20 Faith and Greed (1/2)
Corco could already smell, and hear, the bullshit long before he reached the door to the Great Hall of the Merchant's Union.
”So where's this great seer now? Where is his respect towards this hallowed hall? Maybe the charlatan has seen that the merchants of Etra will no longer fall for his scams and the coward has decided to run before he is unmasked?”
Corco knew the voice well and, with a thought back to the man's habitual, shameless sneer, he considered just turning around and leaving them to their own devices. Still, he had to do what had to be done, even if he was forced to save a few assholes in the process.
”No entry!” the militiaman said with pretended strength in his voice, flustered at Corco's aggressive posture and swift movements. Clearly, the guard of the merchant's union wasn't a cultivator, but instead a simple man recruited form one of the city's craftsman's guilds. Although Etra, as a free city, didn't have any knights at their disposal, at least they could have splurged on a few decent mercenaries.
”If nothing else, we should consider the offer that was made by Master Fastgrade. It is free ware, after all.” Another unpleasant voice reached Corco from beyond the door, but at least this one didn't make his blood boil over.
As an answer to the guard's order, the prince shoved the man to the side. Flustered as he was, the militiaman didn't even have the presence of mind to draw his cheap sword. With this level of ability, trying to hold off the Bornish armies was laughable. It would be up to the Fastgrade company to organize the mob and give them a fighting chance.
The cheap wooden door blew open from Corco's kick and revealed the self-possessed old men inside. With the densely packed, high-backrest chairs, set up in two opposing rows, the arrangement reminded Corco a bit of a claustrophobic version of the British parliament in his memories. The Great Hall of Etra was, on any other day, a place of arbitration between merchant houses. Today however, all members of Etra's union had collected here to debate on the upcoming crisis. Rather, they should have talked about the incoming Bornish attack, but were instead stuck on trying to denounce their newest member. All of that had been interrupted by the denounced's, by Corco's entry. Standing in the center, between the rows of seats, a large man with a tiny nose turned to face Corco, now that his accusations had been interrupted.
”Who're you calling a coward, Trellban?”
Though he was surprised at first, Trellban's dull look of confusion soon made way for his faked, off-brand anger.
”Oh, it seems the great seer has found his heart at last. I wonder, why else but for fear would the seer of the lordships appear only now, when he was the one to call the meeting in the first place?”
”Traffic jam,” Corco answered in a dry tone.
”Huh?”
”I had some stuff to get first, to make sure this meeting doesn't get out of hand. There's too much at stake to risk the bullshitters getting away.” Rather than explain his own personal joke, Corco pointed to Brym, who had silently followed the prince along on his storm of the Great Hall. Now called upon, the youngster raised the heavy leather bag he held in his hand, filled with wonders.
”...in that case, I believe we should continue.” A voice came from the left. Corco looked up ahead and found Devaerter sit among his peers, giving the prince a cold look. Since Atau's last journey on a Devaerter ship, the relationship between Fastgrade and Devaerter had considerably soured. Not only had they failed to deliver the goods and return the money, no. By the time the ship had made its way back to Etra, it was practically totaled. However, trouble over the damages was the least of their concerns.
In the end, all those problems didn't even begin to match up to the dead captain Rickert, a man who had been close to Devaerter for many years. Even though reports from the crew showed that Atau couldn't be faulted for the incident, Devaerter never seemed fully convinced. In the end, they came to an agreement and smoothed out their differences, but for now, their relationship was strictly limited to business, with the old merchant trying visibly to distance himself form the Fastgrade people. Corco could feel their space inside Etra shrinking, as more and more merchants decided to stand against them. Still, at least the old Arcavists would stand on his side, at least so long as the Reverers inside the Hall remained the threat to Etra's order they had been in recent months.
”I agree with the speaker. Let us answer the relevant questions, one at a time, now that all parties are present,” Trellban added. Meanwhile, Corco took his seat within the assembly, with Brym taking a stand by his side. After his first few meetings, the prince had mostly stayed away from the dry discussions. He really couldn't stand the greed and pettiness the merchants would show towards each other, and even more so towards outsiders. This sort of morally bankrupt behavior was something he was determined to root out. Let the values of enlightenment rule over the countries of the earth, that was his noble goal. Unaware of the grand ambitions before him, Trellban continued with his selfish speech, fueled by greed.
”Now then, if the speaker may. Before all else, I believe it would be dangerous to let these weapons inside our fair city, even more so weapons which are so firmly owned by a single personage, namely Master Fastgrade, as he is suspect already. A servant to the northern lordships, he could turn against the people of Etra with but a simple order from his northern lords.”
Loud complaints rose from the left, from the Arcavists around Devaerter, while Trellban's Reverers clapped in accord.
”You're saying that with all those guns I'd try to, what, conquer the city?” slack-jawed, Corco stared at Trellban. He had been prepared for a lot, but he really couldn't believe the slimeball's newest achievements in nonsense.
”What else could all those weapons be for, enough to arm a private force?”
”The guns are to protect the city and they're not going to my people alone. We've brought over a hundred, so where are all these loyal soldiers gonna come from? I don't even have that many permanent workers, even if I include all the chicken-breasted accountants who couldn't tell apart a barrel from a butt. The guns are to arm the guild militias of Etra, to help them defend our city in time of crisis.”
Trellban only scoffed in response, arms crossed. Consequences be damned, Corco really felt like slapping that smirk off of his punchable face.