The Release That Witch
Chapters 17's

"It's a rotten place." When Petrov's emissary stepped out of his cabin, the smell of weathered wood smashed into his face. The surrounding air was moist and oppressive, causing people to feel extremely uncomfortable. He lifted his head and inhaled through his nose. The sky was completely overcast, and it seemed like heavy rain was coming.

"The last time you came here was a year ago," said the assistant ambassador while she gracefully wore a wool coat on the ambassador's shoulder, "There's nothing here, there's nothing, except for the rock."

"That's a year and a half." Petrov. "Every season, Duke chooses different people to come. The last time I was in Border Town, it was summer. But other than ores, they have more, like diverse feathers, and ..."

"What?" His assistant's face was empty.

Petrov shook his head and did not answer. He crossed the side of the ship, stepped on the moss-covered pier, and a board let out a creaking sound from under his feet. The wood will probably continue to support the dock for several years, but then it will be damaged, he thought. The border city not only had stones and feathers, but even.

But speaking of this was meaningless, the assistant was just an unknown city hall attendant, he was unable to see this point.

Between Longsong Fortress and Border Town was a vast wilderness, which still needed to be cleared for planting. On one side were impassable mountains, while on the other was the Chishui River, long and narrow like a corridor. As an outpost for the fortress, if they took on the responsibility of the defensive line, it would also bring the vast expanse of land into the possession of the fort. The soil is unprocessed, so it does not require healing before plowing. Instead, many crop circles can be planted, and on top of that, it has natural defensive lines on both sides. In the end, in order to produce enough for everyone to eat, it is not necessary to expend a lot of energy. Food shortages in Border Town were only a way to free the fort from the problems caused by population growth.

The only drawback is that it will require surgery for three to five years, as well as a large amount of money up front.

Unfortunately, when it comes to investment foresight, most of the nobility are bad businessmen.

"Hey, how could the page be empty?" The assistant pointed to a distant piece of land. "Don't they have to prepare the ore?"

Petrov sighed softly, "We will go to the castle, and meet with His Majesty."

"Wait ... Mr Ambassador, do you know if he'll accept you?"

He did not know if His Majesty would do it, but in his heart he did not want to say it. "Let's go, the stables are ahead."

The problem came now as the fort and Border town were divided into two separate regions. Due to the King's order to fight for the throne, the 4th prince was left in solitude. How could an ordinary noble or a royal member be here? Of course they would take all this land for themselves.

Selling minerals and jewelry in exchange for food and bread? I was afraid that the prince's eyes could only see the golden noble.

If it was himself, he would have done it. To watch helplessly as the output of its own territory was exchanged only with food ... The ambassador was afraid that no one would accept this situation. In addition, the product does not have to get to the stronghold. Most of the nobles forgot the fact that the Chishui River did not end at Longsong Fortress. He could sell iron ore at market prices in Willow City, in Dragon Mountain, or even in Red City, then take people from their city as new refugees - no more than a few across the river.

What can Longsong Fortress do? Block the river, and cut off the prince and his party? This will only be the defiance of the royal family of Graycastle! Everyone knew that the 4th prince was least likely to become a king, but without a doubt, it was still not good to oppose him since he was still bleeding the king. .

The Ambassador and his assistant rode on a rented horse, walking slowly forward on a stone road along the river. The stables only had old horses of mixed color; even if they drove slowly, the horses would still tremble. And for these two stupid horses, he still had to pay the advance of two gold royals.

"You see, sir, is that a boat from Willow City?"

Hearing his aide shout, he looked in the direction he pointed, only to see a ship with willow leaves on their green banner, hanging on their single pole, slowly sailing down the river. The water line of the hull is very high, signifying that the hull is loaded with cargo.

However, they were slow in reacting, thinking that the situation was the same as before ... Or, they consider mining projects not so worthy of attention. After all, the remaining five did not care, even his own father confidently rejected them. In fact, they are wrong, the low reward from mining results is mainly due to some other possible trade, if they switch to normal trading, they can earn more. And if you produce more, chances are you will produce more ore next year.

Can they achieve the monopolistic scheme they had previously thought of? Most likely, no, it definitely could not be realized. Petrov thought that, because he could see the empty grounds, the prince had no intention of allowing the minerals to be exchanged for poor-quality wheat, he had to contact other buyers.

If they still want to maintain this line of business, a thirty percent discount is their best bargaining tool. Because the distance between Willow City and Border Town was further, this would end up with an increase in transportation costs, but Willow City had more than one source of ore; the first price they offer will most likely be lower than the market price by half. As for Dragon Mountain and Red City, the price would be lower, so the 4th prince would approve the monopoly of Longsong Fortress - especially for the gem trade.

But the thing is, if he signed the contract, would his father agree? The other five families believed that letting Border Town surrender was an easy matter, should he disregard the family's interests in order to obtain a contract?

After all, in their eyes, Border Town was still controlled by their own Longsong Fortress, and everything could be given or taken by them.

They slowly crossed the city, heading towards the castle located in the southeast corner. This is not the first time Petrov has been here, but this time the owner has changed.

When the guards saw the ambassador, they immediately went in and told God.

The 4th Prince Roland Wimbledon quickly called out to Petrov, and when the two were guided into the hall; the prince was already sitting in the main seat waiting.

"Mr Ambassador, please sit down."

Roland clapped his hands and let the waiter bring him a delicious meal. Whole roasted chicken, boar legs with mushroom soup, butter bread, and a large bowl of vegetable soup. Clearly, at this border, the royal children did not have the slightest disturbance of personal enjoyment.

Petrov naturally did not hesitate, he traveled by ship from Longsong Fortress to Border Town, and even with favorable winds it took two days; if it was a cargo ship with a lot of masts, it would have been slower, maybe three to five days. There is no kitchen on board, so it usually comes with eating pieces of dried meat or whole grain bread. Looking at the steaming hot dish, he felt drool surging in his throat.

But thanks to years of training in aristocratic culture, he was able to maintain perfect eating etiquette. On the contrary, His Majesty's eating habits were much worse - especially the use of knives and forks. Petrov noted that in addition to the chisel knife, the 4th prince used a pair of small sticks. When the cutting was complete, he used a stick for all the other moves. And it looks like .. two rods are much more comfortable than a fork.

"What do you think?" At the end of the meal, Roland suddenly questioned the Ambassador .

"Uh, what?" For a moment the Ambassador lost his spirit.

"Here," Roland shook hands with a stick, before replying to Petrov, "The iron fork, for most people it's fancy, not to mention the silver fork. When you eat directly by hand, it is very easy to put dirty items along with normal food in the stomach. Disease comes in through the mouth, you know? "

The ambassador didn't know how to answer it, he didn't understand the meaning of 'disease enters by mouth', but according to his understanding of the previous sentence, Roland might be referring to the dirt that sticks to the food, the food, and it will happen.easily hurt when eating it. But when someone tries to diagnose his illness, no one knows the reason why they died.

"How many trunks do you think you can get by cutting down an oak tree in the forest? This bar is clean and easy to get. I'll promote this in town." The prince sipped his wine and continued, "Of course, now my people don't get much meat to eat, but I will slowly change it."

Petrov was relieved, he now knew how to answer. He routinely expressed his support and blessing, but in his heart he disagreed. Let everyone eat meat? It was really strange, even Graycastle was unable to do this, and this Border Town was in this remote land.