The bells rang out incessantly throughout Fatan Port. Roman watched as priests and believers in golden or red robes poured into the streets, all hurrying in the same direction—the direction of Fusha Plaza, where the largest temple in Fatan Port stood. She stood among the varied crowd without feeling cramped, but Haruze behind her seemed somewhat uneasy.
Roman suddenly spotted a familiar figure in the crowd and excitedly raised her fair little hand, waving it through the air:
"Mr. Almoth—"
The middle-aged man dressed in robes like a clergyman froze slightly and turned around. He looked this way in surprise. "Miss Romane?"
The bells of Fatan Port were ringing loudly, but this was no ordinary ringing. The sound came from the direction of Fusha Plaza, clearly a summons from the temple to its believers. As the most senior believer in this district, he also served as the neighborhood priest. However, his clerical position was merely a part-time occupation. His other identity was vice-chairman of the Silver Shark Merchant Guild in Fatan Port. With the Empire's commercial prosperity, the merchants, merchant guilds, and commercial families within the Empire were mostly closely connected through marriage or other means. Thus, he had long known of—and had even met—the beautiful lady who represented the rising commercial power in southern Eluin. He had also heard that she was the young lord's fiancée.
Over the past year, the rising power that had emerged in southern Eluin had become far more famous among the Empire's merchants and merchant guilds than among its traditional nobility. The revival and construction of Tonigell Territory had brought enormous trade volumes to the Empire. The Empire's handicrafts, weapons, and even laborers and slaves were transported by an endless stream of ships to that inconspicuous territory at the southernmost tip of Eluin. In