Chapter 221 Chapter 218 Good and Bad News
“Eleven gold coins? Dear Mr. Salas, do you think I am a weak woman who is easily bullied?”
“Miss Xiya, I know you were born into a famous merchant family; how would I dare deceive you? Look carefully, this leather is made from carefully selected first-layer old cowhide, tanned and soaked in expensive alchemical potions, making it exceptionally tough. It’s different from ordinary leather, costing at least ten times more. Only this type of leather can meet the combat needs of those extraordinary beings.”
“But yours costs not just ten times more,” Xiya raised her hand to point out, “it’s twenty-one point seven times more.”
“You’re asking for too much; I could practically arm a knightly legion with that. The alchemical potions will require overtime work to produce; there’s a short supply at the moment. I managed to get this through a special trading channel out of respect for your father, who has been a long-time friend, which wasn’t easy at all.”
The merchant wore a white round hat, appearing bald from a distance, and spoke with a tone filled with genuine concern typical of an elder.
Xiya opened her mouth to speak, but the merchant interrupted her and continued with his concern:
“You know, there have been wars in recent years, the world is not at peace. The emperor finished fighting the greenskins last year and is preparing for another campaign this year. His knightly legion devours gold; so many things related to extraordinary beings are priceless. I’ve set aside a batch of good goods specifically for you; eleven gold coins is neither too much nor too little…”
Xiya directly reached out, tugging at her collar, revealing a large expanse of soft skin.
“What are you…? Put your clothes back on, my wife is still here.”
Xiya showed no change in expression, exposing her shoulder and half of her back. She turned around to reveal an ugly scar on her back, a gruesome mark resembling a centipede as thick as a thumb, all red.
“Do you see it?”
“I… I see it.”
Xiya put her clothes back on and said, “This scar is a lesson from an encounter with the Northerners during one of my sea voyages. You are an old merchant, so you know that going to sea is very dangerous; it’s like gambling with the lives of sailor boys for a rich future. Losing might mean being beheaded and sacrificed by the Northerners, captured as slaves by dark elves, or even eaten by sea monsters.”
Xiya continued, “So, at most, seven gold coins—this is still considering our long-term cooperation.”
“Deal,” the old merchant said. “I’ll take care of my junior’s business. By the way, what are you buying so many of these items for?”
“It’s a secret of my client.”
Xiya didn’t reveal anything.
With the agreement made and the contract signed on special paper provided by the Manius family, which was already embossed with the emblem of the God of Dawn.
By noon, the cargo from two carts was delivered to the workshop, where craftsmen worked diligently, stamping the “Knight Brand” logo onto hammers, leather, and tents.
That evening, the goods from the two carts were transported to the distant Knight Baruto country.
The following morning.
In the camp led by George.
Satiated breakfasts were distributed to everyone, all provided in George’s name.
He had made an agreement with Jima that essential supplies severely impacting combat effectiveness, such as food, horse feed, water, sharpening stones, spearheads, and so on, would be distributed for free to the entire army.
Though Jima was not particularly pleased, at the moment this army was a golden goose; it needed to be well-fed and well-cared for to kill more beastmen and collect more spoils, allowing her to earn more money.
Moreover, the distribution of the spoils depended on George. Only he had the reputation and ability to ensure that nobody could complain about his allocations.
But aside from this, the prices could be freely set by Jima.
That being said, during this brief time of breakfast, it was also a good opportunity to set up a shop.
Thanks to the efforts of Lianxi and the horned child, a white tent was erected, with triangular flags fluttering on top, emblazoned with the words “Knight Privilege Store,” stitched with golden threads, and made of silk.
All this was earned through the knights’ courageous battles, so each knight visiting the store couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.
Jima reclined on a chaise longue while Lianxi held her hands to her mouth in a circular shape and shouted:
“Prices slashed! Now at a ten percent discount, the ‘noble knight armor maintenance tools’ are only two hundred seventy dragon-slaying points! Get your beloved armor shining again!”
“Strongly smoked meat, just fifty dragon-slaying points per kilogram!”
“And soft toilet paper—tired of sand and leaves? A noble backside deserves soft toilet paper, only three dragon-slaying points for a pack!”
In Marlin Town’s countryside, one could typically buy an adult pig for three gold coins.
Knights and their squires lined up, continuously exchanging various spoils for dragon-slaying points.
A magic longsword salvaged from a beastman carcass could be exchanged for “as much as” six kilograms of strongly smoked meat.
Today, the knights had fewer complaints.
They compared among themselves whose armor was the dirtiest, as that signified who had shirked in battle and wasn’t fighting valiantly.
Three knights were wielding hammers, pounding dents back into their armor. With a shortage of manpower, not every knight could have a squire.
A dog-faced knight stroked the “Knight Brand” emblem on his hammer and sighed, “It’s truly worth the price; this brand is different.”
Another knight replied, “Of course, those peasants aren’t worthy to touch such fine hammers.”
Nearby, several peasants swung wooden-handled hammers bought from the same blacksmith shop, laboring away.
“Too expensive,” complained another knight. “Yesterday during the fight, I killed ten subpar horned beasts and one horned beast, and found a bag of gold, only to exchange it for a set of tools.”
“Price?” the dog-faced knight raised his voice as if the knight mentioned something foul, “It’s dragon-slaying points! Remember, this isn’t just plain selling; it’s different from the dirty merchants’ dealings.”
“That was sold by a succubus, succubi are far more black-hearted than merchants,” the knight retorted. “When she returned, dragon-slaying George openly kicked Sir Tande aside.”
“Who cares? Dragon-slaying George is brave and skilled; everyone knows that without him, we’d have died in the forest long ago,” the dog-faced knight said. “Besides, we’re not buying things with gold coins; we’re using dragon-slaying points, which clearly indicates that George wants to share the glory of slaying dragons with us.”
“I shared dragon meat with him; I’m ashamed to say that when I got there, the battle was already decided, and I could only chop up some filthy, stinking greenskins, yet he still shared the dragon meat with me.”
“Shut up, you’ve repeated that thirty times already.”
As they continued talking, the knights felt that the tools they had bought for two hundred seventy dragon-slaying points were indeed worth it.
No, not just worth it; the hammer branded with the knight insignia felt heavy in their hands, a symbol of honor.
After flattening the last dent on his breastplate, the dog-faced knight looked proudly at the wooden hammer in the hands of the peasants not far away and said, “When this battle ends and I return to my hometown, I’ll pass this knight-branded hammer down, hanging it on a stone wall so my descendants will know that I was once fortunate enough to fight alongside dragon-slaying George.”
A sharp horn sounded.
That signaled another battle was about to begin.
The knights immediately dropped their hammers, helped each other don their breastplates, and stowed the knight-branded hammers into their backpacks.
The warhorses neighed as the knights mounted their well-fed steeds, tightened their grips on their raised lances, and gathered before George, who held aloft a shining knightly sword, ready for battle…
In the following days, the “Return Home Journey” became increasingly arduous.
Although taking advantage of logistics that didn’t require stopping to build fires, this army of fewer than eight hundred troops skillfully slipped away from the beastmen’s forces.
But along the way, all sorts of beastmen sprang out to hinder this army. Every bush, every forest, every valley seemed to have beastmen lying in ambush, watching hungrily.
Moreover, strong beastmen gathered, coordinating attacks with dark elves against this army, reducing George’s sleep time to merely five to six hours a day.
The number of able-bodied individuals dwindled from eight hundred to just over six hundred.
Inside a tent wrapped in a tranquil hidden barrier.
“Good news, bad news, which do you want to hear first?”
“Tell them in order.”
Jima unfolded a map:
“The good news is we are just a bit more than a day’s journey from Quinas Castle. The bad news is I’ve realized we haven’t shaken off the enemy at all; they seem to have a locational advantage, laying down a thick pocket, which means tomorrow will be a fierce battle, the outcome of which concerns whether this golden-egg-laying goose can survive.”
“What do you mean by locational advantage?”
“Don’t forget, the Mother of All Beasts bested me in divination.”
Such a formidable enemy was truly troubling.
George mentioned that he was able to retreat back then because Archbishop Gregory had arrived and pushed back the Mother of All Beasts.
“Alright, I understand.”
George continued to ask Jima several questions in detail.
Twenty minutes later, George entered the conference tent, crossing paths with Jima. He looked at the several esteemed knights and said, “I have good news and bad news; which one do you want to hear first…”
