Kingdom Era

Chapter 6 Caravan Leader

“Hurry, bring him to me!” Alan demanded at once.

Daun nodded. He wiped off the sweat on his forehead and left.

Not long after, Daun rushed back with a chubby middle-aged man with a beard in tow.

“Your Highness, this is the leader of the Wind-Stone Caravan, Keywell!”

Taking a look at the chubby man, Alan forced out a smile and asked, “I’ve heard that you can contact the food caravan?”

Feeling a little nervous, Keywell lowered his head and dared not look at Alan. As a humble tradesman, he was not in any position to even meet an ordinary noble like Gert, let alone the prince before him right now.

Wiping off the sweat on his brow, he replied, “Your Highness, the Red Maple Caravan is the only one with the right to transport food and the ability to trade food at the borders. I know one of their managers.”

“That’s great!” Alan’s eyes lit up at once. “Can you get in touch with him?”

“Well, I can’t guarantee it,” Keywell replied hesitantly.

“What do you usually sell?” Alan suddenly asked.

“I-I sell fur.” Keywell lowered his head at once as his eyes shifted. 

“I think this isn’t the season for fur trade now, is it?” Alan asked skeptically. Generally speaking, fall and winter were the best seasons for fur trade. It was now still early in the summer, which wasn’t a good time to trade fur.

“How dare you lie to me!” Alan yelled as he glared at the man.

Keywell immediately replied fearfully, “Your Highness, please let me explain. I do trade fur, but sometimes, I trade other things such as alcohol...”

“Alcohol?” Alan looked at him with interest in his eyes. How bold of this fatty, he thought. Alcohol was in high demand at the borders. However, since the north had been facing a food shortage to begin with, very little food could be used to produce alcohol and thus alcohol was strictly controlled in the north.

As a result, alcohol was as precious as gold at the borders and raked in huge profits. The liquor business was essentially monopolized by big caravans such as the Red Maple Caravan or large families.

Therefore, it surprised Alan to know that this insignificant fur-trader could get his hands on alcohol.

Keywell smiled sheepishly while Daun explained in a low voice, “Your Highness, there is an unspoken concession for small caravans to trade a few f*******n goods. We just look the other way as long as they don’t sell weapons.”

Selling weapons was f*******n mainly because of fear that the weapons might be sold to orcs in secret.

“Do you admit your crime?” Alan turned serious at once, his eyes fixed sternly on Keywell.

Keywell’s face turned deadly pale in no time as he fell on his knees, shivering with fear.

Indeed, according to the law of the empire, bootlegging liquor was strictly f*******n on the northern borders. Anyone who violated this decree would be stripped of their property and sent to the borders for forced military service.

Normally, no one took this decree seriously. As such, he did not expect Alan to pull it out at this moment and enforce it.

“Please show me mercy, Your Highness. Please give me one more chance! I’m willing to offer all the goods I brought with me to you,” Keywell begged.

A thought suddenly came to his mind as he hurriedly offered the prince despite the painful look on his face, “Oh yes, Your Highness. I have with me two elven girls. They’re both yours now.”

It turned out that this fatty was bold enough to trade slaves!!

Elven girls were something countless nobles clamored for and one could earn a good fortune by trading them.

Alan had seen elven girls in the capital city, but only at auctions. They were indeed pretty women that countless men would go crazy for. Unfortunately, he was not that rich back then and thus wasn’t qualified to bid for one.

It came as a big surprise to him to hear about elven girls from an insignificant trader in the remote Blackstone City.

“I can give you one more chance,” Alan said as he rubbed his chin. It was not that he really wanted to have the elven girls. Rather, he was just trying to scare this fat man.

Upon hearing his words, Keywell was so agitated that he almost kissed Alan’s shoes. “Thank you so much for your mercy, Your Highness!” 

“I just have a simple request: The food!” Alan said, finally making clear the need that he genuinely had.

“I won’t pursue this matter if you can bring me enough food within three days. I don’t care whether you find a way to bring the food here yourself or contact the Red Maple Caravan and make them bring food here. All I want is for our warehouse to be filled with food within three days.”

“Of course, I will make it worth your while. As long as you can bring food here, I’ll purchase them at a rate of 30 copper coins per sack. In addition, if you manage to bring in ten carriage-loads of grain, I'll reward you with one gold coin; ten gold coins for a hundred carriage-loads; a hundred gold coins for 1,000 carriage-loads.”

Keywell, who was seized by fear and anxiety at first, was stunned upon Alan’s words. His instinct as a businessman drove his brain to work at once. His eyes shifted from left to right and they lit up at the next moment.

Grain was usually traded at around 20 copper coins per sack, but Alan’s price was higher by half of the market price. What’s more, the more grain he brought, the more money he would be rewarded with.

Keywell didn’t think he could get 1,000 carriage-loads of food, but he believed that he could try getting a hundred loads. The reward of ten gold coins was tempting enough for him to take the risk!

You see, he could only earn one or two gold coins at most for each trip, which meant that he would have to travel for more than half a year to earn ten gold coins! 

Keywell hesitated for a while before he finally gritted his teeth and proposed, “Your Highness, I need a deposit!”

“Derya, give him five gold coins.” Alan lifted his chin as Derya took five shiny gold coins out and tossed them before Keywell.

“Don’t try escaping with the money. Trust me, you don’t want to know the consequences. I promise you that as long as you can fulfil this task to my satisfaction, I can make you the caravan partner of Blackstone City. You’ll be in charge of all of Blackstone City’s trades. You don’t want to just lead a small caravan for the rest of your life, do you?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard about why I came to Blackstone City. If I manage to sit on the throne, it might even be possible for your caravan to become as large as the Red Maple Caravan.”

Alan said with a smile as he noticed the greed flashing through Keywell’s eyes. He was not at all afraid that the man would take the money and flee.

Looking at the smiling prince, Keywell’s vision trembled as lowered his head at once. The look that he saw in Alan’s eyes was one that he only saw in certain powerful people. 

Red Maple Caravan?

Desire began to surge from the bottom of his heart. The Red Maple Caravan was one of the three largest caravans in Athenian Empire and its wealth was on par with that of a nation. All businesspeople yearned to make their caravans as grand as the Red Maple Caravan.

If the third prince right before him could successfully take the throne, then what he said might just come true.