Chapter 29 - [That Distasteful Institution]

The two of us started walking toward the staircase to the upper floors. As we walked, Sendrick said, “Your father is incredibly generous, replacing extinguished Hellfire sparks for free. If I’m not mistaken, he’s the only one in the Northern Realms that doesn’t charge for Hellfire spark replacement. In any settlement other than Sableton, the nobles will charge anywhere from ten to fifty silver pieces to replace a single spark.”

“Huh…” I said, looking toward Sendrick for a moment. “I didn’t know that.” I tried to keep my talking to a minimum as we walked up the stairs.

“Oh, yes, it’s quite expensive to maintain a guild hall under such circumstances,” Sendrick said seriously. “With all the bulky items we must transport frequently, we lose a spark or two every month. Forty silver a month over a dozen guild halls really adds up, you know? Your father’s generosity is a big part of why I built such a large guild hall in Sableton.”

It annoyed me slightly that a middle-aged man could deliver a soliloquy while walking up two flights of stairs without missing a beat, whereas I could barely breathe by the end of the first flight.

“Why are you…” I took a few deep breaths, “telling me this?”

“Well, if we’re going to be business partners, then I might as well start your training now. You see, generosity can be the best strategy from time to time. You might think that being cold, calculating, and ruthless is always the best strategy when it comes to business and politics, but that’s far from the case.” We reached the top of the staircase, and I leaned against a wall, breathing heavily as Sendrick spoke. “Your father is a good man, and, well, forgive me for saying so, but that is a rare commodity among nobles.” I nodded in agreement. “Good men are predictable; good men always uphold their end of the bargain, even without the threat of monetary loss if the bargain is broken. The businessmen of Rubigo know that your father is a good man, so they are eager to do business in Northwind. Over the past twenty years, the Realm of Northwind has experienced unparalleled economic growth… all because your father is a good man. Do you understand me?”

Finally able to catch my breath, I said, “How are you so sure that my father is a good man?” The image of thirty dead outlanders briefly flashed through my mind. “Isn’t his title ‘the King’s Executioner?’”

Sendrick smiled at my question. “It’s quite simple, really. He’s done several things throughout his governance of Northwind that were unprofitable. He did those things not because he could turn a profit, but because it was the right thing to do.”

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“What things?” I asked, genuinely confused. My father’s rule of Northwind before my birth was a big blind spot for me.

“Well, his first act as Count of Northwind was to abolish slavery within the Realm. He criminalized the trade of slaves in addition to their transportation,” Sendrick explained.

Slavery, that distasteful institution. I knew that I would encounter it from time to time once I left Northwind. Within the logic of the game, the legal status of slavery was commonly used as shorthand for the moral alignment of the area you were in and more specifically the leader of that area. Slavery was legal in about half of Etronia since the local liege of each fief decided the laws on such matters. The original Thale invited the slave merchants back into Northwind within months of his father’s death.

“I get the point,” I said with a wave of my hand, stopping Sendrick from listing other examples. “Sometimes, it’s better to project the image of a ‘good man.’ I don’t see why you feel the need to teach me that, however. Being ‘good’ should come naturally to someone my age.”

“You’re right, it should…” Sendrick said, leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken. Something about me worried Sendrick, clearly. Whatever he saw in me that prompted him to say, ‘being a good person is the right move, sometimes,’ was beyond me.

I replaced the extinguished spark on the third floor while Sendrick stood beside me. “Quite the Talent,” he said. “Do you want to take a seat in my office so that we could continue our conversation from yesterday?”

“Absolutely,” I said, happy to get past Sendrick’s earlier statement. Seriously, what did I do to put his guard up like that? Did he see something in my eyes that no one else saw? Whatever. All that matters is that he’s still willing to work with me.

We soon reached Sendrick’s office, and I once more found myself sitting across from the richest man in Etronia. At his seat, Sendrick leaned toward me, interlaced his fingers, and rested his head on his hands. “To begin with, I have to say that yesterday was the most productive day of my life. I’ve never been able to sit down and fill out paperwork for four hours straight without stopping. Though, I did have some trouble talking to people while I was using your focus-drug. It’s a minor concern compared to what it did for me.”

“I knew you’d be sold as soon as you took it,” I said with a calculated smile of my own. “It is potentially addictive, however, so you should probably be careful with overuse.”

“Of course it’s addictive,” Sendrick laughed. “Who wouldn’t become addicted to being a better employee?”

Sendrick cleared his throat to get his excitement back under control. “Anyway, I’m thinking we’ll be able to sell this stuff to the students and scholars at Hinnom for - at minimum - a silver piece per gram.”

I let out a low whistle. If he could really sell my focus-drug at such a price, then a kilogram of it would cost ten gold pieces.

“How much of it could you sell?” I asked.

Without hesitation, Sendrick answered. “As much as you can make.”