"So, I understand you're in charge around here." A white-whiskered, round man addressed George, looking down at him from a squinting eye and a monocle. "Tell me, boy, where's the oil at?"

George frowned. "Excuse me?"

"Black, sticky stuff." The round man said loudly. "Where's it at?"

George paused, and sent a telepathic message. [Remian, someone's asking about oil.]

[Can you change the subject?]

[Nope. He's very direct about it. I think he came all the way here just to find oil.]

[Can you hoax him with fish oil or something?]

[He's asking for the black, sticky stuff. Shall I just point him south and let him face the Spectres?]

[No, don't. Sooner or later, we'll clear out the Spectres, and then he'll make a claim on the oil saying he'd fought and faced danger for it. Don't even give him the opportunity.]

[So, basically… we don't want him getting it?]

[We don't want anyone getting it.]

George straightened. "The oil belongs to us. You're not getting it."

Monocle-man also straightened. "No, YOU'RE not getting it! I'm from Libertaria, you understand? You couldn't stop me if you tried! But I'm a reasonable man. Why don't you name a price? Let's deal."

[Remian? He's wanting to make a deal.]

[Don't deal. We want to skip the fossil fuel trap entirely.]

[But if he doesn't get it here, he'll find oil elsewhere, you know? Shouldn't we at least get some profit from it?]

[We don't need it. If you want profit, I'll show you how, without selling oil. Tell him to come find me. I'll deal with him.]

George coughed. "If you want to deal, you'll have to talk to someone with more authority than me. You'll have to find Remian at Craggy Falls Town."

"Remian? Who is he? I thought you were the man in charge around here."

"Around here, yes, but this is just one fief in a whole region. The man I'm sending you to is the brother of the king." George simplified everything for the monocle man.

"Brother of the king, eh? I see, I see…" Monocle man nodded sagely, then barked a laugh. "But of course! I thought that all this was fishy! Such a young boy in charge… b.o.l.l.o.c.ks! I'll go talk to your superiors, then! Hah!"

George frowned, certain that he'd been insulted, but not intending to say anymore since the man was leaving anyway. Remian could handle him. George put monocle man out from his mind and went to see about the gem mining at Amber Gorge.

***

"So you're Remian?!" Monocle man eyed Remian up and down and scoffed. "Humph! Another wee lad? What's this, is this whole place run by children?"

Children and animals, yes… but Remian didn't tell him that. "What exactly is it you want, mister…?"

"Steiner! Call me Sir Steiner!" Monocle Man declared. "I'm here to buy the oil! More specifically, I want the exclusive mining rights to all the oil!"

"Denied." Remian said flatly. "Goodbye."

"W-wait! WAIT! Don't be hasty, now, surely there's someone I can reason with!" Steiner said. "What about your brother, the king? Surely he understands business and profit."

Remian's eyes narrowed. "I am the highest authority in the Wildlands that you will ever be dealing with, and I am the person who has the final say in any deal you make, where you are permitted to go, and how long you are permitted to live in this land, so watch your tone."

Steiner frowned. "n.o.body told me I needed a pa.s.sport stamped or an entrance permit. n.o.body said anything about a limited visit duration. Did I miss a legal process along the way…?"

Remian shook his head. "What I mean is, the Wilds want to eat you. The Lord of the Fief you just left, for example, finds you particularly annoying and wants to chomp your head off."

"Chomp my head off?! Animals!" Steiner exclaimed in horror.

"Literally. He is a wolfcat." Remian agreed. "A very, very big wolfcat. He's about the size of a Frigate."

"B-but… surely… we can deal…" Steiner was looking around furtively now.

"There's even bigger creatures around the place where the oil is at, and giant ghosts who have already killed thousands of our allied forces in the recent war. The Spectres are still there, you know. The Temple Knights have been trying to clear them out, but there's only so much they can do." Remian shook his head, an idea suddenly occuring to him. "Anyone trying to get that oil is going to have to pay a price in blood, and in amounts higher than you or I would ever want to pay. It's just not worth it."

Cost and benefit. That was a businessman's language. Hopefully, this monocle man would understand that.

"I have… much to consider." Steiner finally took a step back.

"There's no need to consider anything. There is no offer, no deal to be made. You're not mining that oil." Remian said firmly. "Now, if there's something else you'd like to deal for, we have a lot of fresh fruit in the market and our ores have been particularly popular since the world war. Feel free to make deals for those with George if you like. Good day."

***

Remian and George watched them go. George sighed. "We really can't make any money off them?"

Remian spared him a sideways glance. "Are you really in such need of money?"

"Not me, specifically, but there's a lot that KarGoth needs, and a lot of good that could be done for our new people if we had the money." George said. "A good many of them are little more than refugees, uprooted and living off their meagre savings or foraging the woods for food."

"What happened to the business loan system? I thought you were going to fund new businesses on condition of being a future shareholder." Remian prompted.

"We can't fund everything. Only a few which offer the most immediate profits or cost cuts." George grimaced. "There's just too many asking, too little to go around."

"Just how much are we talking about?"

"Eight hundred million, easily. And that's just the businesses we think are feasible."

Remian grimaced. "Yikes. What about Deutero? They have banks and loans, right?"

"Rates have spiked, and they've gotten extremely tight-fisted recently. Right now they're very iffy about granting loans to people in risky places. That means most of the world except the Dragon Empire, Libertaria and Torres."

Remian shook his head. "Does it have to be eight hundred million? Can't these people do businesses cheaper to start up? Farms or fis.h.i.+ng or something?"

"Most of them are priests or retired knights. What did you expect?" George shook his head. "Half of them want to start schools or libraries. One group of knights want to start a stable and racetrack. The old bishop wants to build a whole housing estate in Ecclesian style and rent out the houses! Some of the knights want to start a bank with low interest rates to aid the poor! We can't afford that!"

Remian perked up. "No, but maybe they can. These knights… they don't happen to be Templar, do they?"

"I have no idea. I only know they're retired." George shook his head. "Anyway, I'm playing it safe and just sticking with those who want to run industries for now. So far, they've been doing well despite the worldwide economic crisis."

"Worldwide economic crisis? What's that about?" Remian blinked.

"What do you think? Transportation costs are skyrocketing. Prices of Imports and Exports are soaring, and entire s.h.i.+pping companies have closed down."

"So we focus on the local markets, take care of our own." Remian shrugged. "I think it's time we started our own currency."

"Create our own currency? How much would that cost?" George yelped. "How is that even done?"

"I would like to base it on energy, but we're just not ready for that." Remian sighed. "We can't use mana crystals or spirit crystals… I guess we'll have to use Clira."

"What's that?" George blinked.

"Basically… it's food pellets." Remian explained. "CLIR stands for Compact Life Infused Rations. 'Clira' is the common plural form. It's supposed to be the nutrient and Life Force equivalent of an adult's meal."

"So… it's a medicine that restores Qi." George summarized.

"It's not medicine, it's food." Remian cleared his throat. "It doesn't have side-effects or medicine toxins, but neither does it work instantly, it takes some time to digest. Skilled martialists could speed it up, of course, and directly draw its essence to restore their vitality, but generally speaking, most people would rather use Qi Restoration Pills or crystals for that. Clira are used more as replacements for meals."

"If they'd rather use Qi Restoration Pills… why don't we use those pills for currency?" George asked.

"Some people do, but we can't. Too many people on our world have no use for them. Our world is a bigger mix of abilities and needs. In such a varied situation, we can only derive from the most basic and universal necessities." Remian mused. "At least we now have the ability to make Clira. We didn't, before."

"We didn't?" George stared.

"Not enough high level martialists." Remian explained. "Not even Marcus had the power to infuse Qi into nutrient pellets. But now we have over twenty ex-Temple Knights at the Earth Qi stage or higher."

"And so the phrase 'eating money' takes on a whole new meaning." George shook his head.

"Yes, that's it, exactly. Warriors on long missions no longer need to pack bulky rations. They just need to bring some money. Just coins, though, not cash."

"You still call them coins?!"

***

Remian and George discussed economics all day.

In addition to the new currency and a new bank, increasing businesses involving the Wilds sprouted up.

This included; rabbit wool, silk farming, region-wide delivery services, an Annual Human+Comrade Obstacle Course Marathon, Comrade Combat Training Centers, Comrade armor and armaments, even Comrade Fas.h.i.+on Salons.

All of these were based around Craggy Falls, mainly due to the fact that the town hadn't quite been completed yet and adding a whole lot of buildings and changes to it would be a lot easier than it would be in an already-occupied settlement.

The little desert at Rocky Ravine suddenly had plans for a Borax mine. Speaking of deserts, Remian sent Tim some plans and coordinates for copper mines and salt mines in the Endless Desert.

Meanwhile a mult.i.tude of farms were planned following the streams and rivers all the way from Craggy Falls to the Black Depths. Unlike the farms at KarGoth, these were more luxury crops than staple foods. Cotton, flax, hemp, bamboo, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugarcane…

George whistled. "You really want a self-sustaining economy, huh? At this rate, we'll have no need to import anything, we can make everything ourselves."

"To begin with, yes."

"That's just the start?! What are you going to do, exploit every mineral lode in the Wildlands?"

"I wis.h.!.+ But I doubt the Wilds would like that. No, if we're going to expand our territory, I don't think south is the way to go."

"You still want to expand?! Where are you going to expand to?"

"North-east, I think. Simply because they attacked us first."

"You want to take on the Brotherhood of Six?!"

"Maybe. But that's a.s.suming Tim doesn't wipe them out all by himself first. Anyway, that's all for later. For now, I just want to build."

The knight's bank would be started in KarGoth on the following conditions; 1) they would be supervised by George directly, 2) They would launch the new currency, 3) They would convince the twenty-plus ex-Temple Knights at Earth Qi stage and above to make Clira and manage the creation of Clira, and 4) Remian and George would both hold 10% shares and board positions in the bank.

That was as far as they got before it was time for dinner and they decided to take a break and continue the next day. They spread the news a little to prepare those who would be involved, and by the next morning, Tim called.

"I want in." Tim said. "Ten percent of the bank. Just tell me how much money it will cost to buy in."

"Uh… five hundred million." George suggested tentatively.

"Deal." Tim didn't even balk.

Remian hesitated, exchanging a look with George. [Does he know he's the only one among us actually putting in money?]

[Shh. Don't tell him!]