Chapter 18: The Happy Kobolds

When ten sacks of rye were placed in front of Fisa, like the other nine golden-furred kobolds, she started wagging her tail vigorously.

Ulyan pointed at the heaped-up grains and then at the spongy iron stacked beside it. "These ten sacks of grains for your twenty baskets of iron ingots and iron ores. The extra is our gift to make amends for the previous conflict."

"From now on, we don't want iron ingots anymore, just iron ores. Five sacks of iron ores for one sack of grains. Hmm... including the sacks."

The tails of the golden-furred kobolds were wagging at top speed. Humans were just too generous!

For kobolds, the valley abounded with iron ores. Mining was also an entertainment and exercise ingrained in the kobolds' genes.

Kobolds mined only to find their beloved shiny objects. Iron ores were rather dispensable to them.

The valley was filled with waste iron ores dug out and treated as garbage or obstacles. Only the iron ores with the highest purity would be taken by blacksmiths for processing.

Five sacks of iron ores were not much different from five sacks of stones in the eyes of kobolds.

On the contrary, the processed spongy iron required a large amount of manpower, time, and wood from the kobolds. This was the crystallization of their labor with the efforts of the whole tribe. It would be a pity to sell it.

And food was undoubtedly the top priority for the survival of any ethnic group.

Not to mention the attached linen sacks. For a tribe that couldn't grow and weave flax, delicate linen sacks were not only used to hold things. After they were torn, they could be cut up and used as clothes, bedding, curtains, and various courtship decorations.

Linen sacks, luxury items! The Louis Vuitton of kobolds!

Of course, transactions in the wilderness couldn't be measured by human market prices. The value of goods entirely depended on their rarity.

In the eyes of kobolds, the value of a linen sack far exceeded that of a sack of iron ores.

For Ulyan, he could tell at a glance that this rusty spongy iron was not more valuable than high-quality iron ores. Blacksmiths in any human town didn't like this kind of scrap iron that needed to be reprocessed.

On the contrary, the hematite dug out by kobolds had good quality, a stable source, a larger quantity, and was easier to sell for money.

One linen sack of rye weighed less than fifty pounds. But a sack of iron ores of the same size weighed as much as two hundred pounds!

Doing a quick calculation, one sack of rye could be exchanged for a thousand pounds of iron ores.

Fisa immediately stated that the kobolds could be responsible for transportation and deliver the iron ores to the River Bend Settlement Camp for the transaction.

It was like a pie falling from the sky. Where could you find such a good deal!

Several informed leaders looked at the overjoyed kobolds, and a hint of pity showed in their eyes. Their hearts were filled with a sense of guilt.

Carrying ten sacks of rye, Fisa led the golden-furred kobolds back to the tribe happily to announce the good news, leaving only twenty kobold cubs staring blankly at the backs of their elders.

They were forgotten.

"Don't we have much food left either? Is this the right thing to do?" Leo asked Ulyan after looking at the kobolds disappearing into the dense forest and then turning back.

Originally, they only had two carts of food left. Taking out these ten sacks of rye directly reduced it by nearly a quarter of a cart.

"It's okay. I'll set off tomorrow to find some old friends in town and sell these iron ores." Ulyan said with a happy face and waved his hand. "I'm a local here, got it?"

Leo had no choice but to let it go. His gaze involuntarily shifted to the large waterfall hanging on the horizon in the distance.

Wild folk (a term for some primitive races in the story), a peaceful race...

Soon, the sound of whistles came from the western dense forest again. One by one, kobolds, with wicker baskets filled with iron ores on their backs, emerged from the forest in a line.

There were about twenty kobolds carrying baskets, while the rest of the kobolds each carried an iron ore as big as their heads on their heads.

These short and stocky golden-furred kobolds did not enter the settlement. Instead, they stopped at the edge of the forest. As the humans approached, they involuntarily bared their sharp teeth and let out low growls from their throats.

It was impossible for them not to feel any hostility. After all, the warriors and the chief of the kobold tribe (a group of kobolds) had died at the hands of the humans not long ago. Just an hour ago, they were still enemies.

Led by Fisa, a husky-like kobold, they put down the iron ores, then spread out five sacks and carefully filled them with iron ores.

The kobolds were not big in size, and their baskets were small too. One basket of iron ore weighed less than thirty pounds (about 13.6 kilograms). Even when all the ores brought by the kobolds were gathered together, it was only a little over a thousand pounds.

Only after filling five sacks did the golden-furred kobolds stop. Their watery and shiny dog eyes stared at Leo full of hope.

Leo walked over with a sack of rye and threw it at Fisa's feet.

Two kobolds grabbed the sack and sniffed and examined it, then let out a series of growling sounds to their companions.

Suddenly, a series of whines and barks rang out in the kobold group, as if they had won some great battle.

Grain!

Like humans, kobolds were omnivores (animals that eat both plants and meat), but this kobold tribe had apparently lost the planting technique.

Apart from gathering acorns and pine nuts, they could occasionally harvest some edible grass seeds and wild beans, but the taste was definitely worse than that of artificially planted rye.

Although rye could be considered the worst-tasting among grains, the kobolds simply didn't understand and didn't care at all.

Pour a big sack of rye into a large pot, add some tree bark, acorns, pinecones, and rat meat, and simmer for a long while. It would be enough for the whole tribe to have a delicious meal.

What? Rye needs to be husked?

The kobolds said that husking rye was too wasteful, and it seemed that it tasted good even without husking.

We kobolds are also eating commercial grain now! (grain bought or traded, not self - grown)

Watching the kobolds surrounding Fisa, who was carrying the grain sack on her shoulder, happily walking back, and not forgetting to take their five bags of iron ores before leaving, Leo let out a sigh of relief.

The threat from the kobolds had been temporarily lifted, but it didn't mean they would definitely stay quiet.

Leo didn't dare to guarantee that just by using twenty kobold cubs as hostages and making a simple deal, he could completely secure the peace between the two small races.

Just in this short period of time, Leo had already noticed that except for a few female kobolds like Fisa, most of the kobolds simply didn't care about their cubs!

They couldn't even tell which cub was their own son!

Ultimately, the only thing that could ensure peace was one's own strength.

Back at the settlement, the militiaman in charge of guarding the kobold cubs walked up and said worriedly, "What should we do with these little kobold pups? In just this short time, they've already bitten through the pigsty."

After the kobolds left, there was no one to take care of the twenty kobold cubs, so the militiaman had no choice but to throw them into the newly enclosed pigsty.

In just a short while, a hole was bitten in the pigsty. The kobold cubs ran around the settlement in a panic, and the militiaman chased after them everywhere.

Don't be deceived by their cute looks, which resemble fluffy little puppies. When they walk, they stand upright on their hind legs for a few steps and then roll on the ground. But after they're weaned, the kobold cubs have all their teeth grown. The militiamen don't dare to let the children in the camp get close to them.

There are no pigs in the pigsty. This pigsty was built overnight by a young and strong villager to curry favor with Agatha, the young widow.

Agatha's husband and mother-in-law were killed during the orc invasion. She was left all alone, along with two newly born piglets.

Agatha raised the two piglets like her own sons. She even stuffed them in her quilt when she slept. Leo, the original owner, tried to steal them several times but didn't succeed.

She managed to take the two piglets on a journey thousands of miles south until they reached the River Bend Camp.

Now the two half-grown pigs still live in Agatha's tent, making it impossible for many young men with ulterior motives to make a move.

Leo went to the pigsty. A group of cubs that resembled little dogs were staring blankly at the human children watching them through the fence.

Leo opened the fence gate and walked in. He casually dropped a few pieces of firewood he had picked up, pointed at the firewood, bared his teeth, pointed at his teeth, then pointed forcefully at the fence, and finally made a throat-slitting gesture. He said coldly, "Understand?"

A bunch of kobold cubs were so frightened that they huddled together and nodded one by one. They were extremely intelligent.