January 6, 1615 Central Calendar

Eastern Parpaldia Empire

Bosch, a town in the northern Doric Province, is a rather quiet town. Built by pioneers who settled in the region after the previous entity that governed the region, the Doric City-State, got absorbed by the emerging dragon that is the Republic of Parneus during its time expanding eastward decades ago, the region was transformed into the breadbasket of the country, which was then renamed Parpaldia Empire, after it was discovered that the soil of the region was fertile.

Surrounding Bosch’s townscape is the golden wheat fields that waved and swayed with the gentle breeze filled by the farmers who tended the fields. Beyond the fields are the tranquil plains, where livestock can be seen grazing idly while their shepherds languidly watched over them. The daily lives of the Bosch’s townspeople were simple, but it was a fulfilling life. And with the harvest, came profits. Plenty of food for themselves to survive the coming winter months and enough for trade.

Such is a blessed life. But none of it happened now.

The town was reduced to a shadow of its former self amidst the food crisis. Some of the inhabitants started to move to other places to avoid the crisis, while those who doesn’t have relatives tried their hardest to survive. With a large percentage of the town’s healthy adult males being conscripted to fight in the invasion of northern small Philadean kingdoms several months before the failed harvest, the only ones left in Bosch are women, children, the elderly, and some males who were injured or feigning injury at the time of the conscription, such as Ehren.

Speaking of which, this northern invasion is one of the reasons for the food shortage occurred in the first place. While the invasion stalled, food stockpiles continued to be sent to the frontlines to feed the armies, and the bad harvest only make matters worse for the average citizen. Despite the ensuing crisis, the field commanders stubbornly argued for continuing the invasion, demanding more supplies to be sent to the frontlines in hopes that the northern Philadean kingdoms’ resistance will be crushed soon and the Parpaldia Empire will win a major victory. And with that victory, usually came plunder, bringing wealth, food, and slaves to the mainland, as well as new colonies to mercilessly exploit. However, none of that happened either as the Philadean kingdoms to the north resisted even more fiercely than they thought.

The combination of bad weather and poor management from the government had resulted in a disaster for this region. However, Bosch is lucky to have managed to make it thus far. In some of the more severely affected regions, families suffering from hunger began to abandon their children and the elderly to die in the mountains or forests to reduce the mouths to feed. While in other towns, the riots sprang in the wake of this crisis were brutally crushed by the governing armies, resulting in the deaths of numerous people both Parpaldian and inlander alike.

…………

Amidst the whirlpool of misery that enveloped the town, the two eldest children of a farmer, Ehren and Irene, set out for the town center to visit a textile merchant mentioned by their mother in a discussion the day before. However, before going to the place where the merchant resides, they took a detour to the tavern where Ehren met a certain person yesterday. And they found that man, Herman Willem de Vries, leaning near the tavern’s entrance.

Upon noticing the young man who he had acquainted yesterday appeared in the field of vision, Herman turned to face him and uttered brief words, glancing at Irene for a moment before returning to Ehren.

“I see that you decided to take the gamble.”

“……Yes. I talked to my family and made up my mind. I’m going.”

“Well then, are you leaving for Duro now?”

“No. I still have something to do, maybe tomorrow at the earliest,” Ehren answered honestly.

The rather shady man nodded slightly without changing his expression and spoke again.

“I see,” Herman shrugged, “One word of advice. Whatever business you are going to do, do it quickly. The job offer will not last forever. If you are late, they may close the recruitment before you know it.”

“Noted, thank you for your advice.”

“Good. But it’s a shame you’re not leaving today. I guess this is where we parted ways.”

As he spoke, Herman picked up a small bag lying on his feet and slung it around his shoulder. ‘How could I not notice that?’ Ehren thought absentmindedly.

“Wait, you’re leaving now?”

“Yeah. I was hoping for a traveling companion, but like what they said, reality often doesn’t work the way we desired.”

“Indeed…”

“Well then, Ehren. Goodbye, I hope we will meet again under better circumstances,” Herman said, offering his hand.

“Ah… thank you for yesterday’s advice, it helped me clear my doubts.”

After they shook hands, the man walked to a nearby carriage station where he will board a horse-drawn carriage bound for the city of Duro, the capital of Doric Province. As they watched Herman disappear after rounding the corner of a building, Irene, who just watched them talking in silence, turned to him and asked.

“Who’s that guy?”

“Someone from a neighboring town. I just met him yesterday.”

“I don’t know, Ehren. He looks like a shady man.”

Ehren blinked, “You thought so too?”

“Yeah… wait, why are you hanging out with a person like that?”

“What are you talking about!? He just showed up yesterday and we had small talk. Though, he is actually the one who told me to talk to you first. So he deserved gratitude, don’t you think?”

“Huh…”

“Anyway, let’s go to that textile merchant’s place.”

With Ehren’s business finished with Herman Willem de Vries, the siblings continued on their way.

…………

The house where the textile merchant lived is quite well-maintained, but not too lavish either, blending nicely with the atmosphere of the town. Still, the siblings who are more used to the sight of farms and wooden huts couldn’t help but stare in awe as the residence came into view.

“So this is the house of that textile merchant…” Irene muttered.

Ehren gulped, “Yeah, I’ll do the talking. This is it… let’s go in…”

The two of them walked to the front door with trepidation, but also hope.

…………

Inside one of the rooms in the textile merchant’s house, an elderly man was sitting at a desk in what appeared to be an office with a gloomy expression on his face. He is the one sought by Ehren and Irene, and the reason for his unpleasant look was that like others, his business was also negatively affected by the crisis. With the rising price of goods, his household also has to take measures to save money, like resorting to using firewood and withholding the usage of red magic stones to power his house’s heating system. As a result, he felt cold inside this office even after wearing layered clothing.

A knock on the office’s door broke the silence, and as the merchant glanced up from the paperwork, a manservant entered the room and bowed before conveying his requirements.

“Meneer, a pair of farmers appeared on the front door and requested a meeting with you.”

“Then what are you telling me for? Just drive them away like usual,” the merchant grunted dismissively.

“But they say they are the children of someone named Giovanni—”

The merchant paused from his work and looked up at his servant.

“Giovanni? Son of Huygens of Bosch? That one?”

“Y-yes, meneer. Should I tell them to leave now?”

“That is a name I haven’t heard in a long time…” the merchant muttered. “No need. Let them in.”

Despite being taken aback by the sudden change of order, the servant replied dutifully with a short, “Yes, meneer.”

As the merchant got up from his seat and left the office, he found a young man and woman being ushered to the parlor by the same servant that had reported to him earlier. The two siblings followed the manservant into the room nervously, looking at the ceiling of the room. Their feeling only intensified as their gazes lay upon the waiting merchant, who spoke first.

“Are you the children of Giovanni Huygens van den Bosch?”

“Y-yes, I am Ehren and this is my sister Irene.”

“I see. Sit down.”

Although he didn’t mean it, the merchant’s gruff tone made the spoken words sound like an order, further intimidating the siblings who took the seats facing him across a wooden table. However, both sides did not immediately stir any conversation as the siblings were too nervous to do so. Meanwhile, the merchant took the silence to study this young man and woman.

They have similar facial features and eye color, a sign of their shared blood. The older one has short and messy dark brown hair, wearing a dirty brown winter cloak with gloves and a red scarf around his neck. Meanwhile, the girl walking slightly behind him wore a similarly-colored hooded cloak. Her fairly long brown hair was tied in a high ponytail, while neck-length bangs framed both sides of her face. Their youthful appearance did remind the merchant of a man to whom he had owed a favor a long time ago, a debt that remained unpaid until now.

Satisfied, the merchant finally broke the delicate atmosphere that prevailed between them, “I have an idea of the reason why you two came here, but just for confirmation, I’ll ask you. What is your purpose for visiting this place?”

Ehren took a deep breath and began to answer the merchant’s question slowly, but clearly.

“Meneer, we apologize for suddenly coming to your home, but I need to talk to you about something…”

“Go on.”

“I need to travel to the capital city in order to visit the embassy of the Holy Milishial Empire to apply for a job… but before that, I need to borrow some money from you to pay for my travel expenses, as we lacked enough money to do so. That’s why, meneer, we need your help.”

The merchant raised an eyebrow at the young man’s request. So, his guess had been right, that the reason they came to his residence and the shocking announcement the other day are related. Shortly after Ehren conveyed his requirements, the merchant just gazed silently at his eyes with an unreadable expression. Even though he wanted to avert his gaze and look somewhere else, the young man found that he couldn’t. Both sides continued their stare down for a while.

“I see,” the merchant leaned back with an almost unnoticeable snort before gesturing to the servant who was standing at the corner of the room, “You, come here.”

The merchant whispered something to the servant who immediately bowed and went out of the parlor. Moments later, the servant returned with a small rucksack in his hand and placed it on the table. Ehren and Irene’s eyes widened at the sight of the object, which was faintly emitting a rattling sound as it was carried by the servant.

“M-meneer, is this…” Ehren stammered.

“I believe this should be enough for your trip and for your family to eat for some time to come. Take it. Consider it as me paying the debt of gratitude that I once owed to your father.”

However, just as Ehren’s hand reached out to the sack of money, the old merchant’s hand suddenly grabbed it in a surprisingly firm grip.

“!!!”

“I may owe your father a debt of gratitude, but I am no charity worker. Remember, you just borrowed money from me and as such, you are obligated to repay it, especially now that this whole town is suffering from crisis. Many in this town came to my house and requested the same thing as you two only to be driven away, so consider yourselves lucky. Do you understand?”

The siblings nodded, frightened. The merchant continued.

“Two months should be enough for you to repay the borrowed money. If you fail to deliver to me in that time, then for each month after the deadline, I will increase the amount you have to repay by one and a half times.”

‘Tch. So apparently for this old man, repaying his debt to father is not lending his money to us, but allowing the chance of us to speak with him?’ Ehren scowled inwardly, rubbing his hand after the merchant released his grip. He motioned for Irene to pick up the bag of money instead.

“Of course. If all goes well, I will receive enough pay from my future employers to repay the amount you’ve given us, meneer,” the young man replied with a barely concealed irritation.

“Ho… so noted and so you should. It’s a shame you came to me just now, when times are difficult. I would’ve given you more otherwise. Is that all?”

Just before the siblings stood up and went home, Irene gathered her courage to ask something to the merchant.

“Excuse me, meneer, may I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“What exactly is the debt that you owed to our father?”

“……He saved my life once during an incident,” the merchant said with a hint of melancholy on his face, making the siblings’ eyes widen, but that flash of emotion was gone as fast as it came and the merchant’s eyes returned to his serious expression. “That’s all I have to say. If there’s nothing more, you may go home.”

“R-right. Thank you very much for everything, meneer.”

“Mm.”

Ehren and Irene bowed toward the merchant and exited the residence with the bag of money in hand. In order to avoid any unwanted attention, they hid that bag inside Irene’s thick winter coat as they walked home. Both of them were unaware that the old merchant went to the balcony of his residence to look at them as they left, and several moments later, he returned to his office to finish his paperwork.

January 8, 1615 Central Calendar

In the end, Ehren decided to stay for one more day to help his mother and sister planning to use the money that the textile merchant had lent them. The merchant had lent them 10 paso coins and 200 shilling coins (10 paso) for a total of 20 paso, or about 4 months' worth of a factory labor wage. Considering the circumstances, this amount of money can be considered generous, and it brought a sense of relief to Giovanni's family. Ehren's earlier feelings against the old man dissipated at once as he came to understand this.

And now, the family came to Bosch’s carriage station to see their eldest son off, who was about to head to a foreign land for the sake of earning a living for his family. The few remaining horse-drawn carriages parked in the station were waiting for any passengers to board them, their drivers eager to get the hell out of this town at once. Sun was already high in the sky, its rays shining through the gaps in the overcast clouds that covered the heavens.

Ehren was not the only one who was about to depart Bosch for Duro, as the lucky ones who can afford the travel were also gathering here, some alone, some being seen off by their families.

“This is it,” Ehren muttered as they gathered in front of the station. Not only Irene who accompanied him, but even Hellen and the young Ruud and Teresa were also there. They wanted to see the face of their beloved son and brother for the last time before he departed the town and will not be here for a while.

“Everyone, I’ll be off shortly… You two, don’t cause too much trouble for mother and sister, okay?” he said, crouching to meet Ruud and Teresa’s eyes and patting them on the head.

“Mm!”

“Brother, take care…” Ruud said with teary eyes, making his brother smile sadly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll send letters,” Ehren reassured. But as soon as he remembered those words as the same that his father Giovanni uttered before going to war in the north, he hurriedly added, “…besides, your brother will be in a safe place. If the situation permits, I will return.”

Seeing the eldest son comforting his youngest siblings made Hellen and Irene smile as they glanced at each other. Then, Ehren stood up and turned to them.

“Mother, Irene, are you sure… that you will be fine while I’m away?”

“Don’t waste your energy worrying about us, my son. Thanks to the money the merchant lent us, we will be able to eat at least two times a day for some time.”

“Yeah, Ehren, I’ll hunt as many as I can!”

“Psh, honestly, Irene. But stay safe, don’t do anything rash.”

Irene rubbed her nose and grinned cheekily. “I know, I know, you worrywart. I’m not that stupid.”

“Also, Ehren, I want you to have this.”

Hellen reached for around her neck and removed a necklace, handing it to Ehren whose eyes widened at the sight of it. It was a wooden amulet shaped like one half of a deer’s antlers.

“Mother, is this…?”

“Yes, one half of the good luck charm that Gio gave me on the day of our marriage. I want you to have it. Ehren, when you finally got to work, please just concentrate on it and don’t think about anything else. Life a good life.”

The young man could feel tears threatening to flow from his eyes. But it was not one of sadness, but one of joy. He reached for Hellen with both hands and hugged her tightly.

“All that is good in me, began with you, mother. Thank you.”

Even though they were standing amidst the cold air, they can only feel the warmth. Soon, they were joined by Irene, Ruud, and Teresa in a group hug. They savored the moment with Ehren together for a while before they separated and see him off as he boarded a shared carriage. As it departed, the family who remained in Bosch waved at him until it disappeared from their sight.

January 13, 1615 Central Calendar

Altaras Kingdom, Le Brias Harbor

The journey from Duro to Esthirant was a rather pleasant and quick one, with the white ship he boarded breezed through the sea like the wind. Heck, even the captain and the owner of the company who somehow joined the voyage boasted about the ship as the fastest in the Eastern World. If Ehren did not believe the words they said back then, he was sure to believe it now. The route, which normally took a sailing ship more than three days at their maximum speed, was successfully traversed in just two days with the ship using a Tears of the Wind God-assisted propulsion in the second half of the voyage. The name of the ship was Blijde Boodschap, and like its namesake, Ehren hoped that this voyage brought him good tidings all the way.

Immediately after arriving at Esthirant, he was shown the Holy Milishial Empire’s embassy where an employment recruitment bureau was established for the people living in this country. The place was flooded with people applying for the job, but in the end, Ehren’s application was accepted by the bureau staff, and the next day, he was shipped to the Altaras Kingdom, the work site.

As Ehren descended the ramp of the Milishian metal ship on the Le Brias Harbor, he glanced around to see the town and he couldn’t hide his amazement. The capital of Altaras was just as he expected, but this side of the city has been turned into a modern facility by the Holy Empire that was so out of place from the rest of the city’s medieval atmosphere.

Through the talks with the Meyer Trading Company’s crew, who had been on Le Brias before, he learned that the Holy Milishial Empire had expanded a section of the harbor in the capital of the Altaras Kingdom to allow their large ships to dock. One month later, however, it seemed that a whole new harbor was constructed west of Le Brias’ original harbor, causing him to wonder just how in the world these people finished a project of such scale that quick.

‘Did these people possessed by demons or something?’ he thought. Ehren found the thought rather amusing for people with “Holy” in their name.

Little did Ehren know that the Holy Milishial Empire managed to finish the construction faster than normal thanks to the help of the ‘special construction crew’ dispatched from the mainland.

On the other hand, he never thought that this place, which was said to be a barbarian country outside of civilization, will be a place where he and the others can find hope. Ehren clutched the necklace given to him by his mother and set out with a look of determination.

From the employment recruitment bureau established at the embassies in various Third Civilization Area countries, the Holy Milishial Empire acquired a large number of cheap workers and proceeded with further infrastructure development projects across Altaras Island. During the following months, they expanded harbors and built railroads, bridges, and other support infrastructure needed to extract the mined golden red stones and sharp gimlet stones, important sources of NMC-22, to their mainland. Needless to say, the Milishian companies that entered the island were pleased with this situation.

These workers who hailed from various countries were placed in housing complexes constructed near the worksite and mingled with each other, with the largest coming from the Altaras Kingdom and the Parpaldia Empire. As expected, there were initial cultural shock and altercations between workers of different nationalities or rather, the Parpaldians against the workers from other small countries. Especially the sons of wealthy families who are second or third in the line of inheritance. Lured by money, they jumped at the job recruitment, but their bloated ego seemed to cause them to be unable to resist the urge of bullying inlanders and people from nations Parpaldia considered barbaric. However, these were quickly quelled the moment the Milishian security units intervened and they were soon brought in line.

Meanwhile, the Altaras Kingdom, with the assistance of the Holy Milishial Empire, managed to increase the output of their magic stone mines which resulted in increased exports. Furthermore, by becoming capable of fulfilling the quota of magic stones as demanded by the Parpaldia Empire, Altaras managed to lessen their pressure to a degree, combined with the fact that the world’s strongest empire increased their presence on the island.

Matters related to mining and construction are not the only fields where the Holy Empire invested, as Altaras Kingdom’s environment, where the soil is high in magic density, is considered perfect to grow high-quality iron bamboos, so the Holy Milishial Empire came forward with another proposal to the Altaran government to establish iron bamboo plantations in places such as the Rubail Plain on the northernmost tip of the island. The substance extracted from the plant, when alloyed with iron, produces a durable magic conductive metal and is in fact the component of the armor used by the Holy Milishial Imperial Navy’s now-obsolete Iron Bamboo-class magic small ships. Considering that the Holy Milishial Empire has access to better materials, it seemed that they intended to export the iron bamboos to other countries rather than use them domestically.

All of these activities greatly contributed to the Altaras Kingdom’s economy. With the increased wealth, Altaras began to push for development in many fields. They continue to show cooperation with the Holy Milishial Empire’s proposals, but some observers say that they were pandering to the August Star of Heaven’s whims.

The Holy Milishial Empire once promised that they will be recognized internationally as a higher civilization country, but that depends on how far Altaras will cooperate. This will mean that someday, if the Holy Milishial Empire saw fit to do so, they will be able to sit on the Eleven Countries Leadership Conference and the Parpaldia Empire will have no choice but to let their diplomats stand on the Second Foreign Affairs Bureau. But could that really happen, and if it were to happen, how far they must dance to Milishial’s tune? Could they really rely on a distant benefactor to stand up to the virtual enemy right next to their door?

Currently Publicly Available Information

DORIC PROVINCE

A province located on the eastern coast of the Parpaldia Empire, its capital city is Duro. While Duro and the coastal areas are urban areas and a major industrial center of the Empire, the majority of the inland areas consisted of rural communities sitting on top of a flat alluvial plain with fertile soil ideal for the growth of crops. Despite its rather small size, the high percentage of arable land made the province one of the major producers of agricultural products within the Parpaldia Empire.