From Londoner To Lord

Chapter 356 - 350. Pydaso - II

Duvas stood and went inside. A few moments later, he returned with a few sheets and handed them to Pydaso.

The merchant's eyes widened. "This... This is much better than what I saw last time!" he said, running his fingers over the sheet. "It's still yellow, but that's hardly an issue. It even feels stronger." He tore a small piece from a corner and nodded approvingly. "It doesn't rip nearly as easily as before." He shook his head in wonder. "Now I'm sure you made it yourselves. There's no way you'd find paper of this quality outside the guilds of Plumron, and I know you are not buying it from them at their highly inflated prices only to resell it to me at cheaper rates. They certainly wouldn't have given you their secret techniques to make this paper, that's for sure."

"Obviously," Kivamus chuckled. "I will also do something to improve the color of it in the future, to make it similar to what I saw in the Duke's library, but that's for later. But we do have a good stock of this better paper now. Are you willing to buy it?"

"Of course," Pydaso said without hesitation. "At this quality, I can easily sell it at the same price as before. Minor nobles will snap it up immediately. None of them expect to be able to afford the same quality paper as the Duke, but it's still close enough for them to brag to those who don't have it."

"Good. That price works for us too," Kivamus said. "For now, anyway." He added, thinking about the triphammer. "In the future, we might even be able to sell it to you cheaper, if another project which is under progress works out as we expect. Hopefully."

Pydaso gave him a look of disbelief, then shook his head and chuckled. "I suppose I should get used to you making such rare and innovative products."

Duvas smiled. "That would be wise. I've already learned to expect it—even if it wasn't easy." Everyone began laughing at that.

"You said you can have the two hundred tablets ready in a few days?" Pydaso asked.

"We should be able to make 'em," Kivamus said, "unless there are some unexpected problems."

"Good," Pydaso said. "Then I'll place another advance order for two hundred tablets, as well as all the paper of this improved quality you can spare. I'll also take two wagon loads of coal as usual—so no one suspects I'm carrying anything more valuable in secret."

"That's a good idea," Kivamus said. "What did you bring with you this time?"

The merchant smiled. "I knew Trevalo must already be bringing plenty of wheat with his six wagons, so I didn't bother with that. But I brought other food products—cheese, salt, butter, honey, and those vegetable seeds you asked for."

"That's great," Kivamus said. "We were just talking about expanding the vegetable gardens further. You've brought these seeds just in time."

"I also brought some commoners' soap - since you don't want the luxury version, as well as a few coils of rope, and enough ceramic jars to store the acelos tablets," Pydaso continued. "I've brought a few rolls of linen cloth too. That doesn't come cheap in our kingdom, but I remember the manor and the village merchants always bought new cloth in spring, although I think you make most of the clothing here yourselves from that fabric."

Duvas nodded. "Yes, we have a maid who's good with that. This will help us a lot in giving proper clothing to manor residents. Is that all?"

Pydaso looked at Kivamus and grinned. "Actually, I managed to find something else you wanted."

Kivamus leaned forward curiously. "What is it?"

Pydaso beamed. "I managed to find seeds for liwabeans! Apart from use as livestock feed, they aren't used much for human consumption in Cilaria since the beans are quite bitter unless boiled thoroughly - which takes too long and wastes precious firewood - but you still wanted it, so I asked around in Ulriga on my visit there. By chance, there was a visiting ship merchant who had a big stock of it. I didn't buy much though—only two sacks—but that should still cover a good bit of land if you want to plant it here."

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Kivamus sat up straighter, remembering the conversation they'd had the last time Pydaso visited, when the wheat sowing had just begun. Back then, he'd been thinking that while the soil was fresh now, its fertility could decline quickly without crops that helped restore nitrogen. It wouldn't be a problem in the first growing season, but it could become a serious issue in the coming years. So he had asked the merchant and other advisors about beans that had small root nodules, and preferably, ones which could be grown in the winter season.

Gorsazo had suggested liwabeans, a hardy crop that could survive the winters of Cilaria. It was planted in autumn and harvested in spring. The best part was that just like soybeans on earth, its beans could be used as food for humans and the hulls as livestock feed, even though usually it was only used to feed animals in this kingdom because of its bitter taste. It had sounded perfect for Tiranat's needs - since they had no shortage of firewood here to boil it thoroughly - so he had requested Pydaso to find it if possible, even though it was rarely grown and consumed in Cilaria.

"That's great," Kivamus smiled. "I'll have to talk with the farming foreman about it. Depending on the amount of liwabeans he estimates would be needed to cultivate the full area of the wheat fields, I might need you to buy more of it next time."

"Well," Pydaso said, "those ship merchants usually stay in Ulriga for a few weeks to look for good deals, and the captain who sold me these seeds had only just arrived, so if we're lucky, he'll still be there when I go back. He was new to Cilaria and didn't know about its rare usage here, so he couldn't find buyers for it. So by the time I found him, he was looking to clear his cargo space to take some other cargo back from there, even by selling it cheaply. If he hasn't left by the time I reach Ulriga, I can buy as much of it as you need, and at a very low price, since by then he would be overdue to return and would be willing to sell it at dirt cheap prices."

"That's even better!" Duvas said with a grin.

"I'll let you know about the amount we need by the time you leave," Kivamus said to the merchant before he turned to the majordomo. "Duvas, finalize the prices now."

Duvas and Pydaso leaned closer together, beginning their usual quiet negotiation. Kivamus stayed seated, his thoughts drifting. If they could grow enough liwabeans here, the crop could become another ample food source by spring—and more importantly, it would help restore the fields with its property of nitrogen fixation. With the wheat harvest and this crop rotation, they could keep the soil strong for years. He planned to eventually move to a four field crop rotation, but that was for the future, since for this year, they needed all the food they could get even at the cost of harming the soil.

After a while, Duvas looked up. "My lord, we've finalized it. We'll pay 147 gold for everything he's brought. We'll earn 16 gold for the two wagon loads of coal at the discounted price we offer him, plus 400 gold for the next advance order of the acelos medicine, as well as 36 gold for the paper. That gives us a total gain of 305 gold."

The merchant counted out the coins, handed it to Duvas, and watched as the majordomo went inside to store it in the strongbox. Soon enough, Duvas returned.

"I also asked around about the adzee items," Pydaso said. "There isn't much demand of its fangs as I expected, but one craftsman, who carves adzee bones into intricate decorative pieces—knife handles for nobles, figurines of the goddess for the bigger temples, things like that—was interested, but he didn't buy any for now. He said most of the nobles aren't spending that much on luxury items now, not with food prices so high. Even the temples in big cities like Ulriga are using all of their donations to buy food for the poor instead of decorations which won't fill the stomach of a hungry child."

Kivamus sighed. "That's fine, I guess. I wasn't expecting much from it anyway."

Pydaso continued, "Although I heard a rumor about a sea trader from a distant country who only visits Ulriga once or twice a year. Others told me that his country worships adzees as a minor god, and he might be interested in buying the bones and even the fangs. I'm not sure if I'll get to meet him any time soon, but if you want, I can take the remaining adzee bones and fangs with me, just in case. I'll hand it over to a local merchant I know there, and he will be able to make the trade if that sea trader visits and wants to buy it, even if I'm not in the city at the time. I won't be able to pay you until he pays me, though."

"In that case," Kivamus said, "Duvas will hand them over to you before you leave. They're only taking up space here, and you might be able to make something out of them."

The merchant stood up, adjusting his cloak. "It's always a pleasure trading with you, my lord. I'll wait until you're ready with the acelos tablets."

"Same here," Kivamus said. "We should be ready in two days if everything goes smoothly—three at most. As usual, you can keep your wagon inside the manor for safekeeping. We don't have extra rooms to let you stay here - not yet - but your wagon driver can stay in the stables if he wants. Trevalo's men are already staying there, and they even get warm food from the servants' hall."

"I'll take that offer, of course." Pydaso hesitated for a moment. "But it reminds me of something else I'd been thinking about."