Above The Sky
Chapter 821 - 821 44 Catching Spies is My Specialty

821: Chapter 44 Catching Spies is My Specialty 821: Chapter 44 Catching Spies is My Specialty Agate Stone Plains, surrounding the Indigo Mountain Gorge Entrance.

The Indigo Mountain Gorge Entrance and Indigo Steel Mountain are not close together, like the relationship between a mountain range and its highest peak.

After entering the Southern Ridge Peninsula from the Indigo Mountain Gorge Entrance, one still has to travel a distance to the northwest to enter the territory of the Avod Tribe that guards Indigo Steel Mountain.

In other words, it’s the stronghold of the Dragon Worship Cult in Southern Ridge.

Because of the food shortage and the rebellion of the Mountain People, there has been a noticeable decrease in amount of merchant caravans, and most passersby are in a hurry.

Nevertheless, this is a transportation hub; a battalion of five hundred regular troops is stationed here, armed with a large number of Alchemy Cannons.

Should they come under attack, two more companies can be dispatched from the fortresses situated on the surrounding mountain slopes.

The small towns around the gorge might look small, but they are densely built with inns and shops lined up one after another.

Ian and Green Tide were riding in a carriage, accompanying a supply convoy from Nauman City to this place.

This convoy was a food supply for the Dragon Worship Cult provided by Nauman City, including portions of beast flesh and other Origin Quality replenishments as well as some informational correspondence.

Originally, it was supposed to be escorted by another Inspector Knight, but since Ian had matters to attend to, he took over.

Opening the carriage window, Ian looked outside; the area around the Indigo Mountain Gorge Entrance had always been a major distribution center for goods.

He had been silently calculating the food prices in Southern Ridge along the way and found that in the span of a month, there had been no significant fluctuations, mostly around ten pennies per pound.

The food regulations from the Central Great Plains were still effective.

Nevertheless, the transportation cost for moving food into the highlander-controlled areas from the Agate Stone Plains had gone up a lot; those are purely labor costs after all.

The Imperial Capital not knowing about the highlander rebellion is one thing; the autonomous regions becoming more chaotic is another.

The supply convoy needed to load more goods at the distribution center, and bored of staying in the carriage, Ian and Green Tide decided to take a walk around.

Last time Ian passed through the gorge, he was in a hurry, only focused on going to the Xiawei Territory for his Second Energy Level Magic Potion ingredients and didn’t try the local cuisine.

Now he thought that theoretically, a distribution center like this should also have plenty of delicious foods to offer, whether traditional dishes from The Empire or from the Mountain People.

Indeed, there was more—due to an increase in elf traders in recent times, there was even an Elves’ commercial guild branch in the small towns around the gorge.

Probably in half a year, elf restaurants would start opening as well.

The Mountain People’s cuisine is rugged and served in generous amounts.

For instance, take the Stone Seared Meat, which sounds like just meat grilled on a stone slab, and indeed, that’s exactly what it is.

But the stone slab in question is as large as a door, and a mountain chef uses a shovel as big as two hands to stir-fry dough skins and heaps of cured minced meat on a smoothed stone surface, adding various condiments while grilling on-site.

You can choose sweet sauce and sour fruit juice, or hot spices and mushroom crumbs.

The highest quality even includes powder made from sun-dried sea cucumbers, mixed with fresh sea urchin sauce.

After frying the minced meat until it’s fragrant, the chef wraps portions of the meat in the dough skins, turning it into long meat strips.

Depending on the filling ingredients, a portion costs between four and six pennies, which is quite a bargain.

Ian prefers his with hot spices and mushroom crumbs, while Green Tide likes his sweet.

Both rated them as capable of scoring a 7.5, mainly because the quality of the meat, mostly chicken and goose, was fairly average.

These are the products of the Mountain People’s recent years of breeding.

In fact, if not for the Mountain People’s rebellion recently, it’s said that several large-scale breeding farms were to be opened in the plains within the Bison Mountain Range.

In that case, Southern Ridge wouldn’t need the meat products from the Golden Plains ranches any longer.

In addition, there was the ‘Mushroom Stew’—a Mountain People’s dish familiar to Ian.

A variety of mountain wild mushrooms combined with meats, stewed until tender and aromatic.

Each family’s recipe is different; some add cream, while others add seaweed, and still others sprinkle their own special garlic bread crumbs.

Overall, these are steaming thick soups, with each bowl showing a diverse array of mushrooms, meats, and other ingredients, indeed an example of a classic home-cooked dish from the Mountain People.

Both Ian and Green Tide finished an entire pot, but afterwards, Green Tide frowned slightly: “It’s certainly delicious, but boss…

maybe it’s just an illusion?”

He stared at the bowl, doubtfully adding, “Does this soup seem…

a bit poisonous?”

“It’s not an illusion.”

Ian shook his head as he set down his spoon: “What do you expect from a mushroom stew with a bunch of wild mushrooms?

Of course there’s a chance it’s poisonous.”

Saying this, he gestured to Green Tide to look at a clinic not far away: “See?

Told you—there’s always a pharmacy next to these kind of shops.”

As expected, someone from a neighboring mushroom soup shop was quickly rushed to the clinic by his brothers.

Judging by how well they seemed to know the way, it was obvious there was no need to worry about safety.

It’s a matter of getting used to the toxins.

“The shiitake mushrooms from Southern Ridge are generally fine, most of them not being poisonous.”

As a Southern Ridge local, Ian felt quite sentimental: “Anfa told me that even in winter, the mushrooms from Canaan Moore are poisonous.

However, some have milder toxicity, which can enhance the flavor when eaten, so people deliberately choose poisonous mushrooms to eat.”

“But if you eat too much, you’re bound to make mistakes…

Occasionally, among the mild-toxicity mushrooms, there can be highly toxic ones, and then it’s not just about having illusions like ‘seeing dragons flying in the sky’—you might end up facing the Heavenly Father.”

The mushrooms from the weird land of Terra are not only highly toxic, but they grow all year round; the same mushroom might be toxic in summer, non-toxic in autumn, non-toxic in winter, and toxic in spring.

The Terrans have strong constitutions, otherwise, just taking Mountain People into consideration, the number of deaths per year due to mushroom poisoning would probably exceed a thousand.

“Understood.” But Green Tide got the point entirely, he laughed: “Seafood should not be eaten carelessly—there are frequently incidents at Whale Song Cliff with people eating oysters, sea urchins, and especially those who like jellyfish, which happens quite often.”

While it’s true that Sublimators can almost completely ignore these food-level toxins—ordinary biological toxins are generally useless against them, at least they would require a damaging Origin Structure within to truly harm them.

So, the two continued to eat.

One must eat food as well as consume poison, that’s what it means to be healthy!

After filling up on food and drink, Ian inquired with the person in charge of the grain convoy about how long it would take to replenish their supplies.

Knowing that Ian and Green Tide were significant figures, the person responded with the utmost respect, explaining that there was an issue with the grain merchant they were dealing with; they had not received the supplies and were now in the process of contacting another reliable merchant for replenishment.

They would be able to set off again in two hours.

Ian wasn’t in a hurry for such a short delay, and since he had time to spare, he requested to have a look himself.

How could the person in charge refuse?

So, he personally accompanied the two to see for themselves.

It was only upon inspection that a problem arose.

Upon reaching the grain merchant’s shop, Ian immediately discerned that the shop owner was a spy from Fiery Flame Land.

At the very least, he was a supporter of the Rebel Highlanders; his color and temperament were laid bare within the Foresight View.

“Huh,” Ian thought, “It seems that the original grain merchant’s mishap wasn’t an accident—I recall that when I first returned to South Ridge, the cake shop owner was almost investigated due to problems with his grain supply.”

“It seems I’ve stumbled upon it now.”

There are indeed many grain merchants around the Agate Stone Plains.

For instance, Mr.

Silver Workshop, an acquaintance of Ian’s who deals primarily in building materials and grain, previously assisted in the construction of Harrison Port and received special treatment from Viscount Grant.

Mr.

Silver Workshop also aided Ian’s Xiawei Territory, and Ian naturally reciprocated the favor.

Just as there are merchants supporting the nobility of The Empire, there are those who support the Highlanders, so it’s not strange for some to support the Rebel Highlanders.

Without further ado, Ian gave Green Tide a knowing look, and he nodded in understanding, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

—In this matter, Green Tide was ten times more alert than he was at political affairs!

Inside the grain store, the staff were handling the transfer, the shop owner enveloped in a mist of red fog was busy doing the accounting, while several attendants bustled about, organizing merchandise and leading the Camel Beasts with carts into the warehouse at the back.

Ian and Green Tide swaggered into the grain store.

The person in charge, who was advised to not follow, was visibly troubled but obediently stayed outside, waiting to see what these two dignitaries were up to.

If the itinerary was delayed again today because of this unexpected issue, they would all be fined!

“Please wait a moment, we’re a bit busy here.”

Noticing Ian and Green Tide entering the shop, the shop owner glanced up and found time to greet them amidst his busyness.

He was a slender-eyed member of the Golden Folk with a genial smile on his face, and his small, curled goat beard trembled with each word he spoke.

He immediately recognized Ian’s appearance and aura; he didn’t seem like an ordinary person by any means, and the same went for Green Tide next to him.

Despite the amiable expression and smile, no one would think he was an easy target.

—They probably looked like the common sight of wealthy young masters and their guards on an outing.

Anyway, they didn’t seem to be there to buy grains, so he planned to shoo them away later to avoid interfering with his plans.

The shop owner had been rather busy lately and decided to focus on the tasks targeting the Dragon Worship Cult before dealing with others.

With that in mind, he nevertheless said, “The prices for all the grain samples are listed on the side.

If you need any information, feel free to ask me.”

“We’ll just take a look on our own,” Ian replied, not intending to simply arrest the man—it would be too excessive.

The others didn’t know he was a Prophet; he still needed some evidence.

And if it came down to it, he might have to pretend to find some evidence.

“Sure, take your time looking,” said the shop owner, gesturing for the attendants to attend to Ian and then returning to his own work.

Large transactions at the grain shop required going to the rear or even to the nearby storage areas, but the shop itself had scattered home-use grain, with various types available.

These appeared to be sample products for examination, with prices marked on wooden boards next to them.

Ian even noticed a bag of Golden Firm Nuts in a corner.

They were high-nutrition nuts similar in taste to walnuts but shaped like giant sunflower seeds, and they were somewhat luxurious, priced at six Bison per pound or five Talle per ten pounds.

They were not just any grain; one would need to deal with a major business association to buy them in bulk.