Herald of Steel

Chapter 948

The merchant caravan slowly made their way through the immaculate road, taking in the vistas around them.

There were the usual greenery- trees, forest, shrubs, ponds, and even s small swamp, along with vast swathes of farmlands that the farmers and their children could be seen toiling away at.

Inter dispersed between these long stretches of wilderness, there were various small inns, taverns and other shops and settlements.

Almost all of them looked brand new, and many more were under construction, while the few pre exsiting ones seemed to be undergoing renovations to expand and accommodate the increased demand.

And looking at all these, Jamiz reminisced gruffly, his eyes turning a bit glassy,

"None of this existed even when we left for Zanzan. It was all trees and swamp. And look at it now."

The old man had followed behind Alexander's army as a simple wine merchant all the way back during the conquest of Thesalie, and so had a hard time believing that in less than two years, the place that changed so much.

"Yeah. Give it a few years and many of these places will turn into towns." And his son was quick to chip in with his own prediction, then turning to his father suggested, "Perhaps we should try to buy some land around here. We have the money."

The father and son had indeed made a killing from serving Alexander's men as well as taking part in some looting.

So for the moment, they did not lack gold.

In fact, they might have come to possess a bit too much gold as they actually had a hard time moving the enormous amount.

"Hmmmm… that's not a bad idea. A shop here would be quite good," Hence Jazum seriously ruminated on the suggestion, his brows furrowing as he weighed the pros and cons.

And after a while came to the following conclusion.

"Let's see. The pasha has not made any announcement on how these lands are going to be distributed. We can talk to the land officers after that notice is made."

"....." The son curtly nodded to this.

The ownership of these lands was indeed under contention as local forces contested against Alexander's authority.

Officially, much of these lands belonged to the Pasha of Zanzan.

However they were never utilized because of their low value, and instead left to the local populace to govern by themselves.

But this was clearly about to change.

And sensing this change in the wind, those locals who were smart enough, started to build various inns, taverns, and other establishments on their forefathers' soil, funding this growth from all the battlefield loot they had taken.

All so that Alexander would have a hard time displacing them.

This option was certainly not available to Jamiz and his family, who were from Zanzan.

In fact, they were not even from Zanzan but technically from the capital Adhan and had followed Alexander when he came here for the very first time.

Thus realizing the opportunity was likely to be missed, Niloy could not help but let out a small regretful sigh, "... its too bad we do not have any connection with the local shahebs. That would have made things so much easier."

'Shaheb' was simply a general colloquial term for the local officers, employed by any nobles, be it Alexander or other nobles.

They were even lower than the 'netas' who were appointed as supervisors of an area by the ruling lord.

But for people like Jamiz and Niloy, they might as well be their lords.

And from what the young man was saying, it was pretty easy to discern his intentions.

Put simply, he wished he could bribe one of these shahebs to have them report to Alexander's registry that they were local residents and this land belonged to them.

That was the best and fastest way of getting a plot here.

And his father seemed to agree with his son's plan, ruefully commenting, "Yeah. If we could just set up a shop here, then nothing could remove us. We just need a chance to build that shop."

The experienced old merchant could easily see how this place would soon be booming like a bustling town center.

And his heart itched to have a piece of that pie.

But unfortunately, he was not the only one with this keen eyesight.

Many other merchants too could spot the obvious signs and many of them had much better connections.

The bribes here would not be cheap.

"Let… let me see if I can talk to your uncle about it." But Jamiz was anything if not tenacious.

So despite the challenges, he muttered so, his wizened eyes suddenly turning bright and lively.

This 'uncle' that Jazim was talking about was one of his younger brothers, who worked as a mid level foreman in Alexander's cement plant.

And due to the sensitive nature of the place, and the man's own charisma, he got to rub shoulders with a lot of higher ups of Zanzan.

At least higher up for these common people.

The man had helped Jazim in his business in the past,

And so the old merchant hoped he would also be able to help him this time.

The trading caravan would not be able to make it to Zanzan by nightfall of that day, due to a sudden, immense storm hitting them around midday, with violent gales and thunderous rainfall

lasting for hours.

Thus the large convoy was forced to seek shelter in one of the new settlements, with the merchants taking refuge in the surrounding few inns.

A delay that certainly annoyed Jamiz as the old man could be heard grumbling,

"Stupid rain. Stupid brat! I told you, you should have driven faster. It cost us 30 ropals to stay here. By Ramuh! Why don't they just rob us blind and be done with it! Darm…we are gonna be so late. We …."

Towards this continuous ranting, the son simply kept his mouth shut and let his aged father continue in his senile escapade.

There was no way he could have just 'driven faster' since they were traveling in a group.

Neither would it have worked anyway given the distance they still needed to cover.

But he knew trying to explain these would simply invite another torrent of heavy rebuke.

Thus zoning the droning man out, Niloy instead decided to focus on the food that he had ordered.

It has just arrived and looked absolutely delicious.

"Here are your orders, sirs. Piping hot cow intestines, cooked in onion soup. Along with grilled pork and a side of pickled vegetables." The local serving maid sweetly smiled as she laid down the items, before also planting two large plates containing a few loaves of baked bread.

This inn only served one kind of bread and it came as complementary along with the other items.

"Hahaha, great, great. It smells so nice.."

The aromatic fragrance of the good food instantly put the son in a very good mood, as he produced a very frank smile.

While the maid, having finished placing all these, then flashed another flattering smile.

"Please start sirs. I will get you your wines right away," before turning to get the large earthen pitcher.

As the father son duo began to dig in, they certainly found the taste to be well worth the money.

The 30 ropals cost for the night that Jazim had claimed was the all inclusive amount for the two of them.

And although this might sound like a lot, almost a farmer's weekly earnings, if one saw the breakdown of the cost, then it was really not that much.

In that 30 ropals was included a shelter for their cart and feed for their two horses, which cost the inn 8 ropals to provide.

The rich, extravagant food they ordered for the two cost 6 ropals to make, while the wine, which had the highest margin, still cost 5 ropals for the amount requested.

The cost of the accommodations came to around 3 ropals for the two rooms, and 2 ropals were charged as the 'protection' fees for the local gangs.

So the inn's profit for even this large sale was only 6 ropals.

Or a farmer's daily earnings.

Now, this was not small.

But nothing extravagant either.

Niloy, being a merchant himself calculated this inside his head until the local beauty returned with their drinks.

Then looked up to find that the local beauty was actually quite attractive.

Particularly, her red freckles seemed to be very fetching.

Thus, as the maid was pouring him his drink, the young merchant very stealthily pushed two ropals into her hands, giving her a very obvious smile.

After a hard day's travel, Niloy also sought to sate his other urges.

And the maid accepted too, also giving a very charmingly smile in return, before lightly lowering her head and whispering in a wanting tone,

"I will try to finish my shift quickly dear customer. I promise you will not have to wait long."

There was a reason why she had been so considerate to these customers.

Because she instantly smelled wealth coming from these two.

Their get up, the caravan they came in, and even the order they made.

Everything gave them away instantly as wealthy merchants.

And from her previous experience, these patrons were usually very generous with their 'bedtime tips'.

For reference, whereas normal customers paid 4 to 5 ropals for the night, rich merchants could pay 8 to even as far as 10 ropals.

Thus the maid was perhaps even more eager than Niloy to get into his pants.

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