Enlightened Empire

"What a mess you have caused. If this Chatra had known you would kill the Sword Saint, he would have locked you into his mansion and never let you out."

In his back, Corco could hear the sound of the ships being loaded. However, before he could join them he had to answer for his crimes. As he suppressed the little smile upon his successful plot, the king looked at his sister and his brother-in-law.

"Haah, I'm really sorry about this, brother-in-law. Still, I couldn't possibly have known that this young master xianxia was so petty. First he seeks us out by himself, eager to take us down for his own cheap revenge. I mean, I thought he had forgotten that tiny insult after all this time. Then, when he loses the fight, the ass even draws a weapon and tries to take me out in the confusion. If I hadn't been prepared in advance, I would have been the dead one, not him."

"Indeed, it was a close call for the Medalan men. While all the men of King Corco are as fine as he is, the Swordsaint has lost his life, as have almost all of his disciples. Fortuitous indeed." Sarcasm dripped from Huemac's voice, while Yasimi offered a calm look, only tinged in sadness. Still, what was done was done. At this point, they couldn't prevent the next actions any more even if they knew Corco's plan. The best he could do was warn his sister and her husband.

"Yeah, pretty lucky my men were in the crowd during the duel. Luckily those flower sect or whatever people weren't much or we might have had casualties. Though at least that scholar was still fine. A dead scholar in your city would have been a catastrophe..." It was something of an apology. At least Corco's men hadn't made things impossible for Huemac by sparing the loudmouth scholar. "It's just a shame that one disciple managed to escape. I'm sure he'll spread his message to his sect. Will you be fine when they come?"

"And as a result of the disciple's escape, all the doctors in attendance for the duel will have to leave the city, maybe even the empire. Who knows how much some minor disciple knew about the particularities of the duel? Most only know it was over a doctor who visited Hueatlan. As far as they know, they could soon be hunted as well, since they fit the description. Where will they flee to but across the sea, together with King Corco?" As he laid out Corco's plan before him, Huemac retained a calm smile, much different from the bitter anger the king had expected.

"It's just a shame that a lot of them have decided to be stubborn," he sighed. "Since their troubles were my fault, I've offered them amnesty in my country for a while, but only another six have chosen to take me up on it."

"Still six more than this Chatra had ever expected. Another fortuitous coincidence." Huemac narrowed his eyes.

"True, we really got a few lucky breaks this time. Still feel sorry for you though. Won't the sect people come and take revenge on your territory?"

"Yes, that is to be expected." Somehow, Huemac's unwavering smile began to unnerve Corco. He could feel his own business smile twitch as it tore at the edges.

"A shame that I can't help you out with that," he tried to get away, but felt that the hammer was about to drop.

"Oh, but you will, King Corco. This Chatra expects you to provide weapons, men and materials when it is time to fight the cultivators."

"Oh, and how will you pay for that? You already emptied your personal treasury and granary to get our ships filled with tea, silk and grain. Be honest, you got a secret stash somewhere?" he winked, but his usual gestures felt hollow even to himself.

"King Corco, of course these weapons will be a gift. How else would you ever trade your fake porcelain from Chutwa?" Huemac still retained his smile. Annoyingly, he reminded Corco a lot of himself. Maybe there was hope he'd get along with his sister after all.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"King Corco, while your men were busy assassinating the sect members, my own managed to take a look at your cargo hold. This porcelain is truly some impressive work, though distinctly not a Chutwa product. Though it is a mystery how a foreign country managed to copy Chutwa wares so well, this Chatra expects that King would use this Chatra's lands as an alibi of sorts, to pretend a country of origin for your imitations and drive up their value? After all, if others were to learn that a small kingdom had acquired knowledge of Chutwa glaze production, they would become the enemies of the entire, greedy world."

"...sure, you got me." Now that his entire plan had been revealed, there was little reason to hide anything. Huemac would have become involved sooner or later anyways, and the admission felt much better than the constant tension. "If you're not satisfied with the deal, I can always go to some other Chutwa lord though."

"Ahaha, that should prove problematic."

"And why is that?"

"The herbal bazaar of Hueatlan is a grand event in the east of Chutwa. For the occasion, many of the eastern Chatras send servants to participate and gather the rarest of herbs. It is indeed inopportune, but the representatives might have become witness to King Corco's little play with the sect members. Who would still work with a foreigner who has offended the greatest sect in the east?"

At last Corco realized: Huemac hadn't been surprised by Corco's actions, he had expected them, and made sure there were more than enough witnesses.

"You knew? You knew in advance?"

In shock, Corco looked over to Yasimi. Her eyes turned large as she shook her head with vigor.

"Brother, I said no word."

"Lady Yasimi has not wronged you, foreign king. King Corco should not underestimate others, it seems folly. In fact, this Chatra has long been fed up with the endless greed of the Flowing Water Sect. It was high time to burn away the weeds that have covered the east. However, how was this Chatra to do so without reinforcements, without support? To our great fortune, a strange visitor presented a solution. In the end, this Chatra let you act, because our goals aligned. There was no reason to oppose your plans, brother in law."

At last, Corco remembered Yasimi's words after they had first met in the Chatra's mansion. She had warned him not to underestimate others. Back then, he had considered it more general life advice, but it seemed like she had tried to warn him of her clever husband without betraying him outright. Huemac had been aware of Corco's plans, at least somewhat. Still, as he thought about the results, the arrangement did not seem too bad.

"So it seems like we're stuck together, huh? Now that I've offended just about every Chatra in the east, you're my only choice if I want to trade with the Chutwa Empire."

"And you are my only choice if this Chatra hopes to survive the onslaught of the sect and regain full control over his lands."

"Well then, to good cooperation." Corco grinned and tipped his nonexistent hat. After he had spoken his goodbyes to his clever sister and her suitable husband, he turned to march towards his fleet. Although there had been a few twists and turns, he had achieved all of his goals. It was high time he returned home. There was a war waiting for him, and only one more stop to make on the way.

__________________________

Stood atop the flagship of the Verdant fleet, Corco and Wacoca looked to the tropical islands in the distance. Soon they would be back on the lands of the Green King. The harbor was already closing in.

"In the end, you mostly filled the ship with silk, tea and medicinal herbs. You even brought more mouths to feed. I thought you needed food for your people?" Wacoca said.

"Well, triangular trade has always been more profitable, so I decided to just do that instead." Corco leaned on the railing, out into the winds. All the way here, they had been lucky with the weather. It was almost as if his visit to Chutwa had lifted a curse from his body.

"Triangular trade?" a confused Wacoca asked.

"Right, let me explain this." Happy to show off a bit, Corco turned to look at his student. "Your people want to trade with Chutwa too, right?"

"A bit difficult, since we are no tributary. The Chutwa will not even look at another kingdom unless they are subservients."

With a heavy thud, the ship docked along the harbor, before the sailors jumped up and down the ship to moor it to the pier.

"Yeah, but even though Medala isn't a subservient, I have access to their market, and I can give you guys access, too. Isn't that nice of me?"

"For a high price, I bet."

"Of course it won't be for free. Still, it's a good deal for both of us. Otherwise you won't get any access to those goods other than through plunder, and with the deal I planned with your father, you'll get a portion of the traded value as well. With the new trade route, I also have some more leverage to convince your father of my offer. As for me, I can buy way more food than before like this. I use Medalan goods to buy a lot of valuable stuff from Chutwa, and then use the Chutwa goods to exchange for even more food and other goods from here. It's like double value with a single trip."

For a while they were silent as they watched the men at work. Only when the sailors dropped the gangway did Wacoca speak again.

"Father dislikes being taken advantage of."

"It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. That's what the old man wanted after all. Your father doesn't strike me as a petty man. Is he one?"

"Well, I look forward to our cooperation."

"Yeah. Cooperation might actually come sooner than you imagine."

Corco grinned as they walked down the gangway, towards the small group of the green king's warriors who stood ready to welcome them. All the while he thought about his plans for the immediate future. Depending on the situation in the south, he might have to take advantage of more than just the food of the Verdant Isles. Although Wacoca looked like he wanted to ask about details, "What-," he was interrupted before he could finish even half a sentence.

"Brother! Welcome home!" From within the group of warriors emerged the verdant princess, all smiles. The little fairy in her green dress was soon followed by Mayu, fitting as he was her pursuer. However, they held a strange distance. Rather, Sumaci seemed determined to stay away from Mayu, while the young governor was either too prideful or too embarrassed to attempt his advances, at least in public. Corco could already feel the trouble.

"Sumaci, it is good to be back." Wacoca hugged his sister.

"How was the west?" Before her brother could even answer her first question, Sumaci had already rattled on. "If only I could have gone with you. It must have been a great adventure! Instead, I was stuck in these rags." With a derisive look, she plucked at her long, flowing dress. Although it was made up of many folds to show off the Green King's wealth, in all important parts, the cloth clung close to show off the young princess' curves. As far as Corco was concerned, those rags didn't look too bad.

"If you don't want to wear them, don't wear them," the king said to make his presence felt. For the first time since he had arrived, anyone within the welcoming committee took notice of Corco. Of course, the notice was only a derisive harrumph from the little princess.

"How could you know of the difficulties of women? I am not talking to you, oh great, important king." She turned back to Wacoca. "Brother, you should go to father right away and help me talk to him. This nonsense cannot go on!" Without another look at Corco or at Mayu, she turned and left for the palace. Although Mayu's hand twitched, ready to hold her back, he did nothing in the end.

"Please excuse her rudeness, King Corco, Governor Mayu." Wacoca bowed, but Corco just waved off the n-th excuse for Sumaci's disrespectful behavior. There was no need to create a political incident with a potential ally over a little girl.

"Whatever. Since your father needs you, I won't keep you here. Just go, we'll come a bit later. We still have to strengthen our new alliance, after all."

After Wacoca had left, a strange silence overcame the remaining warriors and their remaining masters. While Corco scratched his head, he observed how his cousin's face turned more and more sour as his eyes hovered from Sumaci's disappearing back over to him.

"...What the hell happened?" a bewildered Corco asked. "Weren't you supposed to get engaged to Sumaci? What about your marriage alliance? And what the hell is her problem anyways?" In fact, the more he thought about Sumaci's actions, the more annoyed he became. How had this girl managed to make trouble for him again already? He had only been back for a minute and she was creating an international incident. And why would she be angry with him out of nowhere? What the hell had he done wrong when he hadn't even been there?

"You did not make things easy for me, brother." Mayu's voice had the bite of a lemon. In response, Corco only sighed. All the travel had gotten him too tired for this crap.

"Please don't do the passive-aggressive riddle thing. I hate riddles."

After a while, Mayu seemed to understand that Corco was neither at fault nor in the know, so he calmed a bit and explained.

"The plans for an alliance went well at first. This governor spoke with King Hulpatec and he agreed to our union in principle. All that was needed was an agreement from the princess. Thus this Lord began to woo that stubborn girl."

"...but?" Corco tried to get them moving towards the palace, but an animated Mayu stood in his front and waved his arms about in anger.

"How could this lord ever hope win her heart when she only talks about strange things? From the very start, that girl had no interest in a marriage with this lord. All this time, she only made things difficult. This lord believes it was done deliberately so."

"And what has any of that to do with me?" He had already been tired, but now he was confused and annoyed as well. All the while, he thought back to Sumaci's unreasonable complaint from before. What was wrong with these two?

"...nothing." Mayu said after some hesitation. "Nothing at all. Truthfully, who would want to marry a disobedient girl like that? Not to mention one that looks so small and weak? How could she ever birth a strong heir?" A bitter look on his face, Mayu did his best to find excuses for his failure.

"Whatever man, there's many fish in the sea, as they say." Strangely enough, it was an expression both worlds seemed to share.

"But we still need to reinforce our alliance with the Verdant Isles," Mayu said. "This lord has failed the south."

"Ah, that's fine. You don't need to build your family planning around the needs of the country if you don't want to. Since we can't talk to them as family, we'll just have to do it as business partners." As his thoughts turned to his cargo, his mood improved right away.

"So the trip to Chutwa has been a success?"

"More or less, though we've been amassing debt, which is a bit of an issue. Non-monetary, but that's even worse somehow. Still, we've collected enough cards to get what we want from Hulpatec. I'll go visit the old man as soon as he's done pressing his son for secret information on me. We'll stay another day or four until everything is negotiated and all the supplies are loaded, then we return home. Still gives you some time to try your luck with Sumaci if you really can't let go. And if all else fails, I'm sure those two siblings will come back to Saniya again, since our marriage alliance hasn't worked out yet. That's only a day or two from Puscanacra. Plenty of chances to swing by. I won't let you harass my student though, so stay respectful" Although Corco tried to lighten the mood with a joke and a wink, Mayu's face pulled down even further, as if he had swallowed a bug together with the lemon.

"We should just get out of here." Short-bound in his words, Mayu sped towards the palace, maybe to show his anger and maybe to hide his embarrassment. In the back, Corco's wasn't sure if his cousin had talked about the pier or the Verdant Isles, not that it mattered. Already, his thoughts had left the troubled lovers and turned to his home. For now Medala was still as messy as a failed relationship. It was time to get home and clean up.

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