Lord of the Oasis

The trade caravan members behaved rather respectfully toward Kant. Not the slightest hint of rudeness was seen in them.

In their subconscious, Kant was like a greater noble from the Continent of Caradia, even if he was a Swadian. That status demanded respect even from Swadian nobles, so it went without saying with nobles like those of the trade caravan.

“Yeah.” Kant only nodded. His expression remained unchanged.

His noble status had been assigned by the system.

He turned his gaze behind the caravan. Their goods were all neatly packaged on the three carriages. One was easily able to tell that they were packed with items to sell.

It’s a pity.

Kant sighed deep down.

He had no funds to make any purchases.

“My Lord, these are all specialties brought all the way from Reyvadin.”

The trade caravan leader smiled and explained, “Our trade caravan sells very affordable wool. We also offer tools, raw iron, and linen cloth, as well as food, such as dried meat, smoked fish, and wheat.”

He paused and said, “Of course, we buy specialties as well.”

“You buy specialties?”

Kant frowned and asked, “How?”

That piqued his interest.

Before this caravan arrived, he had no idea that he was able to sell goods to trade caravans.

“Yes, we do purchase certain items.”

The trade caravan leader took a look at the side of the Council Hall. He eyed the grocery store and said with an interesting expression, “I see that you have an empty store, My Lord. If you do not mind, I’m thinking of having my team move the goods over there. We would like to stay here for a week.”

“Alright.” Kant nodded. “You have one week to do whatever you need to do.”

He swiftly agreed to it.

He had no funds at the moment, so he was unable to buy anything.

“Many thanks, My Lord.”

The leader was grateful. He immediately bowed to express his gratitude.

The mercenary troops behind him led their carriages over to the grocery store, leaving deep tracks in the sand. It was obvious that all three carriages were fully packed.

Kant knew that fact deep down.

Trade caravans throughout the Continent of Caradia followed certain trade routes.

Purchases were made in cities along the route at low prices and then sold at high prices, or said goods were accumulated to be ferried back to their cities of origin.

That was the basic conduct of commerce.

There’s nothing I can sell from this place of mine though.

Kant bitterly chuckled to himself.

While his place was named Drondheim, it paled in comparison to the real Drondheim on the Continent of Caradia.

His tiny village was not even self-sufficient. Even if he had help from the system, developing commerce at this stage was an absurd notion.

However, he still let the trade caravan do as they pleased.

After all, it was a good thing to have more people around the Oasis Lookout.

Kant shrugged and said in a self-depreciative manner, “At least I now feel less like an outcast in the world.”

Afterward, he quickly recomposed himself.

He walked toward Council Hall. He had some plans regarding that special mission.

He soon arrived outside the Council Hall’s door and went inside.

The Swadian Militia member, who stood guard at the door of the Council Hall with his heavy spear in hand, came over to Kant just as he sat down. The militia member respectfully said, “My Lord, the trade caravan leader wishes to see you.”

The Council Hall was not a place that just anyone could enter

“Let him in.”

Kant nodded. It was obvious that he saw the leader waiting right outside the door.

The leader of the trade caravan looked like he was in his 40s. There were some silver hairs by the side of his head, but he still looked rather sprightly. There was no doubt that someone capable of leading a caravan from a city alone was anything but ordinary.

In truth, such positions were usually taken by top-class retired soldiers.

While the leader was equipped only with a sword and wore scale armor, his proficiency with his weapon and skill on the back of a horse was on par with that of a Swadian Knight.

However, he behaved unusually meek before Kant.

He bowed and hung his head low. “My Lord, forgive the intrusion.”

“It’s alright. I’m not busy right now.”

Kant looked at the leader and asked, “Is there anything you need to discuss?”

The leader respectfully replied, “My Lord, I see that your village seems to have Date Palm Trees planted. If you have ample stock, we would like to purchase some of the dates.”

“You want to buy dates?” Kant was dumbfounded.

The leader nodded affirmatively and continued, “Indeed, My Lord. Dates are a specialty of the Sarrand Sultanate, and they are delicious. They sell quite well in other countries.”

“Of course, sure.” Kant nodded right away.

He had collected over a dozen baskets of the dates the previous week. While they had eaten some since then, there were enough to fill 10 baskets.

Kant frowned and asked in return, “Denars?”

The currency of the trade was, of course, Denars.

It was the only currency recognized by the system.

“Of course.”

The leader nodded and looked rather curious. He asked, “My Lord, would you like to trade those dates for some of our goods? We could barter as well. Of course, the prices of the goods trade would still need to be equal.”

Kant was slightly puzzled.

However, he quickly returned to his senses and said, “No, there is no need for that. Denars will do fine.”

“As you wish.” The leader felt rather puzzled himself.

The leader had no idea that Kant wanted Denars so bad that he was almost unable to think of anything else. He was so desperate that he actually thought of charging into the tribe filled with ferocious primitive creatures and fighting his way through those beasts.

He was unable to do anything without Denars.

“I need someone around.”

Kant said to the militia member guarding the door, “Take our friend here to our stores and let them have a look at our freshly dried dates.”

The militia member nodded. “Understood.”

The leader excused himself and headed to the storage room at the side of the Council Hall with the militia member. More than a dozen baskets of dates were stacked there. All of them had just finished being dried under the sun.

The dates people usually talked about were the dried end products.

Freshly plucked dates had little shelf life to speak of. Sun-dried dates were more well-suited to be stored and carried around in a desert climate.

Furthermore, dried dates tasted even sweeter.

The leader soon emerged. He was chewing on a date that he carried in his hand. His face had a mesmerized expression. He said, “My Lord, these dates are good.”

“They are high-grade stuff.” Kant nodded and smiled.

He knew that very well.

These dates were produced by the system, so they were definitely fine products.

“Very good indeed.”

That leader gulped down the rest of the date. He looked at Kant and respectfully said, “If you are willing, I would like to offer 50 Denars per basket for the dates.”

“50 Denars?” Kant frowned.

That meant 10 baskets of dates only equaled 500 Denars.

Those baskets contained most of the fruits plucked from 20 Date Palm Trees, and they totaled thousands of pounds.

The leader shrugged slightly and wore an exasperated expression. “My Lord, while the dates do taste good, they are not necessary items. It is actually due to many eating these things in the desert that they are able to fetch a slightly high price.”

He paused for a bit and continued, “If the dates were to be of bad quality, we wouldn’t be offering 50 Denars per basket in the first place.”

“Will do. We’ll sell them according to the price you offered.”

Kant wore a calm expression. He looked as if nothing was wrong.

He was actually feeling very bitter deep down. He thought that merchants were indeed sly people.

If he had any other choice, he would not have wanted to sell those dates.

They served as food reserves for his people.

“You have made a wise decision,” the leader said, sucking up to Kant.

Kant wore a faint smile and replied, “Maybe I did.”

A Denar shortage was his biggest headache at the moment. He had no choice but to sell those dates to maintain his forces. Compared to bread, dates were not that filling despite being very nutritious.

Kant suddenly seemed to have realized something. He asked the leader, “Do you have wheat among your goods?”

“Yes, we do.”

The leader said, “It is 50 Denars for one bag of wheat. You could choose to plant them or grind them down to flour.”

“I want a bag.” Kant nodded and said, “I’m thinking of planting them.”

“In that case, I shall find you the best bag among the bunch.”

The leader smiled and said, “If you plant them in an oasis, you need to make that the wheat gets enough water. Otherwise, the scorching weather will burn the wheat seedlings.”

“Thank you for the reminder,” Kant replied with a smile.

The Swadian Peasants already knew that.

All the mud they dredged up from the pond was to serve as fertilizer for the wheat.

It was an act of killing two birds with one stone.