Enlightened Empire

Chapter 459: Old Investments

It had been almost three months since Brym had left Rhodanos. Now, he found himself in a nameless little forest on the western foot of the Sallqata Mountain Range. Until recently, this place was untouched by civilization, far away from any cities controlled by nobles, or any sites of pilgrimage. No major road led through the area either. It was truly the middle of nowhere.

However, there was a good reason for him to take a detour in between visiting the cities of northern Medala and make his way here. Within these nameless woods, a valuable investment lay hidden, one he had been cultivating for years.

Unbeknownst to most — even unbeknownst to the lord who nominally owned these woods — a number of huts had been erected in the middle of the forest. Although this village was only small in size, it had a little stream and a deep well for water, a blacksmith for repairs, a granary for winter supplies, and almost anything else a self-sufficient settlement would need.

This was the newest hideout of the Latrus bandits, built with the southern kingdom's generous sponsorship. Currently, Brym found himself inside the largest of the village huts, sat opposite the leader of the bandits, Latrus the Unfettered himself.

After years in charge of his own bandit group, the rogue warrior had acquired the kind of confident posture only a true leader could have, together with the weathered skin to prove the days and months spent outside to lead his men into battle and provide for his own.

"Lord Brym, how good to see you again," the bandit leader greeted his main sponsor enthusiastically, while he led them to their seats. "I do hope you had a good time coming here."

"Yes, we came here without any trouble, though it is no slight on your newest home's secrecy," Brym replied with his customary smile. "Your directions were concise, so we managed to find your location just fine. Though I will say that we would have taken days of searching if your men hadn't guided us from the edge of the forest. Still, the way from civilization to here was quite uneventful. After all, I'm bringing enough protection these days, so no one on the way dared to bother us."

"I can see as, much" Latrus replied with a look out the window, where Brym's guard sat squeezed together in the small open space in the center of the village.

If he still was with his previous retinue, their accommodations wouldn't have been a problem. Although the village was small, they could have easily housed the half a dozen warriors Brym had brought along in the past. However, things had changed a lot over the past months. By now, the southern kingdom's minister of finance was forced to travel with a full fifty warriors for protection, an entire half platoon.

This change in numbers had become necessary because Brym's recent actions had caused considerable unrest in the northern kingdom. Of course, the northern court would do their best to target the main cause of these conflicts. Not only were Brym's shops one of the main targets of their revenge — often with violent consequences — Brym's own team would also also become the target of frequent 'bandit attacks', especially when they were traveling through the wilderness like this.

Thus, they had to increase their retinue sufficiently. By now, Brym was traveling with fifty proper warriors for protection. While the numbers seemed excessive as bandit protection for an envoy with diplomatic protection, they were still necessary in practice. After all, they weren't really fighting bandits. They were fighting Amautu's poorly disguised minions. Those warriors and scholars would just don some cheap clothes and ambush them in some deserted area, hopefully to kill him and then push the blame onto real bandits in the area.

Yet the increase in the size of Brym's retinue was enough to put an end to such shenanigans. If they were still wiped out with fifty fully armed warriors, even Amautu and his hypocritical scholars wouldn't have been able to argue that it had been a simple bandit attack. Obviously, there was no bandit in all of Medala who could organize a team large enough to deal with this many warriors.

Well, if there's one bandit who can organize that many, it might be this guy, Brym thought, as he observed his host some more. The lord of this hidden village, Latrus 'the Unfettered', formerly Latrus di Saliena, was a former warrior who had fled the eastern Governor Quintus Saliena's tyrannical rule years ago, on the day of Corco's return to Medala. As a rogue warrior, he obviously could no longer follow an honorable path in life, since they were considered outcasts of society for failing to uphold their duties towards their nominal lords.

Thus, Latrus and his family had been forced to hide away in the forests around Porcero while living off of the scraps of traveling merchants ever since then. However, a chance encounter with Brym years back had changed the family's fortunes. Those fortunes were now plain to see, laid out before Brym.

"Please, enjoy yourself," Latrus said, while he motioned towards the delicacies he had prepared for his sponsor's visit. The host presented with a feast on par with the poorer lords in Medala, which not only proved the wealth of the bandit group, but also their connections in the area, since they had clearly known early on that Brym was coming.

"I see you have made good use of the southern kingdom's money," Brym quipped, and picked up a cup of wine. Although the preparations for the foods here were as simple as the entire village, the basic ingredients used were all of great value. Not only the wine was high-quality, Brym even spotted some saltwater fish. In this place — which lay as far inland as Medala's geography would allow — only vast amounts of ice, and vaster amounts of money, would allow for such a feast.

"Yes indeed, we have," Latrus replied in a satisfied tone, and picked up his own cup for a toast.

WIth the financial support from the southern kingdom, the Latrus bandits had managed to grow from their humble beginnings as roadside robbers. Soon, they had spread their operations all throughout eastern Medala. In return, they had helped disrupt the new trade routes the Arcavians had been establishing through the northern kingdom and towards Chutwa.

During the south's conflict with Lord Saliena over their property rights in Porcero, the Latrus bandits had further intensified their efforts, to force Amautu into a compromise. In the end, in return for the guaranteed property rights of the southern kingdom in the north, all bandit forces, including Latrus and his men and women, had scaled down their operations. That had been two years ago, yet the south's support for the bandits had never stopped.

"We do not usually live this large. We were expecting our great benefactor, so we prepared in excess for your arrival," Latrus explained the feast. Maybe he didn't want Brym to think that he was wasting all of the sponsored money on luxuries, though that was an unnecessary concern. The presence of this village alone was more than enough to prove the efforts of the bandit group, as well as the sound nature of Brym's investment.

While Amautu's kingdom used the breathing room from the reduced bandit activity to fight the Kingdom of the Center, and then to start centralizing the country, the bandits hadn't stood still either. Off the beaten path in between estates, the Latrus bandits in particular had spread out their operations ever further. After they had linked all the disparate bandit groups in Eastern Medala, they had now begun to look further west.

Through hidden paths in the Sallqata Mountains, they had brought both men and materials closer to Amautu's center of power. With the establishment of this hidden village, they had now finally established their first base in Northern Medala. After years of operations, the Latrus bandits had gone from bereaved dogs on the run from their vicious master, to an important political player in the northern kingdom. Their lord's expensive greeting certainly reflected that status.

"Apart from these minor refreshments, we are also prepared to take direct action in support of Benefactor Brym's plans," Latrus added, in a self-satisfied tone.

"Are you?" Brym simply asked back. He didn't doubt the strength of the bandits, which was plain to see out the window. He didn't doubt their determination either, which they had proven numerous times over the course of their cooperation. Rather, he doubted their leader's understanding of the situation at large. They had only just arrived in the north after all. Though even that assumption was corrected immediately.

"Yes, even we have heard of the gang wars which have been happening in the north," Latrus explained. "I thought it likely that the southern kingdom's freedom fighters would be reactivated soon to add to the chaos."

Apparently, Brym had been playing around a bit too hard these days. Even all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere, these 'freedom fighters' knew about the damage he had caused to Amautu's grand plans.

After the first example of Rhodanos, he and Inti had found a template to work off of, and they did their best to replicate it elsewhere. In fact, most cities were a lot easier to clear of the scholar influence than their first attempt.

In the first place, most lords had done a much better job than Gratidia of holding on to their power while limiting the scholars. As a result, most lords were a lot more active in their support as well. After all, the southern kingdom had no political aspirations in the north, at least not in the foreseeable future. They were only interested in economic cooperation, while leaving political power to the lords, which suited both sides just fine.

By the time they reached their third northern city on their journey, lords began to actively approach them for cooperation as soon as they crossed the city limits. With such support, the gang war which had been relegated to Rhodanos alone soon spread all across the north. City by city, the scholars were losing their grasp on power as quickly as they had achieved it. With their ease of progress, Inti and Brym had even split up to spread the damage more quickly. Of course, the good times couldn't last forever.

At first, Amautu had simply sent more men from Challwala to join in the fun. However, such attempts only intensified the conflicts and did nothing to reverse their unfavorable position.

Soon, the northern king realized that he couldn't compete in this kind of contest, at least not straight-up. He was investing money to fund the local gangsters and his own men to lead them, all to fight a war which was only destroying his own lands. Meanwhile, Brym was only sharing some profits from his business with some local forces, and invested nothing beyond that. In the long-term, the winner of such conflicts was inevitably the side without any consumption. Thus, the northern court's strategy had to change once again, and this time, they were desperate.

Violence in the cities of the north increased further, as the scholars were increasingly lawless in an attempt to shock their enemies into a retreat. At first, they had still held back their brutality, since they were officially representing the 'civilized' scholars of Chutwa. However, now that they were cornered, they became increasingly ferocious. By now, the fires in the cities were no longer starting by accident.

Apart from arson — largely focused on the now mostly abandoned Wonders of the World shops in various northern cities — there were even instances where important citizens like wealthy merchants and famous local craftsmen were held hostage to force some of the lords into compliance. Even resident Pacha priests weren't spared, with devastating consequences. One instance of a priest's public lynching by fake scholars eager to please their masters had sparked an outrage which had almost led to a rebellion in one of the northern estates.

Thus, the actions of the scholars had set more and more commoners against the scholars, even though the main target of their suppression had always been the northern lords. By this point, even Latrus from the east, stuck in this village on the edge of the northern kingdom, seemed well-informed, which showed the full dimensions of the chaos.

"Indeed, your brave freedom fighters may have to work harder to fight those unsavory forces which aim to destroy medalan traditions," Brym explained to Latrus, who pretended to look concerned in response. As long-time collaborators, of course the sponsor knew what that look meant. "What is the issue? Do you need any support?" he thus added. He wouldn't mind paying a bit extra, so long as the bandits stayed loyal. However, Latrus' demand was surprisingly reasonable.

"Well, since our numbers have grown and we have stretched into the west, we are lacking all kinds of materials. More than anything, the number of our weapons is seriously insufficient," he explained. "That northern king has been quite aggressive. I hear his scholars now roam the lands armed with pikes proper battle axes. If we cannot arm ourselves in response, I cannot in good conscience force my people to go up against them."

"Of course, you will need the right tools to do your work. Getting you as much shouldn't be a problem at all," Brym replied. "I should be able to organize something appropriate within a month at most."

Just as Brym was about to explain the strategy for their newest cooperation in detail, one of his guards silently entered the room. Although the interruption was sudden, the minister wasn't too upset. His men knew that he didn't like to be bothered during meetings, and wouldn't just interrupt him for no reason. Clearly, this was important.

Thus, both him and Latrus simply remained seated and watched as Brym's guard came up to his master.

"A message has arrived from Lady Inti, Minister," the guard explained, while handing him a sealed piece of paper.

Brym nodded and waved the guard away, before he checked the letter's seal, to confirm that it was unbroken, and also the correct one. After, he opened the letter, and once again checked its authenticity, this time through the numbers written along the margins. The intricate code offered an additional layer of protection, to make sure neither of them were receiving any fake information from elsewhere while they communicated at a distance.

Unlike the status of the letter itself, there was no need to decode the message proper, since the contents themselves weren't very secretive. Since there was no need to waste any time on en- or decoding, Brym could just read the message directly. As he did, a satisfied smile slowly spread across his face. Apparently, after months of effort, his goals in the north had finally moved a step closer to completion.

"Good news, I assume?" Latrus asked.

"You could say that," Brym replied, while he carefully folded up the letter and put it away. "King Amautu has invited me to Challwala, for talks on how to solve the current chaos in northern Medala. Apparently, the Latrus bandits can extend their days of peace a bit longer. And there will be no more need for any weapons deliveries either. With this invitation, the king of the north has already admitted defeat, and proven his eagerness for negotiations."

In anticipation of the upcoming meeting, Brym couldn't help but smile. After all, negotiations had always been his specialty.