19 – Alchemist of Nothing (2)

Free City Hamburg.

The city is located in the middle of the road with several countries such as the Countess of Nantes, the French Republic, the Romanian Empire, Italy and the Republic of Genovia.

In addition, there is a vast plain nearby where the Main River flows, producing enough food for the citizens of the city to eat.

Industrious citizens, outstanding scholars, and rich merchants perform their roles to the fullest and develop the city.

Thus, the city has the power to defend itself, regardless of belonging to any country or without a lord.

Therefore, all citizens living in this city live while enjoying the independent economic rights, military power, and freedoms owned by the city.

Not only that, but people like me who bring opportunities to make money or products are constantly flowing in, showing a kaleidoscopic appearance.

and its majesty.

“Look, young master. This is the Free City of Hamburg. Look at that wall.”

It was amazing.

It was surrounded by a high wall that could have been at least 8 meters long and was about 2-3 kilometers long and wide.

“… that’s amazing.”

Ella next to me also chimed in.

“Yes, Master…”

Balt said while looking at me and Ella as if they were idiots.

“hahahaha, what do you do when you shrink to this extent? If you go inside the city, there are many brick roads and houses. Rich merchants even build their mansions out of marble. You shouldn’t be so surprised.”

“That’s right, Helmut.”

“Yes, Bocchan. But even here, the marble mansions that Lord Balt speaks of are really rare. There won’t be more than 4 or 5 houses in the entire city.”

For a moment, I imagined a mansion with marble walls, but I couldn’t imagine it.

Because it’s too big

“I see.”

“Those who have such mansions are the heads of the 5 families that run this city. I have to go an hour ahead, can I tell you a story?”

“please. Helmut.”

So Helmut talked about the city’s political system for an hour.

According to the story, it is the ‘city council’ that leads this free city, and the chairman of this city council becomes the de facto ruler.

The chairman of the city council is called the ‘apprentice’, and under the apprentice there are 10 senators and 30 other members of the city council.

Almost the majority of lawmakers pass each other’s positions to people from their own families, but in any case, as the name of ‘Free City’ suggests, elections are held by selecting candidates from each constituency once every four years.

Helmut laughed at this system, saying it was stupid, but it wouldn’t be too bad if the wealthy citizens of this city would work hard with the dream of getting ahead in politics.

And incompetent lawmakers will fail in ‘re-election’ in a fair amount, so they will be separated and it will be midnight.

Under the city council, there are organizations such as the administrative department to which the guards, city counties, and administrative officials are affiliated, which are responsible for the security of the city and defense in case of military invasion.

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Most importantly, in this city, almost everyone was a citizen with the right of liberty, except for ‘whores, lower-class workers, poor people, and beggars’.

Because they have freedom, even an apprentice with great power like a lord can’t treat them carelessly…

Looking at these things, for some reason, I thought it was similar to Korea or other democratic countries.

**

As we reached the gate, two soldiers in armor and with pikes blocked our carriage.

“Stop, stop! For what purpose did you come?! Pay the toll to enter this city!!”

Hearing that, Balt came out of the carriage and shouted.

“This is Sir Ciel von Kreuttel, the heir to His Excellency Baron Kreuttel! Even though it is a free city, why do you want to receive tolls from nobles?”

The guards said in a hoarse voice.

“How do we know that? And isn’t it a carriage without a crest engraved on it?”

Hearing that, Balt, thinking about it, came in a carriage without a coat of arms, and scratched his head as if he had said that he shouldn’t collect tolls because it’s a carriage of aristocrats.

“I’m sorry about that. Then can I just go?”

“Please go in.”

The guards moved to lift the bolts to open the door.

I said, stopping them.

“Wait a minute, guards there. There are a total of four wagons behind me. How much is the toll?”

The guards looked at me with bewildered expressions and said,

“No, aren’t you a noble? You can just go. It is an unspoken rule.”

“No. I understand that in this city, both nobles and commoners must abide by the same laws. Then you should pay the toll.”

The guards then looked at each other for a moment and answered.

“One silver coin per carriage, two copper coins per person. If you pay this instead, you can receive the minimum protection within the city law.”

“Okay, take it here.”

After paying the money, I and my party got into the carriage and went back into the city.

Then Balt looked at me with strange eyes and asked.

“No, Bocchan. Why did you even pay for it? Even though this is a free city, we don’t impose tolls even on nobles from other countries, even if it’s customs…”

I replied with a smile.

“Bald, I’m here to do business with the caravans in this city. And the subjects of this city are also, according to Helmut, ‘rulers of the city’. If that’s the case, it’d be better to show me that even though I’m a noble, I’m willing to follow their rules. ”

**

On the day he entered the city, he set up an inn to take a break, gave Helmut and Balt a lot of money, and had them gather information.

Speaking of collecting information, in this day and age, it’s almost all about going into a bar and picking it up while drinking.

I was so tired from riding the carriage for almost 10 days, so I decided to rest at an inn for nobles in this city.

However, in order to rest comfortably, I asked for a room for myself, but Ella refused to give up and said, ‘Serving the master is an important thing for Ella.’ I stubbornly objected, so I ended up using a room with two beds.

The small bed is for Ella, and the large bed is for me.

For 2-3 days like that, I ate three meals a day inside the hotel and occasionally took a break while watching performances in the city.

And finally, Helmut and Balt, who had finished gathering information to some extent, returned and reported.

The content was a bit complex, but the summary was this.

The current apprentice of the city is Rael Schmitz, who originally made a fortune in the sugar trade with Spania.

However, as a civil war has broken out inside Spania, the supply of sugar is gradually declining and the price is rising, so this nobleman is on the verge of kicking a stick.

In this situation, it would be a great help if I said that I would now sell an unlimited number of items at the same price as Spania sold before.

Anyway, when nobles hold a banquet and maintain their dignity, they must serve a dish with ‘sugar’, so they will buy it almost unconditionally without negotiating the price.

Right now, the count of Nantes is also holding a banquet, but the price of sugar… Let’s not talk.

Then, you should be ready to run right away to do good things as quickly as possible.

“Bald, Helmut. suffered so far Go to the apprentice’s mansion and report that Ciel von Kreuttel has brought you sugar. And since we will sell as many as we want, please acknowledge only the price we used to sell at Spania.”

Now that the rice cakes have been placed, please, that man has to ask for them…

**

Not long after, no, just after two days, the butler of the apprentice family came to visit me.

“My name is Helios Pylor, the butler serving the apprentice. I heard that Sir Creutel brought sugar, so the apprentice wants to see it for himself.”

Hearing this, I was convinced that I was on the verge of success.

I was so happy for a moment that I wanted to do a somersault, but I deliberately pretended nothing was wrong.

“Can I go now? I brought two tons of sugar to sell to my apprentice. It’s still a small amount, but…”

Hearing this, the butler’s eyes widened.

Then I moved to the office of the apprentice’s mansion.

**

The apprentice’s office was unexpectedly frugal, no, it just looked frugal.

At first glance, the apprentice’s sofa appeared to be made of black fabric, but upon closer inspection, it was silk with a slight sheen, and the desk and bookcase were made of black ebony.

In particular, the curtains were also white, but the price must be exorbitant considering that the lace from the top to the bottom is attached with great care.

After thinking about the huge amount of money that went into the office for a while, I was dumbfounded, then the door opened and the apprentice entered.

The apprentice, dressed in a passionate red coat and embroidered with gold thread, despite being over 60 years old, did not look like a person of his age at all, gallantly walked over and sat down on the sofa across from me.

After sitting down, he looked me in the eye and smiled, but I couldn’t read any intention in the smile.

I first bowed my head deeply toward the apprentice, then spoke.

“It is an honor to see you, Your Excellency. My name is Ciel von Kreuttel, heir to Baron Creutel, a vassal of the Count of Nantes.”

The apprentice saw me like that and said with a smile.

“Yes, I am the apprentice of this city. No matter how much you brought sugar, I wouldn’t have met you anyway. But, according to the reports of the guards, I came to see what kind of young man it was, who deliberately paid a toll that we didn’t need to pay in order to respect ‘our law’ as much as possible.”

“Is that so.”

“You’re wiser than I thought, it’s like looking at me in my youth. Passed.”

As expected, it seems that the correct answer was to pay the toll to show the guards that they ‘respect the law’.

And the apprentice now looked at me with a meaningful smile and frighteningly cold eyes.

“Yeah, that sugar. How much are you selling for? Don’t even think of cheating in front of me. If you do, I will take revenge on your father as well as your master’s family.”

When the person who could actually get rid of me and my clan said something threatening me, a moment of fear came over me.

But I tried to gather my heart and prepare to answer.