“Don’t get it misconstrued; the only reason he’s allowing me to do this is because of your armband… Because, like, I’ve never seen him so cordial like that before” the freelancer mage casually remarked as she so strolled forth as if marching with her staff in hand; “Like, ‘oh, don’t worry about me, madam; duha, I’ll handle the rest from here, duha’—he’s never done that, like, ever!”
Antica, of course, was trailing slightly behind though practically next, following along.
Indeed, after she had helped this freelancer mage load the remainder of those strawberry-filled crates, the wagon’s owner and his domesticated equine returned with another load needing to be loaded. However, seeing that Company-armband wearing stranger had provided her assistance, he not only thanked her, but also allowed the freelancer mage some leeway time to answer questions and even give a guiding tour whilst he finished the rest himself.
“Probably thinks that us getting along and him being a good boy to you would open future gates to a deal with the Company… He’s such a cute amateur, rightly? I mean, like, where’d you even get that armband, rightly? I mean, I know now, but, like, he didn’t bother asking” the freelancer continued her strolling remarks. Indeed, she had become considerably more cordial since Antica provided her assistance, seemingly.
“So, uhm… Rightly…” Antica herself thus began to…speak; “Now, may you tell me… What is this…place? Why is it…barriered?” she finally asked.
The freelancer ahemed; “Oh, rightly… So, like, this whole zone is basically a safe spot for protected and exclusive commerce; you can basically shove, like, a lot of stuff here and leave it out openly with little risk from thieving gutter knaves. Merchants here have their own ‘code of honor’ or whatever, so they don’t usually thieve from each other—especially because the punishment is…like, not worth it”.
“I see… Interesting” Antica supposed… “But, you were very…distrusting of me, no? Yet you imply that—”
“That’s because I’m not stupid” the freelancer so frankly spoke; “Robbery doesn’t need to be literal thieving, you know? Though, also, like… It’s just good practice; most merchants I’ve worked with don’t actually ‘trust’ each other even if they respect each other, since they’re in it for themselves by the end… It’s just mutually profitable to be with good behavior and respect the laws of these zones, but you should always be vigilant for those who aren’t playing along”.
“That is sensible, I suppose…” Antica’s attention softly drifted to a patrol of armored souls nearby… “The guards here, however… They are different from the others that are…in this city… Why is that?”
“Oh, those buddies?” The freelancer’s own eyes turned and looked at those same guards, slowly down in her guiding stroll… “They’re the ‘civic guard’; that’s how the council likes to call them… They aren’t the count’s men; they are hired directly by and loyal exclusively to the merchants’ guild” she explained, her pace promptly continuing on; “This whole zone used to be where the former castle-palace of the Strawberry counts was; you can probably tell from, like, some of the leftovers… But when the county’s court was moved to Fortress Strawberrien, the burghers started, like, some big drama, and the count of the time ended up seceding it to them”.
“I see…” Antica just acknowledged.
“But, yeah, so…” The freelancer cleared her throat and reset her voice; “So, this zone is, through their arrangement, is under the direct control of the merchants’ guild and belongs to the total and exclusive jurisdiction of the great council that governs this city; unlike the rest of Strawberry city, the count has literally no exercisable authority here and his men aren’t allowed in unless asked… It’s literally, like, its own mini-realm inside a city…”
“That is…interesting…” Such would certainly explain the completely separate security forces, then…
“They even have, like, different laws too, particularly regarding taxes and commerce… Strawberry County already doesn’t have significant tariffs since the count prefers to tax everything, but none of that applies to this zone and those registered with this zone—so, like, merchants registered here don’t even pay the scrap-tariffs when entering the city or the count’s taxes when residing here” yet the freelancer continued. “But don’t let that blind you; the great council still has its obligations to the count, and there’s a ten for-every-hundred tax on all transactions and sales here. But since merchants aren’t charged a blunt tariff or confiscation at entry like they’re used to, and since that tax tends to be applied, like, during the handshake-making, a lot don’t see it…”
“You are talkative, now…” Antica frankly remarked… Indeed, this was a stark contrast to the freelancer’s prior demeanor.
“I mean, like… Yeah, I can be. You’re the one who wanted your confusion addressed; I am trying to be helpful” the freelancer thus replied, cordial; “Though… Like, it’s also been, like, forever since I’ve been able to walk with a girl and freely chat… It’s just been mid-aged merchants and occasional creeps—he’s the only employer I’ve had recently who’s both closer to my many years and hasn’t hit on me…”
“Hit you? You were being hit?” Antica’s head tilted, voice slightly concerned… once again befaced with a local idiom she knew not.
The freelancer giggled a little, her eyes turning to look at her; “Trust me pretty mask, ice is, like, really dangerous, you know?” she merely replied, her eyes returning ahead; “No, but, like, of course they’re not literally hitting me… What I meant was… They’re trying to stick the branch into the bush, if you know what I mean?”
« … » That did not improve any clarity of meaning, to be frank. Regardless, none of this was why she had initiated contact to begin with; she still had her principal priority of interest. “Well, this has been…interesting, but…” her voice thus signaled transition, “I had asked about the strawberries and—”
“Whence we got them?” the freelancer interrupted; “Yeah, I know, girl, that’s where I am taking you.”
“Oh…” Right, of course… Antica had been following the freelancer after all, and she clearly had a destination in mind.
“But, I mean, like…to answer with words, I guess… Uhm… It’s a very big warehouse with one large chamber of these berries, a carriage depot, and a commerce space to buy crates in bulk…” the freelancer thus explained; “It uses some pretty complicated magic too to keep that whole storage cool—bounded magic circles on the ceiling and whereabout, to create ambient cold and control air flow… So, an admixture of wind magic and ice magic. But I mean, like, magic circles look boring, but they’re actually pretty hard to properly do…”
Magic…circles? Hm… Interesting, Antica pondered… However, such was a curiosity for another time.
The freelancer turned her head slightly, looking at Antica; “But yeah, honestly, since these strawberries are the thing that this whole realm pushes, it’s, like, hard to miss even if you aren’t familiar with here…”
“This would not be the first time for me that I have missed what is obvious to everyone…” Antica merely remarked; “I spent too much time lost yesterday trying to find the Company’s headquarters…”
“That’s goofy…” the freelancer giggled gently; “The United Trade headquarters is, like, I mean the place everyone heads to… Not even this safe zone, the Company’s the true goods eater of this city, from what I’ve seen; everyone’s always eager to sell to them and buy Far Western…”
“Interesting… But, anyway,” Antica’s voice transitioned, “these strawberries… Do you know how they are…distributed? If that is sensible to you…”
“I mean, like, sure… I guess?” Yet the freelancer slowed her pace to a pause, Antica doing the same… “But, I mean, like… We’re kinda there now, so…”
Indeed, directly up ahead was a rather large and wide busy-looking facility of sorts; one that screamed a distribution center. The wagons rolling by and directly outside were not only larger than the freelancer’s, but they also had a significantly larger quantity of those same exact crates of strawberries.
“It’s that big building right up yonder…” The freelancer’s staff thus pointed ahead.
“I can see that…” Frankly, Antica did not need to enter that place to already draw immediate inferences.
“So, like, you can go and take your gander, see the process for yourself, if you want…” The freelancer’s demeanor, however, suddenly became a little awkward though she tried to hide it… “But uhm… Just quickly, if you…do not mind, since you seem more interested in talking… Can we just, like, you know… Keep walking a little longer?”
Antica looked at the freelancer… Although she now felt that she had sufficient enough information, hmm… “It is fine to me; I do not care.” she nevertheless replied.
“Thanks…” The freelancer thus began to walk, changing course as Antica followed in kind, that building no longer directly ahead as much as aside.
“Let us remain within this area, however, if you are willing…” Antica quickly requested.
“I mean, like, sure; we’ll just circle ‘round-about” the freelancer thus replied. “Gonna be honest with you, girl, after doing that heavy loading, I just want to, like, prolong my break a little, you know? And you have a thousand questions… So, it’s, like, a double win, rightly?”
“I suppose…” Antica’s mask-obscured eyes drifted in the direction of that strawberry distribution center brimming with activity; “And speaking of questions… The distribution of these strawberries, as I asked…” Her attention returned to the freelancer; “May you explain the bigger or…broader distribution?”
The freelancer’s own eyes glanced… “I mean, that’s a little vague, but like…” She paused, sorting out her thoughts… “Basically, if you’re asking, like, where do they all come from and that what… Basically, since all of the peasants in Strawberry’s outer villages are tenants to the count’s lands, as part of their tenantry, most of them are only allowed to grow and harvest Strawberrien strawberries; the count takes most of the harvest, with whatever remaining being allowed to be freely sold by the peasantry or used”.
“I see…” Antica acknowledged; “So, thus, all of these strawberries belong to this count, then?”
“Yeah. He’s the sole owner of every unsold strawberry of this county” the freelancer stated.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“So, then, why are these strawberries stored here? In this place where this count has no authority?” Antica followed up.
“Rightly, yeah…” The freelancer…needed to figure out how to explain… “So, like, due to a special thing the count has going with the city’s merchant guild and council, the burghers here are basically given the count’s strawberries to profitably sell on his behalf for a cut of the profits… It’s a little, like, stupidly convoluted, but strawberries have a totally separate handling from other commodities”.
“Hmm…” Antica cogitated… “Can you tell me, if you know… How much of the supply do you think is there?”
“I mean, like, probably not as very compared to the last couple years ago, because of, like, you know, Spring’s dry spell she’s cursed these lands with… But, even then, those strawberries are very stupid; they, like, grow anyway and anywhen no matter what… So, still very likely a lot…” the freelancer answered; “I mean, even from the outside, you can see—”
“I can see…” Antica flatly spoke, her head having once again turned to that large and wide distribution center distant but near. “It seems to be well-supplied.”
“Yep… And, from what I heard, the toiling and harvesting is partitioned to be all year since these strawberries, again, like literally spite the seasons… So, like, although there’s a continuous cycle of, like, seeding one batch in spring to harvest in autumn, and seeding another batch in autumn to harvest in spring; this keeps a constant supply going regardless of season” the freelancer explained.
“That is…interesting.” Indeed, it was…
“And there’s always very too many of them… I mean, like, honestly, sometimes it’s like the count’s trying to get rid of them; like, he has so many strawberries that he has literally no idea what to do with them” the freelancer humorously added.
“That is…very interesting…” Antica’s voice was becoming flatter, cogitating in mind. An evident supply and even an alleged over-abundancy—a stark and apparent contradiction, indeed. However… She needed to make a few additional observations of the common markets before making any definitive conclusion.
“I mean, you know, like… I know I asked to…stroll around, but, like… If you really want to, we can walk back there; I can show you around and see for yourself…” the freelancer offered.
Yet, “Is everything that you have said to me true?” Antica merely asked.
“I mean… Out of everything I could lie about, why in all the thousand realms would I fucking lie about strawberries? I’m not a merchant; I just work with them too much…” the freelancer so replied; “So, like, obviously. To the best of my knowledge.”
“Then it is unnecessary.” Antica thus stated, turning her head one more time to that gargantuan warehouse… “It is very big…” she observed…
The freelancer tittered; “I mean, like, sure, but it isn’t really a turn-on” she replied in humor that went well over Antica’s head.
“No. I have seen enough. I understand the ‘painting’, if that is sensible.” Antica’s sight returned to the freelancer; “I give you my thanks. You were helpful.” She bowed.
“Oh, so… You’re going to…take your leave, huh?” The freelancer’s eyes drifted astray… “I know I was a bitch at first, but… I’ve opened a little, and you know, like… I guess I was hoping we could keep time wasting a little longer…”
“I would not mind continuing this exchange with you, however…” Her mind was far too focused on her priorities.
“No, no… I get it, girl. You’ve got your job, and I’ve got mine. People come and go, and acquaintances move and leave; small land, big world…” the freelancer remarked with an understanding sigh. “Although, wait…” Her eyes sprung with abrupt focus; “Speaking of jobs, like… If I’m allowed my own question… Why are you…so interested in those strawberries?”
“Hmm?” Antica was…not necessarily confused as much as… “Why is this being asked?”
“I mean, like, the Company doesn’t really buy from this zone, like ever; they have direct deals to get their stuff… So, I mean, like, since you’re here on the Company’s behalf, it’s like… Why’s the Company so interested, rightly? Or is this, like, just a you thing?” This freelancer certainly had a peculiar way of asking questions. “I’m just curious…”
Antica deliberated, before…sighing; “Well, to repeat: I am not working for the Company’s merchant peoples, but rather their military…” she thus replied; “And I was told that this city has a shortage of every food, only for there to be a large warehouse overfull of these fruits; that is why I am interested.”
The freelancer stared with changing eyes, processing… “…a shortage of food? I mean, like… I know because of the dry spell, prices for bread and grain…have been higher lately, but…”
“And despite the supply that I see, I did not see this abundancy of strawberries in the market that I observed outside of this ‘exclusive zone’.” Antica’s voice was blunt. “Or is the price supposed to be ‘six silvers for every two strawberries’?” she genuinely asked.
“SIX silvers?!” The freelancer’s eyes widened as she stepped back, having been smacked by those words; “Three silvers for every fucking berry?? Wow, alrightly…”
“It seems that this surprises you.” Antica noted.
“I mean, like, I don’t live here; I come, and I go…with whoever’s employing me. I’ve never gone beyond this zone and the district around it… I, like, don’t go…beyond where I have to in this city, you know?” the freelancer…admitted.
“The balloons floating above did not alarm you?” Antica frankly asked.
“I mean, not really?? Like, it’s the Company and…like, with those armband-wearing thugs running around, I just thought, you know, it had something to do with them…” the freelancer replied, becoming slightly defensive though…quickly calmed; “No, but like, since strawberries are so…super very abundant, I just thought that, like, everyone here’s been gorging on them in the meantime… Strawberry’s renowned for its…you know, like strawberry breads and cakes…” There was a growing disconcertedness in her posture. “I mean, like, are you…sure that, like, it wasn’t just some…swindlers swindling, rightly?”
“That is what I want to confirm.” Antica replied. “However, it is unlikely to be so.”
The freelancer’s breaths became more on edge… “So, like… Can you…tell me, like… How bad is it? This…shortage…”
“Concerning.” Antica merely replied. “There is a struggle across the city, besides this restricted place and the surrounding area.”
The freelancer’s head nodded with realization… “Ah…so, like, there’re warehouses full of tucked away yummy yums being cheaply sold to us, while food supply is bad for…everyone else…” She let out a distraught smiling breath… “Aha… Wow, that’s like, so fucking asinine…” She looked at Antica… “I’m not sure if, like, you were supposed to tell me…this, but…thanks…for doing so, since when the bread-riots happen, they won’t discriminate against us contracted freelancers after storming that barrier…”
-||-
“Ah! Miss de Relevancia! You must have had quite the adventurer, given how you took your goodly allowed time.” Colonel Faulkner so casually greeted, seated at his desk as if having not moved at all, seeing Antica’s barging return; “As you might have noticed upon your return, everything has been sorted out; you should now be largely free to—”
“The problem with those strawberries. I know what it is.” Antica, however, instantly stated as soon as she stopped before his desk. “You were right. It is obvious in the retrospect.”
“Hm.” Colonel Faulkner leaned forward, his hands interlocking as he rested his chin atop them; “Certainly, your observations may come first, then. I have been eager to hear as much you seemed to have been doubtlessly waiting to declare that.”
“You said that this realm has a fixation on the strawberries’ production; that there is the uncountable supply. I have observed this over-abundancy; there is a large distribution warehouse full of these fruits, with presumably others like it.” she continued.
“Ah. I take it that you happened upon that ‘exclusive commercial district’, then?” Faulkner thus spoke.
“Yes.” Antica flatly confirmed; “And the areas surrounding it seemed without noticeable struggle. But I also double checked the further places and their common markets. I saw that there was not only the higher prices for food, but also a noticeable scarcity of these strawberries, despite observing the wagons transporting through in abundant quantity. And the strawberries which I observed being sold, I think that they were, in truth, stolen from those passing wagons and were being redistributed without approval, since it seems that—”
“As much I would typically love to hear the intricates… Summarize, would you now?” Colonel Faulkner, interjecting, merely asked.
Antica sighed, for she was trying her best to be concise… And, frankly, he was the last person who should be demanding such… “The problem is that, despite the over-abundancy, it does not seem that these strawberries are being distributed to the rest of the population to alleviate the food shortage.” she nevertheless summarized; “It seems that the distribution is restricted to the exclusive selling to those who…do not actually live here.”
“Hm.” Colonel Faulkner did not confirm, correct, or really acknowledge; he simply nodded. “Well, doubtlessly, I take it that your observations go beyond merely this matter, surely? Considering that it is nearing beyond noon, and you began earliest of morning.”
« … » To be honest, this specific issue had remained her hyper-fixation ever since stumbling upon that freelancer. Nevertheless, “I suppose, yes…”
“I am listening.” His voice merely nudged.
-|-
“…” Colonel Faulkner somewhat blankly stared, having listened… “Hm. Well, I see that your propensity for observation does not…discriminate between priorities…”
“You did not specify what I was to focus on.” Antica was blunt.
“Certainly, indeed…” Faulkner acknowledged; “However, you certainly did your part impressively so. Doubtlessly astute…” Indeed, he was hardly disappointed. “Now, however, I suppose a digestion is in order.” Aheming, he straightened his posture. “That ‘peculiar’ district you happened upon before the exclusive zone, it is what we could call a… ‘hospitality’ district.”
“…hospitality?” Antica tilted her head.
“Myes. The aspects of Strawberry that most in-coming persons—merchants, visitors, travelers, and those sorts—will experience. Everything there is tailored to their needs and delights and, especially, coin-pouches…” Faulkner explained; “And what you saw were no apartments for housing, but hostels for temporary residence.”
“I see… So, I was…correct, then? Most of the peoples there were not proper residents?” Antica remarked.
“Some of them are; some of them are not. Nevertheless, what you observed this day is the predominate focus of the bourgeois council and their investments in this city. To make it as hospitable and pleasant to everyone entering from gate A to gate B. Coin-bringers, and their families and fellows.” Faulkner thus spoke.
“…they are neglecting the residents who live here?” Antica…wondered.
“Well, life for the residents, while hardly delightful, was not entirely terrible; they reaped some benefits.” Faulkner stated; “The food shortage, however, has brought to light the…contradictions that always existed within the illusion.”
“That…there is an abundant supply within this food shortage, but a refusal to distribute it.” Antica remarked… “Those strawberries may not satiate, but they are still food; they could lessen the severity.”
“Myes, well… Under the arrangement between the count and the burghers, all of the strawberries remains his property until sold, and he limits only a handful for domestic consumption; the remainder are commodities to be sold for export, not food.” he thus explained; “Thus, even if the burgher council wanted to, they cannot simply hand out strawberries to the starving; the count sets the limit, and he is eager for coin—you have doubtlessly seen the militarization.”
“That is extremely…‘asinine’?” Antica borrowed that word she had recently heard; “I do not understand. Food supply is low; too many are struggling to get it. But there is an abundancy of these fruits that could provide some relief… But it is not being distributed? All because of… What? These meaningless ‘coins’?” Her voice was flat-affect yet nevertheless castigating.
“Hm.” Colonel Faulkner merely mumbled, as if making notes in mind.
“This is the reality, not the imagination. And hungry peoples are angry peoples.” she continued.
“That is the funny thing, is it now?” Faulkner began to remark; “As you noticed, the council and the burghers thereon are well secluded within their barrier, protected by hired swords loyal exclusively to the merchants’ guild. It is easy to be naive when all you see is the reality you surround yourself with.”
“Hmm…” Antica muttered, unsatisfied… Her attention then sternly looked at the colonel. “If this ‘great council’ or whatever and this count or whoever… If they are being asinine, and you are aware of that, then why does your company not force the solution? You have your own…privileges and power, no?” she asked; “And your company must also have its own supplies of foods it could distribute as temporary relief, rightly?”
“Well, that is the other thing, is it not?” Faulkner’s demeanor shifted; “Ultimately, both sides of the coin are flicked by the same invisible hand… And to deal with the consequences, not roots nor causes, that is why I am here; that is what you shall be assisting with for as long as you are here.” he stated. “Now, this has been most fruitful, but I have many meetings ahead of me. You are free to roam about and enjoy your stay; however, you must be on best behavior and respectful of…others’ places.”
Antica tilted her head… “Wait, this is all? After having me—”
“Myes. Well, you certainly did your take time. Unfortunately, that means I have less time to spare for you. Thus, to be continued. Dismissed.”