I needed to get supplies.

Lime would be the best but if I could find niter, seashells, or a way to get more paper; I could use all of those too. I would also need a lot of copper and tin for manufacturing, alongside whatever the smiths would need for their strange alloys.

This would be at least until I could produce steel. The mine had plenty of iron ore and coal, they just never had to turn it into steel. Their knowledge of bronze and the addition of monster parts gave them a substitute for steel. Just that it was in low supply, whereas I was going to allow them to get steel in large quantity.

If there was one person who could help me get a hold off everything I was going to need, it was the head of the mercantile alliance.

The mercantile alliance had many names: merchants' association, trade guild, shipment sect. The name might change depending on the location but in the end it was just one big multinational corporation. It had branches on all five continents, in most Shieldoms, Empires, and countries. It was independent from states, yet often had close ties with power.

They were a financial power but also a more wordly one. They had a private army of mercenaries to protect the caravans and if they banded all their troops together, they could be as strong as a country.

The mercantile alliance was in charge of defending the best interest of merchants but also enforced legislation, making sure merchants were paying their taxes and that the goods were of quality. They had their own justice system, police, and were also somewhat protecting their own, providing apprenticeships, hospitals, and emergency relief.

To avoid collusion with local powers favouring a state's interest, it was usual for a branch president to be a foreigner. The president was elected for a single hex mandate.

Contrarily to the state's way of power, they didn't care for the might of their leader. Instead, they favoured cunningness, smarts, and anticipation. A hex years was a very long time, even more in this world where years were longer, in Earth time this would be as long as a 24 years' mandate. It gave the president a lot of power and the time to implement a long-term strategy. At the same time, it also encouraged to vote for younger candidates, able to withstand the long mandate till the end.

The current president was freshly elected last year. A foreign merchant known for his dauntlessness, smarts, and successful journeys from the far south.

It was the Typhoon Taonga.

* * * * * *

The Typhoon was still the same.

His golden-toothed smile was warmly welcoming us, yet behind the happy crescent of his eyebrows, I could sense him gauging me up.

His eyes only became genuinely happy when they met Gelcaria's purple stars.

“What a pleasant surprise, Tamayoku blessed me today. I remember you, young girl.” He opened his arms and his cloak of feather widened in a peacock's half-moon tail.

This time he wasn't bare chested, winter was still around and we were far from his warm native lands. He was wearing a coral flannel shirt, his feathered cloak and pants made of stitched blue and yellow flowers. In the greyness of our cold season, he was a blinding glimpse of a summer rainbow.

“Come take a seat, my esteemed guests. I believe we have much to discuss,” he cordially invited us with a sly smile flashing a golden shine.

I didn't come alone to see him. Of Course Gel was beside me, she would be instrumental in buying some goodwill with the cunning trader.

I also had a bodyguard carrying the princess' crest and finally, there was also my assistant, Akili.

With her strict topknot and severe looking eyes, she only missed a pair of glasses to look like the perfect secretary.

Not only was she knowledgeable on all matters regarding trade and prices, but she was also doubling as a bodyguard too. I now knew her strength was nothing to scoff at.

The Typhoon received us in his office at the merchants' guild's headquarter. The room was a display of power, wealth, and influence. There were trophies of monsters and beasts: fangs and gigantic claws but also an impressive head of a lion-looking monster hung behind his desk.

Wealth was shown through the overuse of gold plating on each furnitures, the silky drapes, and large windows.

Influence was far more subtle, it was found in the form of an array of seals belonging to leaders from around the world. Feathers from the sultans, bone wards from the nomadic tribes, fish scales from the scyllas, or simple metal signets. They allowed to request help from far away and were warning visitors that any attempt at coercing the merchants' guild will be met with retaliations from all over the world. These connections were the true wealth of the guild.

The Typhoon folded his cloak of feathers back before sitting in the large armchair behind the desk. He pointed at the two chairs in front of his desk.

I believed this was his first test. Who was I going to choose to sit beside me? Was I the one calling the shots, or was it Akili? The man was as sly as a fox.

Akili took the left sit as she was accustomed to be my assistant. Gel was about to stand behind the chair on the right but I pushed her to sit in. She threw me an interrogative stare but was smart enough to not contest me in front of the Typhoon.

Once both chairs were occupied, I blatantly looked around before choosing to stand in the middle.

The Typhoon had a smile that could mean anything, was he pleased, amused, or surprised? He snapped his fingers and a brass-skinned slave came to offer me a chair. The Typhoon had expected all the outcomes.

“I'm happy to meet you once more, Telerios,” started the Typhoon with his foreign and singing accent, “Looks like things have changed a lot for both of us in the span of a few years.” He raised his eyebrows in an exaggerated surprise.

I smiled back. “Tamayoku has been good to all of us. We share the same fate, a good omen,” I replied.

He laughed, golden teeth beaming brightly. “I don't know for this young miss,” he pointed at Akili, “but I heard that you were an apprentice priest for Shinpilo and we both know your young friend's protector.” He was now looking at Gel. I could tell his gaze was eager when looking at her. Was it Gel's influence or his desire to get Akolai's favours once more?

I kept my composure, the Typhoon was flaunting the merchants' guild's intelligence office's thoroughness, “True believers worship all eia (15) gods,” I claimed in faked zealousness.

He laughed. “So young yet so greedy. Wise men are faithful to one god. Gods are like women,” he added with a smug look at Gel, “fickle and hard to please. Only the fools try to have more than one, let alone eia. Better one satisfied wife than eia angry ones.” He looked at both of my companions.

I was trying to find some smart comeback but was, to my relief, interrupted by a slave bringing us tea and snacks. The tea was fragrant and filled the room with a smell reminding me of strawberry. There was a platter of fresh brown cherry-like fruits too. Again, this was a display of wealth, how did he find fruits in the dead of winter?

After tea was served, Akili was the one to start the business negotiations. “My employer wished to reach a trade agreement with you, that's the reason for today's visit,” she calmly stated.

The flashy merchant raised an inquiring eyebrow, “And who is this employer of yours?”

Akili pointed at me. “Mr. Telerios Awanui, envoy of the Shieldom,” she immediately responded. She cut any doubt about the chain of command here and I was grateful to her.

“Employer..” mumbled the southern merchant, “This is getting interesting. You've come a long way since last time we met. If you ever have the time, that will be a story I would like to hear,” he bluntly told me. “So, what do you want? I've heard lots of rumours about a nighthaven that was rebuilt in a short time. I've also thought you might want to see our inks and paper.” he clapped his hands and another slave came in, with stacks of paper and an array of inks.

The Typhoon did his homework and was well-prepared. I was happy to see he wasn't aware of my cement's composition. Either his intelligence network wasn't as good as he thought, or our workers knew to keep their mouths shut.

The papers were of varying quality and prices. Though he was stemming from the south, the merchants' association also dealt with paper, but as an intermediary. Blades already took their share, be it in taxes or by having priority in the deal of the product. Or, like the Duarch family, they had their own trading operation for paper.

I could use more paper, just that the prices were outrageously high. I intended to ask a blade to get us some inferior quality paper and start printing some books. This will earn me a bit of money, not much because my alphabet had little time to be spread yet.

It will also free up a lot of scribes. This meant they could be assigned to other tasks than just stupid copying. Meaning a rapid increase in the number of qualified administration workers, secretaries, and other librarians or teachers available. This valuable workforce would be worth using elsewhere in a world with few literates.

“I'm not here for paper. You know very well that your prices are above what I can get elsewhere.” I exposed. I wasn't some foolish kid to squeeze for money.

He laughed brightly. “Fine. Then what can Taonga do for you?”

I sat a bit straighter on my chair and took a sip of tea. “I'm in need of shells.” I let him a few seconds to shake his surprise away. “Oyster shells, beast shells, monster shells. Whatever shells you can get. I'll also take their beaks and barbs.”

He was struck by surprise once more. “May I ask why?” he inquired with puzzlement.

“Shieldom's business.” I retorted. I liked to keep him on his toes and I don't think the prince would like for me to expose all our cards this early. “So, can you do it and how many?” I pressured him.

The Typhoon was a merchant at heart, he didn't let his surprise slow him down for long. He had seen way stranger things in his life and customers were kings. He took out an abacus and started fiddling with it. For a second, I regretted not bringing Balout along, he could check his maths at a glance. I will have to do it in his stead.

“As much as I can?” the typhoon sought confirmation. I nodded to confirm and he went back to his abacus. “How about, mmmh, let's say a hexhex taums per month?”

The taum was one of the local weight units. It was the unit used in construction and deals in large quantity but also to count food. I would say it was around 120 to 150 Kg, since a taum was supposed to be enough Bunta to feed a man for a year. It is also the weight of a soldier in full armour.

This meant he was proposing 30 to 35 tons of shells per months. This was way more than I expected. “Would that be sustainable?” I enquired. If he was depleting the resource just like we did, it was pointless. I wanted a long-term supply for enough cement for the city.

“The sea is as vast as Amidea's hair,” he answered with a cunning smile. “There are monsters aplenty and it is easy to find shells. I believe I can even double that amount easily if the trade boats go as far as Mequara, but that will cost more.”

I raised a hand to stop him. “Maybe later. For now, I would only need half that amount. Every month, for a year.” I didn't have the grinders nor the kilns to process this much, just knowing that there was room for more was a relief.

It meant that I would be able to procure enough cement for the prince's project of fortifications. Later on I'll even have enough cement to build houses, bridges and most importantly, roads.

Land trade was scarcer in this world. The land was more dangerous than the river, monsters and bandits or roaming nomads were a constant threat. In consequences, roads were poorly maintained, except at the heart of the Empire.

If I could provide even narrow concrete roads, this could speed up travelling times by a lot. I could probably cut a deal with the merchants for this.

The typhoon would be in charge of the contract and I will stop by another day to seal the deal.

Gel allowed him to rub her head before leaving. Akolaï's favour was sought after and only even more as men aged.

* * * * *

Now that the river had been emptied of most predators, the local balance was shifting.

I was summoned at the docks by the temple. Charavatkeh's priests wanted to discuss with me about the guddus' egg farms.

This time I only took Melodi with me and a pair of palace guards for escort. One ha the princess's sigil and the other one had the old lord's crest.

The river was blanketed with a chilling fog, as we got to the docks we were in a cloud of mist. The dampness managed to find its way through my cloak and make me shiver. Melodi's fur was soaked but thanks to her Chi, she could fight back the cold.

Aroku was awaiting us with two priests of Charavatkeh. The god of the thousand arms was the protector of all herders, grooms, or even veterinarians. I though of making him some offerings at some point but my knowledge was already ensnared in the deal with Shinpilo. It could be dangerous to break a contract with a god, so I decided against it.

The priests were an old-and-young pair. The oldest looked like Patiyar, a white-bearded sage but with a couple scars on him. Bites and claw marks were there to show that he wasn't only dealing with koatis or guddus. His younger companion looked like his son, they shared the same protruding ears and pointy nose, and he had fewer scars on him. Either he was stronger or he'd taken fewer risks.

Aroku welcomed us by offering me a sip of fire wine after taking one for himself. I welcomed the liquid fire to heat up a bit. The maimed herder and I were the only ones with low Chi and suffering from the cold.

The Charavatkeh priests had long since monitored the egg farm. Now that the river was more secure than ever, building more was an option to provide eggs to the city and consume the nutrients to avoid the proliferation of other species.

For some reasons, they believed I had experience in large-scale husbandry. I had some indeed, but it would be hard to pin on Shinpilo knowledge that even they didn't have.

After showing them how to extract the eggs once more, I tried to stay as vague as I could. We had room to install more farms but they would need to look for any signs of disease. Epidemics were the most common issue when herding large groups.

This world had the convenient solution of magic to deal with it. A Fusaad priest could take care of the issue, for a price.

What needed to be done was to put in common a fund for all farmers to pay for a priest in case of an epidemic. Some kind of herder's cooperative. I'll need to think about it a bit more, but putting it under the care of the dockmaster seemed like the best course of action.

Once both priests thought I had told them everything I could they left us with Aroku. The limping sailor took Melodi to the farm to gather some eggs while I went to see Peterell.

The angler was on shore, sewing and fixing some nets. Now that the waters were free of barbed creatures, nets were lasting a lot longer.

He nodded at me to salute me, unfazed by my two bodyguards. The fact that I was now a free citizen didn't seem to disturb him at all. In his eyes, I was still the kid he took on his boat back then.

“Long time no see. Heard you've been quite busy at the palace,” he nonchalantly stated in his slow way of speaking.

Busy was an euphemism. I'm sure Melodi told him about everything.

I pointed at his nets. “Are they lasting longer now?” I asked with interest.

He nodded ans smiled. “Yes. I must say this is quite a nice consequence of your fishing demand. Now that tridents and fishermen are compelled to kill as many as they can, the water are richer than ever.” He pointed at a nearby crate, full with fish looking like big sardines. “I've never caught so many mogois.” He pointed at a smaller crate with the eel-like fishes that were worth their weight in gold. Peterell was a rich man.

We talked a bit about the evolution of the fish population. I found him surprisingly aware of the ecology of the river for a simple fisherman. He agreed with me that they would need to fish more to keep the populations in check now that the predators were taken care of.

“This is all thanks to you. It should have been done since hexes, but they never wanted to pay to hunt the beasts.” Not until I needed those beasts. Just paying a small sum to remove them had been enough to clear the river and the water had never been less dangerous. This investment ha only been made worth it for the Shield because it brought the valuable cement in return. Just hunting the beasts was a less appealing investment.

According to Peterell there were still some bigger chogsus swimming in the middle of the river in the winter but they would go back under the mountain by spring.

When my guards got a bit farther from us, the fisherman leaned closer to my ear. “I've heard a lot of rumours about you recently.”

So those rumours came all the way down to the docks. Whoever was propagating them had quite the network of influence.

“I know you enough to not believe them, but if I ever find out that you've been doing strange things to my daughter... Those two guards won't be enough to shield you.” His tone was casual but the slow threat came with a wave of pressure that reminded me of the old lord. It only lasted for a second, since Melodi was coming back with an armful of guddus' eggs.

“Daddy. Look, look. I want an omelette this evening. Aroku gave them all to me,” she humped around her father.

The man's face was back to one of a caring father, carrying nothing of the murderous intent he shown me an instant ago. He patted his daughter's head while talking to me. “I don't believe in hearsays and at the docks, we all know what we owe you. Just know that many are watching you,” he placidly warned me, like he was commenting on the weather.

The young catgirl was the one to answer him back. “We know. Don't worry, I'll monitor the shadows.” She snarled and flashed her canines. “It is thanks to him we get all the fish, so I'll become strong enough to stop the bad-mouthers.” Her hearing was only getting better, did she heard her father threatening me?

Her wilingness to protect me was more heart-warming than Aroku's fire wine.