Chapter 506 - A Table's Tale (Patreon)

At the back entrance of the TaSa manufactory, in a yard meant to store goods before transportation, stood a newly produced table. Four legs and a top. A table wasn't complicated to make. However, even in simplicity, people always found ways to flaunt their expensive tastes and heavy wallets. This time was no different.

To distinguish this creation from ordinary run-off-the-mill tables, it had been fashioned with a heavy top made of a number of pieces, puzzled and glued together to create a complex pattern. Together with its dark color, it gave the whole object a heavy gravitas beyond most tables. Of course, such size also served to disguise the hidden compartment in the center of the hollow table top. To match the top, the legs were large as well, though as hollow as the top.

While much of the table had secrets to hide, a lot of work had been done to distract any observer from their discovery. Despite its hollow interior, the table had shallow markings along the length of its legs, to imply depth and make it appear more solid than it actually was. All openings to the hollow compartments were sealed with solid caps, which were twisted to fasten them in place. Most of all, the mahogany used in the table's construction created a luxurious marbled finish. Who would ever think that anyone would be wasteful enough to spend this much on a table which had been ruined with cheap tricks. After a polish, the expensive woods from the Verdant Isles showed their pattern in all their glory.

All in all, it was a strangely contradictory, yet also incredibly valuable work piece. Yet here it stood in the center of the TaSa manufactory's backyard, surrounded by the noise of the workshop and suffering under the heat of the midday sun, until someone finally deigned to transport it.

However, even then, it was roughly handled by rough hands. A loss of balance from the carrier almost pushed the table straight into the manufactory's walls. The sight caused great distress to one of the workers who had tried so hard to create this expensive piece of work.

The desk, of course, knew nothing about such humanly concerns. Still, if it had possessed ears, this is what it would have heard:

"Be careful where you're going, Kullu! We spent all day making that piece!"

"Shut up, Cusi! You're just some little worker. You wanna teach me how I do my job?"

"Of course not, great master Kullu. Never, great master Kullu."

"That's what I thought. Now get out of the way before you get yourself hurt."

"Of course, I would never-"

"What's going on here, then?"

"Boss Cado! Kullu here just-"

"Nothing's going on, Cado. Just take care of your own stuff."

"Cusi, tell me what happened."

"I..."

"Don't look at him, Cusi, I asked the question. And you stay still, Kullu. I'm still in charge of this place. If I write you up, even you will get in trouble with the master. Now, Cusi. Tell me what happened."

"I just told Master Kullu here that the table is an expensive work piece, so he ought to be careful when he moves it. I know it was presumptuous. Master Kullu knows best, I'm sure. He has transported many such pieces in the past after all."

"That's right. I know how to do it. Don't butt in if you know what's best for you."

"Cusi's right. You should be extra careful with that piece, Kullu."

"And what is it to you, Cado, the great lord of the workshop? You think you can order me around like those cowards in there? You think I'll grovel and call you boss?"

"No, but if there's a conflict, the masters will get involved. Tawo will stand on my side, since I'm in the right right."

"Hah! I'd like to see that."

"And Master Sawo will stand on my side too, since the table was so expensive to make. It'll be a big order, too, if we can get it. You think the master will praise you if you ruin it? But you keep damaging the master's property all you like. I'm done trying to save your ass."

"...it don't look that expensive."

"You know how those rich folk are. The money men in the city all want to look humble and poor at a glance, and then show off to their friends in private. The whole table's made from precious wood, and then there's the hidden compartments. This one was even made based on the customer's own specifications, had to be exact down to the millimeter. That level of precision — and extra manual labor — has a price. If you throw it around the backyard and something shifts inside, all the measurements will be off, and then we can forget about a successful delivery, and the subsequent order."

"Cado, you don't think Master Sawo only cares about money, do you? I know where this precious table of yours is going. You've made a deal with those damn veteran bastards next door! You think if I damage their precious table, Master will care? He'll only praise me for ruining the good deeds of those cripples. And you, you better be ready for Master's punishment. You dare to work with Master's enemies in secret, accept their order? You won't be in charge here for much longer, you'll see!"

"It's not one table. If the Veteran Arms people are happy with our product, we are to deliver a total of fifty, for now. It might end up being even more. That could be a long-term deal worth thousands of Sila. You really think Sawo won't care about that much money?"

"Who knows if any of that really is true? They might just use that weird hollow table to spread lies about our workmanship. That must be why they wanted it built so weird in the first place."

"It wasn't even the Veteran Arms people who made the order. They're just meant to receive our work. Rather, the order came directly from the Finance Department, straight out of Rapra Castle."

"Bullshit."

"If you don't believe me, then you can keep damaging the piece and see if it's true for yourself. See what happens. Kullu, didn't you work in a prisoner camp for a while? If you mess up the government order on purpose, I won't be held responsible. You can go back to hard labor by yourself."

"Whatever. I'll do it. I just have to be careful, right? You happy with that?"

"Good luck then, great master Kullu. And you better forget about the crown's involvement. I'm only telling you because you're going to make trouble otherwise. But really, the entire deal is supposed to be between our two manufactories, officially."

"What does that even mean?"

"It means 'do your work and shut up'. And I'll do mine and make sure that by the end of the day, our profits are up and all our workers still alive."

"Whatever."

Again, rough hands held the table. This time, they didn't throw it around, but they carefully scraped its side against the bricks of the workshop.

"What did I just say!?"

"You said all that matters is the inside measurement, right? If I scuff it up a bit, they can't say anything. And if they don't want trouble with the officials, those bastards'll have to fix it themselves."

"Then you deal with the fallout if anything goes wrong. Don't say I didn't warn you."

-----------------------------

Three days later, the table sat in a storage room of the Veteran Arms Company. By this time, all the secret compartments of the table had been filled with their planned contents and sealed up completely. From the outside, the table now looked even more ordinary, even simpler. Even under careful observation, no one would be able to determine what was inside at all. Or at least, that was the claim a current, careful observer of the table tried to confirm.

As he inspected the work piece up and down, his fingers ran along the wood. The table felt none of it, of course. But if it could, it would have felt the fingers slide across its roughed up exterior. Between its construction and now, many scratches had been added to the surface, all caused by improper transportation. Not only the table would have found this unpleasant — if it had any feelings — but so did the man who was doing the inspection.

"What's with this shoddy workmanship?"

"That's how it was delivered from the TaSa manufactory, Lord Brymstock."

"Please, Brym is fine, Master Alcer."

"This humble man has never learned a trade, and cannot call himself master. Just Alcer will do, Lord Brymstock."

"Whatever you like. So you're saying it was sent over like this?"

"It was. We have documentation, in which we have recorded all the damage we found when we received the work. This has been confirmed by an independent, third party. We also decided to leave the work piece in its original state, so Lord Brymstock can confirm the damage for himself."

"Is that so?"

"No need to worry, Lord Brymstock. The damage is only superficial, and can be repaired within a single day, without leaving a single trace. We have already checked the entire work piece and all the internal mechanisms and measurements inside the table are completely fine. All of our own additions fit the table perfectly, exactly to lord's specifications."

"That's fine and all, but you can see why I would be worried, right? Now it's obvious that there's something wrong with the table. You can't sell it like this. We can't afford to be sloppy with something so important. It's not exactly my usual type of work in the first place, so I would prefer it if everyone was careful."

"Lord Brymstock, we have already reprimanded the uncouth fool who dared to damage the crown's own table. If Lord were to punish him further, the fools of the TaSa manufactory would surely not dare to make trouble for Lord's grand plans again."

"Okay, I get it."

"In that case, Lord may wish to know that the man's name is Kullu, and he was already a prisoner in a labor camp in the past. I hear he used to be a bandit before. This servant suggests locking him away permanently, as he has clearly not learned his lesson from last time."

"No, I meant, I get why you didn't repair the table before I got here."

"Pardon?"

"Yes, I will pardon you, but only this once."

"..."

"Now let me piece together what really happened here, and then you tell me how close I got. The worker who sent this table here dinged it up a bit, because he has a personal grudge with your people."

"Lord-"

"Then, when you saw the damage, rather than fix it, you painstakingly preserved it, to make sure I would get angry at this Kullu person, because you have a personal grudge against him as well."

"Lord, we would never-"

"I already know that there's been some friction between you and the TaSa manufactory next door. Rapra Castle is well-informed, and I would never give away a crucial order like this without vetting the relevant workshops first. And don't think I didn't notice how you keep mentioning the TaSa manufactory — and this Kullu — by name, to make sure I would know who's at fault. Not everyone's an idiot, so I suggest you don't try using a minister of the kingdom as your knife. Had you done this to someone less benevolent than me, it would not have ended well for you."

"Lord Brymstock, I profusely apologize. This was a horrendous lapse in judgment, which will never happen again!"

"Haaah... Do you have any idea why I hired your two companies to do this work, even though I already knew there's a grudge between you?"

"Maybe it was to get both sides to work together? Lord Brymstock must be eager to create harmony within the kingdom."

"Though it may sound rude, I don't particularly care about your store's harmony. Rather, this work is not something that can be done by anyone else. You should be aware of the delicate nature of this order, and I'm sure a smart man like yourself can already guess why the kingdom's own manufactories cannot have any direct ties to this project."

"It's more discreet this way, since the government projects are no doubt attracting more eyes from other kingdoms."

"Yes, spies are one thing, but outsourcing our work also gives us plausible deniability... Well, you don't really need to know details like that. Still, by now, you should now have noticed what kind of work you're doing, and what the purpose of a table like this could be."

"I don't understand, Lord Brymstock."

"But you do. If you're willing to play stupid to protect yourself I'd call it a smart move, but it just means I will have to be more direct. What we're doing here is not exactly above board. Especially in the volumes I want, the purpose of these tables should be plenty clear. You should have also realized that these tables won't end up in Saniya. They will be sent elsewhere, in preparation for a great cause. Do you get it? This work is larger than any one of us. It is crucial for the future of Medala itself. Will you let your petty squabbles get in the way of the kingdom's very future?"

"No, Lord Brymstock. Of course not. I shall warn all partners in the company to treat this work as the most important in the shop, and I will guarantee you that no member of Veteran Arms will argue with the people of the TaSa manufactory anymore, at least until our work is completed."

"Good. Still, I should take part of the blame. I did not expect your conflict to be severe enough to impact this order. It seems I also need to go over to the other side and warn them separately."

"I still suggest a harsh punishment for Kullu, the man is a careless fool who will endanger us all."

"Don't overdo it, even if you're off the hook for now. Remember your promise, and who you made it to. Haaah, I should have never volunteered to take on this kind of work. I'm really not made for it. Who knows how long it'll take just to get the first order ready."

Hermit's Notes: 

First of two late chapters. 

It's a bit of a weird one, from an object's perspective and thus with almost no narration. I thought it was an interesting way to do things, and also wanted to make the chapters shorter to wrap everything up quickly. It ended up feeling a lot like writing a play, which I've never done, so that's why I struggled a bit with it.

I hope everything still makes sense even without narration. If you're confused at any point, please tell me and I'll try to fix it.