"What is a merchant?"

What's a merchant!? The merchants' brows rose in unison, wondering what the heck kinda dumb question that was. Who didn't know what a merchant was? Even tiny children barely out of their diapers could answer that!

Marlo Coop's brows furrowed. "You kidding?"

Miote smiled. "I know what you must be thinking. Merchants are people who buy and sell products and services. Simple right?" At Coop's humph, he finished, "Well, I do not see it that way."

Joanne Frye's tapping slowed as she pondered on his words. Gaze narrow, she questioned, "What do you mean?"

"Consider this," Miote began, index finger raised in front of him. "Every kingdom, no matter how powerful or weak, no matter how large or small, depends on one thing to survive."

"Money?"

"Not exactly," Miote said with a shake of his head. "People. It depends on its people. Without people, there is no kingdom. An angry populace leads to a disjointed kingdom, which leads to war, which ends up in extinction."

"What's your point?" Jon Fox demanded dryly.

"What do people depend on?" Miote continued, fingers rising as he enumerated, "Food; Water; Clothing; Shelter; Medicine. These five fundamentals are imperative for every hume on this earth. And how are these essentials delivered to the people?" Miote paused, letting his words sink in as he placed his hand on the table. "Sure, if smart or strong enough, they could probably provide themselves with two to three of these necessities. But sure enough, a man good with an ax might not be as good with a hoe, nor might he be as good with a needle. Such a man would have to get these other necessities in one way or another. What is the easiest way for such a man in a rural village?"

"Trade?" Fox asked.

"Wrong," Miote refuted with a shake of his head. "There is no guarantee the woman who sells food will be in need of the wood the first chops. In order to get the food he needs, he would first have to find out what the woman needs, then see if he can trade in his wood for that, before returning with it, and hoping said woman has not already sold to someone else."

"What use is this idle fallacy," Coop snorted, contempt in his gaze. "We have Syros. No one trades by barter anymore."

"Yes, Syros," Miote concurred, a glint in his eyes. "A universal currency accepted by all throughout the land, from peddlers in the swamps of Gockt, to great merchants in the Imperial City. Everyone can easily trade in whatever they have for these pieces of 'money' and use that to get what they want for themselves. It's that simple right?"

The merchants paused, realizing the chesch was going somewhere with all this. Of them all, only Damah Dumm had a spark in his eyes which portrayed his surprise and hidden joy.

"Wrong," Miote said, his tone grave. "Such a thought is so very wrong. Let's return to the previous example. Say, our village ax man can now trade his wood for Syros. He can then use that Syros to buy food. Easy." Miote paused, taking a sip from his mug before he continued, "In that village, there is a fixed amount of Syros which circulates around all its inhabitants forever, just on, and on, and on, without any influx from anywhere. That village will never improve, remaining stuck in its ways forever. Imagine, a great mine with plenty of gold is found. But with no way to get it out of the village, it becomes worthless as the inhabitants would use it up among themselves without being able to bring in any extra wealth. Worse yet, in the event there is a commodity they do not have, say medicine, for example, they would not have a way to get it except one villager suddenly received a burst of enlightenment from the gods... hehe." The merchants shared a chuckle. Despite them acknowledging and respecting the existence of gods, for these men and women who believed first in cold cash, relying on providences from the gods was a laughable endeavor.

"Heh point's getting clearer," Coop harrumphed with a short laugh. "This' where we come in, isn't it?"

"Exactly!" Miote exclaimed with a toothy grin. "We merchants allow food, water, clothing, materials for shelter, medicine and most importantly Syros to flow between regions. These influxes can help a small village which finds a good mine or fishing spot to flourish, bringing more money from outside, in, allowing investments in the village to upgrade its standard of living. Improved standards of living allow humes to graduate from needs to wants. Thousands of jobs spring up all over the place in order to facilitate these wants, because although needs can be satisfied, a person's wants never are. There will always be something more beautiful, more outstanding, more prestigious!" Miote forced his voice which had begun to rise down as he continued, "Thousands of people feel secure in their jobs because merchants are there to ensure their products get sold, if not to someone of the same town, then to the next town over where there is an actual need."

"This is why I always maintain, there is no merchant who is useless or unimportant." Miote's gaze brushed past each merchant in turn. "Take Fox-san as an example. As one of the biggest traders in the textile industry, you ensure the latest fabrics arrive on time in each region and in the best condition to satisfy both the needs of the poor and the wants of the rich. It is easy to focus on the millions of Syros that exchange hands during these deals, but if you look a little closer... There are the farmers who get paid for the original crops, the seamstresses who get paid for weaving these crops into fabrics; the exchange between your industry and Frye-san's in which mercenaries get paid to safely transport your products across monster-filled lands. Before even, you finally get to the nobles who want these fabrics for the latest gala or ball."

Marlo Coop, who like the others had long since abandoned any ridicule in their hearts, gazed at the chesch with narrow eyes, voice grave as he said, "You've our attention. Enough bullshite, get to the poi—"

"Power!" Miote boomed, fists tightly clenched. "Money is the lifeblood of a nation! Money can only be gotten from taxes to the people! However, the people, in turn, can only return taxes on their own standard of living! A rich people leads to a rich nation! A poor populace leads to a poor nation! And who is responsible for ensuring the populace becomes rich? The royal family? The elders? The guilds? No! We merchants are directly responsible. Without we men and women willing to risk our lives in these harsh lands for profit, there wouldn't be any circulation and hence the blood of the nation would stop flowing and turn stale." Miote's gaze was strong, holding the merchants in his thrall, "As the people directly responsible for ensuring the flow, do you think we are powerful or not?"

Marlo Coop started, Fox ducked his head, and Frye frantically tapped on the table, eyes glazed over. Damah Dumm let out a serene smile as he answered, "We should be powerful..."

"But we are not," Miote finished, voice heavy. "Take a look at the adventurers' and mages' guilds. Both are simply a coalition of all the adventurers or mages who sign up. Yet they are so powerful that no country would dare mess with them." Miote took a breath, rage, and dissatisfaction burning in gold eyes. "How is it possible that we, who control the blood of the nation have no actual power in it beyond our direct businesses?"

"...Competition," Frye muttered, voice laden with irritation.

"No," Miote shook his head, understanding her frustration. "Competition is an important aspect of our business. Without competition, progress will stale and although blood will flow in the nation, its quality will always remain the same. No, our problem is not competition exactly." He momentarily shut his gaze as he took a breath. "Our problem lies in unchecked competition which inevitably leads to chaos." Miote rested his elbows on the table and clasped his hands together. "Once again I refer you to the adventurer's guild. Mercenaries are a group of naturally selfish and competitive people. Each one wants to complete that one quest just a little faster, a little easier than the other in order for them to receive more special requests directly from customers. Understanding their nature, the guild restricts the number of parties who can apply for certain quests, going as far as to punish any guild member who intrudes on an assigned quest and offering the rewards to those to whom the quest was assigned, without caring whether they personally accomplished it or not. This is for a very simple reason: To control in-fighting between groups and prevent larger parties from completely hoarding all the quests. I wonder if those muscle-brained adventurers could figure out the gains from controlled competition, why is it that we intellectuals have allowed the cycle of chaos to continue for so long?"

The chesch's words struck a chord in the hearts of the merchants present. Who here had not suffered, shed blood, lied, cheated, stolen, all for the sake of reaching the top of the business world. There was no structure to the world of merchants. They slaughtered each other without mercy to prevent competition from rising. They cheated clients and swindled other merchants out of huge amounts of money for their own immediate gain without thinking of long-term profit, thereby damaging the names of merchants all over.

Currently, to make it in this world as a merchant required a level of heartlessness, ruthlessness, cunning, and smarts if one did not want to be found six feet under, all his/her aspirations and dreams buried with them beneath the dirt.

"Strong words," Damah Dumm praised his face a mask of serenity. "I assume you have a solution in mind?"

"I do have a suggestion, yes," Miote declared with a resolute gaze. "It's simple really. We create a coalition of our own. A union of all merchants, managed by a board at the very top who control and ensure fair but effective competition between those registered within, offer protection to its members, and in failing, swift retribution to any who dare attack any of its members." A crafty smirk began to spread on his lips as he caught the frantic expressions on the merchants' faces, each keying into his next words. "Like a country of its own, all members will be taxed a percentage of all sales, ensuring enough funds for the union to invest and experiment in new business ideas which would otherwise have been impossible on their own. A structured but fair advancement system will be set in place, allowing its members to increase in rank, earning more rewards and chances of loans for their respective businesses. Although the mainstream positions could be bought with money earned, there would be special positions which could not be bought with money, but instead will be rewarded to those with special contributions to the entire merchant world."

"HAHAHA!" Marlo Coop burst out laughing, a wicked glint in his eyes. "You talk a big game cat. Can't right say I detest yer idea." His voice dipped, eyes narrowed as he said, "There's just one thing..."

Frye's tapping paused, her eyes meeting the chesch's. "Why do we need you?"

"With what you have revealed, it would not be difficult for us to form this union," Fox stated.

To their surprise, the chesch did not wilt under their combined pressure. In fact, he held a small smile of ridicule as if looking at children performing circus tricks. "It's simple really," Miote started, voice level as he opened his inventory and begun taking out some scrolls from within. "You need us. We do not need you." Miote's strong tone held such arrogance and confidence, the merchants could not help but suck in a cold breath.

It had to be known these three were the top dogs in Rosendun. Without their capital, it would be near impossible for Miote's Union to ever form, especially should he try to compete against them. Frye's tapping resumed, eyes narrow as she queried, "What do you mean? Do not try to fool me. I know the only reason your guild has been able to come this far is as a result of the royal family's favoritism. But I doubt the treasury will willingly lend you the amount of capital required for this venture."

"Indeed they won't," Miote agreed with a brisk nod. "Nor did I ever intend to get a loan from them."

"What then do you base this confidence on?"

"Heh," Miote chuckled as he tapped the scrolls on the table. "Remember when I said some people would be able to get into top positions in the Union as a result of their contribution to the merchant world? Well, these here will be our contribution to whichever union we end up with. I assure you they are more than enough to earn us a place at the table. In fact, I can confidently state, as a result of the measures written in these scrolls, profits for the board's personal businesses will at least triple by year's end. What's more, the board itself will have so much money its members would not know what to do with it."

"Talk is cheap," Fox drily stated, clearly unconvinced. "Let us see this claims of yours."

Miote simple waved his hand with a smile. "You may take any you wish and peruse its contents. When done, you can just pass it to the next person."

Damah Dumm, intrigued by the confidence in the chesch's eyes, reached for a scroll and opened it. The room fell silent like a defendant against the judge, as the merchant's eyes rolled through the parchment, momentarily flashing, and other times a little raise of the brow. Eventually, about five minutes later, after repeatedly double-checking to ensure he did not miss anything, he shut his eyes for about twenty seconds in rumination. They opened, holding a peculiar glint in them as they regarded the golden chesch.

Gaze returning to normal, Damah Dumm wordlessly passed on the parchment to Fox, then reached for the next scroll.

Opposite him, Frye and Coop took this as a sign. They both reached for scrolls and began examining their content. As they read through, their gazes switched from nonchalance to interest, to shock, till they were on the edge of their seats, completely hunched over the documents. The merchants, too engrossed with the wonders before them, wordlessly exchanged scroll after scroll, sometimes casting a fearful glance at the relaxed chesch before once again delving into the thick of the documents.

There were so many technical terms in the documents they were either not familiar with, or had never even heard before. As merchants, they were familiar with grain silos which allowed commoners and merchants to borrow grain from the government with an agreement to pay back at a later date. But what was this bank the chesch wrote of?

The one described in the parchment seemed a thousand times more complicated, somehow allowing money deposited in one location to be collected at any other branch. Furthermore, what were these interest rates, and savings and current accounts? And what was this? They could use the money deposited for investments? Huh? Banks could print their own money??? What was all this? And what were these laws? Patents? Copyrights? Hmm?

Although they could not understand completely, the merchants were intelligent enough to smell the looming business opportunity. Especially when they read up on insurance? Ha... who could believe there was actually such a good thing? People would pay monthly for the off-chance they do get injured. And even then, the amount of money returned was subject to many terms and conditions? Were there people who would actually pay for this?

But then again, thinking about it, this was a world of monsters and magic. Adventurers who go out into the field do so at a risk of injury or life. For some of these men and women, losing an arm meant the end of both them and their families. In such a case, if packaged well enough, it would be a surprise if people did not flock towards these deals.

However, for all these things to work, there would need to be a safe method to transport coin and messages between banks. That problem was easily solved by the metal monster labeled train and the wooden ship that was described as skyboat. Although the merchant initially held some skepticism, when Coop did not say a word except for bulging eyes, they knew the chances of these devices being built were ridiculously high.

Damah Dumm placed the final scroll on the table, gaze laden with pleasant shock with which he regarded the chesch. "Is all this truly possible? Can you make these a reality?"

"I swear," Miote replied with a smile. "However, I am aware that for us merchants, swears are worthless." Wringing his hands together, Miote stated, "Suvron's Bridge and Tower. They will serve as Hopeful Maggots' Collateral in this transaction."

Damah Dumm sucked in a deep breath. Even a blind peddler on the street could see the future monetary potential of that tower and bridge. As the only passage between Rosendun and Merriheim, the amount of coin that would flow through that crossing would exponentially increase over time. Better yet, he had heard some rumors of the possibility of dungeons being found underground. "Do you have that authority?"

"I control the money," Miote calmly declared. "So, yes. I do have that authority."

Damah Dumm took a deep breath to calm himself. Upon release, he asked. "I suppose the Rosen Kingdom will have a share?"

"In the end, everything we do leads back to the kingdom."

"I see," Damah Dumm muttered under his breath. "In that case..." He fixed the chesch with a resolute glare. I want fifteen percent."

The remaining merchants felt like their souls were struck with thunderbolts. Not only did Damah Dumm accept the chesch's proposal, but he directly demanded a sizeable but respectful share of the company. What did this mean? It was clear that Damah had chosen to be part of this project, and he also accepted Miote as his superior.

Given Damah Dumm's earlier proposal, none of the other merchants dared ask for more than him. They took ten percent each, leaving fifty-five unused. After a round of deliberation, Miote decided to have the Maggots take thirty-five percent and leave the Rosen Kingdom with twenty.

With the distribution agreed, Miote spent the next thirty minutes penning out the most comprehensive contract the world had ever seen. It was so comprehensive, it took him several scrolls for him to finish. He presented the contracts to the other merchants, whose eyes bulged with shock as they flipped through the contracts. What sort of level was this? It was almost like every possible contingency, both plausible and implausible had been added in case of unforeseen issues in the future.

The merchants signed on the appropriate spots, the confirmation of so many high leveled merchants allowing Gachs Manolds, god of Merchants to bless the scrolls upon which the agreements were penned from wind, rain and sun,, and also vastly improving its invulnerability to fire.

With the contract signed, Miote let out a hidden sigh of relief. His battle was completed, with a resounding success. He had secured a stable foundation upon which the Hopeful Maggots would build in the future, never needing to worry about funding if things really kicked off properly. With the online market opening in a few in-game months, when the mega-corporations would begin to pump money like water into the game, the Maggots would not be caught unprepared.

Hehe... Miote pictured a certain daeben standing in the desert sun, red eyes a mask of bloody murder. "Good luck..." He muttered under his breath. Miote smiled as he focused on the impatient merchants who were eager for more details on the teasers he had provided. Considering how much he would be relying on them in the future, the chesch was only too glad to offer his services. "A bank is..."

*******************

A/N: So, as some of you have noticed, I like to have fun with names gotten from either real people or animes or legends... It's kinda a small game of mine to see how much I can bend a name and how long till the readers figure it out..

There were the easy ones of course: Fladnag---> Gandalf  Aethir--->Aerith

But did you guys know [Ferulic--->Lucifer]

Hehe... In the past two chapter, I referenced a game character and three famous merchants.. See if you can find them.. The difficulties are easy, easy, medium, hard...

Lol.. have fun with this mini-game of mine, as we look forward to the next chapter, which thankfully finally shift full focus back onto the major war.