Carlos woke up early—in fact, he'd been waking up with the sun every day, since there wasn't much to do at night.

  I bet one of the reasons people had so many kids in the old days was because they had nothing to do at night. No TV, no internet… I've been going to sleep early every night. I even thought about talking to some of the women here, but the only problem is there aren't any. Of all the slaves from the plantation, only Tassi and one other married woman are around my age, plus there are about four older women like Aunt Vera; the rest were all men. And Tassi isn't really my type, and I imagine I'm not her type either. I hope there are more women in the quilombo.

  Carlos looked over his food options.

  But, putting that aside, what do I do for breakfast today? No coffee, no bread. Can you even call it breakfast without coffee? I don't think so. On the bright side, Tassi's ability has made many plants ready for harvest already, so I have food. But what a useful ability… how does it work? I mean, for a plant to grow it needs water, light, and nutrients, yet they grow instantly. The gems she uses are earth and grass—how does that combination of gems generate sunlight and soil nutrients for the plants? Especially since each plant needs specific nutrients and different amounts of sunlight.

  As he pondered this, his stomach began to growl.

  Better eat something first. I know what I'll make: boiled green corn.

  He took an old iron pot that the quilombo people had given to each of them and lit a fire using tinder and flint—also provided by the quilombo—on a pile of straw, over which he placed firewood. The "stove," if it could be called that, was just a low mud wall forming a square, with an opening in the front to place the straw and wood; on top, an iron grate supported the pot. He placed the pot on the grate, took one of the clay pots, filled the pot with water, and put the corn inside.

  Now this is a rustic stove. When I grill meat on this, it'll be even more authentic than those wood-fired barbecues. But I can't complain—about forty people arrived, and they gave each of us a grate and a pot, which must have used up a lot of iron, plus the pots the quilombo's potter provided us. All things considered, life here doesn't seem so bad. I think I understand why Tassi planned to come here. It's a shame that, historically, no large quilombo lasted very long; the one that resisted the most was the Quilombo dos Palmares, which lasted about a century, if I'm not mistaken.

  While the corn was cooking, someone knocked on Carlos's door. Most houses here didn't have doors, but he had insisted on putting one up to prevent anyone from taking the books and artifacts he stored. He had just picked up his first ear of corn when he went to open it. Upon doing so, he saw a man holding a spear—Carlos recognized him as one of the guards who had been watching them.

  "Carlos, Espectro has asked that you demonstrate how your firearms work. This afternoon, I will return to fetch you and accompany you to the demonstration."

  That was even faster than I imagined… It only took them a week to call me.

  "Good morning. Alright, I'll be ready."

  The guard left and Carlos left the door open, as the stove made the little house stuffy and hot. He went back to get his corn when another person appeared at the door: it was Tassi.

  "It seems the guard came to speak with you too," she said, her voice as neutral as ever.

  Carlos, confused, asked:

  "He went to speak to you too?"

  Tassi entered the house and sat on a small wooden stool, her hands resting in her lap.

  "Yes. He asked me to join their army."

  "And you accepted, right? After all, you said you wanted to fight to free slaves."

  Tassi raised her emerald-green eyes and fixed them on his, her expression unchanged.

  "You remembered what I said? But I'm sorry… you are mistaken. I said I would help you make weapons if Espectro allowed it."

  Carlos frowned.

  "Huh? Why?"

  A faint—very faint—smile touched Tassi's lips.

  "Because you promised you would give me one of those weapons. And I also need to repay you a little for everything you did for me. Although… the blacksmith will probably do all the work, but maybe I can help with something."

  Carlos shook his head.

  "Actually, I think we will be working just as much as the blacksmith."

  Now it was Tassi's turn to look confused.

  "What do you mean?"

  Carlos sat on a small stool made of packed earth and explained:

  "We have to make gunpowder for the weapons to be useful. And I don't even know if we can get the necessary ingredients to make it here."

  There was a hint of disappointment in Tassi's monotone voice.

  "Really? But the other day you spoke so confidently about being able to make them…"

  Carlos looked at her, thinking: I don't remember saying I was sure…

  "It's just that I hadn't thought it through properly. In my world, from the time I came from, it would be easy because everyone sold the ingredients for gunpowder. But here… I think it must be impossible to buy them, especially in a quilombo. So, we'll have to look for the ingredients in nature, and I don't know if we'll find them around here.

  Tassi sighed softly.

  "And what do we need to make this gunpowder?"

  Carlos raised three fingers.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  "Charcoal—which is easy to find. Sulfur—which doesn't exist in its pure form in Brazil, but you can get it by refining other materials. And saltpeter—which can be found in some mines or… we can make it. If we have to produce or refine the ingredients, it will take a long time."

  Tassi shook her head.

  "I've never heard of saltpeter or sulfur. They must be things sorcerers use. If that's the case, we won't even be able to get these items from traders—not in this place. And here I was, thinking I'd soon have a weapon in my hands… But, putting that aside, what did the guard ask of you? I doubt it was to join the army."

  Carlos sighed.

  "He called me to demonstrate how the firearms work, this afternoon."

  That seemed to liven up the warrior a little.

  "Ah, good. I want to see how to use those weapons again. Especially since, in the future, I'll have one."

  Carlos rolled his eyes, skeptical.

  "Look, the weapon you'll use—if you even get to use one—will be much worse than these. Besides, you can use magic gems, which are far more impressive than any weapon from my world."

  Tassi remained impassive.

  "They are only impressive to you because you aren't used to seeing them. The same goes for me and firearms."

  Carlos began to salt the corn and eat while talking.

  "This time, you've got me there."

  Tassi looked at the corn with some reservation.

  "You haven't eaten anything yet? Do you want an ear of corn?"

  She stared at the cob with visible disdain.

  "Eww, how disgusting. Seriously, you like this thing? When I arrived in Brazil, they gave me this to eat and I hated it. Aunt Vera even made some cakes using this 'thing' and offered them to me, but I didn't want to go near it. I don't know why everyone here likes it so much."

  Carlos looked at her, incredulous.

  "What do you mean, you don't like corn? Apologize to corn right now! It's so useful… Wheat, rice, corn, and potatoes are the most practical grains and roots there are, and you can make anything with them. Hating one of them is like denying civilization itself—it was from them that civilizations were born."

  Tassi let out a light, almost imperceptible laugh.

  "Ha… you're quite funny. But I'm not denying this so-called civilization. I just don't like corn."

  Carlos thought to himself: Wait a minute… I read somewhere that when enslaved people arrived in Brazil, they were given raw corn to eat. If that's what happened to her, I can understand.

  "Let me guess: when you arrived here, they just handed you raw corn to eat, didn't they?"

  She crossed her arms.

  "Hmm… you're right, actually. But even so, I doubt I'll like it."

  Carlos took another boiled ear, salted it, and handed it to her.

  "Try it. If you don't like it, I'll prepare it another way tomorrow."

  Tassi took the corn and looked at it as if it were a suspicious artifact.

  "Alright, since you insist." She took a cautious bite, and the sweet and salty flavor of the green corn, boiled just right, filled her mouth. Wow, the taste really is different. When they gave this to me, I didn't even know what it was—I thought it was a fruit. I only ate it all because I was starving.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but saw Carlos's smug face and thought: Ah, he's feeling a bit too full of himself. This corn is okay, but it's not that great… Actually, come to think of it, Aunt Vera said her cornbread was very good. I guess I should have tried it when she offered.

  "It's… alright. But it's edible."

  Carlos smiled victoriously.

  "You can't fool me. Alright, I'll prove to you that corn is good. Another day, I'll make popcorn for you."

  Tassi finished eating the cob and said, in a softer tone:

  "Sure. Now, can you pass me another ear of corn?"

  The rest of the day passed normally, with Carlos working on his plot and Tassi on hers. After lunch, someone knocked on his door.

  I'm popular today. But it's probably Tassi, waiting until the guard calls for us.

  To his surprise, it wasn't Tassi at the door, but a brunette woman with long brown hair tied in a ponytail. What caught his attention the most, however, were her eyes—a luminous silver, almost gray, that seemed to capture the late afternoon light.

  "Good afternoon. You're Carlos, aren't you? Pleasure, I'm Nia, the mocambo' s blacksmith."

  She's a beautiful woman… But those silver eyes? It seems like everyone in this place has strangely colored eyes. Anyway, she's the blacksmith—that's great, because I'm going to need her help a lot to make the flintlock weapons.

  "That's me. Nice to meet you. At the moment, I'm 'nothing' in the quilombo, but in the future, I hope to be 'something'. And I will definitely need your help."

  Hearing this made Nia visibly happy, a wide smile spreading across her face.

  "Direct and to the point, just how I like it. I can already imagine what you'll need me for—it's to make some different weapons, isn't it? Well, you should know I'm going to help you, whether you want it or not. Ever since I heard the stories about these weapons that, in the blink of an eye, break someone's divine defense, I've been fascinated. I want to know how they work, I want to manufacture them! I'm tired of making only spearheads—I want to create something new. And they say your weapons are very different. Not to mention I'm sick of hearing that blacksmiths are useless and only magical artisans are any good. I want to make a weapon that shows the true power of iron and the forge!"

  Nia observed Carlos for a moment, her gaze penetrating.

  "But of course, I know they exaggerate the stories—they say you couldn't even see the projectile, or that the weapon is capable of breaking both defense and divine defense barriers at the same time. That's why I came here. I spoke with Aqua and I'll be able to see you using these weapons."

  What luck for me… to have such a motivated helper.

  "Thank you very much. I will indeed need your help a lot. And, regarding the power of firearms… let's just say the stories are not an exaggeration. You will see the results this afternoon. Unfortunately, the weapons we'll be able to manufacture won't be as powerful, but I can already explain how they work."

  He took one of the books he kept—"Guns and History"—opened it to the page about the Brown Bess flintlock musket, and began to explain the mechanisms.

  Nia's eyes shone as she saw the drawings and heard the explanations.

  "It sounds like an incredible weapon! And you seem very interesting too. I've barely met you and I already like you. If these weapons are as good as you say, you'll earn even more points with me. Who knows, you might even become my fifth husband!"

  Carlos was stunned. What do you mean 'fifth husband'? My God, calm down, woman! Isn't that a bit much?

  "Ha ha ha… I guess I forgot you came from outside. But I'm not greedy, you know? Just look around: how many men do you see? And how many women?"

  It's true, almost only men came from the plantation. Wait a minute… does that mean the majority of the quilombo is also made up of men?

  The light in Nia's eyes faded, replaced by a shadow of bitterness.

  "Slave owners prefer men—they can do heavy work for longer. Women, in their view, work less, can get pregnant, and need to care for children. They see us as animals… actually, they treat us worse, because most of the enslaved people here don't even last ten years—they die of exhaustion. Which, sometimes, is a better fate than that of some women, used as toys by their masters. That's why I'm happy to help make any weapon that can kill those vermin."

  Carlos sighed deeply, thinking: I don't even want to imagine what the women go through. Just Tassi's story already saddens me. From the dark way Nia speaks, I imagine she or her mother suffered greatly—she has light skin, and considering the era… I'm sure it wasn't consensual. That must be why I see so much hatred in her eyes.

  Nia recovered the sparkle in her eyes and continued:

  "Because of their preference, unfortunately, I find myself forced to accept several husbands. Not just me—almost all the women here have more than one. You have no idea how much it hurts me to have to divide my heart… but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. And you will also have to learn to share if you want a partner. Otherwise, you'll end up alone. Unless you become the king—then, yes, you'll have a harem at your disposal."

  Carlos was speechless, and at that moment, a guard appeared at the door.