The Bringer Of Leprosy
1623 Words
The carcass of the armadillo was secured by thick twines made from hemp about the size of a balled fist and was pulled away by the lazy oxen.
The thick twines were tied on the dead armadillo's limbs and was slowly pulled away by the oxen miles away from the southern entrance.
The putrid smell that emanates from the open wounds of its jaws, as well as its love nuts, were very bad...! It is so bad that even the oxen refuse to budge to pull the carcass away from our town.
We wonder what happens when the carcass decomposes naturally and since it was winter, someone suggested that the carcass be torched alight and burnt to the ground.
We seconded that someone's suggestion as several men loaded up a wagon load of scrap wood from the woodcutter area and got a horse to haul it together to a designated place to burn the carcass away.
The oxen were coaxed to pull the carcass for some miles away as the blood slowly trailed behind it. Earl helped by immediately churning out the soil behind it to bury the poisonous blood underground.
"Why are the blood and poop dangerous to humans, papa?" a son asked his father as he the latter was holding a lighted torch which was meant to light up the bonfire later on.
"Any part of its blood, poop or urine could cause some permanent irreversible damage to our skin and nerves, son. That's why even though the animal looks cute, but it's actually not something that is a joking matter."
"You seemed to know so much, papa. I love you so much..." the son remarked as he bounded along his father's side and was holding the latter's hand.
Actually, Old Kayla and some gatherers had informed the citizens about the dangers of being in contact with the animals, dead or alive. So it is considered as a piece of common knowledge for everyone.
When the oxen stopped pulling the carcass for some miles away from the nearest civilisation as well as from any source of water, Earl conjured up his abilities and separated the ground to lay some combustible materials in them before the huge carcass slid off on top of the pile of wood.
Someone poured some animal fat into the hole that almost covered the carcass and soon several lighted torches were thrown inside.
A roaring fire soon engulfed the carcass as it hungrily burned it down to a crisp. More wood was piled on top of the bonfire and once the deed was done, we returned back to our town to assess the damage and to make rectifications as soon as possible.
Repair works were emphasised as the deforestation was halted. With the excess manpower, the damaged bamboo barricades were being cannibalised and new ones replaced in order to upkeep the perimeter fenced up.
It was due for lunch and everyone took their breaks accordingly when in the midst of having lunch, we were visited by a group of merchants entering through the west entrance.
The Shadow guardsman informed that the Merchants were from Durham and were looking for Firestone. The latter heard it and went along to welcome the travelling merchants to our town. They were in fact closely acquainted with Firestone and fellow bosses of some big-time colliers.
"Heya mates, welcome to Gracehaven. What brings you over to visit the old me. Come in, I will introduce you to our leader..." Firestone beckoned the 4 burly men with their assistants as they traversed the 4 wagons and parked within the courtyard.
Lunch was offered to the travellers as an extension of Gracehaven's hospitality and after the travellers had their fill, they came into the domain where we all congregated there to discuss on the matters at hand.
"Your Majesty, these 4 men were my close friends back at Durham as we worked as miners before being promoted to supervisors and so on." Firestone spread his arms to the 4 men and they immediately went down on one knee and bowed low.
"Please rise, I'm just a leader and the territorial king is just a title, that's all. So what wind brings your sail over to Gracehaven here?" I motioned for them to rise and everyone sat on the chairs in the conference hall.
"Oh...we are here for the wire caged lamps with the incandescent safety light that would never go out and also to make a trade for the ores that we have on our wagons."
"Firestone here informed us that this town needs an ad-hoc supply of ores and minerals and so we have brought ourselves 4 wagon loads that were filled with coal, copper, tin and iron ores."
"Don't be obligated to agree on it. We agreed to let them go at a friendship price of 15 coppers with an Increment of 5 coppers per mineral respectively."
Since Michael was around we do not require many ores from the outside. Besides, with the sudden offer, we would be able to rest Michael up and store these minerals to make other tools and weapons for our own use.
"The wire caged lamps would be ready soon by this evening. The incandescent crystals were in place only the caged lamps need to be shaped accordingly." Firestone explained as Farah whispered to him the arrangements.
"Oh, don't worry about those nitty-gritty things, our 4 assistants would be at your disposal to speed things up, eh old mate? Nothing to it, buddy..."
Firestone smiled as he agreed and led the 4 assistants to the blacksmith where work were hastened to make the wired caged. With the extra hands, the work was lightening many folds over.
"How many sacks are we looking at for the ores and minerals?" I asked as I wanted to get a ballpark figure for the unforeseen splurge of investment.
"Oh, it is about 100 sacks of ores, 40 sacks of copper, 30 sacks of tin and 100 sacks of iron ores. Each sack weighs about 50 pounds and its 15, 20, 25, 30 coppers each respectively. We haven't made a calculation at all but I guess Your Majesty do have some capable people to do the calculations for you."
I made a mental calculation and discovered that I need to fork out 1500c, 800c, 750c and 3000c and that totals up to 6,050 coppers or simply just 60 silvers and 50 coppers.
It was just over a gold coin for the whole lot...!
"By the way, Your Majesty, we were assigned by Economics of Mining and Metallurgy Department in Durham to acquire the wire caged incandescent lamps from you at a price of 1 silver and 2 coppers instead of 2 silver as stated in the letter."
When I heard it, I was taken aback. So Firestone friends were assigned by Economics of Mining and Metallurgy Department to acquire the wire caged incandescent lamps from us...!
I don't care if they got more than what they had offered to us at 2 coppers higher, at least we were talking about quantity here...!
"Oh... It was a sweet surprise. So you were their spokesperson I reckon... How many units of the wired caged incandescent lamps are we looking at?"
I acted a bit surprised and delighted to know about this since they were the spokesperson for the whole of the mining industry. And there were 3 more cities to supply to as well.
"For the upcoming shipment, we would be looking at 2,000 units per week. Hence the cheaper price for the ores was offered, innit? This is to assist you in getting more bang for your buck."
Before I could confirm with the representatives, I summoned Old Jack as he would be able to visualise on how he would be able to tackle the situation right now. To choose the best person to give the review would be most advisable.
"Old Jack here as summoned. What can I be of service, Your Majesty?"
"Ah, these are the representatives that had sent their 4 lads to your blacksmith to help you complete the wire cages for the lamps. There are looking at 2,000 of such lamps per week. Would you be able to meet their requirements?"
"That many? Hmm... 2,000 a week, you say? For how many weeks to come, my dear fellows?" Old Jack inquired since he knew that a workforce of 4 people working 8 hours a day would easily achieve the target...!
"Ah yes, 2,000 a week for as long as 24 weeks over a duration of 6 months which would supply throughout all the mines and to all the miners in England itself."
I was trying hard not to give away my smile that was slowly carving out on my boyish face as I turned to my side and faked a cough.
"If His Majesty doesn't have any questions, then it's a go-ahead for me then. I suppose you might need to present the paperwork to His Majesty to acknowledge the agreement?"
Old Jack saved the day as I was handed 3 parchments where a simple contract was stated and all I need was to fill in the blanks. For every transaction, it would be paid cash in full for a total of 2,040 silvers for 2,000 wire caged lamps.
One copy was for me while another copy was for the representatives as both were filled up accordingly. The third one, however, was undersigned and sealed by me as the blank spaces were literally left blank.
I guess there's sure a way for these representatives to earn a bugger buck than me. But from the way things are looking up, Firestone would be earning an additional 40 silvers a week...!
- Writer
