Herald of Steel

Chapter 1387 Re-visiting the Southern District (Part-3)

Looking at the enormous collection of jewelry in front of him, Alexander found it hard to choose just one or two.

There was even a crystal like tiara at one of the tables that he though Alexandria would like- but upon close inspection found it to be only a mock presentation, made of fake glass and cheap jewels.

"My lord, you are here. Hahaha, I was just thinking of visiting your manor! Thousand apologies I was not here to personally receive you. Thousand apologies. I was out a bit with my daughter."

It was while Alexander was viewing the display that this sudden boisterous laughter came behind him, and he turned around to find a large, well built black man giving an immaculate bow.

His name was Morus, and given how well he was dressed in a fine, vibrant purple robe, his identity was left in no doubt. That robe was perhaps as expensive as half the stuff in the whole shop, purple as a dye was that expensive.

This was the richest commoner in Zanzan and he was very different from the image of the stereotypical jewel merchant.

Tall and healthy, he only had a simple gold chain around his neck and two rings on each of his third fingers, one golden ring for decoration, and a silver ring he used to put his business seal on various things.

He appeared very clean with a square, chiseled face and nicely brushed back braided hair.

But perhaps what most stood out about him was his skin color- being quite black.

Clearly, he was not a local.

Which made his current status all the more impressive as people of color were typically looked down upon in Adhania.

Only a very handful like Menes and Gelene were treated honorably.

As for how he got here... well the story was he used to be a pirate, but after making some significant contribution to Pasha Muazz, mostly by harassing and plundering Tibias trade ships, he got a pardon.

Then as a free man, used his ill gotten riches to set up this business here.

Because of this, it was even said the gold and jewels used in all of his jewelry to date were actually all leftovers of his plunder.

A rumor that Alexander only disdainfully scoffed at.

Because never mind how large that stock would have to be for it to be true, even if it was, the first person to wring the poor pirate dry would have been that 'benevolent' Muazz himself.

Thus the far more likely explanation would have been something like the pirate exchanging his loot for gold and silver with the pasha, and then using the man's connections and access to the various small gold and jewel mines in the Cisran Hills to open the jewelry shop.

Also as a side note, Alexander had recently restarted some of those precious mines.

But they were quite limited in scale because although the Cisran hills were rich in resources, they mostly consisted of deposits of iron, limestone, marble, coal, and copper.

And as they did all this, Alexander thought he sensed a subtle tinge of horror run across all their eyes, like they were deathly afraid that they had unknowingly done something to offend him.

'Were we not fast enough in our hospitality? They dreaded.

As a matter of fact, they were not as afraid of incurring Alexander's wrath as they were of their employer's.

Because being a former pirate captain, Morus was certainly not the genial and genteel man he was posing in front of Alexander, and every single one of his employees was well aware of it.

They shivered even just at the thought of angering him, let alone actually doing it.

But also in fairness to the man, which amount of strict discipline was also necessary, as without it, it would have been quite impossible for Morus to get where he was.

He would have been betrayed by his men, have had all his fortunes stolen, and then left in the dirt, if not have his throat outright slit.

Thus he was the only one that remained composed at Alexander's demands, and breaking into a kind smile, first guffawed,

"These men, hehehe... forgive me, my lord, I failed to teach them," then turned to send a very stern look at all of them, "What are you doing just standing? Haven't you heard the lord? Pack it quickly!"

Morus's words were like the spell that magically thawed all of them, with each scrambling to submit the new order, although not everyone did it correctly.

"You imbecile, why are you taking the chair back? Is the lord supposed to stand while we pack? Bring it here! Bring it quickly!" Morus's loud and cantankerous voice sounded like the screeching of a devil to these men, who immediately reversed course and at last managed to present Alexander with his highly ornate, velvety chair, before performing a well trained bow and then scurrying off with an extremely frightened face like they had just seen a ghost.

Now normally these men were trained professionals, and having interacted with many nobles, never acted so clumsily.

But Alexander was really in a league of his own. Each of his steps was said to shake the very foundations of this city.

And he had come very suddenly with one prior warning, catching even Morus himself off guard.

In fact, Alexander was not even aware of the kind of panic that had ensued in the back rooms when he had suddenly entered, and how frantically the managers had sent looking for their boss.

Fortunately, Morus was close.

Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!

Please come Here!

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