Major Corporate Alliance

Major Corporate Alliance (大商会連合) was an alliance made up of legacy merchant companies from the Midgar Kingdom that was officially headed by Garter in leading this coalition against the Mitsugoshi Company, due to their rising popularity in the world by often conducting trade wars to fight over the market right in the region.

Knowing that Mitsugoshi would monopolize the kingdom by taking over the market due to their accelerated expansion, the Alliance attempted to stop their distribution chain in order to hinder products sales. The MCA was secretly a puppet of the Cult of Diablos with their associate, Gettan, controlling this alliance from the shadows and later become a tool for destroying Mitsugoshi by utilizing the Alliance after they were proven useful to prevent any new obstacles from becoming a hindrance to their future plans, while the Cult were still clashing with Shadow Garden.

The Cult planned to print counterfeit bills after the Alliance had made their own banknotes to imitate Mitsugoshi's in order to create a credit crisis that would later destroy Mitsugoshi. After the Cult finished their business deal with the Alliance in moving their asset funds to a safe place and leaving the Alliance to their fate.

However, their plan was unknowingly used by Shadow after he instigated a credit collapse with the help from the White Tower Monarch in Lawless City, Yukime who is the president of the Snow Fox Corporation, which she used for her revenge against her ex-fiancé, Gettan, while Shadow helps Mitsugoshi to end their feud with the MCA by secretly gathering funds and saving it for them in order to come back up after the credit crisis.

As a result, the MCA did not have enough funds in their reserves to give to those who wanted to withdraw their banknotes for gold coins and thus losing people's trust until effectively the MCA had to be dissolved. All trading company presidents as members had been given punishment by the kingdom.

As the MCA was being dissolved, Mitsugoshi Company managed to restore the people's trust on the banknotes with their sufficient reserves to refund their gold coins, and proceeded to purchase all of the MCA's assets after their fall, while the Cult of Diablos had suffered massive losses with Mitsugoshi taking their funds along with their influence.

Overview
The Major Corporate Alliance was a coalition formed by all the presidents of the merchant companies in Midgar Kingdom. However, the alliance was nothing more than a non-aggression pact as they came together after deciding to quell their conflicts and unite as one through the Garter Corporation as the founding representative of the Alliance.

The reason for the formation of this Alliance was to bring down Mitsugoshi Company due to their fear of the company's rapid expansion over the market in the region, not knowing that this alliance was a pawn for the Cult of Diablos used in their plot to destroy Mitsugoshi.

The Alliance's efforts to crush Mitsugoshi included sabotaging their distribution by forcing all traveling salesmen to stop carrying Mitsugoshi goods until they switched over to MCA merchandise and using their currency bills, as well as using their private armies to attack the Mitsugoshi cargo carriages by disguising as bandits.

However, their efforts are fruitless as the MCA are unaware that Mitsugoshi Company is a public cover for the Shadow Garden organization as not a single member of their raid force has come back.

History
The merchants from Midgar Kingdom realised that the Mitsugoshi Company had grown in power and expanded their business at a rapid pace, unaware that the company is Shadow Garden's public front. As there was no shortage of merchants that regard the company as a threat and the demand for Mitsugoshi goods so tremendous that even a whole coalition of merchants wouldn’t stand a chance against them, with Mitsugoshi's position rock-solid for some time. However, all merchant companies formed a coalition in order to stand up against Mitsugoshi Company, who began introducing their banknotes to the world, which had become very popular among the kingdom's citizens and ended up drawing the envy of many competitors.

The Cult of Diablos noticed Mitsugoshi's success and aimed to destroy the Company, but they couldn't do so personally due to their situation against Shadow Garden. So, the Cult contacted their associate, Gettan, who sought to occupy a Seat in the Knights of Rounds, and ordered him to destroy the Mitsugoshi Company by leading the MCA through his Garter Corporation.

Following the introduction of Mitsugoshi banknotes, the Great Commerce Alliance tried to understand the concept and copied their idea. But in contrast to Mitsugoshi, the Alliance bills were much easier to counterfeit, so Gettan used the MCA for the Cult's plan to mass produce counterfeit bills to create a credit crisis in order to bring down Mitsugoshi. He planned to start when the Cult's assets were safely withdrawn from the capital and finished their dealing with the MCA, leaving the Alliance to take the fall with Mitsugoshi.

Unbeknownst to both the Great Commerce Alliance and the Cult of Diablos, Shadow also planned on using the same plan ahead of time after he accept the invitation with the White Tower monarch, Yukime the Spirit Fox, asking him to join forces with her to join the secret war between the MCA and Mitsugoshi, seeking the collapse of both parties. Shadow then implemented their exact credit collapse plan using Mitsugoshi and Alliance counterfeits, by working together with the Snow Fox Corporation of the Lawless City under the alias "John Smith".

Organization Strength and Influence
By forming a coalition of all trading companies into becoming the Major Corporate Alliance, their influence was able to rival Mitsugoshi Company in trade commerce thanks to their many years of business experience.

Another factor in the Alliance's rising influence was the fame of Gettan, also known as the "Sword Devil". Not only did he bring a tremendous amount of legitimacy to the organization due to his cunning and charismatic character, he also provided the Alliance with a strategic plan and manpower.

It was said that the MCA's private army, particularly those from the Garter Corporation, had their strength on par with a small nation. The MCA's best mercenaries, the Clovers were highly-skilled assassins from the personal team within Garter Corporation whose members were all handpicked by Gettan himself.

However, all of their best members in the Alliance's raid force, including The Clovers had been unable to stand up against some of the formidable members from Shadow Garden as they have successfully killed all the assassins they sent and gradually whittling down their combat assets, depleting their resources as time goes on.

Membership
The Great Commerce Alliance was created from the union of all the trading companies in Midgar Kingdom's region, who have all merged together into a single organization brought together by the president of the Garter Corporation, Garter, who became leader of the alliance.

The reality, however, is that despite Garter's contributions to the Alliance, he is not its actual leader, as Gettan is the one controlling the alliance behind the scenes and his orders are carried out by Garter.

Formation of the Alliance
The Major Corporate Alliance was founded at an unspecified time (possibly due to Mitsugoshi's popularity and the company's rapid expansion) created for the sole purpose of destroying Mitsugoshi Company with the president of the Garter Corporation, Garter as the Alliance's leader. Even though Garter had hired Gettan to help him, the Alliance was currently being headlined by Gettan as the de facto shadow leader with Garter becoming his subordinate and serving as the figurehead leader.

Gettan had done everything he could to put Mitsugoshi at a disadvantage by giving his orders to Garter to carry out his plan. However, the MCA's only successful effort was making the losses from the traveling salesmen that used to carry Mitsugoshi's goods to the commoners out in the countryside had suffered because of their actions after raiding them, while Mitsugoshi Company isn’t flinching at all for whatever reason due to their urban trade was completely unaffected.

Moreover, the Major Corporate Alliance tried to make paper money just like Mitsugoshi per Gettan's direction without realizing that they have been manipulated by Gettan who is actually acting on behalf of the Cult of Diablos by presenting a plan to the Alliance, with the promise of occupying the 12th seat in the Knights of Rounds.

The Cult intended to start the credit crisis with counterfeit banknotes which will eventually destroy Mitsugoshi along with the Major Corporate Alliance, after which they would sever their ties with the MCA.

Great Trading Company Conflict
The Major Corporate Alliance attempted to sabotage Mitsugoshi by sending their private forces to attack Mitsugoshi's carriage supply lines and eliminate their employees, only for said assassins to encounter fierce resistance from Shadow Garden's well-trained forces, leading to many of their deaths and a few of them being captured for interrogation. Mitsugoshi's carriage supply lines kept running smoothly however, while the Alliance were dumbfounded at failing to impede their financial adversary.

Gettan also ordered all members of his top mercenaries, the Clovers, to infiltrate at the headquarters of Mitsugoshi with the objective of gathering all confidential documents, money, and manufacturing details. The Clovers were to then vandalize the headquarters, while also pillaging and kidnapping important personnel without failure. But their mission to raid was a failure, as the Clovers didn’t return having been killed one after another. Even Garter's private army and rear guard, responsible for reporting back in case of mission failure, never returned either. Thus, Gettan felt confident even his mercenaries had been eliminated.

When the rumors about counterfeits had begun to spread and caught Gettan's ear, he decided to check with his superiors as Gettan originally planned to circulate counterfeit bills to destroy the credibility of the Alliance and Mitsugoshi Company. By the time he heard the news from the Cult’s messenger, Gettan was furious because their counterfeits hadn’t been finished nor distributed. This tipped off Gettan that another party was mass-producing fake bills, and he speculated the culprit was the Mitsugoshi Company who used the Cult's plan against him. So, Gettan ordered Garter to track down John Smith and recover their funds in order to salvage the crisis. With rumors of counterfeits already circulating around the capital, Gettan was running out of time because he couldn't find John Smith. With an influx of people exchanging their bills for gold, a massive liquidation request came and all company presidents in the Alliance refuted Gettan's promises, asking to shut down the exchanges as they knew their reserves wouldn’t hold out.

Gettan went to confront Yukime, sensing something amiss from the liquidation order and decided to investigate, which revealed that she was the one who caused the credit collapse. She revealed she did so by working together with John Smith, and Gettan sought to take back the money they stole in order to mend the crisis for the MCA. He fought with Yukime and exploited an opening, forcing her down with a fatal wound. However, John Smith appeared and overpowered Gettan in brutal punching, demanding Gettan to confess; John Smith wanted Gettan to confess to taking the money he thought Gettan stole from him, while Gettan thought he meant what he felt about Yukime. Seeking to end John Smith and take back the money, he takes a Tears of Diablos and augments himself into a "Third Awakening", a futile effort as John Smith then beats him until he dies.

Leadership

 * Gettan

Notable Member of President and Company

 * Garter, president of Garter Corporation (Figurehead)

Enforcers

 * Clovers (Defunct)
 * Garter's private army

Legacy
After Gettan's death, the merchants in the Alliance closed their shops and tried to flee, only to be intercepted by the Knight Order, who forced them to open their vaults to appease the mob of patrons seeking their gold. Once the public discovered the duplicity of the smaller amount of money than the bills in circulation within their reserves, the populace lost their trust with the Great Commerce Alliance and the kingdom severely punished the merchants for fraud. However, the public then raced to Mitsugoshi Bank and found ample reserves, honoring their bills with enough surplus remaining.

With the Great Commerce Alliance's history are finished after suffering a crushing defeat against Mitsugoshi in the commercial trade war, the Mitsugoshi Company elevated their trust with the consumers and bought up all former Alliance assets, even eliminate all of their competitors. Afterward, Mitsugoshi's social standing has been improved and their company influence became so powerful that even the Midgar Kingdom's government could not risk defying them and was financially dependent on the commercial monopoly.

As for the Cult of Diablos that not only cost them the Great Commerce Alliance by inadvertently making the Mitsugoshi Company more powerful than ever after they taking control over the marketplace in the region, but they also lost a large portion of their funds and influence in the kingdom to which will be impacting on all the factions that were in Midgar.

Especially for the Fenrir's Sect Faction which had recently been in decline after his faction was under constant attack by Shadow Garden for the past 5 years, while Fenrir was carrying out a mission to revive Diablos' right arm from the Midgar Royal Spellsword Academy in order to resupply the Tears of Diablos by kidnapping many student at the Academy after the Sanctuary's destruction in Lindwurm had unleashed the left arm caused by Shadow.

Trivia

 * After the Great Commerce Alliance fell, Mitsugoshi Company became the first monopoly corporation of this world thanks to their growing influence that has already large within the Midgar Kingdom.
 * Although the Alliance's fears became a reality due to their own actions upon their being captured, after they being formed only to being taken advantage of by the Cult of Diablos until they were disbanded and suffered the punishment.
 * In the Web Novel, another goal of the Alliance's attempt to attack Mitsugoshi's carriages was to obtain manufacturing methods for the product with the aim that customers would immediately flow to the Great Commerce Alliance, if the Alliance sold similar products from Mitsugoshi Company.
 * Also, Shadow Garden estimated that the Great Commerce Alliance's actions in continuously increasing the distribution of banknotes that could affect the capital's economy would collapse, at least six months from the start of their issuance.