Kotal Kingdom.
It was often called the source of chaos and disorder in the North Sea.
Many pirates in the North Sea had come from this chaotic country.
Most of the food in the Kotal Kingdom, which barely engaged in production, was purchased from the neighboring Ishtar Kingdom, with weapons and iron resources used as payment.
But in recent years, because it had traded away too many weapons and iron resources, the Ishtar Kingdom's demand for weapons had long since been saturated, while its iron reserves had grown abundant through continuous trade.
After all, food was constantly consumed, while weapons could last a long time as long as they were properly maintained.
Moreover, although the Ishtar Kingdom possessed a powerful military, it had not gone to war with any other North Sea nation in recent years.
Most of its battles were merely to guard against pirate invasions, so weapons were not being expended quickly.
After all, they were only small-scale pirates, and swords did not break after a single strike. The stockpiled weapons and iron resources were already enough to sustain the Ishtar Kingdom's wartime and civilian needs for a long time.
Now, with the opening of the Great Pirate Era, the surrounding nations were too busy guarding against pirates. They had even less interest in war over the past two years, and any fighting was mostly minor clashes with pirates.
And even if soldiers were killed or wounded, as long as their weapons were not damaged, they could still be recovered and reused. Thus, the surrounding countries' demand for weapons and iron resources declined.
That left the Kotal Kingdom in a difficult position.
Even when people hired mercenaries, it was mostly to help defend against pirates, so Kotal had been operating at a deficit for the past two years.