Herald of Steel



'You call him your partner, yet, you are planning to swindle him of everything, haha'

When Alexander heard Camius describe the vineyards and how they should try to spare those after taking the city over, he could not help but roll his eyes inside his head and chuckle.

Alexander wondered how that merchant and his son would feel if they knew the man they had led into their house and showed him all the hospitality was the very man who was planning to rob them of everything.

But this statement also reassured him that Camius knew where his loyalty and priorities were here, here in Zanzan and with Alexander, and did not let the prospect of business and the allure of gold blind him.

Of course, even if Thesalie was captured, it did not mean that Camius's partner had to die or have everything taken away.

Alexander would be happy to let them keep most of everything if they submitted to him.

And besides, by what Alexander could gather from the context, what Camius was likely trying to say was not plundering the vineyards over from that son, but that the vineyards around the city were a major economic resource and they should try to not destroy them.

Alexander gave an approving nod to this, for vineyards were a difficult and skill-intensive endeavor to set up.

And then asked,

"What else? Is there anything else of value in and around the city? Skilled men? Good farmland? Gold?"

"The wine industry seems to be the city's most defining aspect. There are also some nice jewelry and clothing shops I saw when I visited the market, and a couple of artisans."

"But nothing too eye-catching."

"As for mines and such, well, I heard the river is full of fish. I can let you know more in a couple of months."

"The son helped me set up a branch shop in the city's market district. And it's among the affluent part."

"So I left one of my trusted men in charge there, he has a good head."

"I told him to make connections with the nobles using the wine and find out more about the city."

"In a couple of years, we should have a sprawling spy network in Tibias, hehe," Camius appeared very pleased with himself.

And it was indeed good news.

"That is good. Looks like your business is really taking off." So Alexander congratulated.

"Yes, it is, I will not lie." And Camius did not try to fake being humble in front of his friend, saying,

"In Zanzan, my shop is pretty well known."

"At first, I was helped by Menes and others from our mercenary groups coming to always buy wine from there."

"And when other people saw high-level folks like them, council members, city guard captains, etc. visiting me regularly, they began to get curious."

"They started trying my wine and the rest in history."

"The wine soon became very popular and the orders just kept coming in and never stopped from there."

"Now if you want to buy my wine, you will need to wait at least three months, hehe!"

Camius said so while lifting his hands and wriggling his fingers at Alexander, showing off all the expensive rings on him.

It appeared the man had decided to treat himself a bit with his first paycheck, while Alexander smirked at the playful gesture.

After this display, Camius continued, saying,

"As for in Thesalie, even as I was setting up shop, some trade guilds have already asked me to join, offering partnerships and other deals."

"I have not responded yet, but they are expecting one soon."

"What should I do, doc?"

Camius turned to Alexander for his opinion.

And for a second, Alexander subconsciously furrowed his brows a bit.

He did not at all like trading guilds.

As for the reason why, well there were myriad reasons.

Now these guilds were not evil per se.

They were set up with good intentions.

They worked to protect its members, helped them have a unified voice, and looked after them if ran into difficulties.

They also helped the consumers by ensuring the quality of products, and even standardized measurements.

For instance, a carpenter guild could set guidelines for the dimensions and construction of wooden products, and make tools using a single unit.

All these Alexander had no problem with.

In fact, he approved it.

But his main sticking point was one thing and one thing only.

And the thing that got on Alexander's nerves was their price-fixing method.

Basically, guilds would fix prices for all their products and worse still stop others from selling below that price, claiming these men were using fraudulent, unscrupulous methods to create products of low quality, and that was why they were able to sell them for so low.

And though sometimes this narrative of fake products held water, most of the time it was a way of stopping others from undercutting them and taking their business.

And it was this that Alexander found particularly rage-inducing.

Because to him, it was a clear and blatant attempt at stifling competition and preventing innovation by barring others from reducing their prices.

After all, if a product's price was fixed, well the consumers would always go for the trade guild-approved one where they would be certain of the quality instead of a new start-up's untested one.

This was why all kinds of trading guilds were banned in Zanzan.

Normally this would have been a very difficult thing to do, as trading guilds held a lot of power in the city, being the cash machine they were.

Even a powerful lord had to make concessions to the combined might to the people who produced the bulk of his income.

But Alexander was helped by the fact when he took over Zanzan, it was basically empty of these people, meaning he could do whatever he liked.

And as for now, well, Zanzan was still not a bustling trading hub.

And also its biggest merchant was also without a doubt Alexander, meaning he could push everyone around as he pleased and suppress anyone trying to form any trading union.

After all, if a group of artisans tried to put pressure on Alexander by threatening not to work and even disrupt the market, to try and starve him of money, well Alexander had his own business revenue streams.

He could play the same game, unlike a traditional noble who had no direct way of participating in the market short of arresting the merchants.

In this way Alexander was very different from most other nobles, as he had a complete monopoly on all the new industries like sugar, glass, etc. as well as an iron grip on the food markets because most of the farmers that lived here worked on his land, meaning they were his employees who were paid a certain wage while Alexander took all the food for himself.

And as for the artisans, well the same rule appeared, almost everyone worked for him, either in the workshops or in the military as engineers and blacksmiths.

So there were not really any free artisans who could start a guild here in Zanzan.

But that would certainly not be the case in Thesalie.

And because Camius knew Alexander's extreme dislike for this type of guild that he asked for his permission to join one.

"Of course, you will join," And Alexander's answer was surprisingly quick, sounding like it was a no-brainer.

He further said,

"Any lone merchant is too vulnerable in front of these giant organizations. Never mind we are outsiders there."

"If we do not show face to their invitation, the guilds there can find a hundred different ways to shut us down. They might even steal our wien recipe!"

As Alexander said this, he then turned to look directly at Camius and in an intrigued voice asked,

"But you should already know this, so why ask?"

"Hehe, well I was thinking if we could start our own guild," Camius said with a slight blush, scratching his cheeks.

"You know, if you were to sell more of your things through my shop…then we could really make something big."

Camius sounded very ambitious.

"...." And hearing this Alexander pursed his lips, thinking it over.

While Camius tried making his case by adding,

"It is not really a bad idea if you think about it. Guilds are not all bad you know."

"I would even say they are a necessity. Merchants are people with a lot of money but no real authority. So if they did not band together, the nobles would steal everything from them."

"Besides, though they have their controversies, you must admit they are also beneficial to the society."

"They help take care of the widows and orphans of their community, ensure customers are not swindled, and even the apprenticeship process which produces new artisans are conducted through guild affiliated networks."

"I don't think banning them will be feasible in the long term."

"...." Alexander stayed silent for a while, not immediately answering yes or no.

Camius made some good points.

So it took him a while to organize his thoughts.

And then he said,

"Well, let's talk about that sometime later. We do not have to deal with it right now and I will think about it in the meantime."

"For now, you just concentrate on joining a suitable guild and see how they operate."

"And what I want to know more is what have you heard about the war? How is the mood there? What do the nobles think? And the people?"