Unknown Knight

Two days later, the caravan arrived at the capital of the Kingdom of Vigia, Rivadin. The atmosphere of war here was already very strong. Small troops carrying various noble flags were often seen in and outside the city. The prices of various materials had begun to soar, especially strategic materials such as grain, salt, and iron. The goods brought by Aix were very popular, and he made a lot of profit after selling them at high prices.

The city of Rivadin is a town similar to the city of Kulau, but it is much cleaner than the city of Kulau. There are not so many smoky blacksmith shops, and the air is much fresher. After all, it is the capital of a country.

However, the entire country of the Kingdom of Vigia was shrouded in war clouds at the moment. Anything could happen in such an environment. Aix had no intention of staying for long, fearing that he would be involved in any unfavorable consequences, so he left the next day.

After leaving the Kingdom of Vigia, Aix and his party traveled for another 5 days before arriving at the city of Dheerim, the first city he visited in this world. In fact, it would take at most three days to get here from the city of Rivadin. The reason why they traveled for two more days was to purchase food here, which was the main purpose of this trip to the Kingdom of Swadia.

They went to 5 or 6 villages around Dehrium City, and in addition to purchasing enough wheat, they also bought some dried meat, wool, beer and other supplies. When they arrived at Dehrium City, they had already completed the purpose of this acquisition. Looking at the city gates in and out in the distance, Aix hesitated whether to go in and take a look. After all, near the village of Eberron, they joined forces with the bounty hunters of Ayreen to kill many gangsters in the city, and sold the living ones to slave traders. One of the most famous was the gangster leader Marcus.

Bandak seemed to see Axe's hesitation and walked over and said:

"Sir, why don't we find a place outside the city to stop first and let Manide go into the city to check if there is any reward for us. It won't be too late to go into the city later."

"Is this okay? What if those people's relatives and friends find out?"

Axel still had some doubts. After all, the public security in his original world was extremely good, and there was a principle that all major murder cases must be solved. He was now considered a man with blood on his hands, so he couldn't help feeling guilty.

"It's okay. As long as there's no official wanted list, it means the authorities haven't convicted us. Even if we're recognized, they won't dare to embarrass us in the city. Dehrium is a commercial town with a lot of merchants coming and going, so the most basic law and order must be maintained."

Aix thought about it, although this era is not only closed to information, but also the lower classes have no basic human rights, but as long as they do not offend the powerful, the lives of the lower classes do not affect taxation, the nobles do not care. Moreover, the location of this city is important. From the map, it is located in the center of the Calradia continent. In the future, merchants will inevitably pass through here. Let's see if there is a wanted person. If not, then passing through here will at least be more assured. Let Manide lead people to drive the two empty cars into the city to take a look first.

About an hour later, Manide sent someone back on horseback, saying that there was no wanted notice for the caravan in the city, and that Marcus's disappearance had led to his territory being divided up by others, and there were no rumors in the city that were unfavorable to the caravan. Only then did Aix feel relieved to let the entire caravan enter the city.

After more than two months, Aix came to Dehrim again. Although there were recent rumors that the Kingdom of Swadia was going to go to war with the Kingdom of Rhodok, it was very peaceful here. Unlike the city of Rivadin, which was shrouded in war clouds, there were many merchants coming and going. The autumn harvest had just passed, and the local wheat and beer brewed from new wheat were very popular, which was also the main purpose of foreign merchants coming here.

Aix and his party came to the same beer workshop as last time. After listening to the report from the waiter, the owner of the workshop hurried out to greet them. After all, Aix had shocked him quite a bit last time, so he had to take it seriously and even specifically instructed his waiters to be careful.

The workshop owner couldn't help but gasp when he saw Aix again. He saw that Aix, wearing striped armor and carrying a Sarande elite scimitar, was not only much taller and more sturdy than last time, but his facial temperament was also more stable and mature, with a hint of weather and determination. If it weren't for the deep impression he made last time, he would have thought they were two people if he didn't look carefully. He became more convinced of his previous idea that this was a nobleman's son who was traveling outside to hone his skills.

"Oh my, it's the gentleman. Please come in quickly."

If it was the first time he came here, the workshop owner would have invited Aix to the inner room to chat. He was now worldly-wise, knew how to take into account the difference in status, and understood the way of doing business. He just waved his hand and said:

"I won't bother you, boss. I have something important to do this time, so I can't stay here for too long. Thinking of your friendship last time, I came here to meet you and visit you. I won't bother you any more."

After saying this, he waved his hand, and a clerk handed over a bag of refined salt. Aix handed it to the workshop owner and said:

"This is a good thing that has recently been produced in the Nord Kingdom. It is called snow salt. Food cooked with it tastes delicious. Eating it won't make you sick. It can also be used to whiten your teeth. It is cheaper than Sarande salt. I'll give it to you to try."

The workshop owner took it and opened it. The snow salt in the bag was as white as snow. He picked it up and tasted it. The salt tasted pure and did not contain any strange impurities. Even Kugit salt and Sarand salt could not achieve such quality. The price was cheaper than these salts. It was really a good thing. He could not help but exclaimed:

"What a great thing! I've never seen such high-quality salt on the market before. Where can I buy it?"

This question was exactly what Aix wanted, and it was also the biggest reason why he had to venture into Dehrium City this time. This was a place where merchants met. If the snow salt was sold here, it would soon circulate throughout the continent, bringing more income to the caravan faster. This workshop owner was the only person Aix was familiar with in the city. Judging from what happened last time, this person's work style was reassuring, and his background must be strong. He was the partner Aix needed, so he followed the workshop owner's words and said:

"Hehe, commissioned by His Highness Ragnar of the Nord Kingdom, our caravan is selling snow salt to the outside world. How come the boss is also interested in this snow salt?"

When the workshop owner heard this, he raised his eyebrows and said with joy:

"Of course, such good products will definitely have no problem selling, but...?"

Aix nodded and smiled to tell the workshop owner that there was a way, waved to Manide to come and discuss the details with him, then said that he had other things to do, said goodbye and left in a leisurely manner.

After the last incident in Dehrim City, Aix had thought about it carefully in private. He knew that many people regarded him as a nobleman of superior status, and this workshop owner was one of them. Since he was a nobleman, he could not always take the lead, nor could he be too close to people of "lower" status than himself, and he could not have equal negotiations. So he told Manide in advance and let him negotiate, while he was only responsible for introduction and pretense. In this way, he could raise his status to gain a psychological advantage, and then use this advantage to let Manide gain an advantage in negotiations. He could also use this unfathomableness to make the partners afraid and dare not easily do things that would be disadvantageous to them.

Overall, Axe was very satisfied with the result this time. Listening to the workshop owner's greetings as he was seeing him off, Axe knew that he would watch him go far away with a respectful smile. This act was very successful, and Axe gave himself full marks.

At night in the hotel in Dehrim City, Aix listened carefully to Manid's report on the results of the day's negotiations. Aix was quite satisfied with the agreement reached. The workshop owner named Prius was very sincere about this cooperation. Not only did he want 20% of the total sales of snow salt as profit, he also promised to give a 10% discount to the caravans when they came to buy beer in the future. It was a mutually beneficial cooperation.

The next morning, the caravan set off for Suno City. This trip to Dehrim City was not in vain. Not only did they basically complete the purchase of grain, but they also supplied the remaining snow salt to the beer workshop owner Prius. In addition, the beer purchased at a low price and transported to Suno City was another huge income. It can be said that they returned with a full load.

Generally, the caravan would stay in each town for 2-3 days. The reason for the return trip was that they were in such a hurry, in addition to knowing that there might be a war between the Kingdom of Vaegir and the Kingdom of Swadia, there was also a piece of indirect information that Manid got when he was negotiating with Pris yesterday, that is, the workshop owner had not heard any news that Dehrem City was preparing to send troops to rescue Uxhall City, neither in the market nor from his backers. And according to his reaction, whether it was the noble circle of Dehrem City, or the merchants from the Khergit Khanate and the Kingdom of Vaegir, they were all dissatisfied with the high price of olive oil. Some nobles of Dehrem City even said that if Uxhall City was attacked, he would not send troops to respond.

It seems that Marquis Dilinard's behavior of eating alone has indeed aroused public anger. Not only does the Rhodok Kingdom want to deal with him, but the nobles of his own country also oppose him. In the case of isolation and helplessness, the city of Uxhall is likely to be captured. In this case, the war will definitely expand further. The Kingdom of Swadia will not stop until the city is taken back. It is unknown when the war will end. Moreover, the city of Uxhall is located in the central part of the Kingdom of Swadia, and the surrounding area is the main grain-producing area of ​​the entire continent. Once the city of Uxhall falls, the chaotic soldiers will definitely loot and destroy the nearby grain-producing villages, and even the villages in the central part of the entire kingdom will not be spared. The addition of these two conditions will only produce one bad result, that is, famine caused by the skyrocketing food prices, a famine that will kill people in a large area.

Faced with this situation, Aix felt that he should do something, at least try his best to alleviate the negative impact. This was not only because the chaos brought about by war and famine was not conducive to business, but also because of the inherent morality in the hearts of modern civilized people.

After much thought, he decided to stock up more food while he still had some money. Currently, the price of food nearby was between 10 and 15 copper coins per bag, and in some individual villages the price was even as low as less than 10 copper coins per bag. Such a low price was a good time to buy, and he could use the limited funds on hand to stockpile more food.

This may seem like hoarding, which is no different from the behavior of profiteers, but from the starting point and the final result, it is fundamentally different from profiteers. Even if Aix does not buy these extra grains now, someone else will definitely buy them and hoard them in the future, and the rest will be eaten up by the soldiers in the future wars, and eventually when the grain prices are high in the future, many poor people who cannot afford to buy grain will starve to death. But if Aix hoards these grains now, when the grain prices are so high that the poor cannot afford them, he can not only sell the grains at a higher price to make a small profit, but also try to use lower grain prices to stabilize the market price, so that more people can afford to buy grain, thereby achieving the goal of saving more people.

Thinking of this, he took action immediately. When passing by Biglen Village again, Aix, grateful for their help last time, bought all the surplus food in the village at a high price of 15 copper coins. The moved old village chief Evan held Aix's hand and kept telling him to visit the village often in the future.

When they left, the caravan borrowed two wooden carts from the village, and then split into two groups. One group, led by Bandak and Manid, had a total of 10 people and four carts, mainly carrying food and beer purchased from Dehrim City to Suno City, and then bought surplus food at low prices in villages near Suno City and stored it in the warehouse in the city. The other group, led by Aix and the remaining people and six carts, carried coarse salt, food, dried meat and other goods purchased along the way, and returned directly to the valley.

Three days later, Aix and his party returned to the valley. The valley had changed a lot since Aix left. The wood and branches that were originally piled up everywhere had been cleaned up, and the houses for living were basically built. Amanti was leading the rest of the people to clean up and pave the roads in the valley. The whole valley seemed neat and orderly, thriving, and everyone had a smile on their face, and everyone was full of energy.

The return of Aix and his companions suddenly turned the valley from peaceful to festive. The women were delighted and gathered together to prepare a sumptuous dinner for the men who had worked hard for many days. The children ran around the valley, holding wooden dragonflies and rattles bought by their parents, showing off to others everywhere. The old people gathered around a few frivolous young men, listening to their exaggerated stories of what they had seen and experienced along the way...

In the evening, Axe specifically talked to Old John about his idea. Old John also agreed with his behavior of hoarding grain, and as a local, he was grateful for Axe's approach. He even took out 300 silver coins he had saved to use as funds for selling grain. Axe knew that Old John had difficulty walking now, and this money was for his retirement. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that I am not alone, and there are still kind-hearted people even in troubled times.

After only one day's rest, Aix led the caravan on the road again. The current situation is changing, and who knows what will happen tomorrow. Since they have decided to care about the people, there can be no delay. This time they brought a total of eight trucks, two of which were new trucks that Amanti had just made recently. Aix tried them and found that the performance was indeed much better than the old trucks. Before leaving, Aix also specifically told Amanti to put aside other work at hand for a while and build a few warehouses to store the purchased grain.