Chapter 6: ~A Friends visit.~ (1/2)
***Norfolk, Sarn-Valley***
It has been a few months since the assassination attempt. It got strangely quiet afterwards. There were no further attacks. Unfortunately I didn't get any useful information from those poor souls. They were hired by a person who hid his identity. So no clue about my enemies.
My new residence was completed too. It actually became a small fortress in the end. There had to be enough room for my guards and the staff after all. And I wanted enough space for myself too.
So much work was done and I am still just about to start. The travelling merchants are starting to bring information about the world to this forsaken place.
Since I put taxes on the roads and the port I have a good and stable income too. The wealthy regions behind the mountain-range can't afford to travel around it to ship their goods in another port.
They are dealing mostly with metals and wood. So having something heavy like that transported over great distances becomes more and more problematic with each kilometre.
Then there are those rumours around the world. It looks like a war is about to happen soon. That's disturbing me because this world has been without wars for over seventy years now.
There are reports that some merchant fleets disappeared close to the Phenex Empire. On the other hand it's hard to believe that a big nation would sink a merchant fleet without a word. It's more likely that they got into a storm and were lost on the Great Sea.
And the Nation of Mist started to voice their unhappiness with Norfolk's increased usage of the shipping routes around the main continent. Though they still hold the monopoly over the high sea, Norfolk is starting to ship their goods by themselves while keeping close to the coastlines.
Last but not least I got really bad news from Mislow. Some ambassadors were judged guilty for violating a religious belief and executed on the spot while talking to the Jamaian Union. The king of Mislow was enraged and blamed Jamaian for it, he threw some Jamaian consuls into the prison.
The Jamaian Union retaliated in kind and started some small raids at the border. Both nations are arming up now. It's just a question of time before the situation could explode into a full blown war.
All this caused quite some unrest within Mislow and some of the bigger noble families started to move. It's said that some houses fell into disregard with the king. Others were wiped out by their competitors. It would be funny if my loved family belonged to the casualties.
Unfortunately there is no exact information because of the closed borders.
“There is someone requesting to see you.” Sarah, my secretary looks around the corner. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Her expression is a little frightened and she always tries to hide behind something. I want to know what I did to cause such a behaviour from her side.
“Send him in.” Then I stash away the reports which I was working on. A few seconds later I see a very familiar face.
“Kane!” I jump up and hug my only friend. “It took you quite some time to pay me a visit! You just wrote some letters so far.”
Kane pats me on the shoulders while smiling. “What are you talking about? I just didn't bother to visit because there was no Gate in this collection of barracks!”
I blink my eyes. “Sarah, since when do we have a Gate?” Gates aren't cheap! And the qualified personnel to keep them going isn't cheap either!
Sarah lenses around the corner. “Rostock deemed it necessary in order to lure people with high qualifications to the town. He said that those high and mighty wizards would never come here by carriage or ship.”
Kane shrugs his shoulders. “That point at least is right. Your little city is two weeks from the next Gate! Did you expect me to travel for four weeks, just to make a little house visit?”
“Grah. Well. I admit that Rostock has a point, but Gates are not cheap you know?” I scratch my cheek while thinking about the situation.
“He wrote an entire essay for you in order to explain his reasons and forecasts for the profitability of the Gate. He said that it may not earn as much money as it costs. But the prestige of having a Gate alone would bring many needed people to the city. Didn't you read the report at all?” Sarah points to a big fat folder of papers on my desk?
I grab it and start to skip through the document. “Ah... that... I thought it was a report on our annual income and ignored it.”
Sarah shakes her head and leaves the room.
Kane starts to grin at me. “You are the same genius as ever. At least your secretary knows how to keep an eye on things.”
“Yeah. Well, how are you and your family doing anyway? I heard that there are troubles all around the world.” I take something to drink from my personal bar and offer it to Kane.
“The world is becoming a little darker but we are doing fine. Mislow is a black hole when it comes to information. Luckily my family isn't really tied down by too much responsibilities. We always firmly believed in being able to pack up and leave old things behind.” Kane shrugs his shoulders.