Lord of the Oasis

“No problem, Lord Kant.”

The leader put down the parchment. He hesitantly said, “Oil, tools, and linen cloth. We have all of that in the caravan, but I’m afraid the price would be rather steep.”

“How much would they cost?” Kant asked in a rather nonchalant tone.

“Two cans of oil is 1,000 Denars. The 10 sets of tools are 2,000 Denars, and the five rolls of linen cloth cost 1,000 Denars.”

The leader completed the calculations and looked at Kant. Continuing in the same hesitant tone, he said, “It would cost a 4,000 Denars, but I could give you a discount. You would only need to pay 3,800 Denars for all of these goods.”

“3,800 Denars?”

Kant rubbed his chin, thinking about how steep that price was.

However, he smiled and asked, “In that case, would it be possible for me to barter using the dates?”

“Of course, that would be no problem.”

The leader of the trade caravan was slightly startled. After doing the calculations, he nodded and said, “However, we would only take high-grade dates like those from before. We would only want 76 baskets.”

One Date Palm Tree produced two baskets of dates.

Kant currently had 120 Date Palm Trees in his fief, which meant that 240 baskets of dates could have been produced.

If each basket was worth 50 Denars each, the total amount of dates would have been worth 12,000 Denars. That was why Kant was confident enough to buy that many things in one go.

If the Reyvadinian trade caravan had ample Denars to spare, Kant would have even immediately asked for cash.

It was a pity that the trade caravan only had 3,000 Denars to spare.

As such, he had no choice but to resort to barter.

“Well, 76 baskets of dates will be no problem at all.”

Kant smiled as he nodded, agreeing to it right away. The 200 peasants had been busy the past two days harvesting all of the dates hanging from the 100 Date Palm Trees.

The 200 baskets of dates were dried under the sun on linen cloths, turning the fresh dates into dried dates.

There was no way they could have finished eating them all.

It was of the utmost importance to barter what they had in abundance for the items they lacked most in the Oasis Lookout.

The trade was sealed. The supplies Kant had asked for were carted off of the carriages.

The 76 baskets of dried dates were stacked next to the door of the grocery store. The amount was so staggering that they almost clogged the street. The baskets of dates were soon carted off to the carriages by the mercenaries, who were currently doubling as coolies.

One basket of dates after another was put onto the carriages.

Three carriages were filled with the 76 baskets of dates. This was something would have never been possible outside of the system.

When he saw how the way things were packed on the carriages hardly changed, Kant had thoughts running through his head. The system definitely had some sort of space-folding techniques. In reality, the 76 baskets of dates should have filled at least five carriages.

“Farewell.”

The leader of the trade caravan remained respectful as he talked to Kant before leaving. “Thank you, Lord Kant, for your generous hospitality throughout the week. If things go well, we will meet again next month. I shall bring you more of what you would need by then.”

“See you next month.” Kant nodded.

Both parties bode each other farewell. The Reyvadinian trade caravan embarked on its journey. The three carriages slowly moved toward the dunes.

The members of the trade caravan remained the same. It included one leader, six escorts, and 12 sentries.

They climbed over the dune and quickly disappeared like a mirage. They were returning to the Continent of Caradia through the system’s mystical powers, heading straight for Reyvadin, a city of Vaegir.

Kant was naturally used to it by now.

It was how the system had always worked.

“All of you, come here.”

Kant turned around and called the 10 Swadian Militia members to his side.

He pointed at the supplies on the street and ordered, “Put all of those back into the storage room of the Council Hall. Be careful not to break anything fragile.”

“Understood.” The 10 Swadian Militia members nodded.

They efficiently worked together to move the supplies left behind by the trade caravan.

The fragile items Kant had mentioned was the oil. Those two cans of oil were luxury items worth 500 Denars each. The oil was made of high-grade animal fat. Not only was the oil edible, but it was also used for maintaining weapons and making flames.

Since the oil was considered tactical supplies, commoners were not allowed to consume it. Oil was something that every lord needed a supply of in their storehouses.

Kant had many uses for the oil.

Since my father still hasn’t completely cast me away, I might as well try getting in touch with the Dukedom of Leo.

He frowned slightly, making his calculations.

While the main part of his plan to strengthen his grip on the Nahrin Desert and secretly develop the place, it was impossible to just stay in the barren desert and sever the connection with the dukedom.

At the very least, there was the salt mine he planned to take in the future. He needed a way to sell the salt produced.

The only route he had within his grasp was the Dukedom of Leo.

Furthermore, in the process of making white salt, charcoal played a crucial role, both as fuel and a filter. Wood was only found in the Senwaya Range, which separated the dukedom from the desert. Kant had no way of securing such supplies elsewhere.

The tools he had bought were actually 10 high-grade woodcutting axes made of iron.

Kant had his own plans for those axes.

He planned on sending Swadian Peasants to a secluded spot in the range. They would build a logging camp there.

By then, he hoped to have the Elite Desert Bandits collect the crude raw salts at the alkali soil.

While the cost for sending two different teams to two different locations was quite high, if the operations proved sustainable and the finest of white salt was produced, the trade sealed with the dukedom basically created a beneficial cycle. The returns had the potential to be unimaginably high.

Gallop, gallop, gallop…

The rushed galloping noises of horses were heard.

Kant looked up at the northeastern dune. More than a dozen riders were seen approaching.

Kant’s expression remained unchanged.

It was not the enemy. Those were the 17 Elite Desert Bandits led by Firentis, who were returning after making their patrols.

The patrols were made three times a day—once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once at night.

While the Oasis Lookout had a watchtower, the view was still somewhat limited.

As such, he had the light cavalry units ride out and scout the deeper parts of the desert to see if there had been any unusual footprints found in the sand. They were to deal with any anomalies as soon as possible.

“Halt.”

Firentis led the cavalry units back and slowed his horse down.

He saw Kant inspecting the place at one end of the street. He immediately got off his horse and respectfully bowed before saying, “Good morning, Lord Kant.”

“Good morning, Firentis.”

Kant nodded and took a glance at the 17 stout Elite Desert Bandits and asked, “Did you find anything out of the ordinary?”

“Nothing at all. Everything is safe.”

Firentis grinned and added in a relieved tone, “That is the best.”

“Of course.” Kant nodded at the same time.

They were at the developmental stage of things. If the Jackalans continued to harass them, it would have caused Kant quite a headache.

As the victor of the previous battle, Kant still had the initiative for the time being.

Time was one of the spoils of victory.

If Kant sped up Drondheim’s development within a short time, becoming strong enough to resist that Jackalan Tribe, everything was bound to take a turn for the better.

Kant whole-heartedly believed that.

He knew he would have the final victory.

Besides, I still have three volleys of arrows left unused.

Kant exhaled and felt more confident than usual.

Three volleys of arrows from 500 Vaegir Marksmen were no joke. They had the ability to create a rain of arrows that enveloped quite a large area.

They were the strongest archers available. The arrows they used were also the best barreled arrows. If such a rain of arrows fell onto the Jackalans, which wore no armor and held no shields, it would have resulted in huge losses on their side.

If Kant put all three volleys to good use, the effects would have been comparable to that from a charge of 50 highly skilled retainer knights.

“Firentis.”

Kant felt rather anxious at that thought.

“Please speak, Lord Kant,” Firentis immediately replied.

Kant, however, stayed silent for several seconds. He looked at Firentis and asked, “In your opinion, what are the odds of us winning if we were to take on the Jackalan Tribe with the number of troops we have at the moment?”

“Umm…” Firentis was quite surprised by the question.

It was obvious that he had no ideas to offer regarding those wild, unrealistic thoughts Kant had.

To put it precisely, Firentis had a good grasp of the size of Kant’s current forces. There were less than 100 dedicated combatants. Even with the peasants added as auxiliary troops, they only had a force consisting of nearly 300 units. It was utterly ridiculous to think that such a force was able to attack a large tribe that had more than 2,000 Jackalans in it.

However, a system prompt suddenly appeared on Kant’s retina.

[Ding… Main Quest Assigned]

[Main Quest: The first powerful enemy]

[Quest Reward: 10,000 Denars, 1,000 Reputation, 10 Honor]

[Introduction: The first powerful enemy encountered in one’s life will forever remain unforgettable. The enemy symbolizes power and invincibility, just like how giants left a lasting impression in one’s heart when one was young. It is but the first obstacle one faces in life. While the impression is a lasting one, it actually symbolizes the fear before one becomes powerful.]