The Stick And Carrot

"You can't keep killing merchants like this, Vaan," Astoria stepped forward to speak, fearing Vaan would kill more. "Merchants are needed to continue the extensive network of exchange of goods and knowledge across the seven witch kingdoms."

"If you kill them, you won't be able to use them to develop Sunpeak Town," Astoria stated.

"We don't need all of them alive. We'll only need to keep the ones we deem useful. As for the useless ones, we don't need them," Vaan spoke for the merchants to hear, but he didn't intend to kill too many of them.

He just wanted to scare them.

After all, as Astoria said, merchants played a vital role in the extensive network of exchange of goods and knowledge between the seven witch kingdoms. They were responsible for bringing in rare supplies of goods that may not be found in the Kingdom of Black Rose.

Killing too many could cause a problem in the economy and affect the development of Sunpeak Town.