions against the royal territories! Do you still take me for a three-year-old child?"
As early as last year, when Herrian was still a prince, he had noticed the Free Trade Alliance, whose growth within the kingdom had been astonishingly rapid. Driven by the innate vigilance of a ruler, he disguised himself as a traveling merchant and secretly toured the renowned Glan Territory.
Those few days of experience were novel, unforgettable, discouraging, and deeply hateful to the young and proud heir of the kingdom!
Proud Herrian had never expected that on the frontier of his kingdom's Eastern Territory, there would be a place more prosperous, wealthier, more vibrant, and more full of life than the royal capital. For a moment, he felt jealous—and, of course, there was also a trace of envy he was unwilling to admit.
Afterward, he felt