Trinitas Mundus

May 16.

The Rays arrived in Ezarrington.

What awaited them when they arrived was rumors of war between the Caerm Empire and the Holy King Luke's Kingdom. For this reason, I am reminded that it is not easy to get to Jilsor on a stricter alert than I thought.

Having obtained information at the Blacksmith Guild that the harbor's vigilance was more stringent than usual, three of the unequipped Rays, Luna and Ione headed to the harbor in the West End, where Ashley, Stella and Ryan were to gather information in the Adventurer Guild and the Mercenary Guild.

The Rays also stopped by a commercial guild along the way, where they also collected information.

There is not much good information, and we get information that rigorous investigations are taking place and that there are fewer ships going south.

I knew there was a problem, but once I tried to see it, I headed to the harbor as planned.

When we arrived at the port, we were informed that many Imperial Army soldiers were walking around and, even in the long run, were subjected to rigorous inspections.

"That sounds difficult. If they're looking at us so hard, we can't normally get in."

Luna nods loudly at Ray's words.

"I'm sure those guys can sneak in, but I think it's gonna be hard to keep hiding 'cause we're gonna have to sail from here to Jilsor for days."

From Ezarrington to Zirsole it is more than about seven hundred and fifty km (Kimmel) by sea. If you ride in the wind, you can go on about 100 kimmels per day, but sometimes if you hit it, you can barely go on.

According to what Luna heard in the commercial guild, the route from Ezarrington to the south always takes more than ten days to reach Gilsor, as it always goes through the imperial capital Plymouth.

"If Uno and the others can't find it, they can't find it, but the 10th is tough."

They do a brief gathering of information in the harbor, but they still find that there are few boats bound for Jilsol and that regular flights have to wait about ten days.

"At least ten days... if the ocean gets rough, it looks like we'll be more late, and maybe we should head south by road from Ezzarington"

"Right. It may be easier to get around Cheslock or the Duke of Phyllobisher, but I think we should gather information in the Imperial City once."

Gilsall is south of the Wale Peninsula in the southern part of the Empire and is the closest city to Cheslock. However, it was not clear from the commercial guild whether there was a ship bound for Jilsol.

Gilsall is a major industry with agriculture and glass crafts, and its main exporter is Teito Primus, a large consumer. Others are being transported from here to everywhere in the major traffic shock Ezzarington.

As a result, regular routes are set between Imperial Capital and Ezarrington, but Cheslock has less need to connect with Gilsall on regular flights, as agriculture is the main industry and the city is small.

"Looks like you should think about it with the Ashes."

That's how Ray concluded and decided to return to the inn.

Around noon, he joins the Ashleys, who were gathering information in the Adventurer and Mercenary guilds.

The Rays went into a small dining room for lunch. So when I ask for the food, I immediately go through the information sorting.

However, I found that there was no brightness in Ashley's expression and that I could not get any good information from just looking at her face.

"You don't look like you can either," Ray says, Ashley nodding loudly.

"Looks like there's still going to be a war. A mercenary guild official told me there might be a massive battle in Lark Hill after the summer. All the mercenaries I've heard are going west. Mercenaries going south are sure to stand out."

"It was the same in the Adventurer's Guild. There seems to be a lot of calls for scouts. I think it's obvious that adventurers are going south because we're looking for more people in southern towns than here."

That's what Stella says and adds.

"There was nothing good about the information we gathered. Harbor security is tight, and there aren't many ships out there. It's going to be hard to get from here by sea."

Ashley's expression is even clouded by Ray's words.

"So you're going to go by road... don't stand out when this many mercenaries head south. Luna, what do you think of what lies ahead?

"Right...... I can't think of any way to make it less conspicuous, but I can tell if it's a route to the south"

"Think from there first? I'm sorry, go on."

"Okay," Luna nodded,

"If there's only a land route, go through Central Street to Empire City and go from South Street to Phyllobisher, Cheslock, or from here into Langton Street to Seawell, Kendrew, Langton, Cheslock, right? Both are long and short…"

From Ezarrington into the Wale Peninsula in the southern part of the Empire, but there are two routes to Cheslock at the southern end.

One is on the western side of the peninsula. Specifically, it goes south down the street connecting Ezarrington, known as the central street, to the imperial capital Plymouth, from Plymouth, into the southern street and through Phyllobisher, which becomes the route to Cheslock.

The other is the route along the eastern side of the peninsula, from Ezarrington into Langton Avenue, via Seawell and Langton to Cheslock.

The western route passes through the Imperial capital Plymouth, thus receiving the support of the Imperial capital branch, which oversees the Blacksmith Guild within the Empire. It is also linked to the maritime transport route and it is possible that you will find a vessel going to Jilsor from the port town of Renfield on Plymouth and Feelobisher territory.

However, the western side of the peninsula is expected to be heavily guarded by the frequent movement of trading vessels from the commercial city of Aurelia and the marine state of Periplus, directly connected to the imperial capital Plymouth.

On the eastern side of the one hand, security is expected to be relatively loose due to the small number of trading ports into which trading vessels enter, but the disadvantages include more distance of about 500 kimmels compared to the western route, the fact that no one, including Luna, has land maps, the difficulty of obtaining the support of a blacksmith's guild, and the fact that it stands out from the fact that there are fewer travellers than on the main streets.

"... there are pros and cons to going either way. To be honest, I don't know which is better."

"You mean the information we have now doesn't give us a judgment... Ash, what's your opinion?

"Right......" clouds the words and doesn't answer immediately.

"We should gather some more information. Fortunately, I don't have to worry about a war right now. Given the trouble ahead, we can take it back fully even if we gather information here for a few days."

Stella agrees with her.

"I agree with what Master Ashley thinks, too. I think it's safer to gather information outside the guild."

"Other than guild? Where exactly are you thinking," Ashley asks.

"Mr. Luna, would you do me a favor, but don't you have other handouts?

I can't boil it off when Stella asks, "There's nothing there..."

"It's for our safety. Can you tell me what kind of handover you have, whether you want to use it or not"

Luna nods at Ashley's words.

"Right. As I said yesterday at the inquest, there's just a few handouts at the Duke of Etherlington's house. Even so, it doesn't mean that we know each other so well..."

"You really have a handout in the Ezarrington family of the current Imperial Chancellor..."

Ashley roars, but Luna laughs, "If you let me be kind, I'll probably be in Empire City, so I'll just use Lockhart's name here," he said.

That's where Ray joins the story.

"Still, it's amazing enough. So, using that handout, is there a risk?

"What about the risks? The Duke is good, and I don't think the ministers have anything to do with the Lockhart family."

"But we should proceed with caution in this matter. There will be no detention, but if there is anything suspicious, it will hinder future action."

"Right. In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea to have the Blacksmith Guild gather information. Because they're the most trustworthy."

"There was another one," Luna says, as she nearly decides to gather information in the blacksmith's guild, town shops, etc., in the afternoon.

"Outside the Duke's house?," Ray asked,

"Yeah, the Chamber of Commerce, which handles groceries called the Paston Chamber of Commerce, might be able to listen. Because the Chamber of Commerce also handled Jill Sole olives and such. And I also deal with distilled liquor, so I think giving the Lockhart family a name would do me some convenience."

"Right. It would be nice to hit you."

Thus it was also decided to hit the gathering of information in the afternoon.

"Me and Ryan, we're going to the Paston Chamber of Commerce in Ione. Mr. Ashley and Mr. Stella, come and see the city with Ray."

"But wouldn't one of us be better together?," Ashley said.

She was anxious to be the only three with poor skills.

"It's okay. This city is safe, and Mr. Uno and the others will follow you, won't they?

Luna often acted so far with the six of us, and made such suggestions in an attempt to make time for just the Rays.

Ray noticed the care and said, "Right. Plus, Ryan's here, so it's okay," he agrees.

The Rays rolled out to the commercial district.

"Shall we go, then? Ryan, say hello to your escort."

"Oh, I'll take care of it," he replies.

"Enjoy Ione too. Because it's an interesting place not in Sochius."

"Yes, thank you," he said, bowing his head, but realizing that Luna cared for herself, frightened for a moment, but immediately grinned.

As Ione felt, Luna was not only mindful of the Rays, but also of the Ryans.

Although Ryan doesn't put it to words, he feels the difference between Ray and himself and is losing confidence. As a result, pleasure as before had lurked in the shadows and passive attitudes had become more prominent. Recently, I am regaining my confidence in training, but I still feel bad about not being able to keep up with stories like this one.

Ione does not show any particular dissatisfaction or confusion, but considers the sieve to be stressful, although he does not put it on his expression because he travels far away and on a land where there is no one he knows.

I didn't know what was going on, especially in the western countries, so I didn't think I could join the conversation and I felt alienated.

Luna, who followed the two, walks through the city of Ezarrington with refreshment. The destination was close enough to arrive at the Paston Chamber of Commerce, a destination.

The Paston Chamber of Commerce was also a leading grocery specialist in the trading city of Ezarrington and a merchant in the Duke's house. For this reason, people are constantly in and out of large buildings on three floors.

(I miss you. You found a cocoa here... no one will remember it anymore, so it seems faster to use Lockhart's name to talk...)

I open the door and go inside with that in mind.

A young man approached me as soon as I said "Welcome". However, unlike its bright voice, I have questions on my face.

Luna can't tell the pitch-black dress given in Sochius what kind of person she is just at first sight with the appearance of a pitch-black cloak. However, with an adventure-style man and woman who look like escorts behind her, I somehow know that I stopped by on my journey. That made him inexperienced. He couldn't be judged.

"What can I do for you?

In response to that inquiry, Luna answers with a smile.

"My name is Luna Lockhart. I haven't been in Etherlington in a long time, so I stopped by."

Though I heard the name, the clerk is only twenty years old and young, unable to react to the word “lockhart”.

Still, "Master Lockhart, right? Welcome aboard," I succeeded in answering as I had.

The voice went into the ear of a veteran clerk.

When he stood up in a hurry, he immediately gave instructions to call the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, standing in front of the young clerk,

"Welcome. The Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce will be here shortly, so please hang here and wait," he leads to the reception room.

The young clerk finds himself an important person (VIP) in the response, and becomes dismayed, but immediately returns to me and leads him to the reception room following the senior.

In order to prepare the tea, the young clerk asks the seniors a question at the back.

"Who is it?

"Hey, you don't know... oh, you've never been in a liquor store... you know Sir Zacharias Lockhart famous for his gastronomy"

Still, the young clerk says "I don't know" and shakes his head to the side.

"It's you..." he sighs.

"If you're going to eat in this industry, you don't know the names of Sir Zacharias and Viscount Radford..."

Hearing the explanation, the young clerk learned about the existence of Lockhart.

"But you're pretty young, aren't you? That one."

"Sure. But there's nothing impossible about the Lockhart family. Sir Zacharias was only sixteen years old when I first met him. Besides, my sister, you are 11 years old and you are so good that you beat the Fourth Corps squire. If you have Lockhart's name, it wouldn't be strange for your daughter to travel alone."

Talking about that, Michael Paston, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, showed up while wiping his sweat. He had just taken over the Chamber of Commerce from his predecessor Thomas in his mid-thirties last year.

"There wouldn't have been a crude phase," Paston said to the clerks, quickly making a grin and walking into the reception room.

"This is, uh, welcome. My name is Michael Paston and I'm the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce," I greet him with a rub.

"I'm Luna Lockhart."

"What can I do for you today?," Paston hears in a peeping manner.

Although Luna, a young woman, is the opponent and is unlikely to lead to business, she is cautious because she does not know what will happen in the Lockhart family entanglement.

"There's something I'd like to talk to you about here...... I don't know more about it, but I was able to go to Jill Saul as a Lockhart (...) person at home and have to investigate. But when I got here, there didn't seem to be many ships in the war with Lukes... I remember this shop handling Jilsol and Cheslock stuff, so I thought you might have some information on the south, so I asked..."

Luna was Zacharias involved in the need to head to Gilsall, that is, explained as if it had something to do with alcohol and gastronomy.

"I see......" he nodded and began to smile and talk.

"It is true that the number of flights to Jilsol has dropped dramatically. Instead, the non-western route is minimally narrowed down, and that's what we're looking for in the west."

"So you're saying the situation is the same in the south?

"No, I think we can cross to Jilsol if it's from Cheslock. Ships around there are only used locally, so there's not much loading. You won't be driven out by the transportation of supplies from Teito."

"Which means if we get to Cheslock, we'll figure it out."

"Exactly."

So Luna set aside just a few moments,

"Could you please introduce me to the ship that crosses from Cheslock to Zirsole?

Paston wonders what he's going to do with that, and asks him to sound as insignificant as possible, "What business is he on his way to Jilsor?"

"I can't give you the details for a moment, but with my brother's permission, I'll let you speak up."

That's what I said and I laughed nicely. Paston was satisfied with the words and left the reception room behind in order to write a letter of introduction by saying, "Tell Sir Zacharias my regards".

I finished writing my references in about five minutes and came back.

"There is a mid-sized chamber of commerce called the Closure Chamber of Commerce. Tobias, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, should have been doing business with Jilsol, so he'll help."

"Thank you," he said, bowing his head.

"I'll also tell Mr. Ivan that you helped me."

He took his seat in the name of Ivan Kemp, Branch Manager of the Blacksmith Guild.

The remaining Paston giggles damned that he has sold his favor to the Blacksmith Guild.

(I sold my favor to the Blacksmith Guild in a Lockhart family relationship. Think about using this as an opportunity to eat more with alcohol handling…)

Paston immediately assembled his men and ordered the sale of a new beer.