The morning air was crisp as Aalis emerged from the shadows of the inn, carrying a heavy iron-bound chest. Her movements were steady, despite the obvious weight of the gold coins shifting within. She brought the chest full of gold coins to Alva, who accepted the burden with a sharp, calculating nod.
Before we departed for our duty, I needed to meet Geri about Alva's duty with her. I navigated the narrow, timber-framed corridor of the tavern, walking to the back of the building where the scent of damp earth and woodsmoke was strongest. There, Geri was just lying down, her silver fur blending into the grey morning light. In front of her, I told her,
"You have a thing to do with Alva…"
Geri lifted her massive head, her golden eyes blinking with a slow, feline grace. "What do I need to do with her?"
"It's for convenience for this stuff." I gestured vaguely to the chest and the logistical nightmare of the granary.
"What do I need to do then?"
"You and Alva need to go the county city to buy some supplies… Is your appearance a problem to show in there?"
Geri shifted her weight, her muscles rippling beneath her coat. "Quite a bit… but I will manage it…"
Alva, standing beside me with an expression of weary detachment, suddenly said, "She means she will shrink herself to size of puppy."
I saw Geri's lip curl, a flicker of irritation crossing her lupine features at Alva's bluntness. "I think that's it; if you can manage it, sure, I will trust you... and you two can depart right now; I don't want the others know the truth about you two, so you depart separately with the others…"
Geri stood up, shaking out her fur, and lowered her upper body for Alva to hop in. The elf moved with fluid, supernatural grace, settling onto the wolf's back. Without another word, they immediately departed from the tavern to the county city, becoming a mere streak of silver against the horizon. I watched them disappear before turning back inside the tavern to start the duty with everyone else.
The atmosphere inside was thick with confusion. Everyone was surprised; there was no Alva beside me. Louis stepped forward, his brow furrowed.
"Where is Alva?"
"She already departed to the city with Geri... Now let's get to work!"
I, Louis, Cail, and Aldea went around the village to survey the land we intended to reform. Our walk revealed a town of two distinct faces. The village had two entrances; the crowdiest entrance was the entrance from the east, a bustling artery where a constant stream of travellers from other provinces kicked up clouds of dry dust. The west entrance, by contrast, was the entrance connecting to the woods where Alva lived, so the west entrance was more quiet, smelling of pine needles and ancient secrets. After looking on the spot of both entrances, I asked to Cail,
"Which entrance shall have this board?"
"The east?" Cail suggested, eyeing the flow of people.
"Both of them…" I said, envisioning a network of communication that left no one uninformed.
We made our way to the centre of the village, the village square. It was a wide, cobblestoned expanse that should have been the heart of the community. There were some tents and stalls scattered about, but the villagers seemed not to be eager to buy anything from them. They hovered at the edges, their pockets tight and their faces grim. I ordered Cail to check the stalls and their products, sensing a rot in the local economy.
While waiting for Cail to check the stalls and the price, I stood up and looking around the square. The place was an empty place; there was no activity in here, not like in the fantasy world I knew. I looked for the scenes I had expected: kids running around, people showing their skill to entertain others, the vibrant chaos of a healthy market. Instead, there was only a hollow silence. In the middle of the square, there was a sort of angel statue, its stone wings weathered and moss-grown. There were a lot of benches in the square, but they were empty, except for the bench where we were sitting.
I looked at our bench and saw Cail was already there, his face pale as he scribbled notes. Immediately I went there, hope Cail found something, I wanted to know. I asked him,
"What have you found, Cail?"
Cail looked up, his voice tight. "The market is a messed one, your highness.."
"What do you mean by that?"
"All of these people are not from this village; they came from the county city, so... There is some chances or possibilities; they are in here…"
"What are those possibilities?"
"This village doesn't have any rule of trading…all of these stalls easily raise their prices without any consent…And they don't have any permits to set up stalls or tents, and permits to sell something in this village."
My mind flashed back to the governance of my previous life—the delicate balance between profit and the public good. I asked Cail,
"What will you do about this situation?"
"This village lacks a merchant guild and connections between other merchant guilds in other areas; we need to establish one to monitor and control the price and goods in this village."
It was a sobering thought; even here, the common man was at the mercy of private interests. I asked Cail about the concept of my government,
"What happened if myself tried to meddle in this price and goods and put the price where people could afford it??"
"What do you mean by that, your highness?"
"As you can see, I want…to control the price of the goods…not fully control, but I want to know that the price of the goods is affordable to the people or not; if it's not, I want the price being lower, so the people could afford it…what do you think about that?"
"That's bold one…in my opinion, your highness…even the royal family doesn't meddle in this price and good…"
"Because they don't care…" I replied, my voice hardening. "In the future, I will take your advise, but…if this mechant guild wants to play dirty…I will meddle in the price and good…" I turned my face to Louis and asked him, "Do you know a carpenter or blacksmith around here?"
Louis answered, "There is one closer to our inn."
"Great…For all the boards, I want them to be put at the two entrances of the village: two at the village square, one in front of the tavern, and one in the crossroads…so we need six information boards…"
We left the village square and headed to the carpenter or blacksmith place, the sound of our boots rhythmic on the stone. Louis led us to a quiet corner street from the tavern. There was no sign of the place being a blacksmith or a carpenter—no anvil icon, no scent of burning coal. Louis knocked the door while we were waiting in front of the house.
An old man, his skin like cured leather, came to the door. I saw him and Louis having a conversation in low, urgent tones. A few seconds later, the old man opened wide the door, and Louis waved his hand to us and indicated to come over. He led us inside, through a cramped living room into a workshop that smelled of sawdust and hot iron.
A young boy appeared with a stool in both of his hands; he brought the stool for me. I looked at him; his age and height were the same as Cail. The old man said to me,
"Please, take a seat... I don't want a noble like you, who is just standing around in here…"
I took a seat on the stool. The old man leaned against a workbench and asked to us,
"What brings a noble like you to this place? Is this about the production of weapons?"
"No. I don't need weapon for right now…I want…you make me some boards…"
"Boards??? What's the purpose of this boards?"
"These boards are information boards, so the purpose is to give information to the people.."
"Do you have the drawings of these boards?"
I asked Cail for a piece of paper and a pen. I drew the board design, which I usually see at the office, on the paper—a tall, standing frame with a wide, flat surface. In a few seconds, I handed the paper to the old man.
He squinted at my sketch. "Your drawing shows that this board only used single board of wood on the centre of it…that's literally impossible…we don't have this giant board of wood…"
I drew again on that piece of paper, showing how small boards of wood were arranged next to each other to make a big board.
I said, "You can arrange small boards for each other, like this…"
"You want me to cut this precisely?"
"I don't care about the precise cut; just make the board as wide as the drawing."
The absence of a metric system was a staggering hurdle. I asked him, "So can you make this board or not?"
"Surely I can…and how many do you need?"
"Six boards…with the same size as each other…"
"Precisely same size maybe possible, but don't expect it so much…"
I suppressed a sigh. Even the concept of identical units seemed foreign here. "Great…How long do you need to finish all of these?"
"A week…"
With the agreement made, we excused ourselves from the blacksmith and went to the others who oversee the crop rotation plantation, leaving the smell of iron behind for the open air of the fields.