Volume 7: Doing Business with the World Chapter 217 Centaur Express
The situation in Bolton County is quite bad, mainly because this place has been growing wildly for too many years. After the rise of Valentine next door, Bolton County has suffered serious population and economic losses. The total population of a proper earldom is even less than that of some viscounties.
What's worse is that the Bolton Territory has been leaderless for more than a decade... Which noble family would be willing to wear new shoes and step on a dog? Is it not fun to be a king, or is it better to live a comfortable life in your own manor?
Laura had been in office for two years. Despite having the money and connections, she had not taken any ruthless action against the local nobles who dared to challenge and provoke her. To a certain extent, it was because there were indeed not many nobles in the local area...
But Laura still wanted to manage the Earldom of Bolton well. The Philip family had already cut off its original foundation after leaving Valentine, who had run the Earldom for thirty years. If they couldn't even develop their own Earldom, then even if she retained the title of the first Countess of Kroning, the Philip family would be doomed.
After realizing that if the stubborn disease was not cured, Bolton County would surely perish, Laura was able to make up her mind so quickly... She had always thought this way, but was just hesitant.
During her stay in the Isaac Knight Territory, Laura never neglected her attention to the Bolton Territory. When the letter from the family knight Rupert was delivered, she knew that it was time for her to face the battlefield head-on.
"Earl Cleveland, House Edwin?"
Isaac read out the two names specifically mentioned in Rupert's letter and looked surprised: "Are these the two families?"
Laura nodded gently: "The mayor of Martin Town has donated tens of thousands of gold coins to the Edwin family for the past 20 years to ensure that he will not lose his position as mayor. The mayor of Tal City is too obvious, and the mayor of Martin Town is always easily overlooked... At least I have overlooked him before."
"The Cleveland family's manor was handed over to Bolton County. In the years when Bolton County was missing its earl, the Cleveland family's manor unknowingly encroached on a large area of fertile land in the southwest of Bolton County." At this point, Laura's voice was murderous. "First, they found a way to plunder the entire village nearby, either taking them away as serfs or throwing them into the mines to fend for themselves. Without anyone to take care of them, the fertile land was naturally abandoned. Finally, it was only natural to take away the wasteland."
Isaac sighed heavily. This operation was really... in the words of Teacher Ayun, it was quite cool!
"Wait... so, aren't you in danger?" Isaac suddenly became alert. How could he not be aware of Laura's efforts to rectify Bolton County? If Laura had firmly grasped Bolton County in her hands, wouldn't that be equivalent to cutting off other people's source of income?
Laura smiled and said, "Others come to my plate to grab food, and it makes no sense for me, as the owner, to give in."
Isaac: “…”
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but during the days when the teacher came to the Knight Territory, this little sister seemed to be becoming more and more domineering.
"Well... I think you still need to be more careful." After hesitating for a while, Isaac advised, "After Harris and the cat spellcaster left, there were fewer people around you."
"I understand. There are many ambitious people in the Philip family, but few are truly talented." Laura leaned back in her chair, propped up her chin with her elbows, and looked a little cold. "I plan to send a group of people to the grassland to travel and study, so that they can at least see the outside world and play a role when they come back. At least don't disgrace the Philip family name."
It took Isaac a few more seconds to think before he understood what Laura meant, and he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.
He originally meant to advise Laura to be more careful, but Laura thought deeper than him: external enemies are easy to guard against, but internal thieves are really hard to guard against. It would be better to send the unstable elements away for the time being, and hold together as a group, not giving the external thieves a chance to attack.
Those who are favored by the teacher are indeed not simple people...
The two seniors talked for a while and finalized the details of the cooperation. Although Laura's Bolton Territory was in a rather embarrassing situation due to the suppression of Valentine's aura next door, it was not without advantages: geographically, if one entered the Western Continent by land, Bolton Territory would be a very suitable land transportation hub.
The best land in the Western Continent is in the hands of the Dwarven Kingdom, but the Western Continent is not just inhabited by Dwarves... In the vast forests bordering the Southern Continent, there are also many forest tribes living. Isaac is tasked with promoting products for the grassland tribes, so naturally he has to open up land trade routes as far as possible.
On the other side, Xiao Yun was also instructing the Centaur Sel.
"The agricultural machinery purchased by these Kronin nobles is the first order of business for Centaur Express." In the warehouse of the third district of Knight Territory, Xiao Yun patted the agricultural machinery products that were disassembled into parts. "Transportation, assembly, and subsequent maintenance are all the business content of Centaur Express. These things are very durable anyway. If there are no major problems in the first three years of use, we will complete the mission."
The Centaur Cel and his people nodded solemnly.
Although the Centaurs are ugly and irritable, their intelligence is not a problem. They can learn the simple maintenance and repair of tractors and farm machinery that the Snow Wolves can learn.
This time, Sayre brought out all the tribesmen who were not too old or too young, and who were not missing limbs... well, there were only a little over 200 but less than 300. There was no other way. After causing trouble to the tiger tribe for so many years, it was already quite difficult to have such a group of living forces preserved.
"Saier, you are the best at math, so you should be more careful with the accounts and check them frequently to make sure there are no mistakes. After all, we are splitting the profits from the sale of this thing among several parties. You, the Centaurs, take one share, and Viscount Pope, the local boss, also takes one share. If we want to maintain a long-term cooperative relationship, we must avoid making mistakes in the accounts."
"I understand, Ayun." Saier said solemnly.
During the past few years living in the Fire Tribe, Sayle had thought about the future of the Centaurs... If they had a larger population, they could develop by farming along with the Snow Wolf Tribe, just like the Cat Tribe and the Snake Tribe; or if they had special skills like the Gray Dwarves and Goblins, they could also do well.
Unfortunately, they have no production skill points, and their population is declining. The elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled in the tribe can't even gather 500 people. If the Snow Wolf Tribe really gives them land to cultivate slowly like they did to the Cat Tribe and the Snake Tribe, the longer time goes, the more they will be left behind by other races - with such a small population, how can they compete with the Cat Tribe and the Snake Tribe in terms of raw material supply!
Centaurs also have self-esteem, how could they be willing to make themselves invisible and have no sense of existence!
The longer he received education , the clearer it became to Saier: Any race or group needs to be needed by others and must become an indispensable part of a certain field. Only then can the future of this race or group be guaranteed.
Xiao Yun raised his hand and patted Saier's horse shoulder (a human shoulder was too high to reach), and said with a smile: "The land area of Kroning is only two provinces... It's only about the size of the southwestern border of the grassland. It's not too difficult to cross it back and forth. Of course, their place is not as flat as the grassland, but people also try to live on flat land instead of deep in the mountains and forests."
"You can go wherever the human carriages can go. Our products can go wherever you can go. How far our products can be sold depends on whether our Centaur courier is powerful enough."
"Since it's express delivery, it can't be too slow. From Valentine to the farthest southwest border of Kronen, a round trip can't take more than a month. Do you have confidence?"
"Yes!" Saier and several Centaur warriors shouted in unison.
"Good! You're courageous! Let's go meet the client now!" Xiao Yun clapped his hands and led the way.
The Centaurs turned around and followed...
The Centaurs have been in the Knight Territory for nearly half a month . To avoid scaring people, they have been living near the warehouse in the third district near the port. This is the first time they have appeared in public - as soon as they walked out of the warehouse area, they scared the workers in the third district and made them run away.
“Monster ahhhhhh!!”
"Help, Mom!"
Tools such as shovels, sand baskets, etc. were scattered all over the ground. The slowest workers ran a hundred meters away. The only ones left on the busy construction site were the supervisors who were too late to stop them.
The former adventurer of Isaac's group and current construction supervisor looked over with a twitch of his mouth: "..."
Xiao Yun & the Centaurs: "..."
"Well, it's okay. Our Snow Wolf tribe received similar treatment earlier." Xiao Yun said to Sai'er calmly.
Sai Er: “…”
Centaurs have dense body hair, and the females have breasts. After living with the Fire Tribe, Xiao Yun naturally couldn't let them run around naked, so he gave them all the same forest elf-style sun cloth suits as the Snow Wolf Tribe, which Evelyn personally designed. Although the horse faces were still quite ugly, at least the clothes added a lot of points...
However, the appearance of a human body + a horse body is still too scary...
Xiao Yun said that everything was fine, but silently led the centaurs to take a detour.
After scaring away countless innocent people who took detours along the way, several Centaur warriors finally arrived at the hotel in Area 1 with great difficulty...
The hotel doormen and waiters were very considerate and did not scream, but just ran very fast. Before Xiao Yun even raised his hands, these guys ran away and not even their shadows could be seen.
"Hmm... Think about it on the bright side. When I deliver the goods later, I can scare away those bandits before they even get close to me. This can save me a lot of trouble."
Xiao Yun said to Saier with great optimism.
Seer & Centaur Warriors: "..."
Entering the hotel lobby, we were greeted by a Snow Wolf warrior, a noble couple, and their servants and guards.
In places where patriarchy is predominant, drinking and dining parties are inevitable. Snow Wolf warriors who have become war ball stars are inevitably invited to attend drinking and dining parties through various means and channels.
Xiao Yun let them go with confidence, not worrying about anything happening to them… The Snow Wolf people didn’t like drinks that would paralyze their nerves. Besides, giving alcohol to a little star was different from giving alcohol to Tyson or Johnson.
"Ayun, Sailer!" This Snow Wolf warrior who had accompanied Xiao Yun for several rounds of dinner and drinking parties did not feel at all that he had been sold out by Xiao Yun. He just felt that it was fun to eat everywhere, and he was in high spirits when he greeted them.
Sai Er smiled back, and saw that the noble couple hid behind the Snow Wolf warrior in a second with agility that was no less than that of the cat warrior...
Entering the inner hall, the well-mannered noble gentlemen and ladies who were sitting in the guest seats and chatting quietly saluted the Centaurs. They did not scream or run away, but looked terrified as if they saw a tiger running into their bedroom for a walk.
After passing through the inner hall and entering the hotel courtyard, Xiao Yun was silent for a moment and said to Saier, "Do you think that if the Minotaur came to visit the human kingdom, would they not even be able to enter the city gate?"
Saier & Warriors: "..."
Thinking of this, the Centaurs actually felt a little better... In terms of ugliness, the Centaurs had never lost, but when it came to ferocity and terror, it seemed that the Minotaur was better.
The two most important customers of Centaur Express's first business were Prince Maurice and the Duke's son.
The biggest client, Prince Maurice, had no fiefdom, and he spent a huge sum of money to buy more than 30 sets of agricultural machinery with the intention of taking them back to the capital to be a middleman dealer... Anyway, no one else dared to compete with him for them.
Xiao Yun brought Sayre to meet a big client. Prince Maurice, who was waiting at his place, suddenly saw a dozen ugly centaurs. He was stunned for a moment, then tried his best to calm down. Except for not looking at the centaurs, he looked very calm.
However, Viscount Pope, who was sitting next to him, looked a little pale and his facial muscles were a little stiff - although Xiao Yun had brought him to meet Seer in advance, this race that violated human aesthetics still challenged the Viscount's bottom line of acceptance.
At the three-party talks, the details of the handover that had been agreed upon in advance were briefly mentioned. Before Viscount Pope's acceptance reached its limit, Xiao Yun obediently took the Centaur warriors away and continued to the next one.
A group of large, ugly and terrifying aliens disappeared. Prince Maurice's face flushed, his eyes sparkled, and he actually asked Viscount Pope: "Will you sell those ugly monsters?"
Viscount Pope spat out the tea he had just drunk to calm himself down with a "puff".
"Your Highness, this really won't work..."
In another "small villa", the Duke's son sat calmly halfway through the meeting, then stood up and left after apologizing, leaving the task of verifying the handover details to the butler, and then never came back...
The next house was a count and countess who came to Bolton to watch a play and buy some farm machinery. The moment Sayre lowered his head and walked into the house, they disappeared from the room at the speed of a 100-meter sprint.
After finally finishing the client visit and returning to the deserted warehouse area in District 3, Sayre was full of doubt: "Ayun, can we really develop in Kroning...?"
"Of course. We have met so many companies, and although most of the owners have fled, no one has proposed to terminate the delivery contract!" Xiao Yun still looked very confident, and said confidently, "What does this show? It shows that customers have great confidence in the business capabilities of Centaur Express and believe that we can deliver their valuables to their doorsteps. This is enough!"
"We are doing business with them. What we rely on is our business ability! We rely on our ability to make a living. It doesn't matter whether we are good-looking or not!"
"When our Centaur warriors stand in front of customers, their business capabilities are like tattoos on their faces. Isn't that perfect~!"
"Just being popular with customers but not having any ability, what do you call that? That's a gigolo! Who are we to be able to eat that kind of gigolo?"
"So, appearance is not important~!"
Sai Er stared with dead fish eyes: "..."
So you also think we are negative in appearance, right?
Two days later.
Harris, Xiao Rui and others returned to the Knights' Territory and found that the main entrance to the first district of the Knights' Territory was particularly empty, with no trace of the crowds of people that used to come.
"What happened?" The hearts of the snake and cat tribes tightened, and they hurriedly quickened their pace...
At the main entrance of the first district, where you enter the street, there is a vegetable market that provides services to nearby farmers and villagers. It is early in the morning, when the market does the most business, but today there are no vegetable vendors or workers buying fresh vegetables, only a convoy loading goods.
"Sail!" Xiao Rui called out and trotted forward. "When did you get here? What are you pretending to be?" She looked around and said, "Why is there no one here today but you? It wasn't like this the last time we came."
Saier, who had just shown an expression of surprise, covered his chest in pain. What a friendly attack.
"...We came here with Ayun to help deliver the goods." After a pause, Sayre said sadly, "Because we are loading the truck here, there is no one else."
"Huh? Why?" Xiao Rui blinked her round eyes innocently.
Saiermu had no explanation. Harris and the snakes stared blankly at this stupid black panther.
"So you're going to stay here and not go back to the grassland?" Another leopard said regretfully, "You're leaving right after we got here. When will you go back to the grassland?"
"It's not that I won't go back. Ah Yun said that if we are responsible for delivering goods here, our products will sell better. We will also take turns to go back when it's not too busy." Saier was very grateful that the cat tribe didn't look at them with special eyes. He didn't feel it when he was in the Fire Department before, but now he knows the warmth and fickleness of human nature...
"That's good. You centaurs are quite suitable for delivering goods." Xiao Rui raised her hand and patted Sayre's strong horse body with a smile. "If you want to go a long way, you need to get steel shoes. Have you changed the shoes?"
"We've changed it. We use the best alloy steel shoes that the Qiu New District has just released." Saier lifted up his front hoof to show Xiaorui the shoe plate nailed on it. "We brought a spare one with us. If it's worn out, we can change it ourselves. Ayun has thought very carefully about us. Don't worry."
The cats were reluctant to part with the centaurs, so they stayed behind to help load the truck; the snakes saw that the situation was not good and they could not leave, so they followed to help.
"Harris, Xiaorui, you're back?" Xiao Yun came over to see the loading going on, and saw a group of big cats, snakes, and centaurs hanging out together.
"Ayun!" Xiao Rui put down the cargo box and happily rushed towards Xiao Yun.
Isaac's eyes sparkle, and his concentration instantly increases by 100%.
Xiao Yun smiled and stretched out his arms, hugging the black-skinned girl who looked like a handsome boy.
Isaac's expression instantly became 100% serious, and a dark cloud seemed to appear behind him...
"How was your time in Bolton Territory?" Xiao Yun didn't notice his disciple's gloom at all, and slapped away the leopard that was about to pounce on him.
Xiao Yun has always been fair to male creatures, regardless of their race...
Isaac's expression suddenly became complicated.
"Play...!!" The cats' emotions instantly became 100% excited.
"We're not going there to play!" Xiao Rui said excitedly.
"That's right, it's not fun at all!" the leopard said loudly.
Xiao Yun looked at Harris strangely: "What's going on, Harris, did Rupert not entertain you well?"
"Entertainment...!!" The snakes' faces began to twitch.
"How should I put it..." Harris looked confused, "In the past six months, it feels like everyone has experienced all the unpleasant things they have ever seen in their lives..."
"Oh——" Xiao Yun looked at the bitter and vengeful cat tribe, then looked at the equally bitter and vengeful snake tribe, laughed, and forced everyone to eat rotten chicken soup, "It seems that everyone has learned a lot on this trip, which is a good thing. A true warrior is someone who dares to face a bloody life, but can also cheer up and be full of hope for tomorrow~"
Centaurs, cats, and snakes: "..."
This makes me feel so complicated...
Xiao Yun raised his hand and patted Harris' shoulder, smiling: "Thank you for your hard work. Have a good rest for two days and then we can go home together. Everyone should work harder on the road and write down what you see and hear in a diary format to supplement our social studies textbooks."
Harris seemed quite relaxed in the first half, but in the second half, his expression changed...
"Do we have to write it too?" Xiao Rui asked nervously.
Xiao Yun tilted his head to look at her, smiled, and said word by word: "Everyone write. It's a rare opportunity to get in touch with human society. Of course, we have to share this valuable experience with everyone. We can't be selfish."
Xiao Rui instantly bent forward in frustration, and the other cats and snakes also showed angry but speechless expressions... It's not rare at all, it's so precious! Can you give it to someone else? !
Elder Gregor wanted to ask if he could be an exception, but after thinking about the Snow Wolf Tribe's traditional style, he shut his mouth.
"Yeah, I almost forgot." Xiao Yun looked at the centaurs who were watching the fun, "Don't forget to keep learning while you're delivering goods, especially your diary. Write at least 200 words every day."
Centaurs: “?!”
——Life is already so difficult, why do you want to hurt us!!
Xiao Yun was very calm, completely ignoring everyone's resistance...
No matter you are from the snake tribe, cat tribe or centaur tribe, you have learned our knowledge, used our writing, paid and gained in our knowledge system (it is easy to become an ungrateful person if you only gain without paying, no matter in which aspect). After a hundred or two hundred years, as long as the Snow Wolf Tribe does not destroy itself, you will still be our one... ahem.
The Centaur warriors took the goods that could be delivered on the same route, maps accurate to the villages (provided by the Bards' Guild), dry food, seasonings and other consumables along the way (they had to be prepared for difficulties in replenishing supplies halfway), specially made simple tents, put on light armor tailored for them, carried longbows and quivers, flew the courier brand flag, and set off for their destination.
The long convoy disappeared at the end of the road. The merchants who were shutting their doors could not see the figures of these horse-and-man monsters through their windows and door cracks, so they carefully opened their doors...
About half an hour later, the morning market, which had been delayed for two hours, became lively again...
The cats did not see this scene with their own eyes, and could not understand for the time being how much pain the Centaurs felt. After helping the Centaurs load the car, they were shocked to find out why the Snow Wolf Tribe did not come to help - any Snow Wolf warrior they met was surrounded by at least dozens of humans, making it difficult for them to move!
Especially when passing by the Grand Theater Square, Xiaohua, who was surrounded by at least a hundred people, saw them from afar and waved and said hello with difficulty , but was drowned by the excited crowd...
Snakes & Cats: "......?"
We are all Orcs, but you sneaked away and gained human reputation?!
"Not everyone is popular. Have you seen me walking around like this? Have you ever seen anyone give me any looks?" Xiao Yun spread his hands. "It's the same with Qingcao. When she walks on the street, people stare at her. But when they find out she's not a star player of the war ball, no one pays any attention to her. She's even more embarrassing than me."
