The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 173

Chapter 173: The Cursed Highway and the Merchant's Poor Health

While they conversed calmly, she had the same cloth Fritz had purchased brought over. The fabrics laid out each differed subtly in dye, ranging from soft textures to quite vividly colored pieces—a wide variety.

“The more vivid the color, the more labor dyeing takes, so it becomes more expensive. For example, this red is dyed with a flower called safflower, but the same flower can also produce yellow, and both are well received for noble ladies’ dresses.”

Once the color was this vivid, it was no longer a price commoners could afford, so its main role was apparently as an eye-catching sample.

It seemed that when a customer drawn in by the vivid colors checked the price and found it far beyond their means, being recommended something inferior in color but identical in quality and feel, at a far lower price, let them feel they had made a good bargain.

For that reason, the goods put out at the commoners’ market used materials that could be dyed cheaply. When she asked the market price, it was about thirty percent cheaper than Melfina had assumed.

“The price is kept quite low. Bringing it all the way from Romana—won’t this fail to turn a profit?”

“Our guild has succeeded in mass-producing cotton, and this year’s harvest was especially good, so we are making a reasonable profit even at this price.”

“His Grace the Duke told me the guildmaster was quite capable, and it seems that really is true.”

“I’m honored. To hear that from my lady, I feel all the more proud. After all, these days there isn’t a day among merchants when one doesn’t hear the name of the Enkar region.”

He gave a brilliant smile and tilted his head slightly, making his long blond hair sway smoothly.

“I was surprised when I actually visited as well. Meat dishes are sold at stalls as a matter of course, and both eggs and meat are in a price range that makes them much easier to obtain than elsewhere. Above all, that ale was wonderful. Some of our guild members even buy a small keg of ale before work every day and make a show of draining it by the end of the workday.”

“By the way, I heard you inquired at the sales office about purchasing by the barrel—were you perhaps assuming you would take it home?”

“Yes. I heard from the branch manager in Elban that Enkar ale keeps well, so I would very much like to do so.”

“The ale we export is adjusted to keep well, and it is a little different from the ale drunk in the Enkar region. If you are considering taking some home, would you be able to purchase it at the lord’s residence?”

“If you would sell it to us, please do. …To be honest, if we don’t load up on ale as souvenirs, half our guild members are in danger of defecting and moving to the Enkar region.”

They shared a laugh over the light joke. Marie, who remained cool and expressionless before anyone but those close to her, also had a faint smile at the corners of her mouth at Raymond’s witty conversation.

“Even so, transporting this much goods all the way to the north must have taken a great deal of effort. From our side, we are very grateful for Romana’s goods coming in, but somehow I feel bad about it.”

“No—on the usual trade route, we would go along the southern highway, stop by the royal capital, enter the north, and stop again at Soarasonne, so it takes time, and every time we cross a territory we have to pay a transit tax on the cargo, which drives up the sale price. But the highway running along the coastline between Romana and the Kingdom of Francesca passes through lands governed by eastern nobles, so the transit taxes are comparatively cheap.”

According to him, if one went straight along the coastal highway and entered the north directly, there were almost no territories to pass through, so the burden of cargo price increases from transit taxes was slight.

For that reason, cargo intended for export from the port town of Elban to the Kingdom of Luxen or the Kingdom of Britannia generally used the eastern coastal route.

“Romana and the south cannot be said to have good relations, so the tariffs imposed are also quite high. The route through the eastern highway is extremely important to Romana’s merchants, but…”

Raymond suddenly broke off and put a finger to his lips as if slightly troubled.

The bad blood between Romana and the south was famous. Even in this world, where wars—let alone skirmishes between territories—rarely broke out, it was a spark that could ignite at any trigger; indeed, Melfina and Alexis’s marriage had an aspect of strengthening military force against Romana in the south.

“Romana and the south have traditionally been on bad terms. I am now married into the north, and I have no intention of taking the south’s side.”

Raymond smiled as if a little troubled and let out a deep, worried sigh.

“Actually, the eastern highway is extremely important, but it is said to be a difficult passage for merchants—a cursed road. I foolishly thought that if it became known we were traveling such a road, people might come to feel aversion toward Romana’s goods.”

“‘Cursed’ is an ominous word. Is there some problem such as the road being prone to accidents, or monsters appearing?”

“The cause is unknown, but long ago it was said that when one passed along this highway, the entire caravan would be cursed and sick people would appear frequently, or at the very least minor ailments would occur. That said, it was also being forgotten by merchants as a story of the past, but recently word has spread that the curse has revived…”

“Could it be that sick people have appeared in this caravan as well?”

Raymond nodded and turned his gaze toward the back of the tent.

“Those with mild symptoms recovered after arriving in the Enkar region, but several people remain bedridden and unable to eat properly. We are giving them ale and wheat porridge, but they only continue to weaken…”

“Oh no… Are you all right, Raymond?”

“Fortunately, I had no major problems, but rather than someone like me, who looks like he has no stamina, weakening, it is more troublesome for the morale of the whole caravan when burly men who usually gnaw on salty dried meat and guzzle ale end up bedridden and utterly changed.”

Of course everyone is better off healthy and energetic. But the Romana merchants she had met were all cheerful and good at light conversation. It was easy to imagine that if they were in a state where they could not lift their heads from the pillow, the anxiety around them would be greatly felt.

“What kind of road is that highway? How long does one travel along it?”

“It is a bleak road where rough rock faces show through, with nothing but caravan wheel ruts. Depending on the length of the caravan, after traveling for about two to three weeks along a road where the scenery hardly changes, one enters the north, and from there it is another three to four days to Soarasonne.”

“Traveling a similar road for that long must be quite hard mentally as well.”

“Yes. That is probably also why so many Romana merchants are cheerful and broad-minded by nature.”

Since this world had magic and magical power, it was no wonder curses existed, and people probably accepted them naturally.

But what bothered Melfina was that it had been almost forgotten, yet had recently revived.

“That curse might possibly be…”

“Do you have some idea what it might be?”

“No. I am not a doctor, so I cannot say anything irresponsible.”

Melfina, as both Duchess and lord, had power in her words. If it were an idea for managing her territory that was one thing, but voicing a mere notion to a merchant from another country required caution.

“…My lady, that difficult passage has a bad reputation as cursed, but it is a road that allows one to pass through the east in the shortest time—a road worth risking one’s life for to a Romana merchant. Even just a guess is fine; if you have thought of anything, would you tell me? Of course, if it improves the curse even a little, I will repay you in any way I can.”

Raymond, who until then had behaved with such composure that he even gave off a noble air, spoke as if slightly impatient.

A route that avoided the southern highway must be that important to them.

“Then, if my idea resolves the ‘curse,’ would you be willing to lead a caravan and visit the Enkar region like this once every few years—not every year, of course? Naturally, only to the extent that it is not unreasonable for your guild.”

“Of course, I will do so… but is that really all right?”

Melfina was the lawful wife of the House of Duke Oldrand, which possessed an outer port, and Raymond was the guildmaster of a great trading company that also handled exports from the port town of Elban to various countries.

If Melfina said “do so,” he might accept even some disadvantage from frequent visits to the Enkar region as a necessary expense.

But that “expense” would surely be passed on somewhere. It might not take the form of direct disadvantage to Melfina or the ducal house, but in the end someone somewhere would bear the cost.

“Both business and trade are best conducted pleasantly. For now, let’s see whether my guess is right by trying a measure for those currently unwell.”