Chapter 276 Trading Greed

"Starting today, come here every three days to get the red potion I just made and drink it."

"Also, raise your arm."

Minori's expression turned serious as he spoke.

Cruche Lulu hurriedly raised her arm.

Swish!

A dagger appeared in Minori's hand. With a flick of his wrist, a flash of cold light streaked through the air, and a wound immediately appeared on Cruche Lulu's arm. Fresh blood flowed from the wound.

Minori picked up an empty potion bottle from the side and collected the blood flowing from her wound until all the potion bottles were filled with the dragon blood that Cruche Lulu had just drunk.

"Thank you for your trouble, go down and rest first." Minori's voice became much gentler.

Due to the loss of a lot of blood, Cruche Lulu's body became a little weak, and her eyes showed a sense of weakness.

But her thoughts became clearer and more invigorated.

"If you need it, my lord, I can provide you with blood at any time." Cruche Lulu was not afraid, but breathed a sigh of relief.

She was still useful!

As long as she was alive, she could ensure that nothing would happen to the Lizardman race.

Watching Cruche Lulu leave, Minori's gaze fell on the potion bottles filled with blood: "Whether it's because of the profession or the bloodline, the effect of 'dragon blood' is obviously better for Cruche Lulu."

"I've always used a single type of blood for research before. I really haven't thought about using multiple blood types in combination."

Day One of the Second Month.

A medium-sized sea ship was docked on the sea in the southeast of the Holy Kingdom. The sky was gray, and it was drizzling.

The sea breeze was not strong.

After all, it was just the sea area close to the inland, but there were still layers of waves on the sea surface, causing the entire sea ship to shake and sway on the sea surface.

A middle-aged man wearing ordinary clothes, with wrinkles around the corners of his eyes, and golden hair, stood on the deck, holding the ship's railing tightly with both hands, looking towards the blurry shore.

Even though his clothes were soaked by the rain, the middle-aged blond man still had no intention of returning to the cabin to take shelter from the rain, but instead looked worried and nervous.

The Holy Kingdom is a peninsula-shaped country surrounded by the sea on three sides.

In the middle, there is a sea area that is approximately 40 kilometers wide and 200 kilometers long. The entire country can be understood as being in the shape of a "5". It is precisely because of the existence of this sea area that the country is divided into the Southern and Northern Holy Kingdoms.

The wall fortress was built on the right side of the "5" shape, completely separating the Holy Kingdom from the Abelion Hills.

If you want to enter the hill country from the Holy Kingdom, there is only one formal route, which is to go through the wall fortress, and the other route is to go through the border sea area.

Entering February.

Most countries will often experience rain, because it is a peninsula-shaped country surrounded by the sea on three sides, the rainfall is relatively abundant.

This is not a suitable time to go to sea.

"I hope nothing happens."

The blond middle-aged man gripped the handrail of the ship, tightening it again: "Lord Baron, I hope this isn't a wrong decision."

About half a month ago, Trolls actually appeared in the hill country and went to the fortress to trade with the humans.

This was as unbelievable as the hateful demi-humans in the hill country suddenly submitting to the humans.

This matter was suppressed by the big shots of the wall fortress, but it still spread out. Lord Baron heard this rumor at a banquet, and that's why he had this idea.

"May the Four Great Gods bless us, I hope everything goes smoothly."

"This matter must not be known to other great nobles, or even Her Royal Highness the Saintess." The blond middle-aged man had a bitter face, constantly praying in his heart.

If this matter were to spread, their Lord Baron would definitely be sent to the gallows.

At this moment, on the distant seashore, several humans dressed as commoners were trembling in horror as they looked at the twenty burly and strong trolls that appeared in front of them.

"Demihumans, they are demihuman trolls!"

A commoner man's legs trembled, and even a smell of urine came from his lower body, and he opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

"Shut up!" The man suddenly spoke, scaring the other commoner men into a shiver. The man who looked like the leader glared at the other party fiercely, for fear of accidentally angering the group of trolls in front of him.

With just a few of them, facing these trolls, let alone escaping, they probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between their teeth.

"Food, we want food." A troll stared with scarlet eyes, looking at the humans in front of him who were empty-handed, and roared impatiently.

The rest of the trolls looked over one by one, some licking their lips, and some even drooling.

Facing this group of seemingly man-eating gazes, the legs of several human commoners had already softened, and some wanted to escape, but found that their bodies were unable to move because they were too frightened.

"Weak humans."

"I'm so hungry, I want to eat meat."

Seeing this group of humans with pale faces, several trolls laughed mockingly and playfully.

"The stuff is on the boat!"

Hearing the mockery from the other side, the leading commoner human suddenly felt a surge of courage in his heart. His voice trembled involuntarily, but he still said loudly:

"We need to send the things to the boat first before we can give you the food."

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.

The trolls, whose heads were covered with a large number of fleshy warts, turned their heads and looked at each other, unable to decide for a moment.

"Give them the things." The leading troll raised his thick arm, which was about to touch the ground, and waved it.

Large pieces of gold ore were carried over by the trolls behind and thrown in front of the humans.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Every piece of gold ore made a loud noise when it hit the ground, shaking not only the ground, but also the hearts of all the commoners.

"Gold?"

"Is this gold?"

The crowd, who had been terrified just moments ago, began to breathe rapidly as they saw the gold ore reflecting golden light, even under the gray sky.

This human clearly didn't know what they were trading for.

Soon, calming down, the group laboriously carried the gold ore to the boats on the shore, then quickly sailed away, disappearing into the rain and mist.

Only the trolls remained on the shore, waiting.

"They're gone."

"What if they don't come back?"

"I don't know."

"So hungry, want to eat meat."

A chattering discussion arose; though trolls have low intelligence, it doesn't mean they're stupid.

Time passed, bit by bit.

Soon, the humans who had left earlier returned with even more boats, their holds filled with various grains and meats.

They made dozens of trips back and forth, unloading all the food onto the shore. One of the humans shouted to the trolls, "The trade is complete!" before fleeing in the last fishing boat.

"Take the food away," the leading troll said in a loud, commanding voice.

Meanwhile, all the humans returned to the ship, finally breathing a sigh of relief. Being so close to man-eating trolls had terrified them all, fearing they would be eaten.

"Bargao, come here."

The blond middle-aged man looked at the commoners slumped on the deck. The worried expression from moments ago had vanished, replaced by his usual superior demeanor.

"Sir," the commoner who had mustered the courage to communicate with the ogres quickly scrambled to his feet.

This man was a big shot, the steward of their lord, the Baron.

"Tell me about the whole trading process," the blond steward said casually. The commoner recounted the entire transaction without holding back, even emphasizing his own brave performance.

His eyes were full of anticipation.

He hadn't expected the noble to dare to trade with demi-humans, thinking of the orange-yellow gold ore.

The commoner subconsciously swallowed.

The value of the gold ore far exceeded the value of the wheat and some meat given to the trolls.

The Holy Kingdom had abundant rainfall and flat terrain.

Various crops and grains were plentiful, otherwise, they wouldn't have implemented a universal conscription system completely different from the Empire and the Kingdom, and painstakingly built city walls and fortresses.

In terms of national strength alone, the Holy Kingdom was much stronger than the Re-Estize Kingdom.

"Those trolls actually followed the rules."

"Didn't they even check?"

After listening, the blond steward's pupils flickered with regret and greed: "This time, we prepared all new grains and meat."

"If I had known, I would have mixed in some old grain and rotten meat. Anyway, those trolls wouldn't check. Eating rotten food shouldn't be a problem for those demi-humans who eat anything."

The blond steward muttered to himself, then raised his arm and waved.

Before the commoners on the deck could react, dozens of soldiers armed with weapons swarmed out of the rear hold.

"Kill them all and throw them into the sea to feed the fish," the blond steward said dismissively.

In an instant!

Screams and the sound of bodies falling into the water echoed across the deck.

Creak, creak~

Kuro pulled the carriage along the muddy road. The wheels crushed the rain-soaked ground, and with the rapid rotation of the wheels, muddy water turned into denser black raindrops, spraying towards the low shrubs on both sides of the road and the road behind.

Inside the carriage, Enri opened the curtain and looked at the towering, endless, magnificent city walls and fortresses that were gradually appearing in the distance.

"Is that the Holy Kingdom? So amazing," Enri exclaimed, covering her mouth in surprise.

In Enri's mind, the city of "E-Rantel" was already magnificent enough, but compared to the endless city walls and fortresses before her, it was nothing.

"Oh, have we arrived?" A gentle voice came from behind. Minori opened the partition behind and entered the front carriage.

"Master."

"Master."

Enri's delighted voice and the Verdant Witch's respectful voice sounded.

Minori looked at the curtain Enri had lifted and gazed at the city walls and fortresses gradually emerging in the rain and mist: "A fortress? That's all it is."

He shook his head.

"Not incorporating the wall's fortress into the territory doesn't make for a truly solid fortress." Minori retracted his gaze and said indifferently.

"Master, have you finished your alchemy research?" Enri asked, seeing Minori, who was usually always researching and rarely appeared, with a happy expression.

"Alchemy can never be fully researched."

Minori smiled, reached out and rubbed Enri's chestnut hair, "Some things are endless, but I can rest for a while recently."

"That's great."

Enri felt the warm palm and a satisfied smile appeared on her face, "Master is always working so hard, it must be exhausting."

"It's better to work hard now than later."

Minori extended his index finger and gently tapped Enri's forehead, then looked at the Verdant Witch beside her: "Have you adapted?"

"I have completely mastered it, Master," the Verdant Witch immediately said respectfully. She understood that Minori was asking about the powerful force when transforming into the 'Wise King of the Forest'.

Her aura was indeed much more stable.

Minori glanced at the Verdant Witch and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Woof!"

Outside the carriage, Kuro let out a low growl, its voice filled with affection and a reminder, and then the carriage gradually began to slow down.

"We've finally arrived—the Holy Kingdom," Minori thought inwardly, looking at the now-clear walls outside the carriage.