Plane 516 Opens
Augustus stood at the door of the treehouse, watching Roy disappear into the distance in a carriage before turning his gaze away...
He had great admiration for Boss Roy, who had single-handedly rescued the Half-Elf of the Pagisto Plateau from dire straits and chaos.
As a Magic Herbs merchant in the Padesto City, he had a much deeper understanding of this plane than other Half-Elf.
In search of better Magic Herbs, he traveled to many places, including the Blackwater Swamp, the Griffon Bulwark Mountain Range, and the Pagisto Plateau...
In reality, the Half-Elf living near the Blackwater Swamp have the hardest time. The Blackwater Swamp is home to many high-level magical beasts, among which the Venomous Horned Black Serpent and the Dragon Fly pose the greatest threat to the Half-Elf. In addition, the swamp is full of poisonous insects and snakes, and only the most experienced gatherers can enter the depths of the Blackwater Swamp to collect Magic Herbs.
The Griffon Bulwark Mountain Range are significantly less dangerous. Although there are incidents of Griffins attacking Elves every year, it only happens a few times a year.
While the Pagisto Plateau doesn't have many aggressive magical beasts, it's rich in mineral veins and has many Mine Owners. It has long been Lord Alvis's backyard.
In addition, there is a group of Highland Slavers plunder everywhere on the plateau.
Six years ago, after Lord Alvis was escorted back to Buenos City by the Silver Pegasus Legion to be tried, the Mine Owners on the plateau continued to live a precarious existence. Augustus always believed that the Silver Pegasus Legion was going to take over the mines on the Pagisto Plateau.
Unexpectedly, the Silver Pegasus Legion was unaware of the existence of the Pagisto Plateau...
The Silver Pegasus Legion's blockade of the Pattington Plane was originally intended to prevent the Half-Elf of the Pattington Plane from returning to the Elf Continent, but unexpectedly it dealt a fatal blow to the Mine Owners on the Pagisto Plateau.
The large quantities of ore ingots smelted in the mines could only be stockpiled in warehouses. As the trading companies in Padesto City went bankrupt one after another, the mines on the Padesto Plateau began to lack various supplies, including even Elf Slaves.
This is precisely why the Mine Owners on the Pagisto Plateau colluded with the Highland Slavers.
For the Half-Elf who settled on the plateau, this was a catastrophe...
It wasn't until the arrival of Boss Roy that a large number of elven miners on the Pagisto Plateau regained their freedom.
Augustus has been reluctant to develop the Magic Herbs market on the Pagisto Plateau, mainly because he is somewhat concerned about the chaotic situation on the plateau.
He had always focused the Magic Herbs Trading Company's operations on the Blackwater Swamp...
He knew many Half-Elf gatherers who collected Magic Herbs in the Blackwater Swamp.
As a Magic Herbs buyer, Augustus was adept at maintaining personal relationships with these gatherers. However, during the years that the Pattington Plane Teleportation Portal was sealed, large quantities of Elementary Magic Herbs became like weeds, unwanted and neglected, making life particularly difficult for the Magic Herbs gatherers living around the Blackwater Swamp.
It was during the most difficult time for these Half-Elf that Augustus took out his savings from previous years, bought some living supplies in the city, and personally delivered them to the Blackwater Swamp.
Because of this relationship, Augustus controls at least half of the herbal medicine procurement channels in the Blackwater Swamp area.
The market for Magic Herbs was booming, and he quickly became the largest buyer of Magic Herbs in the Blackwater Swamp.
As long as Augustus says he wants these Magic Herbs, those Magic Herbs gatherers will absolutely not sell the herbs they have to anyone else.
It wasn't that other trading companies had approached Augustus, but Augustus simply didn't want to sell his Magic Herbs to Trading Company, and he had his reasons.
During his most difficult time, it was precisely Boss Roy reached out and helped him up...
The carriage carrying Boss Roy had disappeared at the end of the long street. Augustus withdrew his gaze and prepared to leave the restaurant...
"Mr. Augustus, I am the head of the Castleton Trading Company Padesto City. I have heard that you are the most famous Magic Herbs merchant in Padesto City. We happen to be looking to purchase a batch of Magic Herbs, so we would like to further our cooperation with you!"
A Silver Moon Elf approached Augustus politely and said this.
Augustus nodded slightly, apologetic smile on his face, and then said, "I would be very happy to cooperate with you, but unfortunately I don't have any extra Magic Herbs at the moment, so I apologize!"
He didn't even ask the Silvermoon Elf Merchants about the purchase price of Magic Herbs before decisively refusing.
The Silvermoon Elf Merchants wasn't annoyed. He pulled out a note from his pocket, quickly wrote a line on it, and handed it to the merchant Augustus, saying:
"This is our business address. If you change your mind someday, you can come here and talk..."
After saying this, he did not continue to pester Augustus and turned to leave with a calm expression.
The three investigators originally thought that finding a temporary place to settle down in the Plateau City wouldn't be too difficult.
They set up three makeshift tents on a remote street corner of the Free Market, thinking they would only stay in the tents for one night before moving into a more comfortable place. However, they ended up staying in the tents for more than ten days without being able to rent a suitable house.
The three investigators discovered that almost all the Half-Elf in the city were avoiding them.
Especially in some alleys, as soon as they appear at the alley entrance, the Half-Elf that were originally moving around inside will scatter in a flash, leaving only an empty alley where not even a fly can be seen...
The investigators had anticipated that the Half-Elf in the Plateau City might be hostile towards them.
Little did they expect that the Half-Elf here would regard them as venomous snakes...
Sometimes, when vendors see them appear, they hurriedly pack up and leave.
Lately, the three investigators have collected almost no information about Boss Roy.
"The Half-Elf here are very wary of us!"
One of the investigators leaned against the wall, somewhat disheartened, and said to his two colleagues.
Another investigator also considered leaving. "We're not getting any useful information here. Maybe we should go look somewhere else!"
"But we're not familiar with this place at all. If we want to go to other places, we'll need at least two guides..."
"Could it be that the Half-Elf in the city already know our identities, and are threatened by the forces behind us, which is why they dare not approach us?"
"That's probably it. I didn't expect that ' Boss Roy ' had such a strong grasp on this Plateau City!"
"The more this is the case, the more I feel there must be some unspeakable secrets involved."
The three investigators chatted casually on the street corner...
They leaned against the wall; it was a narrow alley, and the location was somewhat secluded...
As they were talking, several Half-Elf children suddenly ran in from the other side of the alley, chasing a ball.
All the elf children's eyes were fixed on the ball, so much so that they ignored the three investigators standing at the other end of the alley.
The ball rolled until it reached the feet of an investigator, where it stopped. The investigator bent down and picked it up.
A group of Half-Elf children saw the investigator holding a ball, but dared not approach him...
Seeing that the Half-Elf children were too afraid to approach, the investigator casually handed them the ball. But before he could even speak, the Half-Elf children burst into tears.
At this point, I had no choice but to bite the bullet and pass the ball over...
A tall boy picked up the ball, took two steps back in a flustered manner, and tried to urge the other Half-Elf children to leave quickly, but was stopped by another investigator who then asked:
Why are you all so afraid of me?
"..."
Several Half-Elf children shook their heads and remained silent, tears welling in their eyes, looking pitiful.
When the investigators saw that even the children wouldn't talk to them, they had no choice but to back down, looking embarrassed.
The tall elf child picked up the ball, turned and ran, calling to his friends in his childish voice, "Run faster..."
A group of Half-Elf children dashed out and returned the way they came...
The three investigators were somewhat puzzled as to why these elf children were so afraid of them. Standing in the alley, they muttered to themselves, "Why are they so afraid of us?"
Just as the three investigators were exchanging bewildered glances, a gaunt Half-Elf old man leaned against the alleyway entrance and said to them:
"In the eyes of these children, you look similar to those Silver Moon Elf Mine Owners from before, and they assume you are also Mine Owners buy and sell slaves, so they are particularly afraid of you."
"Actually, it's rare to see Silver Moon Elf on the plateau. It's normal for them to be scared when you suddenly appear in the Plateau City..."
The three investigators considered many reasons, but they never expected that these Half-Elf children would mistake them for Mine Owners on the plateau.
"We're not Mine Owners, we just want to know if there have been any Mine Owners who died in accidents here," one investigator immediately stated his position.
The gaunt, Half-Elf old man lifted his eyes and said with some surprise:
"You ignored them when they were alive, but now that they're dead, you're investigating their death... Ha, isn't that hilarious?"
One sentence left the three investigators speechless.
"..."
The Half-Elf elder paused for a moment. "You don't belong here... Currently, besides the Half-Elf, the only other people living in this city are a group of headhunter prisoners of war."
The Half-Elf elder didn't say anything more and turned to leave the alleyway.
The three investigators went back to the market, intending to buy some food.
The merchants in the market were also very indifferent to them, seemingly unwilling to say a word.
"Perhaps we should investigate somewhere else..."
"..."
The investigators stayed in the Plateau City for nearly three weeks, but unfortunately, they couldn't glean any useful information. The three investigators could only silently walk towards the street corner...
Several hundred meters away on the City Wall, Mulin stood on the Lookout Platform of the Arrow Tower, leaning against the battlement with one hand, silently watching the three Silver Moon Elf in the alley not far away.
Caravans from afar entered the Plateau City in an endless stream, and the city gradually became more lively.
Almost at the same time, at the Silver Pegasus Military Department in Padesto City.
Roy pushed open the door and entered the lobby on the first floor of the Silver Pegasus Military Department. He first ran to the lobby counter to sign in and handed a request for assistance to the Silver Moon Elf receptionist at the front desk.
He had prepared the application long ago, and he came to the military headquarters to submit it.
Actually, he didn't have high hopes. Writing an application wasn't too difficult, and trying was better than not trying at all...
Roy then went to the military headquarters' supply and logistics department, which was originally in charge of Commander Berkeley, but Commander Berkeley had been transferred to the City Defense Guard, and another Silver Moon Elf Officer had taken over Commander Berkeley's position to manage the department.
Roy comes here every quarter to settle the revenue from the mines on the Pagisto Plateau...
As agreed with Earl Swynborne, half of the mine's revenue would remain with Roy to build the Mine Guard Regiment, restore the normal operation of other closed mines, and so on, while the other half would be handed over to the Silver Pegasus Legion.
Roy came here specifically to settle this payment.
The bill Roy brought over only listed the quantities of Mithril Ingot, Magic Black Iron ingots, and some ordinary Metal Ingots.
The logistics commander held a stack of lists in his hand, staring hesitantly at Roy:
"Commander Roy, are you going to hand over half of the Metal Ingots this time?"
Roy said, "I brought some Magic Crystal Stone with me this time. Can I pay with Magic Crystal Stone?"
The logistics commander looked more relaxed and replied, "Of course."
He paused for a moment, as if remembering something, and then said to Roy, "Of course, if the mine has Mithril Ingot Mithril Ingot, we can pay with some. Other Metal Ingots Metal Ingots right now..."
"Currently, only three Mithril Mine on the plateau are operating normally, and each month they produce no more than a thousand Mithril Ingot," Roy said.
Roy then took out several boxes of Magic Crystal Stone Magic Crystal Stone from his Magic Pouch and handed them over. The logistics commander's expression softened considerably, and he said to Roy kindly, "This shipment of Magic Crystal Stone is very timely. The legion just needs to purchase a batch of military supplies in Buenos City and is also planning to raise some more Magic Crystal Stone. Your shipment means we don't need to apply to headquarters... If there's anything we can help with, just let us know!"
The Logistics Regiment seemed to be in a good mood.
"Nothing much, just any new news from the Pattington Plane?" Roy asked casually.
"Oh, speaking of which, you should be prepared. I heard that the higher-ups want to open the Teleportation Portal to the Pattington Plane..."
The Logistics Regiment whispered to Roy.