Enlightened Empire

Chapter 450: A Lesson From the Scholars

After the incident in Huaylas, the relevant parties soon went their separate ways. In the end, Inti managed to convince Avitus and his wife Mellana to leave their new home, though they only agreed out of concern for their unborn child, and only after Inti had insisted that the quality of doctors in the south was higher. As Brym had suggested, they would travel south to Saniya, together with Naoka, who would make sure they wouldn't make any more trouble.

Meanwhile, Inti herself followed along with Brym's journey. First, they traveled to the estates surrounding Huaylas, most of which used to be followers of House Ichilia in the past. With the weakening of the house, some had stayed devoted to their old masters, while others had looked for new backers, or attempted to go independent instead.

As diverse as the places they visited were the methods Brym had for dealing with them. Every time they arrived somewhere, he would first spend several days to collect information on the place and develop a sales strategy.

Sometimes, he would focus on the lords and negotiate the bond sales with them directly. Sometimes he would instead target the warriors, or even the local commoners, all depending on who was richest and most willing to spend. In some cases, he would even use the pressure produced from targeting the lower classes to force a favorable deal with the lords. While considering the political needs of the southern kingdom, he would always find creative ways to maximize profits.

Although it was impressive work, all of it had little to do with Inti. Instead, she was simply glad to tag along, and enjoy her first time off in half a decade.

Of course, she wasn't completely useless. Out of habit, she couldn't let go of work completely, especially when she saw her traveling companion try so hard. To scratch the itch, she sometimes helped during talks, especially during some of Brym's larger schemes, which required operations in two places at once. As the southern kingdom's long-term representative in the Triumvirate Meetings, Inti had plenty of experience with negotiations herself, on top of her considerable reputation. Even so, she felt like a simple negotiator — casually plucked from any of Brym's stores — could have done the work just as well.

However, Inti didn't care too much about her superfluous status, and Brym himself never complained about her presence either. In between negotiations, they would visit all the wonders of the central kingdom, traveling from place to place and enjoying themselves. Sometimes, if they really liked a place, they would take root in a city for a week or two before moving on. Then as the weather began to get colder, they started moving north.

By the time Inti realized, it was already late fall, and they had been traveling for almost three months. Finally, they had visited all the estates of the central kingdom, and had thus completed the first half of their journey. Now they were ready to enter the northern kingdom, with all the problems it would bring.

25. This is our 25th stop, Brym's weary mind counted.

At first, these travels, half vacation and half challenging sales pitch, had been great fun. Yet after months of the same thing, Brym was basically sick of it all. At this rate, he would even miss out on next spring's yearly fiscal report in Saniya. At least in this regard, he didn't have to worry too much. He had left his financial office in capable hands, so he didn't have to rush back immediately.

Even better, they had more than half their journey completed by now. Among all the estates north of the Narrows, Brym's connections in eastern Medala had always been the best, ever since their fleet had landed in Porcero all those years ago. Over there, he could simply sell these bonds openly, without any tricks or political maneuvering. Rather, many of the local lords were guaranteed to actively support him, happy that the money from their estates would go to Corco, rather than to his brother Amautu. After all, the eastern lords, nominally controlled by the northern kingdom of Amautu, were sympathetic to Corco almost to the man. Surely, they'd be very willing to support the southern kingdom, in return for promises of protection against Amautu's increasingly intrusive policies.

Even better than the thought at the imminent ease of his sales were his results so far.

16.44 million Sila. That should last us a while, at least. Surely, the east will be just as fruitful.

However, before he could reap the fertile fields of eastern Medala, he first had to overcome what would most likely be the hardest part of their journey: The northern kingdom proper. Unlike eastern Medala, which was separated from the three kingdoms by the Sallqata Mountain range and thus followed its own rules, northern Medala was under Amautu's full control. And while the conservative central kingdom was still largely operating under the same rules Medala had followed for centuries, much had changed up north.

Now the scholars were in charge here, and more and more power was being amassed in their hands. Brym didn't think they were eager to share the peoples' wealth with him, not even with political tricks. Even worse, their first stop in the northern kingdom turned out to be the city of Rhodanos in the Chimpaya estate, owned by Lord Gratidia.

They were visiting this place first mostly out of logistical considerations, since it was the southernmost territory of the northern kingdom and the only northern estate to be situated south of the Argu. However, the estate also happened to border Arguna. Not only would they have to contend with the local lord and the scholars under Amautu's influence, there was even a chance that forces from Arguna could get involved. Considering the chaos both him and his traveling companion had caused there during his last visit, this didn't bode well for them.

Speaking of his companion, she seemed to be taking the looming threat in stride. Just like she had over the past three months, she carelessly swayed her arms in a decidedly unladylike manner as she strolled through the city. All the while, she stared at this building or that unusual robe — usually on a person, for added awkwardness — without a care in the world. Over the past few months, Inti had cast off the gloom from her family reunion — which was nice — but her carefree attitude really brushed against Brym's increasingly tensed mind.

"Lady Inti, are you not worried that the elders and Pacha priests of Arguna will send someone to deal with us troublemakers?" he asked the non-lady. "We are now in enemy territory, after all."

"No worries at all, my portly companion." Inti returned the crooked grin of a desperado and continued to stride through the streets unconcerned. "I've held contact with the local ghosts. If those dusty bones try to deal with us, I will be the first to hear about it. Although, since you're that concerned, I can go talk to my contacts right away, if you prefer. I expect we're going to your shop, as usual?"

Just in time, Brym saw the familiar sign on a building up ahead, with a crowd forming in front of it.

"We're already here," he said, and walked up to his shop.

The Wonders of the World line of shops were placed in all kinds of different spots within the estates of the north, depending on the exact circumstances of the estate in question. Some were built in the inner city to service warriors and lords, some in the outer city to service rich commoners. Others would be built into the inner city wall, to service both sides at once. If the wealthy of the estate stayed away from the city for some reason, the shop would be built in the countryside instead. Some particularly wealthy cities even had several shops in different places.

As for Rhodanos, the local House Gratidia was a relatively young noble house. Formerly a line of warriors well known for their prowess in battle, they had only become high nobles after the last civil war some 35 years ago, after the line of their nominal masters had all died out in battle. As a result, they didn't have many assets saved up, since most of the original house's wealth had been confiscated by the forces of Arguna.

On top of that, their land was poor and they didn't have many specialty products. Although the Argu river ran past the city's north, most of the tariffs collected from travelers would be sent up to King Amautu, so there was not much wealth to extract from the local lord, or his warriors.

Yet at the same time, House Gratidia's Chimpaya estate bordered Arguna, so many of the capital's wealthy commoners had settled here. They had come for various reasons, though most simply tried to escape the oppression of the powerful nobles in Medala's most conservative city. Since the nobles here were so poor and the commoners so wealthy, Rhodanos only had a single shop, which had been built in the outer city to serve the commoners.

Thus, they saw the shop not long after they had entered the city. Indeed, not only could Brym already see the Wonders of the World from here, he could hear it as well.

"All we want is enter! What right do you have to stop us!?" an elderly man in gray robes shouted. He stood at the head of a small group of five men, all draped in equally drab gray, but shiny cloth. Brym could always spot wealthy customers from a distance, and these guys certainly qualified. However, they were currently barred from entry to the shop by the group they were opposing.

"By the rights of a teacher shall you be barred! Step back, poor insolents, lest this teacher supply his lesson with a cane!"

The man who shouted back was quite a bit younger than the commoner, and he wore white robes, with a much simpler cut and material. Behind him stood a group of five young men, all wearing the same white robes and all sporting a beard of varying lengths.

Clearly, the ones who had somehow become doormen for Brym's shop were a group of scholars. However, their actions were all but scholarly. Their so-called canes looked more like clubs, and they brandished them aggressively and beat them on the ground to drive the commoners back.

"Looks like there's some real trouble this time," Inti commented, still with a smirk on her face. Even now, her good mood seemed unbroken.

"Hmm," Brym only grunted, unwilling to indulge the lady's moods for now. Instead, he searched around the area, and soon found what he was looking for. Around a corner, he could see two guardsmen of the city, peeking at the spectacle in front of the shop. Yet even though these scholars were clearly breaking the law, the guards were making no attempt to intervene. Apparently, Rhodanos politics were complicated, so he couldn't rely on the local forces for now.

Looks like I'll have to deal with this myself, or things will get ugly.

"What's going on here?" Brym thus shouted, in the most authoritative voice he could muster. At the same time, he stepped up to the two groups.

"These-" one of the younger commoners began to shout in a voice of barely suppressed anger, but before he could add an insult, he paused and corrected himself: "-scholars denied us entry into this shop."

"None shall enter!" the head 'scholar' simply repeated, while hitting his club onto the floor once again.

"'None'?" Brym repeated with a sneer and took a step forward. "Is that so?"

"So it is." Although the scholar looked a bit less confident now, he still insisted.

"And what if I own the place?" Brym added, and took another step. At the same time, his six guards, all of them properly trained professionals, stepped up right behind him, ready to defend their master in case these scholars did anything stupid.

Faced with real opposition beyond old men, the scholars looked a lot less intimidating all of a sudden. For a second, they stared at each other in search of a solution, before their leader gritted his teeth and replied.

"The owner may, but the insolents shall not." he pointed at the commoners once again. The young man from before wanted to shout back again, but Brym raised his hand to calm him down. Intensifying the conflict wouldn't help here, at least not until he had more information.

"And why's that?" Brym asked instead in a confident tone and pointed out: "How am I supposed to do business if my customers can't go in?"

Again, the scholars were silent for a while. Maybe they were overwhelmed by an argument they couldn't win through intimidation. Finally, their leader spoke up once more.

"In accordance with new laws promulgated by the scholarly court in Challwala, the sale of products of indulgence to commoners shall be prohibited from this moment everforth."

"Yea, tha's right! Everforth!" one of the other scholars slurred, and beat his teaching cane against the wall of Brym's shop, for added emphasis. The leader's eye twitched in response, but he did his best to ignore his companion's support and kept talking.

"Through the measure, the scholarly court hopes to stop societal rot in an effort to harmonize society and combat rural superstitions," the leader explained his nonsense.

"So you're telling me it's illegal for them to enter my store and buy any luxury goods," Brym tried to confirm the baffling law. Was King Amautu that eager to start a revolt in his lands?

"We come here only to pick up a simple table we ordered several moons ago," the old man in the commoner group argued. "The table itself is of ordinary wooden build, neither ornate nor luxurious in nature."

After getting ammunition, Brym turned back towards the leader of the scholars.

"In that case, there's no reason to hold them here, is there?" he asked with a winning smile. Again, the leader stared at Brym's guards, but this time, he remained steadfast.

"Even so, the insolents will surely fall into temptation once confronted with the offerings within. They shall not travel past this threshold, lest they wish to become enemies of the scholarly court."

This time, the wise scholar used his club to point at the doorstep to Brym's shop. At this point, even the good-natured minister was running out of patience. If he ordered his guards, he was sure to drive away these false scholars very quickly. However, he hadn't gathered any information on the current state of affairs within the city yet. He also hadn't forgotten about the suspiciously inactive guards around the corner. For now, prudence would be the best policy.

"Very well then," Brym finally said and turned towards the commoners again. "In that case, could you give me your names first? I will enter my own shop myself, and make sure your order will be delivered to you right away."

While Brym patiently dealt with his customers, the scholars stared daggers into his back, while the city guards continued to watch from the shadows. He had only entered the northern kingdom for a day, and already he could tell that the next leg of their journey would pose an entirely different challenge.