Chapter 729 — The Young Man from the North

It was snowing.

Pipe clamped between his teeth, Codd stood behind the broad floor-to-ceiling window of his office, gazing absently at the snowflakes drifting down outside and at the factory buildings of the works, faintly blurred amid the swirling white.

In this northern land, the first snowfall always came early; often, even before winter had formally arrived, an early snow would pay its visit ahead of time.

In the past—and the past was not so very long ago—a snow that came too early was usually regarded as a bad beginning, and was even bound up with death.

An early drop in temperature meant the early end of outdoor work, made it hard to store fuel, and forced common folk to fight a longer winter with limited food and fuel. For the poor, who had to reckon every stick of firewood and every loaf of bread to the last coin, one more day of winter often meant the difference between life and death.

So people even had a name for this kind of premature snow: the White Death.

But that was the past—at least in most parts of the Southern Region. In Codd's eyes, the scene of the first snow was gradually covering over the impression of the "White Death" in his mind. The scenery was not bad.

He only hoped this snow would not spread too far, above all not over the Holy Spirit Plain... after all, there were still many parts of this country that could not withstand the fury of the White Death.

Codd bit down on his pipe; a faint red glow flickered within the bowl, rich smoke slowly unfurled, and his thoughts drifted apart of their own accord along with the spreading smoke.

Wind drove the snowflakes against the great panes of crystal glass. This limpid, translucent material had always been associated with expense and scarcity in the past, and pieces of such size were seldom produced—the craft of making cheap, large white crystal had long been monopolized by the Typhon Empire, and the difficulties of transport, together with the Typhon side's deliberate blockade, meant that the standard window panes of every sort of building in the Ansu era had never exceeded half a meter. It was not until a year ago that Cecil's alchemy works finally cracked the secret of the Typhon method for making cheap white crystal, and large panes of crystal glass began to appear on all manner of buildings across the Southern Region.

With the arrival of large crystal panes, and with the new architectural style brought by the great Emperor Gao Yang Cecil, the "floor-to-ceiling window," a wholly new architectural element, had only this year begun to come into fashion.

As for how the technicians of the alchemy works had broken the Typhon technique with neither samples nor documents... of that Codd, a merchant, knew nothing.

This rare moment of leisure did not last long. A rhythmic knock at the door broke into Codd's wandering thoughts, and he heard his eldest son Parr's voice behind him: "Father, someone is here to see you."

The great merchant turned his head. "A representative of the Marlin Trading Company?"

On a snowy day like this, they had come rather early.

But the young man at the door shook his head. "No—a young man from the north. He says his name is Film, that he has something very important to show you, and that you will certainly be interested."

"A young man from the north?" Codd blinked in surprise. "Traveling a long way in this freezing weather is no easy thing. Perhaps he came south on the 'Highlander' to try his luck..."

The great merchant muttered to himself, a good deal moved in his heart.

Strangers coming to call on him was no surprise. As the owner of Codd Household Know-How, a firm of growing renown, and as the leader of the Kalor region's merchants' association, he had a constant stream of visitors, and among them were never lacking brave young men full of dreams. His Majesty Gao Yang's new order seemed to have brought a vitality to the whole land; among the vast crowds it was always the young who were most courageous, carrying their novel ideas and seeking every sort of opportunity across this swiftly changing land—and at Codd's, there was opportunity beyond doubt.

But most of the time, brave young men were only brave. They lacked knowledge and experience, so many of the ingenious notions they held could not in fact be put to use. Even so, Codd would still receive these young people as far as he could. From the standpoint of a merchant's interests, Codd Household Know-How had to cultivate the image of a firm that embraced innovation and drew talent—only so could gifted people continue to be recruited. And from the standpoint of personal feeling, those who clutched novel ideas and dared to challenge the odds always made Codd think of himself: of his own reckless first venture in trade when he was young, and of the passion for challenge that had been rekindled in him over the past two years.

He simply had not expected that a stranger from the north would also come knocking... That young man must have made careful inquiries after arriving here.

The partner he had scheduled to discuss business with had not yet arrived; there was no harm in seeing the young man.

"Let him in," Codd nodded. "Tell him in advance—he has twenty minutes."

"Yes, Father."

His eldest son Parr withdrew from the room, and a moment later a golden-haired young man in a blue coat appeared before Codd.

By force of habit, Codd first took in the young man's dress and bearing.

A fairly respectable coat of woolen cloth, worn-looking already but clean and neat and well cared for; a gentle, courteous smile, with an air of habitual modesty, not the least trace of a superior manner or of aristocratic refinement.

He should be a townsman of middling or better family, well brought up; perhaps he had once served a noble, or perhaps his occupation required him to deal often with those above his station. His means had plainly been enough to afford a ticket on the Highlander—a ticket for the middle cabin.

"Good day to you, sir. I am very glad to meet you, Mr. Codd," the young man said with a smile, a flicker of excitement showing on his face. "I come from Barron. You may call me Film..."

"And I am glad to meet you too, Mr. Film. Please close the door," Codd nodded, gesturing with his chin toward the chair reserved for guests. "Make yourself at home."

Film hastily shut the door and then seated himself in the tall-backed chair with its soft cushion. He heard the famous great merchant ask: "Mr. Film, I know little of the north. And Barron is..."

"Oh, it is a town near Saint Sunil—not very well known," Film said, keeping his smile. Having been taught by his father since childhood and having seen something of the world in the old royal capital, he well understood the importance of keeping a smile; yet he was young after all, and so his nervous excitement—