June 22, Year 1468 in the year of Glabados
Reis is back in town! Finally, after three months of waiting… She is one of my regular suppliers of the finest scale mail, without which my business would have died away. Plate mail and leather doesn't exactly sell very well in this town, for reasons I don't know why. Maybe it's because the guards like something light and easy to wear, after all there isn't much violence in this town, being the holy capital and all, other than Murond.
Something about her…makes me smile, although I see the cool, even cold and cynical personality within her eyes. Perhaps it was just her breathtaking beauty. Oh, damn, my wife has just struck me for writing that. But I cannot help it, it is simply a fact, the sight of those long sheets of golden blonde, the slim, willowy build, it was nearly angelic in a way. It is unbelievable how looks can deceive us, for when you see her in the forge you shall rub and rub away at your eyes.
She strikes the metal so forcefully that it takes only a few strikes of her hammer to bend the scales of the mail to the required shape, where other ironsmiths would require several beatings and recorrections of the shape. It is…possibly a God-given gift to her that her hands are so dextrous and powerful despite their smooth and silky appearance. People in this town pay well for her work, and that includes me. Often I have to give her up to thirty thousand gil for one chest piece of scale; however that matters not to me as I make a profit of several thousand from that one. Blessed is she, for she provides the money that I require…quite uncomplaining too.
Last month, she was visited by a fine young gentleman by the name of Beowulf Kadmus. I would assume that he would have been visiting for some armour or weapons, of which I am partially correct. He walked out of her rented space in the marketplace with a brand new, gold-trimmed two-handed bastard sword, bless him, the fortunate cadet! I have never seen such fine work anywhere, even from her herself! Furthermore, I swear I have seen him kiss her upon her white hands.
Disturbingly, a fellow, I think it was a priest, was being questioned behind them by some town guards. One had to think quite hard to imagine what the priest could have done to instill anger in one of them; normally they were quite tolerant of all people, especially the clergy of the Church. He appeared to be rather distrustful a fellow; with pointed chin and narrow eyes, all his features exuding evil or chaos. I would not have trusted him with even one gil of mine if he wished to borrow money, let alone letting him into my merchants' guild.
Ah, I certainly hope Reis doesn't wish to have romance any time soon. Even though she is only eleven, her lines of thought and logic are liken to one of those wise sages of old times. Wise, cool, calm, and most of all, understandable. If she is quite as mature as people perceive her to be, sooner or later those two would wed and there goes my source of money; gone in an instant. Alas, I have no right to prevent the two; most I can do is attempt to persuade Reis to resume her work.
Archbishop Draclau had been recently ordained a Cardinal by the High Priest of Glabados; what a grand procession there was. Rose petals were strewn all over the cobblestone of the market square, the new cardinal walking over them with a choir following behind announcing his ordainment. Grand and attention-seeking, as usual, that's Draclau…
Ah, my new shipment of weapons. Let's see…fifteen two-handed broadswords, of which three are of Reis' work, a hundred halberds and lances, and…bless me! Is that an adamantine platemail? I have never seen one of these for years! And studded with diamonds…and is that Reis' signature at the bottom? The tiny dragon beneath a larger cross? Ah, yes, I must pay her half a million gil, there's a bill attached to this. Hah, I wouldn't care if I gave her three million for this piece of art…this would sell to Draclau for at least ten million. She's a gold mine, she is.
With the economy of Ivalice strained to breaking limit under the war, I am beginning to see a change in people's spending patterns. Many are purchasing armour, and fine light weapons if necessary, aiming for effectiveness rather than style or looks. I have seen some shoddily made pieces by other ironsmiths, who, in their attempt to reduce costs of iron, have created them so thinly and quickly that when held under light pressure, they shatter. This is unacceptable. Soon I will have to get all my work from Reis, if she can handle it, for she is the only honest smith for miles around.
Warjilis had been under naval siege by the Nanten, to be defeated by the Hokuten in a climactic battle out in the sea. Many youths are attempting to salvage the wrecks, risking life and limb to extract as much gil and as many weapons or armour pieces as they can carry. I would prefer them not to go…I miss my boy, Clarence, who had attempted that dangerous trip…he never returned alive.
To a better world,
Merchant Lawrence