"Don't they have magic? How did you beat them?" Jan asked.
"I don't remember… Not that I cared that time; I was trying to survive."
"…"
"You think I know everything? You go to university. You should know everything."
"So, you went to the Volksraad. What are some of the things the other men proposed?" Father waved another stack of papers in Jan's face.
"Go through them for me. Tell me which I should follow and which I should ignore."
"Shouldn't all of them be followed?"
"Jan, look at this one. Tax on beer. All the men in the community will hang me on the tree if I implement this. Let me tell you, none of them should be followed."
"Then what's the point of the Volksraad?"
"Everyone gets two-pound sterling per day as they attend the Volksraad. That's why I'm not giving you pocket money even though you're so old."
"That sounds stupid."
"You can try to enter the executive branch and change things. They change every three months. But you have to go through not only me but also the other Veldkornets and Commandos."
The Veldkornet stormed off, leaving Jan to pick up the papers and scan through them. And, of course, they were in the insufferable Elfrikaans. He could make out many terms he could not decipher the meaning of, so he went to study and referred to his dictionary.
"Lower the tax on farmers? Sure, I can do that. But where will I get the funds to purchase firearms and artillery to repel a future elf attack."
"The construction of roads? Why should I do that? Where can I get the funds to purchase the materials? The manpower? Conscript the men to do so. Jan, you will also be joining them in digging the ground."
"Kick the English traders out? Which stupid idiot wrote this? Where are we to sell our produce once we kick them out."
The Veldkornet rejected most of the suggestions of the Veldkornet, sticking to the way things were in the Republic. Jan knew he was not the only one. No matter what was legislated, little could be done to push for change in the Republic.
The marketplace was busy. Farmers were lining the roads with wagons in the nearest marketplace. A caravan of traders bearing the insignia of the British Empire appeared overnight and began purchasing all of the goods. The smell of mutton and beef wafted around the marketplace as farmers presented their cattle to be exchanged with British Sterling. Most of the men who left the marketplace headed to the shops, where the shopkeepers demanded payment for the built-up credit. Women enjoyed the cheap price afforded due to the fresh injection of goods, while children scattered about playing various games.
The sound of English, good English, entered Jan's ears, and he could not help but make himself to the marketplace. English tradesmen were parading their wares as the pound sterling changed hands. The traders could speak no lick of Elfricaans, but they had dark elves assisting them. Most inhabitants showed disdain towards the elves, talking smack behind their backs, but they were all smiles as their eyes were glued to the glorious British coin.
Dressed no different from the Boers, he could not identify them. But by guessing the centre of the crowd, he found the traders hawking goods like sheep, cattle, dairy, oranges, corn, fodder, cotton, bananas and pineapples. Every minute or so, a farmer exchanged a head of cattle for some coins. And he could see dark elves hefting his father's sugarcane to the men. Jan frowned as the coins exchanged, knowing that the men would provide little while they would probably double the profit as they made the journey to Cape Colony.
'We could probably double our income if we export it to Port Natal.' Jan frowned, realising how the crops were made. Yes, they were earned through slave labour. And yes, he should probably free them. But what's stopping them from putting a knife through his neck? This isn't like those animations; they weren't going to be grateful and go. They were probably going to torture him and his father to death slowly.
The Voortrekker gulped, realising how much his thinking had changed. By right, he should free them, but were they even his to release? He shook his head, acknowledging the struggles of the JP protag.
"Hoeveel vir die donker elf?" (How much for the dark elf?)
The dark elf translated the Elfrikaans and whispered it to one of the English traders.
"She's not for sale. She's an apprentice," The Englishman declared and let the elf translate his reply.
"Laat haar vakleerling onder my!" (Let her apprentice under me.)
"I'm sorry, sir. I insist. She's not for sale."
The Dutchman stormed off to the tavern, even though its right in the afternoon. Yet the tradesman did not even lift a finger to soothe his heart, for he had many others to attend to.
There were various goods he inspected, but Jan left, not finding anything of interest. Simple tradesman like them brought goods that would appeal to the common folk, so relatively mundane items that could be found in a grocery store was presented to them, except that their prices were exorbitant. Boohoo, globalisation.
"So he went to the usual destination, either than the porch where he lay to smoke, or his father went off somewhere else to converse with his subordinates. Today it was porch smoking, so he stood on the porch, letting his old man acknowledge his presence.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
His father waved his hand, letting him speak.
"Why do we sell it directly to the tradesman?"
"Praat in Elfrikaans," (Speak in Elfrikaans) Elder Boddewijk grinned as he spoke.
"Hoekom verkoop ons die suikerriet direk aan die ambagsmanne? Kon ons dit nie in Port Natal teen 'n opslag verkoop nie?" (Why do we directly sell the sugarcane to the tradesmen? Couldn't we sell it in Port Natal at a markup)
"Kilink lastig, weet jy selfs die pryse?" (Sounds troublesome, do you even know the prices?)
An idea fall into place, so Jan spoke, "Ek kan hulle vir jou nagana." (I can check them out for you.)
Elfrikaans was a relatively simple language. Its use of Latin characters does not force one to rewire the brain like when learning Chinese or Japanese. It uses a singular gender, and verb conjugations are not used. Spelling is somewhat intuitive, and words can be easily sounded out upon learning the correct pronunciation.
It did not take too long to bring it up to a conversational level, but it will take far longer at an academic level. Most of the language was inspired by Dutch, so academic Dutch was all he had to refer to. Still, Jan's mind thought in English, and it will probably be stuck to thinking so in English. So, he constantly had to translate his English thoughts into Elfrikaans.
Good thing for that because at Port Natal, everyone was speaking English… His cheap father refused to give him any escorts, wanting him to become a true trekker. He tied his horses at a stable on the outskirts of town and paid the maintenance with his father's sum coin, his Volksraad salary. 2 British Pound Sterling was like $254 dollars. It was making things awkward as he stood there watching the stable owner, unable to change his money. The nearest banking branch was the Bank of Africa, so he requested that the sterlings be adjusted to smaller denominations.
But the clerks refused to move their feet unless he created one, so he opened a deposit account, dumped the pound sterlings inside of it, and it can be turned into 20 shillings each, which can then be turned into 240 pennies. In summary, 1 pound gives 20 shillings. And 1 shilling gives 12 pennies. Withdrawing 12 pennies, Jan grumbled, grabbed his horse, and pulled it back to the stable before giving the stable a penny and finally returning to the port.
Port Natal was more English than Dutch, with its inhabitants fluently speaking English. Some ships were docked nearby, as coolies moved goods from ship to shore before moving them from shore to ship.
The port was divided. English speakers were kept in a clique, and Elfrikaans speakers were held in another clique. Swear words about both parties could be heard from each other, that Jan could fluently tell, for the best part about learning a language starts with its swear words.
He went to the docks, looked around for traders, and spoke to them comfortably using English. Dutch traders frowned and turned away from him as he kept using English.
"You buy sugarcane?"
"What? No! Who would buy sugarcane?"
"What?"
"It needs to be refined first! At a sugar mill!" The English trader pointed him at a building in the distance. Jan left, not wanting to embarrass himself further.
A watermill was attached to the building built by the river. His eyes were mesmerised as the river water pushed the wheel, making it spin. Wagons carrying sugarcane entered the building and left it. Sounds of hacking could be heard as metal hacked against the cane.
Sneaking a peak around the corner, he watched giant rollers pressing sugarcane tossed between the rolls. The syrup it produces is then left in a pan, where another white worker takes the pan and brings it into the sun.
Two taps could be felt on his shoulder, so he turned to face a descendant of an elf and a human.
"Aagh!"
"Ah, you speak English. Good." The hybrid spoke accented English. He stood tall with his posture straight, with a confident atmosphere around him. He continued, "What are you doing on my mill?"
"Ahh," Jan straightened his attire and stretched out his hand.
"Jan Boddewijk,"
"Samuel Miles, owner of this beautiful refinery you see in front of you. How can I help you?" The elf frowned at the apparent Dutch quality of the name.
"I got some sugarcane. Seeing you got a refinery here, how much would you buy them for?"
"How much would you want for a quintal? Any samples? I have merchants scrounging the countryside for sugarcane. No offence, sir, but if your sugarcane wasn't chosen. It means your sugarcane isn't good enough. All our sugarcane is ethically sourced."
"What do you mean by ethics?"
"Simple. We don't purchase sugarcane from plantations that engage in slavery. Mills desperate for sugar could be seen down the street. Turn right, and you will see more wagons of sugarcane."
And like that, Samuel left Jan with no further being said. It was rude, extremely rude, but Jan had nothing to say. By Samuel's logic, the sugarcane he's seeking to offer isn't ethical.
So, he spent the day milling about from mill to mill before turning up in an inn to turn in for the night. He decided to pick a supposedly English inn because the various patrons slurred English outside. Hearing English soothed him, reminding him of his old world, where English was every day in the streets instead of Elfrikaans.
He took in more details of his surroundings the following day. Based on the Commandos patrolling the streets, he quickly walked up to one short patrol and spoke up.
"Hallo, ek wil graag vir kommandeur Praetorius sien." (Hello, I would like to see Commander Praetorius.)
"Wie is jy?" (Who are you?)
"Ek is 'n verteenwoordiger van 'n lid van die Volksraad." (I am a representative of a member of the Volksraad.)
The Boer Commandoes rolled their eyes, clearly showing what they thought of the Volksraad, but relented. A member broke off from the party and escorted Jan. Halfway through the streets; the member told him the rest of the way to the garrison before heading off into a tavern. What a true Trekker.
"Jan? I heard from some of my men you wanted to see me. We were about to make preparations to head to Pietermaritzburg before heading into Zululand."
"Praetorius, laat ek om verskoning vra vir my gebrek aan dekorum die vorige keer." (Praetorius, let me apologize for my lack od decorum the previous time.)
"Ek gee nie om vir sulke sake nie. Hoe kan ek jou help?" ( I do not care for such matters, how can I help you?)
'Where do I even begin?' Jan thought, racking his brains.
"Hoe voel jy oor die volksraadverrigtinge?" (How do you feel about the Volksraad proceedings?)
"Die besprekings is goed, maar ek weet nie hoe die ander kommando-generaals daaroor voel nie." (The discussions are fine, but I don't know how the other Commando-Generals feel about it)
The man spoke with a knowing tone, knowing how valuable Volksraad proceedings were in his little Republic. If the man wanted to push anything through, he could have quickly done it with the rest of the Trekkers support. The rest would trek further inland; that is why if he intends to change History, he must have Andries Praetorius on his side.
"Hoe voel jy oor die uitvoerende tak, wat elke drie maande van hande verwissel." (How do you feel about the executive branch, changing hands every three months?)
"Ek dink dis absurd. Maar niemand kla nie, so ek dink dis goed." (I do think it's absurd. But no one is complaining, so I guess it's fine.)
"Aangesien die uitvoerende gesag voorstelle van die Volksraad uitvoer, behoort die uitvoerende gesag nie uitsluitlik uit Veldkornets en Kommando-generaals te bestaan nie?" (Considering the executive branch executes proposals of the Volksraad, shouldn't the executive branch consist solely of Veldkornets and Commando-Generals?)
"Hierdie manne is nodig om teen elwe-aanvalle te verdedig. As hulle nie beskikbaar is nie, wie sal daar wees om te verdedig." (These men are necessary to defend against elven attacks. If they're not available, who will be there to mount a defense.)
"Net soos die Volksraad kan sekerlik verteenwoordigers in hul plek gestuur word. Indien nie, waarom nie 'n ander Veldkornet laat oorneem in die geval van 'n vermiste kommando-generaal nie." (Just like the Volksraad, surely representatives can be sent in their place. If not, why not have another Veldkornet take charge in the event of a missing Commando-General.)
"Ek dink nie die ander generaals sal oop wees vir die idee nie…" (I don't think the other generals will be open to the idea…)
'Military man. The only way to appeal to him is through martial benefits.' Jan took some time to reflect.
"Die deelname van die Kommando's en Veldkornet aan binnelandse sake sal die vermoë van die Natalia se Republiek verbeter om saam op enige toekomstige bedreigings te reageer." (The participation of the Commandos and Veldkornet in internal affairs will improve the ability of the Natalia's Republic ability to respond to any future threats together.)
"Sulke goed klink wonderlik. Maar dit sal die beste wees om dit te implementeer nadat die stryd met die Zoeloe verby is. Miskien sal dit die beste wees nadat koningin Dingane onttroon is." (Such things sound great. But it will be best to implement them after the strife with the Zulu is over. Perhaps it would be best after Queen Dingane is dethroned.)
The Great Boer General spoke, and Jan knew there was little he could get through his mind. Reason can bring him so far, but he needed martial respect. For sure, if he knew his father was here, he knew Praetorius would heed his word, owing to the camaraderie of fighting together that the two had.
However, all didn't know how short time was before the Republic would die, as the acquisition of Port Natal under the Natalia Republic will add more British eyeballs onto the tiny Republic.