"So... what's next?", asked Araven.

"Our time is limited. We should manage it carefully.", said Sharmon.

"Maybe we can go south again, visit Herbert and clear off some more monsters?", asked Nero.

Silence.

"Hm."

"Pfft."

Everyone except Sharmon and Nero burst out laughing.

"Yeah, yeah, very funny, assholes."

Nero had tried washing his face that morning, but he had failed to fully wipe the ink off his skin.

The group had gathered in the captain's quarters a little after that in order to discuss their next two days in Armorica.

"Ahem. I'm chilling here.", said Elena, clearing her throat a little. She was sitting on a pile of money that sat on the vessel she had just recovered, and was not taken one step away from either.

"I get that you don't want to leave the Vista, but it would be a huge waste for Nero and I to just lay here and do nothing. We still have a test to pass.", said Araven.

"Well, if it's about that... I can write a report that will guarantee your entry into the College.", said Ferguson, resting both hands behind the back of his head.

"I'd rather you didn't", said Nero, "what if they find out you made something up?"

"Huh? Made up? No way, hahaha. I'll write about how you treated everyone nicely here, your help with the crawlers, the retrieving of the remains of that poor farmer, the meal you shared, the buzzer's extermination on the southern road, the studies on the plagued buzzer, the magic show at the dicks and the safekeeping of the coast by getting rid of a den of pirates. I'll leave the details of the money out of it, of course.", he winked, "so you don't need to worry about anything, you can just relax and rest."

"You think that'll be enough?", said Araven.

"Pfft. If that much isn't, then what is? Aren't you just prospects? What, they gonna demand you perform a job a full-fledged mage can do? You'd already be mages if that was the case!

"Sharmon is already a mage.", said Nero, pointing behind him with his thumb.

"I mean, yeah, but he's not the one applying; it's you. Trust me, the crawlers alone would have been enough. That's already way more than what other contestants have ever done here."

"Other contestants...? So we're not the first.", said Nero.

"Nah. They send people like you nearly every year."

"And what did the other students achieve here?", asked Araven.

Ferguson shrugged.

"They come and do social work.", Nero noticed he said those words with a hint of irony.

"Social work being...?"

"Propaganda."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow.", said Araven.

"It's... it could take a while to explain."

"This information could prove useful to us. I ask that you share it.", said Sharmon.

Ferguson looked at him, pressed his lips and nodded. He clearly didn't feel very comfortable going deeper into this topic.

"So... it's kinda like Georg said. Nobody really cares about us. This place has been like this ever since the fall of the Kingdom of Armorica about fifteen decades ago. I shouldn't be saying this since I work in the government and all, but I'm making an exception for you guys since you've done so much for us in just a few days." Ferguson took a moment to shake his head let out a heavy sigh, "Remember how I told you Nycea sends us essentially bread crumbs? You've tasted the meals here, people are nearly starved, and nothing is being done to help grow this land. I get that there's the plague and all, but nobody's done anything about it other than Creonte, and he's dead now. You guys are the only people I've ever seen -hell, I've ever even heard of- attempting to give our situation at least a modicum of a serious thought."

"You mentioned the students came here to do propaganda.", said Araven.

Ferguson nodded.

"So, they essentially come here either as prospects or even students of the College, wearing their clean uniforms, spend maybe eight hours here, and sail back to Port Hope before dusk."

"...not much you can get done in that amount of time.", said Nero.

"And they don't. They come and ask us how is our daily life, and we show them all the problems that we have here, like how our roads aren't even cobbled, there are no horses, the sea just a few meters away from the shore is deadly, you can't eat nearly anything, water has to be boiled, and they write all that down and take it back to Nycea."

"Uh huh. And what happens next?", asked Nero.

"They tell us that it's a great thing that we have such a present state to help alleviate our problems."

"Present state?", asked Araven.

"That's how they call it. A state that is present and helps you with your daily necessities. That's how they described it, at least, but as you can see, we don't get enough."

"Alright, and so?"

"And so, the following year another contingent shows up and does the same."

"Okay, yeah, but what about the report? What does Nycea do with it?"

Ferguson shrug.

"Probably wipe their butts."

"So, Nycea is informed of this and doesn't increase the goods they ship here?", Nero asked.

"...sometimes they do increase it, but it never reaches the people. Not directly, at least.", said Ferguson.

"What... do you mean?"

Elena frowned.

"Armorica receives more food, but the people don't... meaning someone is keeping it for themselves.", she said.

Ferguson nodded.

"Listen, guys... this topic is a very sensitive one. And I mean very sensitive, okay? Bad things have happened to people for meddling into it. I ask that you keep this discrete. Again, I'm only trusting you because of what I've seen these past few days."

"I get it. Go on.", said Nero.

"We have... tons of problems. The republican government has people here who are in charge of distributing the goods, you see, and that's terrible."

"Terrible?", Nero frowned, "why would something so normal be so bad?"

Ferguson shook his head.

"These people do not distribute the goods properly. If you want anything, you have to make a deal with them, like for example voting for the government in the next elections. If you don't, you don't eat."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Wha-!? You can't be serious...!"

"I live here.", said Ferguson.

"This should not surprise you, boy. Have you never heard the concept of business of poverty?", said Sharmon.

"I... maybe I read something about it in a book, but didn't fully get it."

"I don't blame you. It's a very complicated topic.", said Ferguson.

"Essentially, the republican government sends "help" to Armorica, but the goods are given to permanent distributors here, which then aren't really regulated since they work for the party, and they blackmail the people by gatekeeping the goods.", said Elena.

"And there's more.", said Ferguson with a heavy voice.

"...there's more?", asked Araven.

"Way more.", he nodded, "Sometimes even if the people vote for the government, they still don't distribute the supplies and instead sell it at "prices fair to the people", so they make bank out of it. They sell products they never produced or bought, meaning they keep one hundred percent of the earnings. And speaking of money, Armorica also receives a ton of gold -taken exclusively from taxpayers- from Nycea, but I have no idea where a lot of that goes. I discussed this with Arcturus many times but we simply don't know what happens to the money after we allot it to a project. Like, half of them end up somehow exceeding the calculated costs, or the projects get bogged down by some law or whatever, and it never gets done, and the money simply vanishes."

"Money", said Sharmon, "that would not be transferred here if this was a rich province. The existence of the poor guarantees the influx of money and goods, and the perpetual state of poverty guarantees a perpetual influx of money and provisions, hence perpetuating the business."

"...the business of poverty.", concluded Nero,

"Unbelievable... I had no idea this went on.", said Araven.

Ferguson gave him a sad smile.

"You're from Platea. I'm sure you have a ton of problems up there in the north, but I'm guessing this in particular is one you never had to suffer. All of this are just some of the things that happen here. It's the tip of the iceberg, believe me."

The blonde pressed his lips, containing his outrage as best he could.

"But, why isn't Nycea doing anything about this!?", asked Nero.

"Nero.", said Elena.

He looked at her.

"This is Nycea's doing.", she said very slowly, as if talking to a little kid, "The government guarantees the voting majority in the region by blackmailing the poor into voting them in exchange for breadcrumbs. They have them living here like pigs."

"These people will never receive a proper education to think for themselves or to develop this place, nor will they allow them to learn trades and crafts that could improve their quality of life.", Sharmon followed her up. His back rested against the wall and his arms and legs were elegantly crossed, as usual. The casual nature with which he discussed such dark topics felt alienating, somehow. "Existing schools will not be restored; new ones will either never be opened, or if they are, they will be used to teach that life here is miserable but that without Nycea it would be impossible. They will be taught to be thankful to Nycea for allowing them to subsist on boiled contaminated water for all of their lives.", he continued.

"...all for a bunch of dirty coins.", said Ferguson.

Nero pressed his teeth in disgust, his fist trembling from how hard he was clenching it, but remained quiet.

"So what are you gonna do with your share of the money?" asked Araven, "Armorica really needs this, right?"

Ferguson bit his lower lip.

"I don't know... I wanna put it somewhere that helps, but if you listened to what I told you...", he was clearly conflicted.

"It will be like throwing the money into the ocean.", said Elena.

"I'm concerned that will be the case.", he nodded.

"Elena is right. Hold on to the gold if you have no clear use for it.", said Sharmon.

"And what about you?", he asked.

Sharmon let out a soft chuckle.

"I have an idea. One that could serve us all."

Elena raised an eyebrow.

"I'm listening."

"We shall open... a trade business.", he said.

"A trade business? Of what?", asked Ferguson.

"Black syrup."

"Uhh... I mean, it's drinkable, but is it really that good? I've never seen you drink any.", said Nero.

"The syrup in its current state is nothing but a tool for survival. However, if we can procure a source of clean water, we may be able to work on developing the taste and export it to Nycea as a delicacy, or as a conserved source of hydration for travels. It would also give work to the locals. It could very well be the real help this sorry place needs.", said Sharmon.

"As much as I want to agree, unfortunately there's no such source of water here. Lakes, streams, rivers, everything is contaminated.", said Ferguson.

"I am aware of this. That is not a problem."

"How so?"

"After we return to Nycea, we can delve deeper into the investigation Creonte carried out and add our own to it. We could find a way to clean the waters and begin our enterprise."

"Yeah, well... the problem is that the water will get contaminated again."

"Indeed. This entire idea rests on our ability to find a way to kill the Plague Bringers."

"Huh. Well, there goes the business. And I had hopes for it, too.", said Elena.

"I'm sorry, lord Sharmon. I fear that might be a tall task, even for you.", said Ferguson.

"Hm. We shall see about that."

"...I guess it's worth a shot.", said Araven.

"If this idea works, we might get a stable income from the trade route...", Nero thought.

"Your concerns over your grandmother would be over. She could retire.", said Sharmon.

"And I can use the money, too, since I'll be staying in Nycea for a while.", said the blonde.

"Uhh... hello? We're talking about killing a Plague Bringer, here. Is that even possible?", Pointed out Elena.

"As far as I'm aware, no.", said Ferguson, "weapon slashes are useless, and even though magic can destroy them, they just... kind of reunite. I told you, they're sort of gooey."

"There is no such thing as an unbeatable creature. Much like with everything else, it is likely the government never gave a thought on how to do it."

"And we can all profit from this; Elena would get a cut from the shipments, for example.", said Araven.

"Well... if -and that's a big if- you find a way to get rid of 'em and clean the water for good... I'll consider the gig. Keep in mind it's gotta pay enough for me to run the ship and make a profit for myself, though.

Sharmon nodded.

"All things will be taken into consideration."

"What about me, though? How could I possibly help?", asked Ferguson.

"We shall need employees and various installations to both develop and manufacture the products. You could add your capital to ours and simply enjoy the return of your share.", said Sharmon.

"You can also help us manage the business from here, since we're all gonna be busy somewhere else.", said Elena.

Nero nodded. This could work...!

"Reactivating the economy, building up trade, shipping, a different influx of money outside the boundaries of the social help Nycea gives out... I guess it sounds good in theory.", Ferguson conceded.

"This enterprise will rely upon us being able to rid Armorica of Plague Bringers and of the product in itself being marketable enough. Selling but a few will not suffice.", said Sharmon, "those things alone should keep us busy for the weeks to come."

"Heh, I'll add this to the list of things you're helping with.", smiled Ferguson.

"Do not.", said Sharmon immediately.

"Huh?"

"The pirate leader is still out there, likely looking for his money. Undoubtedly, he will sabotage our operation if he finds out about this."

"...I doubt you can keep something like that a secret forever. Especially the whole Plague Bringer killing thing. I think everyone will notice."

"Perhaps, but the business in itself must remain secret. Even if we kill the Plague Bringers, nobody can know we are doing it for the enterprise. Not yet, at least."

"We should also lay low so that the Nycean officials here don't find out. They may also attempt to boycott, or even worse, steal our business.", said Araven.

Sharmon nodded.

"...alright then, so we still have the question of what the hell are we gonna do these next two days. Also, where do we keep our money?"

"I have a safe place in Port Hope. I can keep your money there for you if you want me to.", said Elena.

Ferguson raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can we trust you, though?"

She shrugged.

"You can keep the bag here if you want, I'm sure there's no delinquency in Armorica."

"Haha... got me there. But hey, you ain't gonna charge us for it, right?"

"Damn it, Ferguson, don't give her ideas.", said Nero.

She laughed.

"In fact I could, but if I'm keeping Sharmon's money for free then I'll do the same for yours. I mean, you helped get it all in the first place, so there's that."

"How come you're only doing this because of my familiar?", asked Nero.

"Not only because of him, just mostly because of him."

"You're shameless."

"That, I am.", she said proudly.

"Alright then... so what about our two days here? Do we follow Nero's advice and go hunting for a bit?"

"Yes.", said Sharmon.

"Alright. Where are we headed?", Nero asked.

"Ferguson."

"Hm?"

"Take us to a source of water that could provide for us after being cleansed."

"Huh...? Yeah, I can do that, but keep in mind Plague Bringers tend to roam near potentially clean water sources.

"If we run into any of them we shall put our magics to the test.", said Sharmon, "It is about time I faced a real challenge in this long forgotten land."

"Uhh... what about the pirates?"

"Hm.", He completely dismissed them.

Speaking of pirates, their prisoner was probably still unconscious down in the vessel's cell.

"Well, then.", said Araven, getting up, "shall we?"

"I'm staying here.", said Elena.

"Fair enough.", the blonde agreed.

"Well... alright. But let's be careful.", said Ferguson.

And with that, the group disembarked the Vista and followed Ferguson inland. As he guided them south past Herbert's farm, Nero couldn't help wondering if everything was going to be alright...