Cleave Through Thorns

Romain thought for a moment, then took back the gemstone.

He still had feelings for that ruby. After all, it had been with him since childhood. If he were not so short on money now, he would not have given it away.

Emotion was emotion, reason was reason. To him, the ruby was merely a luxury item. After becoming an extraordinary being, its effects had greatly diminished, so Romain would not refuse to trade it for resources needed for early development.

He said calmly, "I won't take anyone's favors for free. In the future, I'll repay you in other ways."

Romain understood Morey's thinking. Merchants sought profit, so he would give him profit.

He would not allow anyone to buy shares in Sigg Town, nor would he accept anyone having the chance to use past favors to morally coerce him.

But he would not refuse others' investments, especially while he was still weak.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. He also needed a capable merchant to help sell the supplies Sigg Town would produce in the future.

Romain suddenly asked, "Have you sold all your goods?"

Morey froze. He had been making a temporary stop here for four days. For a merchant convoy, that was already a long time, especially in a poor market town like Sigg Town. All the trade that could be done had already been finished.

Even if those seven or eight merchant ships simply remained here, the hidden costs were not small.

But he could not leave yet. He still had to wait for Shasta. He had said he would wait for her for two days. Today was the first day, tomorrow the second, so he planned to wait until the day after tomorrow. If he still did not see Shasta by then, he really would have to leave.

Morey stammered, unable to find a good excuse. Inwardly, he cursed Shasta bloody, having never seen such a bastard who screwed over her teammates so badly.

If he ever let that Witch onto his ship again, he would be a dog!

Romain keenly noticed the embarrassment on Morey's face.

Romain fell thoughtful and did not continue questioning him.

He merely told Morey that Sigg Town still needed Iron Ingots and asked him to ship them over as soon as possible. He would also exchange corresponding supplies for the Iron Ingots Morey brought.

Steel was in high demand. It did not have to be sold to Sigg Town.

So Romain promised to waive Morey's business taxes for the next two years. As long as Morey was willing to come, there would be no shortage of benefits for him.

In the eyes of true nobles, merchants and farmers held similar status. The only difference was whether they had more wool or less wool to be sheared.

That was why some nobles exploited commerce heavily, and no merchants were willing to do business in such places.

Romain would offer merchants favorable commercial tax policies in the future, using them to attract more merchants to Sigg Town. Major tax exemption policies would also be rolled out later.

Gesturing with his hands, Romain said to Morey, "I need a large number of oxen. Before this spring ends, I need you to deliver one hundred oxen to Sigg Town. I won't treat you unfairly on the price. I'll pay sixty Gold Coins for those hundred oxen, and you'll cover the shipping costs..."

Morey immediately shook his head. "I can't do it. Even if I sent every ox available for purchase in Kant Territory here, I still couldn't gather a hundred."

Kant Territory was the nearest count's territory to Sigg Town, separated by a hundred li. Between them lay barren mountains and wilderness, making overland travel impossible. They generally relied on water transport.

Although the currents in Silver Dragon Canyon were swift and the reefs densely packed, preventing large ships from passing through, transporting a hundred oxen was not particularly difficult.

The issue was simply that there were not enough oxen to buy within such a short time.

"Would Draft Horses do? Their strength and endurance are inferior to oxen, and they're slightly more expensive, but if you need them, I can bring you one hundred Draft Horses as soon as possible."

Romain frowned slightly at that.

A hundred oxen were worth fifty Gold Coins. Large-scale purchasing might drive up the price, but it would not exceed sixty Gold Coins.

But the price of a hundred Draft Horses was highly unstable. He would need to pay seventy or eighty Gold Coins, and even a slight price fluctuation could send it soaring to ninety.

Romain had no choice. He did not even care whether he had enough money in his pocket as he said directly,

"I want both oxen and Draft Horses."

In the end, Morey agreed to bring fifty oxen and one hundred Draft Horses to Sigg Town.

After seeing Romain toss him the ruby, he no longer doubted whether this young noble could afford the purchase.

Before him stood a young noble who dared to trade a ruby for development resources.

Without question, this lord possessed great ambition, and like this valley, he had enormous potential for development.

This remote land would soon undergo earth-shaking changes.

As long as he invested early, he definitely would not lose out in the future.

But because of that foul-tempered Shasta, Morey felt that he had landed on Romain's list of suspects, which left him deeply frustrated.

Afterward, Romain, Laxus, and the carpenter Witchi each carried a wooden crate containing 150 catties of Iron Ingots back toward Sigg Town.

With this batch of high-quality Iron Ingots, the steel shortage was barely filled.

By then, it was already late, and the farmers had stopped working.

Romain inspected the progress.

It was barely satisfactory.

Because a great deal of labor had been gathered, the farmers could process all the manure within two days.

The technology tree had always been a strange thing. Once a key technology was unlocked, productivity could rise dramatically. Because its operation was simple and easy to replicate, it could quickly advance an entire civilization.

But without sufficient accumulation, or due to the influence of historical factors, it could not be unlocked, leaving an entire civilization spinning in place for thousands of years.

The Heavy Plow was one such crucial technology. Laxus and Witchi bore a heavy workload and began working through the night.

Romain did not join them. Blacksmithing could be done anytime, and skill experience could be farmed anytime.

Not today. He needed to rest and recover his strength.

For some reason, the merchant named Morey had wanted him to enter the mountains, yet today he had not mentioned it at all.

Romain thought again of the Witch who had suddenly appeared in Sigg Town.

He felt it was necessary to see what secrets those deep mountains were hiding.

Romain spent seven days leveling up his planting skill.

He then spent another two days integrating all of Sigg Town's resources and implementing standardized methods such as muddy water seed sorting, plow improvements, and manure fermentation.

Today was Romain's ninth day in Sigg Town.

Romain woke at dawn and took out the Greatbow he had brought from the Armor-Splitting Family.

The bow's body was as crimson as blood, while its bowstring was pale white and exceptionally tough. Its draw weight was roughly between 150 and 200 pounds, and two large, pigeon-egg-sized diamonds were set into its head and tail.

Drawing such a longbow was equivalent to lifting a weight of over a hundred catties with one hand, while pulling it to full draw required even greater strength.

The bow body was made from "redwood," a type of wood that looked as though it had been soaked in blood.

Redwood grew naturally and was a special Extraordinary Resources material. It was tough, had an extremely long growth cycle, and was said to have been stained with dragon blood. Its effect was to let whoever held it feel the power of courage and hot blood.

It was said that even someone weak in character could become brave and fearless merely by holding a redwood branch.

The bowstring was said to have been tanned from the sinews of sea monsters through a complex process, making it incredibly tough and terrifyingly resilient. It could withstand immense force, and even sharp blades could not sever it in a single strike.

Two crystal-clear, dazzling high-quality diamonds were embedded at both ends of the bow. This Extraordinary Resources material granted the bow body and its arrows hardness and the power to pierce through anything.

Redwood, Sea Monster Sinew, and diamonds formed the power of this extraordinary weapon.

Yet in Romain's eyes, it was merely average. Its penetrating power was roughly comparable to a heavy sniper rifle, but its destructive power, range, and accuracy were nowhere near as good as a sniper rifle's.

This was Romain's most precious weapon, worth at least a three-digit number of Gold Coins and coveted by countless nobles.

However, it could not be sold. It was said to be a replica of the weapon used by the first Grand Duke Armor-Splitting. By that logic, it was practically a family heirloom. If Grand Duke Armor-Splitting saw this thing on the market, would he not skin Romain alive?

It had originally been beyond Romain's reach, but before he left, Grand Duke Armor-Splitting suddenly summoned him to the family's secret chamber and had him take down the Greatbow hanging on the wall. Then he told him the Armor-Splitting Family's motto—

Cleave Through Thorns!