Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Invalid Trade
"Tink-tink-tink-tink-tink-!"
Over the thumping of chimes, the guardian yelled.
"The outcasts have shown up!"
Something appeared to have occurred in the town.
Vikir rose to his feet.
"...Is it war?"
Next to him, Aiyen glanced over at Vikir with a puzzled expression.
"Is it true or not that you are significant?"
"...?"
When Vikir gave her a puzzled look, Aiyen reached out and ruffled his hair gently.
She smiled.
"It's basically impossible that there are any crazies in these lands who would provoke our Balak to a battle first."
Indeed. Nobody would provoke Balak to a battle unless they were a true demon.
Outside the boundaries, there was nobody who could dare challenge Balak, except perhaps the Baskervilles or the Morgans.
Even the savage Lokoro clan was no match for Balak.
How could a clan of only 300 individuals declare war on the Realm, let alone their neighbors?
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Balak had no one to fear on the continent, except for 'Madame Eight Legs', who ruled as a local nightmare.
"...Then, who are the intruders?"
Vikir asked, and Aiyen rose from her seat and pulled back the curtain at the entrance.
"It would be quicker to see for yourself."
As she spoke, Vikir turned his gaze towards the area beyond the encampment.
"...!"
There was a somewhat startling sight.
White-clad, fair-skinned, ebony, and blue-haired individuals.
All wearing clean clothes and speaking a familiar language, they were clearly Imperials.
"The Commoners.
Vikir frowned, but only slightly.
The Seven Pillars of the Realm.
The Baskervilles, represented by blades, the Morgans, represented by magic, and the other five are the Seven Pillars of the Old Kingdom, dedicated to the service of the Sovereign.
The Middle class family was a mogul family that had accumulated a great deal of wealth through trade and business, and was one of the Seven Families, alongside the Sacred Pillar of Quavadis and the Venomous Pillar of Leviathan.
Then.
"It's been a while since you've been here."
Aiyen's blunt words broke Vikir's reverie.
Her demeanor was slightly grim.
Traders from the Common were known for doing whatever it takes to make a profit.
They'd likely come this far under the border with goods to trade with the locals.
Aiyen didn't seem too impressed with them.
"This is really too much. They're selling something not even here, mentally making us feel like we'll regret it if we don't buy it... I'm not comfortable with those kinds of traders."
And to some extent, Vikir agreed with her.
Before the regression, Hugo had a saying about middle-class families.
"There are fools who think money is power. They've never realized what real power is.
There was undisguised scorn and annoyance in his voice.
He could have done without the idea of the Middle class proudly flaunting in the rich land in the capital of the realm while the Baskervilles were facing terrible border conflicts with beasts on the edges of the realm.
Moreover, the fact that they're encroaching into their territory and trading with their enemies, the savages, doesn't sit well with him.
Other families were similar in their disdain for the middle class, but ironically they had no choice but to work with them.
Diplomacy, trade, commerce, land, banking, and all other aspects of the realm's economic system were influenced by the Commoners.
"But how did they get here?"
Vikir looked puzzled.
If the Commoners were to send traders this way from their seats on the ecliptic of the Realm, they would essentially have to pass through the territory of the Baskervilles or the Morgans.
Especially to reach the depths of these borders, they would have to acquire a lot of provisions, and that would be impossible without the help of the locals.
There was only one thought in Vikir's mind.
"...Sneaking.
They had illegally entered the Baskervilles' territory and made their way to the border.
And they had most likely brought themselves in through Longshot, the city closest to the border.
"..."
They made their way to the center of the village and began unloading their cargo while Vikir stood and watched the traders of Common Road.
"Now, as usual, it's a five-day market. We came here first, before other clans!"
The merchant, who came from a common family, was a middle-aged man with a long mustache.
Sir Bootlegger.
He had a soft and compassionate appearance, but the greedy look in his eyes was terribly scanning the bodies of the young Balak women on display.
Before long, the traders began pulling various items from their packs and distributing them to the locals around them.
They were cheap glass beads, clips, whistles, perfumes, and cosmetics made of shiny materials, and, surprisingly, the Balak warriors accepted them with a gleam in their demeanors.
"Here, free, free, try these!"
The traders offered all sorts of trinkets to the locals.
The middle-aged women and older men were particularly excited.
"Here are some glass beads that you can place in your bed to help you have good dreams, please take one."
"Here are some perfumes, ladies!"
"There are also cosmetics, cosmetics!"
The glass beads shimmered, but also emitted a pleasant fragrance.
So did the perfume and the cosmetics.
The locals were accepting them, as well as Vikir, since they were hard to come by in the desolate wilderness.
Soon, the traders who had attracted people by handing out gifts began to sell their products vigorously.
They were mostly grains and vegetables, items that couldn't be grown in the wilderness.
The prices the traders asked from the local Balak, who didn't use money, varied.
Animal skins, bones, teeth, exotic parts like gums and prongs, and forest products like rare mushrooms, spices, and medicinal herbs.
Sometimes, gemstones or gold.
When Vikir saw it, he thought to himself.
"What a rip-off."
Indeed, the locals of Balak were trading their gems for the traders' corn.
For the locals of Balak, it was a profitable trade, turning worthless rocks into edible grain, but for Vikir, who knew how much they were worth..., it was unbelievable.
Then.
"Wait!"
Aiyen stepped forward.
Her eyes flickered between the gems and the corn.
Then, she stood between the girl with the gems and the trader with the corn.
"This is an unfair trade," she said, "trading a gem for a piece of corn is absurd."
As Vikir listened to her, he thought, "Right!
Aiyen had a point to make, and he should be able to put a stop to this unfair trade.
But.
"...You should get at least two bags of corn."
After speaking, Aiyen looked back at Vikir and offered him a victorious nod with her finger.
Vikir sighed softly.
She may be a skilled warrior, but she remains ignorant of the world outside the Realm.
The locals of Balak were a bit rough around the edges, trying to devalue the traders' goods, but
in reality,... Vikir thought.
"Hmmm. Hmmm. This radish isn't very sweet. I don't think I can trade for a pearl clam, I'll just take two radishes."
"Damn it, did you bring this cabbage too? It's withered and bug-eaten in so many spots! Therefore I can't give you a whole set of tusks. You'll have to take one!"
"Do you have any idea how hard I've been drying these otter skins, you should give me at least two extra potatoes!"
Everyone is a negotiator.
In the realm, the value of crabs, prongs, otter pelts, pearl shells, gems, wolf teeth, and bear bones is traded for yams, potatoes, corn, radishes, grain, cabbage, and more.
"Good gracious, we can't afford to lose to Balak's warriors."
"Indeed, I'm afraid you can't keep raising the price of your goods like this, but I can't help it. I'll meet your demands this time, Nene. You're a good bargainer~"
"We bring nothing to the table, as usual."
The traders quickly take the locals' goods, even though they are protesting.
Before long, the agricultural products potatoes, yams, corn, cabbage, radishes, carrots, grain, and rice-are gone, along with cheap glass beads, ornaments, and perfume.
In their place were deer antlers, mushrooms, sea turtles, ivory, bones and skins, as well as peony, reishi, matsutake, gems, gold, and the hatchlings and eggs of small and rare monsters.
The traders pretended to be calm as they looked at the goods piled high on their carts, but deep down they were jumping for joy.
I wonder how many thousands of times this has happened.
When the trade was finally over, the traders' attitude became haughty.
They saw more goods than they could carry in their carts, and now they began accepting goods based on their merit.
Then.
A young girl stepped forward.
She couldn't have been over twelve years old. She was pretty, with dark hair and dark eyes.
She carried several fat caterpillars, carefully roasted on twigs.
They were a delicious and prized food among the Balak locals.
The young girl held out the caterpillar sticks and offered them to the traders of Bourgeoisie Road.
"Excuse me, may I please get a glass bead?"
But the traders' attitude was cold.
"There's a glass bead, but what's that?"
"This is the caterpillar of a sunbeetle."
Several of the younger Balak children looked at the stick of caterpillars the girl was holding and gave her jealous looks.
The caterpillar was an exotic insect that tasted strangely like a combination of milk and egg yolk, and it was worth a lot of money.
However, the traders of Common Road looked at the girl's caterpillar stick with disdain.
"...Oh, you're not giving this to me to eat, are you?"
"Haha, kid, that's for you brown-skinned people. White people don't eat that stuff."
"That's why you're as dark as a dung beetle. Hahaha!"
"Why don't you give me something else instead of that, like showing me up your skirt."
They mocked, jeered, and physically harassed the girl in a language she couldn't understand.
Boom!
One of the traders pushed a stick of caterpillars out of the girl's hand.
She dropped the caterpillars to the ground.
She couldn't understand what the traders were saying, but she could simply guess the meaning of their taunts, scorn, mockery, and lecherous looks.
All at once.
...Bang!
A boy grabbed a stick of caterpillars that had fallen to the ground and devoured them in one bite.
Vikir.
He stood in front of the traders, swallowing down the caterpillars in his mouth.
His face and body were covered in black charcoal dust, as if he had just spent the night in an open fire.
"...."
The girl looked up at Vikir, astonished.
Vikir commended her, then turned to confront the traders.
He spoke in a fluent Common tongue that stunned the traders before him for a moment.
"This trade is invalid."
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