Chapter 120: Seed of Hatred
SLAP!
The crisp sound of a slap echoed through the room.
Garrot roared, "I told you to go acquire grain, and you managed to cause this much trouble! Was your brain soaked in pig manure? Is it full of shit?"
He had never been so humiliated, and the worst part was that he hadn’t dared to talk back, terrified of ruining the deal.
Cameron clutched his stinging right cheek, not daring to make a sound, but his rage toward Duane only intensified.
A long silence fell over the room.
After a while, Blake spoke up to ease the tension. "You can’t blame Cameron for all this. He was just eager to help us gather as much grain as possible to solve the Viscount’s problems."
Garrot sighed. "I’m afraid it’s going to be impossible to buy grain from the farmers here now."
"Why?"
Cameron asked, confused, "Didn’t that Baron just agree to let us buy? The price only went up by two Copper Coins."
They had brought enough money for contingencies, and it looked like they would actually need to use it.
"Duane may have agreed, but his people saw us bullying their Guards. They also saw the Baron get angry over it. They’ll definitely be hesitant and unwilling to sell to us now."
Some might be doing it out of loyalty to their Lord, while others might worry: ’If no one else sells and I’m the only one, will I be targeted?’
Besides, there weren’t many people who could sell grain in the first place.
So Garrot’s assessment was perfectly reasonable.
"Then what should we do?"
Cameron was getting anxious. If they returned without enough goods, and the Viscount decided to investigate, all the blame could be pinned on him.
He would likely be the one to bear the full force of the Viscount’s anger.
"What if we go buy some from Duke Star Sea’s territory?"
Garrot shot him a glare, his anger flaring up again.
"You really are a blockhead! Everyone in Duke Star Sea’s lands knows about our disaster. They’ve all jacked up their grain prices. You think you’ll be able to buy anything?"
"Besides, the Viscount rented ships and spent so much time and effort, only to end up buying grain from Duke Star Sea anyway. How would that make him look to others?"
Cameron shut his mouth, and the room fell silent once more.
After a long moment, Garrot couldn’t resist slamming his fist on the armrest of his chair.
"This Baron... he’s a tough one to deal with!"
"Indeed!"
The Vice Commander analyzed, "We didn’t fight earlier, but that Kaelon’s presence was formidable. Raymond, Simone, and Gaius are probably of similar strength—all Advanced Peak Warriors."
When it came to a fight, however, Garrot was very confident.
"That Kaelon is no match for me. You’re Human Tier, and Hall and Cameron are both Advanced Warriors. That’s enough to handle Raymond and the other two."
Without realizing it, they had already started calculating how they would win a fight.
"As for the remaining Middle Level Knights and Basic-level Knights, our numbers should be about the same. The only real gap is in the rank-and-file soldiers."
A single soldier is of little use against a Warrior, but they’re hard to deal with in large numbers.
"No, you’re forgetting—we also have Brison and Selena!"
"That’s right!"
The men’s eyes lit up.
Although the two were just accompanying them, Selena was Baron Torre’s wife, and Brison was Baron Torre’s Knight.
And Baron Torre was sworn to Viscount Freddy.
If they really were to fight Duane, those two would undoubtedly take their side.
One a Level 4 Mage with Mastery in both Fire Element and Arcane arts, whose Magic is incredibly powerful.
Add an Advanced Peak Warrior to the mix, and the scales of victory would absolutely tip in their favor.
Garrot narrowed his eyes. "If we could catch them by surprise, their numerical advantage would be negated."
"But that Baron is obviously on guard against us. He’s moved nearly all his Guards and Militia to this area."
Hall added, "Exactly. That Kaelon wasn’t even here before, but now he is..."
Garrot frowned, lost in thought.
After a long, long pause, he said, "For now, let’s stick to the normal procedures and see how much we can ultimately collect."
He didn’t finish his thought, but everyone in the room knew that if the final results were unsatisfactory, their commander would definitely take action.
With that, everyone understood the unspoken plan.
Cameron’s lips curled into a cruel smile. He would definitely find a chance to get revenge for that slap.
The next few days passed peacefully.
Duane and Garrot negotiated and finally came to a trade agreement.
Duane would sell 250,000 pounds of iron ore for 10 Copper Coins per pound;
1,000,000 pounds of grain for 4 Copper Coins per pound;
and 100,000 pounds of linen and its seeds for 2 Copper Coins per pound.
These three items were the main part of the deal, totaling 670 Gold Coins in earnings.
Everyone said Black Forest Island was poor and unprofitable.
But from Duane’s perspective, aside from its remoteness, it was actually quite good.
Grain in particular, during a bountiful year, had directly brought Duane 400 Gold Coins in revenue—even more than the iron ore!
If Duane had agreed to sell some of his oak trees, he would have earned even more.
Of course, this was just the gross profit. After deducting his various investments, it would be a different story.
For instance, with upcoming investments in building a castle, laying down tracks, and repairing roads, his net profit wouldn’t be nearly as high.
Aside from selling goods, Duane also purchased a few things from them.
For example, the Basic Enchantment Spell Model they finally agreed to sell cost him 10 Gold Coins.
He also bought fine beer and wine from the Starfall Islands, some glassware, cloth, cotton clothes, and so on.
Duane didn’t have much use for some of the items; for example, he wasn’t particularly fond of beer.
But some of the men under his command were.
When his subordinates performed well, he would have something to reward them with.
All told, buying these items cost him forty to fifty Gold Coins, which wasn’t cheap.
Half a month later, all the goods sold by Black Forest Island had been loaded onto the ships.
Of the eleven ships, they hadn’t even filled six, leaving the other five completely empty.
As for the grain they were most concerned about, they had only managed to acquire less than 50,000 pounds from other sources, bringing their total to just under 1,050,000 pounds.
The amounts of grain, iron ore, and linen obtained on this trip were far below expectations, and they hadn’t gotten a single piece of oak.
Naturally, Garrot and his men were very unhappy with this outcome.
They couldn’t go back and report these numbers.
Garrot also suffered a great loss of face. This was his first mission since becoming a Knight, and it had been such a disaster.
A "failure" like this would be magnified by the crisis in the Viscount’s Territory. Factions would surely begin to question whether the Viscount’s decision to promote him had been correct and reasonable.
"Let’s do it!"
Cameron urged, his voice filling the room.
If they didn’t, he would be the one taking the blame when they got back.
They could easily claim that his recklessness was what made Duane refuse to sell them more goods.
Garrot was silent for a long time before finally nodding.
"We do it."
He narrowed his eyes. "But we can’t be reckless. We have to make sure this doesn’t cause trouble for the Viscount."
The Vice Commander asked, "What’s your plan?"
Garrot tapped his fingers on the table. "We’ll wait for Selena and Brison to get back. Then we’ll discuss it together."
At that very moment, Selena was in Duane’s private courtyard, bidding him farewell.
The two of them had stayed out of the disputes from the very beginning, acting as if they had nothing to do with Garrot. They had spent the last few days out in the wilderness.
It was worth mentioning that someone had seen Selena and Brison laughing and frolicking together in the forest.
When no one was watching, they acted more like a pair of lovers.
All Duane could think was, ’So I’m finally in on the gossip.’
’I never would have thought that a woman as elegant and poised as Selena would be having an affair.’
’Truly, you can’t judge a book by its cover.’
Selena handed a bag of Gold Coins to Duane. "The Red Sun Grass isn’t that expensive, but this is a memorable place, and I am grateful for your permission to be here."
Duane hefted the bag slightly, estimating it contained a dozen or so Gold Coins.
’Mages certainly are generous.’
He couldn’t help but glance at the handful of Red Sun Grass in Brison’s hands. The plants were already dried and withered; a single look told him they hadn’t been picked recently.
Duane guessed they had probably prepared the herbs well in advance.
The two of them had probably just come to the Hot Spring Mountain Range to enjoy themselves.
"Thank you for your generosity, Selena."
Duane said with a smile, "This place will always welcome you and Brison, whenever you wish to visit!"
Selena froze for a second. A hint of panic flashed across her face, but she quickly regained her composure.
"Thank you. Your Territory is very beautiful. I will come again, if I have the chance!"