Chương 156: A Dinner Meeting

I walked back to Hyrdford with Cuthward, asking about the specifics of the land. Trying to figure out a rough population estimate, how many ranches, how many farms, how much cattle and how many flocks of sheep. Compared to how many people, there didn't seem like that many ranches, and I told him that.

"Well, there used to be more," Cuthward said.

"Not anymore."

"Why?"

"Tunmod's men and all their rules. Ranchers aren't allowed to slaughter their own beef or mutton anymore, nor shear their own wool or process their own leather. Unless they have a specific license, they have to bring them to official slaughterhouses or shearing sites and give their goods over to a few processing guilds."

"Oh." I narrowed my eyes. Of course. Of course there were more problems.

"Why?"

"He said it's safer for everyone that way." Cuthward crossed his arms.

"It turns out that it just means less people actually try to sell their products. Less goods for everyone." He shook his head.

"I'm sure Tunmod's guilds get their skim. Everyone's happy, except the average freeman." I gazed down at the ground.

"How much knowledge has been lost?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I assume the ranchers and farmers used to all know how to do that sort of thing, right? They probably still do, they're just not allowed to."

"I'm sure most do. I haven't spoken with as many people as I'd like as of late. It's not exactly easy to get people to open up." He paused.

"Nor am I in the position to see too many of them. Few come by the inn anymore, and I'm not spending time at the temple."

"I'm thankful for the insight, though," I said. We were getting much closer to the city limits, and I didn't want to draw too much attention or risk speaking openly while we were on the streets. We returned to his inn, and I ate a small meal, then paid him a pair of silver sceats. It was way too much, but hey, I wanted to support him as best I could. As I left, he asked, "How long are you going to stay?" I was only supposed to be here about a week.

But I might have to stay a little longer, seeing how things were going.

"We'll see," I said.

"And when I have to leave, I won't be gone for too long."

"Best of luck, then," Cuthward said.

"I do truly hope you can make things better. But I won't anticipate it too much. Men have tried and failed to change things. Sometimes, it's just too difficult, and the world is better off staying the same." I flashed him a cheeky smile.

"So far, everyone keeps telling me that. I've found that it's easy. Easy as snapping your fingers, sometimes. You just have to be willing to snap." ~ ~ ~ When I returned, I snuck back into my room, and just in time. Only seconds later, someone knocked at the door. I opened it to find a guard waiting for me. He was one of the locals, a non-Dupe mercenary of some kind.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

"Tunmod is planning dinner in the hall. He assumes you will be attending…" the guard prompted.

"I'll be there." I was about to close the door, but before I could, I asked, "Hey, who pays your wages? Me, or Tunmod?" The guard was quiet for a moment. He glanced down the hallway, then finally and reluctantly, said, "I get paid in amenities," the guard said.

"From the local mercenary guild, yes. Tunmod pays the guild to loan us." I nodded.

"Thank you. You may leave." So the mercenaries were Tunmod's men. Sounded about right. After shutting the door, I turned back to the room and prepared for dinner. Though Tunmod and the mercenaries were just regular non-Dupes, I didn't want to take any chances. If they were suspicious of me, they might try to get rid of me sooner than later. I pulled on my chainmail hauberk, then my regular tunic overtop it, hiding it. Once I was ready, I met my squad in the hallway outside.

"In case you couldn't tell," I whispered, "Tunmod is not to be trusted, and neither are any of the guards here. We're not going to trust anyone. Until, of course, we have our own people that we trust in charge." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it." Can you just get rid of Tunmod?" Anchor asked softly.

"Unless we know otherwise, we have to assume he's appointed by the Warlord."

"We're going to figure that out tonight," I replied.

"Something tells me these lands are far too small to be dealing with a direct appointment. More likely, we'll piss off Hinlaw. And I doubt there's much more we can do to piss him off, so we may as well improve life for the people here."

"Be careful…" Sage warned.

"Tunmod has stayed in power for three decades as a mortal man for a reason."

"He is very, very slimy, Brother," Brawl added. I bowed my head.

"Yeah. And something tells me there's only one way to get rid of the slime." ~ ~ ~ I took my seat at the head of the table. It stretched across the floor of the hall's main chamber, long enough for ten people on both sides. They placed it right beside the central brazier, so whoever was sitting in front of it would have a warm back all throughout the meal. A crowd of guests arrived. Alongside my squad, there were seventeen other spots at the table, and other local community leaders approached, anxious to greet me.

First, they approached me, right hand raised, almost like they were waving. When they drew close, they bowed at the hips and said, "Well met, Sir Levi. I am Unlaf, and I am at your service." Of course, they weren't all named Unlaf. But that was one of the few names I remembered. They spoke quickly, like they'd done this hundreds of times before, and like everyone already knew their names. I kept my squad seated closest to me. Of everyone present, we were dressed the most plainly, except Sage.

She had a formal gown—a white dress and her typical embroidered druid's shawl. Instead of a regular chair, she sat on Morph, who took the shape of a stool. (It didn't matter that he had no backrest, though. Her posture was perfect.) Once everyone was seated, servants rushed out, carrying plates of food. Rather than an individual plate for everyone, it was more like a buffet. We served ourselves, reaching across the table for what we wanted. Not very polite, I thought, but no one seemed to mind.

And this way, the food was far less likely to be poisoned. Still, I watched Sage carefully. She was the one with the best arcane senses and the most political savvy. If she avoided something, I did too. I filled my plate with roasted, crispy duck and steamed barley. I heaped a thick pottage on the side of my plate and added a crusty bun in the corner. Finally, some greens. I could practically hear my mom complaining in the back of my mind about not enough veggies.

It seemed like asparagus, though slightly wider with a bushier top. And the typical purple carrots I'd grown used to seeing from this world. Once my plate was full and everyone had settled into light conversation, I locked eyes with Tunmod and asked, "So, you're a wiseman, correct?"

"Correct, sir," Tunmod replied.

"Fully trained at the Eraen-Kalora Academies."

"So you said." He was proud of that, wasn't he? An appeal to his credentials, to make people question him less. I smiled.

"I take it you pushed the date of the festival up successfully, then?"

"Indeed," Tunmod replied.

"It will begin in three days. The crowds may be smaller than usual, though of course, we've already picked out our offering, so we won't have to worry about finding one." I nodded, but was unwilling to give him any more praise than that. Next, I said, "So that gives us a few days for other tasks. Tomorrow, then. I have two jobs in mind. First things first, we're going to build a palisade wall around the city." The table went quiet. Most eyes turned to me.

"I was thinking," I said.

"We need to get more sceats flowing. We could all take a slight cut in our wages, and use that money to fund a wall. We'll put a bunch of the local boys to use. They'll have more money, it'll spread itself around the city. People will be happier and more productive. Call it stimulus or whatever you want."

"When you say a cut in our wages," Tunmod said, "what do you mean?"

"We'll stop skimming off the top for a while," I replied. Around the table, everyone gasped. Some grabbed at their chests in mock shock.

"Oh, don't act so surprised. Yeah, yeah, it's not polite to call it out publicly. I know what's going on here. Well, let me put it this way." I leaned back in my chair and grinned.

"Your people are being bled dry. I bet you're raking in less and less each year, because they're too poor. Well, we take a year, we help give things a little boost, we make everyone a little more productive, and suddenly, when you start skimming again, everyone's taking in more money. Plan for the future a little, huh?" That was only a temporary fix, and a bit of political maneuvering. I had a more permanent fix in mind, but that would have to wait until the festival. For now, they just had to agree.

Tunmod swallowed.

"H—how will you ensure that funds are used appropriately?"

"You see, I've got access to a very skilled accountant in the SAP. Abacus, if you've heard of him. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to look through all your reports and through your pursers' books and find any irregularities. If there are too many irregularities, he may have to report you." No one replied. With another grin, I folded my fingers together and added, "Well, then. That's settled for now. We'll iron out the details later." I paused. No one said anything, which was perfect.

I added, "Then, if there are no complaints, it's time for my next plan. With those who aren't employed building a palisade, I'm going to need them to dig a massive hole out by the old well. We're going to purge an invasive species. Lure them into a final confrontation, if you will. No one should have a problem with this, right?"