Chapter 2

Nan was a beautiful vast city on the coast of the southern part of the continent. Its streets were many and intertwined, forming something akin to a spider net. Some said that this was the most prosperous city in the world as it was home to the most talented traders, crafters and scholars. It was as well the capital of the Kalian federation, one of the most powerful military and economic forces on the continent. The federation was different from other countries on the continent. It was formed from seven duchies, dozens of city-states and counties. The ruler was elected every ten years from one of the remaining six duchies as the current ruling duchy was not allowed to participate in the election and every semi-independent force in the federation would cast a vote. This was a method of governing that was set in stone five hundred years ago between the countries.

Right now, on the shores of Nan, in a three stories building made out of fine varnished wood two men were having a rather heated discussion.

One of them was a middle-aged man, dressed in a finely made black costume. His well-groomed beard matched perfectly his black long hair and his piercing deep eyes. His name was Gerver Vorh. He was a count of a nearby county. He was a wealthy man and had a short temper as he was rather quick with his words.

The other man was count Vallen Vesear. He wasn't as influential as his counterpart, as his domain was much poorer, but what he lacked in gold he compensated with his whits. He was a little older than Gerver and a few hairs were already turning white on his head, but even if he was older, he was respected among the higher levels of nobility as a renowned fighter which became a platinum-plated warrior at only age fifty. This in itself was a feat that not anyone could achieve. If he continued to improve, one day he may reach a level that even kings would have to treat with respect.

"I told you, what Duke Rosal offered was ten thousand Gold Crowns for each of us." Said Gerver on an exasperated tone.

"This is indeed a big sum" responded Vallen calmly, trying to settle his friend a little. " But money is not everything. What Rosal offers is only benefitting us now. If we side with Duke Gales, He promised economical support and even some places in the administration over the next ten years." Added him.

Gerver's heart was a little moved by this offer. Putting aside the economical support, the places in the administration of the federation were very attractive. Those places could not be bought and the benefits could be huge. But there was the chance that Duke Gales could ignore those promises if he was elected. The rewards were indeed big, he had to admit, but so were the risks. The offer of Duke Rosal was lacking but there were no risks involved and even the gods knew that he didn't like to take risks.

"No. We cannot accept Gales's offer. It's too risky."

"Ahhh!" Count Vallen finally lost his cool and let out a quiet scream. How could his friend be so stupid? He understood the risks, but the rewards were massive and they could not let this offer go away.

These two were old friends that knew each other for more than ten years but every time there was a decision that involved the future of their group they would always fight. Gerver was simply a money grabber that liked easy money without the risk, while he... he liked money as well, but sometimes there was a lot more to gain if one took a little risk.

Just as he was preparing to go again, hoping to convince his partner, the door opened and three men entered the room.

These three were their business partners and friends. The first one to enter the room was the youngest. He was count Tallon. He recently inherited his domain east of count's Vallen and the old man took a fancy to the boy and introduced him to the group a few months ago. He was an ambitious young man that had some talent when it came to alchemy business, so Vallen thought that he would make a fine addition to the group. He was wearing a white wrinkling shirt that was putting his blonde hair in the spotlight but one looked at him, he seemed more like a thug than a noble.

The second person was Severs, a well-dressed man around the same age as Gerver. He wasn't a nobleman as the other three but was a fine merchant that got pretty wealthy in the last years due to his equipment trade. He started small as a jewelry seller and soon reached enough capital to buy weapons and armors engraved with runes which made him a small fortune. The runic items were quite rare and not everyone could afford one, making them even more expensive.

The last person to enter was an old man in his seventies named Cellir. He, as Severs, was not a nobleman but a high priest of the Radiant Church. In terms of influence, among them, he was unmatched and even in the whole Nan, he had a big influence as the only person higher than him in the entire federation was Saur, the Cardinal of the Radiant Church.

"What the hell is this women quarrel?" Asked Severs. "We could hear you from downstairs."

Gerver opened his mouth to say something, but Tallon spoke before him while keeping a smile on his face; "They are fighting about whom to support in the next election. "

"Election?" Asked Severs while the two who were arguing looked at Tallon.

"Did you get an offer as well?" Asked Vallen curiously.

"Of course. Why would I not get one? " Asked him in response.

"Are you talking about the next election for the federation?" intervened the old man Cellir on a calm tone. "They reached out to you?"

"Yes. Duke Rosal offered us ten thousand gold crowns each while Duke Gales offered us positions in the administration and benefits." Said Vallen.

"Those were the same offers that I got." continued Tallon.

Severs eyes sharpened a little as he spoke " The offer of Duke Gales is good indeed. But very risky. And did he offered positions to everyone? " Asked him a little doubtfully. "There are dozens of votes that he needs. Where would he get so many positions."

"See. that what I said." Jumped Gerver. "He is definitely trying to screw us over."

"You do not know. Maybe he wants to fire half of the current administration and appoint his own men." Said Tallon.

"That would be outrageous. Is he a mad man?" signaled Gerver. Firing half of the administration would be indeed impossible as not only that would mean offending a lot of powerful people, it would have people questioning the Duke's motives. It was nothing new to offer positions in exchange for votes, but those promises would be made in secret, far from the public eyes. Changing half the administration would be like screaming corruption out loud.

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"No!" Said calmly Cellir as he sat down on a chair and poured himself a cup of tea. He took a sip while watching over the for men that were eagerly waiting for an explanation.

"Hey old man, quit being interesting and just say what you've got to say. " Said Gerver on an annoyed tone.

A smile appeared on Cellir's face. "Young man, patience is the key to success in life... or something like that, " Said him while laughed out loud. " Gales won't fire many people. He will only change a few key positions while putting his own men in power. As for the rest of the people he made promises to... he will just give them some unimportant positions that nobody fights over."

Everyone pondered over this answer until one confirmed.

"It makes sense." Added Severs.

"What we need to do is make sure that if we take Gales on his offer, he would give us some important positions. " Said Vallen.

"Giving you a position is not out of a question, Count Vallen." Said Cellir. "You are a respected member of nobility with experience and a few friends on your side. He would not offend you. "

That was indeed true. Count Vallen was a person that revolved in the higher class of nobility for more than twenty years. Only a fool would underestimate him.

" As for Gerver... I could put a word with the help of the church. " continued him rather reluctant. He didn't have a problem with using the church influence for his own benefit, but he had to make sure that he didn't piss off the wrong persons.

Gerver sensed the restrain from Cellir's voice, but kept quiet. If the old man could put a good word for him... He was willing to take the bet.

"As for you, young man... I doubt that with your age you can get a position that easy. "

As he was expecting this, Tallon said " It's ok. As long as a few members of the group get the power we could all benefit. "

"Right. " Added Sever. " But for all of this to work we need to make sure that Gales wins the election and our three votes, are not really that important."

Hearing Severs's words everyone Everyone voices quiet down.

"Right now... Gales and Rosal are pretty close in the election. Any one of them could win." said Cellir."I know two or three people that would be willing to vote for us."

"Good," added Vallen. " While I can't think of anyone, I know Zephyr has some friends in a few noble houses. Maybe he could help."

"Is he back already?" Asked Severs.

"I heard that he arrived yesterday. He should be here anytime now." Said Vallen.

Hearing that Zephyr was back, Gerver's face turned green. A few months ago he was convinced by his friends to invest in Zephyr's idea of spice trading. He put forward two thousand gold crowns and for the past three months he's mind was constantly thinking of the possibility of him losing it. Sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night because of the nightmares of him losing so much money. Why did he let himself convinced only the gods knows. Now that Zephyr was back he would soon find out if the nightmares would come true or not and he couldn't stay calm.

Seeing Gerver's face the other four men almost broke in laughter. How could they not know what their greedy friend was thinking Even they were a little worried. But Zephyr said that he was confident that this was a good opportunity, so they would just have to wait for the results.

Just as they pondered over the situation, the door opened and a young man entered the room. He was around five feet and a half tall, dressed in a brown costume with his brown hair caught in a loop. His black eyes glazed over the five men as he was approaching them.

Count Vallen let out a smile as he spread his arms outwards similar to giving a hug from a distance.

"Zephyr. Welcome back, my friend."

"Count Vallen..." paused Zephyr for a second. " It's been a while. How is everyone..." He intended to ask a question but before he could even finish the question Gerver Jumped towards him and asked desperately. "

"Zephyr my money. Tell me you have them."

Everyone looked at Gerver as he grabbed Zephyr's collar.

Zephyr let out a quit sight. " I'm sorry Gerver. It was bad. I lost it all."

Hearing this everybody had a stiff expression on their faces. All of the invested two thousand each and this was not such a small sum. Gerver profit from his domain was only around five hundred a month and he was the wealthiest of them all.

As Zephyr's words entered his ears, Gerver's legs gave out and he remained hanging from Zephyr's collar. His face was green and he seemed like he would throw up at any moment.

"A joke, A joke." Said Zephyr laughingly. "The business went better than expected. We made a huge profit."

Gerver's eyes suddenly light up. He jumped as if his soul just came back to his body and he drew Zephyr closer.

"How much? How much?" Said him with a lewd face.

Zephyr pushed him away and looked over the others who had expressions of shock and anger.

" I haven't sold the goods yet. But the profit should be around five times the investment."

Everyone had shocked expressions while Gerver went silent and was gesturing with his hands while calculating in his mind.

"Really?" Asked Vallen. " How did you managed that?"

"Well. I struck a deal with a southern kingdom for a new trade route. I will tell you the details once Gerver calms down. "

Hearing this everyone looked at Gerver that was still thinking of the profits before gazing over to his friends and composing himself.

Zephyr sat down beside Cellir and poured himself a cup of tea.

"I managed to draft a trade agreement with the king of Konoshi Kingdom. We would deliver runic equipment for him and he would pay us in spices. "

This was a good trade indeed. Runic equipment was more expensive in the south while spices were much more expensive here on the mainland. It wasn't that there weren't any people already doing this kind of business, but those agreements were between merchants. Trading directly with the king of a country would be much more profitable.

Vallen looked at Zephyr and spoke. " Why does he needs so many runic weapons that he wants to make this kind of deal a constant one?"

"Well, tensions in the southern kingdoms have begun to ignite. Maybe he wants to take this opportunity and extend his domain." Added Zephyr rather happily.

The southern islands were the only place where spices could grow. If Zephyr was right, a war between the kingdoms would mean a sharp drop in the goods delivered to the north. If the demand was high and the offer was low the prices would Skyrock. Everyone thought of this.

"Well done Zephyr." Said Tallon.

"This is a big opportunity for us," added Severs. " We cannot let others take it."

Everyone noted including Gerver and they turned their eyes to Severs. He was the most experimented in trading among them. While Zephyr managed to find this opportunity earlier he was still years behind Severs when it came to business.

"We would need an initial investment. The bigger the better. " Said Severs.

"That is what I thought." Added Zephyr.

"The thing is that once the conflicts start in the south, the production of spices would drop. So if we begin the exchange... we must sell a part of the goods in order to keep the business going, while stockpiling a good part of them. Once the production slows down we would have a good reserve of spices that we can sell at inflated prices."

"But won't the other spice merchants do the same? " Asked Gerver a little worried.

"It is very possible. But the thing is... Even if they stockpile their goods the prices would not be lower than the current prices so the risk is almost nonexistent. " Added Severs.

"That may not be." Continued Vallen.

"What do you mean?" Asked Severs.

'Could the prices still go down even if it is a lack of goods on the market?' that didn't make any sense.

Vallen realizing what the others were thinking, continued " What I mean is that much of the trade with the south happens between merchants and not with the nobility directly. So it would take sometime before things become evident."

Everyone realized that Vallen might be right.

"Right now the faster we move the better. We don't know when the tensions in the south would become public knowledge."

"Then... How much we should invest?" Asked Tallon.

"Twenty thousand each." Said Zephy confidently.

Everyone was a little taken back.

"Isn't this a little too much? " Asked Gerver frightfully. "That is almost all my savings."

"Well. Everyone except me made ten thousand on this trip. All you need to do is add another ten thousand. I think that everyone has at least that much."

"While such a sum is a little overwhelming I could go with it." Said Vallen.

"Me too." Added Gerver a pain streaked.

Everybody else nodded.

"Good then. " Said Severs. " If this is settled, we should start planing this thing."