Enlightened Empire

"This is your final warning! Remove your warriors from the inner city at once, or your actions will be treated as a threat to the Empire!"

The elite warrior guard of the capital belted his orders right into the 'threat's' chubby little face. He didn't even bother to draw his weapon, despite the great dangers to the empire and everything. Maybe he was relying on the dozens of armed warriors behind him, who had filled the steps leading up to the Moonlight Ziggurat's entrance, or maybe he just underestimated the overweight man in foreigner's clothes standing in front of him.

"Sire, I am a mere merchant. I do not control the men here, and I cannot direct their actions."

In the face of a naked threat, Brym remained calm, though there really wasn't anything he could do in this situation anyways. With a helpless look, he first observed the grumpy guardsman who was all up in his face, and then looked back at the large crowd of warriors which had formed behind him.

By now, these troublemakers were shouting obscenities towards the guards of the Ziggurat. If the streets of Medala's inner city weren't so clean, they surely would have picked some debris off the ground and thrown it as well.

If things got any more rowdy, they could really cause a riot, with unacceptable consequences. Unacceptable for Brym, most of all. Maybe he should have just stayed out of this mess in the first place. But now he was committed.

There was no point thinking about past decisions. Rather, if he managed to resolve this issue without a riot and make his getaway on time, he would still fulfill the mission he had been entrusted with, while generating great benefits for the southern kingdom to boot. Still, as he stood there on a knife's edge and felt the cold sweat soak his clothes, he couldn't help lament his own greed.

Originally, Inti's plan had been quite simple. All he had to do was cause a ruckus in front of the Moonlight Ziggurat, to draw out the warriors inside. The lady and her ghost warriors would handle the rest. Brym's best course of action had been to use his money and connections to bribe a few warriors. They themselves would then organize a minor protest outside the Ziggurat, based on some perceived slight. In fact, with the chaos in the city, he was sure to find enough warriors who had suffered real injustices he could blame on the priests or elders, so he didn't even have to lie.

Not only that, he would never have needed to come near this manufactured ruckus himself, so he would have been safe even in case a riot truly broke out against all odds. However, as he had thought about it more, he had eventually come up with a 'better' plan, one which still fulfilled his obligations towards Inti, while also letting him fulfill another purpose at the same time. In short, he got greedy.

Rather than just waste money on bribes to cause a mess, I could sell some bonds at the same time and come out with a profit, right?

Those had been his thoughts of hubris, which at the time he had mistaken for strokes of genius. Thus, he used his and Inti's connections in the city to spread the word that he would sell bonds at significantly improved conditions, practically giving away money in the long-term. Though at the same time, he announced that he would sell them only for a single day, and only at a single location: In front of the Moonlight Ziggurat.

And then, he realized that he needed to target warriors exclusively, since no commoners would be let into the inner city in the first place, so they couldn't buy his bonds. And then, since he was already offering those warriors a form of currency they could only spend in his shops or in the southern kingdom, he realized that he could use this method to recruit warriors to the south as well. After all, Saniya still had precious few warriors, after Pachacutec and Amautu took most of the imperial family's warriors with them during the succession.

Thus, he had spread even more rumors, which claimed that the possession of these bonds would grant amnesty to any warrior who betrayed his true lord and fled to Saniya for shelter. In such a manner, his plan had grown more and more outrageous over the past few days.

Not only would he help out Inti, he would also make some money, strengthen the southern kingdom, and weaken their enemies all at the same time. His only mistake had been that he had underestimated the number of warriors in Arguna who were willing to defect. Now, he was left with a real mess, rather than a fake one.

Behind him stood hundreds of ravenous warriors, eager for quick money or a way out of the chaotic capital, and before him stood the combined guards of the Moonlight Ziggurat, ready to protect the home of their masters at any price. Meanwhile, he himself — as well as seven of his shopkeepers who were responsible for selling the bonds — was stuck in the middle, trying to extinguish a burning lute which could blow up the entire capital.

In fact, due to Brym's rumors, the guards couldn't back down at all. Driven by the interests of the noble families behind them, they couldn't allow someone to recruit away the warriors of those families. If they didn't do anything, the precedent would lead to countless imitators. Thus, all that was keeping the peace for now were the scruples of the guards in the face of such a large warrior crowd.

However, if the guards finally lost their patience, Brym could very well lose his life, or at least his freedom. Even worse, if the warriors willing to buy bonds suddenly lost control and stormed the Ziggurat unprovoked, he would lose even more. Even Corco's international reputation could be ruined again, after they had spent so much time rebuilding it.

And yet, Brym couldn't just pack things up and walk away either. At least as far as he knew, his part in Lady Inti's nebulous plan hadn't been completed yet. Even so, now that he was surrounded by threats, he considered simply disappearing anyways. While he didn't want to go back on his word, the stakes were too high right now. This time, he had just barely managed to pacify the guards by telling them that he would talk with the warriors to calm them down.

However, when he returned to the tables they had set up, Brym did no such thing. Instead, he quietly ordered his men to execute their emergency escape plan. After a secret sign into the crowd, a disguised warrior working for them suddenly stepped up to their table.

"Dammit, what is taking you all so long!?" he shouted, and kicked against the table leg.

As a result, the already weakened table leg — prepared in advance for their exit strategy — broke off, and spilled papers and ink everywhere on the ground. For a while, there was even more unrest in the crowd, but at least the warriors weren't so focused on the guards who were trying to prevent them from buying bonds anymore.

"Please be patient as we aim to resolve the issue!" Brym shouted a standard phrase, which bought him a few minutes of grumbling patience. A few minutes would be more than enough to complete their disappearing act.

First, two of his salesmen left to get a new table, another went to get paper, and a fourth to get ink. After a few minutes, another two left to see why the others were taking so long. By this point, only Brym and Alyn were still left standing in front the crowd. However, they had also become the focus of attention as a result. Unlike the others, they couldn't just walk away. Instead, they had to get creative.

Just as Brym planned to complete his plan, another warrior walked up to him, not one of his. Already, the southern minister of finance put his hand on his hidden dagger, ready to protect his life in case this stranger tried anything weird. However, the man only walked close and whispered: "The deed is done, the swallow has left the nest."

Finally, Brym had received the pre-arranged signal from one of Lady Inti's ghosts, just in time. Now that he had fulfilled his commitment, he didn't have to feel bad about his escape anymore.

Thus relieved, he quickly walked up to the head guard again. Again, they exchanged some nutrient-free words, and again Brym made empty promises. The guard was quickly running out of patience, but Brym didn't care anymore. The man no longer mattered, only the horde of warriors he was facing.

Thus, the merchant quickly gave a secret signal to his few remaining warriors in the crowd, who knew what they had to do. In his final performance in Arguna, Brym stepped up on one of the chairs next to their broken table.

"Dear friends," he began, "Unfortunately, I have been ordered that we are no longer allowed to sell our goods, or we will all be executed. Thus, the sale of our bonds will have to end here!"

Of course, the head guard had ordered nothing of the sort. He wouldn't load all of the crowd's anger onto his head and risk a riot. However, before he could refute Brym's words, some voices had already begun screaming from inside the crowd.

"They're treating us as slaves!"

"They're just warriors too, what makes them better!?"

"Goons of the priests!"

Thus, before any of the guards could react, the crowd erupted in curses, and some even charged up to the steps in anger. It would take a long time for the unrest to calm down once more, and the political pull of the Moonlight Ziggurat would take another hit in the process. By that time however, Brym and Alyn had long made their quiet exit in the chaos, protected by the warriors who had screamed the inciting words.

Within the dark rooms above the Stone's Throw chess shop, Brym sat alone, hunched over a map of Medala's provinces. Since their little distraction had taken longer than he had anticipated, the impact was also much larger than expected. Now he was known as the guy whose sale stared a riot in the capital.

Surely, many lords of the northern estates wouldn't be happy if he showed up to incite riots. However, on the other hand, a sale so large that it caused public unrest would also serve as great publicity, especially for the most greedy and desperate of lords.

Thus, Brym had to carefully reevaluate his plans. Which estates to visit, and which to visit first, would have a big impact on his sales tour's success. Though one thing he knew for sure already: He couldn't stay here, not if he valued his life.

While he was still deep in thought, his planning session was interrupted by two new arrivals.

"Good work, Minister Brymstock!" Inti shouted. "Where to are you off next?"

"That, dear lady, is something I am considering this very moment," Brym replied. When he looked back up to greet this dark room's owner with a smile, he saw a thin man in ragged clothing stand next to her as she took her seat. Maybe he had stared for too long, but Inti clearly felt the need to introduce the man.

"Ah, this is Naoka, the reason I asked for your support. Naoka, this is Brymstock Fastgrade."

"It is an honor to receive support from a minister of the kingdom," the ragged man said and made a perfect bow. It was a strangely discordant image.

"Not to worry, friend." Brym said, before he silently stared at Inti, who understood his unsaid question immediately.

"Naoka here needs to leave the city, just like you, master. You wouldn't mind the two of you traveling together, would you?"

Another favor, huh? Brym realized.

Clearly, they were planning to use Brym's traveling group to smuggle this ragged fellow out of the city. He didn't really mind helping out the hidden arm of the southern kingdom once more, but only if it didn't interfere with his work too much.

"And where are you going?" he thus asked.

"Huaylas." Inti's grin showed that she was looking forward to his reaction, so Brym acted surprised to satisfy the lady's vanity.

"Our enemies? Why them?" he asked.

"Elder Acquilinus of House Ichilia has recently shown his support for us," Inti explained. "It appears they are ready to reconcile with the south."

Brym thought for a while, before he put the pieces together in his head.

"That would make sense. They have just barely averted open hostilities with their King Pachacutec, and their involvement in the southern war has cost them too many men. Still, they used to be the richest estate in Medala for centuries. Surely they have plenty coin left to buy our bonds."

Finally, Brym grinned, once more assured in his direction.

"Very well, it appears I'll be traveling south again," he concluded.

"In that case, please give us a time and place for our meetup," Inti said. "There are still some matters I need to arrange before leaving here."

Again Brym looked shocked, and this time he wasn't acting.

"You're coming too?" he asked, and even forgot to call Inti 'lady'.

"Did I not mention this before?" the lady chuckled, happy with his reaction. "After my recent work, I believe I deserve a vacation. And in Huaylas specifically, there is still a private matter I need to investigate."