Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 452 - 451: Blue Feather Trading Group’s Banquet

Chapter 452: Chapter 451: Blue Feather Trading Group’s Banquet

The war between the Luobu Kingdom and the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom was quite dramatic.

Simply put, in every aspect, the Luobu Kingdom was inferior to the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom: its population was less than four-fifths that of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, its territory less than two-thirds, and unlike the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, it did not possess expansive plains—most of its land was mountainous. The Luobu Kingdom’s official fleet was even more pitiful compared to the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s, with not only older and outdated ships but also a count less than one-third.

For anyone assessing the situation, it seemed impossible for the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom to be defeated.

However—

About half a month ago, after prolonged negotiations failed over a disputed border territory, war erupted between the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom and the Luobu Kingdom.

As soon as the war began, the Luobu Kingdom’s army invaded the territory of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, wielding significantly inferior weapons, but still managed to smash through several lines of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom’s defense. Their fleet also took the initiative to attack and, under the command of the fleet commander, sank nearly as many ships of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom as their own number, with their losses being less than a third.

Such outcomes, at the onset of the war, truly stunned everyone, but as people slowly understood the details, it became less surprising.

Why?

The answer was simple. The Black Holy Mountain Kingdom was too wealthy—so much so that many people, including soldiers, had never experienced hardship or war and were essentially a group of farmers who had never seen blood. The military’s upper echelons were made up of rotund politicians, with hardly any who knew the art of war.

The Luobu Kingdom, on the other hand, was completely the opposite. Lacking plains and arable land, with a not-so-small and very diverse population, skirmishes were a common occurrence—for the people of Luobu, not fighting and not desperately competing for a piece of good farmland or extra irrigation water meant no food, and that led to starvation. Therefore, the people of Luobu Kingdom were fierce, would fight at a moment’s notice, and certainly didn’t waste words. And when it really came to conflict, they were absolutely unafraid of death—the fearful had already perished.

Under these circumstances, a dispute arose between the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom and the Luobu Kingdom over a piece of highly fertile plain territory. When the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom demanded full possession, it essentially challenged the bottom line of all the Luobu people.

Once the war broke out, the Luobu Kingdom harshly taught the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom a lesson, making it clear that having money wasn’t everything! Wealthy people might not necessarily prevail over the poor!

Of course, the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom wasn’t completely inept. Despite the overall poor spirit of the nation, it hadn’t decayed to its core. In critical moments, there were always those who would stand up and bring the situation back from the brink. Even though a turnaround was not immediately possible, it made it so that the Luobu Kingdom’s advance was no longer as smooth as before.

Also, countless small countries and nobles, indebted to the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, expressed their support, stating that they were ready to send troops to aid the Black Holy Mountain King whenever called upon. Therefore, the war was expected to be long-drawn.

After Richard learned of these circumstances, he looked towards the tavern owner and asked, "In that case, it seems it won’t be possible to travel north in the short term, right?"

"It’s not entirely impossible," the tavern owner replied, "Although the sea routes are blocked, the land is still passable. The numerous merchant ships are stopped here because they’re planning to switch from sea to land here, passing through the as-yet-unattacked hinterland of the Black Holy Mountain Kingdom, circumnavigating the other countries, then completely bypassing the Luobu Kingdom to reach the ports of the more northerly nations and reenter the sea to head north."

"It sounds a bit troublesome."

"But it’s at least a solution, and even though it may take longer, it’s better than being stuck here indefinitely. If you wait until next year, the seaway may not even be open," the tavern owner said as he picked up the silver coins from the bar top, handed them to Richard, and let out a sigh, "If you really want to head north, I suggest you consider the land route. As for the money, take it. What I’ve told you is what everyone knows; I shouldn’t have charged for it."

Richard’s eyes twinkled as he placed the silver coin back on the bar top and said, "Perhaps many people know what you’ve said, but I didn’t, and to me, that is valuable. You’ve saved me a lot of time, and you have every right to take the money. If you feel embarrassed, then bring me a loaf of bread. I need to eat something, and I need to think about what I should do next."

"Well—okay." The tavern owner hesitated, took the coins, then turned to shout to the kitchen, "Nopos, a loaf of bread, the best kind! With honey!"

"Okay."

Turning back to Richard, the tavern owner smiled and then gestured to an empty table against the wall, inviting him to sit there, "Please, take a seat over there. It’s quieter, so you can think better. The bread will be right over."

"Thank you," Richard said as he picked up a cup of water and walked over to the wall-side table to sit and wait patiently.

Soon, the bread was brought to him.

Richard took a bite and found that it was quite good to the taste, with a subtle sweetness—apparently honey had been added, which was significant—in the current world without domesticated bees, all were wild, and collecting honey posed a great risk to life. Honey was exceedingly expensive, and going by the amount in the bread, it wouldn’t cost less than a third of a silver coin; it was indeed a luxury.

With this in mind, Richard’s appreciation for the tavern owner grew a bit more, but that was it; no further thoughts—he continued to eat and ponder whether it really made sense to head north by land, and if so, how to go about it in the most efficient way.

At that moment, a voice from a nearby table suddenly asked tentatively, "Excuse me...sir, you’re planning to go north by land, aren’t you?"

"Hm?" Richard turned to look and saw over ten people seated at the neighboring table.

The speaker, who appeared to be the leader of the group, was around forty years old, with dark skin and a full beard on his friendly face—almost as friendly as a butcher’s.

His voice was gentle, suggesting in a bargaining tone, "Hello, sir, I noticed you were speaking with the tavern owner for quite some time, so I assumed you might be thinking of going north. If you don’t mind, you could join us.

Oh, a bit of an introduction—I’m Bade, the leader of the Blue Feather Trading Group. We’ve traveled by ship from the south, from Loxs, aiming to reach Ice Asia up north. Arriving here and being forced ashore by the Sea Area Blockade, we’re now planning to take the land route.

But I’ve heard that the land route has become very unsafe recently, due to the sheer number of trading groups and caravans, so we’ve hired a Mercenary Team for our protection. However, their fees are quite high, and it’s a bit difficult for us to manage alone, which is why we’re inviting lone travelers like you to join us. Don’t worry, I won’t charge too much—only three silver coins from you will do. What do you think?"

After speaking, he looked at Richard expectantly.