This also set a precedent for future workers, but Remian was fine with that. Frontier Town was severely underpopulated at the moment.

Before the dust could settle, however, there was yet another surprise on the airs.h.i.+p. This was the last pa.s.senger who got off the s.h.i.+p, a man dressed like one of the sepeople in a colorful short sleeve s.h.i.+rt sporting pictures of tropical fruit and khaki cargo shorts…

"Kekoa! Who has seen Kekoa? Has anyone seen my brother?" the Sea Nation person went around asking everyone, showing them a picture.

Remian frowned. He recognized that picture. That was the Sea Nation guy who didn't quite make it here.

"Have you seen Kekoa?!" this new Sea Nation person asked, shoving the picture at him.

"Uh…" Remian trailed off, not sure how to tell him his brother had died of spicy food.

"Have you seen Kekoa?" the new guy asked Taj and Aren.

"Who?" came the general response.

"What about Markus? Or Kairos? Have you seen them?"

"I have seen Markus. I have seen Kairos." Taj answered solemnly.

Aren just pointed. "That is Markus. Kairos is building the church."

"Markus!!" the new guy pounced. "Where is Kekoa? KEKOA!!"

"Wha…" Markus was completely baffled as this newcomer all but bowled him over. He was a tough, well-built warrior, but this new fellow was twice his size and thrice his girth, so… "He died already, okay? He didn't make it over the desert!"

"The desert…! Kekoa!" the new guy fell to his knees and wailed. "My brave brother! Sea people shouldn't be in the desert!!"

"I actually agree with that." Charlie said solemnly.

"How?" the guy suddenly turned on Markus again. "How did he die? Fighting giant scorpions? Eaten by a ravenous hundred-foot Sand Wyrm? Was it a terrible sandstorm?!"

Markus coughed. "Uh… I think he ate something that he couldn't bear."

The new guy froze. "He… he was poisoned?!"

"No, I don't think so. It was authentic sand people goat stew. I ate the same thing myself. It's just… spicy. Very spicy."

The new guy stared at him blankly. "Huh."

He sat down very suddenly and just stared into empty s.p.a.ce as people around him hurried and flurried and cleared the platform. Crates were unloaded. Crates were unloaded. People left and before long the platform was emptied. Charlie and Remian were among the few still remaining on the otherwise emptied platform.

At last, the man said to the floor, "Oh, brother… Mother always did say that the way you eat would be the death of you someday…"

Remian didn't know whether it was okay to laugh.

***

His name was Kaleo. He was the elder brother of Kekoa. His family were traders, and his brother had traveled far and wide looking for better markets, better trade routes…

"I'm so sorry." Remian said as they left the airport together. "There really isn't much here to trade. Besides, getting goods to and from here is difficult enough as it is."

"Not really." Kaleo said briefly. "Have you ever seen the other side of the river? The sea is the sea forever, and it is not that far away from here. A good bridge, a nice road… and you could get to the coast and s.h.i.+p your ores across the world at a much lower cost than airs.h.i.+ps."

"Just like that, huh?" Remian folded his arms.

Charlie cut in. "No. There are pirates. There are monsters in the depths. There are storms. The time you will take is much longer, and the markets you can seek over the seas are poorer. It could take a year before you even see your s.h.i.+p again."

"True. But it would be cheap." He tried to grin, but his smile slipped lopsidedly.

"Maybe one day, if we ever need to move super-high volumes of heavy materials." Remian shook his head. "Right now, the only water transport we need are river boats, to s.h.i.+p cargo up and down river… and even that is far, far too dangerous out here."

"Why?" Keloa asked, puzzled.

"It is because the Wilds in the water are generally bigger than the ones on land." Remian explained. "It seems that Tier 4 Wilds are common in this very river. Fis.h.i.+ng from a cliff is one thing. Sailing or swimming… not even Buff dares to swim in the river for long."

Especially since the local bully around this bend of the river was Cracked Tooth, a very nasty Tier 4 heavy known as a Tyrant Crocodile. Carrie mentioned that he was one of the closest Wilds in Shadowflash's territory to reaching Tier 5 and challenging Shadowflash for the lords.h.i.+p of this region. The entire river up to the Deepsilver lake was in terror of him. Everyone going to the river had to be warned; if you see a giant log sunbathing in the water, do not, DO NOT approach!

Actually, if you saw any log in the water, it was best to steer clear. Cracked Tooth wasn't the only crocodile-type Wild in the river, just the biggest. He had quite a lot of kids and none of them were friendly to humans. His three sons alone were already in the lower levels of Tier 4. If Cracked Tooth was at Tier 4.9, they would easily be around Tier 4.5 at least. All three of them were bigger, fiercer and tougher than Buff and Carrie put together.

"There's nothing more here for me, then…" Keloa said, shaking his head.

"Well, maybe there is something." Charlie paused. "Just how many markets have you and your brother scoped out?

That started a very, very long conversation indeed.

***

The conversation went on until the next day. By sunrise, Keloa had become their third partner.

His buy-in was a 30% share in the airs.h.i.+p trading fleet, starting with the Roving Albatross. Six million Lir would be transferred from his family's account. With this, Remian's share would shrink back to 20% while Charlie retained the majority at 50%. This would effectively halve Remian's debt and take a huge bite out of the loans Charlie took from the banks.

On top of that, he was throwing in another two million Lir in cash for trading funds. He and Charlie were going to make a tour of the kingdoms around the Midlands Sea and verify his information. Once they confirmed prices all around and set up some trade routes, the s.h.i.+pping business could begin in earnest.

One of the products they were most concerned with would be Fire Copper. Smelted bars were supposed to be priced around 60 Lir per (one kilogram) bar at Fal'Herim. Ashdale had them roughly around 80 Lir per kilogram. Prices at Ecclesia or Ceres would likely overshoot 100 Lir per kg. It was like that for fire-elemental materials. They were most commonly found around the desert or volcanic areas, so Fal'Herim actually held the record for the cheapest Fire Copper ever sold.

Oddly enough for a place thick with water-element, Kaleo's home island had them at 90 Lir per kg, lower than Ecclesia or Ceres. Apparently there was a volcanic island farther out, so Fire Copper would sometimes be found by divers who braved the waters near it.

As for the place with the best prices… probably the Frozen North? But the travel distance was farther than Charlie was willing to go. He wanted to operate around Ashdale; the Frontier was as far as he went.

Kaleo didn't seem to mind very much. He highly approved of the safety and security of the air routes around these parts. As for more profitable, more dangerous routes… there were other fleets for that.

At that point, Remian began to wonder just how wealthy this Kaleo, or rather, his family, was.

"We're comfortable." He said, with a shrug, making Remian feel like he was definitely downplaying his family's wealth. "s.h.i.+pping has always been a profitable business and prices usually vary nicely from island to island. Trading between the islands of the Sea Nations is quite generous, if limited in volume. So long as you know the routes, you play it safe and play it small, you'll never make a loss. But like I said, the volume is small, so while it's good and stable income in the long run, there won't ever be a large quick payday. My family has been at it for twelve generations now, so we've acc.u.mulated quite a bit of wealth. We believe it's time we looked at bigger markets, and larger volumes of trade. That is why my cousins, siblings and I have all spread out across the world looking at other markets."

"What family is that, by the way? I never did get your surname." Charlie mentioned.

"Kiki." Kaleo said shortly.

Charlie choked, trying very hard to hold in a sudden burst of laughter.

"Yeah. It's not something I like to announce everywhere." Kaleo cleared his throat.

So Kaleo bought a share in Charlie's trading fleet as a third partner… but he did not buy any share in the mines or Remian's fleet of transport barges and gunboats.

He made no investments in the Frontier at all.