Chapter 19 (Part 2): The Target and The Pitch

On the twenty-second day, Amutenya’s target finally arrived. 

A massive Uukwaluudhi caravan marched east through the scrubland, cutting a heavy, exhausted path toward the Ondonga borders. There were thirty men, their bodies slick with sweat, weighed down by the brutal heat and the sheer physical toll of their cargo. They were dragging heavy wooden sleds loaded with iron ore, carved ivory tusks, and leather pouches filled with premium ostrich eggshell beads, the exact currency Amutenya needed. They had clearly had a successful hunt, dragging about 50 massive eland and kudu carcasses and even about 9 well skinned wildebeest, but the heavy, sweet stench of early rot was already clinging to the air. 

At the head of the caravan walked a lanky well build man they called, Hiyalwa. 

He was not a mere guard captain; he was a highborn noble son of one of the Uukwaluudhi's most powerful houses. His family’s prestige was currently hanging in the balance of a vicious royal succession crisis back home. His sister was a favored wife in the King's harem, and Hiyalwa had been entrusted with leading this vital tributary caravan to secure his family’s political standing. If he succeeded in bringing back enough salt to save the kingdom's meat reserves, his nephew would gain the public and royal backing needed to become the undisputed heir apparent. 

Amutenya intercepted them at a dried riverbed. He didn't hide in the brush this time. He stood dead center in the path, backed by Shaningwa's massive frame, his pristine iron weapons, and a visibly well-fed, heavily armed party. 

Hiyalwa signaled his men to halt. He sneered at Amutenya's small numbers, but his eyes darted to the terrifying calm in the group's stance. The rumors of the lethal "ghost party" in the eastern grid had reached him. 

"Step aside, hunter," Hiyalwa demanded, his hand resting on the hilt of a bone-crushing club. "We are bound for the Ondonga territory, You can not bear the cost of causing our delay. If you have any idea of what's good for you, you will get lost immediately."

"We mean no harm, i just saw that your party has hunted such great game and wanted to ask for hunting tips while helping you solve your rot problem, but since we are not welcome, i guess we'll just have to find someone else to discuss with." Amutenya said, his face forming into the perfect image of a naive farmer, who is clueless about anything.

The head royal guard have them a contemptuous snort, planning to shove Amutenya out of his way, when the ever cautious Hiyalwa raised a hand to stop him. "Oh? Do you have access to a salt pan out here in the hunting grounds, boy?" He asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at the young man who was trying to act harmless even though his eyes clearly revealed a shrewd glint of ruthless cunning.

"Ah! Salt? Out here? No way, no way. It'd just that our group accidentally created two new ways to preserve meat, and I saw your meat was about to rot so we wanted to help you, but it's okay... I understand that you don't need it, we will be going now." Amutenya said, he even made an effort to grab Shivute’s arm and pretend to take a few steps back as if he was truly walking away.

"Wait! You boy, don't be impatient, tell me what ways do you have to preserve food ? Do they truly not require salt? Is it just drying the meat to remove moisture?" Hiyalwa reached his hand to hold Amutenya’s wrist. Actually with his years of strategic diplomatic experience, how can he not know that he was being targeted by this young man full of shrewdness? He knew!, ofcourse he knew! But the battle for heir apparent was so fierce back home, how could he care about dignity in the face of life changing opportunities? So even if he knew he was being led by the nose, he had no choice but to follow.

" uhm.. this man, you're quite passionate, actually, those methods are better than using salt of drying the meat, after all dried meat loses flavour when you try to recook it and it relies too much on luck, let me show you our preserved meat. Meme Kauna show him." He said, stepping aside for Meme Kauna to take a leaf wrapped pemmican sealed meat slab from her basket.

She opened it, revealing slabs of dark red meat, perfectly preserved, smelling only of woodsmoke and dried berries. No maggots. No rot. 

Hiyalwa’s eyes narrowed, his gaze locked on the delicious smelling slab of meat. "You made this? Are the ingredients used rare?"

"Not rare at all, these are just common berries found everywhere...but... never mind, let's not slow your journey, we really shouldn't bore you with this type of small talk." He said, pretending to be generous. Hiyalwa almost rolled his eyes at this cunning young wolf. He clearly wants to drive him into a desperate place so he can lose his senses, he has no misconception that if he was to lose all reason right now, this young men will fleece him of all his belongings, he might even end up sold without knowing it. Just the way the young man's eyes light up when looking at him like he is some fat sheep already filled his back with cold sweat. 

"Young men, I won't lie you you. We were already planning on going to the Ondonga kingdom to trade all this tribute for access to their salt pans so we can preserve our stock for the dry season. Since you clearly have a better way, tell me how you want to trade." Hiyalwa demanded, his tone setting into his formal diplomatic tone of addressing an equal. 

His serious tone made the slight smile on Amutenya’s face falter slightly, he coughed slightly to mask the flaw, before he too got serious. It's not that he enjoys playing weak *cough, cough* he truly didn't do a character assessment of his potential client so he was testing the waters to see if this man is worth risking their exposure to trade with.

Amutenya stopped forward slightly, his voice carrying the intoxicating promise of power. 

"The Ondonga Kings monopoly over the largest salt pans is not something, I, a lowly farmer is worthy of commenting on. I only know this. He uses his massive pans to hold all the kingdoms hostage. He waits for the sun to rot your supplies so you will eagerly hand over your iron and your ivory just for the privilege of scraping a few handfuls of white dirt from his lowest-quality pans. He is taxing your survival."

Hiyalwa’s jaw tightened. It was an open secret, a royal humiliation every kingdom was forced to swallow to survive the drought.

"I am offering you a new method," Amutenya pitched. "I will teach your women the formula to preserve meat for months using only what the brush provides, mopane ash and rendered fat. You will never need to beg the Ondonga to lease their pans again. You can use your own kingdom's salt strictly for yourselves. I have no interest in hoarding this secrets and turning into the second Ondonga King, nor do I have the power to do so."

Hiyalwa was a brilliant political operator, and his mind raced as he stared at the young men just a few years younger than him who stood before him, and dared to say such a bold statement about the most powerful king in the north. If this works... The iron and ivory on the sleds behind him were already a written expense, they were meant to be lost to the Ondonga today anyway. But if he bought this formula instead? He wouldn't just be saving his current meat supply. He would be acquiring a geopolitical super-weapon. 

If his family held the exclusive secret to breaking the Ondonga salt monopoly over his kingdom, their wealth and public popularity would skyrocket. The throne would essentially belong to his nephew. To make an enemy of a man who could disrupt the entire economic power scale of the kingdoms over goods that were already meant to be spent was a fool's errand. 

"And what is the price for these... methods?" Hiyalwa asked, his voice tight with calculated greed. Even if this young man asked for five times the amount of their current tribute, he will have to grit his teeth and scrape up his entire family’s wealth to trade for it.

"Half," Amutenya said coldly. "Give us half the tribute you were going to surrender to the Ondonga. You return to your King with the other half of your wealth, a mountain of fresh meat, and the secret to breaking the Ondonga monopoly forever. You will be a hero to your people." Was it because Amutenya was a saint or he didn't understand these formulas true value that he quoted such a ridiculously low price? No! He knew the value, but he unfortunately does not have the means or power to protect such wealth, even if it was handed to him, he wouldn't have the guts to accept it. After all the deadliest sin is for a weak man to possess wealth, if he dares to take it, he will be dead by the end of day with no one to complain to.

Hiyalwa looked at the perfectly preserved meat, then back at the heavy sleds of tribute his men were dragging, and finally at this smart young man. The greed, and the realization of what this meant for his own political prestige within the Uukwaluudhi court, caused his heart rate to speedup. 

"Done," Hiyalwa said.