Fokas Gold

 "While you were exploring the ruins, I found a trail that is here ..."

 As he spoke, Yacharin led Lorraine forward, rounding a screen-like mountain wall and turning into a sea-cliff canyon that was only a dozen meters wide, but three to four hundred meters in length, curving down towards the island.

 There is a treacherous trestle that winds against the cliff, rising and falling, with no obvious signs of artificial excavation visible, but the width is extraordinarily consistent, again daring one to rule out the possibility of artificiality.

 It goes down first, for a hundred meters or so wet and slippery, apparently only visible at low tide, and then climbs up in the trough and leaps back out of the water, becoming dry and flat.

 Lorraine climbed upward with the yacharin, climbing as high as he could in the middle of the chasm and rounding the half-arc, which brought him to the end of the chasm.

 A sea cave.

 The deep sea cave stands at the end of the isthmus, and the undulating stacks go deep into the cave, so that a glance does not penetrate to the bottom.

 Lorin squinted inward, seeing only darkness, and asked Acharin softly, "Have you gone in and explored?"

 "No, but the sailor found this at the mouth of the cave."

 Yacharin handed Lorraine a gold coin.

 The gold coin is of an antique color and is in the form of a rounded flake. The obverse shows a bust of a crowned, bearded male figure flanked by crosses, with the inscription [FOCAS] at the left margin.

 On the reverse is a winged figure of the goddess Victory. The goddess holds a long-handled hooked instrument in her right hand and a sphere with an upraised cross in her left hand, with the inscription [CTQPIA] at the left edge.

 "Is this a gold coin minted in the time of the tyrant ... Centurion Fokas?"

 Centurion Fokas was an emperor of the Byzantine Empire at the beginning of the 7th century, with a reign of only eight short years between the Justinian and Heraclius dynasties.

 He started out as a noble general in the Byzantine Empire, usurped the throne through an army mutiny, and was replaced in the same way by the Heraclius family, failing to establish a real dynasty.

 It's a cold history.

 If it wasn't for the fact that most of the European noble lineages originated from Rome, and the heraldry that was mandatory for noble children had large sections to decipher the heritage of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires, Lorraine wouldn't have known about this at all.

 And now, not only was he familiar with these, but he also knew that gold coins minted during the time of Focas had always been a favorite among collectors and Roman fanatics from all sides to compete for them because of their fineness and footwear, and that each one could be called a supreme treasure.

 Why would something like this ... show up outside the sea caves of Herbasi?

 "The Sorcerer Who Gave Away Gold ... The Treasure of the King's Wolf ..."

 ...

 Lorraine led the men back to the ruins and returned to Camp Windward by skiff.

 Sea caves may contain the treasures of Yinger Anasson. The possible existence of Yinger Arnason's treasure in the sea caves makes exploration of the caves a dangerous endeavor, and the danger is not limited to exploration.

 Not daring to go ahead, he urgently fetched Keren and Noa, and gathered the seamen to discuss the matter.

 As the line went into the night, Keren and Yacharin announced to the sailors on behalf of Lorraine at both camps that volunteers were wanted.

 The expedition discovers a pirate's treasure trove that may be life-threatening or may hide great profit.

 The generous President Drake decided to share this joy with every sailor, and the rewards of the quest would benefit everyone.

 In order to ensure that the benefit is fair, they formed a contract council overnight.

 Lorraine, as the representative of the Chamber of Commerce, and Keren, as the representative of the seafarers, the two of them, together with the five representatives of the sailors, discussed the distribution plan of the expedition, and after several bargains, the specific principles of distribution were announced.

 There are four principles:

 I. The Chamber has ownership of all discovered treasure.

 II. The Chamber proposes a guarantee of one thousand pounds for the expedition, which will be converted into gold pounds in accordance with the final weighing of the harvest, and will not be capped.

 III. The gold pounds, after commutation, will be divided into four parts, fifty per cent. going to the Chamber of Commerce, twenty per cent. to all the persons attached to the Chamber of Commerce on all the islands of Hebasi, twenty per cent. to the twenty brave men who took part in the adventure, and ten per cent. exclusively to the wounded and dead in the course of the expedition, in a thirty-seven division.

 iv. All settlements shall be settled on the day after returning to Southampton and shall not be in arrears.

 As a proof of good faith, all will sign a sacred contract for the division of the spoils in accordance with the above principles. Lorraine and Pierce, the two shareholders of the SCCCI, will be Party A, and all those who have the right to share the spoils, except them, will be Party B.

 It's a fair contract for all.

 Priority profiteers receive stable profits but lack upside; bottom-feeders take on corresponding risks at the start of the project in exchange for the opportunity to earn high profits and enjoy dividends alone.

 Uneducated and hard-pressed sailors have no access to the artistic premiums of the high-end collector's market, and they can't discover the true value of antique gold.

 Not the same as the earlier Pistole.

 According to the sailors' social circle, once any gold objects are more than three hundred years old, they are only worth the gold itself.

 Having this contract is different.

 The expedition had not yet begun, and the 125 people on board were already sitting on a joint £200 guaranteed profit.

 The 20 people involved in the adventure, dead or alive, will receive at least an additional £10 each, the equivalent of four months' salary, as a huge reward.

 The injured also get an equal share of at least £30 in condolence money, which everyone somewhat expects; the dead, though they get an equal share of at least £70, which no one wants.

 They even have reasonable and uncapped appreciation.

 And for Lorraine?

 If the sea caves really contain the treasures of Yinger Anaxon, thousands of years of history would elevate these gold artifacts to a high-end collection that would command an unrivaled premium in the art world. If the sea caves do contain the treasures of Yinger Arnason, thousands of years of history will elevate these gold artifacts to the status of high-end collectibles, commanding unrivaled premiums in the realm of fine art.

 A standard Fokas gold coin weighs 4.5 grams, which is equivalent to only 0.6 pounds, but it has a steady market value of 60 to 80 pounds year-round.

 Although Lorraine did not know the details, she knew that the general premium for goldware of this period was more than fifty times its own price, and those with high artistic value or special history could easily reach a hundred times.

 From this premium, he need only harvest twenty pounds of gold artifacts in the midst of his expedition to not lose money, and the more he finds, the greater the profit, and the Chamber is almost destined to reap all the dividends of this unexpected discovery exclusively.

 This was what Lorraine wanted, to enjoy the windfall exclusively without leaving his team with the hidden danger of a gap due to wealth.

 He did.

 Fair negotiation process, favorable contract content, huge profits implied ...

 Satisfied with the contents of the contract, each man vied with each other to sign his large name to the sacred contract, which was then publicly declared by Keren, who was qualified as a Catholic priest, to give divinity to the gilded contract.

 The next selection regarding the adventuring party went well; Lorraine, Haina, Noa, Acharin, a six-pounder short gun, and sixteen good, lean, strong sailors.

 They were given the privilege of not being on duty this night, enjoying a full meal and a full drink, and would enter the Sea Cave in the two assault boats precisely after sunrise, and together they would go to discover the treasures hidden deep in the island of Herbasi.

 Blind optimism and anticipation pervaded the camp, and the adventurers listened to the waves and fell into a beautiful dream ... where there was only paradise and no danger.

 Then the night cleared ...