Quote Originally Posted by Lauront View Post
I've no idea what you think it is you're "putting to bed" but...

https://ffxiv.gamerescape.com/wiki/Blue_Gold#Dialogue

Granted, this particular merchant changes his plans as to where he intends to source it from, but it's evident from the quest dialogue he is not alone in this interest in ceruleum and its applications.
That quest and others all the way back in ARR also mention that Northern Thanalan is the richest deposit of ceruleum in the entire region and it’s much closer to the Eorzean Alliance (being that it’s in Eorzea) than Garlemald is.

The XIVth legion couldn’t transport ceruleum to Eorzea and had to source it themselves here. All the way back in 1.0, Ul’dah was mining and refining ceruleum there and the Garleans came in to take it, which is why Castrum Meridianum is located where it is.

Ultimately the biggest goal of the Ilsabard Contingent is the demilitarization of the ex-Garlean Empire, not necessarily a source of ceruleum at the northern tip of a completely separate continent half a world away.