Ru’s voice echoed through the headquarters’ corridors and rooms, built with stacked stones. Having experienced and subdued brawls among knights, she didn’t back down against these rough traders, especially those who dared to treat the Trade Headquarters like a marketplace.
“I will never trade with the merchants here who mock our Perseta and His Imperial Majesty!”

“No, we are not saying that…”

“Get out. The decision on what goods to offer has not been made yet. Also, Perseta does not trade with just anyone. We will notify you when the criteria are set, so come back then.”

“Let’s talk to our superiors first…”

“Francis, investigate who these people are and immediately exclude them from the trade list!”

Interrupting the conversation twice, Ru’s words made Francis rush over with paper and pen.

“Oh, I’m going! I’m going!”

“She’s no joke.”

Ahem, ahem, the merchants scattered with a fake cough. Ru whispered to Francis.

“Remember the ones who act recklessly.”

“Yes. I’m keeping a close eye. Especially that man the lady complained about.”

Francis replied with her eyes wide open.

“I have no idea who sent these merchants here.”

When Ru mumbled, Francis, looking at the back of the people, slammed the door.

“It’s obvious. Someone from the headquarters must have set us up. The Eastern nobles are greedy for foreign affairs and trade. The Vice-Chief we met earlier is also from the Moikifell Duchy.”

Moikifell Duchy? Ru thought she should memorize the entire noble directory. She still had a lot to learn about the Perseta Empire. She was ignorant of the details.

“One of the Alsmonne Union. The Moikifell Duchy.”

“Ah.”

In the end, it meant they weren’t on the emperor’s side.

“Yes. Anyway, what you did just now was impressive. I was too surprised to think, but how did you manage to confront those rough people without hesitation?”

Haha. Ru just smiled vaguely. Because she thought it would be better to avoid talking about her past left in Caletta.

“There’s a lot to do. First, we need to check the inventory we can sell. The documents are useless.”

Francis nodded at that and threw away the paperwork she was about to use. Who cares about tasks assigned by the Vice-Chief!

“That’s right. As long as we do the assigned tasks well, everything should be fine, right?”

Francis Grey, who was left in charge of Calletta, where it was dark in front of her, gained courage again. Rustica Gennes, whom she had to lead, might be more competent than expected.

In the end, the task was very simple. After selecting useful items from the monster carcasses brought to Shalea by Imperiale, everything else was moved to the Mel River port.

Then, Ru and Francis just had to sell it to the foreign merchants lined up, calling the highest bidder among them.

‘It’s just a trivial task for a bribe.’
Ru tightly bit her lips and started taking inventory again. Well, she had experienced this sort of thing since Caletta. Academy, Imperial Knights, she had been through various situations.

Originally, powerful individuals faced restraint, and those who spoke the truth were even more detested. After countless experiences, she had developed tactics and, to some extent, had learned to let go. But still.

“Joselin Moikifell, from the Duchy, Eastern noble, Vice-Chief.”

Ru, not yet accustomed to an older person doing such things to her, couldn’t accept it. Of course, given the current situation, she would just let it go, but she diligently recorded everything in her memory.

While ordinary people would scream in horror, the monster organs that Ru handled in her hands were simply recorded in more detail, specifying names and quantities.

“Are you the one in charge of this now?”

The gruff inventory warehouse manager, who usually bluntly told her which monster’s eyeball it was, which monster’s feather it was, and what they were mainly used for every time Ru asked, inquired.

He was wearing a black, large apron commonly worn by butchers. Despite bleeding and processing the imported monster carcasses, they were, after all, dealing with the bodies of monsters.

“Yes.”

“Is it tough? The sailors working at the port are all rough characters.”

Despite his thick forearms, the man with graying hair, smoking a cigarette, calmly stood there, watching Ru look at the grotesque monster organs without any apparent discomfort.

The short-haired lady who had come with her had gone outside to get fresh air, while the brown-haired lady with her eyes fixed on the rolling scales and handled the pancreases.

“It’s okay. What’s this?”

“That? Oh, I’m seeing it for the first time too this time. It seems different from monsters coming out of the North and West. Called Setu, saw only one this time. That’s its front paw claw. It has poison.”

“Setu, a monster?”

Ru calmly nodded and added ‘front paw claw, poisonous’ to the roughly written inventory list. If there was someone to help with this task, it would be nice, but since Francis’s face turned pale, Ru had to handle it alone.

Instead, Francis decided to meet with the merchants. The monster inventory warehouse where Ru worked was under strict Imperial guard, as the monster carcasses were important, and the security related to Ru was also being conducted simultaneously.

‘I’d rather just work here.’

Thinking various thoughts, Ru heard a loud noise in her ears as she recorded what the responsible man was saying.

“So far, if we’ve been working like this, we need to change now! I’ll take responsibility!”
Without a hint of movement in the Imperialle, Ru raised her head. The man in charge, who had blown cheap cigarette smoke, glanced over and clicked his tongue.

“Must be because you’re young, full of energy, and a strong voice.”

He was the son of Duke Alanka. Whether he was busy succeeding his brother at the top or still wandering around the port, he was not concerned about buttoning up his clothes properly, unlike his brother, Count Elsh, who was a noble.

His long coat fluttered in the strong wind. With a determined face and veins popping on his forehead, he was the epitome of a vigorous man in his twenties. He swiftly crossed the harbor.

“…Is he coming this way?”

The manager mumbled. What’s the point of coming here? Ru turned her head, comparing the list once again while starting to write. Anyway, if he comes this way, Imperialle will stop him. Sure enough, the sound of knights stopping him rang out.

“Entry is prohibited except for authorized personnel.”

“I’m not going in. Who’s in charge here?”

“Please go back.”

“Now, since the priority is handling the monster carcass inventory, and no one is buying our goods right now, when exactly will that start? Who is in charge? Is it you?”

Ru sighed and looked up. Today’s weather is really nice. It was rainy until yesterday, but it cleared up and became sunny and refreshing. Why was she dealing with such people here?

“…Hayden, no, His Majesty, the Emperor, was really annoying and irritating,” she thought.

Now that she sees it, Hayden was on the decent side. Oh, of course, it wasn’t comfortable, but he wasn’t unpleasant and dislikable. And rather than being tired, he seemed more absent-minded.

“Yeah. It’s more tiring on this side.”

Ru glanced briefly at the son of Duke Alanka, representing ‘this side,’ and then stood up from her seat. He had a considerably handsome face, thanks to his rugged impression. She approached him and spoke.

“Who are you?”

“No, I’d like to see the person in charge.”

In other words, it firmly meant ‘There’s no way you’re in charge.’

“Please state your identity.”

At Ru’s stern tone, he looked rather stunned.

“Don’t you know who I am?”

He didn’t particularly want to know, and even if he did, he didn’t want to pretend to know.