Chapter 368: Chapter 330 – The Merchant of Gloomshine

“Much like in warfare, the greatly different mindsets of the various races also affected their business dealings. Goblins were known to be brutal hagglers, who often sought out the greatest profit possible out of every endeavor, but with little thought given to the long term.

 

On the flipside, long-lived people like the elves almost always played the long game. They would invest in things that might take centuries to bear dividends, and generally did not put too much thought into short-term progress.

 

Others usually strike more of a balance between the extremes, and amongst these, few rival the ratlike inhabitants of Gloomshine Isle, who had made a name for themselves as highly effective merchants, to the point that many people hired them to handle negotiations and trade deals on their behalf.” - Portia du Lemont, Economics Professor at the Levain Institute for Higher Learning, circa 625 FP.

Much like what the Captain of the ship announced, they cast anchor on the southern port of Gloomshine Isle half a day late. Whereas the ship was originally scheduled to reach the port by the evening of the second day, they arrived only on the morning of the third day instead.

 

The ship had slowed down noticeably to process the behemoth carcass, and took half a day before they hauled in the massive bones of the beast - all that was left of the carcass by the point, the rest either already harvested or devoured by local predators - onto the hulls.

 

Cal had learnt from the ship’s captain and first mate that apparently the locals used such bones to build their larger warships, as the bones were lightweight and naturally buoyant. The bones provided a solid, lightweight core to the keel and construction of the light, fast ships the locals favored. It was a clever way to reinforce their ships while they kept weight to a minimum.

 

When the ship arrived at the port, they had already sent news ahead to inform the authorities of their delay via messenger bird. Many deck hands were already waiting to unload the harvested bits of the behemoth from the ship, while the few passengers that complained were directed to a large, rotund rat-like therian man who was dressed in fine silks.

 

Of course, not every bit of the harvested material arrived at the port. The Captain had treated the passengers and the crew to some of the behemoth’s flesh on the night of the harvest. The flesh itself was far more akin to those of terrestrial animals than to fish, a pale pink color with a flavor not unlike that of good beef, if lighter in intensity.

 

Cal and her group were amongst the last to disembark, partly because the ship arrived really early in the morning, and they were content to wait a bit until Ilena woke up on her own instead of waking her. By the time they walked the plank that connected to the dock, all the other passengers had long left, and even a good portion of the cargo had been unloaded already.

 

To Cal’s surprise, the rotund rat-like therian who had dealt with the complaints from earlier approached the group as soon as they left the ship, and gave a courtly bow that looked somewhat comical due to his round figure. It looked almost like a silk-wrapped ball of meat trying to give a courteous bow.

 

“Greetings to our esteemed guests, The Blood Demon and companions, yes-yes?” said the therian man as he raised his head. The first thing one would notice when they saw him was his rotund shape, then one’s attention would naturally be drawn to the expensive silken shawls and clothes that wrapped around his form. He was large for his kind, probably a good meter forty or so, and sported all sorts of jewelry on his fingers, neck, and ears, all glittering with gold and jewels. “We bid-pledge you welcome to Gloomshine.”

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“I guess there goes any hope of traveling incognito,” sighed Cal with some exasperation in her voice. For most of the other islands, she had managed to travel quietly, but apparently the fat rat-like therian man already knew of her before she arrived. “I had not expected that people already know what I look like here in the Isles.”

 

“We start-begin trade-business with the Empire this year-season, madam,” said the therian man with a humble bow. “Hard-difficult not to hear-listen of the stories of your feats there. Any who had gone-went there know-heard of the legends, yes-yes.”

 

“And you are?”

 

“Ah, where are my manners,” said the therian man with an exaggerated bow. He twirled his whiskers with one hand as he once again swept his wide-brimmed and heavily decorated feathered hat in a courteous bow as he introduced himself. “This one is A’ng-Whu, a humble merchant of the Goldclaw union, yes-yes.”

 

“Oh? That Goldclaw union?” Cal asked with some surprise. On a closer inspection she finally noticed how the signet on one of the rings worn by the therian man held the fang on a gold coin emblem of the union, and some patterns of the embroidery on his clothes also formed the same, though they were unnoticeable unless one looked specifically for it.

 

She had heard of that merchant union’s name in her latest visit to Al-Shan, an off-handed remark from Xain about how some traders from a large merchant union from the south had recently brought their business to the Empire. The union was surprisingly one of the largest and richest in either continent, despite its relative younger age,

 

They were known for their ruthless but fair approach to business, and thus had received a warm welcome. Cal guessed that even years after the civil war, stories about her likely still circulated wildly, if not even more exaggerated in the hands of the local bards and story tellers.

 

As such, it was no true surprise that someone who had business dealings with the Empire had learned enough about her to notice her arrival long before she reached the island. After all, the ship she had taken to Gloomshine was one of the merchant union’s.

 

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