The goods of the dwarves were very popular, and they were soon sold out. The dwarves put away the gold and silver coins, left the market, and left Helmgat directly.
"Aren't those the rangers of the Angerande clan? It seems that Bellegar is also there. " Laing said to Suria with interest, "I didn't expect Bellegar to bring his people here."
"His Majesty King Bellegar may be a little … concerned about his reputation, but he is not stupid. He came to investigate the market price and the surrounding forces. In fact, he has helped us a lot since he came to your territory and reunited with his people. Dugan didn't know how to make iron dragon cannons. It was His Majesty Bellegar who asked the chief engineer of the Angerande clan, Halhaver, to teach him," the female knight whispered.
"It's not that I don't know. The dwarves originally planned to give you a set of Meteoric Iron Armor. Later, when they saw that my father had sent a set of armor, I asked them to make a set for my brother," Ryan whispered.
"Brother? Angerande? "Suria was a little confused.
"Yuri, isn't your brother my brother? We are a family. " Laing muttered, "It's a waste to make a set of meteoric iron armor for Angerande. I don't think it's very useful. Angerande's fighting style is to slash and slash. It doesn't make any difference whether it's a runic silver plate armor or a meteoric iron plate armor."
The female knight couldn't help but snicker. At the same time, she was very happy. The words "your brother" and "brother" both referred to Julius, but the meaning was very different.
She looked curiously at the dwarves who were leaving the city and then said, "By the way, why are these dwarves here to sell? We Brittany also need dwarven equipment. "
"Because those equipment are inferior or defective." Ryan continued to ridicule, "My relationship with Belegar is pretty good. He sells us first class goods, but even if he is a dwarf, it is inevitable that he would make some defective goods. These defective goods are never used by the dwarves, and they are sold to humans at a high price. Anyway, in the dwarven language, humans are people who make defective goods. But then again, even the defective goods made by the dwarves are much better than the things made by human craftsmen."
Laing and the others did not go up to greet Bellegar. They walked around the town for a while and soon checked into the Oliver Hotel in the city.
It was a large three-story hotel in the downtown area, in a dark alley near the market. Because the time was not right (the Winter Veil festival had just passed), the hotel was relatively quiet. Laing and the others greeted the hotel owner, who immediately opened the most luxurious suite on the third floor for Laing and the others to stay.
After the group put down their things, Rudolph and Wagner went to find the Earl of the border to get the customs documents approved. Laing and the others put down their things. The Earl looked at the wooden floor and animal skins of the hotel and nodded. "Oliver's business has been getting bigger and bigger these years."
The Oliver Hotel was a part of the Oliver Chamber of Commerce. With Laing's support, Oliver opened a number of hotels in Brittany and other parts of the Empire.
Opening a hotel had many uses, but the biggest one was not profit, but the collection of information and the internalization of transactions. Helmgat was an important border town at the Axe Bite Pass. Whenever there was a change in the diplomatic relationship between the Empire and Brittany, Helmgat would always be the first to know.
For a merchant, information was the most important thing. That was why Oliver opened hotels at Montfort Castle and Helmgat. The Axe Bite Pass was the most important trade route between the Empire and Brittany. Laing had a headache over the Axe Bite Pass' shockingly high tariffs, but he had to admit that with the joint efforts of the Empire and Brittany, the safety of the Axe Bite Pass could be guaranteed.
That was business. High risk, high return. Low risk, low return. People always wanted to invest in low-risk, low-return investments.
Are there any deals with low risk and high returns?
There were only two kinds. One was a scam, and the other was a high-threshold transaction between the upper class.
For example, the trade contract between Laing and Tegris was a low-risk, high-return transaction. However, it was impossible for an ordinary merchant to complete such a transaction. If a human merchant tried to find a high-precision merchant in private, he would probably be greeted with a scowl or even a fireball.
"Oliver's business has been getting bigger and bigger in the past few years." Laing looked down at the buildings in Helmgat in the sea of clouds. The city was on the mountainside, overlooking the crisscrossed plains in the distance. Unfortunately, it was winter, and the mountains were covered in clouds. He could not see far away.
"Oliver. When we first met him in Nord, he was still a small merchant." Teresa was wearing a Brunswick gray frosted dress. Her long black hair shone faintly behind her head. The sorceress tightened her white bearskin coat and held a black crocodile leather bag in her hand. "Do you remember? Laing? "
Both Suria and Veronica were very interested in this matter. They kept asking.
"Of course I remember. I still remember Oliver's clothes. It was very strange." Laing rubbed his chin. "I still remember his strange clothes. He wore gold and silver and forced himself to wear armor. When he told me that 'time is money', we were still marching on the Scarville Mountains."
"Mr. Oliver? I rarely see him wearing gold and silver, "Suria said.
"That's because Oliver is rich now. Madam Suria, you know, merchants are not like nobles. They are the opposite." Veronica was wearing a classic layered corduroy skirt. There was a faint smile on her sweet face. "Is it your impression that the merchants in Winford's court are all dressed plainly and submissively?"
"Yes, there are a few merchants who do business in my father's place. Every time I see them in the court, they are dressed very simply and clean." Suria nodded thoughtfully. The female knight grew up in the court.
"The smaller the capital and the smaller the merchant, the more he has to wear gold and silver to show his wealth and ability. On the other hand, the larger the merchant's business network, the more he has to keep a low profile." Veronica giggled. Gallan explained to Suria, "Otherwise, if the nobles are unhappy, even if they are not killed, they can be easily replaced. How can the merchants fight against the nobles?"
"So that's how it is. No wonder when father met those merchants, they were all trembling in fear and spoke softly." Suria nodded. "I remember the first time I saw Mr. Oliver, he was dressed very luxuriously. Now, he only wears a gold ring and a silk shirt. He doesn't wear any jewelry. He looks like an ordinary court official."
"Knights are different, Veronica. I heard that when you first met Laing, he was only an elite warrior?" Teresa asked curiously.
"Yes, Laing was only a ranger knight. He was wearing a breastplate, and his face was covered in dust. I still remember that I was in a bad mood. I raised my hand and cast a fireball. Laing was only in his early twenties. His face was charred black, and his white teeth were exposed." Veronica said casually. "His handsome face was burned like a dog's."
"Hahahahaha!" The room was filled with laughter. Only Laing's face was red.
"Me too. When my mother and I went to the Nord court to attend Laing's promotion ceremony, Laing pretended to drop something and peeked at us." Teresa's face was a little red, but she was still talking about Laing's dark history.
"That's right! Laing really likes … "Suria joined in the conversation.
Laing's face was red. He quickly said, "You two talk. I'll go down and take a look."
The count hurried down the stairs. Even so, he could still hear the laughter from upstairs.
Three women, one drama.
The owner of the hotel was doing the accounts. When he saw Laing coming down, he immediately bowed. "Sir Count, how may I help you? Is there a problem with the room? "
"There's nothing wrong with the room. I just have something to ask you." Laing stood in front of the counter and whispered.
"Please tell me, Sir Count." The owner of the hotel knew who was supporting Olivier. He looked around. It wasn't the peak season for merchants, so there weren't many guests.
"Don't be so nervous. I'm just asking. How's Helmgard doing?" Laing waved his hand to indicate that he wasn't trying to pry into any secrets. "Trade, security, and such?"
"Not very good. Ever since Helmgard was invaded by Duke Casfern, even though the Empire and Brittany didn't affect the treaty, most merchants are still waiting on the sidelines. Some even trade from Marienburg by sea. Count Reinhardt von Mackensen is feeling uneasy about the declining trade. He recently tried to negotiate with Duke Montfort, Fulcade, to lower the tariff to encourage trade." The owner said, "Of course, my Count, there are still many caravans that trade through the Axe Pass."
"What about security?" Laing wasn't surprised to hear this. He continued to ask.
"Security is good. There haven't been many green-skinned Orcs and Orcs recently." The owner heaved a sigh of relief and said, "However, rumor has it that Helmgard's sewers and mines aren't peaceful. There are many traces of rats, and they are rats the size of humans! These rats often appear from the sewers and mines to attack livestock and kidnap humans. "
"Rats the size of humans … Skaven Ratmen?!" Laing's expression changed slightly. He frowned and said, "Didn't Count Helmgard send troops to clean them up?"
"Shh, my Count." The owner hurriedly looked around. After confirming that no one was paying attention, he said in a low voice, "Lord Laing, not many people in the Empire know about the existence of the Skaven Ratmen. It's limited to the upper nobles."
Laing's frown deepened.
In Brittany, everyone knew about the dangers of the Skaven Ratmen. Since the founding of the Knight King's Kingdom a thousand years ago, the intermittent war with the Ratmen had never stopped, especially in the southernmost Kacason Principality.
The Ratmen had never been able to invade on a large scale. This was thanks to the Wood Elves. The Wood Elves of Azloren Forest were the nemesis of the Ratmen. Whenever the Ratmen came, the Wood Elves would beat them until they fled.
The Empire was different. The last war between the Empire and the Ratmen was a few hundred years ago. The Ratmen intentionally kept a low profile, and the commoners had forgotten about the existence of the Skaven Ratmen. Only the nobles had records of the Skaven Ratmen, and many of the records were vague.
"How did Count Reinhardt deal with this?" When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Laing knew that it wasn't convenient for him to publicize the threat of the Ratmen. After all, he wasn't a noble of the Empire.
"The Count attached great importance to this matter. Not only did he use a portion of his family's wealth to hire a group of sewer cleaners, he also sent an army into the depths of the mine to investigate the situation. However, the army hasn't returned yet," the innkeeper continued.
"Understood." Laing thought that the Skaven Ratmen might be infiltrating the city. He planned to wait for the two Rick guards to return and discuss with them.
After waiting for a while, Rudolph and Wagner returned. Their faces were full of bad luck. They entered the inn and sat down in the lobby. "Boss, give us two cups of top-notch rye beer. Hurry up."
"Ah! Yes, sirs. " The innkeeper hurriedly took two cups of black beer from the beer barrel and placed them in front of them. He carefully asked, "Excuse me, did something happen?"
"Has the customs clearance been approved?" Laing asked curiously.
"No, Count Reinhardt is not in the Count's castle." Rudolph drank a few mouthfuls of black beer and said rather discontentedly, "Those attendants stopped us for a long time. After we asked them, they told us that Count Reinhardt was not in, and they didn't know where he went. The customs clearance document can only be stamped when the Count comes back. The Count will only be back at night, which means that the stamp can only be stamped and applied tomorrow. You can only depart the day after tomorrow."
"That's fine. We'll just stay here for one more day." Laing shrugged. Everyone had their own troubles. One more day was no problem.
"That's the only way." Wagner, on the other hand, was very open-minded. This Rick Guard recruit saw this journey as a tour. He played with the revolver in his hand and said, "Speaking of which, I saw a cow in the center of the city that had been gnawed full of holes …"
Laing, Rudolph, and Wagner chatted for a few minutes in the lobby. Suddenly, there was a strong vibration and the sound of the house shaking. The beer in the Rick guard's hand spilled directly on his face.
The Oliver Hotel was shaking violently, and dust was falling from the ceiling.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! "There was an earth-shattering explosion in the distance outside the hotel.
"What's going on? What happened? " Laing and the others were shaken to the ground, but these people were all professional soldiers. They immediately got up. Rudolph and Wagner's knight squires immediately began to equip the two Rick guards.
Laing got up from the ground with his hands and feet. He ran to the door of the hotel and opened it. Then, the scene that greeted him made him open his mouth in surprise.
In the distance, the barracks of Helmgard were burning with thick smoke.
On the streets, large groups of Ratmen the size of humans were pouring out of the sewers, gutters, and corners of the buildings in groups, slaughtering the civilians of Helmgard!
“skaven~yesyes！”
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
