The road to the future

 “And with that, the deal is struck! Thank you, my lady, thank you truly.” Hugo watched from the side as Orin repeatedly shook the hands of the woman—the chief of a small village that lay just a dozen kilometers from Belan.

She held a hand to her cheek. “Oh, you’re making me all flustered. Thank you as well, Orin, feel free to visit us any time.” The woman was indeed blushing, and Hugo had to consciously stop himself from verbally denouncing the scam taking place in front of him.

Hugo and Orin turned towards their horses that grazed in the field nearby, the rest of the caravan left near Thorn.

“That was quite the deal wasn’t it Hugo?” The merchant said with a grin the moment the chief was out of earshot. Hugo gagged in disgust.

“More like highway robbery. Twenty gold for that much silk of such high quality? It’s ridiculous!” It should’ve gone for a hundred gold at a minimum. Far higher if they took the expected profits into account.

Orin repeatedly clicked his tongue as he waved an index finger at him. “No, no, no no, no. Hugo, my boy, you’re thinking about it all wrong. It’s simply a...delayed lesson in economics, one that’ll bring this village great prosperity in the future when they realize their mistake. Besides! It’s not like I’m leaving them out to starve, they simply won’t be partaking in our expected affluence.”

He supposed he could maybe agree with the last part. Twenty gold was nothing to scoff at, more than enough to get the village through the coming year, though the obviously unfair deal still left him feeling dirty.

“You didn’t try such a thing with Belan, you offered father a fair deal. What’s up with that?” He asked as he mounted Clover, a sceptical frown on his face.

“Hmm? Is it not obvious? There’s no point trying to fool someone who clearly knows their way around coin. Haven't I told you already? Shortcuts and schemes are for amateurs, it’s for the best to not pointlessly antagonize future partners. Bad for business.” Hugo hummed in a tone that made his displeasure clear.

“And that ‘lesson’ just now wasn’t a scheme?” Orin made a sound that was somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle.

“Of course not! I simply took an opportunity that presented itself on a silver platter, that’s all.”

It was nothing more than wordsmithing, Hugo knew that. But he also knew that it was pointless to try arguing any further, so he simply dropped the matter—taking out a journal as they rode across the countryside.

“That brings us up to a thousand rolls of silk. Assuming that our troupe of tailors manage to make it on time we’ll have five thousand silk textiles ready for shipment in a month.”

He began to quickly flip through his notes, the words leaving his mouth becoming just a little more frantic as he continued.

“We also have ten thousand woolen products planned—most of them complex clothing—not to mention the need to build up further stockpiles to make sure our supply doesn’t collapse at the smallest incident. I also remember you talking about turning the furs you brought from the east into a collector’s piece.” He scratched the back of his head in doubt.

“Any change to tax policy will happen before the fall harvest. Are you sure we can make it on time, mister Orin?”

“We will, don’t you worry about that.” Hugo expected the man to elaborate. He did not.

“...How exactly?” Unexpectedly, the merchant shrugged in response without a care in the world.

“Don’t know, don’t care. Old Bram will handle it somehow. That man is a miracle working slave driver. One that pays his people well, but a slave driver nonetheless.” For a brief moment he thought he could see a haunted look flash across Orin’s eyes. It was gone as quickly as it appeared.

He once came across Orin digging through a mountain of paperwork while Bram sat nearby, brandishing a stick threateningly. The man was definitely speaking from personal experience.

“Should I just mark it as complete then?” The merchant nodded in confirmation. Hugo got to work immediately, updating their future plans and calculations accordingly. It’s what he had been doing for the last month or so, serving as Orin’s assistant and bookkeeper. A second job of sorts outside of his usual duties at the village.

It wasn’t exactly the most interesting job, simple and repetitive all things considered, but it wasn’t like he had much else to do. At least the man paid him well, far higher than what a sixteen year old should be getting if he had to guess.

“What now?” Hugo decided to ask. There weren't any other tasks on their checklist.

“We wait.” Was his answer.

“We’ve placed our bet, all that’s left is to see it through. We have neither the capital nor the connections to prepare any further, that’ll have to come afterwards when we begin to reap the benefits of our labor.” One word caught his attention.

“‘Afterwards’?” Confusion was clear in his tone. If their ploy did indeed succeed Orin will have more than enough gold to retire comfortably to a big city.

“Why of course! This is just the beginning of my journey, I intend to corner the entire market of Avelin, not just Thorn.” He loudly exclaimed, throwing his arms open with such bravado one would think he held the entire world within them.

“But…why?” Orin gave him what was quite frankly the most confused look he’s ever seen on the man’s face, baffled even.

“What do you mean by ‘why’ Hugo? I’m not understanding your question here.”

Hugo awkwardly scratched the back of his head, thinking on the wording for a moment. “You’d have more than enough money to go off and do whatever you want, why bother with further trading?”

“‘Why would I’? That’s certainly a first.” He scratched his chin for a moment, pondering the question over.

“To one day build a mercantile empire that’ll stretch far across the lands!” He said after a moment.

“Though it’s not really about the coin or the fame. It’s about the goal and the journey there.” A confident smile appeared on Orin’s face as he nodded resolutely. It seemed as though he had settled upon his answer.

“...It’s your dream then.” Hugo didn't know what had brought him to say that, nor did he know why those words were spoken in such a somber tone. Perhaps it was something he once held close to his heart, though he had left it behind long ago.

Orin lightly bumped into Clover with his own horse in a playful manner. “My boy! What’s with that wispy tone? Kids your age should be blind in love and fiery in heart. Raise your head a little.”

A small smile stretched across his face, though it ended up being far more melancholic than he had intended. “Yeah, they should be…”

His companion stared curiously at him, though he didn’t comment any further.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Orin began to hum a small tune to himself after a few minutes of silence. It was a song he recognized well, the Knight of Speyer, his parent’s favourite.

A song to which he never truly paid any heed to, yet one that never failed to bring some joy into his being, it’s energetic beat dragging his heart along with it. Perhaps it had simply become associated with happiness thanks to the jovial voice of his father, and the gentle tone of his mother.

He hummed along, and felt his heart lighten with each rhythm. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad to simply follow the dream of another, to let the light of their grand vision wash away the weight in his heart, as brief as the relief may be.

Even the horses seemed to follow along, the steady beat of their hooves acting as a drum for their tune. Onward they went, across the plains and over the hills, humming a song as though nothing else mattered in the world, the clouds passing them by as the sun began to dip over the horizon.

Yes, perhaps it wasn’t so bad after all, even if the road they walked wasn’t really his.

When they finally reached the outskirts of Thorn, the pair was greeted by a breathless Bram sprinting at them with all the speed his old bones could muster.

“What’s wrong Bram?” Asked Orin with concern clearly evident, though that was washed away when the old man looked up with a toothy grin.

“Duke Avelin’s herald made an announcement today, taxes on transportation and most luxury goods will be greatly reduced, going into effect in two weeks.”

Orin’s laugh was almost hysteric. Hugo got the feeling it’ll likely be a busy few weeks for all of them.