Meanwhile, while Landon was duelling his ass off, his contractor was negotiating some deals that would later lead to some significant events in his life.
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Some few miles away, in a closed and dim-lit enclosed place, some meetings and arrangements were being made that would lead to some era-defining events.
The Head of the Salt and Luxury Chamber of Commerce was seated in a roundtable meeting with people from other Chambers Of Commerce to discuss some significant decisions. However, it wasn't a discussion, as they were all merchants. The idea being floated around was the imposition of noble titles to be conferred on them. Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "BULLSHIT!!!".
The Person whose deep voice reverberated around the dimly lit room then stood up and started giving a convincing speech.
"We are merchants, Collins. We don't need to become nobles. We are already richer than most, if not all, of them. Why would we give up our independence and become nobles when we are already kings in our own right? We control the market, and people are happy to buy our goods at any price we set. Our power lies in our ability to decide the flow of the market, and we do not need titles or status. Let us focus on growing our Alliance and each other's scope of businesses and dominating the market even further. Our success proves that we don't need to be nobles to have power."
The speaker's voice was assertive, and his argument was clear and concise. Some people around the table nodded in agreement, impressed by his confidence and conviction. was solid and unwavering, and his argument left no room for doubt.
There was some disagreement among the group, but a confident and assertive woman stood up to offer her perspective. She was a remarkable beauty who had worked her way up in the shipping industry through her own hard work and intelligence. She pointed out that due to her experience, she knew how the nobles thought. Whenever she distributed and supplied goods across the nine seas, the nobles looked upon her with envy and spoke to her and her subordinates with a condescending tone. "I despise it when those impoverished individuals look at me as if I used my body to get where I am, instead of my wit," she said with righteous anger. Some women in the room agreed with her, and she continued, "We must confer noble titles on ourselves. We have earned it and deserve to become the highest-ranking nobles!"
The man with the deep voice spoke up again, but she was not intimidated. "That's nonsense!" she interrupted. "When will we have the land to enfeoff or administer our neighbours? This is utter bullshit! They already view us with suspicion because we are becoming more powerful than they are. If we claim to be nobles, we would have to go to war with our neighbours because there is no free land in the world. Our citizens would not want that, considering they just ended a war with an empire. We are merchants, not nobles! We need to think logically, not sentimentally."
The situation was spiraling out of control. The man who sat at the head of the roundtable, the President of the Alliance, known as 'Collins', glanced at the woman who sat at his right-hand side. She happened to be the head of the Salt and Luxury Chamber of Commerce, and he signaled for her to handle the situation. She obliged, and the room fell silent as she cleared her throat.
As Vice-President of the Alliance, she wielded great influence across the nine areas, and most nations on the Elysium continent traded with her. It would have been foolish for anyone to speak while she spoke. The woman glanced around the dimly lit room, pausing briefly at the man with the deep voice, before continuing to look around. She then spoke, "Both Mateo and Ms. Darcy have presented convincing arguments, but we are merchants and must think like merchants in compromising situations. We need to know that this discussion will be put on hold and discussed with the top echelon of the Alliance, of which I am a part. We will meet again at another time to reach a consensus and vote. Until then, this meeting is adjourned, and everyone, except Mr. Mateo and Ms. Darcy, is dismissed."
Of course, the top echelon did not leave. They wielded immense influence and power in the Alliance and held all federative powers. The head of the Salt and Luxury Chamber of Commerce spoke up again, this time calling the man who had been silent and had kept quiet throughout the whole discussion. "Collins, what should we do? Your idea is going well as said. We need to do something about the situation. Those nobles, especially our neighbours', have become more emboldened since the end of the war. They think we owe them, and them trading with us should be seen as a favour. They are the ones helping us just because they are nobles, and we are merchants of common blood. We need to do something about this and stop the shorting of trade against us just because we are of common blood. It is unfair and unjust. They aren't our equals, not the other way around." She looked towards the top echelon of the Alliance and saw them acknowledging her argument.
Collins, the man who sat at the head of the roundtable, the president of the Akan Commercial Alliance, cleared his throat and called to attention the two extra presences in the room. With a sincere expression, he called out to Mateo and Darcy and offered them to become representatives for the smaller Chambers of Commerce in the Alliance. Elation shone in their eyes, and Mateo and Darcy stood up and gave their appreciation for the promotion and acknowledgement. Who wouldn't want that? They were just leaders of their relatively small Chambers Of Commerce, and they were appreciative. But Mateo quickly caught on and calmed down. He began to frown as if he had just had an epiphany concerning the situation and asked with a suspicious tone, "Why?"
Collins, ever the usual free-smiling merchant, just nodded and praised the man called Mateo. Mateo was a relatively young man who had become a Grandmaster at his third decade alive, a remarkable genius but also cautious and shrewd at his trade. He was the head of the 12th largest Chamber Of Commerce in the Alliance and held substantial influence in the Alliance. He was poised to become the next big Chamber of Commerce to join the top echelon of the Alliance. He was also a cousin to the Matriarch of the Salt and Luxury Chamber of Commerce, making him have a steady and a powerful supporter behind the scenes. Darcy, on the other hand, was too emotional to think clearly in that situation and was already thinking about how to make it to the big leagues.
Collins sneered at Darcy's thinking and thought, "If it was that possible, we wouldn't be called the Big Seven for nothing."