Ceremony of the Heavens (3)

(Klaus's Pov)

Before I made any progress, a new problem arose in the form of my mother.

The city where our family is located is the city of Ibben. The place where I wanted to start my business is Kralin, a sea city on the shores of the Sea of Kralin.

The decision is because the cost of land is very high in Ibben. Though the rates are high in Kralin too compared with that of many other places, I had a reason for choosing Kralin as my starting point.

Kralin used to be the capital of our old kingdom before Ibben. Kralin was established by the founding father of the Emsier dynasty, Kralin Emsier. The city and the surrounding sea were named after him after the unnamed village developed into a city.

This city served as the capital as it has access to a lot of resources and easy trade.

As a city with a seaport, trade with other nations became easy. The Kralin Sea provided abundant products of the sea. The black forest to the south is also a great deposit of resources.

Only in later generations when the enemy nation's navy developed to a point that Kralin city would no longer be safe did my family move to a new city, Ibben, named after Iben Emsier.

Kralin is surrounded by threats to this day, which made my mother cause me problems. I can't blame her for that. Which loving mother would want their children to be surrounded by danger? Moreover, the distance between the two cities by carriage would take three days. I can't come and go as I please as it would eat a lot of time.

After a week-long appeasement, my mother finally relented. It came with conditions though. I had to send messages every other day and must visit home once every six months. This only applied for the first two years, after that I should visit home every three months.

Though this would hinder me, I agreed. I had no other choice than to agree to this.

I wasted a week by then, so I immediately left for Kralin, where I was received by the city's mayor upon my arrival. This was common as I saw this scene whenever my family arrived in Kralin.

Usually, the authority of administration lies in noble families. Unlike other areas, Kralin is special as it was our family's former capital and home. Since the time Ibben became the capital, Kralin had a mayor instead of being under another house.

The mayor is appointed by my family. This seat isn't inherited. My family kept this city under our direct control. This is also one of the reasons for my choosing to establish my base here.

If I start in another smaller noble's territory under my family, they may appear accepting outside but could hinder me behind my back. My father always taught me to not judge a book by its cover. Though those words weren't the ones that came out of his mouth, the essence of the words is the same and mine sounded better.

Many nobles either vie for higher status by bootlicking or backstabbing. Neither one was a good option for me and so the decision to start where other nobles aren't present.

One would say I could start in Ibben as it is the capital of Archduchy. As my father is the archduke, I can get the land for free and even could have safety as a bonus.

There was a reason for not taking it that way. One is that, since my family is not anymore dynasty and my father isn't a king, I can't do anything as I like. Moreover, the land dealings are done by officials of the city and it would be recorded.

I can get land for free or at a lower rate, but the person who owns it would lose money. This would brew hate in their minds.

Another is that I wanted to stay away from politics, which revolves around my family a lot. As long as I stay in Ibben I would be dragged into that shitstorm.

Kralin offers something that Ibben doesn't, access to the sea. A lot of trade with other nations is done by the sea. Many merchants pass through the city. I can get acquainted with them and I can easily sell my products through them.

Kralin also has access to sea resources like fish, prawns, etc...

A good restaurant needs fresh meat which the black forest to the south and sea to the west provides.

There are a lot of monsters in the forest and sea and it was one of the reasons my ancestor bend the knee to the empire.

Around 1246, the year of the red star, monster tides from both sea and forest attacked. This caused a plunge in military power.

To the north was our archenemy the Duster Kingdom. To this day there were always battles between us. They were eying our kingdom. Our kingdom was done. It was to die in a war with the Duster kingdom or join the empire which stood to our east.

My ancestor chose later. The empire was rapidly expanding at that time. Many small kingdoms fell in battles with the empire. Though at the time they weren't waging a war but still the idea of war loomed.

Duster kingdom wouldn't let our family live but bowing to the empire would spare many lives. He has only requested that the Duster kingdom can't join the empire in the same way they did.

The empire agreed, not because my ancestor asked but because the situation in the empire at the time demanded.

Years of wars had put a dent in their military power too. They can defend but to go on to another war wasn't viable.

Moreover, with the increase in the empire's power, a few independent nations formed federations which caused headaches to the empire.

With the ascension of a new emperor at that time, they had to stop their wars and had to develop the occupied lands.

My ancestor didn't know those at that time. He feared as he can't defend against two enemies. So he chose. He didn't regret his choice as Duster kingdom had amassed a lot of soldiers and mercenaries ready to march on our kingdom, only to dissolve it after the news of merging appeared.

If one can survive the dangers Kralin would be a great starting point.