The Craken Hill river, one of the largest rivers that provide irrigation, water supply along with ways for merchants to gain some extra coins in their pockets. But for nearly a year, the river has been blocked by the army of Ruthia and the army of Slyria, the merchants whisper to each other not to go through to oath between the border of Poland and the border of Slyria since their goods can be robbed by these armies and their lives might be dangered.
Although having noticed this, the northern merchants decide to take the risks since the south is needing a large amount of salt and the southerners are willing to pay a high price for it. Everyone knows that merchants are ready to go to hell for trading if they can gain profits from it. The way of the merchant sometimes can be compared to the way of the Spartans. " No retreat, no surrender,.."
They'll have to bribe the soldiers to be released, like whenever in the past year, the northern merchants thought. But this time, when they sail from the north toward the south, they are imprisoned immediately in a different position and a different army. They do not know who they are but the merchants know that these people are planning something. Hundreds of people transport rocks day and night which are wrapped altogether by fishing nets to create huge rock balls that can crush an elephant if meet directly.
-" What do you think they're doing, Josh?" a merchant asks another, who is in the same cage as them.
The man named Josh looks at the other guy and whisper slowly:
- Listen carefully, Kruger, I think they're trying to block the river.
- "WHAT??" Kruger shouts but his mouth is covered by Josh immediately. Josh smiles at other prisoners and the guards being attracted by Kruger's yell; after everything becomes normal. Josh release Kruger and speaks:
- Listen, you idiot! Those guards speak Polish, which means they are Polish soldiers. There is a high chance that the leader of the people working here works under Jan Wozniak, the Duke of Poland. He killed more than 1000 tribesmen of the Apes just for the reason being that the Apes planned to raise arms against him. Blocking the river is a top-secret military plan, that's why they imprison everyone who gets close to it. What do you think they'll do if they find out we know about it?
After being lessoned by his friend, Kruger nods repeatedly while covering his mouth. Josh signs, his friend has a big and strong body but not a big brain. Thinking about the problem again, Josh finds out that he is not in a good position. After blocking the river, he can't guarantee that the Poles won't kill them; even if the Poles fail, they will be killed, too. As he knows, the armies of Poland's vassal states rebellion encamp on the downside of the river, which means if this part is blocked, the rebellions are screwed.
But Josh also acknowledges that, with the rates like this, the Poles will take like forever managing to block the river. And if utilizing this chance properly, he will gain a powerful alliance that someday might support his claim to take back what is rightfully his. He takes out a bag of coins and a bag of strange powder. And then he throws the bag of gold to a group of guards nearby and then speak to them:
- Please bring it to your leader, and tell him that if given 2 days. I can give him much more.
The guards are confused at first but then the leader of the group goes away with the bag if powder toward Jan Kawasaki's tent. After a while, several men with the atmosphere of veteran soldiers come to the cage, open it and point at Josh:
- Hey you, merchant. Wrap your ass and go, captain Kawasaki wants you to be present at his tent.
Smiling, Josh knows that his tactics have succeeded. He gets up from the floor and then being removed the chains by the guards. He is led to the largest tent of the place and forced to kneel to a man wearing a Polish military captain uniform. LSo this guy is Kawasaki" Josh thinks, the guy he is
meeting might be related to the famous Bogumil Kawasaki, the most famous general in Poland.
Josh kneels:
- My lord, I'm here presenting before you as you command.
The people surrounding them seem to be surprised by the attitude of Josh in such a dangerous situation for himself. Kawasaki does not want to talk about anything outside the line but get straight into the point:
- You said you can gather more of this. I will give you freedom and coins for a large amount of this product, but time is urgent. You'll have only one day.
- It'll be fine, my brother has workshops producing this in our nearby refugee nearby. If you swear by the name of your God that you will give me freedom and one more freedom in exchange for this.
- What condition?
- To meet Duke Jan Wozniak himself.
Faces of everyone froze, the guards put their hands on the swords, ready to kill Josh at any moment as he just proposed a very daring condition. But Kawasaki seems to not even care, he talks back to Josh:
- I promise that I will ask his honor to meet you. But I won't promise you the outcome, Duke Wozniak is a complicated person.
- It's all I want. Now, shall we have a deal?
Kawasaki smiles a little and then nods:" Deal"
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The strange powder is called concrete powder, a product that can only be produced by the alchemist of the Roseryth Empire. Kawasaki noticed it right at the moment he opens the bag and knew who might him dealing with. With a concrete powder, it will only take half a day for sealing the river and the mission succeeded. But Kawasaki still doubts the strange merchants, his friend is still captive so he is quite sure that the merchant won't escape. He writes a letter to his liege lord immediately and hands it over to a messenger. Kawasaki is similar to his father, always acting carefully in every situation.
A day pass and a caravan of concrete powder are let inside the camp of the Polish soldiers. After nearly a day, the river is sealed, and everything that is left us waiting for the spring's rains. The Polish soldiers look at the sky day by day. And the time has come, dark clouds cover the sky and thunders roaring everywhere, water falls down hard as if it wants to destroy anything that obstructs his path.
And in the rain, we can see the Polish armies marching out of their camp toward the riverside area, marking the end of the peace and the beginning of the war.