Black Sail
Chapter 468: XCIX. Ogre

Chapter 468: XCIX. Ogre

Three days later.

Liszt and his companions finally arrived at the Capital of Aisnor Province, Sand Valley, Swan’s hometown.

It was not the stereotypical image that Liszt imagined, where tents were everywhere and everyone was selling hallucinogens.

Instead, the city was urbanized to the point of being somewhat dull, much like the rest of Aran’s second-tier cities, but the architectural style featured engravings of Tiger-man ancestral worship and astrological charts.

There were also many foreigners who came here to do business. Tiger-men made up even less of the population; perhaps only four out of every ten people were Tiger-men.

One could see that even among their own people, the Emperor did not fully trust the Alien Races, not entrusting the economic lifeline completely to the locals.

But even so, Tiger-men were still doing better compared to other races.

Look at the Beastmen in the north, the Sub-dragon people of the Great Wetland, what a sorry state they were in.

As for Rein’s homeland, there was no need to mention, it being on the plateau, with geographical advantages, where ordinary people would suffer from altitude sickness, and besides, resources were scarce. No one was willing to go to the trouble of provoking this highly united race.

As for the Yisu people, they had their own territory.

The collector that Dreya mentioned was in a town around the Capital of Aisnor, Sand Valley.

The landscape in Aisnor was unique. Aside from the constructed roads, it was mostly dark brown sand soil. The bushes were a strange red, and the trees that grew were umbrella-shaped, with a relatively dry climate, little rainfall, and no rainy season, making it most suitable for Tiger-men to settle.

But as the Capital, Sand Valley was quite urbanized, with little of these natural features within the city.

Having used Isis’s passport to get through the checkpoint, upon entering the city, Liszt saw more Tiger-men than he had ever seen in his life.

Because other races were having a hard time,

there were many Beastmen and Sub-dragon people from the East Sea who came to make a living, and Dark Elves were even more prominent, but Tiger-men were relatively rare.

Liszt just realized that the Tiger-man race was very particular.

Leopard Men were considered a branch of the Tiger-men.

Here, there were also many Tiger-men who looked more like lynxes, with more hair on the sides of their faces and sharper ears, resembling murderers.

In history, the Tiger-man race was also widespread across the Western Continent, but a few hundred years ago, when the Tiger-men from Aisnor began to rise and produce influential figures, they became part of Aran’s proper territory, not an autonomous region but incorporated within the national body.

The village really struck gold, so they all came back to mix.

There are probably a lot of ethnic subdivisions.

Swan was considered a relatively orthodox Aisnor Tiger-man.

It is said that the appearance and physiological functions of Tiger-men are related to the star signs at their birth, and that there is a great diversity in body size. Some are tall and large, reaching over two meters, others are as short as Xishan Dwarves, around one meter thirty or forty, and there are also the tiny ones.

Swan was a normal person.

They returned the rented carriage and the coachman to the post station.

"We’ll go to the town later; let’s get some food first," said Liszt as he got off the carriage and stretched lazily, feeling almost atrophied after sitting for so long.

The transport system on the Aran Highway and the one inside the province were not the same. The carriage they just rented could only run on the highway, otherwise they would have driven straight to that Tiger-man collector’s house.

Isis, curious as a child, was fascinated by everything and approached a Tiger-man vendor roasting local delicacies with a flurry of questions.

The problem was the vendor couldn’t understand her at all. Isis’s Trade Language had a Ji Weng accent, and the local Tiger-men had their own language and spoke Trade Language with quite an accent as well.

It was complete barrier communication.

The Tiger-man could only gesture to her, suggesting it was two copper coins for a skewer of roasted meat.

"I would advise you not to buy it; that’s roasted sand rat," said Meredith, who had seen much and knew Isis, the young lady, would surely be sick if she ate it.

"Sand rat?"

"It means a mouse."

"Ah?"

Isis stepped back two paces, frowning as she looked at the skewers.

"Isn’t there Moon Sugar and Skuma in Aisnor? There must be some for sale here. I think it wouldn’t hurt to try a little. Shall we go and give it a try?"

Isis remembered this detail.

She had never been in contact with it, but her close friends partied a lot. The product from the Great Wetland was clean; Doringger’s was the harshest, processed with raw materials shipped from Mirror Sea. It was just a pity that the supply was cut off at the end of last year.

But after Isis had said this, the Tiger-men and people of the Human Race around them all cast ’are you okay?’ glances her way.

Even if she had an accent, it was no big deal for Moon Sugar, but Skuma was a word transliterated from the Tiger-men’s native language; everyone understood it.

For example, what she said was akin to going to Prussia to ask someone to sell you poison gas for squids to inhale.

Isis’s bodyguards were also tremendously shocked. Truly befitting of the lady, she easily uttered the words we dared not speak.

It was seriously full of stereotypes.

"Big sis, maybe you should just shut up."

Liszt was completely dumbfounded.

In the end, the group found a fairly decent restaurant in Sand Valley for a meal. As soon as they sat down and saw the menu, Liszt almost vomited.

A plate of food was ridiculously expensive, starting at twenty copper coins.

Rareness commands value; to the inland Tiger-men, seafood was naturally the most precious.

As for the local delicacies, Liszt had no compliments; similar to the Great Wetland, it was a culinary desert with rats, scorpions, and fungi – all looking horrific.

Liszt let Goria, two adventurers seasoned from years of experience, do the ordering.

"That Thief who ambushed you, did you see her real face? I heard from Rein and the others that it was a woman."

After ordering, Goria asked out of the blue.

Liszt was speechless. He had planned to make some progress with these two women during these days, but rather than advancing, his heart had regressed. Without a stand-in wife, both of these women turned out to be rivals in love; who was he supposed to complain to?

He had no idea that Rein was frolicking in Duguli, or else his lungs would have exploded in anger. Everyone else seemed to be living more luxuriously than him.

"Yes, it’s true. She disguised herself as you, and that’s why I was tricked. Look, I almost lost my life for you."

Liszt was a bit annoyed.

He had been very alert at the time and intuitively wanted to exchange cups for the wine served, but "Goria" forcefully kissed him and poured it down, leaving him powerless even if an Immortal had come.

"Is that so? Well, it’s good you’re still alive and kicking. Otherwise, I’d feel quite guilty."

Goria pondered, disguised as her? When had she become a target for impersonation? Someone had been watching her in the shadows, which was truly terrifying.

"I’m not joking. You don’t know how heart-wrenching the words you said at that time were; I nearly went mad."

Liszt, looking at the first cold dish served, grabbed and ate it without a word, having grown accustomed to a bold approach.

"Alright, you’re not dead, so that’s good enough. No need to say so much."

Meredith used a fork to pick up some beef to feed Goria, who seemed to have been CPU’d again. Could Liszt’s ridiculous stories be believed? She had been coaxed into robbing trains by him.

Liszt sulked. Damn it, that iron T had been so cute when using him for experiments, but now she kept spoiling his plans every time.

"How is it? How does it compare to the flavors of Ji Weng?"

Meredith was being attentive to Isis, a noble lady with such elegance was rare, obviously well-raised. She’d encountered many noble daughters, and their behaviors were shameful to speak of.

"The flavors are different. Despite how I look, I once attended a banquet at the palace and even got to eat food prepared by a court chef. I’ve been dreaming of eating it again."

Isis replied.

"Speaking of which, we have a court chef from Ji Weng here too."

Liszt thought of someone, but there was no contest about his cooking skills; that drunken immortal could settle disputes over Chinese and French cuisine if he went to Earth. Archer was the true god of gastronomy.

"Please, do not mention anything that could lead to Archer. Thank you."

Meredith beseeched Liszt; during her adventures around the world, she had never met anyone more irritating than that person.

"Archer? You know him?"

Isis was startled.

"Know him? I could identify that jerk even if he turned to ashes. But you, do you know him?"

Liszt’s pupils quaked.

"No, I’ve just heard some rumors; he’s an ogre."

Isis recalled feeling somewhat terrified.

Goria: "Ah?"

Meredith: "Ah?"

Liszt felt a chill down his spine, and then: "Ah?"