บท 9: CORNERING THE GRAIN MARKET
CORNERING THE GRAIN MARKET
As we were having some cool beverages in school during my private detention with my teachers, Cassandra and Meera, something appeared before us.
It was a sparrow who flew into our room from the window. Before we could react to the intruder, he transformed into a rat and then a potty merchant. He was Ratatouille.
"Orion, do you know what? The Church is moving their treasure hoards back to Elis", Ratatouille told me suddenly as he came to see me.
"Were you spying on the church?" Meera asked the greedy rat merchant.
"There is so much treasure there it will be a waste not to be a part of their moving operations", he told us.
"You mean moving their treasures into your private stash?" I asked Ratatouille.
"I need a plan", Ratatouille told us.
"Why is the church moving all of a sudden?" I asked him.
"Didn't you know the demon army is already near the borders of Drachia kingdom", he told us.
"Why didn't we hear anything about this in the city or from the church?" Cassandra asked us.
"The church will keep the invasion a secret until it can't be kept. They don't want to make the city panic", I said to them.
"Yeah, if everyone panics, they can't move all their treasures into Elis in time", Ratatouille told me.
"You are right, we need a plan. But first thing first, I need to see the invading army for myself", I told them.
Suddenly, Chash appeared before us.
"Did you call me?" Chash asked me.
"Yes, Chash, will you accompany us on a flight?" I asked him.
"I was wondering when you will ask", he replied to me.
------
Across the undulating plains on the fringes of the Drachia kingdom, tendrils of smoke ascended into the air. A multitude of fire pits adorned the landscape, strategically crafted by the formidable force from the north—the demon army.
Unlike mere attempts at deception or inflating their numerical strength, these campfires served a practical purpose for the demon army, numbering in the millions. Every flickering flame was a necessity, as their vast army sprawled across the hilly plains.
Soldiers and conjurers from the northern realms, numbering in the millions, had assembled at the borders of the Drachia kingdom.
Positioned for a southward advance, their sights were set on Staari city, the closest settlement in their trajectory, and the gateway to the magical realm of the apostle located at the Gate of Elis.
Behind the seemingly mundane campfires, the true might of the demon army lay concealed.
Although devoid of conventional campfires, the essence of their demonic beings manifested in flames that reached skyward. Encircled by an army of undead entities, the demonic forces prepared for the imminent move southward.
-----
"The demon army is finally here", Chash said to me and described the situation at the northern borders of Drachia kingdom.
"Why don't the church tell the people war is coming soon and let them escape?" Cassandra asked us.
"They will after all their properties in Starri city are sold off and they moved all their treasures into Elis", I said to them.
"What are we going to do now? I need a piece of the moving", Ratatouille told us.
"Well, you will have plenty of moving soon", I replied to him.
"Chash, can you monitor the demon army from the air, don't engage them?" I asked Chash.
"Fine, I'll scout for you", he replied to me.
-----
"Young master, this here is Gagarine, the largest grains merchant from Trogdol", Hagar introduced Gagarine to me.
"Young master Oriese, we have heard a lot about you. Indeed, you have bought all our grains just because of a promise to one of our merchants. You are indeed honorable", Gagarine said to me.
News have spread that I bought all the grains from the Trogdol merchants because of a dare with one of the merchants and these Trodol merchants believed it.
It is a part of the Trogdol culture to honor bets and dares, so it wasn't an alien concept to them. In fact, they admired those who honor their dares even if they are on the losing sides.
"Do you have more grains? I will buy everything from you", I asked Gagarine.
"You have bought all our stock for this year. There will be no new grains coming from Trogdol until next year", Gagarine told me.
"Gagarine, I have a business proposal for you", I told Gagarine.
"What do you propose?" he asked me.
"I want you to spread the news to all the other Trading Houses, that you have plenty more shipments coming soon to Staari city in about a weeks' time", I asked Gagarine.
"You want me to lie to the other trading houses? I will not do that", he replied to me.
"I will purchase options from the other trading houses to buy grain from them at a fixed price in a week or two's time. They will be forced to buy grain from you by that time and you can set any price that you want", I told Gagarine.
"But no matter how high the price may be, we don't have the grains to sell", Gagarine told me.
"Worry not, we have all the grains in Starri city. You can sell as much as you want to them at the marked-up price", I told Gagarine.
"Young master, you are a shrewd person and honors your promises. I trust you. We agree to your proposal", Gagarine told me.
"Young master, I don't understand what you are trying to do?" Hagar asked me after Gagarine left.
"Gagarine will inform the other trading houses that he has plenty of grains to sell in a week's time. So, by this week, we will purchase forward all the grains from the other trading houses to be delivered in a weeks' time failure of which they must pay us hefty penalties", I told him.
"How much forward grains should we buy?" Hagar asked me.
"As much as we could. By the end of next week, our Trading house will takeover every other trading house in Staari city", I said to the shock of Hagar.
"Does the master know about this plan of yours?" Hagar asked me.
"Not yet. You can tell him, but it doesn't matter, father will not oppose a plan that will make so much money", I replied to him.
"Yes, young master", Hagar replied to me with a devilish grin.
"And Hagar, the Church will sell all their storage of grains, send your people to buy from them", I told Hagar.
"I've never heard of the church's plans to sell", Hagar asked me.
"They will sell everything they have especially bulky items like cheap bulky goods like grains.", I told Hagar.
"Is the war coming already, I've not heard about it?" Hagar asked me.
"Yes, the demon army is at the borders of Drachia kingdom. You can confirm it with your sources in the church", I told him.
"If the church knows about the coming war, wouldn't they wait for price of necessities to rise during war?" Hagar asked me curiously.
"They will be moving everything to Elis soon and wouldn't want to leave anything behind. The Church wouldn't care about making profits", I replied to him.
"My source from the church will not tell me anything more about the war unfortunately", he replied to me.
"There, that is already an answer there. The church is gagging its members not to divulge information about the impending war. That confirms war is coming", I replied to him.
-----
"Hagar, why do you want to buy our church's storage of grains?" a priestly man asked Hagar.
"Cardinal Koreen, our young master, Oriese here, made a bet that he will buy all the grains in the city", Hagar told the cardinal as he pointed to me and introduced me to the cardinal.
"That is a strange reason to buy all our grains. You know we don't sell from our storage", Cardinal Koreen asked me.
"Oh, my father asks me to learn about business, following Hagar around. If you don't sell, it's fine, it will be a part of my training and experience", I told the Cardinal respectfully.
"You are quite polite for someone the whole city talks about, the fool of Kaleon", Cardinal Koreen said about me.
"So, will you sell your grains to me?" I asked the cardinal.
The Cardinal thought about the matter for a while.
"Alright, but I'm not selling them cheap to you like how you bought from the other trading houses", the Cardinal said to me to the surprise of Hagar.
"Of course, we will give you a good price and I can empty your warehouse of these bulky items by today", I told the Cardinal.
"Good, I was troubled by how to move those grains", the cardinal said to us before he realized he misspoke and he added, "go get your grains".
So, we followed the cardinal to their warehouse and collected our grains, storing all of them into my Faberge ring. After that I left the Church's stores with Hagar.
A Faberge ring was a magical space ring that I created. It could store plenty of stuff into a magical space that I could retrieve from at will.
"Hey, the young master left a book in the warehouse", a clerk asked but the Kaleons were long gone.
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