Chapter 403: A City Within A City [ 1 ]

The deeper their carriage traveled into the Royal Capital, the more Sage understood that what they had seen from the hill had barely conveyed the city’s true scale.

From above, the Capital had appeared to be one enormous mass of buildings contained behind gigantic walls, but from the street it quickly became clear that it was closer to several cities pressed together, each district possessing its own purpose, population and rhythm.

The avenue leading from the western gate remained crowded enough that their carriage rarely maintained a steady speed for more than a minute.

Wagons loaded with timber and grain occupied the heavier lanes, hired carriages constantly stopped to collect passengers, and workers pushed carts between warehouses built so close together that entire sections of the street smelled of grain, leather, spices or livestock depending on which building they were passing.

The driver explained that they were still within the Outer Commercial District, where most goods entering through the western gates were inspected, stored and redistributed before being sent deeper into the Capital.

Sage saw enormous warehouses marked with merchant insignias, caravan yards capable of holding dozens of wagons, cheap inns crowded with travelers, stables that could house hundreds of animals and entire streets filled with laborers carrying crates from one building to another.

Boren had recovered completely from his earlier silence and was now looking between the passing establishments with the focus of a man conducting serious research.

Unfortunately, his research appeared to involve nothing except food and accommodation. He leaned toward the driver and asked about several inns before finally pointing toward an enormous building farther down the avenue.

Its front entrance was decorated with polished stone columns, uniformed attendants stood outside beneath a golden sign, and several expensive carriages were already parked within its private courtyard.

"That one looks respectable. What’s it called?" The driver glanced over before immediately shaking his head. "The Golden Laurel? That’s not an inn, sir. It’s one of the better hotels on this side of the Capital. Merchants, foreign visitors and lesser nobles use it. Their cheapest rooms probably cost more per night than most workers here earn in a month."

Boren nodded thoughtfully as though this information had somehow strengthened his interest rather than weakened it. "We should stay there, then. We’re establishing a Kingdom Headquarters. Presentation matters."

Sage turned his head slowly. "You were complaining about the entrance tax less than an hour ago."

Boren looked offended by the comparison. "Taxes give me nothing. A good hotel gives me a bed, food and possibly a bath large enough that my knees aren’t touching the wall. Those are completely different expenditures."

Mina immediately supported him once the driver mentioned that the Golden Laurel had several restaurants inside, but Sage refused before the conspiracy could develop any further. It wasn’t that the Guild couldn’t afford expensive accommodation.

Between Guild income and the wealth recovered from the Vault, paying for a luxurious hotel would barely register financially.

Sage simply had no intention of teaching Boren that every business trip entitled him to live like visiting royalty. More importantly, they had no idea how long finding suitable land and establishing the Headquarters would take.

"We’re staying somewhere comfortable, clean and reasonably close to the districts we’ll be working in," Sage said, looking between the two of them. "We’re not renting palace rooms because Boren wants embroidered pillows and Mina heard the word dessert."

Mina immediately protested that she had said nothing about embroidered pillows, while Boren argued that good accommodation improved employee productivity.

Sage listened until Boren tried describing expensive meals as an investment in operational morale, at which point he simply told the driver to continue toward the central districts and recommend something sensible.

Prices became increasingly absurd the farther they traveled. Sage noticed it first when they stopped briefly so the driver could water the horses and Mina bought three small pastries from a nearby stall.

She returned staring at the coins in her palm as though she’d been robbed. "Three of these cost that much?" she asked, holding one pastry up suspiciously.

Boren took a bite from his own before giving a solemn judgment. "It’s good, but not that good."

Sage checked the prices displayed at neighboring shops and quickly realized the pastries weren’t unusually expensive by local standards.

Meals cost considerably more than in Greyvale. Stable fees were several times higher. Carriage services charged according to district and distance.

Skilled craftsmen advertised daily rates that would have caused an Evergreen merchant to start negotiating immediately, and even ordinary laborers seemed to earn significantly more than workers back home.

Yet nobody appeared short of customers. Shops were full. Inns displayed notices indicating limited vacancies.

Wagons lined up outside warehouses. Restaurants had people waiting for tables even though it wasn’t yet evening.

Instead of complaining, Sage began doing calculations.

Higher costs meant higher wages and operating expenses, but they also meant a far larger economy.

A restaurant in Greyvale might serve hundreds of people on a good day. A well-positioned restaurant here could potentially serve thousands.

A smithy didn’t need to depend entirely on local warriors when caravans, mercenaries, soldiers and travelers passed through constantly.

An inn near a major gate could fill its rooms every night simply from the number of people entering the city.

The Guild’s facilities had earned significant money in Evergreen because adventurers naturally gathered around them; in the Capital, the potential customer base extended far beyond adventurers.

Sage watched a merchant warehouse unload more cargo in twenty minutes than some smaller Evergreen businesses handled in a week and found himself smiling slightly.

Boren noticed. "That’s the face."

Sage looked over. "What face?"

"The one you make when you realize something can make money."

Mina nodded immediately. "He does have that face."

"I don’t have a face for making money."

"You absolutely do," Boren replied. "It’s usually followed by more work for everyone else."

Sage ignored both of them, although he made a mental note to obtain proper information on commercial rents, wages and operating costs once they met Pax.

The Headquarters would require a huge initial investment, but if even a fraction of the people passing through these streets eventually used Guild facilities, the Capital branch could become more profitable than anything they had built in Evergreen.

The Outer Commercial District gradually gave way to broader streets and increasingly impressive buildings as they entered what the driver called the Central Trade District.

The change wasn’t marked by a gate or wall, but Sage noticed it immediately. Warehouses became less common while merchant houses, banks, trading companies and expensive stores appeared in their place.

Large signs hung above businesses selling jewelry, magical materials, imported fabrics, weapons, medicines and goods from places Sage had never heard of. Several buildings occupied entire blocks, with private guards stationed outside and polished carriages constantly arriving at their entrances.

One merchant association’s headquarters looked more like a noble estate than a place of business, complete with a broad courtyard, fountains and guards wearing matching armor.

Mina stared through the window. "That’s a merchant building?"

"Apparently."

"It looks bigger than our Guild Hall."

Sage didn’t answer immediately because she wasn’t wrong. Greyvale’s Guild Hall was enormous by Evergreen standards, especially after its upgrades, but here it would not dominate the skyline.

Several commercial headquarters they passed were comparable in size, and some were clearly larger. These organizations hadn’t appeared a few months ago with the assistance of a System.

They had accumulated land, wealth, employees and influence across generations.

That realization stayed with Sage as their carriage turned away from the busiest trade avenue and entered another part of the city.