If We Divide The World Into Things Better Squeezed And Things Better Not Squeezed, We Will Not Go Far Wrong
Dirant's plans ended in frustration. He failed to find Silthree or any other Sil. Dirs were no good as a rule, but even those eluded him outside of one he saw reflected in a fountain's clear water. That is, the plans may have been frustrated, but he felt fine about the situation. He would see somebody at some point, perhaps during the dinner which he decided to take at the Rikelta family home like a normal person, a privilege to which he remained entitled for all that he, his brothers, and their father so often ate in a warehouse, an office, or on the back of a wagon traveling toward or away from some customer. Not only did he show up that day, but according to the servants Haderslant, two Dirs including him, and three out of four Sils had indicated they would be in as well. Odder than that, the families of Silone and Silfour were not coming along.
No doubt their father had urged the others to attend while Dirant showed up by happenstance. He understood that clearly enough. Just as clear was that his brothers thought the whole affair so routine as not to require explanation. He decided to shake them out of their complacency while they waited for the number one to put in his appearance. “Is it at last time to vote whether we expel Siltwo? My support is assured, and I think we should deliberate also concerning Ontirorant. He is young, which only means he has not yet learned to disguise his poor character.”
Silthree pounded the table. “That's right. We'll team up to disinherit these extra mouths. Then we'll share the inheritance between the two of us, Dirtwo and me. I'm certain we both will be content with that.”
“For a time,” all five said together.
That got Dirant no closer to the explanation he refused to beg his brothers to give him, but they made good progress as far as wasting time before dinner. Haderslant entered just ahead of the dishes and looked around.
“You're all here. Dutiful, very responsible. Even you!” He had sat down by then, whereupon he waved his fork at Dirant. “I wasn't sure what Ritualists learn in school, but you've developed your business sense pretty keenly, eh? Rushed to be a part of this meeting. It's all because of you in the first place, of course. That was amazing work you did in Wessolp, the kind you can only get done with some good time off.”
A feeling gripped Dirant as if he were strolling out of a store with jewelry hidden under his coat and a clerk asked how he would like to pay for that. He had almost gotten away with it, he thought. “I did get away with it, I thought! Please forget I said that. It was my mistaken impression that no one knew of my involvement. Nobody looks at me strangely in the streets.”
“Oh, well, people in the streets. The next true thing they know will be the first.” Haderslant had all the cheer of a Fennizener with money and an Adaban with cornbread and ham in front of him combined. “The lord mayor of Wessolp knows a few facts by contrast. He doesn't like all of them though. Very few of them these days, I daresay. When I spoke with him, he was full of complaints about Stadeskosken's sharp practices, and how could we call ourselves honest merchants when we went around sending Dirant Rikeltas to sabotage peace-loving cities. The successful kind, I told him. The successful kind! But he keeps his doings and preferences separate, as he must, and I'm back bearing a permit to take Wessolp's place in certain markets in Pavvu Omme Os and Yean Defiafi. That's how you accomplish accomplishments, boys. Create opportunities, don't wait for them. I'll have to make more use of our Ritualists. Your Gumption must be incredible.”
“23.”
Haderslant spun his knife contemplatively. “It's how you use it, I suppose.”
“I didn't intend to use it. One incident happened and then the next.”
Haderslant nodded, and so did his fork. “As I said. Create opportunities. Worry about how to exploit them later.”
His brothers congratulated Dirant on his downright unethical approach to commercial undertakings, though their manner suggested they were not as convinced as their father that he had done it on purpose. The knowledge he had a family that sort of understood him a little bit ameliorated Dirant's distress at the discovery of his complicity. Haderslant moved on to the real subject he wanted to address with the help of his adult sons minus Siltwo, who had been sent out of Fennizen earlier on other business, and Dirol, who barely counted, being level 1 or so.
Pavvu Omme Os and Yean Defiafi. Two countries with Greater Enloffenkir members on their southern and western borders. To carry on trade with the GE was natural, and it did happen, but not without restrictions. Both countries barred large numbers of Adabans, Riks, Ottkirs, Mabonns, and Hewekers from crossing the border without permission for reasons with strong historical backing. Once inside, all such travelers were put under close watch and held to strict regulations as far as when and where they were permitted to do this or that. Wessolp, a city within a clear day's sight of Pavvu Omme Os and one which had long chosen peace and order over the chaos of war (Dirant flinched at that), derived a significant portion of its annual income from the trade mission it was allowed to send through those two lands.
The costs of the penalty imposed by Patkaodotenlilk cut into the capital available to stock goods sufficient to make the trip worthwhile. Neither could the mayor borrow money off of mine shares as he once expected would help insulate the city against cash shortfalls such as it was just then experiencing. To raise money necessary for the city's continued functioning, he had no better recourse than to sell the market rights to another entity that judged itself fully able to make use of the licenses by assembling a remunerative commercial venture.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Haderslant and his sons, Silone especially, began to hash out what was needed as far as laborers, vehicles, animals, and guards. Not that Pavvu Omme Os would allow mercenaries entry, but some Stadeskosken employees were not helpless on the battlefield. And things to sell, of course. Some might have called that the most important aspect.
Silfour, known as Silapobezor Rikelta on official documents and “the tall one” to most of Stadeskosken's personnel, added something based on his experiences as an Explorer often sent outside Greater Enloffenkir. “We must have pamphlets printed to inform everyone of crucial points of business etiquette abroad, some helpful words and phrases in Usse and Desurvyai of course, where foreigners put their family names and so, the poets to compliment if you want to seem literate but not snooty, all of that sort of thing. Lectures would be better, but with the time we have, well, I wish we had more.” That wise suggestion led to a discussion of what experts to consult and whether Stadeskosken's recently formed publication wing could handle the order.
Dirant had nothing to contribute, and in any case he already knew some helpful words and phrases in Desurvyai. “Where is the toilet?” for instance, or “I refuse to accept that Adabanneher, Rikenlikneher, Ottkir, Mabonn, and Heweker are separate peoples. All of you in Greater Enloffenkir are Adabans to me.” A foreign student at Todelk made that proclamation which the Adabans there all memorized in their delight. Cultural exchange yet again had resulted in a good way to rile up the Riks. What concerned him was whether he had a better chance of finding a Picker with Edition Freeze and using some different rituals for once by staying in Fennizen and directing inquiries through the mail or by going on the road. He was unsure as to the Picker, but when it came to rituals, he was unsure about those as well.
“I have an important quality to look for when you assign the employees,” Haderslant was telling Silone. “I want them to be married. That should lower the frequency of possibly scandalous incidents. There may be some adulterers among them, but at least they know how to cover it up, I suppose. You'll be going.”
Silone ignored the relationship among those statements his father had likely not intended to imply in order to focus on something of immediate relevance. “Feasible in most cases, although I don't believe we have any married Ritualists in Fennizen. Should I call in one from elsewhere? I must do it today if so.”
“Really? Mr. Donnlink even?” Haderslant asked.
“I have an announcement. It is not to be spoken of in any circumstance which would allow the concerned parties to find out I told you.” Silthree placed his hands flat on the table. “Donnlink Espahalpt proposed to a lady this last week. She rejected him.”
That caused the eyebrows of the Ritualist supervisor's boss to rise faster than the numbers in Stadeskosken's ledgers. “His proposal, rejected? Do such things really happen?”
Silthree nodded as a doctor does when he must confirm the patient's death to the grieving family. “At times.”
“Extraordinary. I feel very badly for him. He may be emotionally unsuited for this journey then. What other Ritualists are available?” Dirant raised his hand. “Ah. How did that honeymoon go?”
“My business in Wessolp required that I cancel.”
“A legitimate decision. Don't leave these things long enough that you regret it though.” Haderslant returned to his first son. “What about that one over there? He's one of your brothers, you know.”
“I did know it,” Silone confirmed. “We have other Ritualists however. Mr. Dirant, what qualifications do you bring to this unconventional assignment? I need not say it is essential to the future of the company.”
Dirant looked at Silone's smirk and comprehended everything. The most obvious response was that only by his actions had the endeavor become possible. By doing so, not only would he admit his complicity in such a way as suggested villainous forethought, but also he would be open to a response of this sort: “And what has that to do with the business at hand? Do you propose to conquer Pavvu Omme Os and open it to trade entirely?” A fiendish trap, the older brother must have believed, but Dirant had his own smirk and a reason to deploy it.
“It is with embarrassment over not pursuing these valuable studies further that I admit to possessing Yumin (Intermediate) and Desurvyai (Basic), the two languages most spoken in Yean Defiafi. There is also Dvanj, and I tell you nothing new to say it is widely used as a language of trade and academics. Aside from having Dvanj (Intermediate), it is possible for me to hear Dvanjchtliv names without laughing.”
“You're hired!” Silone did not feign his astonished admiration out of some humorous impulse. He meant it. Even Silfour, a man with an impressive amount of time spent abroad and a Fluent rating in both Desurvyai and Yumin as well as Dvanj (Basic), could not boast the same. He had been thrown out of a party once because of his inability to stop wheezing when another guest was introduced as Ushtanadzipt Smuntist. It was true that a trip through Pavvu and Yean ought not to lead them into any Ushtanadzipts, but Silfour had not expected to run into any at that party either.
“Ah! And I leveled up,” Dirant remarked. Could any omen for the trade mission be better than that? Unless the proper interpretation was that the employees chosen would face such danger that their current levels did not suffice. Probably not, since an extra level on a Ritualist counted for nothing in a fight. Also, omens were not real, though Dirant wondered if he should believe in omens exclusively because of what he had learned.
> Ritualist
>
> Priest of Holzd
>
> LV 7 000/1000
>
>
>
> HP 243
>
> Muscle 34
>
> Coordination 43 (+4)
>
> Verve 41 (+2)
>
> Sticktoitiveness 55 (+4)
>
> Discernment 66 (+2)
>
> Gumption 25 (+2)
>
> Tit-for-Tat 42 (+1)
>
> Receptivity 87 (+6)
>
> Panache 45 (+3)
>
>
>
> Class Abilities
>
> Ritual Judgment
>
> Ritual Completion
>
> Ritual Memory
>
> Ritual Delay
>
> Divine Guidance (Hunch)
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> Ritual Humility
>
>
>
> General Abilities
>
> Adaban (Fluent)
>
> Heweks (Fluent)
>
> Tabidgeir (Intermediate)
>
> Dvanj (Intermediate)
>
> Yumin (Intermediate)
>
> Desurvyai (Basic)
>
> Saueo (Basic)
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> Mercantile Fundamentals
>
> Horse Riding (Intermediate)
>
> Class Perception (Divine)
Divine Guidance (Hunch)? Penneram Densos mentioned such an ability, but Dirant did not recall learning it. Perhaps the exotic ritual obscured notifications. Perhaps also that very ability was encouraging him to think in terms of omens even though the description claimed he needed to concentrate to use it. Regardless, an ability learned was a boast earned, as the epigram said.