Ch. 31 - Minions and Treasure

Having gained his freedom, Tang Qi finally had the chance to fill his belly.

He took the black rye bread in his hand and banged it repeatedly against a panel on the cargo wagon.

"Clang clang."

Perhaps it was an occupational hazard, but he gradually beat out a simple rhythm.

It wasn't until he'd woken Black Snake from his dreams that he finally managed to knock off a few crumbs of bread.

There was no helping it—this kind of hard stick-bread was the most easily stored and portable travel ration available here.

At least Catherine had thoughtfully prepared plum wine, so it wouldn't get stuck in his throat and refuse to go down.

"I'm starting to miss yesterday's fried pork cutlet."

The plum wine diluted the bitterness of the rye. He tossed a piece of bread into Kuru's mouth and gave him a sip of wine.

"Th-thank you..."

The kobold's gratitude wasn't necessarily sincere.

It was more that he was afraid if he didn't say thank you, there'd be no food afterward.

When it was Black Snake's turn, Tang Qi poured him a sip of wine—only to discover that Black Snake had clamped his teeth directly onto the spout, dumping an entire bag of plum wine into his stomach before letting out a wine-scented burp.

"There are only three bags of wine. We should conserve them," Tang Qi said. He wasn't angry, just sighed.

"Who cares? You're not actually expecting a scoundrel to follow the rules, are you?"

"Of course not, which is why the remaining two bags won't include your share."

"You shouldn't have shared with anyone in the first place."

Black Snake leaned back against the cargo with his head tilted up.

"On the road of adventure, the biggest taboo is meddling in others' business.

If doing good deeds leads to good rewards, that's what you deserve.

If you run into a rogue like me, then consider it your loss."

Tang Qi shook his head:

"It's just one bag of wine—hardly a loss. I can still buy more when we reach Longgold City.

Compared to a few days from now, when your lips are cracked and dry, and you're begging me, pleading for me to give you a sip of wine and looking like a complete fool—

This doesn't count as much of a loss."

"I'm really curious how that rotten mouth of yours—always able to hit people right in the heart—actually grew."

"I learned it from *The Thousand and One Pages of How to Roast People*."

"Is that also one of your academy's textbooks?"

"It will be."

"What do you mean?"

"Because I haven't written it yet."

"You're a fucking genius!"

Black Snake admired his tongue but also mocked his ignorance.

"But don't think you can drink starberry wine just anywhere."

Tang Qi looked toward the nearby convoy wagons, filled with wooden crates packed with starberries.

Inside wasn't just Lord Merle's 'Starshine,' but also surplus crops planted by the town's residents:

"I don't believe that with tons of goods coming in every year, Longgold City would have a shortage of starberry wine."

"There's stock. But do you have money?"

"Golden Oak's plum wine costs just two copper coins. How expensive could it possibly get in Longgold City?"

"If it were really that cheap, why would that pig bother spending such an enormous sum to hire a mercenary company to escort his merchant convoy?"

Black Snake snorted coldly and counted out the expenses required to transport a single shipment of starberries:

"Only the damp soil of Dawnmist Forest is suitable for growing these special products.

To ensure the freshness of the fruit pulp, besides the mercenary escort fees, they also need to hire spellcasters to provide protection—

A single scroll of [Preserve Food] sells for the steep price of 50 gold coins.

And the output from just one small town is far from enough to satisfy the demand of all of Longgold City—after all, the berries themselves are also beloved.

When you add all these various factors together, the price of starberries in Longgold City can increase dozens of times over.

The plum wine brewed from them costs even more, with the price accumulating upward based on quality.

Do you think with the money in your pocket, you can guarantee yourself more than a few sips of inferior starberry wine?"

Considering that 300 kilograms of starberries only cost Catherine 10 gold coins—

When Tang Qi thought about how much profit Lord Merle could extract from this, his eyes reddened with envy and he couldn't help but click his tongue.

"No wonder so many people resonated with me when I was singing that day..."

"Once you reach Longgold City, you'll definitely miss how cheap the Golden Oak was."

"Looks like you're already missing it. Too bad you're destined to lose this job.

I wonder if Longgold City's laws will sentence you to slavery to bear the losses caused by your dereliction of duty?

At least that way you could still return to the town to plant starberries."

Even as he said this, Tang Qi was only making a joke.

Longgold City's laws didn't completely serve the nobility—compared to the Terran Empire, they were fairly just.

Someone like Black Snake who had abandoned his post would likely have to pay sufficient compensation.

If he wasn't well-off, he'd be imprisoned and made to serve to repay his debts.

But for Black Snake, that was clearly a waste of talent.

"Compared to that bullshit trial, I'm more curious—"

Black Snake snorted coldly, stammering and showing a surprisingly innocent side that didn't match his previous rogue demeanor:

"Hey, you and her... when did you two become that close?"

The old man was definitely talking about Catherine.

Tang Qi wouldn't pass up the chance to tease him:

"What, jealous?"

"Hmph."

"Being jealous won't help. Slovenly old men can't win girls' hearts."

"I'm only forty-six."

"Then you're at an awkward age that no one appreciates—

To humans, you're an outdated, slovenly old man.

To dwarves, you're a little brat who hasn't even grown hair yet.

To elves... good lord, you're still a little baby."

"Fuck your rotten mouth."

Black Snake kicked out.

Tang Qi's hair instantly stood on end. He instinctively rolled to another corner of the cargo wagon—

Instead, it was Black Snake who froze.

He hadn't even used much force, had he?

Why was this kid reacting so dramatically?

Tang Qi looked at Black Snake with lingering fear, thinking he truly lived up to being a high-level adventurer.

That seemingly casual kick had been enough to trigger his 'Alertness.'

"Is your courage a bit too small?" Black Snake said mockingly.

"I..."

"Or perhaps he'd heard of your reputation long ago?"

Thanks to his occupational hazard, Tang Qi was always sensitive to a person's voice.

He could often discern someone's outward personality from their voice and tone.

For instance, Black Snake's voice was always lazy and decadent, like a good-for-nothing who'd muddled through forty years without accomplishing anything.

Explosive wolf's voice was rough and impatient, with short pauses between phrases and almost no breathing room.

Starshine, on the other hand, was consistently confident and resonant—though this might be a common affliction of every young spellcaster:

"[Minions of the Sandalwood Grove], right?"

Black Snake frowned. "The squad wasn't that famous before it disbanded."

"Once people discovered that you'd survived and escaped from the [Great Wasteland], you were already famous.

I heard a total of ten teams ventured deep into the wasteland. You were the only ones who survived."

No one didn't know about the [Great Wasteland] that Starshine mentioned.

It was a desolate expanse cutting across the middle of the continent, separating the Terran Empire on the west coast from the Lord's Alliance on the east coast.

It was also the reason Tang Qi couldn't choose an inland route and could only cross the continent from east to west by ship.

The reasons for this wasteland's formation were widely disputed.

Some said it was once the ruins of a divine battlefield.

Others said a forgotten kingdom once stood there.

Legendary stories always attracted an endless stream of adventurers venturing deep within.

But very few people left that wasteland alive.

So much so that just 'walking out of there' was enough to be talked about endlessly.

Black Snake kept his eyes tightly closed, not showing much respect for Starshine:

"That's hardly grounds for you to recognize me."

"They say that team had a 'venomous snake wielding a black curved blade.' To be honest, at first I really thought you were a snake-person."

"So you recognized me from my confiscated 'Snake's Kiss,' and then?"

Black Snake seemed uninterested.

"And then... I hope you can tell me—

What treasures did you obtain from the Great Wasteland?"

Starshine moved closer, leaning against the wagon's railing.

"I'm curious."

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