Alto's decision was soon conveyed to Bartolomeo. When he heard that Aurelia had agreed to purchase the supplies, his knees gave way beneath him. Forgetting his dignity, he wept without restraint. They were the heartfelt tears of a man who had glimpsed a light that might save his dying home.
And so a historic pact was forged between Aurelia and Grand Metropolis. It was far more than a simple agreement to buy and sell. One city would supply gold, the other goods, and together they would revive each other's economies. It was a covenant for their shared survival and prosperity.
Within days, the scene at Aurelia's harbor had changed completely. Great fleets began arriving one after another from Grand Metropolis. Sacks of wheat, bolts of colorful cloth, bars of dull-glinting iron, and every kind of tool and preserved food poured ashore from the ships' holds like an unending river. In exchange, chests of coins carried from Aurelia's Great Workshop were loaded aboard. The gold would become blood flowing through the veins of a city near death; the supplies would become the flesh and bone of Aurelia's future.
The city was alive as never before. Just as Alto had planned, construction of vast underground granaries began on its outskirts, guided by engineers invited from Grand Metropolis. Aurelia's people, too, were freed from days spent doing little more than gathering gold. They threw themselves into new work: building, sorting supplies, and managing stores. A sense of fulfillment shone on their faces that had never been there before.
Alto stood on a hill overlooking the city, watching it all. Ships came and went in the harbor, and the ringing of hammers rose above the streets. The residents received plentiful food and clothing, and the children's laughter seemed brighter than it had before. The gold springing from the earth was still there, just as it had always been. But it was no longer the city's only source of prosperity. People's labor, their ingenuity, their cooperation—the energy born of these had become its new wealth.
Rio, his aide, quietly came to stand beside him. “The city is being reborn, Lord Alto.” “Yes,” Alto said with a nod. “Perhaps we are only now beginning to learn what true wealth means.” True wealth did not lie in possessing an endless supply of gold. It lay in understanding its value, and having the wisdom to use it for people's happiness. Gold was a means, not an end. Perhaps the miracle welling up in this city had always been there to teach them that.
The eastern sky began to pale, and the morning sun washed Aurelia's streets in gold. It was different from the familiar glitter of the city's treasure: this was the light of a new era dawning, full of hope. As Alto etched the sight into his heart, he knew that Aurelia was, at that very moment, being reborn—from a mere city of gold into an ideal city blessed with true prosperity.