Unknown Knight

Early in the morning, Aix stood on a protruding rock in the valley. The whole valley was busy with people sorting goods, feeding fodder to the pack horses, preparing breakfast, and tying up the prisoners. Everyone was doing their job, and only he, an idle man, was overlooking everything.

Taking a deep breath, he smelled a bloody odor, the smell of human blood. Bandak had taken Robin and the other four out of the valley for execution early in the morning. Until now, he still resisted killing people in this way and felt very uncomfortable. Although this was not the first time he had killed someone, he was passively resisting killing before, but now he was actively killing with a purpose. This made him feel like a murderer, and he still could not accept this approach in his heart. Thinking about what had happened in recent times, he was no longer the idle loser. The giant baby who depended on the 21st century had to change, work hard, and obey the fate imposed on him by this world since he came to this world.

'Am I still me? ' he asked himself.

When everyone finished their work and looked up at him, he had to get down from the boulder. Whether he was confused or unable to turn around, it was not the most important thing now, because there was a whole caravan waiting for him, and Sunuo and dozens of old, weak, women and children were also waiting for him. He suddenly understood why many leaders have such a deep temperament, not because these people are so powerful, so indifferent, so vicissitudes, so wise, nor is it due to their innate character, but because they all bear the two words called "responsibility".

After breakfast, the caravan set off in a hurry. They had to reach the next village before dark. This area was the Black Forest where bandits were rampant, and there were more bandits than just Robin. Fortunately, these bandits generally did not attack passing caravans unless they had a purpose. In the next two days, the caravan did not encounter any attacks. Despite this, Aix still arranged reconnaissance and night watches as usual every day. After this attack by bandits, everyone no longer had the resistance to these two arrangements as they did at the beginning, which also strengthened his determination to make these two arrangements a routine for the caravan.

On the third day after leaving the valley, the caravan arrived at the Nordic city of Tihar. Tihar was a completely different city from the medieval city in Aix's memory. The whole city gave Aix two feelings: one was simple and the other was chaotic.

This is a city built with wood as the main material. Unlike Suno and Dehrim, which are built with a mixture of stone, bricks and wood and are both medieval-style cities, Tiha is more like a large primitive village. The sharpened wood on the city wall is the wall battlement, the watchtower built with bundled wood, and the rammed earth exposed by some wood falling off, all reveal the roughness and simplicity of the city. It is more accurate to say that this is a large military camp than a city. After entering the city gate, there is a circle of town facilities built along the city wall, including taverns, horse markets, city lords' houses, blacksmith shops, arenas, casinos, weapon shops, and houses scattered among them, etc. Further in is the big market set up in the central square of the city.

The reason why it is called chaotic is that the whole town gives Aix the feeling of a big pot of boiling soup. The city walls and the surrounding town facilities are the edges of the pot, and the big market in the central square is the boiling soup in the pot. The stalls of merchants from all over the world are crowded in the whole square. There are Vaegir merchants wearing furs, Khergit merchants smelling of sheep, shrewd and mercenary Rhodok merchants, shabby Swadian merchants, and even Sarand merchants from the desert wearing tall hats. They are of different shapes and colors, and they speak different languages. They were speaking different languages ​​and shouting loudly to sell their goods, as if they were afraid of losing customers because of their inferior momentum to other merchants. The noise was overwhelming. If there were not several teams of tall and mighty Nord warriors patrolling back and forth, Aix had no doubt that they would fight each other because of the competition. This was a far cry from the sparsely populated market in Suno City. It seemed that maritime trade and robbery still made money. Just look at the enthusiasm of these merchants from all over the world, they were all eager to get a piece of the pie from this big pot.

It took almost half an hour for the caravan to arrive at the local cooperative merchant under the guidance of Bandak. Bandak said that today was the weekly Friday market, and there were not so many people at the market on ordinary days. The shopkeeper of the merchant had a ruddy face and big ears. In the Middle Ages when most people were thin, you could tell from his face that he made a lot of money. The main commodities brought by the caravan, olive oil and seized furs, were hot-selling products here and sold well, so the fat shopkeeper was very enthusiastic. He exchanged a few words with Bandak, an acquaintance, and then welcomed Aix and Bandak into the inner room.

Since he had discussed with Bandak in advance, Bandak put in his utmost effort in negotiating the price of furs. After repeated haggling and inspecting the goods, the final transaction price was set at 430 copper coins per bundle. Bandak said that the highest price per bundle was only 415 copper coins in the past, which was considered a ceiling price. When it came to the olive oil, which was the main product in the past, Bandak was like the old Wang next door who had cheated on the fat shopkeeper. He no longer had the enthusiasm to bargain when selling furs, and hastily settled the deal at 330 copper coins per can, as if he was afraid that the fat shopkeeper would go back on his word. The fat shopkeeper was unsure, and he offered a good price for other things in the caravan as compensation.

After leaving the trading company, the two men smiled at each other with their evil plan having succeeded. In the past, each can of olive oil would cost at least 350 copper coins, but with the poor harvest this year, it is possible to sell it for 400 copper coins. Selling it to the local trading company at such a low price was mainly to lower the selling price of olive oil and make Grans lose money. It didn't matter if this olive oil business was not profitable, because the spoils from the Bandits Valley would cover the caravan's expenses for several years.

This was only the first step of the plan. The two of them then launched the second step of the plan, which was a big shopping spree, buying all the salt, smoked fish, cheese, woolen cloth and other commodities produced in the city of Tiha. Fortunately, they had seized a lot of spoils in the bandit settlement this time, so there was not much pressure to clear out the inventory of these commodities. Such large-scale purchases directly raised the prices of these commodities a lot. In this way, when Grans returned to the city of Suno, he would have to spend a lot of money to purchase local commodities, or some commodities would simply not be available, so he had to return empty-handed.

After hearing from the shopkeeper that another batch of salt and smoked fish would arrive in two days, Aix decided to stay in Tiha for two days, waiting to purchase the goods before going to Sagos, and at the same time leaving room for the implementation of the third step of the plan. He first gave each of the guys a silver coin and asked them to go to the tavern in Tiha to drink. The beer in the tavern cost 3 copper coins per cup, which was enough for them to get drunk. What Aix wanted was for them to get drunk, and then take advantage of the drunkenness to spread the false information about the bumper harvest of olive oil in Suno this year in a seemingly inadvertent way. This was Aix's third step of the plan.

After the cargo was dealt with, Aix and Bandak went to the slave market together and sold 10 old, weak, women and children to the famous local slave trader Ramon at a low price of 100 copper coins each. This was a man with an eagle nose and bull eyes. His deep eye sockets gave people a sinister feeling. Aix was psychologically disgusted with him and was unwilling to communicate with him too much. However, this guy didn't care about the disgust on Aix's face and took the initiative to come over and said:

"Sir, I know you are a powerful man as soon as I see you. You may not know me well, but I am not an ordinary slave trader. Not only the nobles of the Nord Kingdom, but also many nobles of the surrounding kingdoms are my clients. As long as a slave is sent to me, I will buy it at a high price. I am not like other slave traders who refuse to accept the elderly, women, children, or nobles of their own country. As long as you come to me, I can exchange money for anyone."

"Oh, aren't you afraid that the slaves will cause you trouble after escaping?" Axe asked back.

"Of course not, sir. If someone with a background comes to me, I will treat him to delicious food and drinks. All he needs to do is pay the corresponding ransom. If they really don't have a background, I will just invite them on board. Once they are on board, they will definitely not run away. In addition, the Nord Kingdom's maritime transport has been prosperous in recent years, so there is no problem selling the slaves on board."

"Is it true that slaves on board the ship cannot escape? We often have escaped slaves there." said Axe.

"Of course not, sir. You don't know the situation on the ship. The ship is different from the land. Nord's ships are generally two-story structures. The ship slaves are locked in the cabin on the bottom floor and are only responsible for rowing. They are not allowed to go on deck. They eat, drink, defecate, urinate and sleep in the bottom cabin. Everyone is also shackled. These are not ordinary shackles, but shackles that string everyone together. So once the slaves are on the ship, they can't escape. There will be no hidden dangers. Even if they die, they will be thrown directly into the sea. No trace will be left. You can rest assured. Next time you have a slave brought to me to sell, I guarantee that you will get a fair price and you will have no worries."

Seeing Ramon's face, which was even more treacherous than that of a profiteer, Aix wanted to punch him. He had the idea of ​​leaving here. Suddenly, he thought of the increasing number of trucks in the caravan, which were often damaged on the road. If there were honest craftsmen who could repair them, he might buy one or two. So he asked indirectly:

"What kind of slaves are easy to sell now?"

"Apart from the ship slaves, of course there are the white slaves," said Ramon.

"White slave?"

Seeing the confused Aix and the other man, Ramon explained:

"White slaves are female slaves from Vaegir. These Vaegir women have the advantages of both Orientals and Swadians. They are gentle and introverted, with delicate and fair skin. They are all beautiful, hardworking, and good at work. They are very popular now. And Vaegir women have another innate advantage."

"What advantages?"

As soon as the word women was mentioned, Bandak immediately turned into a pig and asked.

Seeing that someone was interested, Ramon immediately started to sell melons, and said with a slightly higher voice:

"You don't know that all Virgia women have a natural ability, which is that their bodies will naturally heat up at night. Just imagine, if you sleep with such a warm beauty in your arms in the cold winter, wouldn't it be so wonderful? Haha..."

As he said this, the guy started to laugh lewdly, and Bandak's eyes became confused. It was obvious that this pig brother was too involved in the play.

"Cough um."

Seeing Bandak's useless look, Aix coughed and continued:

"I don't need a woman. Do you have a slave with any skills, like a blacksmith, stonemason, carpenter, etc.? The price should not be too expensive, and the person should be honest."

"Yes, yes, but we don't have a blacksmith. This kind of craftsman is in short supply everywhere now. I happen to have a stonemason, two carpenters, and a leatherworker. Would you like to take a look?" Upon hearing about this kind of business where both parties can make money, Ramon's eyes lit up immediately and he agreed hurriedly, with extraordinary enthusiasm.

Soon, all four craftsmen were brought over. Originally, Aix was only going to buy one or two carpenters. He called them all over to confuse him and make bargaining easier. However, after asking about the past experiences and skills of these four people, Aix decided to buy them all. The stonemason Atiman impressed him the most. He was an honest man with leadership. He could repair castles. He was a contractor worth tens of millions of dollars. When he was repairing a castle for a Swadian lord, he repaired the castle very well with guaranteed quality and quantity. As a result, the lord was used to doing business without spending money and did not want to pay him. He sold his family of three as slaves without explanation on the pretext that he was corrupt. The two carpenters were captured and sold by the chaotic soldiers in the war. One could repair houses and the other could make carriages. They were exactly the talents Aix needed. The leatherworker was also an honest man. When he was collecting furs alone, he was kidnapped and sold as a slave by robbers. He started as an apprentice and could tan leather and make leather clothes. These four men are all young and strong. Now that the caravan has purchased more goods, they can serve as caravan servants even if they are not needed at the moment.

After some bargaining, Aix bought the four people at the price of 5 silver coins each. In fact, Aix would have bought them at 10 silver coins each, but he couldn't stand Ramon's evil face, so he winked at Bandak to bargain with him. Bandak thought it was not worth it, and shouted that he would get five times the profit from selling them for one silver coin, which was too much. He tried to pull Aix away several times. Ramon saw that this business was going to take off, so he had to grit his teeth and sell them for 5 silver coins each. Anyway, he would make a lot of money.

Finally, in order to appease the heart of the stonemason Atiman, Aix spent an extra four silver coins to buy his wife and children, giving him a complete home. Atiman was so moved that he burst into tears, and vowed to serve Aix wholeheartedly and until death. Seeing him swearing to the heavens and the earth, and thinking about the few silver coins he spent, Aix felt embarrassed.

After leaving the slave market, Aix called the four men together again and told them to work hard for the caravan. If they did a good job, not only would their slave status be freed, but they would also be paid like other guys. Moreover, if they had family members willing to take them in, the caravan would also make arrangements for them. The four men were so moved that they kowtowed and bowed, calling him their benefactor, and shouting that God had a good eye and they had met a noble man. What they didn't know was that many years later they would thank the noble man who rescued them today from the bottom of their hearts.

In the next two days, the news of a bumper harvest of olive oil in Suno City was basically known to everyone in Tiha City, and even spread throughout the Nord Kingdom with the caravan. At this moment, the instigator of this matter was drinking in the tavern with Bandak and others. Aix usually rarely visited such a place of right and wrong, mainly because he had no money and no power. This was the case in the original world, and it was the same when he came here. Today was their last night in Tiha City. As soon as the batch of salt and smoked fish arrived tomorrow, they would set off for Sagos. Several guys said that they were grateful for the money he gave to everyone, and they had to drag him and Bandak to drink together to celebrate. Hey..., don't you just want me to treat you, Aix thought to himself. He had no choice but to buy half a roasted lamb with a silver coin, and served everyone a few rounds of beer, so that the guys could eat and drink well, and the leader's generosity was carried out to the end.