oh shit, Rosetta's back in play! And Thomas, the Converted Bastard Merchant, even. Great to see them again.
I do enjoy that Liam is pragmatic in a lot of ways and has actual skill sets, even as he's largely motivated by "being the most evil bastard he can"--only for that to inadvertently make the lives of countless non-bastards better, and hurt all the shitty people in the galaxy at the same time.
Also gets him tons of renown and fortune, which he happily considers a reward for his evil bastardness.
That, and how truly granular this series has gotten with all its economic, military, and governmental minutiae, at least without showing actual spreadsheets of figures all the time.
I look forward to seeing how those two new merchants fit into the coming conflict with the Berkley Family, now that Liam's unrecognized arch nemesis is utilizing all the noble officers screwed over by Liam being actually competent and intolerant of bureaucratic bullshit. And, Liam's hapless harem potentially growing by one? Unless he brings one of his current retinue in as an Adjutant. I could be misremembering a line where that's also the case.