Earl Stark and Count Samo were around the same age, both over fifty that year. Yet although Earl Stark was only two or three years older, he looked considerably more aged than the ever-energetic Count Samo, and his expression was more solemn, even stern.
After stepping out of his carriage, Earl Stark offered Count Samo a reasonably cordial smile, but when meeting everyone else, he kept an almost unbroken stony expression.
His attitude toward Bunta City's noble representatives was also entirely different from his attitude toward its business representatives.
Though his expression was equally stern, he at least behaved fairly normally toward the noble representatives.
When meeting the business representatives, however, beneath his solemn expression was a faint but readily perceptible air of disdain and condescension.
The sole exception was when he met Xu Yi.
When Count Samo introduced him to Xu Yi, Earl Stark's rigid expression finally shifted, taking on a somewhat peculiar look.
After studying Xu Yi for a while, Earl Stark suddenly shook his head and gave a soft snort. "His Majesty the King went to the trouble of granting you a noble title, yet you insist on lowering yourself by continuing to be a merchant. You have truly betrayed His Majesty's regard for you and disgraced us nobles!"
The business representatives around them immediately looked deeply displeased.
Although merchants in the Lampari Kingdom did indeed rank far below nobles, and even below ordinary farmers, no noble would go out of his way to express that disdain so bluntly to their faces, however much he might look down on them in private.
Merchants held a low status, but successful merchants invariably controlled considerable wealth.
Money was just as useful on the Sains Continent as it was on Earth. With enough of it, merchants could enjoy better lives