Enlightened Empire

Just like Sawo had said, they sold all of their cloth the same day they returned to Saniya. However, in the process they didn’t have much more luck with currency than in Kapra. Once again, they failed to get any silver or gold for their efforts. They were only left with more worthless copper coins, which did nothing but weigh them down.

Though of course, commoners would not spend valuable gold or silver coins on a meter of cloth on the market, even less since they were only worth a few coppers anyways, so he hadn’t expected much. At least they had managed to trade some of their cloth for daily necessities directly. They could use the salt and grain for a long time to come, even through this copper crisis Even so, Sawo felt frustrated as he and his cousin lugged the chest filled with their copper cargo back from the market through the city and to their new home. All along the way, they could see more people barter for goods in the same way they had done. At this point, few trusted the copper any more. If they had the choice, they stayed at home. If they had to go to the market, they would rather trade for salt than copper.

Despite their trouble, the cousins managed to sell most of their goods, so they could spend a calm night back in their new home – a small wooden house along the southern part of the city walls. The following day at the crack of dawn, Sawo remained back to guard their donkey cart and precious cargo, while Tawo went off to contact the jewelers he knew, so they could get rid of their valuable amber as soon as possible. If nothing else, at least a jeweler would have some silver to offer them in exchange.

As he entered the shack he called a stables, Sawo was confronted by the lazy stare of their merchant company’s first and most trusted worker. Despite her master’s appearance, she continued to chew away just like she had done before. Jenny was a younger donkey they happened to purchase on the cheap from a farmer they had met a few months back. The man had made a lot of money during the previous harvest and was determined to replace his donkeys with more sturdy and stronger oxen to ease his workload for this year.

Ever since the first farmer had been acknowledged by the king during a ceremony at the start of the year, all his peers had been inspired to try their hardest and reclaim more farmland from the hostile nature around them. Not that it had anything to do with Sawo. Rather than strive for more land with them and charge into the future, he was stuck here, busied with mundane tasks and neither respected nor acknowledged by anyone.

With another sigh of many, the former city lord poured the contents of his bucket – oats and carrot chunks – into Jenny’s trough. The greedy animal charged into its meal without so much as a word of thanks.

\"Eat up,\" he mumbled and stroked the unresponsive donkey’s mane a few times. Even so, the warrior merchants’ hardest worker remained unmoved. While Jenny was distracted with her food, Sawo looked around the dim shack to make sure no-one had followed him and that there were no signs of forced entry on the door. Only then did he sneak into the far corner. The thick straw here was Jenny’s usual resting spot, and it stank just like one would expect a donkey stable to stink. Even so, Sawo held his nose and lifted parts of the straw to the side.

Beneath all the mess, and half-buried under some loose soil, he unearthed their little treasure box, just where he had left it the previous day. Inside, they had hidden the most valuable and most important goods from their previous trip: the amber from Puscanacra. At first, they had wanted to buy some products right in Kapra, but that hadn’t worked out too well.

Due to Lord Ogulno’s stubbornness and the resultant depreciation of copper, none of the local traders had been willing to take the cheap coins off their hands. Thus, they had been forced to try their luck further down the road and buy some product in Puscanacra instead. After all of the hurdles they had to cross, Sawo was determined to get some proper currency for his troubles this time. If he ended up with even more copper in exchange for their amber, he may as well just turn back to robbery. After all, the dark elements of society had flourished together with the rest of the city.

Although Saniya’s public order had been decent when the new king took over, more and more foreigners streamed into the freshly paved roads of the city. As a result, the local guards were overwhelmed and security had suffered quite a bit. While both him and Tawo were former warriors and had the physique and fighting talent to prove it, they still had no reason to flaunt their wealth and become targets.

Thus, they kept what little property they had hidden away like this. There was another box inside their house, but this stash was specifically for temporary property they intended to trade away. In the end, no matter how strong they were, they wouldn’t stand a chance against a local gang with dozens of members. It was best if Tawo came back soon, with some good news and an order from his jeweler in tow. So long as the box was still stuck in his hands, Sawo wouldn’t sleep with a calm mind.

After he had confirmed the contents and hidden the box again, he waited until Jenny was finished with her meal. Just as he took up the bucket again to get back to their house, the shack’s door opened. Sawo’s tensed body relaxed as soon as he recognized the new arrival.

\"I thought you would be in here, brother,\" Tawo said. \"You were not in the house.\"

\"So what did your jeweler friend say?\" Sawo asked, in no mood for chitchat and eager to distract from his previous tension.

\"Ah, he was not present in his old workshop. I only caught hold of his wife.\"

\"Then what are we supposed to do with all the...\" Sawo paused, looked outside and lowered his voice. \"...amber?\"

\"Not to worry brother, I know where we can get our pay.\" Tawo walked over and retrieved the treasure box Sawo had just stowed away again. \"Come on, we better get there so long as it is still light out.\"

\"Right.\" Sawo dropped the bucket and picked up a wooden club from besides the shack’s door before he turned to his cousin. \"In that case, we should be off.\"

While one held their valuables and the other held their protection, the two cousins walked through the crowded streets of the old, south-western part of Saniya. By now, the old districts to the south-west of the Mayura River were the only parts of the city that still looked anything like they had during Sawo’s reign. Though even here, workers had begun to break up the old roads and replace them with newer, smoother stone. Wherever possible, citizens were relocated and old, dilapidated houses torn down to make more room for wider streets, or grander constructions. Though Sawo really didn’t like all the change at break-neck pace, he had more important matters on his mind.

\"Where are we going, brother?\" he asked.

\"We need to go to Sillu island. While I did not meet my jeweler friend at his home, he is still in the jewelry business. His wife was kind enough to tell me where he has gone. Ever since the king has begun to recruit workers for his manufactories, it has become harder and harder for ordinary craftsmen to compete for prices. As a result, my friend has asked another jeweler he knew to get him a position inside one of the king’s jewelry manufactories. That is where we are headed right now. While he is not in charge of acquisition there, he should still be able to introduce us to someone who can take the amber off our hands. I heard the king’s production centers are voracious beasts that eat raw materials like a whale eats fish. We will surely sell our goods there, and for a good price. And since it is owned by the crown, they may even pay us in silver this time.\"

__________________________

\"Look, there is nothing more I can do for you. We will be glad to take the amber off your hands, but I really cannot pay you in any other way.\"

\"Are you serious? What is this nonsense?\" Ever since they had entered the king’s manufactory, and then made their way into the offices in the back, Sawo had kept quiet and let his more agreeable cousin do the talking. However, faced with another injustice, he could no longer restrain himself. His blood began to boil as he held up one of the giant sheets of copper they had been presented with as compensation for their hard work.

\"That is your pay, good man.\" The manufactory’s foreman said in a cold voice.

\"What am I supposed to do with such a thing? How will I purchase anything with something like this?\" He dropped the plate onto the rest. At least the table was sturdy enough to handle the massive weight. However, the foreman was not intimidated by the noise and only had a lazy shrug to offer.

\"The same way I just did, I guess.\"

\"You were buying amber! But this is the size of a plate! If I travel to the market tomorrow, do you expect me to buy food with this? Or should I serve the food on it? No one will trade with me! I cannot so much as put this in my pocket. Do you want to make me a target for robbery?\"

\"Excuse me, there is nothing more I can do for you.\"

Although Sawo wanted to explode again and fight for justice, he was held back by his cousin’s hand on his shoulder.

\"Please calm down, brother,\" Tawo said. \"Foreman Mayta, we meant no offense. However, I am sure you can see how such a payment method would create trouble for us. You work for the king, and your workplace seems like a well-run operation that would make good money, does it not?\"

\"It does.\" After the compliment, the foreman’s cold face relaxed somewhat, but he still looked at them with suspicion in his eyes.

\"In that case, you could just as well pay us in silver, could you not? As an employee of the crown, you should have your contacts into the castle, so exchanging copper for silver should be easy.\"

When the foreman answered, his brow was wrinkled, and he had taken on a far less aggressive tone. In fact, he sounded almost tired.

\"I want to help you, but I cannot. A few days ago, the castle has declared silver a resources of strategic importance. That means that no government owned places are allowed to hand out any silver for any reason. At least that is what the warrior servants told me it means. Of course, that also means we cannot use it to pay anyone anymore, even if they bring us amber.\"

\"Strategic resources? What would the castle need this much silver for?\" a curious Tawo asked. Though to Sawo, the foreman’s words sounded like little more than an excuse.

\"I am unsure.\" The foreman scratched his head. \"I have heard rumors that the navy plans to make cannonballs of silver to fight the sea serpents of the deep waters.\"

\"Is there really nothing else that can be done here?\" Sawo asked, now in a more conciliatory tone. He wasn’t interested in fairy tales of sea serpents and the like, and neither did he want to spend the rest of his day on chit-chat with some rude foreman. Still, he understood that their predicament wasn’t the man’s fault, and that he wouldn’t get anywhere with anger.

\"Look, I have already done as much as I can. You know, these plates are new prints from the castle, specifically designed to be used as currency because the price of copper has been dropping so much.

\"This copper war between Cashan and Kapra has really made trouble for everyone. Many normal folks have gone back to barter since their old coins are worth almost nothing now,\" Tawo added, before the foreman continued.

\"True enough. I hear that King Corcopaca sent an order to Lord Ogulno to stop his greedy mining operation, but Ogulno will not listen. Although the castle has tried to rectify things a bit with these new copper sheets, it seems there was a mix-up in the foundry when the metal was melted. As if we did not have enough trouble already. These sheets are only half made of copper, and the rest are other, cheaper metals that were mixed into the moulds.\"

\"So you are not even paying us in real copper!?\" Despite his best efforts, Sawo’s voice exploded again.

\"That is the reason I called you lucky.\" In response to Sawo’s aggression, the foreman returned to his impassive tone. \"If you were not friends with Apo, I would pay you with the coins at their face value. You already got almost twice as much as what I would pay anyone else. I am not supposed to do that, and I have to explain myself to the castle if someone finds out. Do you get that?\"

\"We truly appreciate the help.\" Tawo tried to mediate again, but Sawo only snorted in response. He was done talking. Any more would only make their position worse, no matter how unfair it was. However, the foreman had one last piece of advice left.

\"If you really want to get rid of the copper, I hear that the castle has been working on more permanent solutions. I am not sure what that is supposed to mean, but yesterday I saw a notice from the crown on the market square. Said that people can go trade their copper for better currency from today on. I think they were set up on Rapra Island. Maybe you should try your luck there.\"

\"In that case, we thank you very much for your help.\"

With one final attempt at civility, Tawo dragged the still silent Sawo out of the room, the worthless copper plates in their arms.