Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton Chapter 1001

Chapter 1001: Chapter 570: Are You Spies?! Chapter 1001: Chapter 570: Are You Spies?! Before Ange and the others could figure out what was happening, the little boy who had run back now came sprinting over with a group of people, pointing at Ange and his friends, “They're over there!”

A group of unarmed and excited civilians came rushing over, obviously not to attack, especially as they each held up money in their hands.

“I want to buy candy! Candy! Sweet ones will do.” The little boy who spotted them first also ran the fastest, holding up two copper coins and shouting excitedly.

Ange almost didn't recognize what currency that was; he had almost never seen money with such small denominations. Gold coins were the smallest he'd dealt with, and even those were usually by the box, leaving him a bit bewildered.

Anthony, who was nearby, reacted quickly, took the little boy's copper coins, handed him two pieces of candy, then snatched him up before he could be pushed forward by the crowd surging from behind.

“Don't push, take it slow, line up, line up, if you push us, we won't sell anything!” Anthony shouted out, quickly pulling the Black Horse over to block the front.

Whether it was the Black Horse's intimidating presence or the threat of 'no more sales' that had an effect, the excited crowds quickly became orderly, crowding in front of Anthony.

Anthony quickly turned around and whispered, “It seems like they mistook us for a traveling post station, and with the situation unclear–and not knowing how the Undead Holy Fire was lit–we'd better play along for now. Old Du, quietly produce some needles, kitchen knives, and iron pots, and Lord Nage, bring out some salt and sugar.”

Negris hurriedly said, “Feiti, Little Zombie, take over in the front to maintain order. Anthony, come back and manage. But why do we need those things?”

With Little Zombie and Feiti taking their positions in front of the crowd, and the Black Horse blocking the way, unless another Mourning Skeleton came along, breaking through their barrier was impossible. Anthony also took the opportunity to step back, looking at the sign around the Rock Giant's neck with a wry smile.

“If they think we're a traveling post station, then these items are essential for such a station. Needles, as many places can't produce them and they are lightweight, are a staple for merchants–easy to carry and very profitable.”

“As for salt and sugar, there's no need to say–they're often used as currency in many places. All these are essentials for merchants. I'm not too familiar with post stations, but I doubt they're much different. It's a pity we don't have silver coins; let's prepare with what we have for now. I'll first find out what's really going on here.” After speaking quickly, Anthony ran off to the front again.

“Come and let me know what you want to buy, and I'll make a list to prepare the goods for everyone.” Anthony found a stone to stand on, making sure everyone could see him, and then shouted out loud.

“Salt, salt, salt.”

“Sugar, sugar, I need to make Soul Fire Bread, without sugar, you showing up so late, the Holy Fire festival is almost over.”

“Exactly, exactly, why are you so late? And you're the only merchant to arrive, the others haven't come. Don't you know the Holy Fire festival has moved?”

A clamor arose from the crowd all at once.

With an impassive face, Anthony loudly said, “Our Commerce Guild has gone bankrupt, everyone was recalled, and I came here risking unemployment.”

“Bankrupt? The Black Soil Commerce Guild is bankrupt?” His words stunned everyone to silence.

After a moment of quiet, the crowd started to discuss amongst themselves again, but no one dared push forward anymore.

From their discussions, as Anthony was taking down their orders, he began piecing things together and quickly understood the situation.

Returning with an amused and resigned expression, Anthony said, “I understand what's going on. It's the annual Undead Holy Fire Festival. It used to be held in a valley eighty kilometers away, but this year, because of us, it moved back here.”

“Because of us? What does that have to do with us?” Negris asked in astonishment.

Anthony rolled his eyes, “Well, who knows? We took the silver Priest, and with no one to sweep or drive them away, they moved back here.”

Negris spat out a mouthful of blood in surprise, “That Little Bone who surrenders when he can't win?” It turned out they really were to blame.

Little Bone had a peculiar fixation–Purification. He wanted to sweep the floors within the temple's vicinity spotless, and Negris suspected this wasn't so much Little Bone's obsession, but rather that of the silver Priest, as Bone Priests from the Master Plane behaved similarly.

Moreover, Little Bone was particularly slippery; if he couldn't win, he'd run, and if he couldn't run, he'd surrender right away, offering his Soul Oath very decisively, which is why he had been taken away.

Apart from him, the other Skeleton Zombies in the temple's ruins didn't have such fixations, and nobody cared about the mess created by others doing activities there.

Someone noticed that Little Bone was missing, and word spread quickly, from one to ten, ten to a hundred, until several villages together decided to bring the Undead Holy Fire Festival back to this place. So, it was moved back here.

Unfortunately, this year's Undead Holy Fire Festival coincided with the bankruptcy of the Black Soil Merchant Company. In the outside world, the Black Soil Merchant Company wasn't well known, but within the Dead Lines, it was the largest civilian commerce guild.

A civilian commerce guild refers to one that deals in everyday goods. Profits aren't high, but the scale is large and the company is indispensable. These commerce guilds typically deal in bulk commodities like grains and cloth.

If it were only that the silver coins had taken over the commerce guild but had laid off all the staff, it would have been okay, as the merchant couriers could have simply changed jobs to become independent merchants, expected to continue their previous work.

But the silver coins not only didn't lay off staff, they even increased salaries and then transferred them elsewhere. This was because the silver coins were not after a commerce guild, but rather its skilled workforce, especially those without much connection to the outside world or without any foundation.

One could truly say that the silver coins started from scratch. Even though Ange gave them millions of Magic Crystal Soul Crystals, he didn't provide them with a single person. Everyone surrounding them were recruited on their own.

The people recruited had two shortcomings: insufficient expertise and low loyalty; they were simply not up to the same standard as his previous subordinates.

This meant that the silver coins had to train these people while at the same time being cautious of them.

People who are both obedient and skilled are too hard to find. The silver coins set their sights on the Black Soil Merchant Company, not because of any plot against them, but because the Black Soil Merchant Company was established within the Dead Lines and its foundation on the outside was shallow. Yet its staff had some experience, making them easier to train and control.

These experienced but ungrounded traveling and itinerant merchants were the real targets of the silver coins. Hence, once the acquisition was successful, they increased the salaries and summoned them over.

With sufficient manpower, the commerce guild of the silver coins could develop faster.

But this caused suffering for the people within the Dead Lines.

“Commerce guilds like Black Soil are indispensable. They transport essentials like needles, thread, salt, sugar, cloth, and iron. Large cities might have major guilds, but those villages are in trouble. Many villages rely on these merchant couriers to replenish their necessities. Without them, villagers would have to go to big cities to buy these items themselves.”

“However this situation is not critical, because the market vacancy left by the Black Soil Merchant Company will soon be filled by other commerce guilds. Even some villagers who go out to purchase goods may buy extra to sell back in their villages. If the profit is attractive, they could change jobs to become traveling or itinerant merchants. The unlucky ones are the people of the Holy Fire Festival. ”
“They are unaware of the Black Soil Merchant Company's bankruptcy and the sudden change of venue for the festival this year, leading to no merchant couriers coming at all. The daily necessities like sugar and salt that they expected to buy at the festival market, they couldn't get any.”

“Many actually come out for the Holy Fire Festival to make large purchases, because at that time, merchants from all over gather, forming a large market that offers goods at much cheaper prices. Now, many can't even gather the materials for offerings. Seeking out places to buy them is too late since the Holy Fire Festival is almost over.”

After Anthony's explanation, everyone finally understood what had happened. Negris asked, “Then what's the deal with this group of Undead Holy Fire?”

“Oh, it's part of the Holy Fire Festival that was moved over here. It is guarded by the Undead Priests of the temple.” Upon saying this, Anthony lowered his voice, “The cohort of the Undead Holy Fire priests must be the last elite of the Undead Temple. It's said that there is an Undead Saint among them. Everyone be careful not to expose ourselves.”

Negris's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly passed down the warning.

Ange recited incantations with all the proper motions. The Rock Giant walked to the side of the road; one stone after another, it built itself up into a two-story stone house.

Ange went inside and took various supplies out of the space, pretending to carry them outside.

Anthony carried a bag of salt and a bag of sugar over, making a show of opening the bag to reveal the glistening salt and sugar inside and called out loudly, “Come get it, come get it, top-quality fine salt and frost sugar. Those who want it, line up, don't push and shove.”

After a buzz of excitement, the people promptly lined up, but this so-called 'line' was actually fan-shaped, all crowding in front of Anthony.

Anthony gave a wry smile, knowing that this was already the limit for these villagers, so he had no choice but to start selling.

So long as there was no scramble, whether they formed a fan shape or a line, it was a kind of order. The crowd quickly thinned out, and those who wanted to buy other things hurried to another place to cram together.

Half an hour later, several bags of salt and sugar had been sold, and Anthony's hands were tired from taking the money.

Just then, a thunderous sound of hooves approached, and three Skeleton Knights on Bone Horses galloped in, whipping the crowd out of the way. The leading Skeleton Knight demanded in a stern voice:
“Where did you get this salt and sugar from?! This pale salt and sugar, they better not be goods from the Sorcerer Alliance! Are you spies of the Sorcerer Alliance?!”

Chapter end

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