October 5, 1614 Central Calendar, 14:00

Parpaldia Empire, Esthirant

On his monthly routine, the Imperial Advisor Lupasa will go to the city to see what happened in Esthirant himself. The general idea is to familiarize himself with the activities of the general public in the capital city, including economic transactions in the market. Some said that he did this to improve his image, and on the other hand, not a few said that his routine is reasonable and appropriate for a government official to be in touch with the people.

Recently, Lupasa has gained an idea for reform in his tenure after doing an inquiry to the merchant district of Esthirant and becoming an acquaintance with Kaios, a son of a trader who is fascinated with the Holy Milishial Empire after visiting Runepolis and acquainted with someone there. Through the establishment of a common standard, commerce activities became even more active as merchants and artisans can better manage their products.

As he walked along the street, nodding slightly in acknowledgment to the people who greeted him respectfully along the way, Lupasa headed for a certain direction. He walked for a while before spotting a medium-sized storefront at the end of the backstreet, with a plaque that reads ‘Handelsonderneming Meyer’, the Meyer Trading Company.

There, among the working employees in and around the store, a blonde teenager wearing simple clothes is cleaning one of its windows. After wiping the window with a wet cloth, he squeezed the water, dipped the cloth into the bucket beside him, and wiped the window again. While he’s at it, the teenager occasionally chatted with the employees that passed by him in a friendly manner.

“Excuse me.”

The teenager, Kaios, perked up at the calm voice and turned to see Lupasa.

“Ah! Good afternoon, Lord Lupasa,” he greeted with a smile while using a dry cloth from his back pocket to wipe his hands.

“Yes. Good afternoon to you as well. I see you are as diligent as usual.”

The blonde smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head. When he ushered the older man to come in, Lupasa politely declined, preferring to talk outside. The other employees of the store greeted Lupasa at the sight of him.

“Well… it’s nothing, really… Do you come to meet my father?”

“I’m just doing my usual routine. Speaking of which, do you have something interesting to show me today?”

Despite being the son of the company’s owner, Kaios did chores in his free time. One thing that Lupasa learned after meeting Kaios is other than being diligent, he also does not cut corners in achieving what he wanted. This includes the wristwatch he keeps talking about for the last few months. Since building a machine like that requires advanced knowledge, the teenager began gathering sources of knowledge from where he first saw the wristwatch, the Holy Milishial Empire, so that he will be able to have one someday.

“I’m sorry, Lord Lupasa. My father’s next voyage is two months later. So, I’m just here helping around.”

“I see. That’s fine. By the way, I heard that your father’s company is building a new ship, how is it going?”

“Father says they are still planning, but they say they don’t have experience building a new ship like this, so they are stuck.”

Lupasa pondered.

The new ship for the Meyer Trading Company is going to implement the underwater pressure propulsion system that was tried on one of its ships a month ago, which is decided to be an iron-hulled ship. Having such a fast ship will surely attract more customers for the trading company, and in the future, it is possible to build a larger ship while maintaining the speed advantage. The widespread usage of this new technology will also greatly increase maritime trade, as more trade goods have been produced than before. That’s not even mentioning the military use of iron-hulled ships.

Research and development have also been conducted. The problem is, despite the promising potential, no one is quite sure how to proceed with the construction as the shipbuilders here don’t have any experience handling it. Although Lupasa had mentioned this in the previous meeting with the ministers and did his best to promote the invention, they are not convinced to give additional funding until an actual ship is made.

All of this came from Kaios, who even went as far as coming up with an idea to make a ship sail faster so he does not have to wait for a long time to acquire the previously mentioned sources of knowledge, which impressed Lupasa with his dedication, albeit a bit reckless. It’s amusing how a desire can drive someone to that extent, however farfetched it sounds.

“Ah, to be young and reckless again,” he muttered with a slight chuckle.

“Yes?”

“No, it’s nothing. So, if you were to seek the help of Esthirant’s best shipbuilders, will it solve the problem?”

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

This is clearly not a problem that can be solved within a day, Lupasa thought. As Lupasa was about to say goodbye and return to his office to think about it, the sound of someone, or rather, a couple of people, walking in their direction caught his attention.

“This is their main store.”

“I see, thank you very much.”

A girl’s voice spoke to a man.

When Kaios and Lupasa looked in the direction, they saw a blonde-haired teenager at Kaios’ age leading a glasses-wearing man through the street. Seeing Lupasa, the girl whispered to the man.

“Psst, hey, the Imperial Advisor is here, mind your manners.”

“Y-yes…”

The man gulped and tried to put on his best smile before walking up to them and opening his mouth to speak.

“E-excuse me, is this the Meyer Trading Company’s store?”

Turning to Lupasa, the man bowed, “Imperial Advisor, nice to meet you.”

“Hm. Continue your business, son.”

“Yes. This is our company’s main store. What is your purpose of visiting us?” Kaios asked.

“My name is Julian, an engineer and representative from Duro Shipbuilding Company. I came all the way here after hearing rumors about a white ship that sails faster than other sailing ships, and after asking the people around here, they pointed at this company.”

“As far as I’m concerned, only Meyer Trading Company have white-painted ships in this city, so yes. That ship you’ve heard of belongs to us.”

As Kaios said, the Meyer Trading Company is known for using white-hulled ships in their merchant fleet. Relatively new in business, being established just a few years before Kaios was born, the company used this as a way to distinguish itself from other existing trading companies. The ship mentioned by Julian, Geloof, is the second of the company’s four merchant sail ships currently employed.

The Duro Shipbuilding Company, or Durosche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (DSM), is one of the biggest shipbuilders in the Parpaldia Empire, headquartered in the country’s industrial center of Duro. It is a long-established company and is known as the best when it comes to shipbuilding, and one of their representatives has come to visit them after hearing the latest rumors about Meyer’s ship, just in time as they encountered a problem with shipbuilding.

Seeing this as a chance to help solve the current problem, Lupasa spoke to Kaios.

“Well, I suppose changes have to be made on my schedule. Kaios, I think you should call your father and listen to what he’s going to say.”

While Kaios nodded and told an employee to notify his father about Julian’s visit, the DSM representative noticed how the teenager and the Imperial Advisor interacted so casually with each other with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

‘I never expected a medium-sized company like this has a connection with a nobleman, let alone someone so high in the government!’

Originally coming to Esthirant to confirm the rumors of a fast-sailing ship and possibly negotiate with whoever is building that ship, Julian did not expect to encounter this. However, deciding that this is an opportunity to further his company’s interest, Julian walked into the reception room with a newfound determination. After he entered the store, those who remained outside began to talk to each other.

“Listen, Kaios, that man comes from one of the shipbuilding experts in the entire Parpaldia, they might be able to help you with your problem. Also, this is a chance for you to build connections that will be useful in the future,” Lupasa said.

“I… I see… well, that is good, right?”

Knowing that Lupasa is more experienced in this matter, Kaios just nodded as he listened to the Imperial Advisor.

“By the way, Lord Lupasa, will you join the meeting?”

“Since I’ve been here, might as well attend the meeting. I also wanted to find a way to convince the ministers. Since he’s probably talking about your ship, you must be present as well. After all, it’s your idea that made him come all the way here.”

After talking to Kaios, Lupasa walked inside the store, led by another employee. The blonde boy then turned to the only other person outside, the girl that walked with Julian to the store.

“…Hi, Elto.”

The girl, Elto, crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes as she talked to Kaios.

“What are you up to this time?”

“I don’t know what are you talking about.”

“Aren’t you still into that wristwatch thing you keep rambling about?”

“Well… yes…”

“Then how come you suddenly dealing with a ship?”

Ever since Kaios went to Runepolis last year, he constantly annoyed her with his bragging nonstop about things he saw in Milishial’s capital at first, showed off the books that his father bought there, then turned into him gushing about this thing called wristwatch, which is apparently a small clock that can be worn like a bracelet. When Kaios said that he really wanted to have a wristwatch on his own, Elto called him delusional, saying that there is no way he will be able to have something that is still new in a superpower like Milishial, at least in his lifetime.

Elto blamed whoever Milishian guy whom Kaios met for giving him such an idea which will surely turn into a hopeless endeavor in her point of view.

“…I’m not sure about it myself.”

Kaios isn’t even sure how it turned out like this. People had come asking him about his common standard idea before, and as a result, his father’s store become even more renowned across the city. Kaios doesn’t know how this will further his dream of obtaining a wristwatch, but since his father’s company become even more profitable than before, he concluded that he is doing a good thing.

Elto eyed Kaios dubiously before sighing.

“…Fine, whatever, I’m going to go home, then.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

After seeing Elto off, Kaios entered the store and into the meeting room where his father, Lupasa, and Julian are gathered for the preliminary meeting between the representatives.

A few minutes later…

“Hmm, interesting…”

Julian muttered as he observed a model of a sailing ship equipped with the underwater pressure propulsion system. It looked just like a normal clipper, with the exception of two metal tubes protruding from the stern section underneath the waterline.

During the meeting, the head of the Meyer Trading Company explained that it was an idea devised by his son as a more efficient way of using Tears of the Wind God. However, it is still crude and has a weakness of damaging the ship’s wooden hull, hence the company wanted to build a new ship with an iron hull to safely use the system, but shipbuilders in Esthirant lacked the experience to do so, and they are currently seeking an experienced shipbuilder.

As Julian pondered, this will be a challenge for even the DSM. However, this is also an opportunity for them to gain connection from someone in the Imperial Court, so he must try to appeal to his upper management about this.

“I understand, I will tell the upper management about this matter.”

“Thank you very much, Mr. Julian, we are looking forward to your company’s answer.”

Meyer, Lupasa, and Kaios took turns shaking Julian’s hand at the end of the meeting. Once Julian returned to his hotel, he immediately contacted the DSM’s main office in Duro to confirm his findings and to inform the company, and one week later, an answer came from DSM to discuss the contract of building a new ship for the Meyer Trading Company.

Meanwhile, after Lupasa returned to his office, his secretary gave him an exasperated scolding for being absent longer than usual.

Currently Publicly Available Information

MEYER TRADING COMPANY MERCHANT FLEET

The Meyer Trading Company currently operates four clipper-type sailships in its merchant fleet, all sporting white paint on their hulls. The fleet consisted of:

Hoope (Hope) Geloof (Faith) Trouw (Loyalty) Blijde Boodschap (Good Tiding)

There are plans to procure one more ship. Negotiations have been underway with the Duro Shipbuilding Company.