Amazon Apocalypse Short Story: [Katar PoV] Exploring Crownhill (2/2) (Patreon)

Liliana and Katar realized they needed a place to stay. Thankfully, housing was one of the few things in Crownhill that was cheap, at least for basic accommodations. Most buildings in the city were ten times taller than what Liliana was used to, and about as far as one could get from the straw huts Katar's people favored. Given the immense amount of housing these buildings provided, living quarters were cheap.

But cheap normally didn't mean free, so the two of them braced themselves to sell some of what little they had left to buy food and shelter until they could get an audience with the emperor and get this whole debt misunderstanding cleared up.

Thankfully, the money seller pointed the two of them somewhere they could stay cheaply, and potentially even freely.

"Good news, the two of you qualify for free group housing if you're able to attend Carter Smith's job training program," said a stern-looking woman sitting behind a desk at the front of the building they were directed to.

"Free?" Both Katar and Liliana perked up at that.

"That's right. Our Shardlord pays for a job training program out of pocket in his capacity as a wealthy private citizen. You'll need to attend a morning class, but as long as you attend and continue to receive passing marks from your instructor, food and housing won't be an issue. You'll have to choose a profession of interest from one of these lists and meet up with your instructor in the morning."

Katar and Liliana each accepted a sheet of paper, which contained a lengthy list of professions. Katar blinked a few times, surprised that he could stare at the characters and simply have their words appear to him in his head, as though someone was whispering in his ear. Reading wasn't much of a thing back on his world, though he was familiar with the concept thanks to the Black Knights and the Order of Sorcery.

The list contained jobs like blacksmith, cook, tailor, scribe, leatherworker, enchanter, and many other basic jobs Katar knew about, and also a lot he found entirely unfamiliar. He knew about System-approved jobs and how they could allow someone to create miraculous things, but he'd never felt comfortable sitting down and working with things when there were people out there who needed his help. He joined the Black Knights to help people, and that's what he planned to do.

"I'll take the Adventurer training program," Katar announced. A moment later, Liliana said the same thing.

"I suspected as much. Most newcomers to the city want to become Adventurers. If you find the life too dangerous for you, you can return here and change your mind," the stern woman said as she took the papers back from them and showed them to their rooms.

The rooms had been described as simple, but to Katar having an entire room to himself felt like the height of luxury.

"Look at this, Liliana! I flip a switch and that thing overhead glows brightly enough to make the room as bright as daytime!" Katar said, flipping the switch excitedly.

"I can do the same thing with magic," Liliana said.

Katar flipped the light on and off a dozen more times, marveling at how it activated and deactivated so easily with just a flick of his hand.

Liliana huffed a few times, then struggled to conjure a light. But making light was ill-aligned with her usual abilities, so she only managed something as bright as a torch, and she certainly couldn't turn it on and off as quickly as Katar could flip a switch.

Katar knew she'd compete with the strange artifact all night if he kept at it, so he stopped playing with the switch and decided to save it for when he was in private. Normally that would be easier said than done, but there were a dozen other marvels to look at.

"Look here, Liliana! I pull this lever and water comes out!" Katar said.

"I have an enchantment at home that does that..." Liliana said.

"But can it make things hot or cold depending on the lever you pull?" Katar flipped one lever, then the other, growing more excited when he realized he could get just about any temperature by manipulating the two of them.

"I heat it with magic when I want it warm..." Liliana admitted, though those words were drawn out of her with the greatest reluctance.

"Even the chamberpot has a magic lever..." Katar shook his head in wonder. Maybe he could buy some of these magic switches and levers. The guys back in the barracks at the Order of Sorcery would be really impressed.

Liliana went to bed grumbling, but Katar stayed up most of the night. He even found a few of the other people in their same building, who explained the functions of many of the little odds and ends he'd missed. There was a machine that made the local bean-tea down the hall, and the strange stalls were something called showers where people could get cleaned up after a long day. It was far faster than setting up a bath.

After many hours of running from strange artifact to strange artifact, Katar finally tested the bed, which was by far the most comfortable thing he'd ever laid down on. He'd been too excited to sleep before that, but the moment he put his head down he couldn't help but let out a little yawn, and soon was fast asleep.

***

The following morning they found themselves attending lessons under a C-Grade Crownhill Adventurer. Once he realized their level, he mostly left them to their own devices and stuck to explaining specifics on how adventurers from Crownhill made money.

There were always ongoing quests to clear certain areas of monsters, or even just to patrol roads. Crownhill also controlled three dungeons, and they needed to be delved regularly as well.

The two of them could have flown through the whole training course in a week if they wanted to, but they realized they'd lose their free housing if they did that, so they took their time. They spent several weeks completing every certification their instructor recommended to them and received a lot of dedicated instruction on how things were done in Crownhill.

A week turned into a month, and one month turned into two. Eventually, Katar had to ask Liliana about why they were still waiting.

"Liliana, don't you think Emperor Carter should have summoned you by now?" Katar asked.

"Well... he didn't exactly give me a time and place," Liliana shrugged her shoulders.

"When did he say he wanted you to be his concubine?" Katar pressed.

"Uh... well..." Liliana tapped the tips of her fingers against one another, looking guilty. "He never actually demanded I become his concubine. It's sort of more of a volunteer position."

Katar's shoulders slumped and he pinched his brows. It had taken him a while, but after putting the little things together he'd started to suspect this was the case.

"Why did I volunteer to come along with you?" Katar grumbled.

"It's alright. We can always just go home. There's no reason to stay in Crownhill if the Emperor isn't ever going to show himself. We can leave these debt problems behind!"

"You sure it works like that?" Katar asked.

"Positive. Let's leave tomorrow!"

And so the two of them said their goodbyes to the new acquaintances they'd met in Crownhill, gathered up their belongings both new and old, and were on the road the following morning.

The roads away from Crownhill were even more peaceful than they remembered. Their safe journey was unsurprising, since they'd been part of more than one adventurer group keeping the roads safe. The lack of monsters and bandits had only come through the sweat and toil of countless adventurers.

The added safety was worth the labor, though. The low-leveled individuals traveling to the Order of Sorcery were always a desperate and sorry lot. But here in Crownhill, most of the travelers were farmers or aspiring merchants hoping to take their village's goods to the markets of Crownhill, which were increasingly becoming famous throughout the lands.

And not just because it was the Emperor's seat of power. As Katar and Liliana had learned, the locals had a way with money that didn't entirely make sense to other people, but clearly worked for them.

That fact became especially apparent just when they thought they'd left Crownhill behind for good, only to be greeted by what they first thought was an adventurer team. But these guys weren't here from one of the big adventurer guilds. This was one of the smaller groups that acted more like mercenaries, and that's just what they were here for.

"Hold it there, you're Katar and Liliana, right? We've been told the two of you have some outstanding debts and haven't been making your minimum payments," said the mercenary.

"Minimum payments?" Katar scratched his head. "If you're bandits, can we please skip to the fighting part?"

"Fighting? Heavens, no," the would-be bandit said, though he chuckled darkly as he said it. "We run a fully legitimate debt-collection operation. I see the little lady's level and I'm not interested in picking a fight. But you wouldn't want things to come down to a fight either, since we have the law on our side. We're just here to give you a friendly reminder about your debt. You'd best start making your minimum payments. If you don't, our employer is going to have to start garnishing your wages."

"You can't eat people's pay. We get paid in gold, not food. But okay. Warning received. Can we go now?" Katar asked.

"Sure. Just remember your debt payments," the would-be bandit and his friends left, as did Katar and Liliana.

Eventually, they made it back to the Order of Sorcery. Their lives returned to normal. Katar regretted how things had wound up in Crownhill, since he was a bit nervous to ever go back there now. There had been a lot of nice things, but without Liliana there for backup, a group of C-Grade mercenaries trying to collect a debt could do quite a number on him.

"Just wait a few years. I'm sure it will all blow over!" Liliana said, swinging her legs along the side of the citadel's outer walls as the two of them watched the workers down below go about repairs. Katar couldn't help but feel the workers and the walls they were building were unimpressive now that his horizons had been broadened.

Things continued like this for some time, right up until the day Liliana and Katar were to receive their monthly pay for serving in the Order of Sorcery's defense force.

"You two, stay behind," said Sorcerer Mourningstar, Liliana's father.

Katar and Liliana remained while the other Black Knights left to spend their pay on food, women, and what other sparse luxuries were available in the citadel.

"Just what kind of trouble did the two of you get in when you left for Crownhill?" Sorcerer Mourningstar glared at the two of them, though most of his apparent anger was directed at his own daughter.

"Sir?" Katar asked in confusion.

"I've been instructed to withdraw thirty percent of your pay and deliver it to some money changer in Crownhill. Apparently the two of you racked up more debt while you were away." Sorcerer Mourningstar scowled.

"Yeah, but that's all the way in Crownhill. Can't we just ignore it?" Liliana asked, reaching for her gold coins in her father's hands.

"No, we can't. The Black Knights will be performing a joint training exercise to discuss how our soldiers can be best integrated with Crownhills during large-scale defensive battles. Unlike most of the factions on the shard, we're lucky enough to integrate our city and people with Carter Smith's empire slowly and on our own terms, but that doesn't mean it won't happen. We want a smooth transition. I don't want some well-connected and powerful moneychanger making problems for the thousands of people under my protection."

"Ugh. Come on, dad! We used to be bandits pillaging towns left and right. Now we can't even steal? You should have seen the money salesman. He practically shoved the free money into my hands!" Liliana protested.

"The two of you need to solve this issue before it becomes a major diplomatic incident. I'm told there are magistrates there. Maybe you can plead your case before one of them," Sorcerer Mourningstar suggested.

And so Liliana and Katar found themselves returning to Crownhill once again. They were welcomed without fanfare except for the reminder to make the minimum payments on their debt. It was a frightening realization that they would have to do this indefinitely unless they began making larger payments to deal with their balance.

"How are we going to get out of this?" Liliana grumbled after finishing their first week of relentless adventuring.

"We just need to work harder, I guess. It seems like that's what everyone else is doing." Katar shrugged helplessly.

The two of them had been completing three missions a day. Such a pace was unheard of practically anywhere else.

And yet asking around, many of the foreign adventurers in Crownhill were in a similar boat. It seemed like part of the success of Crownhill and the reason why this city had conquered all others was because anyone here ended up working far harder than those from other factions. And the reason for that hard work was a combination of the impressive commodities and easy loans.

It was an alien way of doing things to Katar. Back in the citadel and the villages he was familiar with, the only people who could afford weapons and armor were the sons and daughters of the rich. Here in Crownhill any small-time adventurer with ambition could go into battle with the best armor and skills money could buy, but in doing so they'd be selling the next few decades of their lives away.

They even ran into a few other locals who knew people that'd fallen into the exact same trap they had.

"Oh, you guys ended up buying the timeshare thing? I heard the city council is cracking down on that," said one of their fellow adventurers. He was what Katar usually thought of as a local, but not from Crownhill. He was from the nearby human city of New Kyoto, which had far more people than Crownhill, but far lower average levels.

The New Kyoto humans seemed more relatable to Katar. Not every one of them was a powerhouse, which was the impression he'd gotten while touring Crownhill. The B-Grade guard he'd seen watching them from a distance gave him a far more overbearing aura than Liliana ever did.

"Do you think they'll stop other people from getting scammed as we did?" Katar asked.

"I hope so! And there might be some hope for you guys as well. I heard the council has hired a lawyer for everyone. You should make sure your names are on the list and you could get most of your money back."

Liliana and Katar looked at one another in excitement. That day, they only completed two adventurer missions, which cost them a bit of their cash reserves. They found the council building, where they spoke with a woman named Margaret.

"Alright, I'll add you to the class action case. If we win, you should get your money returned to you," the woman named Margaret said.

"What kind of battle is this going to be? Maybe we can help you fight it!" Katar suggested eagerly.

Margaret laughed. "Win in the courtroom, not on the battlefield. We need to convince a jury that the timeshare sellers you purchased from never had any intention of making good on their end of the agreement. Financial scams have been rampant lately, since many of the newcomers to our city don't have a background in this sort of thing. We've lost a lot of old regulations that used to protect people from this sort of thing, so we're only now putting things back together the way they should be."

"What's a courtroom?" Katar asked.

Margaret explained what a courtroom was to him, which excited Katar quite a bit. A place where justice could be meted out was something he was pleased with. Perhaps he'd pick up one of those System-jobs after all, once he finally stopped being able to level his class at a decent rate.

Liliana and Katar adventured for another month at the frantic pace that was considered normal by local standards, and eventually Margaret won their case for them. Thanks to the money they'd paid to their balance already, the settlement was more than enough to pay off their remaining debt, freeing them at last.

"We're done! We can finally relax a little! What do you want to do on our first day off in months?" Katar asked Liliana.

"Shopping!" Liliana said excitedly.

They had a bit of leftover money from the settlement even after paying off their debt, so they could afford to buy something nice for themselves. So the two of them went on a shopping trip.

This time, they knew to stay away from the place where they'd lost all their money to the money seller. They ended up finding one of the other local districts, and Liliana was finally able to buy those dresses she'd seen and wanted all those months ago.

"Finally. This dress is sure to drive the Emperor mad with lust. I'm certain once he sees me in this, he'll kidnap me and make me his concubine!" Liliana said.

"I'm glad you're happy. For me, I think I'll stay away from here for a while. Maybe after I save up some gold coins I'll come back and buy some of those amazing switches. But I'm going to do it with gold and avoid any of that weird money selling stuff," Katar replied.

They were just about to leave when the two of them passed through an aisle of local shops selling weapons and armor.

Sitting there on the shelf was a set of some of the finest gear Katar had ever seen. He found himself staring at the set, which reminded him a lot of the armor Doomblade wore. His captain was a warrior he would admire for his entire career, and the opportunity to be just a little bit more like that fearless figure was one he would never pass up.

"Interested in some power armor, young man? This work is some of the city's specialty. It was purchased wholesale from our Shardlord's own private business. It's an older style, but still good. If you've ever wondered why the Shardlord is rich enough to own so many buildings in the city, just look at that price tag," the shopkeeper said.

Katar glanced at the price tag as suggested and grimaced. This set of power armor was way outside his price range. It was even more than the timeshare they'd mistakenly bought on credit.

"I can see in your eyes you want the power armor but can't afford it." The shopkeeper gave Katar a fond pat on the shoulder.

"Yeah... come on, Liliana, let's go." Katar dragged his feet away from the display case.

"Hold on, young man. What if I told you that you could take this power armor home today?" the shopkeeper smiled warmly.

"But I can't afford it," Katar said, confused.

"That's no problem. Come in and let's talk about financing."

And so, Katar and Liliana followed him inside.

<Note>

And so that is part of how Crownhill is continuing to surge to prominence. The new arrivals have little choice but to work their asses off adventuring all day and night because they keep racking up debt.

Carter is oblivious to it, since he's got practically infinite money at this point. But given the amazing gear he is constantly dropping on the market, the only way anybody else was going to be able to afford it was through elaborate financing.

Still, all the debt will probably cause a financial bubble and economic recession at some point, though given the rate Crownhill is growing in population and prominence it's a ways off.

I have an economic collapse scenario for Crownhill much later on, but I'm not sure it'll ever make it into the series.

I think it'll be more of a joke scene. Imagine it:

Carter is returning from adventuring across worlds, fighting A-Grade monsters left and right and gets an emergency message that Crownhill is in crisis. Only Carter can save them. He rushes home to deal with the emergency, but can't find the enemy.

"Who's attacking us? Where's the enemy?" Carter asks.

Some sleazy finance city councilor: "Worse than an attack. The power armor financing bubble just popped! Thousands of investors will lose everything! Emperor, only you are rich enough to save the economy with a bailout!"

I think it'd be funny.