Lord of the Oasis

To Kant, the Jackalan captives that were worth 30 Denars each were the fastest way to get more Denars at the moment because as long as he wanted, countless Jackalan tribes were waiting for him in the Nahrin Desert or the Senwaya Range.

This was also the reason why he never worried about money ever since he discovered that Jackalan could be sold as captives.

“It’s my honor to be able to help you solve your problems.”

With a smile on his face, the leader of the trade caravan lowered his head and complimented him.

Jackalan captives were the most popular commodity in the Kingdom of Vaegirs. The owners of the Snowfield mines loved them. Although they ate a lot, most of them seemed to be honest and willing to work. One Jackalan was equal to five ordinary human miners.

They were very cost-effective.

Therefore, he asked the peasant who worked as a servant in the Council Hall to summon a guard in his trade caravan.

Soon, the door of the Council Hall was opened.

A young man wearing a linen robe, who looked energetic and capable, walked in.

He stood in front of the table and bowed respectfully. He put his hand on his chest, and said earnestly, “Good afternoon, the great Lord Kant, Mr. Manid, Uncle Joslin.”

“Hello.” Kant and Manid nodded in response.

Then, Kant chuckled and said in a self-deprecating tone, “I only find out that your name is Joslin now.” He looked at the leader of the trade caravan and said helplessly, “I have always liked to call you ‘leader of the trade caravan’.”

“This is my profession, and I love it,” Joslin replied with a smile.

His answer was very clever and did not make Kant feel awkward.

After all, Kant had a deep understanding of Mount & Blade in his previous life, to the point that he liked to use the title of his profession in the game to address Joslin. He also attributed the title, “leader of the trade caravan”, to him alone.

It was not wrong to say that. Currently, Joslin was the only leader of the trade caravan.

“I see.”

Joslin instructed the young man whom he admired the most, “Count the number of captives and feed the new captives some food and water. When the number reached 500, I will let you lead the team back to Reyvadin.”

“I won’t let you down, Uncle Joslin.” Joy was written all over the young man’s face.

“Go.” Joslin waved his hand.

“Yes, sir.” The young guard immediately bowed respectfully and left. From his jubilant look, one could tell that he was very eager to lead his team back to Reyvadin.

“Your nephew?”

After he left, Manid smiled and said, “He looks a little too young.”

“Yes, he’s already 17 years old, but he’s still so easily agitated.” The leader of the trade caravan nodded helplessly. He understood what Manid meant, he sighed and said, “Let him try this time. At least, with Lord Kant’s reputation, not a single bandit gang on the continent of Caradia dares to rob the trade caravan from the land of miracles. This could be his training.”

“It’s always good for young people to get more training.” Kant nodded.

Although he was only 16 years old, he had lived for two lifetimes. Summing up the years he had lived, he was already over 40 years old. He could be considered as a middle-aged man.

“I think so too.” Joslin nodded, sighed, and said, “He is the son of my former comrade-in-arms. However, my comrade-in-arms died in the war with the Khergit people. Before he died, he asked me to help look after his son. His son is pretty good. He is proficient in riding and swordsmanship. He has inherited his father’s bravery.”

“A brave father will never have a weak son.” Kant nodded and comforted him.

The atmosphere in the Council Hall was a little sad.

Manid noticed that and switched the topic to business.

As the most outstanding descendent of the Nord merchant family, he was completely able to control the situation during the conversation.

The joyous atmosphere was back.

Soon, the young man returned.

Again, he bowed respectfully and reported to Kant and Joslin, “There are 322 Jackalan captives. If they are purchased at 30 Denars each. The total value is 9,660 Denars.”

“Close to 10,000 Denars?”Kant raised his eyebrows slightly. Although he was already prepared, he was still shocked.

Although most of the Jackalans he killed along the way to the salt mine were in small numbers, there were more than 1,000 of them added together.

Now that he thought about it, those that had been killed were not Jackalans.

They were 30,000 to 40,000 Denars! But they had been casually slaughtered and discarded in the desert. They had become worthless!

Shaking his head slightly, Kant thought about the Jackalans in the Senwaya Range. He couldn’t help but lick the corner of his mouth, “It seems that I really need to set up a slave-hunting team in the future.”

Manid nodded in agreement, “That’s a good idea.”

“Yeah.” Kant frowned. Perhaps this idea could be implemented.

The current Oasis Lookout was quite barren. The only commodity that could be produced on a large scale was probably salt.

However, although salt was precious, Kant knew that there were restrictions.

The system would not accept the materials produced in this world at all. In the end, the salt could only be traded with the merchants of this world. At most, it could be converted into silver coins and become Kant’s capital so that he could rapidly establish a business circle with Oasis Lookout as its center.

According to Kant and Manid’s ideas, the most they could do was to wait for the economy of this world to be sufficiently developed and use silver coins to start purchasing gold that was allowed to be exchanged for Denars. However, this would not only be troublesome, but it would also easily cause turmoil in the already perfect financial world, this would then affect the business circle that Kant had established in this world, and the impact would be quite significant.

The business was scaled.

Exchanging silver coins for gold on a large scale would ultimately cause the price of gold to keep rising.

The rise of gold price would also affect other businesses, such as economic exchanges between countries and commodities trading. This would then destroy the entire business structure, from top to bottom.

In ancient times where there was no concept of business, the consequences of the collapse of the business chain were quite serious.

“Manid, remember the plan about the slave-hunting team.”

Kant turned his head and looked at the Nord business genius he trusted the most. “Perhaps we should discuss it with Firentis tonight. I think this plan is feasible.”

“I agree.” Manid nodded.

At that time, the leader of the trade caravan, Joslin, had also finished counting the number of captives and the Denars that they would be paid.

He pondered for a while and turned his head to report to Kant, “Lord Kant, currently you have captured 442 Jackalans. If you can capture another 58 Jackalans, then King Yarogelk’s entrustment will be completed.”

“58 more?” Kant nodded and frowned, “That’s very simple.”

The special quest arranged by King Yarogelk of Vaegirs had a final reward of five Honor Points.

Kant was quite covetous of this.

Five Honor Points represented five chances to draw a lottery. He would never let this chance slip by.

His fingers were tapping gently on the table. Kant ordered with a solemn expression, “Somebody, send my order to Firentis, and ask him to lead the Swadian Cavalrymen to patrol the surroundings of the oasis and get more Jackalan captives back.”

“Yes, sir.”

The Swadian Infantrymen, who were standing guard at the door, immediately answered.

They were guards, but they were also messengers.

They pushed open the thick wooden door and walked outside. Kant’s order was conveyed and carried out.

Many Jackalans were hiding just behind the dune not far from the Oasis Lookout. Some were run out and killed before, some escaped. These were the targets Kant planned to capture.

Although the Swadian Cavalrymen were not as efficient as the Sarrandian Horsemen, they were able to go deep into the desert.

However, when patrolling at close range, these ‘land tanks’ were extremely efficient.

Furthermore, with Firentis leading them, it would not take long for them to complete the mission. Perhaps during dinner tonight, they would be able to capture a large number of Jackalans. As long as they crushed those stubborn Jackalans who resisted with their horses’ hooves, the other Jackalans who were famished would definitely choose to surrender. This was really simple.

Kant muttered to himself.

On his retina, his current balance was shown.

[ Balance: 15,614 Denars ]

The cost of the Desert Bandits’ level up and the cost of building the canal had been taken into account.

However, after selling the Jackalan captives twice and together with the balance from before, Kant’s savings had increased to nearly 16,000 Denars. Basically, he had enough money for the construction of the stronghold this month and the expenses of the troops.

“Lord, we’ll be heading out for the time being.”

The leader of the trade caravan, Joslin, bowed and left the Council Hall with his nephew.

The trade caravan that was currently deployed in the grocery store still had important matters to deal with. Especially with so many captives, Joslin was not comfortable at letting his subordinates handle all of them.

“Okay.” Kant nodded to indicate that he understood.

Only he and Manid were still in the Council Hall.

With a frown, Kant raised his head and told Manid beside him about his arrangements, “In that case, arrange for some peasant men and women to boil the white salt as soon as possible tonight. You can set off tomorrow morning.”

“Understood.”Manid nodded.

“And the posthouse.” Kant frowned and said to Manid, “Let seven Swadian Infantrymen and ten Desert Bandits station there. If the Stone Pass wants to open up a trade route, tell them that our trading station is there. If they continue to go further, they will enter the Baron’s private estate that is not open to the public.”

“Understood.” Manid nodded. These were the plans that they had already discussed.

Knocking on the table, Kant was still a little worried.

He looked up and said to Manid, “Put more charcoal when boiling the salt to absorb the impurities. I don’t want my salt to be bitter. Or else, other than those serfs who have never eaten salt, it will become a joke that the noble loathes.”

“Please rest assured.” Manid solemnly guaranteed, “This will not happen.”