Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

30 minutes before the race

"Brother, how are you feeling?" a short young man with a unique Balochi appearance asked, worry clearly visible on his face.

Raftaar massaged his legs with some sesame oil and nodded with satisfaction, "Except for the slight numbing sensation on the soles of my feet, everything else feels good. I think I can get a pretty good ranking in the finals," he said to his best friend, Zafir, who had come all the way from Baluchistan for his sake.

Zafir let out a sigh of relief. "That’s good, but brother, make sure you don’t burn out in this 500-meter race. We still have the 100-meter race right after this one. You should focus more on the 100-meter race."

Raftaar understood. Due to the event being hastily planned within a span of three weeks or less, most of the events were tightly packed together. Although this gave the audience more excitement within a short span of time, it also put a lot of pressure on the athletes. So Raftaar had been careful not to exert his full performance to avoid injury.

This was his strategy and mentality from the beginning,

Ever since he started competing in the preliminaries, even though Raftaar won all his races, he had been holding back his full strength. Raftaar had never won any of his races with a dominant advantage like he did when participating in his taluk, district, and state-level championships back in Baluchistan.

He had always made sure that he would only exert himself enough to stay ahead of his competitors by a few feet or so.

This ultimately gave him enough endurance to compete in both finals, while the rest of his competitors, although fast, could not maintain consistency as he did.

Zafir was happy seeing the energetic Raftaar. In the beginning, when Zafir forced Raftaar to join the competition, he only thought Raftaar would do quite well since he knew how fast Raftaar could run.

But Zafir could have never imagined that his good brother would not only win the taluk-level championship, district-level championship, and even state-level championship, but also finally reach the capital to participate in the finals.

Due to the success of his brother he also gained a lot of benefits, Zafir felt like all the good deeds he had done in his nine lifetimes were now rewarding him with rich rewards.

Just when Raftaar was about to get up and warm up, and Zafir was about to help him with the resistance training taught by an umpire they had met in Balochistan during their state-level championship, a strange middle-aged woman with an amiable expression and confident temperament approached them.

Raftaar and Zafir looked at each other, confused.

Jayamma, who had finally made up her mind, was satisfied after looking at Raftaar from head to toe.

Raftaar was suddenly startled and took a step back as he was scared out of his wits after experiencing the gaze of the strange woman, which felt like it could penetrate his soul.

"W-What c-can I d-do f-for y-you, m-ma’am?" His expression was like that of a lamb in front of a tiger since he had heard some rumors about the strange habits of the rich aunties from his athlete colleagues, who explained their horrifying experiences to him with clear dread visible on their faces.

Zafir was also a little taken aback by the sudden appearance of this clearly influential woman, but unlike Raftaar, he remained calm in order to act appropriately according to the situation.

Jayamma was naturally not aware of the thoughts of the two teenagers in front of her, but even if she did, she would not take any offence since she knew some people who had such hobbies.

"Son, hello! My name is Jayamma. I am the general manager and director of Jayamma Pickles and Co., a pickle manufacturing company that is, if I say so myself, one of the best in the empire." Pride was visible on her face. "I appreciate your athletic ability a lot, and I think that you have a bright future ahead. So how would you like for us to cooperate?"

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"Huh?" Raftaar was confused as he had never expected such a turn of events. He had already prepared to refuse whatever this strange woman wanted and go back to competing in the tournament, if possible. But now, hearing the reason why the woman named Jayamma approached him and looking at her sincere expression, he was momentarily short-circuited since he did not know how to answer such a question.

Fortunately, Zafir was quick-witted. "I am sorry, respected lady, if I may be so presumptuous. Could you please further clarify how this cooperation could take place?" Looking at the confused expression on Jayamma’s face, Zafir immediately cursed at himself for forgetting to introduce himself. "Oh right, my name is Zafir, ma’am. Mohammad Zafir.

I’m a good friend of Raftaar and have been taking care of his daily needs and acting as his assistant leading up to the finals."

"Oh, so it is," Jayamma raised her eyebrows in realization.

"So, Zafir, let me tell you, you might not know this or you might not have realized, but your friend here is already very influential all over the empire, especially now since the most influential and popular newspaper company is continuously reporting on the festive events." She pointed toward a girl sitting in the corner of the stadium in the front row.

"That girl right there is a reporter from the Bharatham Daily Newspaper, and if I’m not mistaken, the news about today’s event will be published tomorrow without fail, and I am pretty confident that your friend right here will also be displayed in the newspaper for everyone to see."

"And if he is capable enough and wins the events he is participating in, he could even get interviewed by the reporter, which would make him even more influential on top of his already strong influence due to his humble beginnings."

Raftaar was even more shocked. He knew that newspaper existed, but he never bought them since he felt like they were a waste of his money. But now, hearing the lady say that he would appear in the newspaper, he was beginning to get excited.

As for Zafir, he suddenly felt enlightened and looked at Jayamma with a grateful expression as he somewhat understood what she wanted from Raftaar. Jayamma mentioned the value of his friend beforehand, and if she hadn’t done that, she could have obviously kept the price low, but she didn’t. This made Zafir much more appreciative and thankful toward Jayamma.

Already understanding that they had something to gain, Zafir boldly expressed his opinion. "Miss Jayamma, do you want my friend to mention the name of your company when he gets interviewed later? Is this the cooperation you are talking about?"

Jayamma’s eyes suddenly lit up as she looked at this boy more closely. ’Wow, this could work!’ She had always focused her attention on Raftaar since he was her target, but seeing as how Raftaar didn’t object or interject when this boy was speaking, she knew that she had made a misjudgment.

"It’s a very good idea and to be fair; even I hadn’t thought of this, so yes, we can cooperate the way you mentioned too. But I had something else in mind."

Zafir immediately cursed at himself for being too eager; however, he was still able to calm down. "What is it, ma’am?"

"Well, it’s simple, actually. It is to let him wear the logo of my company on his jersey on the front and the back during his run. This is the first part of our cooperation. The second part is that Raftaar cooperate with us after the tournament in the advertisement of our company’s product."

"The second part only involves him attending a few engraving sessions so that the engraver could engrave a picture of him holding our product onto a mould, after which we could further utilize it for advertisement."

Zafir was lost in thought, as he had never imagined such a way of promotion. Well, if you think about it, it is normal since he had never left Baluchistan, and in his opinion, the news only passed through word of mouth. Now, suddenly coming to the centre of the empire, it was natural that he overlooked what he did not know.

But fortunately, he was smart, and he quickly figured out the main essence of the deal.

"Could you give us a moment, ma’am? I’d like to consult with Raftaar a little."

Jayamma shook her head. "Please do take your time; it is an important decision after all, but keep in mind the deadline for the 500-meter Sprint event, there are only 15 minutes left."

"If you want to talk about the cooperation after the event, then we will have to discuss the prices based on the second part of the cooperation."

Zafir understood and quickly pulled Raftaar to the side.

Raftaar was excited by everything he had heard. Even though he did not understand much about business or money, he felt that this cooperation was very beneficial to him; however, in order to negotiate, he trusted his brother more, so he would listen to his words.

Zafir looked straight up into Raftaar’s eyes. "Brother, if you ask me, this is a good cooperation, but you have to know that if you agree to this, then you will have to stay in the capital for a longer period of time, and you will have to constantly cooperate with Miss Jayamma in advertisements.

If you are alright with this, you can agree to the cooperation, but if you don’t, we can only talk about the first part."

Suddenly, Raftaar was in a dilemma. He did want to go back home right after the tournament, but some extra money was also very appealing to him. However, finally, considering that he did not have anything important to do back home and he could show off later, he quickly came to a conclusion.

"Let’s cooperate with both the cooperation plans, the first and the second, but brother, I don’t want to stay too long; I still want to go back home. I can stay one month at most."

Zafir nodded. Knowing Raftaar since childhood, the answer he got was not out of his expectations. "Alright then, how much do you think I should ask in terms of money?"

Raftaar thought for a while and suddenly shook his head. "I don’t know; I don’t understand all these things. You can decide for me." Then he got an idea. "Let’s do it. You’re my brother; you don’t have to work for me for free like you always did. Negotiate this matter for me, and you can take 5% of my income from now on."

Zafir was immediately shocked and looked extremely offended with a disgusted look on his face. He had never expected Raftaar to say such things. "Bastard! Have I done all these things for you for money? How dare you insult me!" He was livid.

Raftaar knew that something like this would happen, so he was prepared. "Brother, don’t get angry. I have achieved so many great things and have come such a long way, and all of this was possible only with your help."

Zafir was about to refute, but he was cut off.

"I know that you don’t have any selfish motives and you have only helped me to the best of your ability without asking anything in return, taking into account our friendship, but brother, how long are you going to live like this? Are you going to go back and serve beverages again? And what am I going to do without you helping me? Don’t I still have to find someone else to help me?

So why doesn’t that someone be you?"

Zafir was deflated. "It makes sense, but it’s too much money."

Raftaar immediately disagreed. "No, it’s not. I know how to take care of myself and perform to the best ability, but I do not know how to handle my money or how to maintain it. However, I have seen that you have a very good knack for this area, and I’m confident that you can do all these things I’m not good at.

For example, today, not only did you suggest a novel way of cooperating with the kind old lady, but you also immediately understood what she was talking about. I couldn’t understand anything; I just stood there dumbly. So giving you 5% is really not too much. I would feel guilty if it were any less."

Seeing that the expression of stubborn resistance was softening, he quickly added his last trump card. "Also, brother, if not for yourself, you will have to at least consider accepting my offer for the sake of your grandmother. Even though she has a tough mouth, we both know that she has a soft heart; otherwise, she wouldn’t have come such a long way despite her delicate condition.

If something happened to her, I could never forgive myself. Moreover, her health has not been good recently, and the capital happens to have one of the best medical facilities in the empire—much better than those clinics in Baluchistan. So at least for her sake, you have to consider this."

Zafir let out an exasperated breath of air and finally relented. "Alright, alright I will listen to you. I will compensate you with my work as best as I can."

For the historians who studied the Bharatiya Empire in the future, July 26 meant a lot of things. For some, it was the day when the greatest board game, the modern Chaturanga, was invented and the first national tournament was held. For others, it marked the beginning of the grandest Bharatiya festival of the year, right alongside Diwali and Ganesh Chaturthi.

Some considered it a precursor to the international Olympics, while others hailed it as the world’s sports day.

But, there were also some niche professionals in the future who knew that July 26, 1658, was the day when the job of professional athlete agents was born, which would become the precursor to celebrity agents. The deal signed between Zafir, Raftaar, and Jayamma became a template for all agent-client and customer contracts throughout various creative fields, both for its time and into the far future.

P.S, Idk about you guys, but I’m enjoying this arc a lot