Chapter 287 A person who knows how to do business
"If they don't repent, I will make them remember what to do with their bodies," Candice crossed her arms. She was gentle, but her eyes were as sharp as a hawk.
"They should know that most of the residents now get along well with the 'village guards', and what they are doing is going against the will of the village.
I have given them enough chances in the past. If they continue to be stubborn, I will not show them mercy anymore."
"...That's good." Anpu sighed silently, with a hint of sadness still on his face.
No matter how they try to escape, the village is eventually dragged into the dispute. Even the Order of the Lords is involved. I wonder if this matter can be properly resolved, and whether these "village defenders" can regain their sanity and live a normal life again. Sigh——
"Don't worry, Village Chief. I will never let the village fall into danger. I will take care of everything," Candice restrained her momentum and continued to speak in a calm tone, gently but firmly.
"...But these matters will have to wait until the caravan leaves the village before we can arrange them. We cannot let the two kind scholars who disclosed the information to us be implicated. Although Mr. Harold did not say it explicitly today, his words also conveyed this meaning."
"Well, we have to keep the secret for them. There are so many people coming and going in the village, there are always some with bad intentions, and our villagers are not always of one mind..." An Pu said worriedly.
"Those idle people..." Candice shook her head helplessly.
There is a rumor circulating in the desert that the Great Tree King usurped the authority of the Red King and built a sand-proof wall to isolate the Red King's people from the rainforest.
The spread of rumors has caused many desert people to feel resentful towards the Tree King, but this statement is completely unfounded. The three gods of the previous generation had a close relationship, and the purpose of the Great Compassionate Tree King setting up the sand-proof wall was only to block the wind and sand, protect the residents of Kawanyi, and prevent land desertification.
She did not shut out the desert people, and the thirty members of the group still active in the rain forest were living proof that their ancestors were the desert people who moved to the rain forest in that era.
It was only after the fall of the Great Compassion Tree King that the fortress was used by the Order as a checkpoint to block the desert people, and its nature changed.
As for the rumor that the Great Tree King usurped the power of the Red King, it is completely groundless. There is no evidence to prove that it is true. It is just that this rumor gave some desert people a window to vent their feelings against their difficult lives and made them feel superior to the rainforest people, so it spread widely.
But the radicals who spread and believed this claim are now taking revenge on those mentally ill scholars, completely throwing away the dignity and glory of the heir of the Red Prince!
Candice herself did not like the term "glory of the Red Prince's heir" because it would bring unnecessary disputes and disrupt the villagers' originally peaceful lives, but she did not mind using this term if it was used to educate those who disrupted order.
After thinking for a moment, she said, "I will counsel them, arrange jobs for them or supervise their studies. There are many interesting stories in the textbooks brought by the caravan. I hope they can be inspired by them."
An Pu nodded and suddenly asked, "Is there an architectural designer accompanying the caravan this time?"
"Yes, it's Mr. Kavi, who's been here before. We even invited him to have dinner here," Candice said with a smile.
"Oh..." An Pu suddenly realized, "I remember it was the good boy who improved the house for us."
Candice chuckled, "Yes, that's the one. You kept praising him for his kindness, which made him feel embarrassed."
"There is such a thing?!" An Pu opened his eyes slightly wide.
"Well, that's not important. I was wondering if I could ask him to build a public library for the village... what the city people call a public library, or a classroom or something, so that the villagers can have a quiet place to study."
"You are right, the learning atmosphere is very important, and the arrival of the caravan has enabled us to obtain valuable books. Mr. Kavi is a trustworthy person, and I will talk to him tomorrow." Candice agreed.
...
The next day, Candice talked to Kavi about designing the library, and Kavi immediately agreed and started drawing the blueprints.
"It has to be simple... We can't use the style of the rainforest, because it uses too much material and will increase the cost unnecessarily. Also, for buildings like this in the desert that can accommodate many people, we must first consider ventilation..."
Kavi muttered to himself as he twirled his quill.
Harold asked the person in charge of records for the bill. He looked at the income which was obviously much higher than before, and felt happy when he thought about the share he could get this time.
Spices and ingredients have indeed become popular. Only places like Aru Village, which is located in the desert and close to the rainforest, have such purchasing power. After all, it is convenient for the villagers here to go to the city for work or business.
If it were other desert tribes, no matter how delicious the food cooked with spices is, they would still focus on purchasing ingredients. After all, it is good to have something to eat, and they don’t care whether it tastes good or not.
So the method used in Aru Village cannot be replicated in other tribes, which is a pity. The merchants and mercenaries in the caravan like my special dishes very much. It seems that they can only miss the days of staying in Aru Village in their future journeys.
"The best scenario is to sell 90% of the spices we brought to Aru Village, and then import some goods like red vulture meat, pack animal meat, and crocodile meat.
This kind of meat is not popular here, but in the heart of the desert, those tribes that can only eat scorpion meat and sandworm meat will definitely be in great demand, and we can make some profit from the price difference...
I just don’t know if the villagers have a lot of smoked and air-dried meat on hand. After all, even in the desert with strong sunlight, it takes at least a week to make these meats. We will only stay here for three days, so we definitely won’t have enough time…
If it doesn't work this time, then next time, I'll greet the villagers here in advance and exchange spices for the meat they make. It's also a good deal. The speed of making jerky in the desert is much faster than in the humid rainforest area. "
Harold said as he casually returned the account book to the recorder.
"Yes, I will have the mercenaries in my team go door to door and ask if they have any extra meat to sell!"
The merchant in front of Harold said hurriedly that he admired Master Dolly's friend for his business skills. Not only did he increase the sales of spices and ingredients several times, but he also thought of developing Aru Village into a purchasing market!
Such keen business intuition... No wonder he is our team leader. He is the kind of person who can do big business. I still have a lot to learn.
The merchant thought about it and immediately ran to the caravan camp, took out money from his income and gave it to the mercenaries in the team, asking them to buy dried meat according to Harold's instructions, the kind that had been dried or smoked for many days and had a long enough shelf life.
After the mercenaries received the money and Harold's order, they all thought that the leader wanted to replenish the team's dry food for the journey. After all, the journey had just begun, and it was possible that encountering a sandstorm would extend the time to the next supply point indefinitely. It was necessary to prepare more food just in case of emergency.
So they asked how much they wanted to buy, but when they heard the number the merchant quoted, they were stunned.
Oh, no, why buy so much? We are walking in the desert. If you don't know, you might think we are crossing Teyvat.
"Go buy some now. If there are any extras, we'll count the quantity and the names of the sellers. Maybe we'll buy some more tomorrow," said the businessman.
The mercenaries discussed in low voices for a few words, but no one raised any objections directly. They put their wallets in their pockets and immediately took action.