10 Trade agreement

"Do you have supporters in the fortress?" Amulius is smart enough to take important details in consideration. They cannot support him if there is no one supporting him in the fortress.

"I have a few supporters. However, much of them was killed during our last battle." Gaguka is somewhat feeling down, since he feel that his situation is hopeless.

"That's alright. As long as you have people on your side even if it's just a minority, I can provide you a little bit of assistance." Amulius is glad that Gaguka was the first one running to him for help. His first real campaign in this region is this orc tribe which is physically stronger than humans. "Before you get your hopes up, remember that I am just a supporting character here. You should help yourself and do hardwork."

"Yes, of course. I don't expect the weak humans to do all the hardwork, but any assistance even if it's small is still of great help." Gaguka became somewhat civilized when he spoke this way. He might've realized something lately.

"Anyway, tell me more about your orc tribe. If you really want me to help, I should know the background." Before any of this, Amulius was already briefed by his Uncle Justus. The way he should negotiate should be relaxed so that their side of the deal is advantaged or not disadvantageous.

"The Gehlgika tribe, we are actually on the other side of that mountain range. The thing that you see at the mountain ranges and at this side are actually just an expansion. From here, it's around 20 kilometers. The tribe's population is 10,000 Orcs including the women, oldies and the children. Our tribe may seem to be advanced, we rely on pillaging the nearby settlements in Nescaria kingdom. The Nescaria kingdom has always sent armies, but they never catches us. The chief is my brother, Langyako, he is wise that is why he was chosen by the elders. The orc army is around 6,000 orc brutes, but most of them are occupied in pillaging cities of Nescaria where most of our riches came from. Your appearance is just in a good timing where we cannot bolster an army to pillage your small town. " Gaguka further detailed the description of the fortress such as the number of sentries and its positions. Gaguka wanted Amulius to shake the fortress where he will commit coup d'etat when everyone is busy defending the fortress.

"What do I get in return?" Amulius will never strike a deal where he will be in disadvantage. The Romans could not afford to be a side character, they should be always the main character in history.

"Guaranteed safe passage, free trade, defensive pact and open border. How about that?" Gaguka answered like he already thought about this, Amulius was slightly surprised.

"Uhuh. The trade agreement mentions that we can conduct commerce in your fortress. Moreover, the currency that we are going to use are Roman denarius. Our merchants shall be granted safe passage, however no Orc shall be allowed to conduct business within Roman borders." Amulius reinstated to Gaguka the trade agreement written, but he did not mention what he wants in return from Gaguka after all of this is over.

"Thats it then. Don't get too full of yourself Amulius! I'm only doing this because I need your help and you promised to lend me help. After all of this is over, we shall settle scores!" Gaguka left with a crazy statement to Amulius. He did not plan to take that seriously since in Gaguka is not even part of his future plans.

Back in Romavena, Amulius called for a meeting with Senator Titus and Senator Cassius. He wanted to discuss the trade system that they are going to do. The town of Romavena now has good merchants in the commerce district. They are the ones buying and selling the products of wheat, meat, wood furniture, housewares, cooking pot, bread, rice, fish, and many more in the market. Now that Amulius is going to open a new market for them, they should first be oriented and learn the orcish language.

"Cassius, organize ten legionnaires to escort the diplomatic agents to the orc fortress. They will prepare the market in the orc fortress before the arrival of our merchants. Titus, after a week, send your merchants to the fortress. They will not be escorted by the legionnaires but there will be Legionnaire outpost along the way. You should also think of a way to introduce our denarius to their market to expand our influence in the fortress." Amulius one by one detailed his instructions to Cassius and Titus. This will be either their opportunity to prosper even more or the trigger of their quick decline. This agreement is a double blade too, since their people has the higher chance of danger in the Orc fortress. Their population was just below 4,000 including the former refugees. This number is not even half of the total population of the Orcs.

"Yes, Emperor."

"As you will, Emperor."

The following days, the diplomatic agents arrived to the orc fortress. They made sure that the Roman merchants will be treated well and there is no misunderstanding in between. The diplomatic merchants will make acquaintance with the Orc politicians if there are any, and they will stay in the so long as the trade agreement is still valid. They shall also be the representative of the Romans in lieu of Amulius. The Orcs did not even bother to demand that they should also send diplomatic envoys in Romavena since they believe that if they wanted, they could turn the town of Romavena upside down.

After a week or so, the first batch of merchants carrying various products of Romavena are travelling to the Orc fortress. They are armed but since the Orcs viewed them as ants, they did not bother asking them to remove weapons. The first batch of merchants were feeling excitement with a mix of fear as this will be their first time to step out of the Roman territory without any security.

"Emperor, the first batch of the Roman merchants has left the town. The scout are also keeping an eye on the fortress and the merchants. We will make sure that no harm will happen to them." Shadow spoke to Amulius while he is cultivating. Amulius is not bothered if Shadow is the one reporting to him since Shadow brings relevant and important reports all the time. All of his secret actions are carried out of shadow, there is also a plan to execute Chief Langyako but it is very difficult to find a chance that is why he dismissed the idea and just leave it to Gaguka.

Amulius felt that the mana energy around the Regia is sparse, he decided to talk a walk outside the town. But before leaving, he instructed Cassius to increase the production of onagers and ballistae, and keep an eye on everything that moves. Amulius believe that everything will be okay so long as his uncle is there. It has been a while since his last meeting with his uncle but for sure he knows the Senate functions in the absence of the Emperor. All policies and decision-making is subject for debate and can only be passed through majority approval of the Senate.

Amulius wore off his muscle cuirass and wear a woolen toga. His sword is still at his waist and nothing else. He went to tour the mountain ranges and look for a suitable place to cultivate. He found the highest peak of the mountain range in-between the Hul'juk mine and the Harpies lair. The peak of the mountain range is the most solemn and full of mana energy. At the peak, you can see the outlying places such as the Romavena, the Orc fortress, Harpy's lair, Troll huts and the plain on the other side of the mountain range. However, the peak is not easy to find. Before Amulius found this place, he battled numerous wild animals such as tigers, jaguars, wild violent monkeys and giant black ants at the entrance of the cave tunnel that leads to the peak. At first, he just wants to explore and find an abundant place of mana energy then it lead him here to the peak. The cave tunnel was full of black ants where he battled them that made him exhausted and severely injured before he reached the peak. But upon reaching this place, it all pays off. The peak is rich of mana energy circulating at the peak.

Amulius cultivated at the peak, continuously absorbing the unlimited mana energy of this place. He lost his sense of time to the point that he didn't even know how long he has been here. His cultivation here is undisturbed and undiscovered by anyone. The black ants that gave him hell back to the tunnel did not chase him up to the peak. He achieved a lot of breakthrough in his mana core. He did not gain new skills or abilities, but his mana power has increased including his strength and agility. His comprehension and intelligence also made progress. But when he got through a bottleneck that he couldn't breakthrough in his cultivation, no matter how hard he try and try to circulate and absorb the mana energy around him, he couldn't absorb more. That's when he decided to go leave the peak as he had enough of cultivation here. He will just return here later on when he breakthrough the bottleneck.

As he descend from the peak, he has now double of his former strength. He massacred the black ants at the tunnel cave then he blocked the entrance of the tunnel from the outside, because he did not want others to discover this place and take it from him. His strength is now equal to 4 Orcs, and 3 times the speed of a horse. His stamina and endurance has also been prolonged. On his way back to Romavena town, someone blocked his way.

"We need to talk." Spoken in Orcish language with an tough orc tone. Amulius' first reaction is to unsheath his sword, but the aura of this orc is overwhelming. Although he feels that he can defeat this orc, but he will probably die of a blood loss after. So, he restrained himself and responded accordingly.

"Who are you? How do you know that I'm here?" This place is at a forest near the hul'juk mine. No one comes here aside from the Roman patrol.

"I heard that you made a deal with my brother. But I hope you didn't promise anything to him yet. "

"Orc chief Langyako? What are you doing here?" Amulius was caught in surprise. He did not expect to meet the orc chief very soon. That explains the strong aura emitted by this orc.

"Do you know why I agreed to your trade proposal without demanding conditions? Not all Orcs are dumb as to not notice that your proposal is more advantageous to you." Langyako spoke frankly to him. Amulius' reaction could not be described like an art painting. He lately realized that he thought he really did outsmarted the Orcs. Unbeknownst to him, his motive was seen through by the Orc chief that he never met. Amulius is smart enough not to talk back to Langyako since the more you talk, the more mistakes you can make.

"I have a dream, that one day Orcs and humans will coexist. But the humans of the South in Nescaria kingdom and even the humans of the central plains are extremely racists. They view other races as inferior to them, however Orcs are the same. The other orc strongholds and fortresses in the other parts of the Continent created factions for themselves to fight the humans and elves. Orcs versus Orcs versus other races, the same as humans versus humans versus other races. This is a chaotic world where dog eats dog." Langyako paused for a while then he continued, "then you appeared. Your town's progress is very quick that in less than a year, your town can rival my fortress. You people are not of this world. The way you treated the goblins and how you develop your town without using magic is out of this world. Each race despise other races, but you are different." Langyako paused again and grabbed Amulius' shoulders, "I want you to marry my daughter. That is my only condition. You do not have any other choice. Since if you dare refuse, your pity little town will burn to the ground." Langyako slowly walked away then said to Amulius, "You have 1 month to decide. And if you did not show up in the fortress within a month, you know what will happen."