Cthulhu Gonfalon

There were two broad divisions of the political structure of the Commonwealth of Gold Coins. One division consisted of the central aristocrats headed by two marquises, and the local powerhouse was headed by the earls of various places. The other division consisted of merchants represented by trade circles along coastal and bordering areas, as well as the aristocrats represented by the mainland.

The former division did not hold much significance. The contradictions between the central and local parties could be found everywhere in all countries—oh, except for the Republic of Northwest. In fact, such things were commonplace. For thousands of years, or for even longer, various races in all countries faced the same problem, but no one had ever seemed to come up with a solution, and rarely would the contradictions foment massive conflicts.

The power of the great aristocrats was absolutely no match for the union of local aristocrats. On the other hand, the local aristocrats did not form unions easily. This formed the balance between both sides.

But the latter division was currently the greatest source of problems for the Commonwealth of Gold Coins.

With its longstanding operation, this country that was established by commerce had seen the contradictions between the merchants and aristocrats accumulating with the passing of time. Gradually, the accumulation spiraled out of control leading to the situation to a sticky end.

The merchants had in their possession more than 60 percent of the country's assets. If the assets were limited to money, the merchants would have possessed an amount that exceeded 70 percent of the total. Though the aristocrats held a much lesser amount, they made up nearly 80 percent of the country's population and an almost similar amount of land.

One side had money while the other had human resources. When both sides shared a good relationship and cooperated with mutual sincerity, they had achieved great things together.

But as time went by, the contradictions grew between the two sides. The merchants wished to push for construction of more trade routes, as well as to promote consumption and increase population mobility—in short, they wanted the merchants' businesses to thrive. On the other hand, the aristocrats wished to maintain the status quo, or even cut down on trade routes to stabilize the situation. They wanted to cut back on unnecessary spending, and in particular, they wished to limit population mobility to ensure their territory could have a stable output.

This contradiction could almost be said to be irreconcilable, and even the great Goddess of Wealth was at her wits' end in mediating between the two parties. She could only get her clergymen to take up a neutral position and try to mediate the disputes between both sides as much as possible. They were supposed to act as the shock cushions for the situation and ease the relationship between the two sides.

In the past, as the merchants were rich, they had the ability to recruit mercenaries. Thus, they could gain martial force powerful enough to keep the aristocrats firmly under control. The aristocrats might have dominated the population in numbers, yet in the face of the merchants who had the ability to recruit a large number of mercenaries anytime they pleased, the aristocrats had always been on the disadvantageous end.

In recent years, with the God of Aristocracy becoming stronger, the strength of the aristocrats was constantly increasing as well. Originally, they only had the advantage of being the more populated party. Then with the Church of the God of Aristocracy giving support to them both overtly and covertly, the combat power that they had at hand slowly accumulated.

Just as the saying went, if one carried a murdering weapon, the desire to kill would naturally come about. Now that they had more martial force, the aristocrats naturally would want to rely on this power to fight for greater interests. Furthermore, since the battle of "Sun's Death Day," the number of mercenaries walking on the Main Plane was greatly reduced, and the mercenaries were also increasingly reluctant to join the army in fighting wars, so the merchants' strength was indeed constantly dwindling. With their power on the rise and that of the other party's falling, the aristocrats' thoughts became more radical, and so, within the country, all kinds of conflicts, big and small, would happen from time to time.

The most memorable event happened in one of the cities found in the Midwest region. The local lords were at odds with the Grand Chamber of Commerce. They started out with a quarrel that eventually led to a massive conflict. Both sides mobilized troops that added up to more than 500 men and the battle lasted for almost half a month. If it was not for a marquis joining efforts with the Church of the Goddess of Wealth to come forward and mediate, the two parties might still be fighting one another.

This matter could almost be said to be a trigger, where the conflict of the two parties was thoroughly disclosed and laid out in the open. Since then, there had been more and more friction between the two, and bloodshed occurred from time to time.

For this reason, the heads of both parties were stepping up efforts to rope in various forces to their sides, trying their best to increase the strength of their camps in order to overpower one another.

Since the start of summer, Baron Dahl had been receiving letters from the two parties. Whether it was the two marquises from the aristocratic party, or the seven major commercial firms from the merchant party, they were constantly persuading him to support them. They also both gave plausible reasons.

No matter what, Baron Dahl was an aristocrat after all. He was a lord, and so this naturally made him feel a sense of belonging to the aristocratic party. But for such a long time, the Dahl family had been relying on the smuggling business to earn profits. It could be said that the family's lifeline did not depend on the identity of a lord but rather, depended on the identity of a smuggler. And this, in turn, made him feel that he should belong with the merchants.

In fact, within the Commonwealth of Gold Coins, most of the small to medium-sized aristocratic families were like the Dahl family. On one hand, they would be lords managing their territories, but on the other hand, they would be doing business to bring income to their families. It was just that there were few who could be like Baron Dahl, who was very successful in both being a lord as well as doing business.

Things went awry because of him being "very successful!"

Probably because both sides saw Dahl Hill as a model example, they strived harder and harder in trying to pull him over to their sides. Their attitudes were also getting stronger and stronger.

Especially this time around, the messengers they sent over had implicitly hinted to him that, "if not a comrade, then an enemy."

This was the most problematic issue that gave Baron Dahl a headache.

He truly did not care about who he was going to take as a comrade, but he was very concerned about who he was going to make an enemy of.

After all… regardless of which side it was, to the Dahl family, both were overwhelmingly powerful and massive. Whichever side he chose to take, he could be easily killed with a light slap from the other party… just like swatting a mosquito.

Though both sides had solemnly vowed that so long as Baron Dahl chose to pledge allegiance to their side, he would be able to gain several benefits and would be well-protected, Baron Dahl did not trust them!

Only a fool would believe their words!

Protect him? Well-protected?

Haha, not long ago, there was an heir of a certain viscount who suddenly fell from his horse and died. How did he die?

A young man who had the capability of a knight-to-be, would fall from his horse and die? The man would never die even if the horse fell to its death!

Also, how could a certain medium-sized chamber of commerce warehouse positioned by the sea be wrecked by fishermen? It could not be that those deplorable, unlucky fellows, who were abandoned by the Goddess of the Ocean, could actually have the ability to break through the fortress made out of stone, could it? That would be insulting everyone's intelligence for sure!

Baron Dahl dared to bet with his own head that so long as he had chosen a side, once news spread, it would take less than half a month for the crowd in this room be a much snore sparse.

Everyone naturally understood this principle. So, looking at one another, they all frowned.

An awkward silence enshrouded the small conference room.

After a long time, amidst the silence, a voice suddenly sounded. This was a young knight-to-be with the surname of Dahl.

"I feel that… why don't we just pledge allegiance to the Church of the Void Mask!"