Chapter 39: A dish best served cold

Chapter 39: A dish best served cold

“If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us Shall we not revenge?”

Merchant of Venice, William Shakespeare

Mercurio celebrated my new patent of nobility as well as himself gaining a new noble patron, the Baron of Wester Isles, with an impromptu feast.

“To the Baron of Wester Isles.” He raised a toast once his servants had laid a new table full of food for the four of us. Des and Sinis collected and laid the majority of it before taking their new positions behind my chair.

“To the Baron.” Grandpa quickly toasted, downing his drink. The map, pearls, and paperwork had been cleared off the table and he was keen to return before the other merchants returned and Mercurio set sail. But still, he was convinced to stay for a short meal by the merchant who was keen to leave Grandpa happy with the transfer of his wealth. I could have told him that a quick exit would sooner mend the sting of emptying his purse. Still, I had been given a small cup of grape juice so joined in.

“To me.” While the adults laughed at my simple comment.

I continued to sample the dishes laid out before us until I was unable to move. Passing anything I did not eat to Des and Sinis to finish. If the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach I would hopefully be held with affection in their hearts soon. They were not underfed but hardly had any fat reserves either, much like myself. I quietly pocketed any dried fruits, nuts, or jerky off the table motioning them to take some as well, filling all of our pockets till the table was empty. I did not know whether I would soon be back on Ash Island but if I was I hoped to hide a small stash of food to supplement our fishing and scavenging along the shoreline. I had potentially two more mouths to feed along with mine. Meanwhile, the adults, led mainly by Mercurio, engaged in the self-congratulatory conversation we were uninvolved in either due to the belief we were too young to fully understand or in the case of Des and Sinis that they were below our august personage. It was the first time in this world that I had seen such lines in society drawn and was shocked to see the lines so stark and clear. Perhaps I was reading too much into a conversation between adults that did not involve children. But it did set a worrying precedent about the world outside of the Wester Isles.

I was unaware of whatever their system had told Mercurio but assumed it was enough for them to believe that the Stat had unlocked for me with the gaining of my new title. They still had not asked me about my status and I still was not telling. I was beginning to believe that a child’s status perhaps did not unlock until later on in the life perhaps by age 5. My sister and grandfather knew I had skills and therefore a system but no one else in my family was aware other than my mother and father who knew I had unlocked my magic and was able to use it.

Mercurio finished his conversation with Grandpa, surprised to see that the food had all been eaten.

“Growing lads the lot of you I suppose.” He paused before continuing. “I am happy to have helped in some small way to help you create this new house of yours Smit and am sure that it will rise to great heights one day.” He said this self-depreciatingly as if the whole idea hadn’t been his alone. Then continued with, “From this day forth I look forward to being a merchant for the Baron of Wester Isles.” He signed two copies of the same page before passing it across to me for me to make my mark. Looking at the paper I couldn’t read it all but I could see where he had filled in his tithe at 0% creating a tax-free haven for him to operate out of.

“10 percent.” I hadn’t said a lot but when I had it counted. I remembered how he had bemoaned his current tax of 10% and was keen to get a little more from the merchant who would be making the most of my title to avoid his taxes to the Kingdom of Ponente.

“Kai, Kai. This was part of the agreement.” He raised his hands as if apologising for the terms already set. But . . . I had never agreed to them!

“10 percent,” I said once more, leaning forward preparing myself to face his skill.

“0 percent as stated in our document. [Accept price]” he added the skill at the end to hold me to our words.

But I had never agreed to that arrangement, that was not my price so I pushed against the skill holding my tongue and clenching my mouth shut until the compulsion to agree passed, and a shocked, still Mercurio found me countering with, “10 percent.”

“We agreed Smit.” He turned in protest to Grandpa as incredulous of my ability to understand enough to ask for more as he was unbelieving of my ability to defy his skill unless I was somehow supported by Grandpa in an invisible way.

“Aye we did. But who am I a mere Steward to go against my Baron’s command.” Giving his first genuine smile since I had emptied his satchel for him.

“0% taxes to be based on Wester Ponente and operate out of the Wester Isles. [Bound by word]” he hastily argued one final time. But I had not said those words and it wasn’t my price so despite the compulsion I felt once more to lift my hand and sign the paper with my simple scrawl I held my hands together fingers interlocked and refused to budge.

Once the compulsion had ended, “10 percent.” I said once more.

Almost disbelieving, “1 percent.” He murmured beginning our back and forth.

“9 percent.” I confidently continued happy to have him following along.

“2 percent.” He muttered almost rote routine rather than active haggling.

“8 percent.” I sang, our roles now were in reverse with me decreasing the percentage of his sales I would claim.

“3 percent.” He sullenly spoke, as he slowly added to how much he would be required to pay.

“7 percent.” I chimed and smiled as I had a sudden thought.

“4 percent.” He grimaced as shock finally dissolved into aggrieved disbelief that this was actually happening.

“6 percent.” I reached for the quill not to sign the piece of paper but to work out what I was going to ask for next once he agreed.

“5 percent.” Resigned to his fate he uttered the final number meeting me in the middle once more.

As I confirmed with another “5 percent!”

“Pleasure doing business with you once more.” Grandpa Smit joined in as he took the sheets of parchment off a stunned Mecurio before he sanded off the 0 percent and added in a 5 percent. Finally, he presented them to me to sign alongside Mercurio’s signature. Which now that I was happy with them in the end, I did. He kept one in his empty satchels and returned the other to Mercurio who still sat there shell-shocked from the reversal in his fortunes. He would still do far better than his previous percentage with whoever his earlier patron was but after coming so close to achieving the completely tax-free situation that we had here on the Wester Isles it was hard for him not to be disgruntled. Still, before we left I had one more surprise to spring upon him.

500 + 735 = 1235

1235 / 100 = 12.35

12.35 x 5 = 61.75

I had doodled the maths down on my hand as I worked it out only really needing to do any jottings for the last multiplication to remember everything I was adding up. Happy with my maths. I held out my hand to the possibly broken merchant.

“61 deepwater pearls,” I added

“61 deep . . . water . . . pearls.” Poor Mercurio repeated one shock after another having left him slow to catch on.

Quick reflexes almost a curse I had the time to take the whole scene in before my momentum and the face of the cliff took it from my view.

. . .

To be continued . . .

Level: 11 Name: Kai

Experience: 221,250/ 409,600

Age: 14 months, 0 weeks, 2 days, 10 hours

Health: 1140/1140 Stamina: 546/546 Mana: 1140/1140 Psi: 1160/1160

Trait: Long Lived, Fast Learner, Super Senses, Source of Mana,

Vitality: 114

Endurance: 25

Strength: 25

Dexterity: 29

Senses: 117

Mind: 116

Clarity: 49

Magic: 116

Charisma: 7

Free Points: 30

Skills:

Tier 1: Time sense (LV 26) Listening (LV 26) Meditation (LV 35) Swimming (LV 27)

Humming (Lv 22) Sneak (Lv 22) Whistling (Lv 22) Singing (Lv 22) and Drumming (Lv 22)

Running (Lv 17) Acting (19) English (Lv 15) Spanish (Lv 15) Japanese (Lv 15),

German (Lv 10) French (Lv 7) Dodge (Lv 11) Breath Control (Lv 7) Sight (Lv 15)

Scent (Lv 15) Detect (Lv 15) Taste (Lv 15) Bussola (Lv 7) Draw (Lv 4) Climb (Lv 7) Calligraphy (Lv 5) Mathematics (Lv 10) Decoding (Lv 6) Lie (Lv 5) Knife Skills (Lv 5) Trading (Lv 10)

Tier 2: Sense Mana (LV 35) Eavesdrop (LV 25) Memorisation (LV 22) Composition (Lv 22)

Recall (Lv22) Pain tolerance (Lv 13) Piano (Lv 20) Violin (Lv 20), Trombone (Lv 20),

Saxophone (Lv 20) Linguistics (Lv 16) Translation (Lv 16) Stealth (Lv 11) Quick reflexes (Lv 12)

Haggling (Lv 5)

Tier 3: Echolocation (LV 25) Expel Mana (Lv 31) Absorb Mana (Lv 31)

Mana Manipulation (Lv 15) Ignite (Lv 15) Freeze (Lv 10) Boil (Lv 11) Bargain (Lv 10)

Tier 4: Mana Drain (Lv 20) Parallel Processing (Lv 15)

Tier 5: Mind fortress (Lv 17)

Skill experience: 4000

Origin experience: 0

Combat experience: 0

Crafting experience: 0

Trading experience: 0