Chapter 497 - Squares (Patreon)

On the day after the great battle of the Old Well, Sami forced his weary body back out of his hammock and off the ship to explore the city of Jurau. Over the next few days, as his face slowly turned from red to blue to black, he and Chanca visited the cloth wholesalers of Rasacopa to compare prices. Yet before they made a final decision on where they would reinvest their hard-earned coin, they extended their travels to places all across the city, as well as several spots outside. Through their extended trip, they aimed to get a better feel for the local conditions. Their ultimate goal, of course, was to make a more informed purchase. Though to satisfy Chanca, they also didn't forego the chance to enjoy the local sights for a bit.

First, they visited the vast cotton fields in the south-east of Rasacopa, between Jurau and Amchay Point, the south-eastern most part of the island. A vast network of rivers originated in the jungles around this area, which then combined and flowed towards Jurau, where it emptied into the green sea.

Since transportation of labor and lumber was the cheapest and least complicated around the rivers, the forest had been methodically cut down along their flow, and then the underbrush would be burned to remove the leftovers. After, the now-empty land of high-quality soil was divided into parcels for farming, all of which were collectively owned and run by newly built villages. It was a method of organization quite similar to what Sami had heard from locals around Saniya.

According to the local farmers, many of whom had come from Medala for the free land, the soil here was of outstanding quality, even without the use of fertilizer. Apparently, they weren't only growing cotton, but also some basic grain, as well as all kinds of exotic fruits and vegetables. Still, the cotton, as well as a strange grass — which was supposedly used for medicine — occupied the biggest portion of the plantation area. The cotton harvests from these farms were then transported along freshly built cement roads and irrigation canals all the way back to the river system, where they entered the many textile mills built along the shores to make use of the water power.

As Sami had expected, this operation was very similar to that in Saniya as well, where the areas around the Mayura River also formed the main industrial hub of the city, and even the entire kingdom. Small landowners would do farming to provide raw materials, which were then refined in large manufactories. Most of these large workshops were either owned by the government or big merchants, though recently, there had been an upsurge in cooperatives in Saniya. As far as Sami could tell, this was a development which hadn't reached Rasacopa quite yet. Though with or without worker cooperatives, the entire system had a comforting feeling of order to it, and at the center of this order stood the rivers, in good Yaku tradition.

Not only did these rivers allow for easy transportation of goods and raw materials. More importantly, the power of the rivers allowed for the use of power tools, which were the main difference between ordinary workshops and these large manufactories.

Just how Sami had seen automatic machines turn wood into rods or hammer steel into bars in Medala, here he saw machines which automatically spun thread or weaved cloth. Of course, these machines still needed human help to operate. However, the skilled hands of a single craftsman could lead such a machine to do the work of ten. As the gears and levers whirred around in dizzying motions to replace human effort, they created a mesmerizing image. For Sami it was certainly worth the bribe to the local overseers, just to get a peek into the government facility. Though even after their generous donation to the locals, they were constantly monitored while they were inside and could only see the machines from a long distance away, without a chance to study them up close. Just how Sami had expected, the vigilance towards spies was just as high in this place as it had been back home.

While Chanca couldn't do much with the view inside the manufactory, for Sami, it represented an inevitable future. Better yet, it was a future he could participate in, one he could use to further elevate his status in Medala's society. Just how the big merchants had suddenly risen in status during Saniya's first phase of construction — and just how they had then solidified their status during the lightning revolution — Sami was determined to be part of the second group of upstarts. At least in his mind, this group was sure to appear with the speed of Medala's current growth.

As he watched those spinning and weaving machines operate with the same order he had seen outside, he felt like this could be his way towards his goal. Though first, he would have to make his own trading business a success and earn enough money for the initial investment.

Thus, after quickly checking out the road which was meant to lead towards the newly discovered mines in the forests west of Jurau — they had only just begun construction and there wasn't much to see yet — there was no need to check any further. After a quick stop to stare at Jurau's famous fire jugglers — supposedly a religious practice, though to Sami it just looked like a good magic trick — they moved on with their original purpose. After all, they still had to face a long journey full of challenges before they could return back to Saniya with a cargo hold full of gold and silver.

After they had sold off their fertilizer and soap, they loaded many bulk consumption goods for the next leg of their journey. Though, bizarrely, Chanca still hadn't sold his shell craft.

After their ships were filled with many tons of cheap cotton cloth, a material they had finally decided on after comparing prices all across the city, they filled out the rest of their ships' capacity with some higher-quality cloth and local timber. Such diversification would lower their risk, just in case — against all odds — the cheap cloth would be difficult to sell in Chutwa. It would also get them a better feel for the value of the local wood resources — as well as their value overseas — in case they wanted to invest in that area in the future. After their money had been spent and their cargo holds were full again, they finally moved on with their journey.

On their way to Chutwa, they traveled ever farther west, which brought them ever farther away from the southern kingdom's center of power. Even so, their trip, strangely, felt safer than before. As they sailed beyond Rasacopa and through the western parts of the Verdant Isles, they saw a lot more medalan galleons, both merchant and military vessels.

Maybe, Sami thought, many merchants were visiting different Verdant Isles than Rasacopa to pick up different goods, but they finally all converged on the same route on their way to the Chutwa Empire. After all, the ancient empire had long been considered a true land of prosperity for any merchant, a place where the roads were plastered with gold and any man could get rich from just one visit.

Though Saniya's navy presumably wasn't only here to protect these merchants. Sami also believed that the navy fleets were focusing their pirate eradicating efforts on western Medala at the moment.

To reinforce this conjecture, they also traveled past several fortified defenses — and even a proper fortress — placed on the Bat Islands. The more he saw, the more he felt like the southern kingdom was slowly getting the pirate problem under control. Even further west, in the open waters east of Chutwa, they didn't encounter any trouble either. He didn't know if it was because the pirates had been scared away by the navy's presence or if they had just been lucky, but after the last, chaotic encounter with a Verduic warship, he was happy that they wouldn't have to tempt their luck again.

Thus, after a few more uneventful days, they eventually laid port in Hueatlan, an insignificant town in an insignificant province on the easternmost shore of the Chutwa Empire.

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If Sami had to describe the difference between the Verdant Folk and the people of Chutwa, he would say that the former were made of wood, while the latter were made of stone.

Like the wood of their ships, the Verdant Folk were naturals in water. Like the wood of their houses, they were flexible and malleable, able to easily adjust to all kinds of changes and lifestyles. And like the trees which surrounded their homes, they were closely in tune with nature.

Meanwhile, everything about the Chutwa people was stocky, hard-hearted, and, most peculiarly, square.

Even their fashion, from the helmets of their armies to the big shoulder pads and wide robes which seemed to be popular around here, made them look as square as the boxes the Suyana was carrying in her cargo hold. To match their fashion, their houses were stocky cubes of stone, surrounded by square walls, with small, square windows which barely let through any light. Truly, the choice of building material adequately reflected the different natures of these two peoples.

As Sami made such idle musings, he stood inside one of those stone cubes, and watched through one of those small stone windows as their crew unloaded their goods.

When they had docked at the harbor of Hueatlan — the capital of the Xallisco province — an extremely helpful official of the local lord had stood ready to greet them. As if they had been expected long in advance, the official had accepted all of their goods without any bargaining, offering them an excellent price for everything. Afterwards, Sami and Chanca had been led into a prepared guest room at the harbor. Here, they were to wait while all of their cargo was being counted and then moved into a warehouse. Of course, they were also free to leave and enjoy the city if they didn't care to supervise the process. Even a guide had been offered.

Although the entire process had been quite convenient, Sami also found it unnerving. Compared to everything that happened before, this part of their journey was going far too smoothly, almost as if something bad was bound to happen soon. Worst of all, he didn't like how it seemed like the people here already knew everything about them, while they themselves knew nothing about these Hueatlan officials in turn.

"So they'll just handle everything for us like this?" Sami asked Chanca, in hopes that his friend knew more than him. After all, his father-in-law had planned out a lot of their trip already. Most likely, this was just another step in Ekkoko's plan, and these officials had been informed by the gangster in advance. However, Chanca's response disappointed him.

"Seems like it," he just replied. Since his friend either didn't want to talk about Ekkoko's plan or didn't know any more than him, Sami didn't ask any further and just trusted that Chanca knew what he was doing.

"Shouldn't we help out with the unloading?" he asked instead. "Or at least check on the work of those officials, so none of our cargo gets lost anywhere?"

Just sitting here and doing nothing, Sami felt like he was losing control. Not to mention that he couldn't shake the feeling that these officials were up to no good. Although he knew that it was unnecessary, he still thought he had to do something. Predictably, the careless Chanca didn't appreciate the extra work.

"What are you checking?" he asked. "You know how much we had stored, right?"

"Of course. The archive is the most well-defended place on my entire ship. And I can tell you the contents of our cargo hold down to the gram," Sami said with pride rising in his chest.

"Then just count the money later, compare it with the price they offered and the amount we had stored, and then see if anything's missing," Chanca simply said. Of course, Sami also understood as much, but he just didn't want to sit idly by and watch others work for him. It made him uneasy. Still, he couldn't think of another excuse to join in, at least not for the moment.

"Fine, I won't bother then," he relented.

"As I said, you're working too hard." Chanca stood up and stretched his back before he added: "Come on, while our guys are earning their pay, let's check out a city of the famous Chutwa Empire. I want to see if the roads are really made of gold. And maybe we can check if there's anything good we can buy here."

Gratified that his friend had found something to do for them, Sami also stood up from his square seat made of hard wood with no cushioning. Indeed, before they would get all the money from their Verdant Isles goods, they had to determine their next cargo so they could spend it right away and not waste any time. Curious to explore the strange town of this powerful empire, Sami followed his friend out of the square door into the square city.