Kawaguchi

Was that all right?”

“Yes. As an operations briefing, it was more than sufficient.”

“Great. In that case, I’m going to head out with Rashid and the others. Oh, but I need to ask a favor first.”

“Of course, sir. I shall do whatever I can to help.”

I placed a beat-up leather bag in Melissa’s hands. “I want you to give this to Shin, from the colosseum.”

“You want me to give him this pouch?” she repeated, studying it curiously.

“Yeah. Can you ask him to take it to a certain village for me? There’s a map I drew inside. He mentioned that he’s far-traveled and knows the northern region well, so he shouldn’t have any trouble.”

“Understood, sir. I shall ensure that it reaches him.”

“Thanks. And sorry that I’m leaving everything in your hands while I’m gone.”

“You need not apologize. Please rest assured, I shall ensure that operations remain stable in your absence.”

Melissa bowed to me, and the rest of the staff followed suit. Their show of respect made me itchy and restless, but I was slowly getting used to it. I descended the central platform and returned to the entrance, where Lynne and Rashid were waiting for me.

“Are we ready to go, Lynne?” I asked.

“Yes, Instructor. No more preparations need to be made on my end.”

“Shall we, then?” Rashid pressed. “We shouldn’t keep our hosts waiting—especially when they requested us by name.”

“You’re right,” I said. “I’d feel bad if we did.”

“Ines awaits us by the carriage,” Lynne added. “We can depart whenever we wish.”

“Got it. Just give me a moment to change. Oh, thanks, Kron.”

“It was no trouble, sir.” Kron waited for me to retrieve my sword—his head was level with my waist by this point—before he crawled out of his hole in the floor. He bowed deeply, his expression nonchalant. “Master Noor, I speak for all the staff when I say we look forward to your return.”

“Yeah. Keep an eye on things while I’m gone.”

“But of course. Not even a single sand rat will make it into the complex in your absence. I swear my name on it.”

As soon as I was changed, I reunited with Lynne and the others. We left the City Forgotten by Time behind us, en route to Sarenza’s capital city.

Those fool sons of mine!”

In one of Sarenza City’s countless leisure palaces, a corpulent man sat upon a garish golden throne. He was Zaid, head of House Sarenza, the highest authority in the Mercantile Free State. Servants twitched and whimpered with each incensed outburst and irritated click of his tongue.

“To waste twelve thousand golems in a family squabble, of all things... Don’t they know how much a single primal costs us to unearth?! No, clearly not. Those fools have no idea how much wealth each one creates for us. Time and again, I explained that they’re the most vital piece of our family’s history...yet still, those half-wits lost their entire allotments in one fell swoop! I’d be impressed if it weren’t such a catastrophe!”

Zaid sat with his head in his hands. He had assumed the pose when his servants informed him of his sons’ blunder and refused to move from it since.

In total, Ari and Nhid’s lost golems represented only a fraction of what Sarenza possessed domestically. Considering the countless stone titans secretly lying dormant in House Sarenza’s underground warehouses, their loss wasn’t great enough to be unrecoverable.

But neither was it small enough to be overlooked.

The destroyed primal golems were no common assets; they were the country’s greatest weapon and the backbone of House Sarenza’s legacy. Those who commanded them had tremendous, irreplaceable power at their fingertips. It was for that reason that, since generations past, House Sarenza had shackled excavation experts with exclusive contracts, ensuring that primal golems remained within their family and never reached public circulation.

The golems that did go up for sale were mere replicas, inferior to the originals in every regard, but House Sarenza still advertised them as top of the line. Such commerce added to their riches, while the family’s monopoly on what were actually the best products enabled them to ensure their superior roles and status.

House Sarenza had already been wealthy. They had cut their teeth in the business of moneylending—a lucrative endeavor, to be sure—but collections had proved a laborious task. Then they had purchased their first golems, sold to them by a strange vendor of unknown origins, and everything had changed. Debt collecting became as simple as giving an order. No matter how much money they lent or how high they set their interest, they always got what they were owed.

The vendor—a self-proclaimed excavation specialist—put an exorbitant price on primal golem orders, but House Sarenza considered the fees a mere investment. The profit derived from their new constructs was more than enough to cover their cost.

In the most severe cases, a single spoken command could ensure the deaths of those unable to pay their dues. Though it meant giving up on potential income, it greatly encouraged other debtors to make good on their payments. Those who understood the danger were far more likely to cooperate, no matter the interest rates being thrust upon them