novelraw Chapter 114
Chapter 114
Chapter 114
The Lion Tribe’s Chieftain, Rudelrof, had done quite a lot for us.
He not only alerted the Beastmen about the appearance of the Empire bastards but also stopped those who were about to act rashly.
He even informed everyone that the Johnson Territory intended to trade with the Beastmen and asked for their cooperation in advance.
He said that once the tunnel was opened, he would introduce us to other Beastmen tribes as well—there could hardly be a better ally than this.
—As expected of the bald male lion. Capable as ever.
‘Right. He’s truly a capable fellow.’
Especially, the fact that he managed to calm down the other excited Beastmen was an amazing feat.
Considering that the Lion Beastmen were naturally inclined to enjoy battle, it would’ve been normal for him to stir up chaos himself.
But Rudelrof had restrained that impulse.
He understood that it was more important to strengthen their foundation than to rush in out of excitement.
Such composure and insight were truly uncharacteristic of a Lion Beastman.
‘So, not all Lion Beastmen are like Limond. I’ve thought this before, but the Lion Tribe is really blessed.’
—Don’t they also have the Black Lion kid? That one’s quite sharp too.
‘If the Black Lions ever built their own village, Leon would make a fine chieftain.’
Rudelrof’s wisdom didn’t stop there.
He wasn’t content with simply supporting the tunnel construction—he went further and offered to mobilize his tribesmen to join the work directly.
He had realized that this tunnel project would bring great benefits to the Lion Tribe as well.
Indeed, right after we exchanged communications, Rudelrof himself descended to the Johnson Territory with about four hundred Lion Tribe Warriors.
“It’s been a while, Iron. Have you been well?”
“Yes, Chieftain Rudelrof. It’s been a year.”
The number of warriors he brought was around four hundred—quite an investment for the Lion Tribe.
It was support as bold as the gleam on his broad forehead.
It wasn’t hard to see just how earnest Rudelrof was about this construction.
‘Still, I didn’t expect him to come all the way here himself.’
I felt a bit sorry, but there wasn’t much Rudelrof could do here personally.
“I’d like the Lion Tribe to clear out the entrance area of the Monster Mountains.”
“The Monster Mountains?”
“Yes. Our troops have been dispatched elsewhere. It would be best if you could handle just the entrance area without overexerting yourselves.”
“Ah, I see. That’s fine. It’s a task we’d have to handle sooner or later anyway.”
“And, I’d like to ask for some escorts. The Rabbit Tribe will be handling the tunnel construction, but if they dig from only one side, it’ll take far too long. So, I plan to send some of them toward Rotsy as well, but… it’s a bit concerning.”
“Indeed, that makes sense.”
“Moreover, some human mages will cross over for surveying. They’re precious individuals, so I’m a bit worried.”
“I understand. We’ll take care of it.”
Even so, there wasn’t much the Lion Tribe Warriors could do here.
This entrance was already crowded with the Rabbit Tribe alone.
If anything, we needed to send some of them toward the other side. Adding Lion Warriors here wouldn’t really help.
It would be far better for them to clear out the entrance of the Monster Mountains and safely escort the team heading toward Rotsy.
Fortunately, this was just when all the Black Lions had been dispatched to Hawrun, so the help of the Lion Tribe Warriors was necessary.
“We’ll lend our strength to the tunnel on the Rotsy side as well. We have experience developing mines.”
“Ah, right. That’s true. Please do so. Working together will surely speed things up.”
Unlike the Black Lions, who only knew how to fight, the Lion Tribe men were said to be quite skilled in mining and metallurgy.
Weapons made by the Lion Tribe were considered high-quality even among the Beastmen.
To forge those weapons, they procured their own ores—and since there were many mines near Rotsy, they were familiar with mining work.
In fact, when they had bought Horned Rabbit meat from us before, they had paid with fine-quality iron and gold ingots.
Since they were experienced with mining, their help would be a great asset to the tunnel project, so I accepted the Lion Tribe’s offer of support.
“Then, I’ll be off.”
“Yes, Elder. Please take care.”
“Ha ha, don’t worry.”
Elder Benetrang, who had been overseeing the fortress construction in Hawrun, returned immediately upon hearing the news of the tunnel.
He said his part was done and that the remaining work could be entrusted to the other builders.
This had been arranged to some extent in advance.
Surveying the region where the tunnel would pass and planning its structure had been a difficult task, and only someone like Elder Benetrang could be trusted with it.
Thus, Elder Benetrang would also join the expedition to Rotsy.
Of course, he’d return to the territory once the surveying was completed.
“I’ll be going now, Lord Iron.”
“Yes, Sir Irene. Travel safely.”
The one in charge of escorting this mission was Irene.
Though the Lion Tribe Warriors would be guarding them, it wasn’t right to rely on them alone.
This mission involved Elder Benetrang, other builders, and the Rabbit Tribe as well.
So, Irene and the Crimson Comet decided to accompany them.
‘Looking at it now, it’s quite a large procession. They’ll make it back safely.’
No matter how dangerous the Monster Mountains might be, nothing was likely to happen to a group that included Irene and Rudelrof.
“Then we should start preparing for trade.”
Once the tunnel was completed, full-scale trading with the Beastmen would begin.
The thing to consider now was—what exactly did the Beastmen need?
What would we sell to them?
“Beastmen? Can’t we just sell the rabbits?”
“Of course, we’ll sell the Horned Rabbits. That’s our territory’s main product. But will that alone be enough? For now, we’ll have a monopoly on trade with the Beastmen, so they’ll definitely need more than that.”
“Hmm… I guess that makes sense.”
Once we drove all the Empire bastards out, the Levelium Region would return to the hands of the Peninsula people.
Given Levelium’s nature, they would soon try to trade with the Beastmen again.
Meaning, our monopoly on trade with the Beastmen wouldn’t last forever.
And I wanted to use this opportunity to strengthen our relationship with them—so that even if new trading partners appeared, they would still prioritize us.
To achieve that, I needed to understand their needs more precisely.
—Indeed, a wicked plan. You’re trying to make them dependent on the Johnson Territory, aren’t you?
The phrasing was crude, but the meaning was similar enough.
This was competition, after all.
Fortunately, because the Levelium merchant groups had acted like thugs until now, even a bit of effort on our part would yield great results.
Especially since we were currently in a position to monopolize trade with the Beastmen.
“You actually know quite a bit about trading, don’t you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Most Lords don’t care about that sort of thing. You look like a bear-like Knight, so I didn’t expect it. You seem… different.”
“I think I showed you some sharpness before, though.”
“That was strategy. Trade is a bit different.”
“Well, fine. So, what comes to mind?”
Since Yuria had traded with the Beastmen for quite a long time, she probably had a good idea of what they needed.
She had experience running her own merchant group—and she was a Beastman herself.
That’s why I asked her advice, and now it was about time for her answer.
“Hmm… the first thing that comes to mind would be salt.”
“Ah, salt. Right, there’s that.”
Humans needed salt to survive.
The same went for Beastmen.
Salt was an absolute necessity.
‘There aren’t any rock salt mines in the north. They must have gotten their salt from the merchant groups.’
Though the northern part of the Levela Peninsula was rich in various minerals, there were no rock salt mines.
So, they must have relied on the merchants for salt, paying quite a price.
‘It couldn’t be helped. Even in the Levelium Region, salt isn’t easy to obtain.’
Still, the merchants probably had a reasonable excuse for the price.
After all, they imported salt from the southern rock salt mines.
Since it was a product sourced from other regions, it was bound to be expensive.
The prices traded in Levelium weren’t light either—on that point, the merchants had a fair claim.
‘A lot of people suffer because of monsters.’
The reason Levelium, despite being by the sea, had to buy salt was because of the Nagas that occupied the coastline.
The western coast of the Levela Peninsula had a wide tidal range, making it ideal for salt pans, but the Nagas had taken over the shore, preventing their construction.
Before the Great Cataclysm, it had been a region that produced large quantities of salt—yet now, they had to buy it because of monsters.
When I thought about it, it really was absurd.
—Not anymore. The Nagas left, and that’s how the Empire bastards sailed in, right?
‘Right. The Empire probably had easy access to salt.’
But that was in the past. Now the situation had changed.
As the Nagas moved elsewhere, parts of the coast became unoccupied.
The Lords of Levelium had been caught off guard by the Empire because they never imagined anyone would cross the sea by ship.
The western coast was so infested with Nagas that no one would have expected ships to pass through there.
If Albert McBane, who first discovered the new sea route, had reported it properly, that ambush could’ve been avoided.
‘Well, Albert paid the price for that mistake in the end.’
In any case, once the war ended, the Empire bastards would be able to harvest salt safely again.
Whether sea salt or sun-dried salt—it all came from the sea.
‘Which means, we also need to supply salt at a fair price and in ample quantity. No matter how much we hate the Empire, no one can survive without salt.’
Yuria’s advice was spot on.
“We’ll have to ask Henil Territory for salt.”
“Ah, that place. Right, they’re by the sea too.”
“Yes. They can’t produce sun-dried salt, but they’ve been steadily harvesting sea salt. We’ve relied on them for our salt supplies as well.”
“Really? But can they produce enough to supply the Beastmen too? Henil Territory’s quite small.”
“Hmm, true…”
It seemed I’d have to check personally.
‘Of course, if we can’t get salt from Henil, there’s always Haken.’
If not Henil, we’d have to source rock salt from around Haken. Haken was also our ally, but not as dependable as Henil.
Henil had supported us consistently for nearly twenty years now, and there was no trust stronger than time.
Henil was a territory that would remain our eternal ally.
Since salt was a vital commodity for trade with the north, I wanted Henil to handle it if possible.
“I trust you’re not thinking of sending me to Henil Territory again.”
“Ah, well…”
“What? Don’t tell me you actually were? Even for you, Brother, that’s a bit much.”
The Knight who had gone to Henil Territory last autumn was Rudick.
I was planning to send him again, but he preempted me.
He didn’t mind managing the mines—but he clearly despised business trips.
—Wait, you really were? Your master’s personality is truly top-tier awful.
‘Ugh…’
With even that rabbit saying such things, I felt like I was doing something terrible.
Well… maybe I was.
It seemed this time, I’d have to go myself.
‘Honestly, I’ve been a bit curious about Henil Territory too.’
It was a coastal land rich in seafood, after all.
I was curious not only about the Lord of Henil, who had supported us all these years, but also about the abundant seafood of the territory.
It had been a year since I transmigrated here, plus the six months I spent here before that during my previous assignment.
I hadn’t had a proper taste of seafood since then.
‘Might as well enjoy some sea air while I’m at it.’
And so, my sudden trip to Henil was decided.