Capítulo 13: Passengers, “dragon heliport” and rest
Omar and I went our separate ways as we headed home, I began telling him the details of the ship we would be purchasing tomorrow, and as a Velaryon he was always interested in that kind of information. Quickly giving me instructions:
"A sailing ship with 4 masts and 3 decks… Its length of 60-70 meters allows for about 150 passengers, but if we carry that many people we would have to guarantee at least half a ton of supplies for each person at least, this would greatly reduce the amount of money we would earn from the cargo, although the passengers bring in good money, especially the 14 cabins. If we do not sell all of these cabins in the next 3 days we can make arrangements to divide them into even smaller cabins. We have 4 luxurious VIP cabins, you and I will each have one, that leaves us with 2 free. We can charge 4 gold coins for each person in the VIP, 2 gold for each person in the normal cabin and 12 silver for the normal passengers. It is worth mentioning that the crew helpers can be hired from among the normal passengers. We will start with a crew of 30 men, and in the next two days you try to advertise and sell the cabins first. I already have a certain crew in mind, their ship was wrecked in Slaver's Bay 5-6 months ago, I know the captain he is an honest and honorable man. After the accident he sold everything he had to compensate his men… He'll be someone suitable, I just need to confirm if he's confident in sailing to Asshai."
I start doing some calculations in my head, based on the cost per meal it should be possible to make a profit of half a dozen or more gold coins just by selling the cabins.
Not far from the bank (I think on purpose), we pass a huge structure in the shape of a beehive, it's easily 8 floors high and there's a huge sign on the front of the building written in High Valyrian: Justice, I can see some freight elevators transporting people to the upper floors, they're moved by some kind of counterweight. At the top of the extravagant building there's a kind of metal umbrella covering the entire building from the sun, similar to a gigantic "heliport", on it I can see a dragon lying down sleeping. By its color and size, it's the same dragon I saw this morning. This is the central surveillance station for the entire northern district. Crows, owls and even eagles are seen coming and going from the various floors of the supposed building. I don't know what the other birds mean, but the ravens are used by other smaller security posts to report petty crimes and misdeeds occurring throughout the northern area. This type of Valyrian structure exists throughout the city in the form of helipads/nests on top of each building to allow Dragon Lords to land in emergencies.
After walking for almost an hour we return to our ordinary neighborhood without any fancy structures. Omar and I part ways and agree to meet at my house tomorrow morning. Before heading home, I stop by the same place where we had lunch and order a good meal for two people with the intention of taking it home and having dinner with my father. As I'm about to get home, I see one of my neighbors sitting at the door of his house, he's a skinny kid who lives with his older brother, when I see the kid who is always polite to me and my old man I have the idea of asking him to do some favors for me and help me save some time. Hey Ted, waiting for your brother? The boy, only 11 or 12 years old and with typical Valyrian features, stands up and then approaches politely and says:
"Hey Rafael, how are you? I haven't seen you all day today. Yes, my brother is not usually this late, he must have had some emergency or extra cargo at the port today."
Yes, I was very busy today, you haven't had dinner yet, do you want to have dinner with me and my father? I brought a lot of food with me, I say this while showing a kind of wooden box with several layers resembling a traditional lunch box. The box is quite heavy and should have more than enough for 3 people, along with the papers I bought and the more than 50 gold coins in my possession, I am really tired of carrying all this weight. That is why I plan to hire the boy to do some deliveries, shopping and carrying my things tomorrow, in addition to hiring a carriage to make getting around easier. The boy nods quickly upon hearing about a free meal before following me to my house. After entering, I see that everything is dark, which means that my father will not be home early today. I light a strange alchemical device on the wall that lights up the entire small room and kitchen, put some food in a pot to save for my father and let the skinny boy help himself. He doesn't stand on ceremony and serves himself a lot, he seems very hungry. After he serves himself I put in a quantity of grains that resemble rice and strips of fried fish and I also start eating. Taking short breaks between bites and being surprised that there is rice in this world, I tell Ted that I bought a ship and that I am going to sea in the next few days. The boy almost chokes as he pauses for a short while and compliments me:
"You are amazing Rafael, a ship! Your father's store must be doing well..."
He goes back to eating again which makes me laugh, if he wasn't eating he would have asked a lot of questions in a row. Then I tell him that I need someone to run some errands for me and that I will pay him 20 coppers a day + meals for the next 5 days. If he is willing I can give him the job. This time he stops eating and starts nodding quickly saying that he accepts the job calling me boss and asking me what he needs to do tomorrow. After the meal is finished I give him the 20 coppers for tomorrow in advance and tell him that he can eat at the inn and I will make the arrangements for him. After dinner I give Ted several instructions along with a bag of extra money, he heads back to his house and I take out some of the papers I bought and start writing posters and other things I will need. After almost 2 hours of writing, the tiredness of the day finally catches up with me and I decide to go to bed, my father hasn't arrived yet so I shouldn't see him until tomorrow, I lie down on my bed and sleep deeply after the tiring day.
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