14. Opportunity

  Toorah was eating noodles at an outside restaurant, listening to the gossip of the city of Litha as told by two old men, a hag, a pretty young lady, and a talking monkey. While the city didn’t belong to any one sect, three sects together formed a sort of unified governing council alongside six clans. It was a loose alliance, with centuries of tensions and infighting.

  But the topic today was whether or not the council would accept the invitation of the Many Peaks Alliance to have a waygate installed in the city of Litha. Or rather, whether they would win the competition between six other nearby cities to earn the right to call their city the host of the Worldfather’s latest miracle.

  The monkey was speaking of what sort of effect the waygates would have on trade if they worked as advertised, while the old woman was more concerned with how this would affect traditional values, and the two young men were excitedly egging her on by speaking of how they looked forward to chasing women on another continent.

  Toorah was finishing his noodles when the monkey said something which made his ears twitch.

  “—And they’re hiring all sorts of translators. Anyone who speaks a language from another place is in demand, but the language of the Ker’tath region is especially in demand. As is the language spoken by the Six Mountain Sect, since they’re the driving force behind the Many Peaks,” the monkey was saying.

  “Where is that?” he asked, and the conversationalists stopped talking to look at him. “I speak a foreign language, but I’m not sure what language it is or where it’s spoken. If it’s a valuable skill, well, I’m almost out of coin so I could use the work. Do you know where I should go to try out?”

  The monkey looked him up and down, then dismissed him. “City hall. It’s in the Crimson Docks District. Get directions from someone else, but that’s what I heard.”

  “Thank you,” Toorah said, and he bowed politely to the gossipers as he made his way across the city.

  He arrived twenty minutes later, having accosted a half-dozen guides along the way for the location of city hall. When he arrived, he approached the guard outside the main entrance and bowed politely. “Hello, sir, I hear that the council is in need of translators?”

  Then he repeated the words in the language that his master had taught him in a moment of profound magic, simply placing his hand on his head when Toorah had been ten years old and pushing the knowledge inside.

  The guard looked at him in shock, then ushered him inside. After Toorah displayed his proficiency a half dozen more times, he was officially gainfully employed. His jaw just about hit the floor when he heard his salary.

  Apparently his skills were very, very in demand. He’d have to tip the talking monkey the next time he saw him. He was given an advance, but told that he was expected to spend most of it purchasing new clothes at a certain boutique, while the remainder could be spent upgrading from the hostel he had been staying at to a more suitable dwelling for a member of the diplomatic staff.

  Three days later, he was in a meeting in which the fate of his city was decided. The representatives from Litha city were present with a delegation from the city of Liris, it’s sister city further west down the coast. Toorah was shifting in his fancy new clothes and mostly listening to the occurrence, but his presence was needed in case the delegation from the city of Mer’cath said anything in the language of the Worldfather.

  “The purpose of this meeting is that I have, upon consultation with my superiors and negotiations with the council of Litha, decided to withdraw my bid from consideration as a site for the waygate,” the head negotatiator for the city of Liris was saying.

  The representative from across the sea said something, and eyes turned to Toorah as he was expected to translate. After a brief back and forth, Toorah turned back to his employers. “Oh, um, she asked what brought on this change of heart.”

  The negotiator nodded and explained. “There are a number of factors. Recently the city of Liris has had a problem with rampaging spirit beasts, both on shore and at sea. While few lives have been lost thanks to the citizenry gaining access to cultivator techniques, the problem is that we cannot secure our lands at this time without reinvesting in our defenses, which means that we do not have the funds necessary to purchase the contract for the waygate.”

  The representative waited for the translation, but the negotiator from Liris wasn’t finished yet. “As part of our agreement to withdraw, the council of Litha has agreed to lend us support in training up a guard force, rebuilding roads that have fallen into disrepair, and to assist in finding capable young cultivators to protect those who have not been able to develop the skills necessary to protect themselves in this new world. As such, not only does the city of Liris withdraw from consideration at this time, they throw in their support wholeheartedly to the city of Litha as the host of the waygate to Mer’cah.”

  The representative from the many peaks alliance scratched her chin in thought as the words were translated, then spoke in the language of the northern continent across the sea. Which is the language which had been pressed into Toorah’s head, so that he might better understand the profound statements that his master had said to him back then.

  “You are nervous that we will see corruption at the backroom dealing between your two cities to lower the price, but also that we will find out on our own. The truth is that I already heard whispers of this decision and I am very pleased that you decided for a transparent approach rather than attempting to hide the realities of the situation from me. We support this arrangement between the cities of Liris and Litha without reservation. It has not gone beyond our notice that Liris has had difficulties adjusting to the new world, and we were nervous that her leaders would bankrupt her buying a waygate to encourage trade that they couldn’t support.”

  She fell silent, waiting patiently for Toorah to translate, which he did as fast as he could. He was slightly out of breath when he finished, and then he nodded to her that he had gotten her words out and she continued.

  “I am willing to consider the service that the city of Litha is providing to the city of Liris as credit towards the buy-in for the waygate. If you pledge to support Liris to the sum of ten thousand golden coins or more, that will definitively purchase a waygate for your city. I will withdraw to allow you to negotiate the practicalities of this offer in private, but I expect an answer within a week.”

  The representatives withdrew, and with her absence, Toorah was sent away.

  He was in a noodle shop later that day when he heard that the city had secured the contract to buy the waygate. His only thoughts were ‘well that was quick.’ He quickly finished his meal and rushed back to work to see if his translation skills were needed.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  They were, and he was kept up half the night as they worked out the details for the building of the waygate, which would occur as soon as the Avatar of the Worldfather arrived in Litha, sometime within the next few months.

  ~~~~~

  Shisuke sighed as the latest spy report came in. He went over to the map table, which showed a world map that was increasingly turning the blue that his cartographers were using to represent the spread of the Many Peaks Alliance’s influence. Soon, the map would be nothing but blue, with a red center to represent Nonpo itself.

  With a heavy heart, he crossed off one more city-state that had declared itself for the alliance, and then another, and a third and a fourth and a fifth. He didn’t have all the details of the arrangement, but those cities had traded in exchange for the promise of a way-gate. He was still suspicious that such things could exist on a world like Atla, but the other world leaders believed they existed and were willing to go to great lengths to obtain one.

  His eyebrow twitched in frustration. The world was changing in more ways than one. Peasants awakening as cultivators, the peach blossom dream spreading among the masses, the rise of a spirit beast tide, and now the many peaks alliance spreading across the world like wildfire through a steppe without any opposition at all.

  The fact that they were not demanding obedience or the handing over of sovereignty mattered little in his opinion. The way the offer was presented, the benefits ridiculously outweighed the costs.

  It had started simply with access to the Six Mountain Sect’s library, according to the intel that Shisuke had gathered. That had been enough to gather the support of the southern central continent to one banner. That the Six Mountains traditionally ruled the northern central continent meant that, with a stroke of the hand, they had conquered two continents in less than a year.

  But their influence had spread. Next, the negotiations involved tariff reductions, trade support, caravans and rare goods. As greed conquered the world, Shisuke had tried to point out to the other leaders the trap that he alone saw.

  There was a hook in this bait somewhere, he was certain.

  Officially the only penalty for withdrawing from the alliance was a loss of everything the member gained by joining. As the benefits of joining continued to rise, however, independence became increasingly costly.

  And now the waygates. His eyebrow twitched again. How could he argue against instantaneous travel across the world? That the cities could even recoup the price of the installation over time with a simple tax on the service meant that it wasn’t simply a price to be paid, but an investment to be recouped.

  Nonpo was not, as he liked to pretend, perfectly isolated. They traded with their neighbors by sea. The sea trade was surprisingly opposed to the introduction of waygates, but Shisuke could see the benefits.

  If he took the bait, if he brought in a waygate, then would he have outsiders walking the streets? Or would Nonpo remain proud and isolated?

  He frowned, then turned back to the other reports. He wished that this matter did not fall into his lap, but of his brothers, he had been the first and only to reach the golden path before their father ascended. That made him the heir protector of the Nonpo people.

  But the world was changing, and gold rank did not mean the same thing that it once did. Already, Nonpo was reporting that three others had reached the milestone. Cultivators who had been stuck at the bronze path for decades due to a lack of resources to elevate themselves had suddenly blossomed in this new world.

  And then the commoners awakening by the thousands.

  His eyebrow twitched. He did not like change, but the world was changing.

  Reluctantly, he admitted that Nonpo would have to change or be forgotten in the sands of time. He took out a piece of paper, and began to write a formal invitation for a delegation from the Many Peak Alliance to the port of Weshi. He set it aside for the ink to dry, then went to bed. His assistants would deal with the logistics of getting the letter where it needed to go while he rested.

  He was not expecting an answer the very next day, but he was informed upon waking that a cultivator representing the alliance had arrived in the night and was patiently awaiting an audience. Shisuke’s eyebrows twitched at the representative arriving uninvited, but then he recalled the apparition’s promise that he would be sending a representative to discuss the matter of compensation for Omaia’s visit to their island nation.

  He had put it out of his mind until the aide explained the delegate’s stated reason for visiting. So they didn’t have spies examining his every move, it was just a coincidence, he told himself.

  He sent out instructions for the guest to be made welcome, then moved to an audience chamber to receive them. A young man, tall and with broad shoulders, a man filled with muscle, stepped forward. He did not bow, but only nodded. One golden path cultivator to another. The fact that one of them was the ruler of Nonpo did not matter to this man, for the other was a disciple of the Worldfather.

  “I am Thaseus Dios,” the stranger said. “As I have told your subordinates, I come to discuss the matter of the disruption that our offworlders caused your nation a few weeks ago. You have the Many Peaks Alliance official apology for the event and we are grateful for your assistance in the matter of keeping the delegation from the stars entertained. We ask that you tally up the expenses she incurred during her visit and we will repay them tenfold.”

  Shisuke nodded. “It is not so much, really. She ate lavishly and we engaged several mortal acting troupes for their services, but in terms of finances, the most costly resource that she deprived Nonpo of was my undivided attention. Which was, after I got over the shock of having such a powerful visitor, not so unpleasant.”

  “Even so, you simply need to give me a number and I will ensure that you receive compensation,” Thaseus insisted. “Nonpo has made its stance on the alliance clear and we wish to respect your national boundaries and wishes to remain independent. If you—”

  “Waygates,” Shisuke said. “Do they go only to Mer’cah? Can we, perhaps, negotiate one connected to another location?”

  Thaseus stopped mid-sentence, then scratched his stubble as he considered the question. “I’m pretty sure they go wherever the Worldfather wants to put them.”

  “We of the Nonpo People are not interested in the access to the archives, but several of the other benefits of the alliance have some of my subordinates and supporters salivating. And I confess that a waygate to one of our distant ports of trade is a very tempting thing for me to consider as well,” Shisuke admitted.

  Thaseus nodded at the words. “I’m not a skilled negotiator, and I do not know all of the details of the network of waygates that the worldfather is building. If you wish to engage in a lesser form of alliance than a full membership, then I can have a delegation here within a week to discuss specific terms. To include a waygate in the deal doesn’t seem unreasonable to me, but such things are above my station to promise. I was only sent for this other matter because Little Bug promised to send one of his disciples.”

  “I understand,” Shisuke said. Then he thought of something, and he grinned. “How would you feel about a friendly spar, out over the waters of the bay? It would be good to see in person the strength of one of the Peach Blossoms, and it has been so long since I stretched my powers properly.”

  Thaseus grinned. “Now that is something for which I am prepared to discuss terms,” he agreed, reaching to the bamboo sword at his side and drumming his fingers against it.

  That night, the bay above the city of Weshi was full of light!

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