Chapter III - Plans, Plans, and more Action
Trost was comparatively smaller than Shiganshina, not by much, but it was noticeable. But in the end it was still much larger than the Liberio Internment camp so I can safely say that it was rather pleasant. The only thing I found I disliked what maybe the lack of electricity and books, but hey, can't put much on those two when you're quite literally fighting to survive.
Yeah, Trost sucks, and it's not much better than Liberio as in the MP's are just as cruel. Damn bastards will withhold your rations if you're not careful with how you speak to them and if you try to get double rations?
Let's just say I've seen a few people disappear.
Sighing, I took a bite out of the hardtack they served us and turned back to my diary. I wrote in English, as from what I can tell, nobody used latin script. Marley and Eldia use what is pretty much a pseudo runic script. As I can tell "Europe" as I know it to be is inhabited by the Oguro people, which were pretty much Africans as far as I can tell and from what I read back in Liberio they use something more closely related to Ancient Egyptian if anything. Asia and the Mid-East use a Chinese script while the "Americas" seem to have not been found yet surprisingly. Troublesome as it is. For all I know they may not even exist.
So I wrote in my diary expecting nobody to be able to know what I know. It's rather fool proof in the end. And from what I can tell, my memory is messed up.
I can recall some elements, Eren held the titan I now hold. The Rumbling, Ymir… but others I cannot recall. That being the Identity of the Warriors, the true royal family. Mostly it's all just… faces. I cannot recall their face or their names, just that they exist and are a danger to me and Paradis. Really in the end it was head scratching, troublesome to an extreme.
Sighing I finished off my hardtack and put my diary away, I noticed someone stirring in the small stable "Room" I had been staying in. Sighing I looked over at the Old Man, my ticket to the first part of my plan.
"Here, I already went out and got our rations. Eat up ya old fart." I said as He sighed. "Darn kids these days and their disrespect. I'm only 48! Ah, whatever. Thank you Wilhelm." he said, nabbing his rations with a polite thanks. He was old, and used to be a blacksmith in Shiganshina. His wife and daughter were killed in the fall of Shiganshina and luckily his son had been away training to join the military, otherwise his entire family would be dead.
Konrad Rukke is my key to the first part of Operation Geneva. His expertise in business and metal work was a rare quality. Since I've gotten here I've heard him haggle harder than anyone else and actually get fair prices on food and cloths, even despite the civilians of Trost' inherent dislike of refugees. Which brings me to my plan to save Eldia, one of the first ways of saving Eldia is two fold. Production of raw materials and Production of Agricultural products. I.E. We need Bread and Steel to survive the future, and the only way to do that is by good old fashion uplift, however I am still a child and not afforded the same rights as an adult, at least until I turn 16. So in my stead Konrad will run this show, especially once I join the military.
The only problem is we're both broke. So we need to get our hands on the most important of all things. Money. Which in of itself was a problem.
You see, here on Paradis it appears that Banking isn't something that exists, at least the modern concept of it. If one wishes to get the currency in Eldia, known as the ßrabe (₴), one must go to the Trade Guilds to get a loan.
Even then we'll need land and manpower to follow my own plan, something I've already planned for. A nice plot of land just outside of Trost was on sale, around 15 Acres total. It was being sold for around 1,000 ßrabe, and would make for the perfect area.
Not only that, but just east of the land was the town of Brandenburg, which holds an old Iron mine. The current owners of said mine, the Marleen company, would gladly sell the mine to us for around 9,000 ßrabe, as it only holds pig iron, something not quite profitable as it cannot be made into the typical steel of Eldia, the Ultrahart Steel.
Mostly Ultrahart Steel is used by the government in use for the typical ODM gear, as it is both lightweight and hard, however it is hard to make and can only be made with high quality iron, which is only found in the lands of Stohess and Frankheim.
Even then normal steel is expensive, not only through production but because it isn't commonly used. Back in my first life it was common to use steel in buildings, being used to make towers that reached the sky. Now however? Even back in Marley the tallest building was only around five stories tall.
So what happens when Steel becomes common? Well, advancement truly. Andrew Carnegie used his steel to catapult America onto the world stage, and so shall I, even if it must be through the shadows.
"Oi! Old man! Let's go, we gotta go see the Preußisen Guild! We got that appointment coming up!" I said, as Konrad roused from his food. "Ah? That was today? Oh well, I'm ready if you are Wilhelm." He said, getting up from his seat.
It's going to suck, getting a loan is super hard, far from easy!
It was very easy.
"All right then, all we need you to do is sign here to join the Guild, here to receive the loan, and here to sign your business, the Rukke Steel Werke, up to join the Guild." He said, having Konrad sign the business to the guild.
With the stroke of a quill, Rukke Steel was bound to the Preußisen Guild. With that came the windfall of around 25,000 with the promise to repay 27,500 within five years.
It was plenty enough money to build around four Bessemer Furnaces, purchase that plot of land for the Werke, and buy the pig iron mine from the Marleen company.
"All right then, that should be all the paperwork that we need, I will be running this down to the Guild hall. If you don't have any more questions gentlemen then I'll be on my way." the guild worker said, as we both shook our heads. With that the guildsman gave Konrad the bag filled with around 100 höher ßrabe, the rest already being moved into the Guild Vault, where all of the companies apart of the Guild held their monies.
It's worth making mention that ßrabe is separated off into three distinct types. The Geringer, worth 1 ß Höher ßrabe, worth 100 ßrabe and the Spitze ßrabe, worth 1000 ßrabe.
"Alrighty then, Wilhelm, I'm off to go meet the Marleen Representative down on Gulich Street, you need anything?" He asked as I shook my head no.
"I'm going to go off and get us some food, I'll see you back at the camp!" I said, sticking my hand in my pocket and pulling out some of the cash I myself had earned. It wasn't much, but it would be enough to get us a few vegetables for a soup.
"Alright then, Meet back at our tent by seven?" He asked as I nodded, before making my leave. It took me no time at all to find myself in the market district, right on Ferneil Street. The place here was lively, with all sorts of farmers selling their produce. Of course meat venders were rare, and those that were here were selling their produce for way too much.
"A quarter Höher for two duck breasts?! That's a robbery!" I said, as the vender shook his head. "Listen kid, the Meat Tax is brutal, I gotta pay 30 ßrabe for each sale, you gotta understand kid, I've gotta make ends meet!" He said, as I shook my head. "I'll buy it from you for 50!" I said as he shook his head. "200." He said as I shook my head. "I'm not going to play this game with you, keep your damned bird, stingy fuck." I said, as I turned and walked off. It cost 3 ßrabe to buy a loaf of bread, but he wants to sell just two duck breasts for 250₴!? That's too damn much!
Sighing I stop by and bought some carrots, tomatoes and celery from one vender, though he didn't have some of the other ingredients I wanted for the soup we're cooking tonight, so I continued down the street, checking out different merchants and their goods.
"H-Hey! That's mine!" I heard from my left as I saw a peculiar sight.
A gaggle of kids had gathered in one of the alley ways, gathered and fighting over bread and vegetables from the look of it. I couldn't get too much of a view of them, but a few of them definitely looked on the skinny side.
My brain kept telling me no, but my too kind heart kept telling me yes.
"Hey! Stop your bicker ya damned animals!" I said, stopping two of the boys, one blonde and the other black haired boy from fighting. They were toppled over one another, fighting over a small bundle of potatoes.
I looked at the two groups and started to get giddy. The two groups were rather familiar, the first one more than the last. A small blonde boy, a silent asian girl with a scarf AND a black haired brat? It's all too familiar a trope.
This was Eren, Armin and Mikasa.
The other group was somewhat familiar, four instead of three their faces were familiar, but their names and what happened to them weren't. For the life of me they seem familiar, so I guess they were just some of the characters that died in Trost? I'll make sure to do my best to save them, regardless of who they were.
"It's his fault! He tried grabbing my Potatoes!" Eren said as the other started to growl. "No I didn't! You're lying! You just reered over and punched me without a thought!" the blonde said as I sighed.
"Nuh-uh! You're trying to steal from us! I oughta-" Eren started revving himself up once more, and to avoid the fight beginning again, I was forced to intervene.
"QUITE!" I said, as the two groups looked towards me. "There isn't a use in fighting over this, food's hard to get your hands on, I know, so how about this? Y'all come with me and we'll go and cook up a big batch of soup, I and the other guy I'm living with will be cooking some vegetable soup tonight, so how about you all come down and get some hot soup? Help me prepare it?" I asked as they all nodded.
"I ahh… I'm sorry for my friend, My name's Marcel, Marcel Galliard, and this troublemaker is Reiner Braun. Behind me is Bertholdt Hoover and Annie Leonhardt. We ah… came from a village in between Trost and Krolva, and had to evacuate to Trost after the Titans showed up suddenly." He said as I nodded.
"Engridshaven?" I asked, as he hesitantly nodded. I had researched a map of the Walls and that was the only major village in that particular region.
"A-Ah! And I'm Armin Arlert! This is Eren Yeager, and she's Mikasa Ackerman! We came from Shiganshina District!" Armin said as I nodded. Looking at the group I nodded, waving for them to follow me. Hesitantly, the two groups followed, as I grinned. Time to get things rolling!