Enlightened Empire

Chapter 440: Capital Investment

When Brym had first come to the capital of Medala all those years ago, the city had seemed like a daunting colossus. Ancient and imposing it had stood there, larger in size than any arcavian city, even the vibrant Whiteport or Valerna, the ancient center of the continent.

Just the walls of Arguna were massive beyond scope, as if they had been built to hold back giants, not humans. All year round, the skies over the inner city were covered by a constant blanket of smoke, emanating from the many refineries and smithies of the city. Anyone would be shocked to learn that half of the smoke was produced by the invaluable silver smithies which had made the city so rich and the imperial House Pluritac so powerful. Above it all towered the two symbols of Medala's power: The ancient Moonlight Ziggurat, which symbolized the power of the priests, and the more modern Pluritac Castle, which symbolized the power of the imperial family. Back when he had first arrived here, all of it had left a deep impression on the young Brym.

Yet now that he had returned after several years, much of his previous reverence had disappeared. No emperor had resided in Pluritac Castle in half a decade, and the Pachayawna — the head priest inside the Ziggurat — had since gained competition from scholars in the north and reformers in the south. By now, he was no longer the only authority on the supernatural.

All of a sudden, the two symbols of Medala's power stood hollow. The city itself was still large, that much was true. However, nothing could match the vibrant growth of Saniya. In comparison, the crowds Brym walked past on his travels through the capital looked stunted and strung out, like a fish living in a dirty pond. Indeed, the more he thought, the more apt the comparison seemed. The city's age had made it brittle and inflexible, as if a single push could let it crumble into dust at any moment.

In short, this didn't look like a great city for business, certainly not compared to the cities in the southern kingdom, much to the young merchant's chagrin. That much was doubly true for the chaotic side streets Brym was traveling through at the moment. Although he had half a dozen men with him for protection, he still didn't feel comfortable with the stares aimed at him from within covert side-streets.

Had it been up to him, he would have preferred to meet up with his contact in one of Arguna's local 'Wonders of the World', not least to avoid these dingy roads and its shady inhabitants. However, as he traveled through the familiar streets he hadn't seen in years, and came up to the familiar chess shop, his feelings had already changed.

"This is quite nostalgic," he mumbled as he looked up to the sign of the 'Stone's Throw'. A small smile spread across his face as he thought back to his previous time in the capital, though his memories were soon interrupted by a familiar voice, linked with many memories of Arguna.

"It is indeed. How long has it been?"

When Brym looked back down, he saw a young woman with long, flowing hair standing in front of him. Though due to her height which matched his own, he didn't have to look down too far.

"Lady Inti? What a fortunate meeting," Brym said with a smile.

Over the years, Brym had come to the capital every once in a while, to handle political negotiations, or to check the progress of their business in the north. Throughout that time, Inti had always been Corco's representative in the Triumvirate Meetings, as well as the head of intelligence for the city. Thus, the two had worked together quite a few times over the years.

"Hardly a surprise, seeing as I asked for us to meet here," the usually serious Inti allowed herself a joke.

"This servant apologizes for his overly formal bearing," the merchant said and bowed deeply

For a second, Inti offered Brym an annoyed stare, while the merchant was proud of his formal apology for his formal manner.

"Please come in," Inti finally said. "Let's have a talk."

Moments later, the two sat on a table in the empty chess shop, and the shop's nominal owner Olacu sat down two cups in front of them. Of course, Brym's guards were waiting outside.

"Say, friend, aren't you interested in moving up?" Brym asked the familiar face.

"Up?"

In confusion, Olacu simply looked towards the ceiling, where an access to the neighboring building was hidden, which led to the center of operations for the southern kingdom's intelligence agency in the city.

"I mean, move up in life," Brym explained further. "I've been coming here for years, and you still do the exact same job as always."

"I'm a simple man. My position is already beyond most ghosts in the empire. Only Lady Inti stands above me in rank. How much farther could I possibly move up, great master?" Olacu asked, as he poured steaming tea into Brym's cup.

"You could always move to Saniya. That city is not inferior to Arguna in the slightest," the proud salesman tried to sell his home. However, the customer seemed unimpressed.

"And leave my family? They like it here." Olacu's reply was dry and simple, but it shocked Brym quite a bit.

"I didn't know you had a family," the merchant simply said, while trying to sound as polite as possible in the process. After all, Olacu wasn't called 'the rat' for nothing..

"Rats build huge nests. You didn't know that?" Inti chimed in, her head leaned on her hand as she watched the exchange with a smile on her face.

"Yes, and rats also like big, chaotic cities. The more garbage, the better," Olacu added. Seemingly nonplussed about the insult, he calmly turned his head towards Brym again, as he poured some tea for Inti as well. "I hear through the airwaves that your capital down south is quite well-adjusted. Lots of order."

"Of course," Brym replied, his pride restored once more. "Saniya is the most well-built, well-planned city in all of Medala, and possibly the world!"

"In that case, I'm not interested. I need the garbage, or how else would I burrow and sniff around? Now if you'll excuse me, I think I smell something nasty elsewhere. I'll have to go investigate."

After offering a crooked grin to his guest, Olacu left the half-empty tea pot on the table, and left Brym and Inti some privacy at the same time. While the merchant's son was still trying to decipher the meaning behind the rat's words, the general's daughter had already moved on.

"Sugar?" she asked, and held out a small dish of porcelain imported from Chutwa. Of course, the merchant with the sweet tooth graciously accepted.

"Thank you." While he shoveled mounds of sugar into his tea, he broached a more relevant subject. Usually, he would patiently wait until his opposite got nervous and asked the reason for his visit on their own. However, they had spent enough time on niceties by now, and Brym felt like he had lost control of the conversation ever since Olacu had appeared.

"Lady Inti, it has been too long. How have things been in the city?" he thus opened.

"Slow and chaotic, somehow both at the same time. Diplomatic relations between the three kingdoms have almost broken down." Inti sighed, before she took the sugar dish out of Brym's greedy hands and began to sweeten her own tea.

"We've struck a recent deal with Pachacutec," the merchant argued. After all, Corco's secret agreement with Pacha during the civil war had finally broken the southern kingdom's diplomatic isolation, something the intelligence expert Inti should have been well aware of.

"But that deal of yours was struck outside of Arguna, right?" she shot back and finally raised her tea for a silent toast.

"It did," Brym had to admit. In response, Inti sighed once more, though she sounded more bored than frustrated.

"The simple truth is that none of the three kings have been to Arguna in years," she explained. "Not even Pachacutec, who lives only a few days away from the capital, sees the need to travel here anymore. No one seems interested in the Triumvirate Meetings either. At the same time, the Ancestral Hall has been getting quieter, so they've been slowly losing influence. Thus, politics in the city as a whole have become stale. The Triumvirate Meetings have become toothless, mere afternoon teas in which three people without power play word games for marginal reputational gains. More and more, Arguna feels like the leftovers of a bygone era."

Well, this was well-rehearsed.

Clearly, this was an issue Inti had been concerned with for a long time, or she wouldn't have been able to deliver a rant so smooth it would have even impressed Corco.

"I understand that you're frustrated with your position," he began, but was interrupted by Inti.

"No, that's not quite right," she said. "I understand that my work's important. And there's plenty to do on the intelligence side. I'm just thoroughly bored with Arguna's politics. Maybe we can just get rid of the pointless Triumvirate Meetings already. That would already be a big relief for me."

"That is something we can only remedy once we take control of Arguna. In the first place, the Triumvirate Meeting was only ever meant as a stop gap measure, until one of the three kings manages to overpower or outlive the other two and is finally crowned emperor on the silver throne."

In response to Brym's empty promises, Inti just slowly stirred her rapidly cooling tea with an impassive face.

"So, what brings you back here to the city then, merchant boy?" she asked. "You're not here for that takeover you've just promised, are you?"

In the face of the girl's sarcasm, Brym retained his best service smile and shook his head.

"Heavens no. Any takeover attempt is still years away from us."

"How boring," she repeated as she put down her spoon with a tiny clink. "Then what do you need from me this time? Are you trying to sell something again?"

This wasn't the first time Brym had launched a new product in Arguna. After all, the giant metropolis atop the giant silver mine was still by far the richest city in the empire, despite Saniya's best efforts.

Beyond simple wealth, every winter in Arguna was 'banquet season'. Throughout banquet season, the lords from all across Medala would leave their estates to mingle in the capital. From the last harvest of the year until spring, the nobles would strike deals, forge alliances, or assassinate each other, depending on their mood. For this reason, winter was also usually the time when the Noble Assemblies were being held.

Thus, the banquet season was also the perfect time to launch new products in the capital. Once the products caught on and became fashionable, the lavish lords would spend a small fortune on the newest craze, and then they would return home and take said craze with them. Thus, they would doing marketing for Brym all across Medala, without receiving even a single piece of silver for their services. As a result, the 'Wonders of the World' loved to promote new products here first, just like this time.

"Yes, I am once again selling something new, though this time, it might be a bit different from before." As he spoke, Brym took out one of his bonds and pushed it across the table, before he explained further. "This is what I'm trying to sell. They're essentially debt slips in the name of the southern kingdom."

After a short read, Inti seemed to have understood the bond's contents. However, she looked at him with one of her brows raised, clearly unconvinced by the idea.

"And you think people are willing to buy them up here?" she asked. "No one in the central government will accept these as payment, nor would anyone in the two northern kingdoms."

"No, of course they won't." Brym laughed, in anticipation of his clever reveal. "But I'm not here to sell an investment, or a new currency. I'm here to sell favors."

"You lost me." Inti shrugged in an overly dramatic manner. "Please explain in a way that a dumb axe swinger like me can understand."

"I will even explain it well enough for a well-to-do noble lady," Brym corrected.

As the youngest daughter of a general whose family had only been blessed with a single son, Inti had been raised as a boy to take over the family affairs in the future. Even her name was a traditional man's name in Medala. Her her 'male education' had begun in earnest once her brother Fadelio had gone into exile together with the crown prince. As a result, she had certainly more masculine qualities than most Medalan women, something which always made her feel inadequate.

Once Brym could see his sly compliment produce returns in the form of a smile from across the table, he tried to explain his sales angle for the reconstruction bonds.

"First off, let's establish a baseline of understanding. I'm sure there are a lot of people in this city who would love to owe a favor to the King of the South. Especially with how the last war went, Corco's status should have skyrocketed."

"That much is true."

"So that's what I'm selling: The option to gain the favor of the southern king, and the ability to ask for the southern kingdom's support in times of crisis. After all, Medala has gone through one crisis after another in recent years, and political realities are in constant flux. Surely, many nobles or rich commoners would pay good money for a proper life-saving straw they can grab on to in times of crisis."

"What a smart idea," Inti concluded, much to Brym's delight. "I'm sure many would be tempted with such an offer. Though selling these bonds in the current Arguna might prove difficult. I've said it before, but the city's mood is quite peculiar these days."

"What do you mean, exactly?"

"Well," Inti dragged her words as she leaned forward. "That is something not easily explained with words alone. How about I show you around my city later, and then tell you where your strategy is lacking."

"Of course, Lady Inti. Nothing would please me more than the company of a beautiful noble lady."