CHAPTER 81: An old flame
“It’s been a while since I sat down with you all, but it’s about time I share with you some of my plans for the future of Camp Endeavour.”
I stood in one of the refurbished rooms inside the small fort. My expectant audience included Karato, Grenfell, Orilay and the rest of the Goldcastle team. Since my tent felt a bit cramped with all that many people I finally decided to refurbish the small fort and turn one of the upper floors into a meeting room facility. I continued with my purpose for bringing them all together.
“Since my visit to Dathrod village, I’ve come to realise the hidden potential in the southern forest villages. To tap into that potential, Camp Endeavour will become the centre point for commerce for them since we’re perfectly placed. What’s are your thoughts on that?”
I put the question to the wider team. Grenfell asked,
“I think it’s a wonderful idea, and long overdue, but how do you imagine the merchant guild will deal with that? You know that regular trading with the villages can only be achieved through the merchant guild.”
Karato surprised everyone by answering the question for me.
“Shane is registering a trading company, called Goldcastle Trading Associates, through the merchant guild. As you undoubtedly know, every merchant requires a sponsor to endorse a merchant license application. As temporary regent of the Obon estate, the palace will endorse Shane’s application in this case.”
Judging by the silence I think the rest were stunned. Orilay was the one to break the silent spell.
“Are you seriously going to run a trading centre here?”
“No. I’ll run the camp, but I want Orilay to help run it on a more permanent basis. I wanted to have a moment to speak to Orilay about it first, but your question pre-empted my response. Please accept my apologies for that, we can discuss it later.”
I guess I just dropped the equivalent of a digger bucket of water on the guy, no wonder Orilay just sat there in contemplative thought. In two days, the next shift of people would arrive and Orilay would return home. I would catch up with him before then.
“In a couple of days, the next shift of people will be here, and another adventuring team would replace the Red Sparrows that same day. Please confirm with the team leaders that their teams clean out the houses they are vacating so that the others can move in without cleaning them first.”
Simple curtesy, I thought. Following that meeting, I had another important meeting with Orilay at his tent.
“I must apologise again, Orilay, for not speaking to you about this sooner.”
“Yeah, that did come a bit of a surprise, but I understand.”
“I know it's a bit overwhelming, but I see you somebody whom everybody around here looks up to. More than that, I think you're more than capable of handling it. Are you up to it?”
He waited a bit before he answered.
“I suppose I'm capable but I'm not sure how it's going to impact the rest of the family.”
“I'll answer that for you soon, why don't we talk about what salary is going to be first?”
“You mean it pays?”
I couldn’t help laughing. Typical of Orilay to find humour in that situation. It's what I liked about him.
“How does ten percent of the camp's income sound to you?”
That he looked shocked was an understatement.
“You can't be serious. I don't think there was ever a boss that earned that much. Besides, I'll feel guilty if I accepted that.”
“First let me finish before you decide. Firstly, you won’t be on your own I have someone that will help you. Also, I want to suggest that you bring Alma and the kids to this camp. You can make yourself a decent place here, far better than what's in Obon. That means you can focus on looking after the camp and the family can support you. There will be work for both you and Alma.”
“But didn't you want Alma to teach dressmaking?”
“Look around you, I see children every day in this camp who don't have a better future because no one can teach them.”
I didn't complete the thought on purpose, I wanted him to figure it out for himself.
“You mean you want Alma to teach here?”
“You're cleverer than you look.”
He knew I was pulling his leg, but I had strung him along for long enough, so I gave him my thinking.
“Yes. But she won't be the only teacher. I'm starting a small school for the children in Camp Endeavour. When they come here, they will be empowered to think differently, to have better tools, and to be able to change their future.”
“Those are lofty ideas. You think people will want to change?”
Again, I laughed, sometimes people didn't think further than the own situations because they felt trapped by them. Perhaps I saw the trap for what it was because I wasn't a part of that world, and I didn't buy into its influences.
“Just a little while ago, Tomu found me wondering out in the wilderness. Now, I'm sitting in a woodcutter's camp owned by me and run by you. I'd say you were already a long way down that road to be looking back.”
He smiled at that.
“Why didn't you do this in Obon?”
“For a few reasons. But one of them had to do with removing people out of their realm of familiarity.”
I wasn't sure if he understood what I was saying, sometimes new beginnings needed new places.
“On another point, you're only going to spend the summer here. Once winter arrives we'll need to move back into Obon. By that time, you'll have much better place waiting for you. That's of course if we make a profit here.”
I think he understood the implications of that statement. He might be earning ten percent of the monthly profit, but he had his work cut out for him. He wasn't just responsible for a woodcutter's camp, it had us a become a trading hub. I wouldn't be surprised if they had to expand the camp to meet demand. Those monsters may have disrupted the Obon supply route, but they inadvertently created a golden opportunity for us.
“I'm going to give you full authority to make whatever changes you need here. If you need my advice, you can contact me. I'll support you in whatever decisions you make because I know you'll make the right ones.”
“That's all very well, but is going to take the supervisor role now that I'm taking the boss role?”
“He, he, he. I'm not going to tell you. Besides, you'll find out in a couple of days. Just focus on getting your family here.”
“Oh, by the way, on an entirely different matter. Before we leave, the guys have decided to show everyone their music skills and they want to hold a quick show tonight.”
Orilay said with a smile.
“I guess we’re going to need some libations?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Okay, it's enough with the depressed situation, open a couple of kegs of beer later and let's have a good time.”
The music shows that night became very lively. Perhaps better described as more tribal sounding in nature, but they had some good rhythms there. Someone like Amadeus would probably cry in frustration but I knew the guys well enough to know they put some effort into it. There were a lot of synchronised drumming with accompanying flutes and the surprise of the evening was the lovely voice of Antonetta, singing a lively ballad with accompanying music. How they managed to rope her into it I'll never know but I'm glad they did.
The music show turned into something of a festival and we thoroughly enjoy it. When things started getting a bit too festive, we left the others to their fun and decided to turn in for the night. Antonetta slept in her bedroom already, leaving Hana and I to our own company. We sat across the small kitchen table in Antonetta's little house with a candle’s light flickering on the table. Antonetta asked Hana and I to stay with her in her small house a while ago and we couldn’t see any reason not to, it certainly beat staying in the tent, and she could do with the company.
Two days later, true to our expectations the next rotation of people arrived as planned. We met the carts of newcomers at the gate and the look on Orilay's shocked face when he discovered the identity of the next supervisor was priceless. Matilda's husband, the boss from the previous woodcutter's camp turned up on the first cart.
“What the… what are you doing here?”
“Is it the way to greet your new supervisor?”
I discovered his name was Sebastien. Heaven knew how long we had called him boss. Thank goodness I didn't have that dilemma, I just called him Sebastien since he worked for me. Orilay and Sebastien hugged each other like old friends who'd been through a lot together.
“So how did you end up here, didn't you have a contract with the mayor?”
“That I did, thanks to you guys our business became so dismal we had to pack it in. Nobody wanted to work for us anymore, we couldn't transport wood because of the monsters, and we were in constant fear of the critters. Luckily my contract stipulated that if we were no longer making money for reasons outside of our control I had the right to cancel a contract. Then I spoke to Shane here in Obon before you left. At first I thought I may have made a poor decision, but now looking at your fine village, I think I've just made the best decision in a long time.”
Sebastien was far wiser than he looked. There was a reason why Matilda came to Camp Endeavour. They could see the writing on the wall just as clearly as anyone else. By sending Matilda to help, they placed a vote of confidence on us succeeding, only to reap the benefits. No doubt Matilda kept him informed of the developments in Camp Endeavour. I could see he was itching to have a good look around.
“Okay let's leave them alone. We can ask more questions later, Orilay’s going to miss his bus if he doesn't stop dawdling.”
“What's a bus?”
Asked Sebastien. I was so used to putting my foot in it, I stopped worrying about it anymore.
“Where I come from it's another name for a transport cart carrying people.”
“Oh, it's got a catchy kind of name…bus…I like it.”
Sebastien thought aloud, soon followed by a loud holler that just threw petrol on the flames.
“Come on everybody. Get your behinds off those buses and start unpacking. We can't sit around all day otherwise the others can’t go home, and we got work to do.”
“Yes, boss.”
And as simply as that, Sebastien fanned the tinder flames into a forest fire as I watched in horror how easily I created a cultural change. It felt good to have the boss back. The others didn’t have a clue what a ‘bus’ was, but they understood the rest well enough to perfectly infer his meaning. As if my surprises didn’t end, another one anxiously waited for me.
“Oh, by the Karato, the next shift of adventurers came with us. I believe you already know the Minstrels.”
The all too familiar members of the Minstrels from Mr. Marset’s woodcutter camp approached me. I greeted them enthusiastically bringing back pleasant memories, after all they were the first adventurers I met in that world and chose to become an adventurer because of them. As I shook their hands, a woman’s loud voice sounded from the back.
“Mr. Bathalot! How dare you ignore me.”
A shiver ran down my spine.
“How are you lover boy, you still interested in hitching up?”
It was the shower lady, Sustelia, all dressed up in her usual beat-up leather armour. She wrapped my shoulders in a bear hug, lifting me clear off the ground, leaving my legs dangling like carrots just pulled out of the ground. That was some grip she had there, I could hardly breathe. She was with another rough looking female companion I recognised from the Screaming Banshee.
Hana’s eyes questioned me. Really Hana, surely you remember her from the inn? I swore my ear still hurt from after her pulling it.
“I’m Sustelia, and this is my friend Ug.”
“Ug?”
“Yeah, got anything against that?”
“Nope.”
I’m the last one to complain about poor naming conventions. Seeing the question on my face, the leader of the Minstrels, Aaryan, explained the situation for me.
“You remember Beatrix and Cornelia? They died during a large monster invasion quest. They were with our team from the beginning. The truth is we’re still coming to terms with their death.”
That came as a shock to me. Even if it was for a short while I too met both Beatrix and Cornelia so I could understand their grief.
“Sustelia and Ug happily joined us when they heard we were coming to support your camp.”
It seemed word got around in Obon about our camp.
“I'm sorry to hear about them. I like them very much. Well, I'm looking forward to working with you all.”
“Ha, Sir Bathalot, we’ll leave you now. We’ll clean up and rest after that trip, or perhaps I shouldn't be telling you that?”
After she said that, everyone laughed at my expense. Even Aaryan looked embarrassed for me. Really? She was like a dog with a bone, just couldn't let it go. If it wasn't for what I saw in Obon, where I noticed the scars on her back where she had been raked by some monster’s claws, I would have sent her off with Orilay’s group back to Obon and told her never to return. Then something about her behaviour made sense to me for the first time. An epiphany of sorts. Grenfell hadn't said much about why she fell into my animal traps that night on the Obon road, and I think he must have known about her history. My suspicion was that Sustelia didn't want anyone to see her scars which made me wonder if she ever healed from the emotional scars of the monster mauling.
Of course, without any invitation Sustelia and Ug joined us and into the late hours of the night we heard a lot of stories about their dungeon adventures together. We of course ended up supplying the drinks which I thought was a little sneaky on their part, but at least the Minstrels enjoyed our company too.
When we were finally free of those two and back in our small house. Hana sat cross-legged on the chair while the light of the lamp cast a golden hue in the room. A smell of lavender oil filled the air. Antonella must have filled the lamp with another type of aromatic oil. I was always using a cheap, low-grade oil which gave off a meaty smell, but she seemed to have spent her some money on something really nice.
“I like the smell of the room.”
Hana quietly smiled and nodded. I only discovered later that Hana and Antonella earlier that day bartered with one of the merchants and purchased a few items from them. The relationship between those two seem to be blossoming.
But our meeting with Sustelia was also bugging me. Sustelia was as rough as an uncut diamond, and she wasn't a bad person. My understanding of her made me realise the root cause of her personality disorder. I don't care what you think, but that incident in the bathing cubicle was running a bit dry with me.
“Are you thinking about Sustelia?”
Once again Hana’s intuition was spot on.
“I happened to see her back when she bathed at the inn a while ago. She still likes to tease me about it. You know, what I really saw? Her body was full of deep scars. She was gravely injured somewhere in her past. The cuts looked systematic; they were not the result of a battle. It shocked me so much that I couldn’t stop looking and I bet other men must have looked at her like that, but I think she compensates for it by using false bravado.”
Hana quietly contemplated my words.
“What would you like to do for her?”
Yep, Hana was on the dot again.
“What could I do for her?”
“If she feels vulnerable, you could help protect her better?”
Could I, and how exactly would I do that? Her leather armour could hardly keep up with her reckless nature. Then I realised there was something only I could do for her.
“Hana, I’m going to be busy tonight.”
“Don’t wake me when you come in, I’m going to sleep now.”
Hana understood me so well I couldn’t but fall for her all over again.