11. The Soft Underbelly


    All morning Mercurius sold wood to the Zhong, and Raja states, hopping between time zones jarring to his sense of time, each time he returned to his base in Moru leaving gold coins. He had added 3000 gold coins to a total of 5000. He visited the nearest Moru city of Ethrib, going on a spending spree. Before he would buy slaves, he bought 1000 mercenary soldiers. The local mercenary captain was surprised when 400 gold coins ended up in his pocket.


    “I need another 500 for supplies,” the captain said gruffly.


    Mercurius gave them the gold, and then said:


    “Come to our town, we will treat you well, I assure you.”


    They marched their troops down south, and Mercurius wondered whether he should teleport them personally to the town.


    They know of fire magic. Perhaps I should locate them nearby. Oh fuck it I have to do some more trading.


    He sold more wood and replenished the gold reserves back to 5000. Wheat was sold in small batches but wood was by far the most profitable; the Raja states and Hitara filled his coffers to get to a stunning 6000 gold coins. He then visited the slave markets and freed as many as he could. Giving small donations of gold to encourage the worship of the God of Trade, Agriculture and Water, the slaves were skeptical, some being given tours of the town and the temples. Free food was distributed, these new freemen being found lodgings. With each worshipper to the God of Agriculture accelerating the production process. Ethrib’s slave markets were empty, women, children, old, even cripples who were supposed to have little monetary value were freed by Mercurius. 1500 gold coins were splurged by Mercurius who outbid everyone and made sure to whisper messages as well.


    “The God of Trade will free the slaves, and abolish this horrid practice,” he whispered.


    “The fire mages will burn us,” the slave whispered back in fear.


    His eyes looked with wide eyed fear at the seditious words Mercurius was whispering.


    “The Church of Light will fall in Ethrib,” he whispered, “their own greed will be their undoing.”


    Another mercenary captain in the north of the city was hired for 1000 gold coins. Mercurius whisked the captain and some of his officers to his small town. Evangelising the God of Agriculture and Water to them.


    “Everything will change, you might be a Church of Light, but soon we can have a much better society.”


    “You talk a big game, but even Moru by itself is powerful, you know that right?” The mercenary lord warned, “I will secretly worship your god regardless, but this is dangerous game you are playing.”


    “Oh I know, I definitely know,” Mercurius whispered, “evangelise your soldiers, and it will be a game, I will win.”If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The other mercenary captain had reached the town, and of course saw the wonders of the fast growing food and trees. Gaia could grow things at fantastical rates, growing 10 trees at a time, while growing crops, the amount of God Power was getting ridiculous.


    “The power is insane,” Gaia whispered, “I don’t know if I can funnel it by myself anymore.”


    Crops were grown, ground into flour and bread being made. The town having a few freed slaves helping in the extraction of wood.


    “They’re not slaves anymore remember! The three gods will be their liberation.”


    Wood was made into neat piles before Mercurius grabbed a few and disappeared once again. A city of 50,000. There were perhaps 10,000 slaves, Mercurius went looking for them, even people who were not theoretically selling. He bought nearly 3000 of them, 500 more slaves than were on the market; freeing them, paying them, feeding them. Whisper networks through Ethrib became his weapon. Mercurius bribed the urban poor and peasantry next; finding them, promising them so much gold to cover rent and food. He bought spices and teas from the east and sold it into Moru markets, earning a 1000 gold profit, before reinvesting his profits in bribing farm workers and urban poor. Some in the intelligence community caught onto his tricks, immediately alerting the governor.


    “Emir Ras, someone is doing something very strange, our spies have reported that the slave markets are empty!” The spy said with a shaky voice.


    “A slave revolt!” The governor said in trepidation.


    “Someone bought all the slaves.”


    The Governor shrugged at the words, calmed down at the suggestion. Commerce was good.


    “Maybe he just needed a lot of slaves,” the governor said, not worried in the slightest.


    “All of them sir. That is not normal. Crippled, old, young, ugly. There is no discrimination. It is highly irregular.”


    “What do you think is happening?”


    “I don’t know yet, a lot of whispering is going on,” the spy paused, “it’s all very strange.”


    A man with scars all over his face, dark and tanned, the governor was much more pale in comparison, he didn’t cover his face, the spy keeping his identity hidden even to the governor.


    “What should we do?” The Governor asked.


    “I was hoping you would know?” The spy replied frantically.


    “Observe and report to me what is going on,” the governor said.


    Farmers were receiving free crops, massive bags of flour. Bakeries were being delivered huge shipments of cheap flour, Mercurius even talked to guards of the city, bribing them and giving them donations in exchange for their loyalty. Again Mercurius returned to the town, so big it was deserving of a name. The residents settled for Hiru, and it became an important staging point for their plan. When Mercurius returned, the number of evangels for water and agriculture had been increased. A woman named Latha, a Hunur by ethnic extraction was made an evangel of the God of Farming, she helped Gaia grow the crops, increasing production; meanwhile Dendarius a Balnan was made an evangel for the God of Water. Mercurius got a familiar voice in his head:


    “Choose who you wish to accompany you. Normally I make the choice every so thousand worshippers, but you have done so well, you make the choice.”


    “Salutius,” Mercurius said.


    He was given the power. Together they further infiltrated the city of Ethrib, selling wood to the Zhong to gather some 2000 gold coins before bribing even shopkeepers. The mood of the city was decidedly turning against the Church of Light. They targeted the city of Fes next, a city located inland rather than on the coast, it had some 80,000 people, located near a river and oases. Mercurius and Salutius freed 1000 slaves, splurging their gold, before both disappeared to foreign markets to gather more gold. They returned buying 1000 more. Again they disappeared.


    “We need more money to successfully convince Fes to join us.”


    They sold enough wood until they had 5000 gold coins total. It was night time, and the markets were closed. The town of Hiru grew wealthier by the second, food, luxuries, gold, housing began sprouting all around. Stone lined up and worked on. The God Power of the three deities had increased to something beyond Mercurius’s wildest imagination. Moru did not quite realise what it was dealing with.