While the mechanical hawks taking off from the three regions of the Mercenaries' Lodge advanced at the highest speed possible, the lands below them passed by like a film strip. The speeds these communication vehicles could reach were no joke; be it the friction-resistant materials, be it the resources spent for the necessary energy, they were not things to be used at every moment.
After covering the distance that would take months on foot in a short time like almost a day, they first slowed down when they were about to reach their destination, and then they started to plummet as if the fatigue of the whole journey had descended upon them.
Descending towards the roof of the four towers illuminating the transparent energy shield surrounding the city, which rested its back against the shore with a height of hundreds of meters from the sea, with their glitters, the four mechanical hawks entered through the tiny holes between the roof tiles.
Practically diving into the towers matching the symbols engraved on their bodies, the mechanical devices opened almost simultaneously, and the recorded messages continued on their way accompanied by a group of soldiers to be delivered to their owners.
The armors and transport-purpose mechanical devices of the unit coming out of the gold-colored tower also shone in a golden color. Beside them were soldiers belonging to the other major merchant guilds carrying the glitters of diamond, turquoise, and emerald stones. They were practically in a race; as they approached, a flurry of activity began on the bastions of the city whose walls reached up to the skies.
Hundreds of energy weapons were aimed at the four mechanical vehicles, but despite this, they didn't lose the slightest bit of their speed, and a few seconds later the weapons were turned back to their previous positions. A gap opened in the transparent energy shield wide enough for the guests shining with different colors to pass through together.
The energy shield, which closed again upon their entry, was accompanied by a heavy gate causing a tremor when it hit the ground. The gate was so huge that even if you stacked ten of the soldiers standing on its two sides on top of each other, you could only reach half of it, and if you had the chance to pass through it, it would take more than five seconds running to come out from the other side.
There, the entrance gate of the Golden City, the Capital of the Mercenaries' Lodge, was as dazzling as itself.
The four vehicles advancing along the wide avenue, paved with stones each identical to the other, dispersed at the crossroads at the end of the road. Their destinations were the buildings hosting the Four Major Merchant Guilds, which was impossible not to see from wherever you looked.
The capital was shared by the Golden, Diamond, Turquoise, and Emerald Leaf Guilds. Even though there were fierce clashes, trade wars, and feuds lasting for generations among them, this rule has never changed.
The city was governed by joint decisions, but the four major merchant guilds were the absolute power having the sole say in the part belonging to them. Even though there seemed to be competition, even though there were some minor merchant guilds and personal enterprises, the real power always belonged to them.
Mechanical vehicles adorned with the symbols and colors of the guild were given way wherever they passed, and all the people greeted them with respect. Reaching their destinations in a short time in this way, the soldiers returned with the same speed after delivering the message to the necessary authorities. When their duties were over, they didn't wait to return to their posts; their entering and exiting the Golden City took ten minutes at most.
It is thought that the most important thing for merchants is their money or goods, but this is only true for people who haven't learned how to make money. The most important asset of a true businessman is time; everything else can be replaced, but if you didn't utilize time while it was in your hands, it is wasted.
The mechanical vehicles coming out of the four massive structures with architectures completely different from each other at the same time, met in the garden of the tower rising in the middle of the Golden City at exactly the same time again. When they easily advanced through the labyrinth-designed garden of the tower with four different entrances and reached their destination, the sun was shining right at the top of the tower.
The monolithic steel piece, which had a diameter of ten paces, had no windows up to the terrace at its very top. Unlike the buildings of the four major merchant guilds, it was devoid of ornaments, and it caught the eye that some parts of it had begun to rust under the sunbeams.
Along with the man in the gold-colored robe entering the tower walking between three people, the delegations of the other three guilds also took their steps through the entrance reserved for them. The most important feature of the structure named the Cheap Tower was hidden not on its outside, but on its inside; people entering through four separate doors climbed to the top floor without seeing each other.
The spiraling stairs were built so meticulously that even if they heard footsteps, it was impossible for them to meet. Furthermore, an event said to have occurred during its construction had become a legend over the entire Mercenaries' Lodge, and for generations, people had used this argument against each other.
The rumor goes that during the laying of the foundation of the structure whose name would later be the Cheap Tower, the foremen held a grudge against the Great Architect. Claiming that they did all the work and the architect only gave orders, they wanted to arrange a meeting with him.
The architect accepts this offer and invites the six foremen to his presence. Even if they couldn't be as brave as they talked left and right, they clearly state their intentions. Thinking for a while, the architect also strokes his beard and finally comes up with an interesting idea.
He says, 'You will all make me fist-sized, flawlessly carved spheres from marble. I expect you here again in a week.' The foremen leaving the premises begin doing the given task that very day, and on the determined day, they arrive with flawlessly round marble spheres in their hands.
The architect looks at them one by one; he showers the men whose craftsmanship is first class with praise. Then he says, 'Now stack these on top of each other.' The foremen are not expecting this at all, they look at each other, and after a not-so-short while, the youngest of them has to make the first attempt.
After stabilizing the marble sphere with his hand, he puts the other sphere on top of it, but they had produced such flawless craftsmanship that the sphere slides off the other and falls beside it. Undeterred, the young foreman tries once more and the result doesn't change. After the third time, he has to give up while wiping the sweat pouring from his forehead.
Since the hierarchy among the foremen was determined by age, everyone from the youngest to the oldest tries at least a few times, but the most successful can only raise the requested tower up to the third sphere. They struggle for an hour, the result doesn't change. The thought passing through their minds is not that they failed, but that the architect gave them an impossible task, and even if they couldn't voice this, they practically scream it with their gazes.
Despite this, the architect in his fifties doesn't get angry at them, on the contrary, a rare smile appears on his face and he says, 'All of you, take off a ring from your finger.' Even though the foremen don't understand what it is, they do as they are told. Taking the rings, the architect puts one on the ground, then puts the marble sphere on it, and continues this way until he builds the final floor. The architect does alone in seconds what the six people couldn't do despite struggling for an hour, and says the words passed down from generation to generation, which the people of the Mercenaries' Lodge use against each other.
"Some people are created to sculpt, and some to stack. Now go and continue doing the duty that falls to you!"
There, on the terrace on the top floor of the tower built by this man, the Great Architect, the leaders wearing their robes adorned with the symbols of the merchant guilds they manage sit facing each other. Behind each of them are two soldiers, and these are the Generals forming the foundation of the military power of the Mercenaries' Lodge.