Chapter 115: The Merchant’s Goods
Zack and his group walked blankly down the wide street.
As they walked, they gazed at the harmonious yet bizarre scene around them.
Machop were hauling wood alongside humans, Snowrunt were chasing children, Cherubi were lounging in the sun by the roadside, Cranidos and Swablu patrolled with knights, and many Pidgey landed on rooftops…
Monsters seemed to be everywhere.
Compared to their last visit, this place had undergone a drastic change.
What surprised Zack even more was that this territory seemed to place great importance on the survival of monsters. The streets of the town still retained many grassy areas and trees full of natural ambiance for monsters to rest in, much like a park.
The monsters did not harm humans. Even upon seeing their group of strangers, they showed no hostility. Instead, they smiled friendly at them.
These scenes continuously challenged Zack and his companions’ understanding.
At this moment, a sense of confusion inevitably arose in everyone’s hearts.
The relationship between humans and monsters… When did it become so good?
“Boss, look over there!” one of his subordinates pointed to a shop.
Zack turned his head and saw a shop with a sign depicting honey.
Zack couldn’t help but step forward and ask, “What do you sell here?”
The shopkeeper was a woman about thirty years old. She looked at the people before her and asked with a smile, “You’re not from around here, are you?”
Zack nodded.
“No wonder!” the woman smiled and explained, “This is all honey, honey brewed by a type of monster called Combee. Its taste and quality are far superior to ordinary honey!”
Combee…?
Zack froze on the spot.
As far as he knew, they were monsters that specialized in collecting nectar.
Their honey was very nutritious and tasted better.
For this reason, in some places, people had tried raising those monsters, but these Combee refused to cooperate, and even when kept in captivity, they never collected nectar.
Later, it was discovered that there was a queen within the Combee colony, and the Combee only obeyed the queen’s commands.
Once separated from their queen, they would refuse to collect honey.
Later, some people attempted to capture the queen along with the colony, but they were met with fierce resistance from the entire Combee group.
Some even lost their lives because of it.
How did the people here manage to make the Combee and their queen obedient?
Thinking this, Zack couldn’t help but ask on the spot.
A smile appeared on the woman’s face: “Prince Lei Wen taught us all of this! Prince Lei Wen believes that monsters can coexist with humans. At first, not many people believed it, but now… we can’t live without monsters!”
“Hey! Aren’t you afraid of monsters? They’re so scary,” one of Zack’s subordinates couldn’t help but ask.
“Prince Lei Wen said that if you treat monsters with your heart, they will surely reciprocate with the same feelings. I used to think they were scary too, but now! Monsters are actually quite cute!”
The woman beckoned, and a Budew jumped onto the counter. She looked at everyone and said,
“See! What a cute monster! Prince Lei Wen is truly amazing!”
The subordinate had a look of incomprehension.
Treating monsters with one’s heart sounded too unbelievable.
Monsters were so terrifying; just encountering them could lead to an attack, and in more severe cases, even loss of life.
If not for the necessity of survival, he would have preferred to stay in the city his entire life and never see a monster!
Unlike his subordinate, Zack’s face showed a thoughtful expression as he listened to these words.
As a merchant, he keenly sensed a business opportunity.
Honey brewed by monsters like Combee was highly sought after by royalty and nobles in some places.
They considered this rare, hard-to-obtain product a symbol of their noble status.
If they could purchase this sweet honey from here and sell it elsewhere, they would surely make a lot of money!
However, before that, they had one more thing to do.
Zack recalled the Lord he had met before, the owner of this territory, Lei Wen.
He had to go and meet him.
Coincidentally, Zack saw someone dressed as a knight pass by.
He quickly stepped forward and introduced himself, “Greetings, sir. I am Zack, a merchant who visited here before. Lord Lei Wen bought some things from us last time, and I have brought the goods now!”
Upon hearing this, Geralt sized up the group before him.
He paused for a moment and said, “Follow me!”
“Yes!” Zack had the rest of his caravan wait there while he alone followed Geralt to meet Prince Lei Wen.
They walked through several streets, and soon, the two arrived at the center of the town.
That was where Lei Wen and his associates had established the City Hall for handling official matters.
Taxes, property sales within the town, and shop rentals were all handled here.
The concept of a City Hall was proposed by Lei Wen. Although it was somewhat anachronistic for the era, with the Castle not yet completed, having such a place made handling daily official business much more convenient.
When Geralt brought Zack here, Lei Wen was also touring the place under Elif’s guidance.
“Your Highness, an outsider claiming to be a merchant wishes to see you!” Geralt bowed and then spoke.
A merchant?
Lei Wen understood immediately upon hearing this.
“Let him in!”
Soon, Zack respectfully entered from outside.
He looked at Lei Wen, who was sitting behind the desk, bowed, and said respectfully, “My Lord, as you instructed, I have brought the livestock and slaves you requested!”
“Oh?” Lei Wen’s interest was piqued. “Take me to see them!”
“Yes!”
Led by Zack, Lei Wen soon saw many familiar ordinary animals.
Ordinary dairy cows for milk production, ordinary cattle, ordinary sheep, ordinary pigs, and ordinary chickens.
On the other side stood over twenty Pokémon whose limbs were bound.
Lei Wen scanned them; there were about 8 Machop, 4 Ledyba, and 8 Garbodor.
At this moment, these Pokémon huddled together fearfully. Their eyes were dull and hollow, and their bodies bore scars from not receiving timely treatment.
The young Ledyba hid behind the Garbodor, their faces filled with terror as they looked around at their surroundings.
Lei Wen looked at the scene thoughtfully.
It was clear that these Pokémon had previously been slaves.
And in this era, slaves could be freely bought and sold through trade.
“My Lord, these are the monsters you requested!” Zack introduced, “This monster is called Machop. They are very strong and can easily move things that humans cannot.”
“This is Garbodor. The concrete they make is very sturdy. In some big cities, they are excellent builders of city walls!”
“These little monsters are Ledyba. Although they are not very strong, they can work with Garbodor on construction sites.”
