CHAPTER 96: Skulduggery and intrigue
An emergency session of the three noble estates gathered in Lady Hull’s meeting room. Safe from the prying eyes of the palace they discussed an item normally missing on their agenda. Lady Hull, only too aware of a Mr. Karosaki that recently rocketed to infamy amongst them when he brilliantly outmanoeuvred Lord Berelli of his own wood shares no doubt taking a sizeable chunk out of his purse. Personally, she didn’t consider that action worthy of discussion at her meeting table, but that wasn’t the reason they were there discussing the young man.
“What you’re saying in essence Lord Berelli, is that this young man single-handedly created a town with thousands of people out of nothing within a few moon cycles?”
Lord Talus attempt at clarifying the situation only resulted in Lord Berelli feeling as if he were being laughed at.
“Correct. What’s worse is he had the gall to set it up right next to my territory and entice my villagers to join him, now I’m forced to buy winter food reserves at outrageously high costs.”
By the time Lord Berelli became aware of what was happening with the pre-winter village supplies, it was too late. He cursed the little brat who outwitted him on a front everyone thought secure. No one ever realised that food supplies could be weaponised, and at such a critical time. That, more than the shares, cost Berelli Estate dearly. The merchants were not above asking steeply inflated prices when they knew only vast amounts of money could save them from starvation. He knew the Berelli house would survive just fine, but their minions would starve in the thousands. Mining and food production would suffer for many summer cycles before they would recover, putting the Berelli’s in a precarious edge where just a small unfortunate event could cause them to spiral downwards.
“Didn’t you at least try to stop him?”
Lord Talus’ question suddenly hit Lord Berelli between the eyes where it hurt. Lord Berelli savoured the day he would make Lord Talus regret making that point. Of course, Lord Talus knew the situation well, which person didn’t? The Berelli estate was the laughingstock of the merchant’s guild, a perception that still costed him dearly. When Lord Berelli sold his wood shares it was no different to what he would do to shed any ill performing economic tool. Normally he would simply buy the shares back again at a bargain price once the temporary shareholders realised they were making a powerful noble their enemy.
He lost count of the number of times he bullied has-been shareholders into selling their shares back to him. Heck, there was even one man that gave shares back to him as a gift, he was that intimidated. Then the farce with the Ironwood came to his attention. The manager in charge of his warehouses purchased horrendous amounts of ironwood, following some old wives’ tale, to stave off the voracious pandora moth. After Lord Berelli discovered it was his own infected wood stock that were sent from Shimmerstal to the Berelli estate, resulting in the increased spread of the blasted moth, he personally made sure the man was stripped of his title and his entire extended family forced to become woodcutters.
What really irked Lord Berelli was that he discovered the little blighter that gave the wood to the merchant guild leaders as a ‘gift’ bought the wood back off the new warehouse manager for next to nothing. When the new manager realised the Ironwood didn’t help resist the moth, he couldn’t get rid of it fast enough, not wanting to raise the ire of Lord Berelli by keeping the stuff lying around. Needless to say, that new manager’s family joined the first in a pioneering venture into woodcutting.
“Gentlemen. I think it’s clear we all underestimated the threat but certainly not as much as the boy himself.”
Lady Hull’s comment surprised them both, making them wonder what she knew that their own internal intelligence services could tell them.
“You’ve all missed the fact that the boy you call Shane Karosaki is an ethereal skill user.”
“Huh? You mean as in the legends our nannies taught us as kids?”
Lady Hull couldn’t help but laugh to herself at Lord Talus’ naivety.
“Those are no mere legends. Once they were as common as leaves on the trees. Just because we’ve forgotten, doesn’t mean it never existed.”
“What skills is the kid capable of performing?”
Lord Berelli said that as if the kid learned circus magician tricks to amaze impressionable young noble ladies. He had already seen enough of those performed tricks in his life. Most of them were nothing but slights of hand and organised subterfuge.
Lady Hull threw an object in the air towards him, which he caught without much effort. It was a ring with a silver crisscross pattern over a beautiful azure blue background. Unusual in its design, the blue colour was pleasant to the eye, he had certainly never seen any ring like it. However, that was where the fascination ended, it remained a trinket worth a single gold, depending on its material.
“It’s a nice ring. So what?”
“You’re holding a storage ring.”
In his surprise he nearly lost a grip on the thing.
“What? How’s that possible. They’re so rare, my entire family only own a few and I dare not say who. Yet you throw one to me like you throw coppers to the poor.”
Lady Hull liked Lord Berelli’s analogy, it perfectly suited what she wanted to say next.
“That boy you call a performer made that. What’s more, I hear he’s handed out one of them to all three hundred of his guards, not including his close friends.”
Lord Berelli tired of the constant surprises Lady Hull handed out during that meeting. That the boy could make something as rare and expensive as if they grew like fruit on a tree. How Lord Berelli wished he could make that boy join him, making storage rings exclusively for the Berelli’s. Each ring would sell for thousands of gold coins, merchants would beg him for the privilege of owning just one. He even saw a way of taxing the use of each ring as payment for that privilege.
“Don’t take my word for it. Give it a try. I’m certain you’ve used one of them in your life already.”
Lord Berelli hated her disrespectful way of speaking to him, one day he would make her beg for her life and then throw her into a storage ring to rot away. However, curiosity got the better of him and he opened to the ring.
“What the heaven. It’s huge, it must be at least half a person cubed.”
“That I hear, is the smaller of those he has already created.”
Lord Berelli couldn’t say anything more. If this were the smallest, just what was the boy capable of making? Suddenly any item on their agenda lacked priority over finding that boy. Whomever got to him first, would own a fortune and control immense power.
Lady Hull smiled at Lord Berelli’s greed. She could see Lord Talus reciprocate his contemporary’s lust for power. She of course kept the remainder of the information she received a secret. What would they do when they learned that the ring Lord Berelli held in his greasy palm, was nothing but a trinket compared to some of the other things she learned about the boy?
Meanwhile back in Endeavour, Elle and I left my fort office a flustered looking Mr. Papadopoulos who greeted me at the door.
“I’m sorry Mr. Karosaki but it seems our plans for the public baths will have to wait, seeing we now have at least a thousand people to accommodate.”
“What, a thousand?”
“Aye. Those ex-knights came with all their families and their baggage.”
I could see a sea of people flooded into the town. No wonder Slouchy looked so perplexed when I told him to let them enter. Sebastien, Orilay and Olivia soon joined us as we watched the procession walk into town. Who knew knights had such large families, I thought they were out fighting monsters and things all the time, not breeding? Sebastien didn’t wait and started planning logistics.
“Orilay, get the spare tents out and let’s get organised. There’s a lot of people going to need our help before tonight’s over. I’ll get Matilda to fire up the kitchen. Shane, if you can get the Goldcastle team to help Matilda that would be great. Olivia, we’re raising a few quests to supply food from the forest and keep it coming until I send word to stop. Also, we’re soon going to need some important unmentionable facilities if you get my drift Shane?”
Why did he make me the toilet maker? On second thought I couldn’t blame him, my penchant for things WC were well known. Sebastien’s voice trailed off as he walked away. Sebastien kicked into organising mode while heading into the fray. He was excellent for that. I however, leader of Endeavour, was relegated to toilet duties. It just seemed so wrong somehow. There was no point in delaying, so in cooperation with Mr. Papadopoulos and his men, we picked on a good area outside of town as I started making basic roads and helping them lay down crushed rock.
With each block I created another set of wells and sewerage wastewater systems. It was well past midnight before we finished with the bare basics but at least the new families could start moving into the area in the morning. Hana kindly arranged supper for Mr. Papadopoulos’ men, so they enjoyed a good meal before having a well-deserved rest. An early morning rise awaited them.
Since I wasn’t in town to see the arrangements, I was stunned how kindly the people of Endeavour opened their doors to the new people. Despite having known them as slaves just a little while ago, houses became jam packed with unplanned visitors and contrary to my expectations, sounds of laughter and joy filtered out from the houses where friends met friends once again, talking late into the night.
Even in the short time they were slaves, they made friends with Endeavour’s townsfolk. It seemed when I watched them leave Endeavour a few weeks before, I made the mistake of thinking the townsfolks were quiet because of animosity towards the soldiers. My mistake became obvious when I could hear the laughing and encouragement between folks. Listening to that in the early hours of the morning made me wonder if my mantra of light, love and life started to bear fruit.
Over the following moon cycle, my time was spent helping Mr. Papadopoulos, Orilay and Sebastien sort out issues that were a level beyond them to resolve. I couldn’t have done it without the help of Karato and Schneider, who seemed to have almost magical access to large volumes of food, clothing, and other goods.
An unusual meeting took place in the hot bath next to the fort. Karato and Schneider soaked in the hot spa bath, appreciating the view from atop the hill. Karato thought that Shane did a wonderful job in setting up the place. It was refreshingly different to anything he knew.
“You were right by the way, that elf has hands of gold.”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Sighed Schneider.
“Goodness yes. She’s also added a nice elvish touch to the place.”
There was a moment of silent appreciation while they breathed in the perfumed steam from the bath.
“Oh, by the way, please tell His Majesty that I owe him a favour.”
Chortled Schneider out of the blue.
“Do you feel vindicated now?”
Karato referred to the bandit incident initiated by Lord Berelli and Schneider’s complaint to the king. King Leopold managed to find a balance where both Schneider received justice and Lord Berelli, his just punishment. It wasn’t an accident that key information relating to the moth somehow found its way to Schneider, allowing him to find a novel way of surreptitiously conveying his unhappiness to Lord Berelli.
“Yes. A few packages were delivered to the Berelli Estate. I’m sure Lord Berelli will be regretting his actions about now.”
“You needn’t be concerned about the favour to His Majesty. He considers the palace’s relationship with the merchant guild of utmost importance. Sharing mutually beneficial information is a given.”
A minute of silence passed between the two until Karato broke the silence.
“How long are you planning to be around here still?”
“I’m leaving tomorrow with the latest stocks of wood supplies from Endeavour.”
Even though the king was fully aware of both the moth initiative and the wood stocks Schneider and Shane transacted, he didn’t interfere. There was no threat to the energy reserves for the winter, not while Shane and Schneider promised to increase delivery, something that would be closely monitored. No more needed to be said between the men, each man well satisfied with the situation, and enjoying a good bath.
A couple of days later Schneider’s elderly personal assistant knocked on the door to his small office. She knew him well enough to knock first and he knew that knock well from over the years and invited her in without looking up from his paperwork. His assistant started talking.
“You asked me to let you know when the wood market bottomed out. It’s been steady for two days now.”
He immediately stopped what he was doing and looked up at her standing in front of his desk.
“And the shares transactions?”
“We’ve purchased all available shares. It’s as you predicted. The shares were so cheap they sold for coppers. Only a few people held onto their shares, although I think more for sentimental purposes. You and Mr. Karosaki now clearly own the majority shares, congratulations sir.”
Although Schneider’s assistant praised his wisdom in being able to forecast the shares plunging value and then snapping up the shares, it didn’t take a genius to figure that out. What no one else knew however, was that Schneider was about to change the situation in a very short period.
“Very good, very good. You’ve done well, now let’s up the ante. I want you to start some rumour that the ongoing moth outbreak is limited and likely to end soon. What’s more, large shipments of untainted wood will be available through our supplies at the rates experienced before the pandora moth outbreak. I’ll leave you to decide how best to disseminate the information.”
The assistant nodded and left. She behaved far smarter than she looked. That lady had contacts even Schneider couldn’t reach. He knew that leaving the mission with her was by far the best move possible. Things would happen so naturally that only those in the know would suspect any manipulation. Of course, that all the outbreaks happened only in the Berelli Estate’s warehouses and their business partners, would not go unnoticed.
To prevent suspicion, all Schneider’s warehouses hung many small bits of ironwood from their ceiling that even the dumbest of observers would notice them and ask. The story, surreptitiously leaked like water through a poorly maintained dam wall, said ironwood had a profound effect on repelling the pandora moth and would virtually eliminate them over a period of weeks.
No warehouse manager would look providence in the eye, especially when facing financial disaster, and soon word got back to Lord Berelli’s warehouse manager, who couldn’t deny that somehow the other warehouses not related to him seemed to avert disaster. Soon demands for large purchases of ironwood flooded the merchant guild. Before the ironwood demands could find themselves listed as quests in the adventurer guild the amounts were quickly satiated by sellers in the merchant guild.
Of course, that had little to do with a quiet tip from Schneider to the guild leaders that ironwood demand would shoot through the roof within that same moon cycle. Those same guild leaders Shane gave one cartload of ironwood to, made a profitable return for doing very little. Rumours had it that the value of the ironwood sold, equalled all the value of all the lost wood to the pandora moth.
That little popularity boon was Shane’s idea, just like the idea of hanging the ironwood in the warehouse. Of course, Shane demanded the ironwood back from Schneider after the moth incident blew over, much to Schneiders disgust. Although Schneider didn’t complain, the gold he earned in the whole saga was staggering. Who would have thought that someone’s senseless act against Shane could backfire on such an epic scale? Schneider made a mental note to himself once again; never antagonise Shane.
I listened to the laughter of the children in the camp as I walked along the paved roads between the houses greeting everyone in turn. I dropped in to see Alma, who while teaching some children in the town on sewing, produced garments for people looking for something a little more elegant. The children poured us some tea as I watched them practice sewing while chatting with Alma. She seemed so much happier those days.
The dark elves seemed to be handling things well enough, for dark elves that is. I popped in to see Floréal occasionally and talk with her. She seemed her usual elvish reserved self, but I could sense the underlying tension that used to be there when we spoke was missing. We definitely seemed more candid in our discussions.
From there my feet led me to the blacksmith where my adopted sister Antonetta, looked happier since her arrival a while ago. Despite her soot covered face and tied up hair, she seemed fulfilled. I never thought Grenfell would take her on as an apprentice. Come to think of it, Elle also sported the title of blacksmith under her father’s tutorship. Perhaps he got tired of waiting for some decent men to come along.
“Hey Shane!”
Shouted the old man straddling a horse hoof. Another two horses on the side, waited their turn for new shoes. I suspected what would come next and I wasn’t disappointed.
“Can you help me here for a moment? I need someone to shape this shoe while Antonetta’s tending the fire and making shoe nails.”
I never realised that Antonetta could do that already. She smiled at my appearance and motioned to the apron hanging on the wall.
“Here, let me help you.”
I said rolling my sleeves up and putting on the leather apron. Obviously, the rest of the day was taken up with me helping them out. I was exhausted at the end, but I fully enjoyed it. I even had some time to catch up with Antonetta.
That seemed to be the run of the camp for the moon cycles from then on. At first I never realised it, but one early morning while catching up with the never-ending pile of paperwork on my desk, things seemed far quieter than usual. Perhaps it had something to do with the clearly cooling weather that suddenly arrived. I could see the steam from my breath in the mornings and people were dressing warmer and lighting more fires those days. A knock on the office door announced the arrival of Sustelia who poked her head around the corner.
“Hey Sir Bathalot. How about you and Hana come hunting with us today? I’ve noticed those forest rabbits getting their winter furs.”
I shook my head.
“How much do I need to pay you to forget that bathing occasion?”
“You don’t have enough money. Besides, I’ll never forget how cute you looked that day.”
I decided to give up. There was no going back to fix the past and Sustelia was like a stubborn dog with a bone.
“Okay, I get it. Perhaps if I go hunting with you, you’ll shut up?”
From the top of the hill, a view of the bustling town greeted me. People dressed in furs walked around occupied with everyday life. It was pleasant to see that no one, even the children looked underdressed for the colder weather. It was a sign of a vibrant economy in Endeavour.
A red-cheeked Hana suddenly arrived from the town’s sparring ring. Like me she wore a white direwolf fur coat against the cold. She came from practicing martial arts with the Endeavour Guards, a newly created unit after most of the dishonoured Berelli Estate knights joined us. Although the guards proved useful in other capacities, they were ultimately best used as military units. Most of them willingly joined our guards, seeing an opportunity to redeem themselves. Their fresh injection of military vigour delivered such a positive impact into our existing guards that even slouchy was forced to jack up his act, although he still battled to stand up straight when guarding the gate. I greeted Hana with a hug as she looked at us saying,
“I hear we’re going camping for a few days with the guards. I’d like to come with. Hold a second, I’ll let Antonella know we’re going, and we can then leave.”
Our eventual arrival at the marshalling yards seemed to have already been anticipated, they obviously knew me far too well, knowing I would fall for Sustelia’s prompting. Heck they probably sent her to bug me. They wanted to go ten days ago but I kept delaying, citing their training as a priority. It seemed I couldn’t find excuses to hold them back anymore.
Nearly two thirds of the Endeavour Guards, around two hundred mounted men, prepared to move out with us. The rest were stationed to guard the camp and the remaining rested or had time off. All the guards sported similar white direwolf furs, curtesy of Schneider. Well insulated against the cold, and fully equipped with warmer orichalcum enhanced leather armour, they made for an impressive sight. I decided to enhance the way the men operated. In some way Lord Berelli did me many great favours by picking on me. One of them was providing me with a small army perfectly willing to change their way of thinking. I could hone them the way I wanted and with Karato’s and Hana’s help, I started making the changes I wanted to see.
Watching two hundred well equipped mounted men riding out the gates made my heart feel proud of our achievement. We were better prepared for the coming winter, a mutually agreed feeling amongst the troops and the townsfolk. Besides Karato, Hana, Elle, Sustelia, the Minstrels joined us in patrolling the area. Grenfell wasn’t interested in roughing it out in the cold, instead opting to head back to Obon a few days earlier to catch up with the latest in the dryad. He left with the Red Sparrows who decided to work the Adios dungeon once again during the winter.
Monster activity already increased in the forest as summer food sources slowly disappeared. Fewer goblin scouting parties could be found, although larger groups of monsters including ogres, delved further south, overlapping into Endeavour’s territories. Those groups became the precursors to the large winter raiding parties on isolated villages.
My earlier aim of purchasing all the village’s winter stocks worked like a dream. I did that to push Lord Berelli into a situation where they needed to purchase food stocks off the market at inflated prices. It work brilliantly, possibly too well. Berelli Estate villages quickly discovered that although their purses were heavier with gold from selling their winter stocks, it meant they would soon be starving once the snows set in. A stream of village immigrants decided to shack up in Endeavour for the winter. I suspected they would head back to their villages once summer returned but it created a temporary accommodation problem. For the moment we barely managed to meet the housing demand, and more than a few immigrants needed to settle for tents until we resolved the housing backlog.
My aim for taking the men out at a time when most military activities settled down for the winter, was twofold. Firstly, to keep the number of monsters in the area reduced by actively tracking them down, rather than behaving defensively as was the usual strategy for towns and cities in winter. Since woodcutting and hunting activities dropped dramatically during the snows, most towns and villagers rarely left the confines of the town’s protective area. Not that they had much defensive protection in the first place.
My second objective was to train the guards to be able to fight and survive in winter. Hannibal showed that attacking his enemies during the depths of winter, when they thought they were safely surrounded by snowed in passes, caused their downfall. No doubt their surprise didn’t last long when an army attacked them wholly unprepared for battle and were wiped out as a result.
Monsters seemed to have freedom of the forest during the winter, and that ended with training. It was harsh, I’m sure those guards would prefer to stay in a warm bed during the winter, but then Endeavour would always live in fear, wondering when the next monster attack would come. Being proactive about monster control meant the people could live peacefully, free from fear.