The Sage of Einar

In the Grand Duchy of East Anglia in the port city of Norwich, Nelda's ship was coming into port.

It was then that Anders who was in the bow of the ship looked at Nelda "We will see you again in a few months when you return, I hope you are safe from the Vikings.

If not, remember that in the same way that you will wait for me, I will also wait for you and if you disappear, I will take care of looking for you until the end of the world if necessary. "

Nelda smiled and spent the last moments with Anders without saying a single word because she didn't think it was necessary because she had already said what she felt.

When the ship docked, Anders left together with little Russell and they went to the castle of the noble in charge of the city because they had to start looking for a job.

For her part, Nelda looked at her cook and patted her on the shoulder "Buy slaves in the port, animals, and enough food because we have to travel far north to see Jarl Sven.

We are late and I do not want to arrive after the other merchants, because they do not sell us enough. You very well know that they have a large amount of gold and silver.

Fortunately for us, it is a safe place to trade and there are still few traders who travel with them. "

The cook woman nodded and with two woman guards addressed the port foreman who was busy doing some accounts on a small papyrus.

The capable man who was working was interrupted when a soldier opened the door to his small room.

"Foreman, there are some women who want to pay their fee at the green south dock, I let them in or wait."

The foreman took a deep breath and stroked his nose. "Let them in, they are regular traders and they have the duke's permission to take precedence."

The soldier nodded and left the room. After a while, the door opened and three women entered, so the foreman smiled.

"Anna, what a joy to see you, I thought they had ended badly due to the civil war that is happening in the Frank empire.

Two days ago we received the news about this peculiar event as thousands of refugees are expected to arrive trying to cross the sea to flood the nearby kingdoms.

So maybe there is an increase in the number of slaves and a decrease in the price, maybe they could wait a little longer to buy their merchandise. "

Anna who had heard the foreman's information smiled and from her chest took out a small leather bag with copper coins and a silver coin.

Which she released to the foreman, "Thanks for the information, I'll tell Nelda what you told me."

The foreman opened the bag and when he saw the number of coins he nodded "I'll tell you another thing if they are going to buy grain they should do it now, as I have heard from the duke's ministers.

The price of grain will increase due to possible refugees from the mainland. "

Anna bit her lip because that was quite valuable information, so walking to the foreman's desk, she left four silver coins.

"We will be one month at the moment, but if Nelda wants to wait, we can be another month.

If we are only going to be there for the month, consider the two silver coins as an advance for the next time we arrive. "

The foreman took the coins and on a small papyrus he wrote down some words in Latin to later use a stamp to mark the document.

"Do not lose your permission, you know well that recovering another has an additional cost. Yesterday a stupid franc merchant lost his permission, and I was late at home because of him."

Anna kept the permit in her bag and went out with the women from the port building as they had to go to the market to buy grain.

Because if there was one thing she feared was the increase in grain prices, among all the people of different classes the three women advanced to the market.

Where once they arrived they met their trusted grain seller, who was a bastard son of an earl but due to his situation was able to become a merchant.

"Bruno, what a joy to see you."

Bruno who was checking the inventory of his store was surprised by the voice of the woman, so he turned his head and started laughing with joy.

So he walked over to Anna and gave her a hug, to later greet the other two women.

"I'm glad to see that you have returned from the mainland, but if you are smart, you will not try to go again.

With the ongoing civil war and the threat of the Vikings on the entire continental coast of the Frank empire, it should be a real suicide to go there.

But I don't think you're here to talk about empire politics, tell me how I can help you. "

Anna walked to see some seeds in the display that Bruno had "I would like to buy the same amount of wheat and barley that we bought last time.

Although perhaps we will have to add two more loads because due to the possible increase in prices, it would be bad enough if we were to run out of food.

I would also like to hear about the possible drop in slave prices due to the refugees arriving from the mainland. "

Bruno smiled and went to one of his slaves while ordering him to prepare bags of grain from the warehouse "About grain at the moment you should not worry because the price remains the same as when you left, at least until they start to see more speculators and the price increases.

As for the refugees, they have already started arriving in the kingdoms that are near the English channel, so if I give you my advice you should wait at least 3 weeks before prices start to drop.

Otherwise, you are going to buy expensive and it will take a long time to recover your investment, that is the only advice I can give you as a friend.

By the way, you want the slaves to carry the sacks of grain right now or you want your people to take care of it. "

Anna shook her head "Let them take care of it, by the way, Bruno you have some apples and vegetables because Nelda is possibly pregnant but she needs to have a better diet during the trips."

Bruno was surprised because he knew the character of Nelda but did not say anything because it was something that did not correspond to him.

"I currently have a small number of apples which are pickled, but I can assure you that that way they will last long enough for her not to go hungry.

I also have vegetables and pickled vegetables as fresh. If we are talking about Nelda, I can give you a discount on what she needs it will cost you only three silver coins.

But I can assure you that they will last until the end of the pregnancy, they could even last a little longer.

As for if it works, not only I can tell you that my wife ate pickled vegetables throughout her pregnancy and our children were born without any problem.

Sure, I also added a little meat to balance her diet, but they haven't really given me any problems. "

Anna sighed and handed over a small leather bag that had two gold and three silver coins on it. "That should cover all the costs of the grain, the things Nelda requires, and the supplies to care for the boat."

Bruno put the coins in his bag and gave Anna a smile.

"Very good, since you have bought and you do not seem to be very busy, what do you think if you allow me to buy you and your companions a glass of wine.

A few months ago an Italian merchant arrived and brought with him some delicious wines. As you already know, I just couldn't resist buying some.

But drinking is best enjoyed when we are with friends. "

After saying that, Bruno took out a jug and four glasses to which he placed some wine when he handed them to Anna and her companions.

After this Bruno began to drink from his glass "It tastes quite pleasant to the palate, even my father can rarely drink a wine of this category."

Anna, who was able to enjoy a glass of good wine, agreed with Bruno, as she rarely can afford to drink such a high-quality wine.

When she finished, she handed her glass to Bruno and thanked him for letting her taste an excellent wine.

Upon reaching the ship, Anna went with Nelda to tell her about what had happened and about the purchases she had made.

Nelda then scratched her cheek "You think it is a good option to buy three ships and fill them with slaves so that you can take them north.

The Jarl Sven has gold and silver that is a fact, so we will recover the investment but it is a very important decision and for this, we will have to increase the number of the crew even if it is temporary.

For this, I think it would be better to talk to Bruno because he can recommend trusted people that we could use for our benefit without mentioning that with the three extra boats our profit will be much higher. "

Anna was silent for a few moments and after thinking about the advantages she agreed with what Nelda had said.

"I agree that it would be a great idea but Nelda, no one will enter our main ship and all the new crew will be on all three ships.

We will also have to speak very well with Bruno as we cannot have just any man in our crew, we will not always be able to meet people like Anders. "

Nelda upon hearing that shook her head as a smile formed on her face.