The evening was creeping, and the merchant district was showered with crystal lights. No ordinary roads or streets would be lighted like this. But it was still a far cry from the opulent variances. Even street stones were lighted with enchanted crystals in some parts of the nobility area. A carrier lulled through the half-empty evening streets. Occasionally people stared at it and the horsemen surrounding it. Darius stared outside while thinking. There were a lot of questions to be solved with Mr Trader, and his future would depend more heavily on the outcomes of each choice. The cartwheels rattled on flagstones, and horses heaved forwards towards the light of the market square. Albeit many traders were leaving already, some were only coming to trade. During the night, sale slots were free, but security was lacking. Or that was the official truth of the market. Lately, there have been changes. The never-ending thug war had subsided, and men with moon crests on them had appeared to guard the whole market. Mr Trader had expanded his security services, it seems. Darius could see the profits compiling. Still, he just smiled. Despite being profitable, security was very arduous and keen on surprising expenses. Even Darius had to do many storing and contracts to keep his slaves equipped and fed.
At the corner of the market square, the carriage stopped, and Jurid hopped first outside while Darius jumped after him. They saw Mr. Trader’s men nodding, and Darius left inside the larger whitewashed building. Its walls were full of wines and leafs overgrowing the wall almost completely, even dimming the windows high up.
Mr. Trader came to the door and welcomed Darius in. While they exchanged new numbers and details, Darius could see the new face of the building. The renovation had done wonders, and even wool mats and statues had been put to their place in the hallway. Trader laughed, “Yes, we are now in the proper security business, not just hiding and doing shady tasks. It's all thanks to you. It's safer and more profitable since I don’t have to pay people silent for it.”
Darius nodded and smiled. “You are doing good here; look at these crystals and all; I'm still on the candles myself.”
“Well, your business is growing every day. The amount of money we are handling is increasing every month. The bank also relaxed some regulations while facing this much money.”
“They were okay with opening and closing account after every use?”
“Haha, yes, that was not even a problem for them. They only asked if the transaction fee was all right with us.”
Darius smiled. Money could buy all manner of neat services. After climbing two sets of stairs, Mr. Trader opened a few locks, and they went inside. The large round window gave some evening lights on the worktable full of papers and books. Mr. Trader tapped on a few crystals, and the warm light lighted the room.
“So, how can I help this time, Darius?”
Darius sighed and answered, “Despite my potion and material businesses, it is still gold trading that we are talking about. I still lack proper access to the nobility trade to gain enough magic stones.”
“Yes, I see you are coming to the economic bottleneck, so to speak.” Nodded Mr. Trader while downing cider into two glasses.
“Well, currently only thing we can do is get access to the nobility auction house, ditch the middleman and start selling high-grade potions in bulks to receive all income in magic stones. But we need more slaves and preferably high enough nobility rank.”
“Well, both are not a problem currently. You can forget about the knights and lower baronets. What you need is the rights of a full-fledged baron. No less. The problem is that when you become noble with enough money, your rank also has certain demands for maintaining a large enough militia of several tens of men for the city lord’s use if need to be. Also, during the first year, purchasing a manor from the nobility area would be advisable, organising the household at least at the surface and making an official sign for your household.”
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“Sounds tedious. Are there any benefits besides gaining access to the luxury trade venues?” Amused Darius.
“There are very few other than other nobility who might leave you be. The lower barons and knights are just mistreated and scammed all the time like the rest of us. But it would also benefit me if you hold the rank of a noble. There are quite costly items that cannot be sold very easily, and the largest profit would come from the nobility trade, which I am sure of. Also, raising the profile is not good for my business. What we have done now doesn’t interest nobility whatsoever. But when you become one, you become either enemy or friend depending on your political alignment.”
Darius heaved and stared at the papers while drinking offered cider. It tasted bitter like the situation. He heaved. “How many buildings do I need to sell?”
Trader looked few ledgers and answered, “I can round it to fifteen if we take all the cumulated savings of 450 thousand rank of baron could be purchasable for two million gold Tranguils.”r.
Darius lifted his gaze bewildered about the sum of money needed.” That’s too much currently. We have to put the nobility idea on hold. How about slaves?”
“I made some enquiries last month. New ones arrived two weeks ago.”
“Any acolyte slaves?”
“Ah, for the alchemy, I presume, we currently have five, all rank one. Let’s say 230 thousand or twenty-one magic stones.”
Darius thought for a while, “pay it from the savings. I need magic stones for alchemy tools and books anyway. How about militiamen, craftsmen or ordinary slaves?”
“You are indeed a large buyer”, chuckled Mr. Trader while leering happily from the other side of the desk. “We have around 20 militiamen. Only three are knights, and all are first-rank knights. All the rest, 89 slaves, are uneducated. Let’s see now, my offer is 5000 golds for three knights, and let's round the 89 up to normal 200 times 89, so the total is 22 thousand 800 gold coins.”
Darius felt weird how so many people cost so little compared to acolytes. “I'll take your offer. Do you happen to have more alchemy tools?”
Mr.Trader looked expecting and smiled. “Look at the side table; we have four enchanted table furnaces and a decent particle meter; that higher quality meter is 20 times more precise, but it costs around 220 magic stones.”
Darius gulped down with widening eyes.
“It sounds expensive, but at least half of the value went into getting it. Some of the instruments change hands only in combat. Maybe some acolyte will eventually buy it.”
Darius nodded. “I see your item quality has risen leaps and bounds after reallocating here.”
Mr. Trader didn’t say anything, but he smirked back while gathering alchemy instruments. After a while, Darius had spent the savings, several new banknotes, and every magic stone.
“Have to spend money to earn money, I guess”, said Darius while looking at his savings, money depleting once again.
Mr Trader laughed and smiled. “It won’t be too long after the turnout of profits.”
After taking a while, branding each slave into the new ownership, the caravan had grown sizeably. After grouping slaves with militiamen, each group left for their destinations. It was already after midnight, so it was the best time for bulky transportation. Darius nodded to Jurid, and they climbed back into the carriage.
“Jurid, did you pay the bribes accordingly to old tenants?”
“Yes, sir, everyone agreed to leave, and places have been empty for two weeks. Last week we transported all the equipment and food.”
“Good, continue the training and rise ranks of our veterans. We are almost doubling some of the groups that we currently have. Put at least ten for bread bakery and half for other rations manufacturing. The four strongest slaves can go to the smithy. Hopefully, we can arrange these new knights with militiamen for operations.”
“Yes, sir, everything will be done.”
“That reminds me that now that you have to order so many men around, I will double your payment and name you as a captain of the troops.”
“Thank you, sir.” Said smiling Jurid while he sharpened his throwing axe.
The carriage went quiet after. Darius stared outside through the carriage glass pane and tried to calculate food and payments, and other expenses. He had just about enough to get everything done, and potion sales kept him nicely in profits on a daily basis. But he lacked time. Even with all the new slaves, it would take months that everyone would be good at their tasks. Also, some of the slaves were pregnant.
*Ah, well, at least I can leave these issues to someone else.* Thought Darius, smiling while wheels rattled on the flagstones.