Five #3
That was just the way of her people. Few of them were looking to get rich; most of them just wanted to be bountiful.
That was why everyone, or at least every government, accepted them.
They just wanted to work the land, grow food, raise livestock, and feed people for an honest day's wage while they raised their own families and worshiped Vikoria the Bountiful.
"Any signs of Boss Sorez' people?" I asked Perrin as he ambled over to where I was sitting.
"There's someone on the ridgeline to the east over there. That's probably one of 'em."
I nodded. I'd seen them. "When do you think they'll show up?"
"Sometime after your ship has left."
"Oh?"
"There's two orcs on the ground, one of which is big and mean-looking, with a very large gun. Then you can see there's orcs aboard the ship." Perrin shook his head. "They can see that tangling with Captain Kardez and his crew would be a costly proposition."
I nodded.
"What are you going to do, anyway?"
"Something very violent, I'm sure, and I'd like to apologize to you and the others in advance."
"I'd like to ask if you could find another way, but sadly, I don't think you'll be able to."
"Right now, my idea is, if I do something very nasty and over the top to, say, this Sorez guy, everyone else will fall in line and will do as I tell them."
"That works?"
"They're not much different from a pack of animals. Make yourself the new alpha, and they'll follow. That, or they'll leave. That's really all a lot of them seem to understand."
"That sounds way too simple!"
I laughed. "Yeah, I probably made it sound easier than it is. The problem will be organizing something that continues to work after I've left."
"Can't you just make 'em all go away?"
"Probably, but then what? As that cannery grows, the town will grow, more money will come, and with that, some level of crime always comes."
"So what do we do?"
"I'm thinking maybe I should go into the city and talk to the different orc crime bosses, sound them out, and then talk to one of them about setting up something here."
"Orcs?" Perrin said, his eyes wide.
"Yup. The good ones are not only smart, they keep their word. I mean, think about it; at some point, you're going to need security, right?"
"Maybe?"
"Well, you hire a couple of orcs to handle it for you. Maybe you cut them a deal on foodstuffs. Something reasonable, nothing over the top, nothing that'll hurt the business."
"Why?"
"Because that gives them an excuse to be here, and it also gives them an interest they'll want to protect. They know none of you are rich; they know you just want to do your business and help folks. They know that if they squeeze, I'll come back very unhappy, and it wouldn't be good for business."
"So how will they make money, then?"
"I'm sure they'll figure something out; they always do.
One of them married one of my daughters.
I like him. He's got principles, and he knows where to squeeze and where not to.
He may not have problems making money off other people's vices, scams, and crimes, but he's not out there causing any misery of his own, at least.
"Also, I believe Vikoria's people are okay with smugglers?"
"Umm, maybe?" Perrin said with a wink.
"You grow stuff they can smuggle and sell it to them at just a bit over cost—cheap enough to make it worthwhile for them to buy it—and you'll probably have friends for life!" I said with a laugh.
Perrin looked thoughtful for a moment.
"I really need to talk to the others. That sounds like a good idea. We hadn't thought about trying to do anything along those lines and bringing in the kind of business partner who would have an interest in keeping us safe."
I nodded. "Oh, and tell the others I'm a friend, okay?" I said, motioning to the workers who looked like they wanted to start moving the crates inside, but didn't want to come anywhere near me, seeing as I was wearing both my swords on my back as well as my pistol at my side.
Perrin chuckled at that and turned to the group of halflings who were standing around nervously with handcarts for moving crates.
"This is William, or Will. He's here to help us, and he's a friend of Vikoria. He's on our side. If you need him to move, just ask him."
"Why's he here, Cantor Perrin?"
"Because I told him of our problems, and he's going to solve them for us."
"Why?"
"Because I'm a champion of Feliogustus, and that's what I do," I said, grabbing my bag and getting up off the crate.
"Feliogustus?"
"My god, who's a good ally of Vikoria. Oh, if any of those idiots come around to talk, tell them the factory you bought all this from sent along an 'efficiency expert', and that I'm here to help you set it all up and save money in the process."
"Why should we tell them that?"
"Because it explains who I am and why I'm here? Look they're going to ask questions about why we shipped it straight here and didn't hire a local hauler. Tell them I insisted on it, especially when I learned how much the local haulers were charging."
"Still, why would they care?"
"Because that tells them it wasn't your idea, it was my idea, and they'll leave you alone and come after me."
Perrin snickered, and they all blinked. Then a few of them started nodding, as well.
"Oh, got someplace I can stash my bag until I find a place to stay tonight?" I asked Perrin.
"Give it to me, I'll talk to the head priestess. We'll find something, I'm sure."
"As long as it's dry and mostly clean, I won't complain," I said, looking around.
I could see that the Kashmir was getting ready to wrap things up.
"Spread the word about me to the others.
I need to look like the guy in charge for that idiot up the hill.
Oh, and at some point tonight, we'll need to gather everyone in the church, so I can show them the real me, and they'll know I'm safe. "
"We could head over there now, you know," Perrin said, motioning to the far side of the gathered buildings, where Vikoria's church sat on a slight rise.
"Let's wait until after the cargo is moved, in case someone decides to come down here after the ship leaves."
They nodded as I handed Perrin my bag, and I made a few arm motions and pointed at the cannery. Then I walked back and forth and tried to look like upper management at my old job, back when I was just another wage-slave engineer.
Sure enough, not long after the Kashmir sailed off, leaving a trail of water in its wake as it dumped ballast, the man who'd been up on the hill rode down it on what looked like a horse.
He rode up to one of the halflings whose name I didn't know and started talking to him.
After a few minutes, the halfling he was talking to pointed at me, then went back to work.
I was standing by the open wall of the soon-to-be factory, giving it a look over, then checking the equipment manifest and a copy of the layout plans I'd seen the actual foreman using.
He was a smart guy and more than happy to explain his plans to me, and once I started doing the engineer geek thing, we got on fine.
I guess he didn't have many people he could show off his genius to who actually understood.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" the man said, riding up and looking down at me.
"Well, a fine howdy-do to you, too!" I said, smiling at him. "It's all engineering stuff, the kind of things I doubt you'd understand, what with being an uneducated and impolite moron and all that."
"You calling me an idiot?" he growled, leaning towards me, trying to loom over me, I guess. He was a pretty strong, tough-looking guy, the kind that had definitely taken a few too many to the face.
"Not very smart, are ya?" I said, grinning up at him. "I said moron, not idiot. Ya see, a moron can't really help being a moron, but an idiot? They get to where they are by lots and lots of hard work. Now, what's your excuse?"
"I'll give you an excuse!" he said loudly, and throwing his leg around and over the horse, he started to dismount. I, of course, was more than willing to help by smacking the animal as hard as I could on the rump, causing it to jump forward and take off.
Honestly, I thought he'd fall straight to the ground, but he'd apparently gotten his foot caught in the stirrup and was dragged a good fifty or so feet until he managed to free himself before he ended up being dragged back to town or got stepped on.
"I'll do you for that! You bastard!" he said, scrambling back to his feet and stomping towards me.
"Sorry, you're not my type. Also, I'm a top, not a bottom… unlike you!"
He yelled something, and Hansmith, the halfling engineer I'd been talking with, just lost it and started giggling something fierce.
Everything shifted into high speed as he came up, planted his feet, and took a roundhouse swing with all his might, telegraphing so much that I wondered if Western Union was going to sue.
I just leaned back out of the way, performing a right arm sweep that hit his arm just above the elbow after it had missed, which, with my considerable strength, caused his whole body to turn.
Then I punched him in his now exposed kidney with my left fist and smiled as he went down in a considerable amount of pain.
"Oh, sorry about that. You'll be pissing blood for a week, I'm sure."
I could see the tears of pain in his eyes as he gasped. I noticed at that point that I'd broken his arm, as well.
"And I'm sorry about the arm. I shouldn't have hit you so hard, but you know, working in factories all day, I'm just not used to dealing with fragile morons who don't know their place. Now, maybe you should leave?"
"I'll get you for this," he said after at least a minute of gasps and some very enlightening swearing.
"Sure you will. Now…" I reached over and dragged him to his feet, eliciting quite a few more swears and curses as I did, probably because I'd grabbed both arms.
"Now, go. I have no desire to dig a hole to bury your body in," I said, giving him a swat on the ass.