Chương 354: 349. Pydaso - I

Pydaso sat in the manor hall across from Kivamus, Duvas, Hudan, and Feroy. Gorsazo had already left for the evening classes in the longhouses. The evening candles flickered against the wooden walls, and the merchant looked tired but pleased with himself, his cloak still dusted from travel.

"Th e journey took about twenty-two days," Pydaso began.

"Mostly uneventful, thankfully. Though the gate guards in Ulriga did stop me. They insisted on checking everything in my wagon to make sure I wasn't smuggling anything." He chuckled dryly.

"For a moment, I thought I was done for—but they never found the hidden compartment. Our little secret cargo stayed safe." Duvas closed his eyes briefly and muttered a quick prayer under his breath.

"Thank the goddess..." Kivamus leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

"All right, then. Tell me how it went." Pydaso shrugged.

"I have both good news and bad news, my lord. The good first. I spoke with that Ulrigan trader, and he was basically foaming at the mouth when he saw what I had. Once I showed him the losuvil powder and let him see its effect, he immediately agreed to buy as much as I could bring him. The price was a bit high for him at first, but I still managed to negotiate him to our expected prices.

He'll take a hefty commission for keeping the real source hidden, but even then, I can keep buying from you at twenty silver per tablet." He leaned back, pride in his voice.

"He even paid me in advance for the two hundred tablets I promised to deliver next time. So before I leave again, I'll need those tablets from you. After that, we can talk about another advanced order." Kivamus nodded slowly. Syrene had mentioned a few days ago that she was in the final stage of processing the first batch of losuvil leaves. Once the powder was ready, it would take only a few hours to make the tablets, assuming the tablet press was ready by then.

She'd also started working on the next batch from the new leaves which the hunters had brought, though that one was still at an early stage.

"Unfortunately," Kivamus said, "a big group of bandits raided us recently, and that caused some delays. But don't worry—the tablets should be ready within two or three days. I hope you can wait that long." Pydaso sighed, then gave a small nod.

"It's not ideal, but after hearing what the village went through, I can't complain. I'm just glad to see everything still standing. It'll mostly be a waste of my time staying here for three days, but I can manage. Although I can talk to Kigeir and Dalaar in my free time to see how they're doing. Anyway, if I'm late reaching Ulriga, I'll just tell that trader that one of my wagons broke an axle and I had to wait to get it repaired."

"That'll work," Kivamus said.

"But what about his reliability? Can he be trusted not to ask too many questions? I don't want anyone finding out we're the real source of the medicine." The merchant hesitated.

"For now, it's fine. He paid because we've known each other for years, and he trusts me that I'm not going to swindle him. But he's only seen a small amount of the powder so far. He knows it works, but I doubt he truly believes I can deliver two hundred tablets in a few weeks. So, for the moment, his curiosity is mild." Duvas frowned.

"Even though he paid you four hundred gold for it?" Pydaso laughed.

"He's a big trader, Sir Duvas. He's amongst the bigger ones even in a huge city like Ulriga. 400 gold isn't much for a man like him, especially if he's handing it to someone he trusts, and for something which could bring him huge profits in return. So right now, he's only mildly curious about a new product entering the market in future. But once I deliver the tablets next time, it'll change for sure. He'll certainly start wondering where it's really coming from.

At that point, he might even send someone to shadow me, and I have no way to stop someone following me back to Tiranat." Feroy crossed his arms.

"You should've taken precautions for that."

"Of course I did!" Pydaso retorted.

"I'm not an idiot. I made stops in every town and village along the way so anyone following me couldn't know for sure where I got the medicine, but that Ulrigan trader will still be able to guess that the source is somewhere along my route. So I had to give him a made up story, telling him that I bought it from a hermit priest who lives somewhere in the vast southern forests—a recluse making medicines to help the poor." Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The merchant smiled.

"Naturally, the trader asked if I'd tried to learn the recipe. I told him the priest was old, stubborn, and refused to share it at any cost. It's a weak excuse, but it'll at least make the trader think he can't easily find this priest and make him work for himself. Still, I doubt that tale will hold for long. So it would help me a lot if you could offer some protection on my trips in the future.

Of course, I could hire mercenaries in Cinran or Ulriga using my own coin, but I just can't trust them with something this sensitive and valuable." He explained, "The first time I went, nobody had any idea that I might be carrying that medicine or the paper - simply because nobody even knew such a thing existed - so there wasn't a big risk apart from any gate guards finding my hidden compartment. But even if I trust that trader, the news of a new source of these products is now in the open...

and anyone could try to have me followed for this. If any thugs in Ulriga ever force me to give up my goods and also find the hidden compartment, it won't take much for them to trace it all back here." Kivamus's expression tightened.

"That's very concerning." He turned to Hudan.

"I know we're already going to be a little short on guards, but can we spare a couple of them for his protection? I don't want someone holding him at knifepoint and forcing him to talk." Hudan thought for a moment.

"It's not ideal, but yes—we can send two guards. This trade's too important to risk. Feroy would be perfect for spotting anyone tailing the wagon—he can spot trouble a mile away—but we can't afford to send him off right now." Feroy smirked slightly but didn't argue. The hall went quiet for a moment, the crackle of the candles the only sound. Everyone knew how much was riding on Pydaso's journeys now. Kivamus looked at the ex-mercenary.

"What do you think?" Feroy scratched his short brown beard.

"Levalo would also be good enough for this, but I don't think we can trust him with something this sensitive. Not yet. Still, there are other guards who are careful and suspicious enough. Calubo's the first one that comes to mind. After living among bandits for months, he won't trust anyone in Ulriga who claims they 'just want a ride' on Pydaso's wagon. That kind of man could easily be sent by the trader—or anyone else who's heard about the medicine, including some noble.

So we can send Calubo along with another reliable guard. That should be enough."

"Good," Kivamus said.

"Do it then. Pydaso, as you heard, we'll send two guards with you for protection. We both have a lot to lose if this gets out, so I'm willing to make the investment for this. So I'll cover their wages while they're away, but during the trip, you'll need to take care of their meals and lodging." Pydaso nodded gratefully.

"That's no problem. I'm only using two wagons these days, so I travel with just my usual wagon driver. That's just two of us on the road. That was fine for the first trip when no one knew what I was carrying, but the word about acelos medicine will spread around soon. Having two more reliable guards will make things much safer. It will take care of anyone who gets too curious about my cargo."

"Let's hope so. Sending any more guards to protect just two wagons would only make it look more suspicious, so this will have to do," Kivamus said. For a moment, he wondered if giving crossbows to the guards would be a good idea. It would mean they could easily take care of even a serious bandit attack or thugs trying to extort money. Hmm... No, it was still too risky. A merchant wasn't supposed to have guards equipped with crossbows.

Only the Duke's men in Fort Aragosa were meant to have them, or at least their bigger versions—the arbalests. If any gate guard or patrolling knight on that road saw something like that with Pydaso, it would only raise more questions and would make it more likely for his wagons to be searched thoroughly, risking their real cargo. The crossbows couldn't be hidden as well as the medicine anyway, or they would be useless in a sudden ambush. No, it was better to send them without crossbows.

"Now, what about the paper? Were you able to sell it?" Pydaso sighed.

"That's the bad news. The paper's of decent quality, but it isn't something which is used too much—especially at the price you're setting. However, it's not of a quality good enough to sell to luxury merchants who supply the nobles, and it's too expensive for common traders to use in bulk for themselves. I was able to sell the small stock I'd taken, but I can't buy large quantities unless you either lower the price or raise the quality. If you lower the price, I can move it in bulk to merchants for their own use.

If you improve the quality, I can sell it to the upper-class buyers. Otherwise, it'll just sit unsold." Kivamus grinned and glanced towards Duvas.

"Bring the new paper."