Chapter 315: The Lyra Folks’ Business Deal

The wooden tables selling water erected inside the stone marker sat for exactly three days then the City Hall decided to do it properly.

The next morning, the broadcasting speaker read a news bulletin making the entire city bustling, that the Department of Labor opened a temporary selling area on the stream-side strip of land located inside the marker, reserved exclusively for the trading with the two army camps stationed out there, anyone wanting to sell then go up registering a square, place money not collected, however goods must be brought up for staff to approve prices before displaying out.

The news bulletin was not yet finished reading then before the Department of Labor door people had pushed each other to the point Dale had to jump onto a chair shouting for the whole street to queue.

He sat behind the registration desk from morning until past noon, writing to the point of tiring his hand. The Millbrook citizens came up first, dragging along both the Oakhurst citizens and several reclamation groups, someone registered selling firewood, someone registered selling rough fabric, someone registered selling woven bamboo baskets, a woman brought up even a carrying pole of brooms, there was even a man standing hesitating for a long while before daring to ask seeing if selling hot water required approving prices or not.

Old woman Agnes leaned on her cane coming up last, registering selling hot water one copper coin per bucket, saying that the sky was turning cold, the soldier crowd out there scooping well water out to bathe then would freeze to death.

Ivy wrote the regulations of the selling area onto a large board erected at the head of the plot, the handwriting round and neat. Prices must be exactly the approved prices, anyone raising prices then banned from selling for three months, re-offending then banned for one year. Forbidding selling weapons, forbidding selling horses, forbidding selling anything that can chop trees.

Forbidding recounting for people on the other side to hear the layout matters inside the city, anyone slipping their mouth then invited returning home resting for a few days to sober up. All transactions must be recorded into the on-duty staff member’s ledger, buyers wanting to get receipts then issue receipts.

Toby reading to the final line bewilderedly asked why selling to the enemy troops yet still having to issue receipts for them.

"Because later they return suing us for pillaging then exactly those receipt papers argue on our behalf." Ivy answered, her hand still writing: "Just issue them, paper and ink the City Hall covers."

The selling area opened its door in the afternoon, only two hours later it was already crowded like a real market session. Soldiers on the other side of the marker dragged over in groups, initially still timidly looking forward peering backward, later on walking around comfortably like family.

They bought water, bought firewood, bought fabric, bought even soap, and that soap item was exactly the thing making the mercenary crowd gape their mouths open, because in the Royal Capital a fragrant soap bar like that must be sold at five times the price here. There were two women in group seventeen looking at the pile of dirty cloaks then thought of the matter of accepting hired washing, one carrying pole three copper coins, dried completely returned in the day, and only after half a session then before the two women’s tent had stacked a pile of clothes as tall as a person’s head.

The most agile of all was a barber uncle on Dyer street. He carried a chair out sitting right at the head of the plot, hanging a sign writing shaving beard two copper coins, cutting hair three coins, shaving bald one coin. Several soldier guys stood reading the sign, one guy burst out laughing loudly asking here shaving bald is the cheapest huh, the barber uncle calmly answered that shaving bald is fast, and fast then is cheap, that is common sense. That afternoon he shaved bald for seventeen people, returning at night finishing counting money then ordered his nephew to go buying adding one more sharpening stone.

Arriving at the next day then on the other side of the marker there were people bringing stuff over selling back. Several mercenary guys realized Lyra citizens were willing to buy used stuff, immediately pulled out what pocket knives, what belt buckles, what trivial things scrounged up along the marching road. The on-duty staff member at the registration desk had to run up asking for opinions, ultimately Mr. Hollis decided that just buy, however every item must clearly record the seller’s name is what, belonging to which unit, obtained from where, because in case later there are people arriving demanding then still know the way to return it.

Milo ordered erecting a medical tent at the plot corner, dispatched two healers out sitting on duty, hanging the price board explicitly clearly, examining once two copper coins, medicine calculated separately, anyone too poor then recorded debt into the ledger. The first day no one dared to come over, arriving at the next day there was a mercenary guy whose foot was swollen red because of shoe rubbing, dragged over asking to take a look, getting applied medicine bandaged up then instructed three days later coming over changing bandages, not collecting extra money. The guy returned to camp recounting it, the next noon before the medical tent there were already over ten people sitting waiting, among them two guys even led horses along, asking seeing if you misters also examine horses.

Brian accounted the selling area every night, sitting in the wooden watchtower in the middle of the plot with three ledgers displayed before his face, adding from when the sun extinguished to when the oil lamp almost depleted. The night of the third day, he brought the ledger up to the meeting room, reporting that the total money amount that the two military camps over there had spent on Lyra land calculated up to this afternoon was four hundred and twenty-six odd silver coins.

Elric hearing finishing then choked.

"Four hundred and twenty-six silver coins?" He exclaimed: "In three days?"

"Yes, and that is only the goods selling money of the folks." Brian flipped to another page: "Water money collected separately, calculated by the bucket, three days got two hundred and eleven coins. This water money amount I record into the revenue category of the City Hall, while the goods selling money belongs to the folks, we do not take a single coin."

Sane sitting at the head of the table, hearing to this point then turned looking at Kaelen, his lip corners smirking up.

"Baby, you calculated a move that is quite something you know."

"I did not calculate anything." Kaelen casually answered: "People brought nearly twenty thousand guests arriving standing outside our house door, even brought along whole chests of military fund money. Could it be chasing them away?"

On the other side of the stone marker, Cardinal Marcellus was experiencing the worst few days of his life.

His ban on going over buying goods every day lost an additional part of its effectiveness, ultimately only managed to keep the Holy Knight crowd, because the mercenaries signed contracts and did not swear oaths, and in their contracts it was clearly written the hiring side must take care of water for them, running out of water then they have the right to stop marching, the clause lying right on the fourth line, personally drafted by the hands of the Church’s people.

Arriving at the afternoon of the third day, the representatives of four mercenary squads dragged arriving before the command tent, leading the head was a tall large guy with a face full of scars named Hauk, holding the most crowded squad with over eight hundred people. The guy did not kneel, did not greet, only held out the crumpled contract paper then said that his squad needed water for eight hundred human beings and two hundred horses, every day.

"You people just go over to that side to buy." Marcellus gritted his voice.

"Sir, us buying then we must pay from our pockets." Hauk answered: "While in the contract then water is the part of the hiring side. You wanting us to personally spend money out buying is also fine, but that amount must be added into the wages, calculated by the day."

Marcellus could not answer. He called the treasury keeper official of the army arriving, asking inside the chest how much was remaining, the treasury keeper flipped the ledger then answered that the military fund money brought along was enough to feed the troops for adding two months if traveling normal roads, but if every day having to buy water for twelve thousand people with more than two thousand horses then only could hold out for about twenty days.

"Then buy." Marcellus gritted his teeth.

Thus from the next morning, exactly the Church of Light dispatched people over to the other side of the marker ordering water in large batches. The person dispatched over was a young monk, his face miserable, holding in his hand the paper recording the quantity. He stood before the wooden table, seeing behind the table was an exactly twelve-year-old boy sitting cross-legged on the high chair then awkwardly asked where the adults were.

"Yes I am the adult." Brian answered: "I am in charge of the revenue and expenditure of this area. Sir how many buckets do you order?"

The ordering matter happened smoothly to the point the monk boy did not have time to feel uncomfortable, because the boy worked too fast and clearly. He asked the quantity, asked the goods picking up hour, asked the buying side bringing buckets along or having to rent, added the total, read out loud the number then wrote the invoice making two copies. Finishing writing, he looked up asking one more very polite sentence.

"Sir, your side wants to settle in cash or wants to deduct?"

"Deduct meaning what?"

"Yes, the other day your side received a transit tax notification paper of ours." Brian answered: "If your side settles that tax amount then the water money is deducted straight into there for ledger convenience, avoiding having to count money twice."

The young monk boy stood blankly for a moment, then mumbled answering that he would return asking the Cardinal again.

In the afternoon, Kaelen wore ordinary cloth clothes down to the selling area, walking along the goods squares, stopping to ask inquiringly every single stall. Old woman Agnes showed off that these past three days selling hot water got more than ten silver coins, more than an entire half of last year she earned.

The two women accepting hired washing in group seventeen complained that their hands were blistered completely up, finishing complaining then smiled with their eyes closed into thin lines, even asked him to speak on their behalf with the superiors that next week asking for one more square to hang clotheslines. At the end of the plot, he met an old broom selling man sitting hugging his knees, before his face still remained intact half a carrying pole.

"You sell slowly?" Kaelen asked.

"Yes also got quite a bit already sir." The old man answered, then hesitated for a moment before continuing speaking: "It’s just that I kept thinking endlessly but could not get through. The people out there coming here is to attack us, we actually sell goods to them. Doing like that is it not aiding the enemy?"

Several surrounding stalls hearing it all turned over, clearly there were people having thought of that matter but did not dare to ask.

"You speak correctly, selling goods to them then they have water to drink, having water then they can stand longer." Kaelen nodded: "But you try thinking seeing, now we do not sell anymore then that crowd of people will do what? Nearly twenty thousand human beings are thirsty, beside are several villages not having city walls. They will go pillage, and pillaging then not pillaging from me, they pillage from you."

The old broom selling man remained silent, his two hands still placed on his knees.

"While now they buy." Kaelen continued speaking: "Every time buying is a time they must queue, must pay money, must hear the seller say thank you. The person having queued buying water from you throughout ten days then arriving at the day receiving the order rushing into your village, their hands will be a beat slower. I need that slow beat."

He picked up a broom, spinning it around admiring it then asked to buy. The old man hurriedly waved his hands intending to give it as a gift, Kaelen did not accept, took out enough money placing it into the old man’s hand, even asked for a receipt paper, saying that buying and selling in this area then anyone must also record the ledger identically like anyone.

Lucien stood watching that entire scene from outside the fence. These past few days he went out to the selling area almost the whole day, not buying anything, only standing looking then noting down into the small notebook carried on his person, at night returning then copying over to the third letter sending back to the Royal Capital. In that letter, he wrote that Lyra completely did not fight a single battle, did not kill a single person, yet the past ten days the Church had spent on Lyra land a money amount even larger than the tax amount the entire Southern region paid back to the treasury in half a year. He wrote that the scary thing did not lie in the point they managed to do that thing, but lay in the point they did it using a wooden table, several ledgers and a twelve-year-old boy.

Arriving at the fourth night then on the other side of the marker a matter happened.

Hauk led more than a hundred people dragging arriving before the command tent, this time not holding out the contract anymore. The guy bluntly said that the water amount the Church bought back dividing for the entire army then every person got less than one ladle, while the Holy Knights still bathed properly, and if tomorrow there is no more water then his squad strikes camp.

Marcellus stood before the tent door, looking at the torch-holding human crowd swarming below, then looked over toward the stone marker side. On the other side of the marker, the selling area had packed up since dusk, but along the water canal still had several lanterns hung on poles, shining down onto the glistening water surface. The sound of water pouring through the sluice gate echoed back in the night, steadily, slowly, hearing clearly down to every single rhythm, and he had heard that sound throughout three nights already.

"Return to your places." Ultimately he spoke to Hauk: "Tomorrow morning you will have water. However much there will also be."

The mercenary crowd scattered, both walking and discussing. Marcellus returned into the tent, called the Holy Knight commander arriving, issuing an order for all knights to prepare horses, early tomorrow morning departing.

The place he aimed at located upstream toward the West more than twenty miles, being the sluice gate at the source head of the canal, the place where three days ago his scouts had crawled all the way up to the spot sketching it back.

According to the sketch then there were only exactly two guarding people there, a solid ironwood sluice gate and an iron crank handle.