Turning to the Karamba Empire
If I bring in other healers, that’s all that matters.
The western reaches of the empire seemed cursed by some malevolent god jealous of their fertile lands. An inexplicable plague had swept through the region.
The peasants, already stripped bare by the Vineyard Party’s extortion and tyranny, suffered even more terribly from that year’s outbreak.
Corpses of those who starved or succumbed to disease began piling up in the streets, releasing a foul stench.
Rats and swarms of flies drawn to the smell bred even more disease, and the result was unprecedented.
A massacre of horrifying scale had begun.
“Duke Pellings! I beg you! Go back to your territory even now and look after it!”
Despite Adran’s desperate cries, Duke Pellings remained holed up in the capital, treating the crisis in his own lands as someone else’s problem.
The reason was simple yet revolting.
He simply did not want to smell the stench of rotting corpses.
With an incompetent emperor, a treacherous minister playing him like a puppet, and irresponsible lords, the western continent slowly rotted away.
—From the novel The Ailam Empire Has Fallen, in the chapter “The Plague’s Outbreak.”—
“Karl Hansen. Let’s get into the medical business.”
Karl stared at me as though I had suddenly lost my mind.
“The medical business, sir? Why all of a sudden?”
If I told him a massive plague would erupt in half a year, he would only ask whether I was a fortune-teller who could read the future. I could not reveal the truth.
“Portu Commercial City and Elrond Barony have grown enormously, haven’t they? They’ll keep growing even larger.”
“That’s true.”
“When patients appear, they’ll come in far greater numbers than in other territories. We’ll need proper medical facilities for that.”
“Hmm… That makes sense. Then we should summon priests, correct?”
“Exactly.”
“Which sect shall we approach?”
I fell into thought at his question.
The Ailam Empire hosted many different sects.
Some focused solely on scholarship, others trained healers in the classic fantasy style, and still others studied dragons. The variety was endless.
“How about the Healing Sect that worships the Goddess of Healing, Ella? They possess the largest number of healing priests, boast the most followers, and therefore the most priests. In terms of experience and skill, they are the most suitable.”
Karl spoke with perfect logic. Had I not read the original novel and known what kind of man their pope was, I might have agreed.
“No. Not the Healing Sect.”
But I knew exactly what sort of person Pope Ronald II was. He was a cunning opportunist and an extraordinarily greedy man—one of the chief villains who would plunge the empire into darkness, much like the Vineyard Party.
“That man is far too obsessed with money.”
The current pope of the Healing Sect, Ronald II, was utterly consumed by greed. He had raised treatment fees to impossible levels for commoners, and even when the plague later swept across the entire west in the original story, his madness for gold never abated.
Because of the exorbitant costs, countless citizens could not receive timely treatment and fell ill. By the time the plague’s momentum finally waned, Sultan Saladin invaded with his army.
A truly wretched development, fitting for a wretched novel.
“It is true that he loves money, but honestly, no other sect’s priests match the Healing Sect’s skill. They also have the greatest number of priests capable of healing. Only the Healing Sect can supply enough priests for both Elrond Barony and Portu Commercial City.”
“That… is true. They have many followers.”
“Precisely. Our trade routes are already generating substantial revenue. Even if they demand a high price, we can afford it. Wouldn’t it be worth paying a little extra to secure the priests?”
Karl’s reasoning was not wrong.
To prepare for the plague, we absolutely needed as many healing priests as possible.
“You’re right, Karl. Let’s go meet them.”
After a moment’s hesitation, I decided to meet Ronald II. According to my memory of the novel, he had demanded an average of two hundred gold per commoner for treatment.
Even that was an outrageous extortion, yet I had no choice. With the plague coming in half a year, I needed to secure the Healing Sect even at that cost.
But I was mistaken.
Human greed knows no bounds.
“Give us twenty percent of the merchant guild’s total revenue.”
Ronald II demanded an absurd sum I could never accept.
“Twenty percent of total revenue… you say?”
Karl gaped at Ronald II in disbelief. The pope nodded.
“After deducting taxes and necessary expenses, simply hand over twenty percent of the gross revenue. I believe Lord Landor can certainly afford it. I hear you’re making quite a tidy profit from the entertainment industry, the Golden Plains reclamation, and the spice trade along the trade routes. Hahaha!”
Ronald II, a man in his fifties, was an obese middle-aged priest whose belly jiggled even more than Karl’s, perfectly matching his greed. He waggled his indistinguishable-from-an-orc belly while speaking with false cheer.
Karl forced a smile, swallowing the regret of not listening to me earlier.
“Twenty percent of total revenue would exceed the sect’s annual income, if my understanding is correct, Your Holiness.”
“Yes, I am aware. In return, we will send you several hundred of our finest priests. Only the very best.”
“Wait. Several hundred? We need at least several thousand.”
The plague was about to spread. Considering the dense populations of Portu Commercial City and Elrond Barony, several hundred healing priests would never suffice.
At my words, the pope smiled brightly and rubbed his fingers together.
“If you raise the revenue share to thirty percent, I will send you the several thousand priests you requested.”
Karl’s forced smile vanished. He struggled to keep himself from hurling curses at the pope of the empire’s largest and most famous sect.
Well, what could I do? I had expected greed, but not on this scale. That was my mistake. I stood up.
“I’m sorry, Your Holiness. That amount is far beyond what our merchant guild can bear. We will seek the Goddess Ella’s healing grace on another occasion.”
“Hmm… Yet the Healing Sect remains the only order with enough priests to handle the vast populations of Portu Commercial City and Elrond Barony.”
Even after my refusal, Ronald II’s relaxed smile did not fade.
He already knew the truth.
In the western continent, his sect was effectively the only one with a large enough pool of talent and followers to supply the number of priests my territories required.
“Since you are a merchant, let me speak in commercial terms you understand, Lord Landor. There is the concept of supply and demand. You have demand for our healing priests, and we have the capacity to supply them. The problem is that we are the only supplier.”
The pope smiled.
He was capable of a smile more wicked and greedy than even Karl Hansen, the former usurer.
“When one monopolizes the market supply, the price naturally rises, does it not? And I have already quoted you a very low price considering your special position. If you refuse today and return later, the price will start at forty percent of total revenue.”
“You’ve said enough!!”
Just before Karl’s furious shout erupted, I managed to clamp a hand over his mouth.
Ronald II remained perfectly at ease.
“Do as you please. When illness strikes, you will be the ones in need. When forced to choose between life and gold, people always decide in the end. Usually, they choose life.”
“Thank you for your generous decision, but unfortunately we must decline, Your Holiness. It was a pleasure meeting you today.”
“Very well. Do as you wish, Lord Landor.”
I offered my farewell and left with Karl. All the way back to Elrond Barony, I had to listen to his stream of curses.
“That fucking pig of a bastard should at least show some restraint with his greed! Thirty percent?! I’ve lived a long time, but never—”
“It’s my fault. I knew he was greedy, but I never expected him to be this insatiable.”
“Who could have predicted such greed? Even demons would step aside before that man.”
Karl fumed for a long while, yet he remained a seasoned merchant.
After cooling his temper in the cold air of Elrond Barony, he spoke to me in a rational tone.
“Peasants keep arriving from the provinces, Lord Landor. We do need a large number of healing priests.”
“And realistically, no other sect can provide that many priests besides the Healing Sect, correct?”
“That is correct. What should we do?”
We put our heads together and began to think.
Yet no matter how long we pondered, we only confirmed that we had no options besides the Healing Sect.
Because sacred magic was so advanced in the Ailam Empire, the concept of conventional medicine had never taken root. The only people who could fulfill the role of doctors were the priests of the healing sects.
And the Healing Sect was the only order large enough to supply the number of priests needed for Portu Commercial City and Elrond Barony.
“Damn it all! To think we have to be extorted by that pig!”
Karl shouted in fury, but even I had no solution at the moment. In the original novel, Crown Prince Adran had raged against Ronald II’s greed yet ultimately had no choice but to ask the state to cover the enormous treatment fees. By then, of course, the situation had already deteriorated and many had died.
“This is maddening. We need thousands of doctors even if they’re not priests, but if we turn the entire Ailam Empire upside down, there’s still no option besides the Healing Sect—”
Frustrated, I muttered to myself and suddenly stopped in my tracks.
An idea had flashed through my mind like lightning.
“There’s no option in the Ailam Empire… right?”
“Of course not. Why state the obvious?”
I looked at Karl.
That was true. The situation now was different from the original novel.
“…What if we go to the Karamba Empire?”
“Huh…?”
“Wouldn’t the Karamba Empire have the people we need?!”
Karl and I stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Then we burst into laughter and leapt to our feet at the same time.
“Send a messenger hawk to Sultan Saladin! Tell him I’ll visit soon! And prepare gifts he’ll like! Get interpreters ready too!”
“We’ll move at lightning speed!”
“I’ll tell Karia to prepare the guardian dragon! Let’s fly there on the dragon! Strike while the iron is hot! Wahaha!”
Karl’s actions were astonishingly swift.
Two days later, permission to visit arrived from the sultan. In that time, Karl had gathered the finest treasures he could find as gifts.
We flew on Karia’s guardian dragon toward Sultan Saladin’s residence—the capital of the Karamba Empire and the only fertile crescent in the western continent where agriculture was possible.