242 Government Interference (1/2)
Although he seemed to be a bit suspicious of Sawo's plans, the old man stood up and motioned his followers to remain behind as he followed the former city lord. Unconcerned with their caution, Sawo led the old man behind the counter and into the back of their shop, towards a dark wooden door.
\”This is our storage facility for precious metals,\” he explained as he pulled out the heavy iron key. \”The door itself is made from heavy oak, as thick as a clenched fist is wide, and reinforced with high quality iron bands from Saniya's royal foundry. The lock was made by one of the city's new clock making masters, a genius feat of mechanics and impossible to either pick or destroy by would-be thieves.\”
Once the banker had opened the door, he let the merchant get a glimpse into the decently sized room. The old man said no word, no doubt overwhelmed by the sight. After all, the room's interior was entirely filled with the dim glitter of precious metals in the darkness.
\”Here is where we store all the property we have received from our customers. They are kept cool, dark and isolated to reduce discoloration on the metals. Copper is in the front, while the more precious metals are in the back.\”
Most of the room was taken up by the large sheets of copper every merchant had learned to dread over the past seasons. It was the fruit of their efforts over the past half a year. However, hidden away in the distant corners, one could spot an occasional shine of silver and even some gold. Of course, none of them were as impressive as they appeared at first glance.
The few silver coins inside the vault were the last bits they had left from their secret stashes. They were distributed in such a way that they would appear like a larger volume from a distance, hinting at piles were there were only pieces. At the same time, the 'gold' was nothing more than some brass they had bought from the foundry. In the dim light, it was impossible to distinguish from gold.
Although their goods weren't all the real deal, they had to get creative to convince their prospective patrons. Even more, due to their former status, it was easy for others to believe that they would possess gold and even some of the now rare royal silver. Most merchants had neither to offer, not even fakes.
\”As you can see, we possess ample funds, more than enough to handle one or two failures from our lending business. Are you satisfied?\”
The old man still remained silent. As if transfixed, he stared into the glimmer before him. Only after Sawo had closed the door and the fake wealth had disappeared did the merchant come back to his senses.
\”Can we talk about the details of our contract?\” he asked in a cracked voice, his mouth dried out from excitement.
In response, Sawo's smile became just a little bit brighter. As expected, his efforts had landed them another satisfied customer. At this speed, they would be able to open their own manufactories with ease, as soon as the king released their workers.
Once all the documents had been signed and the copper sheets had been weighed and exchanged for certificate notes, Sawo thanked his newest customers and led them out of his store. Once his patrons would leave, he would return to his position in front of the store to fish for some more easy money. The day was young and there was yet much money to extract from the plentiful tree of harvest season. However, as soon as the merchants had disappeared into the crowd, a light-skinned foreigner replaced them and walked towards him.
*Government worker,* Sawo identified right away. While many of these foreigners worked as craftsmen, none of them dressed like the man from the crowd. While many of the foreign craftsmen would wear the traditional clothes of their far-off homelands, the officials from the castle were required to wear something closer to Medalan dress. They wore pants like all their foreign brethren, but they also wore a short, dark-red robe above, which signified their warrior status. The man who came towards Sawo carried his robe in a flawless manner and had a posture as stiff as a broom. He already looked like trouble.
\”Good day, Sir. Would you be Sawo d'Ichilia, owner of the Sata coin exchange and money lending business?\” the king's man asked in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he already had all the answers.
\”I have not carried the name Ichilia in a long time, as I am no longer a servant of House Ichilia,\” Sawo answered, already annoyed. The warrior servants below the lords were always trouble, always eager to demonstrate or abuse their power in front of others. No one knew that better than him, so he preempted any attempts of belittlement through forward language of his own. \”I would prefer if you were not to use it.\”
\”That is fine, I can do that,\” the guest replied as if he hadn't heard the complaint in Sawo's voice. \”My name is Alyn, sir. Alyn di Pluritac. As you may guess from my name, I am a warrior servant by class and am sworn to King Corcopaca Titu Pluritac in the function of an official.\”
\”Ah, an official? What can this simple servant do for you?\” Although he didn't like the greedy king's government, his tone still changed to be more amiable. At least the servant had remained polite in the face of Sawo's provocation. Further, he could be boisterous towards prospective customers and dismissive of the commoners, but he had to tread with care when it came to servants of the crown. One wrong word towards a man of higher status and the king had an excuse to take off Sawo's head. He would rather not give him the opportunity. However, the new arrival ignored Sawo's servile tone just as he had ignored his light provocation from before.