Kivamus nodded at Ustaimo. "Since you are leaving the manor house, maybe it would be a good idea for you to take the knight along with you for security, just in case."

The tax collector stared at him for a moment. "Is this about that merchant who just arrived?"

Kivamus just grinned, not giving any answer to it. "An hour-long walk would be nice for you, although feel free to take two hours if you want to give some rest to your eyes after squinting so much at the tax numbers. I'm sure Madam Helga would have prepared a good lunch by the time you return."

Ustaimo chuckled as he stood up. "You are a crafty man, my lord. I'll go and find Sir Tuilas. It would be good for him to go on a walk after his drinking yesterday." Once he reached the inner door, he looked back before opening it and smirked. "I'm sure I will like the view from the watchtowers well enough to want to stay there until it's lunch time."

Kivamus chuckled as the tax collector exited the hall, feeling glad that Ustaimo had also come here along with the knight to take the taxes. Who knew how difficult it would be to do anything if it was only Tuilas here.

***

Kivamus and the majordomo didn't have to wait long before the outer door opened again, and a guard allowed the portly merchant to enter.

"Pydaso!" He greeted the merchant enthusiastically. "It's been so long since we saw you!"

Pydaso looked surprised for a moment at the warm welcome, before he grinned. "It was difficult to wait for the whole winter to trade again, I agree. In fact, I'd have reached here yesterday, but one of my two wagons got a loose wheel on the northern road so we had to spend another night out there. Still, I'm glad to see that you are well, milord. You too, Sir Duvas."

Kivamus gestured at an empty armchair near the majordomo. "Come on and take a seat. We have a lot to talk about."

Pydaso sat close to them, before he began, "I have to say, milord, after our deals before the winter, I understood you well enough that I expected that there would be some changes in the village by the time I returned here, but I really didn't expect to see what I saw out there. A sturdy new palisade wall surrounding the whole village, watchtowers under construction one after another, a second longhouse block already completed in the north along with new drainage gutters, a new smokehouse in the northeast... while the inside of the manor looks packed with guards. It's simply astonishing. I'm sure there are even more changes which I haven't seen yet."

Kivamus grinned. "Of course there are, and I'm sure we'll have time to talk about them today."

"By the way," Pydaso asked curiously, "I saw a knight exiting the manor with an older man when I arrived. Were you really able to hire a knight for Tiranat? That'd be very helpful for this village."

Kivamus laughed. "No, no. He's just visiting us from Cinran to escort the Count's tax collector. We have no way to afford even a retired knight right now."

"Still," Pydaso shrugged, "with how well protected the village seems to be right now, with archers standing ready on the watch towers, I'm sure you won't even need a knight to protect your village."

Kivamus smirked, keeping the knowledge of the existence of crossbows to himself for now. "Well, it's time for some business talk now. Tell me, what did you bring with you this time? Is it wheat in both of your wagons?"

Pydaso shook his head. "Not this time, milord. I was a little late in my journey from my village near Ulriga to Cinran after the winter, so I knew Trevalo or some other merchant would already have brought enough wheat by now. They are the ones who usually trade the coal for wheat in this village, while I used to bring iron tools and any other specialty items which the previous baron wanted for himself. Why? Did no merchant arrive here yet?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Actually, Trevalo reached here just yesterday," Duvas answered. "He has already provided a good amount of wheat, although we'll need more in the future, since we have to use most of it as seeds right now."

"I guess it was a good decision for me not to bring any wheat then," Pydaso laughed, before his eyes became wide. "Wait, you've really started farming here? I had heard rumours about it in the market square the last time I visited here, but I didn't know if it would be really feasible in a village surrounded by such dense forests."

Kivamus grinned. "We made it feasible, and the farmers have already started sowing. So what do you have with you?"

Pydaso smirked, "I think you'll like what I've brought. The wheat prices have already increased to above five gold per sack by now, which means the prices of some other commodities have been decreasing, including iron. So that's what my two wagons contain this time. Perhaps that's why one of the wheels got loose yesterday. Carrying that many iron ingots makes a wagon very heavy for the horses to pull easily on that bumpy road."

"Iron, huh?" Kivamus shook his head in wonder. That's exactly what they needed right now - after wheat, of course. Things really were going well for Tiranat, apart from the increased tax demands.

The merchant frowned. "Do you not want it?"

Duvas glanced at Kivamus before he started to laugh. "Lord Kivamus doesn't need iron for the village?" Then he started laughing even more loudly, with Kivamus joining him. Once the majordomo had calmed down a little, he shrugged, "With how things are going in this village, I'm sure the sky would fall down sooner than Tiranat has no need of iron."

Pydaso grinned. "I am glad to hear that. Iron prices are quite low these days, so I'm sure you'd like to stock up on it. I'll make sure to bring it again the next time."

Kivamus nodded, not mentioning that with the tensions already increasing with Binpaaz in the east, there seemed to be a war on the horizon. He had no idea how long it would take to break out, since it was very much possible that binpaazi knights were just harassing the farmers in the east of cinran. However, to him it felt like they had already started testing Reslinor's defences since last summer. That meant a new war could start in this summer itself, or it might take another year or two, or maybe longer. Nobody could say for sure, but either way, it meant the demand for arms and armour would certainly grow in the future, which meant iron prices would also start increasing at some point. He had to make sure to buy as much of it as he could while the prices were low.

"That's a good idea," he replied. "We'll always be open to buy iron ingots. What else do you have?"

"Some other sundry items," the portly merchant shrugged. "Mainly salt and some cheese. Some new linen clothing for anyone who needs it. A few coils of sturdy rope as well. I didn't bring any iron tools though, since by now I know you'd want to forge them locally instead of buying them from Cinran."

"That's true, and I think we'll buy all of those things," Kivamus said, before deciding that it was time for some sensitive conversation now. He glanced at the guards standing nearby and decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. He trusted these men, and they already knew most of what he was going to talk about, but they still didn't know everything, and he wanted to keep it that way for now.

Calling them up, he ordered, "One of you go and guard the manor hall door from the outside, and until Pydaso leaves, don't let anyone enter inside, other than those who live in the manor house." Looking at the other guard, he added, "You, go and stand near the main gates of the manor, and keep an eye out for the knight. Come and tell me the moment he returns."

Both of the guards nodded and exited the hall to perform their new duties. This was a valid enough reason that they wouldn't suspect that he just wanted them out of earshot - while finding out in advance about when the knight was returning would help him change the topic with Pydaso if they weren't done dealing with him by then.

He looked back at Pydaso after the doors closed behind the guards. "What I am going to say now is very sensitive and that information shouldn't leave this room. Can I trust you on this?"

The merchant looked surprised for a moment, before he nodded eagerly. "Of course, milord. It's always profitable doing business with you, and I have no reason to betray your trust."

"Good. Make sure it remains so, otherwise you'll have enough nobles going after your life that making profit would be the least of your concerns."

Pydaso looked a little nervous, but gave another nod. "Don't worry, milord. My family and my kids still need me so my life is a lot more precious to me than gold, as much as I love the shiny yellow coins." He looked serious now. "I swear on my life that I won't let another soul know about what you are telling me."

"I'll trust you on that," Kivamus said. "Now, as you have guessed, there are indeed some other changes in the village which you haven't seen yet. We are doing our best to keep this information from the tax collector and the Count's knight, so by telling you about it, I am taking a lot of risk here. Don't make me regret it."