Chapter 37. Everything Was Starting Over Again.
Hayley was considered quite young to be the deputy head of a trading guild.
Considering that most deputy heads of surrounding guilds were grizzled middle-aged men with gray beards, a still very youthful woman in such a position was truly an anomaly.
In other words, there was almost nothing Hayley El couldn’t do.
“I apologize. I didn’t even realize you had arrived…”
“No, we didn’t send word ahead either. It’s not your fault, Hayley.”
I waved my hand at Hayley, whose face looked as if she had committed a grave sin.
Greeting someone wasn’t the issue here—there was something much more important.
Seeing that Hayley had grown noticeably gaunter while I was away made me let out a quiet sigh.
“…What happened while I was gone, Hayley?”
If I were ever to step back from guild affairs, Hayley was someone who could perfectly fill that void.
More precisely, without her, the guild wouldn’t be able to function at all.
Hayley had supported my mother in running the guild from a younger age than I had.
So even in my absence during travel, she could handle almost all matters on her own.
She was someone who could skillfully manage the guild without reporting everything to me.
For someone like her to send such an urgent message—it had to be something critical.
Why was the guild so empty, where had all the people gone?
I condensed all my long and varied questions into a single sentence.
At that, Hayley bit her lip, looking somewhat anguished.
“…It’s all my fault, my lady.”
With a face that looked almost indignant, Hayley slowly began to speak.
She said it had all started from something minor.
A pointless power struggle, just like the usual ones from other guilds.
“It was a guild that regularly came up from the East. We’d seen them often, but that day, they kept picking fights for some reason.”
Hayley, having worked in the guild since a young age, was already well-accustomed to such things.
No matter who picked a fight, she usually smoothed things over with grace.
But strangely, this time she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off.
“Someone who normally was always careful suddenly talking like that… I guess it really got under my skin.”
Even though she knew she should’ve been cautious and looked into it, she got caught up in the meaningless fight.
Even though she knew she should’ve investigated what was going on, she found herself drawn into an argument by people who seemed determined to provoke her emotionally.
The fight quickly escalated into a foolish bet.
And in a more emotional state than usual, Hayley ended up half-intentionally losing to them.
She probably wanted to find out what had caused such a change in their behavior…
“Two-thirds of our personnel had to go to the East. They didn’t even explain why they needed help—just insisted on taking them.”
They demanded something outrageous as payment for the bet, and since she had lost, Hayley had no way to refuse.
She had to give them what they wanted without even a proper explanation.
“So that’s why the guild is so empty.”
“I have no excuse, my lady. I should’ve acted more rationally…”
“But technically, it’s not your fault. How could you stop someone who came prepared to cause trouble?”
I waved my hand again as Hayley sat there looking like she had committed a deadly sin.
Judging from how things unfolded, it seemed like they had come from the East with a whole plan already in place.
As I organized Hayley’s story, I tried to recall—
Did something like this happen before the regression?
“So, the only thing they took were people?”
“Yes. They tried to include food and blankets too, but I refused.”
“Nothing like this happened with other guilds?”
“Not exactly, but they did buy supplies in large quantities and left for the East.”
“Then maybe something’s happening in the East? Did you look into it?”
“I tried to contact them, but we haven’t received any response.”
“Even using our guild’s communication network?”
Hayley shook her head at my question.
Our guild’s network was second only to the military’s in terms of speed and secrecy.
If even that network couldn’t get any information…
“Something must’ve happened in the East.”
“That’s what I suspect.”
“Then the only option is to send someone directly to investigate.”
“I already contacted Ganner through a messenger bird—he was among those sent East.”
Hayley’s eyes regained their usual sharpness as she mentioned that she had sent Ganner, her personal aide.
Though she regretted that things had turned out this way because of her mistake, she had already taken steps to address the situation.
Seeing her calm and collected demeanor, even more so than usual, I gently patted her shoulder.
“You’re back to your usual self now.”
“I only regret not snapping out of it sooner.”
“It’s fine. Mother trusted you even when you weren’t at your best.”
And who knows? Maybe we’ll gain something from all this in the end.
I smiled softly to encourage her, and Hayley bowed her head deeply, touched.
After a short emotional pause, I continued my line of thought.
The Eastern guild, the one that had come from the East…
“What’s the name of the guild that came from the East?”
“You may have heard of them. Aenheim. They’re a rather large guild in the East.”
“Aenheim… Isn’t that the one sponsored by the Eastern Warlord?”
“Not the Warlord himself, but one of the powerful vassal families under him. I’m not sure which one, but it’s the second largest guild in the East after Fern.”
“And they urgently bought up supplies and borrowed our people…”
The Janet Guild was considered quite large even within the Empire.
With our base in the capital, this building served as our headquarters, and the number of workers we employed was massive.
For such a large guild to lose two-thirds of its personnel—it had to be a serious matter.
“If even communication is cut off from the East, doesn’t that mean the Eastern region itself might be blocking the network? If they blocked the routes between regions, our messengers would struggle too.”
Betty, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
She wasn’t wrong.
After all, messages are ultimately carried by people.
“That’s true. If the roads are blocked, then even the best network can’t function…”
I was about to nod and agree when something suddenly flashed through my mind.
The first thing I did after my regression to spread the word about Lloyd…
Before asking Waynes to keep an eye on the North, I should’ve done this first.
“Hayley. Besides blankets and food, what else did Aenheim buy?”
“Aenheim? Let’s see… blankets, food… and they also bought up some herbs.”
“Herbs, you say?”
“They said it’s so common it’s hard to even call it an herb. Just a weed that grows on the roadside,”
the apothecaries had said.
Food, blankets, and easily found medicinal herbs.
“Gamon? Gaman? It was something like that. I heard it’s good for reducing fevers.”
Everything pointed to a clear truth.
Everything that had happened before the regression… was starting again.
*
The eastern region of the Empire was relatively lower in elevation compared to other areas.
The sun rose there first and set first, and the road leading to it passed through several tall mountains. As a result, rainfall was lower than in other regions.
And from the fact that securing drinking water in the East wasn’t easy — that’s where it all began.
Eastern children would play in the mountain streams and creeks almost daily, and some would carry water home for their families to drink.
Since most of the water that flowed into the plains was used for agriculture, people always had to climb steep mountains to get drinking water.
Some even drank the leftover agricultural water from the downstream.
Because drinking water was limited, water for washing was even scarcer. Unless you were a noble or someone wealthy, bathing every day was a luxury for commoners.
And that became the root of the problem.
“First, of the supplies we brought from Enerheim, pack up everything except the bare minimum left at the top of the caravan,”
I gave a simple instruction to Hayley after a short pause.
“We’ll be short on hands, so send requests to branches near the capital to borrow some manpower. And since we don’t know how long this will take, start by packing items with long shelf lives.”
“…All of a sudden? If we were going to do that, wouldn’t it have been better to just sell them in Enerheim?”
“That was the best we could do there this time.”
The East occasionally experienced outbreaks of mysterious illnesses. Usually, people just suffered from high fevers and slowly recovered.
Sometimes they were left with scars or suffered mental effects afterward…
Still, since they lived, most people didn’t take such illnesses seriously — and the East had many of those.
But the disease that was beginning to spread this time… started to claim lives.
It began with a slight fever and a cough, so most mistook it for a common cold.
But as time passed, the fever worsened, and in severe cases, people began coughing up blood and had difficulty breathing.
Eventually, they died.
A terrifying disease — one that, in my past life, had swept through more than half of the East.
Even back then, I was the Crown Princess.
And even then, I had used the merchant group to support the East.
The difference now was that, back then, we had thoroughly hidden the merchant group’s name and put Lloyd at the forefront.
Dressed in black robes, with his mouth and nose covered in thick cloth as he moved throughout the East treating patients who coughed blood — people called him “the Angel in Black.”
That was Lloyd’s first step toward imperial power.
How could I have forgotten that?
Looking at the confused faces of Hayley and Betty, I told them to just follow instructions and wait.
“I’ll return to the palace and send people. Once they arrive, you can transport those goods to the East.”
“But, my lady… Isn’t the East fairly abundant in everything except water? There’s already a merchant group that dominates that region. If we interfere….”
“I understand what you’re saying. But for now, can you please just do as I asked?”
Hayley, rarely flustered, looked genuinely uneasy, but this wasn’t something I could explain — or ask her to understand.
So I gave a strained smile and chose to push forward.
“Ah, and it would be good to have a few doctors willing to travel with us.”
“Doctors?”
“My lady… What are you thinking?”
As if suddenly ordering them to pack wasn’t enough, now I was requesting doctors too.
I didn’t blame Betty and Hayley for looking so puzzled.
But this was something that had to be done — no matter what.
“Even if it doesn’t make sense now, you’ll understand soon. Please. This really needs to be done.”
Fortunately, both of them were good at listening to me.
After I repeated my request, saying it had to be done, they reluctantly nodded.
“If you insist, then we’ll do it.”
“Thank you, Hayley.”
“But… it’ll take some time to prepare everything you mentioned.”
“I know. Just do it as quickly as you can.”
I finished speaking and stood up. Betty, still looking baffled, stood with me.
“Then I’ll be off. If anything comes up, contact me through Betty.”
“Yes, my lady.”
And with that, I turned and left the merchant group’s quarters.
Now, it was time to return to the imperial palace.
