The sea area of Kajuu, which is made up of nine large islands, has long been home to maritime trade.　
　However, it is said that the waters of the nine large islands were once a magical place where pirates were rampant.
　About a hundred years ago, however, the situation changed dramatically.
　A great man, later known as the "Pirate King of the South," united all the pirate gangs that inhabited the Kajiu and destroyed those that did not comply.

　Thus, he established a virtual kingdom in the Kajiu. The Pirate Kingdom.
　No more enemies. The spring of my world. Naturally, it was expected that the number of pirate victims in Kaziu would increase dramatically.
　But in reality, it was the other way around.
"The Pirate King of the South has since forbidden his men to engage in piracy at will. Only foreign ships could be targeted. And if they paid tolls and tariffs, they could not be touched.
　Instead, he ordered his men to devote themselves to legitimate trade.

　As a result, the pirate's paradise of Kaziu became a merchant's paradise.
"The Pirate King of the South" had dyed the sea of Kaziu with the blood of his defying enemies, and had created on it a great maritime trade zone of peace and prosperity.

　Some books say that the "Pirate King of the South" dreamed of a peaceful Kajuu from his youth and dared to color his life with fight after fight, while others say that he was simply a cunning and greedy man. In fact, after he became practically king, he could no longer lift a finger and pocket the enormous tax revenues.
　No one can deny that, other than the great achievements he left behind, he was a man of mystery.

Shortly before his death, the "Pirate King of the South" gave nine of his sons, the best of his sons, each of the nine islands in the Cassiou as their own territory.
　This was the foundation of what we know today as the Southern Islands Federation.
　Each of the nine sons ran a large business association, which was passed down from generation to generation until the present day.
　Those nine business associations are collectively called "Federation" in Kajiu.

Until now, the "League" has been cooperating with each other, both on the surface and behind the scenes, even though they are rivals in business.
　They complemented each other's weaknesses and made use of each other's strengths.

　That's right, for the past one hundred years--

　　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇.

The Azzurri Chamber of Commerce is part of that federation.

　I turn to Chocolat and explain.
　It's on the deck of the "Maria of Hope", the ship that we invited them to, right after we rescued Lady Hanna and her friends from being attacked.
　Aria listens along with them, but as expected of her, she is very thorough in her preparation.
　Then Captain Barbas cracked a joke and laughed vigorously.

"Some would say we're a disgrace to the League.

　It was in front of his own person, the wife of the leader of the Azzuri Chamber of Commerce.
　Mrs. Hanna glared at Barbas with a snap.

Captain Barbas is right. The Azzurri Chamber of Commerce is the weakest of the League in terms of financial resources and influence. But that's because generations of party leaders have discouraged abusive business practices.

　He held the baby in his arms and looked at her as if she were avenging him.

'That's rude,'

　And Captain Barbas immediately and without hesitation apologized.
　Apparently he had deliberately made a fool of himself in order to ascertain Mrs. Barbus's temperament and spirit. It was the bargaining technique of a geek.

'But how could Miss Hannah, the wife of the leader of the party, behave in such a way as to cause her to flee from Nerf Island?　And you have to be driven around by people who would be your subordinates?

　Aria asks monotonously.
　Actually, I had my doubts there, too.

　Hannah's face becomes full of sorrow again, and she explains quickly.

''It's because........my husband was poisoned today........''
Oh, my God, Felix.

　I couldn't help but open my attack book to check it out in front of all those eyes.

　Felix, the leader of the Azzurri Chamber of Commerce, is also mentioned in the "Important People" section of the "Strategy Book" in a reasonable amount of detail.
　It is said that Felix is an honest businessman who wishes for the happiness of his customers as well as his own.

　In my mind's eye, I needed the cooperation of even just one person, even the head of the League of Nations.
　So I looked through the "Strategy Book" to see if I could find any information on the nine party leaders and their personalities, and it was Felix from the Azzurri Chamber of Commerce that I chose to help.

"Poisoned to death, that's no small thing...
But I never thought it would come to this.........

　Mrs. Hanna biting her teeth.
　Her husband has been killed and she's trying her best to hold it together, even though she would really like to start crying.
　The weight of the baby in her arms makes her a stout mother.

'Well, do you mind if I ask you what you call a premonition...?

　It might be too much to ask her to talk about, having just lost her husband.
　But I couldn't help but check.

　Mrs. Hanna replied stoutly and with a slightly raised voice.

'There's a man named Yotel. He has been working for the Azzurri Chamber of Commerce for a long time, and for three years my husband has been in charge. Recently, however, he and his master have not been getting along, and I have seen them arguing a lot. I wondered if it was all right with me, but he kept saying that it was just a small clash of opinions on business matters, and that if we kept people away from each other over a minor disagreement, no one would ever be around.

　Well, that's a very decent attitude for a man of character.

But this man Yotel betrayed and poisoned your husband in a cowardly manner?
'Yes...........' Yotel, who offered to reconcile, invited him to lunch, and, believing him, his master left and stayed........

　She did not see death in her eyes, and Mrs. Dixon is saddened.
　And the faithful sailors who have followed her are complaining.

'We followed him, sir.
"So, I was having dinner with a bunch of yotel bastards and their minions, and I thought the master was suddenly coughing up blood, and then he didn't come right back...
He's so cunning that he only puts poison on the master's plate...
If we'd had some on our plates, someone would have seen it first!
No, we should've taken the initiative and poisoned your husband's plate.
f*ck you!　You'd have been scolded by your husband for doing that!　That's like saying you don't trust Yotel.
I should have listened to you!　It's a billion times better than the death of your husband!
''Well.........''
Ugh, sir!

　While Mrs. Hanna was struggling to keep up, they were starting to get messier.
　Felix was a well-liked leader.

We were so furious, we were cutting up the yokels," he said.
But then the all-important Yotel ran away...
That's where I got the cold feet.
I rushed back to the house to make sure you and Bochan were safe.

　And that's exactly what happened when he rescued his wife from the middle of the attack and escaped Nerf Island, where he was surrounded by Yotel's fleet.
　That's how it ended, apparently.

　You can't help but feel sorry for them.
　I can't help but feel sorry for him, and I can confirm why there is no mention of Felix's death in the "Strategy Guide".
The Chapters in the Chapters of the Strategy Guide are updated at sunrise. If he was poisoned at noon today, it's only natural that the information is not reflected in the book. To say it's unfortunate is an understatement....

'We're convinced the killer is Yotel, but we don't have any proof...'
We can't take this to Kajuu Marine Police (Cagliostro).
However, if we don't do something about it, you never know when your wife and son might be assassinated...
It's almost like Yotel took over the Azzurri Corporation.
Most of them were in love with the master's personality and business acumen, but most of them couldn't bring themselves to follow her and her baby boy.
Yotel's bastard had a business acumen. They're all people who secretly think it's better to go along with Yotel if they don't want to destroy the Azzurri Association.
In fact, if the Chamber of Commerce goes out of business, we'll eat it all up.
But we're the only ones here who thought we couldn't just abandon your wife and little guy.
'So I had to abandon Nerf Island, but that doesn't mean I had anywhere to go...'

　They are all uniformly dissipated.
　That's why Mrs. Hanna has to be more and more resolute.
　It is she, the wife, who really wants to grieve.
　It's very painful to watch.

　To Mrs. Hanna and the others...

I've got a proposition for you.

　Aria said suddenly.
　All of the husbands looked at each other in unison to see what was going on.
　Aria consciously made a cheerful expression to encourage them.

I'm Aria, daughter of Malm, a Rakstad merchant.
'Oh!　Marum & Co. is one of the biggest stores in the Rakstad area, isn't it? We are well aware of that.
'Thank you!　So, we would like to open a business on Nerf Island. Would you like to help us?　Of course, Magnus and the others are so strong, as you saw earlier, that I would never allow them to assassinate your wives. And we have the goods and the manpower. You all have the credibility and know-how on the island that you have developed in the Azzurri Chamber of Commerce. Right?　Wouldn't that be a good thing for both of us?
It's a story I couldn't have hoped for, Mr. Aria!
She's right. We don't know where we're going anyway.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aria.
It's my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen.

　Hannah bows deeply and Aria returns the bow.
　Then Aria turns to me.

This is the right thing to do, right?
'Yeah. If Aria hadn't brought it up, I would have suggested it.

　We can communicate with each other without saying a word. It's comfortable to communicate with each other without saying a word.

　The planner in my head is a little screwed up, but that's still within the realm of things that can be fixed.
　As planned, we're going to go to Nerf Island and stake our claim.
　The fact that we're going to end up crushing the yotels in the process - that's a minor detail, right?