Chapter 491 - Captain (Patreon)

So that makes 104 tons of fertilizer bound for the Verdant Isles, which checks with our sales receipt. Very nice, no problems here.

The brand-new ship's most secure cargo hold was placed in the lower deck. Despite its position below sea level, it was dark, but dry, and was now filled with a pungent smell owed to their first ever cargo.

Sami rubbed his nose to drive away the biting stench and quickly wrote down a confirmation in his written calculations, before he looked over his notes one more time. Although he was sure that the details had been considered well, he still wouldn't feel satisfied until he reexamined all the work he had done today, just to be safe.

Apart from the fertilizer, their ship had also loaded forty-seven tons of soap. He hoped to sell both on the Verdant Isles. Though to his surprise, it had been his friend Chanca who had suggested both goods to be transported.

Even if he was usually critical of Chanca's judgment, Sami didn't complain about either choice. Based on his own assumptions, both goods would be worthwhile investments. Right now, Saniya and the Verdant Isles were nominally ruled by the same people, King Corcopaca and Queen Sumaci. It was reasonable to assume that their rulers would implement many of the same policies in both kingdoms. Thus, the popularization of soap in Saniya would surely be followed over there as well, so they would surely find many willing buyers for their soap in Rasacopa.

As far as the fertilizer was concerned, the crown had taken great pains to reclaim ever more farmland in the marshes around Saniya. They had also implemented a policy which promised large tracts of land to anyone who was willing to go to the Verdant Isles and work there as a farmer. Before Ulan's pregnancy, he had even considered going himself, which was how he knew about the policy in the first place.

Thus armed with knowledge, he was certain that those migrants would need plenty of fertilizer for all their newly reclaimed farms on the Verdant Isles. Though in the first place, he really didn't need to put that much thought into it. Saniya's artificial fertilizer was a precious good he could sell anywhere, no matter how much he bought.

That, of course, was the main problem. Even if Sami knew that the fertilizer was a valuable trade good, he could have never bought any of it by himself. As one of the miracle king's great inventions — as well as one of Saniya's specialty products — sale of the fertilizer was heavily restricted. Only vetted individuals would have the chance to even apply for a purchase order at the royal manufactory. Although Sami didn't know the details, he was certain that Chanca's connections through his father-in-law had made the difference in their purchase, just how they had made the difference in the purchase of their ships, at least when it came to the price.

After Sami had checked his numbers once again, he turned towards Titu, his ship's purser, who was responsible for the administration of the ship's cargo and supplies.

"Titu, take this and enter it into the ship's archive. Make sure to avoid mistakes, these numbers are now the most important piece of knowledge aboard this ship," he emphasized, while he handed over his notes.

"Aye, captain," the man replied, and took the notes with him up to his cabin on the orlop deck. Since his work here was done as well, Sami followed the man, though not before he had secured his property first. Finally finished, he thought, as he closed up the metal grate behind him, locked their cargo up with a key, and walked up the wooden stairs.

Over the course of the day, Sami had checked all of their cargo once again, to make sure they weren't running light on any of their load. After all, any gram of goods would be worth coin in Rasacopa, the destination of their journey. As a new merchant who was about to run his first route, he couldn't afford to waste anything. Luckily, profits on this dangerous route would be very generous, at least if everything went to plan.

This had become even more true ever since the war had intensified. At the moment, the crown's own navy was too busy fighting the Colored Kings and didn't have the capacity to support the Verdant Isles with necessary goods. Thus, Rasacopa needed to be supplied by private merchants, even the medalan troops stationed there. Although the current state of affairs would make their trip a good bit more dangerous, it would also net them nice, large profit margins for essential products like the ones on his ship. Though not everyone had the same focus and foresight as the young captain.

Sami's own vessel had only loaded fertilizer and soap, but Chanca had insisted on buying some porcelain as well, much to Sami's confusion. They were going to travel west. The people of the Verdant Isles were still embroiled in a war and had no interest in luxury goods, nor the money to buy them. Meanwhile, the Chutwa Empire further west was the source of the best porcelain in the world. The most excellent examples of such products weren't called 'Chutwa glaze' for nothing, after all.

Still, Chanca had reassured him that he already had a buyer for their cargo lined up, though he wouldn't say who. In the end, Sami had just stopped asking once his friend had mentioned his father-in-law again. After all, the former carpenter with a preference for safety really didn't want to get dragged into criminal activity, at least not any more than he already was. Thus, he had simply accepted that they might be carrying some worthless cargo — or possibly hidden smuggled goods inside — and left it at that.

All the more reason to make sure nothing goes wrong with the rest of our freight, he thought as he made his way up to the ship's orlop deck. Here, hidden behind the hammocks for the crew, he could see their cannons tied up and stowed away next to their corresponding gunports.

As he walked through the deck towards the next set of stairs, sailors everywhere greeted him politely with a salute and a "Captain." At first, such respect had been a strange feeling for Sami, who had always been a worker and never a master, but he had quickly gotten used to it. After all, the total size of his crew was a full thirty-five souls, so aboard his ship, he would hear the same words of respect over and over again.

Now that he was a master of this great vessel, he no longer had to feel inadequate when he received the respect of the men he was now responsible for. Still, from time to time he had to remind himself of his new responsibility. Otherwise, he would have floated away from overconfidence.

Their ship — the Suyana — was a mid-sized galleon, about 38 meters in length and with a total displacement of 350 tons. As a hybrid between a merchant ship and a military vessel, there was plenty of room for cannons, as well as cargo. In total, a fully stocked galleon of this size and make would be able to carry 22 guns in total. This included six 6-kilo cannons on each side of the orlop deck, four smaller 4-kilo cannons on the sides of the upper deck, and another two 4-kilo cannons each as chaser guns on the bow and stern.

Though their actual equipment didn't end up being quite so complete, despite Chanca's connections. Still, his friend had somehow managed to buy them six of the large cannons, and another six of the small ones for this ship alone. Thus, he had three 6-kilo and two 4-kilo guns on each side, as well as two more in the back.

For his chaser guns, Sami had opted against installing any in the front. After all, he was going out there to earn a living, not to chase down other ships. If there ever was a violent engagement and their enemies turned to flee, there was no reason to pursue them, as far as Sami was concerned. Instead, he would much rather stay on course and deliver the valuable goods in his cargo hold. In that regard, these weapons certainly gave him some peace of mind.

Any pirates who stood in their way would be in for a rude awakening. After all, who would expect such an excessive amount of force from a mere merchant ship? Still, they were traveling into dangerous waters, and some pirates may be stupid, or desperate, enough to attack them anyways. They had to be prepared for anything. One day, these weapons could be the difference between a successful delivery of their goods and a life of slavery, or even death.

Thus, Sami had checked the workmanship on all the cannons, as well as the quality of their powder and cannon balls over and over, to guarantee everything was in order. In fact, Sami had checked just about everything on the Suyana, from the bow to the stern and the mast to the keel. Putting together the rations alone had been a whole ordeal, from hard tack, to smoked ham, and lemon water, which apparently was one of the many innovations King Corcopaca had personally introduced into his fleets.

It had been a bit more than a moon since they had bought their ship at Saniya's stock exchange. In that time, Sami had spent most of his days at the harbor buying drinks for the old sailors, eager to learn everything there was to learn about the seafaring business. At the same time, he had taken extra lessons to learn more about business at the royal school. To his luck, he had found a special course designed for those who wanted to start their own company, but didn't know as much as the basics of running one.

Through relentless effort, Sami couldn't quite claim to be an expert on anything related to the merchant business, but at least he now knew enough to check that all the work from his hired people was in order. For him, that much was the minimum requirement if he wanted to come along on the Suyana's first journey.

As a shareholder with a ten percent stake in the ship, of course he didn't have to join this dangerous trip at all. Instead, he could simply stay at home and wait for the crew to do the work for him, and then count his money upon their return. However, it didn't feel right doing it that way, and neither did it feel safe.

He had invested all of his family's fortune in this endeavor, so he was obligated to supervise every detail. He had to make sure that their first journey would be a success, and also that his fresh crew wouldn't be tempted to simply run away with his property if he left them to their own devices. At least that much responsibility, he owed his wife and unborn child.

Beyond the weight of responsibility, he would also feel useless if he just wasted away at home while others were working hard to earn money for himself. His yearning for the exotic sights of foreign countries were a secret extra reason for his journey, of course, one he couldn't even tell his wife.

Whatever the reason, he now had begun to understand the ins and outs of sailing, which meant he could check on the work of his crew. Due to his nature, he wouldn't rest until he had guaranteed perfection, to maximize their chances of success and put his mind at ease.

Thus, apart from studying, he had also spent the best part of the month checking their ships completely, up and down, again and again pointing out and fixing even the smallest problems he could spot. He had even slept on the ship most days and had the sailors take it out around the harbor a few times, just to get used to the swaying, and to establish and internalize a proper chain of command while stakes were still low.

In contrast, Chanca's attitude had been a lot more casual. He had also hung around the harbor for most of last month, but only because it was the territory controlled by his father-in-law Ekkoko. As a result, Sami would sweat aboard his ship and watch as Chanca walked around the pier and accepted free drinks and cheap flattery from all kinds of people, all of whom were eager to gain favor with his gangster father. From Sami's perspective, his friend was enjoying his time off as others did the heavy lifting for him.

Though of course, Sami had no right to complain. He understood that Chanca had put down most of the money for their ships, and also that he was responsible for providing the connections they needed to trade oversees in the first place.

Without him, they wouldn't even be able to get a place to dock, nor a warehouse to store their goods over the past month. In the first place, they wouldn't even have been able to buy many of their goods without Chanca's help, nor their cannons, the only reason he was confident to sail west. Just through Ekkoko's support, Chanca was already doing more work for them than Sami ever could, without lifting a single finger.

Since Sami already felt indebted to his friend, he didn't mind taking over most of the practical work. Otherwise, he would have felt completely useless, just collecting money because his friend was nice enough to take him along for the ride. After all, Chanca was rich enough, or at least his father-in-law was. They certainly didn't need the pitiful savings from Sami's family to help them buy a ship. Thus, the only reason to bring him along — apart from their old friendship and maybe Chanca's pity — was Sami's critical and detail-oriented nature. It was this nature he aimed to show to its fullest to guarantee great profits.

Still, as he watched Chanca play around, he couldn't help but feel torn between a sense of gratitude and responsibility, as well as annoyance at his friend's laziness. While he climbed up the steps to the main deck, he reminded himself to focus on his own faults, and to not judge his friend too harshly.

Hermit's Notes: A bit of a slower one this time, more of a setup chapter, so we know the setting we will spend some time on from now. I also thought such a walk through a ship might be neat, I hope it wasn't too dry.