Enlightened Empire

Chapter 452: Back to Work

Traveling through Rhodanos had been an unwelcome return to normalcy for Inti. Ever since the start of her vacation, she had enjoyed long periods of relaxation, accentuated by short bouts of excitement or challenge. Yet as she walked through the half-empty streets of this city, she felt like she was back in the side-alleys of Arguna.

The roads felt dim and dangerous, as if evil minds were spying on her from every direction. She wasn't being paranoid either. After all, Inti had been taught in anti-tracking methods since a young age, and knew how to spot a hidden tail. In fact, she managed to find several pairs of eyes observing her in secret on her way through the city, from bums on the side of the road to guards walking by.

When she had first come here, Rhodanos had seemed as bright and pleasurable as every other place they had visited. Now, after a single unhappy encounter with some uncouth scholars, she was on edge again. By now, the city began to look like a giant snake pit.

Worse things were yet to come, as she had trouble contacting the local ghost forces. Since Rhodanos wasn't a very important city — not even in the top ten on their list of important places to keep track of — they had never stationed a lot of men here. Still, the closeness to Arguna meant that they were well-connected, and easy to reach, even during her days in the capital.

Now however, they couldn't be contacted from the Wonders of the World shop, and their old hideout lay abandoned as well. As a final resort, Inti had to use their emergency backup to contact her people indirectly via a coded message drop. Only then, after several hours of tense waiting in a dingy inn, did someone contact her in response to her message.

Once she received information on the city from the ghosts, she realized the severity of the matter, and returned back to the shop as quickly as she could. Yet by the time she arrived there, the setting sun had already colored the streets in red, which made them feel even less safe than before.

Even so, Brym and his men stood outside the shop like idiots, with a giant, wooden desk in tow. They weren't even moving, neither the desk nor the idiots themselves. Instead, they just stood there and argued with the fake scholars again.

"As I have said, it is a simple table." An exasperated Brym slapped the desk in front of him. "Is it now illegal to sell furniture in this city?"

Meanwhile, the leader of the scholars stood across the furniture in question to block the way, while his goons were bent over all around the desk, to search for who-knew-what.

"Sale of luxury goods shall be prohibited," the leader of the scholars replied in an impassive tone. "First, the scholars shall assess whether or not the table is classified as such. Only then may you proceed."

For a moment, Brym stared at the 'scholars' who were knocking and sniffing around his desk, before he focused back on their leader.

"If you break it, you'll have to pay for it," he finally said. In response the leader exchanged a glance with one of his goons, who shook his head in reply. Whatever they were looking for, they clearly weren't finding it.

"And what fun are we having here? Can we join in?" Inti shouted from a distance as she moved closer with confident steps. Behind her still marched the four guards Brym had left her. As a result, the scholars were now at a numerical disadvantage again.

Clearly, their leader had noticed the same. He snorted and said: "This peddler is free to go," to which his goons simply ignored him as they continued with their work.

"This scholar orders you to cease, you rabble!" he had to shout, and kick one of his bent-over goons before they understood and scurried to the side.

"Hey, I want your approval in writing! 'Scholar approved', or something. Otherwise, what happens if we're stopped again?" Brym shouted after them, but Inti held him back by his shoulder.

"Let it go. I don't think they are literate," she said.

"Alright, we're busy anyways." Brym sighed, before he turned towards the two guards who had stayed behind in the shop. "Come on, guys, it's getting late, and I want to get back before it's completely dark."

"Wait, where are we going?" a confused Inti asked, and looked around for answers. Only now did she notice that the young commoner from earlier in the day also stood among the crowd.

"Where to?" Brym asked the young man, who promptly replied: "After me, master," before he walked down the road.

"We're going to deliver the table, of course," Brym finally answered Inti's earlier question. "I gave my word that we'd deliver the table by today, and I'll be damned if I break my word because of some thugs. If there's something you have to explain, please do so on the way."

Thus, Inti followed Brym as he walked behind the guards who were carrying the table. Meanwhile, the two shopkeepers stayed behind to make sure the fake scholars didn't ransack the place.

"Have you been waiting for me all this time?" Inti asked.

"No need to worry, lady."

Brym tried to brush off her concerns, but it only confirmed her suspicions.

"No, that's why you're delivering this thing so late. You were waiting for me to come back all day, right?"

For a second, Brym was silent, before he replied.

"So, did you learn anything useful today? I sure hope all that waiting was worth it," his words were light, but they only made Inti feel more guilty. Although she wanted to inform him about her findings immediately to ease her mind, she knew it would be irresponsible to do so out in the open.

"Not here," she thus had to whisper. "There's eyes and ears everywhere in the city."

"How exciting." Brym laughed as if he didn't care. "Then we shall talk once we are in a safe place."

For a while, the two walked behind the procession in awkward silence. Finally, in order to break the depressing mood, Inti asked something she had been curious about ever since she had first seen the infamous desk which stood at the center of this conflict.

"You know, I thought this table would be different."

"Different?" Brym asked, though his smiling eyes told her that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Well, from their clothing, these people don't seem poor," she began, while looking at the young man in the expensive clothing at the front of their little procession. This time, he also held an expensive looking oil lamp to lead the way. "They could afford any table they wanted, surely. Considering all that, this one looks a bit simple, doesn't it? And it's weirder yet that they ordered it in a luxury shop. No inlays, no ornaments... I mean, it is solidly built, but it's still just simple wood."

"My dear lady, this isn't simple wood." While two of the guards put down the table to rest their arms and exchange their duties with two others, Brym walked up to the table and knocked on the top. "This is rosewood. Rosewood only grows on the Verdant Isles, and only deep inside the jungles further inland. It is a prohibitively expensive material. In fact, this table is so expensive that most people would never be able to afford it in their lifetimes."

"Then why does it look so simple? Wouldn't the commoners prefer to show off their wealth? I thought that was normal among the rich, noble or not," Inti asked, and stroked the table. When it came to the cost, she had to take Brym's word for it, since she really couldn't tell what was so special about this wood. It just felt like the old tables at the Stone's Throw chess shop, smooth and hard.

"This one's different. The whole point of the table is to look simple," Brym thus had to explain. By this point, the guards had exchanged their positions and two fresh pairs of arms continued to carry the desk forward. "It's part of a cultural movement, which has its origins in Saniya. Back when the southern lords rebelled and took control of Saniya for a few months, the commoners organized their own resistance, independent of the stuff we were doing in Rapra Castle. To signal who was part of their group, they would dress in simple clothing, and decorate their houses with simple furniture. I think it was to distinguish themselves from the rotten and decadent nobles who were living lives drowned in luxury, and were making the lives of commoners hell at the same time. Lady Inti, you have been stationed in Arguna all this time. Haven't you seen the commoners wear simpler clothing and buy simpler furniture these days?"

All of a sudden, Inti felt enlightened. Some of the things she had seen in the capital suddenly made a lot more sense.

"I have, but I thought it was just a case of the commoners getting more careful, as the city grew more chaotic," she explained. "It wouldn't be the first time a commoner was struck down by a warrior for showing off too much wealth. You say they're doing it in an act of rebellion?"

The whole concept intrigued Inti, and Brym looked like he was incredibly proud of it as well.

"At the very least, it looks like the southern habits have spread to the commoners in the north already. Since the start of our travels, our shops have been selling more and more of these expensive yet understated pieces of furniture. It's a good sign. It means that our ideas are arousing interest in the north. We've worked hard enough to make it happen. With our shops at the center, we have been radiating southern thoughts and ideas into the north for years now."

"And the northern lords would simply allow that? What about the priests, or the scholars?" Inti asked in shock. Manipulating the enemy's population like this was too bold, right? What if they caused another war? However, Brym simply brushed off her concerns with a shrug.

"I'm not sure about the last two, but the lords probably think that simple furniture isn't a threat to them."

"And neither would the commoners be, I presume," Inti thought, reminded of most northern nobles' general disdain for the lower classes.

"You presume quite right." Brym laughed again. "Though beyond the rosewood and the cultural significance, there's another reason why this table is special. As I've recently learned, this table is more than meets the eye. That's also another reason these people bought it in our shop, rather than somewhere else."

This time, Inti had to smile as well at Brym's showmanship.

"I'm intrigued." she said to play along. "Please tell me, great master Brym: What secret could this simple desk be hiding?"

In response, Brym's grin grew wider, as if he had played a successful prank.

"Can't tell you here. Too many eyes and ears," he said. "We should only talk once we are in a safe place."

"How exciting," Inti simply mirrored his response and continued to follow along, now in a much better mood somehow.