I was standing in front of ten young slave soldiers. They looked fit and healthy. The officer who brought them said, "My prince choose whomever you like among them as your personal bodyguard. But know this, this batch of soldiers was in training for your twelve birthday, so they are too green now," I said. "No problem, you will catch up with the training later. I asked them, "What was your job before joining the slave guard?" Most of them were farmers. One of them said, "I was an apprentice to a traveling merchant." I said, "What is your name?" He said, "Alex, my prince." I asked him, "What is twelve plus thirteen," he said, "Twenty-five." So he could do mental mathematics. I told him, "Where are you from?" He said, "I am from Dessin City. I said, "Good, what you did deal of?" He said, "Pretty much everything, my prince. But mostly fabrics." I said, "Good, I need someone capable of doing some business. You are my man now, Alex." Alex said, "I am honored, my prince."

I was out of the palace for the first time in my ten-year-long new life. Alex wore leather armor and carried a sword. I wore fancy tradesman clothing and also carried a sword. And Alex had been ordered to call me young master so I could move around without getting unnecessary attention. I carried twenty gold coins with me, ten as a bonus and ten as the usual amount given to princes for the first time they go to the city of Drakia. Capitol of Draken empire. I walked around the city. I needed to establish a business in the town. I walked around the capital of the mighty Draken empire, but I didn't like what I saw. There were street urchins and beggars on the streets. There were signs of wealth, but there were also signs of poverty.

I walked around the markets. I decided to buy a gift for my mother and my sister. I finally found some hairpins to my liking. I asked the merchant, "How much for these hairpins?" With a wide smile, he said, "Only two silver each, young master." One gold is worth a hundred silver, and one silver is worth a hundred copper. I wasn't an expert at trade, but I saw a rip-off when I saw one. I said, "Give me a reasonable price. Or I will leave here." He said, "Ok, young man, one silver each." I looked at Alex. He shook his head. I dropped the hairpins back and walked away. Trader said, "Ok, one silver for both of them." Alex nodded. So I bought the hairpins.

Alex had an accent due to him being from Dessin City. I told him, "This slave soldier's business. What do you feel about it, be frank. Don't hesitate to speak your mind." He said, "It is a good thing for many. Many people don't have a future other than being a farmer, and look at me; I am the guard of a prince. But not for me. I intended to be a trader. I was earning good money with my master's and planned to establish my own business in a few years. Then I was going to become rich. But that's not meant to be. He looked sad. I understand his pain; his future plans had been stolen from him. I said to him, "How about you controlling my business?" He said, "It's better than nothing, I guess, but it is going to be your business. I wanted my own business empire."

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We sit in an inn. A guy beside me said, "This is the best soup ever." When in keeper came and asked, "What do you want." I said, "Two soups. I heard they are good." Innkeeper looked angry. "Everybody wants to eat that brat's soup. This is innkeeper John's place, not soup maker Jack's. When the soup came, I understood what is the fuss about. This soup was good, even for a prince. The innkeeper and a young man, sixteen or seventeen years old, started arguing. Jack said, "Stop being so jealous, man; my soups are loved by all. But both of us earning from it."

I turned to the soup maker and said, "If you are interested, I can give you a job." Innkeeper finally understood what a big mistake he was making and said, "Sorry, Jack, I didn't mean to say this." Jack turned me and said."Look, kiddo, I only have my mother's soup recipes. I don't know anything other than soup to cook." I said, "I want to invest in you. What about building a soup stall? How much would it cost?" He said, "Truth to be told, I don't know how the business side of things works too. I started my job here as an assistant cook, and people loved my soups, and here we are."

I turned to Alex. "Can you establish a food stall for me?" Alex grinned. "You saw and took a good opportunity; yes, I can establish a stall. I know how to do it. We need to get a permit from the guild of cooks and buy the necessary stuff from carpenters. I can establish your soup stall in a week. And it would cost only five golds." Jack said, "Five golds? I earn ten coppers a day." Alex said, "That is good; we will pay you twenty-five coppers daily." I said to Alex, "Don't be so greedy. You will get twenty-five coppers a day, plus after the daily costs, what remains we will share equally." Alex turned to me. "Why are you paying him so much? He is just a cook?" I said, "I need him to take care of the job and want to earn more. If he just earns a salary, he wouldn't want to be good, but if he makes half the profit... Also, I need you to gather information for me." Alex said, "As I guessed, business is second fiddle to you." I told Alex, "Knowledge is power, and I am in the business of survival. I need some way of gathering gossip from the town. "