6.60 - The Seal of Passage
Watching how the market had flourished from nothing to a thriving sprawl of products and merchants was always amazing. Theo flitted between stalls, getting prices on food, spices, building materials, and seed cores as he went. He made a mental tally of these numbers, but they were incomplete. Prices would fluctuate by the day, depending on which merchant was in town from which other civilization. As always, Bantein and Partopour had the best prices while Tarantham had the best stuff.
The flow of merchant ships had become constant enough that at least one was docked in the harbor. Overland trade had been relegated to traders moving goods from Rivers and Daub and Gronro-Dir. That made up far more trade than Theo had expected, resulting in something of a boom of exports. There were some tax implications he didn’t care to think about. Alise could worry about who paid who and what it all meant. She was damn good at her job.
Tresk appeared from nowhere, joining the alchemist on the walls that encased the trade district. The tops of the tents were visible, creating a sprawling splash of color to offset the hard packed earth, cobbles, or gray stone of the walls. She had responded to a mental summons, appearing in a flash without her normal annoyed persona. Instead, she felt the request and responded without complaint.
“Numbers, huh?” Tresk asked, scratching her head. “I’m not so good with numbers.”
“You’d think the Tara’hek would have picked one person in the group that was decent with numbers…”
“So, we’re counting everyone in the world.” Tresk shrugged. “Shouldn’t be too hard.”
“Come on. We’re counting everyone, but we need someone who is good at counting. And organizing stuff.”
“Alise?”
Theo nodded, turning away from the battlements. He found the nearest staircase, descending to the ground below. While he juggled other projects—things that would take a few days to move—he had time to plan for the future. The duo walked through the streets, heading for the town hall. Alex flew somewhere overhead, flaunting some new power she had gained. Perhaps she would become more dragon than goose soon enough.