Once the merchant promised to keep the secret, Kivamus began, "Instead of paying for that iron and other items in gold, we want to barter with you using some other things."

"Of course," Pydaso agreed. "That's just fine with me. What do you have?"

Duvas took over the bartering. "We have some good quality furs our hunters got in the winter, and even an adzee pelt."

"An adzee pelt?" The merchant whispered. "How did you even manage that, especially without a knight here... Actually, let's leave that for later." He scratched his balding head for a moment. "I think I can give you a good price on the furs. Even though it's summer, there is always a demand for it in Cinran, since the local furriers there always try to have some new fur coats ready before the next winter for the local nobles to splurge on in the colder months."

Pydaso frowned. "However, as for the adzee pelt... it would be far more difficult to trade, especially in Cinran. That luxury pelt sells for a lot more than any normal fur, and only the really rich nobles can afford to buy it, either to make a few extraordinary quality fur coats for showing off their wealth, or to use it as a rug to boast to their visitors. That's why unless the Count wants it for himself, I don't think there is anyone else who could buy it in Cinran. Of course, I can still take it back with me to Ulriga, where there are enough rich nobles who can buy it from me."

"Zoricus certainly could buy it..." Kivamus muttered, not that he wanted that bastard to feel rich from something which came from the blood and sweat of Tiranati guards who had fought and killed that beast. "How much would these be worth?"

Pydaso tapped his finger on the arm of the chair as he contemplated. "A normal linen clothing usually costs a month's wages of a labourer in Cinran, which is around two to three silvers. However a fur coat goes for much higher, which is why only the nobles and rich merchants can afford them. Depending on its quality, a single fur coat - which needs maybe four or five good sized furs of a wolf - could sell for around 10 gold, which equals nearly four years wages of a labourer."

The merchant continued, "On the other hand, an adzee pelt is a unique item, and it only comes around once every year or so. An adzee is also much bigger than a wolf, so its pelt is also much larger, allowing for two or even three fur coats to be made from it, unless the buyer wants it as a rug. I think I can sell your adzee pelt for at least eight times the price of a normal fur coat. That means I can buy it from you for uh... 70 gold, so I can try selling it above 80 gold."

Kivamus looked at Duvas, not speaking openly that this 70 gold would go a long way to pay their taxes. "That sounds good, but Duvas will finalize the exact prices of all our deals later today. Let's move on. Now those were the things we could have sold to any merchant, but I preferred to wait so we could trade with you, because of our good relations." Once the merchant gave a grateful nod, he continued, "The next item is a lot more risky to trade in. Let me show you first. Duvas, will you?"

The majordomo nodded, and exited the hall through the inner door. It didn't take long before he was back, with a few sheets of paper in one hand, apart from a very small amount of the reddish powder in a wooden bowl.

Kivamus kept the bowl near him for now, and handed over the paper to Pydaso. "We have a small stock of this paper to sell. I know the quality could be far better, but for now this is what we have. What do you think about it?"

The merchant turned around the sheets of paper this way and that, before looking back. "Whoever sold it to you didn't do the description proper justice. Of course, this is far from the best quality paper I've seen, but most of them are still above average quality. A few of these sheets are even of a pretty good quality, and I'm sure I can find buyers for these in Ulriga. Many noble houses would want to use this to keep their accounts. The same goes for the merchants, who'd love a cheaper writing material than parchment - that's assuming you sell me the paper cheaper than that."

"Wait, this is good quality paper?" Kivamus was quite surprised to hear that. There was no point in comparing the quality of this primitive paper they had made here with any decent grade paper which was easily available on earth, but it still didn't look anything approaching a good quality to him. Remembering something from his past in this world, he remarked, "I am quite sure the paper used in the books I used to read in the library of the Ulriga Palace had much better quality paper than this."

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Pydaso snorted. "That's the Duke's personal library! Of course it would have excellent quality paper. Most likely, any personal library owned by the King of Reslinor would have even better quality of paper for his books, but that's hardly a fair comparison. The best quality paper made by the guilds of Plumron would always go to the Dukes of the kingdom as well as the King, but that's hardly something which any lower nobles and other merchants can afford to use."

Kivamus nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

Pydaso continued, "You might already know that most of the merchants and nobles prefer parchment - including you, based on what you bought from me before the winter - since that is cheaper than paper in our kingdom, but if they could get this quality of paper at the same price, I have no doubt all of them would start using this instead."

The merchant shrugged. "That's a pointless thought anyway, since there is no way the guilds of Plumron can make good quality paper in enough quantity to satisfy the needs of all the merchants and nobles in the kingdom, which is why it doesn't sell cheaply and everyone has to use parchments." Pydaso gave a frown. "Wait, I thought I was the last merchant to arrive in Tiranat before the northern road got blocked with snow last winter... Then did you buy it from someone in Kirnos? Perhaps from a reseller there who bought it cheaply from some visiting sea merchant, which is why you want to resell it again to get some profit?"

Kivamus smirked. "This is the secret for which I wanted your silence. We made this paper ourselves. Right here in Tiranat."

Pydaso blinked in confusion, before he started to laugh. "That was a nice jest, milord. But I know that at least in Reslinor, a paper of this quality can only be produced by the guilds of Plumron. Those craftsmen protect their secrets zealously, whether it concerns how to make luxury soaps, or good quality paper or even some other specialty items they make there." He shrugged. "If you didn't buy it from them, the only way you could have gotten it is from some visiting sea merchants in Kirnos." He chuckled. "Don't worry, milord, you don't need to brag about something which is not possible."

Kivamus laughed loudly. "I am sure you will believe me if I show you the whole paper making process we are doing here, but that requires a whole another level of trust between us. So, perhaps in the future. For now, you will just have to trust me on this."

Pydaso shook his head in disbelief. "I'll hold you to that, milord. As a merchant I trust my eyes more than my ears, and I am not going to accept your claim until I see the proof. But that's for later. For now, I can still give you a good price for these sheets of paper, whatever their source may be."

"Good. Duvas will negotiate with you details of the prices later on." Kivamus continued, "However, the reason for which I asked for your promise of secrecy earlier, is that I don't want to disclose Tiranat as its source, whether you believe me right now or not. We are already producing this paper regularly at a rate of around two to three sheets every day, but my plan is to increase its production a lot more in the future. If you can manage to sell these without making any buyers suspicious of its source, I'm willing to make you our exclusive dealer for this. I'm sure you can imagine the profits if you agree."

Pydaso seemed to be thinking before he spoke. "Basically, you want me to fence it... Hmm... If I only sell a few sheets of paper, nobody is going to ask about it, but if you are planning to do it regularly and at a much bigger scale, I will have to make some new contacts." He continued after a moment of thought, "Wait, I think I know I know what to do. I know a trader in Ulriga who regularly imports goods from visiting sea merchants. If I make him a confidential partner for this, I can buy the paper from you and sell it to him, and he can sell it further by making it seem like he bought it from some visiting ship from another country. That shouldn't make anyone suspicious - at least as long as the guilds of Plumron start to get involved when they see their profits decreasing, but that will take a long time, so I think this plan should work until then."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kivamus agreed, glad that this speciality merchant had contacts in many places. "We will sell you all our paper this time, which isn't much, but after around a month or two, we should be able to scale up the production of paper a lot. Although in that case you might need to spend some coin to bring more wagons with you in the future."

Pydaso grinned. "It's every travelling merchant's dream to increase his caravan size and grow his profits through that. I think I can manage it."

Kivamus chuckled. "I'm sure you can." He added, "Finally, I have one last product to show you."