Miracle of the Desert - Money Talks (3)
A caravan of merchants crossed the desert, their camels piled high with cargo.
They had set out from the city-state of Singapore, and somewhere in the crossing they saw a mirage. An oasis would not have startled them in the least.
"There… over there—"
Petra, carved from a mountain of solid rock. Great Zimbabwe, its stone walls stacked toward the sky. Both of them stood before their eyes.
Even Meilin, the caravan's leader and a woman who had crossed this desert more times than she could count, had never seen anything like it.
When did a city that magnificent spring up out here?
It never once crossed her mind that what she was looking at was the so-called ghost city of Jordan.
"Let's go get a drink of water at least!"
"Ugh. The camels are too exhausted to move, Meilin…"
"That's exactly why we should rest there before we go on! The sun's so brutal the camels look depressed!"
Maybe it was the two sacks of salt and gems each animal was carrying on its back. Just as Meilin said, the camels almost seemed to be sweating. Probably her imagination, but still.
"This is life or death! We can think about it once we reach that city!"
And so Meilin and her camels turned toward Jordan.
Even from a distance, it's an incredibly grand and beautiful city.
If luck held, they might get more than water—good food, an inn for the night, something to look at to kill the boredom—
"You've got to be kidding me…. This is completely insane…!!"
Jordan was even more spectacular than Meilin had imagined.
The area around beautiful Petra thronged with customers and merchants haggling over goods, and there were even a few people who looked like tourists. Everyone was clearly eating well and living well—their clothes, the sheen on their faces, all of it polished to a shine.
But… why are all the women here walking around in clothes you can see straight through?
It had nothing to do with whether her party got to rest, but Meilin kept looking away out of sheer embarrassment.
How does any woman with her head on straight walk around in pants with a hole cut out right over her pussy?
"Excuse me—are you the female from Singapore?"
That was when a beauty sashayed over, hips swaying. She looked like a perfectly ordinary woman, but she talked like a whore—and now that Meilin looked properly, the woman was essentially wearing nothing but panties.
So this is just the local culture…
Meilin nodded, thinking as much. Being called a "female" instead of a "woman" or a "merchant" she simply let slide.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Samira. Normally I'm His Lordship's cock-sleeve, but I don't need to get pregnant today, so I'm running the trading post!"
"I'm sorry—what did you just say?"
"About what?"
"The cock-sleeve thing, and… pregnant? Honestly, I didn't understand any of that."
Samira looked at the flustered Meilin with pure pity.
Why would anyone ask about something that obvious?
To a devout follower of Hannamism, Meilin looked like some uneducated little female.
"You'll figure it out soon enough. For now, would you bring your camels over to Great Zimbabwe?"
The area near Petra was basically a flea market, she explained; merchants from other countries were supposed to unload their goods at Great Zimbabwe.
Meilin, who had only come for a cup of water, could only stand there in confusion.
"Samira, wait a second! We didn't come to Jordan to sell—"
"—Selling to us is good for you too."
The moment they arrived at Zimbabwe, a man cut Meilin off mid-sentence.
With a beauty hanging off each arm, he was clearly someone with power. But Han Min-guk was no mere city bureaucrat.
"Big Cock Lordship is here? Haaahn ♥"
The man was the ruler of Hannamguk, the civilization everyone was talking about these days—a tyrant so terrifying that the bold Samira turned into a hip-waggling, fawning female the second she saw him.
Han Min-guk spoke to Meilin as if she were one of his own subjects, issuing orders.
"Sell the salt and gems you brought to Jordan."
At half price, of course.
It was the kind of thing no person with common sense should ever say, but Han Min-guk didn't so much as blink. Instead he pointed somewhere with one finger.
"Everyone else is already doing it, see?"
"Ah…!"
Merchants from every corner of the world were unloading cargo from their camels' backs. Luxury goods like wine, gold, spices, and jade—and strategic resources like wheat and iron as well.
Han Min-guk walked straight over to the merchants and started bargaining.
"Hmm. Top-grade jade, huh? The Chinese pussies are going to love this. And this wine—the Roman bitches can drink it during their lesbian orgies."
"Haha… You still don't take women seriously at all, Lord Hannam. It is good merchandise, though. I was thinking around a thousand gold—"
"—I'll take it for six hundred. If you've got a problem with that, haul it to China and Rome yourself."
The blonde merchant waved both hands in frantic refusal.
"Of course not! Six hundred gold is… a fine price, I think."
"You're a pussy who knows a thing or two, aren't you? Still, you brought good stuff, so I'll throw in a pass to Jordan's public baths."
"Ah! Thank you, my lord!"
The public baths the ancient Romans had once enjoyed. A facility you could build after researching Engineering—and once the beautiful-girl patch hit, it had become a mixed-gender bathhouse. As the only man in Jordan, Han Min-guk went there often.
"I'm so jealous, my lord…! Being able to see the naked bodies of beauties from all over the world in one place?"
Samira whispered it right against his ear.
Annoyed, Han Min-guk shoved his cock into her mouth.
"Mmmpph—!! Slurp, slurp… gulp!"
"See that? That's how Jordan does business."
He said it while looking at Meilin.
Buy goods cheap from merchants crossing the desert, then sell them later at a higher price. It looked like only Jordan came out ahead—but the merchants shortened their travel distance and saved time and transport costs.
Han Min-guk skimming forty to sixty percent of the list price as a fee was a little hard to like, sure, but…
If you don't like it, go cross the Sahara yourself.
With Jordan in his pocket, he was the one holding all the cards. The merchants hauling the goods were the ones who had to take what they could get.
Making a little less money was fine if it meant an easier life. Crossing a desert that wore out even camels was genuinely miserable work.
"Still, taking half is a bit much, isn't it?"
Brave Meilin pushed back. This wasn't trade, she said. It was extortion.
But Han Min-guk had never once lost a war of words to a mouth-pussy.
"Going back and forth only as far as Jordan is better for you than hauling everything all the way to Rome yourself. Yeah, you get a little less for the goods—but with the shorter travel distance, a merchant can move a lot more cargo in the same amount of time, right?"
"Th-that is true. But—"
"—I'll be generous and throw in another hundred gold. Plus a public bath pass and a two-night, three-day stay at Petra."
At that, Meilin fell into thought.
Cut transport costs and get a vacation in Jordan out of the deal… wasn't that actually pretty decent?
"Foreign pussy. Decide quickly. Lord Hannam has more to do than manage trade."
A crossbowman standing beside Han Min-guk scolded Meilin. She had heard the rumors; she knew what kind of weapon that was.
"I'll accept His Lordship's offer…!"
And so Jordan bought a thousand gold worth of luxury goods for six hundred.
Not long after Meilin left, a Chinese merchant woman showed up at Great Zimbabwe—
"Top-grade jade! How much for this?"
"Just twelve hundred gold."
"That's far too expensive…"
"Not expensive at all. A unit of Hannamguk crossbowmen will escort you all the way back to Beijing."
"Really? So I don't have to worry about barbarians stripping my cargo?"
"This is the legion that wiped out chariot archers. Barbarian bitches take one look at our girls and run without even grabbing their panties."
Factoring in the escort fee, it might not be a bad deal. Even so, the qipao-clad merchant hesitated—
"Free pass to the public baths."
"…Is that true?"
Of course. A thick-thighed woman like you looks even better with her clothes off.
"Go see the Zimbabwe elephant circus too. On the house."
"Our porters would like that, I suppose…"
A facility you could build after completing the social policy Entertainment. Base stats were +2 Happiness, but if the city had elephants—for ivory harvesting—it doubled to +4.
Merchants worn out from traveling so far were always suckers for a vacation.
"It's a fair price. Twelve hundred gold!"
"Damn right it is."
Han Min-guk ran both hands along the qipao woman's waist.
Anyone could see it was sexual harassment, but in a Jordan where Hannamism reigned supreme, this was simply "how a man greets a woman."
"How embarrassing… Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do!"
Coming from a woman whose country was at war with Rome, that was quite a line. But the shame didn't last long. Having offloaded every last scrap of cargo, the qipao merchant went off to the circus in high spirits.
"Don't forget the public baths!"
Loyal Samira called after her, just in case. Watching His Lordship stroke that ass, she figured she must have done well.
"Anyway, we made a killing again today."
"Yes—truly profitable business, Lord Cock!"
On top of everything else, the Great Zimbabwe effect had increased the number of Hannamguk merchants being sent directly to other civilizations. Jordan traders who had just ridden back in on their camels had brought every kind of rare luxury good from Hannamguk's major cities—Sidon, Athens, Hanseong, and more.
"Oh, you've got that precious breast milk!"
A Phoenician merchant who stopped by Jordan shortly after bought the breast milk for four hundred eighty gold.
"Marble like this… I could build a temple with it!"
A Persian merchant from far away purchased Athens's specialty marble for one thousand eighty gold. The slender woman was a public-bath enthusiast, so whenever Persian traders arrived, Han Min-guk gave them an especially enthusiastic welcome.
And so another busy day came to an end.
I wonder how much we made today?
Before sleep, Han Min-guk opened his status window while Samira sucked him off. He checked today's profits after expenses—
"Holy shit."
The number stamped there looked like something out of a game.
6,969 Gold
Just looking at it put him in a fantastic mood.
When Han Min-guk laughed out loud, Samira hurriedly swallowed his cum and asked a question.
"Haa…. My lord, what are you going to spend that money on?"
She was a devout follower of Hannamism and a loyal little pussy. There wasn't a whiff of that kimchi-scented Is there a present for me? energy in it—just pure, honest curiosity.
"Again?! Mmmpph—!"
Han Min-guk shoved his cock back into Samira's mouth before he answered. He needed to keep her from screaming in shock.
"Buy it again."
Busan.
At half price, of course.