Chapter 310: Selling Stolen Goods (1/2)
After Honoria and her Crew had attacked and ransacked two Imperial vessels, they immediately made their way to the port of Trieste. Trieste quickly became a significant trading hub within Austria, as it was the realm's largest harbor.
After several days of sailing, Honoria and her Crew finally arrived within the city, where they intended to sell the goods they had captured for a fair price. As such, Honoria, with Melissa and Elfrun by her side, stepped off of the vessel and began to search the marketplace for an appropriate buyer.
The rest of her Crew were waiting onboard the vessels guarding the prisoners and waiting for their pay so that they could get in a little R&R. After strolling through the markets of Trieste for some time, Honoria came across a textile trader.
The Granadan merchant was stunned to see a group of women dressed in pants and clad with weapon belts walking around in the Trieste market. His first instinct was to ignore the three women, fortunately for him, they began to approach the merchant, and as such, he let out a sigh before putting on a friendly facade.
”How can I help you?”
With this in mind, Honoria took out two shipping manifests that she had captured from the Imperial vessels.
”We have these goods to sell; I am sure you might be interested in our wares.”
The Merchant looked through the items listed on the manifests. Initially, he had a dull expression however when he gazed across their contents his dark eyes quickly shined with avarice. The goods on this manifest were of the highest quality of Byzantine Silk and Indian Cotton.
It was not easy for a merchant from Granadan like him to get ahold of such items, and as such, he was greatly interested in bringing the materials back to the Emirate to sell for a profit. Of course, silk and cotton were not the only things that caught his interest; the purple dye was the most attractive of all the goods that the women had to offer.
After thinking about it for a few moments, the Merchant began to inquire about the origins of such fine materials.
”Where did you get such exquisite items?”
If these goods were stolen, it could cause quite some difficulty to the man, and judging by the attire these women were dressed in, they likely weren't merchants. However, to the man's surprise, Honoria pulled out a letter and handed it to the man.
This piece of parchment was the letter of marque and reprisal that Berengar had signed, permitting Honoria to engage in piracy against the Kingdom of Austria's enemies. By now, the term ”Privateer” had become quite notorious among the merchants of the Mediterranean. Berengar's introduction of Privateering was an action heavily criticized by various states who had coastlines within the region.
Despite these protests, many merchants were willing to purchase such wares as they could be resold at a substantially higher rate in their home countries. As such, the Merchant was far from reluctant to buy the goods; if anything, it was in his favor that these women had found him to fence their ill-gotten gains. After thinking about it for some time, the man raised two fingers to name his price for the goods.
”I will pay ten thousand Austrian Thalers for the Cotton and Silk, as for the purple dye, I am greatly interested in it, but the cost is negotiable.”
Upon hearing the Merchant's offer, Honoria discussed the costs with her crew members.
”I think it is a good deal, that is a substantial sum, and is slightly below market value. After all, the Merchant has to resell the goods to make a profit. As for the purple dye, we have five pounds of the substance, and the dye is worth three times its weight in gold; as such, we should demand Guldens in exchange for it!”
Melissa nodded her head in agreement, the Gulden was used for large transactions such as this, and they highly doubted the Merchant had 107,143 Austrian Thalers lying around. As such, she quickly agreed to Honoria's proposal.