Enlightened Empire

"In the end, they are nothing but barbarians. They would not understand your grand vision," Tama answered as she walked after the king.

"They"re too materialist is what they are. No human spirit, no spirit of discovery. What boring b.a.s.t.a.r.ds."

Since Corco walked ahead of his new a.s.sistant, he couldn"t see her face. He had no idea how the girl"s expression would look upon his curse. Would she find his comment funny, confusing or displeasing? He still found it hard to read Tamaya di Pluritac. Something to be careful about in the future. Rather than think about unpleasant things, he changed topic to something he had been wondering for a while. In fact, he had no idea where his confident, dynamic steps were taking him at the moment.

"So what"s next? The prisoners?"

"Next would be this.. doctor Hieronymus Bombasticus." Corco could hear papers rustling behind him as Tamaya tried to get a hold of their itinerary. She wasn"t all that good with names... or schedules, for that matter.

"Good. Much better, actually. I need a break from all the thinly veiled greed and hostility." As he put his much more comfortable woolen head band back on, Corco could feel a smile spread across his face. Hieronymus was exactly the sort of debate partner he"d need to unwind somewhat. The alchemist"s first task would be important as well. Thus, he took a right at the next intersection, back deeper into the main castle. The old lords of the south had done the best with what little lands had been available on the island of Rapra. The end result was this monster of a palace, packed with annexes, side-castles and cul-de-sacs. It would take a while for him to get used to the layout again. Still, for now, at least he remembered enough from his youth to find his way back to his own place, and to his old friend.

After a considerable march, they had reached the main palace at last, a grand structure atop the highest portion of Rapra Castle. When they entered the small salon, Ronnie already sat, ready and waiting, engrossed in his talks with Atau. Corco"s cousin had been with them just minutes ago, but had stayed behind to get the arcavian craftsmen organized. Once they heard the steps come closer, the two men looked up from their conversation and put away the wine in their hands.

"Hey boss, you"ve taken your sweet time, huh? I thought we"d meet up here right away," Atau said.

"...yeah, there was something I had to take care of first."

Though Corco was almost sure they knew better, none of the men present would try to embarra.s.s their friend, and now king, on purpose, so they simply glossed over the discrepancy. Instead, they waited for Corco to take his seat next to them before they continued their talk.

"All the craftsmen have received their new houses?" Ronnie was the first to speak up, as Corco was still busy rubbing his hands together to drive the cool sea breeze out of them. He really hated having cold fingers.

"Yeah. With all the warriors gone from Saniya"s inner city, there"s lots of free real estate, so getting a handful of newcomers settled wasn"t hard. I"m glad you"re back, by the way." Corco"s sentiment was genuine. He really could have used the alchemist"s experience when he was fumbling around with chemicals back in Arguna. However, having too many foreign advisors would have made a bad impression, so Ronnie had stayed behind with the fleet.

"To be frank, I would much rather stay within Puscanacra. Although the accommodations provided by Lady Ogulno were not luxurious, the city itself was a sight to behold. Not to offend, but this Saniya, how should I say this... it can hardly be considered regal."

Corco took the goblet of wine from his a.s.sistant Tama with a "thank you," before he turned back to the chemist. "You can say that now, but I guarantee you that you"ll have a very different view on things in no more than five years. We"ll revolutionize the town, the lands and the people themselves."

"I thought we were to revolutionize the world?" Ronnie smirked. "Are we adjusting our goals already?"

"One step at a time." Corco really had missed the alchemist"s quips. As always, they played off each other to create a smooth flow of conversation. As former stage partners, the alchemist simply knew how to set up Corco"s speeches much better than others. Plus, Ronnie had a scholarly att.i.tude he wouldn"t find with his other friends, a refreshing change from the burly men who would otherwise surround him. However, even in Puscanacra it had taken a while for them to meet up, as all the artisans and accountants had been let into the city. Only the mercenaries had been forced to stay outside. The unruly combatants had been considered dangerous by his cousin Mayu. Though he didn"t like the new lord"s att.i.tude, Corco could at least follow his logic in that specific case. Dedrick"s men really were a handful. "First, the town, then the world. I"ll need your help with the second part as well."

"Ooh, at last the time is ripe for the great Bombasticus to show his talents. What great works will I be creating?" The alchemist put one leg over the other as he swayed his goblet. He really tried his very hardest to look as self-aggrandizing as possible.

"You get to take a tour around the villages of Chawir," Corco said with a smile. He had been expectant of the chemist"s reaction, and it didn"t disappoint. The goblet was still being spun in expert fashion, but dark clouds began to cover the smiling face of the great Bombasticus. A comical contrast only a true actor could achieve.

"Surely you mean to say that the great alchemist is to produce the rare and incredible wonder known as fertilizer, would you? And that he is to enlighten the common folk with his talents?"

"Nope," Corco said with a widening smile. "You get to walk around the various villages in the bog and organize them. We"ll want to centralize things properly, and set up some measures early. Education is gonna take half a decade before there"s any results, so we best start now. Plus, spring farming will start very soon. We need to be ready if we want to have a good haul in autumn."

"Well and good, but how could the great Bombasticus be forced into such meager work? Would there be no one else more fitting of these simple tasks?"

"...no one I can trust, at least. For the moment, there"s three people in Saniya I can task with important matters. Tama here stays with me, since she"s gonna have work in the city proper. That just leaves you and Atau." In the end, Corco decided to count Tamaya among trustworthy people. Though they hadn"t met too long ago and he still had a hard time figuring the girl out, at least she had proven her loyalty to the main line of Pluritac through her actions over the past two seasons.

"...and the captain-" Bombasticus probed.

"-will be busy transporting s.h.i.t over the mountains. I mean, how would you even make any fertilizer here? We have none of the ingredients. For a start, you don"t have enough dung for nitrogen fertilizer, because in Medala we actually clean our cities and don"t let them drown in s.h.i.t like the Arcavians do. Even the most available, the pota.s.sium, sits in our ships across Yakuallpa. We either have to lug that stuff across hills and ridges, the way you went to get here, or we have to get it from Port Ulta through Cashan and then ship over the Tunki river.

"That means we have to get through enemy land. While that might sound pretty bad, it"s a good chance to consolidate our influence in the area. We can support one of the Villca candidates and end up with a stable connection once he wins. But for first proper contact, I"ll need someone from Medala, from the south, to be exact. I know this might sound unbelievable, but it turns out that the people of Medala are a little bit wary of strangers."

"Like everyone else then," the alchemist added in a dry voice.

"Just a bit though," Corco concluded in the same tone.

For a moment, the two just sat opposite each other and sipped their wine. The chemist considered his next move, while Corco awaited the man"s question. He was sure that Ronnie wouldn"t disappoint.

"In this case, I would like to know what exactly I am supposed to do in those villages? I cannot produce the fertilizer, so what else could I contribute? I am no bookkeeper after all."

Like always, Ronnie managed to get to the core of the issue with a single comment. It was the question the king had wanted to hear, and the question the king had wanted to answer.

"As I"ve said, you"re there for administrative work. Don"t worry though, I won"t have you do the accounting stuff by yourself. I"ll send you five of my traders along. There"s a bit over one hundred villages in the Chawir marshes, or at least one hundred we know about. We need to set up a proper structure there, make a new census. Oh, you also get some muscle from the wolf mercenaries."

"How much we talkin"?" Atau had been quiet all this time, but now he entered the conversation. After all, he would also have to rely on the mercenaries if he wanted to cross through Cashan and would rather not see his own numbers reduced.

"No need to worry, you get three hundred mercs, that"s three companies. Should be more than enough to look impressive for an envoy, plus it"s also a good amount to escort goods over the mountain pa.s.ses. Though you can have two hundred of them split off once you"ve established the route. Have them march north and meet up with Dedrick. You"re taking some cannons too. Three hundred men, plus some cannons. That should be more than enough to hold the Narrow in case Pacha is being stupid again."

Atau nodded his head and sank back into his seat. Unlike others, his cousin had never been greedy, neither for money nor influence. He wouldn"t ask for men he didn"t need, just to expand his own influence. Corco was more than happy with his cousin"s modesty.

"As for you," he turned back to the absolutely immodest Doctor Bombasticus, "you get one company, one hundred men. Split them up and move them in five groups. Each group gets one trader to do the books, plus one of the old Saniya officials to show the way, plus twenty mercs. That way you should be back home in ten days at the latest."

"Not enough!" scared out of his mind, Ronnie almost pushed himself out of his seat, before he realized that there was no one around to buy his performance and sank back down. "What happens if those wildlings try to attack us!? Twenty men isn"t nearly sufficient for protection!"

"What might you be talking about, my friend?" Atau pulled his arm around Ronnie"s shoulder, in a gesture of pure and simple friendship. "You might not know this, friend, but I"m one of those wildlings too. So is our new king over there. Maybe next time, think before you say something stupid. You can"t take that back if you say it outside."

Ronnie swallowed heavily. He tried to get away from his friend"s grasp, but of course the captain had strength far beyond the chemist. "Of course my words did not include anyone present. Simply the commoners."

"You should really change your att.i.tude." Corco chimed in. "This might be a good exercise actually. Try to get known in the countryside, and avoid infamy for a change. They"re just peasants, by the way. They"re not a threat to anyone. The villages have a couple hundred people on average, over half of those are women, children and old men. You can handle a couple of children if I give you twenty cultivators, can"t you?"

Ronnie thought for a few seconds, still seeking for an advantage. "Of course, but what about those river kings I keep hearing about? Isn"t one of them still hung up at the outskirts of the city?"

"There"s good reason for that, you know? Now that our treatment of the great sea otter has spread, the other bandits will be more careful, at least for a while. Especially now that their great backer Sawo is no longer in charge, they"ll disappear for a bit. Until they"ve talked to one another and rethought their strategy, I highly doubt any of them would be dumb enough to actually attack the guy with the giant army. After all, whichever river king attacks Saniya"s troops first would also be the first to die. Worst case if someone is being stupid: You pull your men together. That"s one hundred cultivators, trained and experienced in group combat. You really think some random bandits can offer resistance against that?"

Finally calmed down from his worries, Ronnie returned to his pretentious posture. As the wine"s rotation started up again within the cup, the chemist asked, at last, the final question Corco had been waiting for.

"So what will be my purpose there? I cannot work on the census, but there should still be something I can do."

"Yeah, there is something," the king smiled as he spread his hands, "you"ll bring them knowledge, and bring the mortals here, to Mount Olympus. Rejoice, oh mortal, for you will be the new Prometheus."