Chapter 38: Only What a Packhorse Can Carry
Reporting the highway conversation didn’t make Rue increase charcoal production the next day.
Someone wanted more, but that didn’t tell us how much to make or transport. The man I met wasn’t even necessarily the buyer.
“We’ll ask Heinz next time,” the chief said. “Ask a merchant about trade.”
Heinz arrived soon afterward with one loaded packhorse.
“Val.”
“…Heinz.”
“Good. You still remember my name.”
It was easier to say than before.
As Heinz unloaded, the chief stopped him.
“I want to ask about charcoal.”
“Before shopping?”
“Someone on the highway said people want more.”
Heinz looked at me.
“You flew all the way to the highway?”
“…Yes.”
“Your range is growing.”
The chief returned to the question.
“If we increase production, will it sell?”
Heinz unloaded a sack before answering.
“I think so.”
“Think?”
“A merchant who promises certainty is a swindler.”
“That sounds convincing coming from you.”
“That wasn’t praise, was it?”
Heinz continued. The charcoal he had taken before had sold, and sometimes there wasn’t enough for every interested buyer.
“Then we can increase it,” a villager said.
“Production, perhaps. Transportation is different.”
Heinz pointed to his horse. He had brought salt, grain, and other goods. On the return journey, charcoal could occupy the emptied space.
“Carry only charcoal and you could take more,” the chief said.
“On the return trip, yes.”
“Then do that.”
“You want me to climb the mountain with an empty horse? I lose the profit from incoming goods, while the horse and I still need food. Whether it’s worth doing for charcoal alone depends on the quantity.”
Goods could sell and still cost time and money to transport.
Heinz selected several charcoal bundles.
“The horse can take about this much today.”
“What about the rest?”
“I could load more, but I won’t overburden it.”
“It looks as if more would fit.”
“Fitting and descending safely are different. A slip on the downhill road costs more than the charcoal.”
I remembered the narrow, stony route.
Dario suggested another horse.
“If I can add one, I will. But two horses need twice the food and care, and passing on narrow sections becomes harder.”
Increasing one thing didn’t solve everything.
Some charcoal remained.
“…Will remain?” I asked.
“Today,” Heinz said. “Another merchant may buy it, or the village can use it. It won’t rot.”
It wasn’t necessarily waste, but making more didn’t mean everything could leave the village.
◇
Rue had limits too.
“If another person works on charcoal, another job loses that person,” Mark said, lifting a bundle.
“We need wood,” said the chief.
“We can’t turn the village’s firewood into charcoal.”
Even when the spontaneous market formed, Rue hadn’t sold what it needed for itself.
Heinz counted on his fingers.
“Production is limited. Transportation is limited. You can’t decide merely because more might sell.”
“You’re a merchant, yet everything you say discourages sales.”
“Forcing an increase until they can’t produce next time is worse.”
“I’ll trust you on that.”
“Only that?”
“For now.”
Charcoal brought goods and money into Rue, but trees had to be cut, people had to work, and packhorses had to carry it. Increasing one part was useless if the others couldn’t keep up.
I remembered the carts.
“…Cart.”
“A cart can reach the highway,” the chief said, “but not here.”
Heinz nodded. “The problem is the climb after the highway.”
Dario asked again about widening the road.
“Not decided,” the chief replied. “It needs people and the manor’s approval.”
“There is another method,” Heinz said. “Carry charcoal down by packhorse, then transfer it to a cart at the highway. Incoming cargo could transfer the other way.”
“Who provides the horses?”
“That’s the problem.”
A storage place would also be needed. Someone would have to guard it. Rain could damage charcoal. Coordinating arrival times would be difficult.
“Nothing but problems,” the chief said.
“I said there was a method, not that it was simple.”
They couldn’t build a storehouse beside the highway without permission either.
Still, the choices remained: widen the road, increase packhorses, or transfer cargo at the highway.
First, the chief decided, Rue would see how much extra charcoal it could produce without damaging existing work.
“Don’t produce more than can sell,” Heinz warned.
“You said buyers exist.”
“They do, but demand has limits.”
“Trade is troublesome.”
“That’s why it’s trade.”
◇
When Heinz left, some prepared charcoal remained behind.
“Next time, I’ll report what the market is doing,” he said.
“Don’t collect impossible orders,” the chief replied.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“You have no faith in me.”
“You’re a merchant.”
“That’s insulting to every merchant.”
I watched the horse depart with charcoal on both sides. It looked capable of carrying more, yet Heinz had chosen not to add it.
Lina came beside me.
“Some got left.”
“…Yes.”
“Will it sell next time?”
“…Don’t know.”
That was the truth.
The leftover charcoal connected to what I had seen on the highway. It was a problem invisible when we considered only how much Rue could make.
The road hadn’t changed since yesterday.
What had changed was how narrow it now appeared.