Iron Bean

"Lord Victor, don't let the fact that I'm from Wright County fool you—I've been to Blackwater City many times. Baron Weiss often came here to do business before. The Rose Essential Oil and Rose Perfume made from the Perfume Roses unique to Rose Territory were very popular goods here. It's a shame Rose Territory is about to disappear." Jack began enthusiastically, but his mood sank again when he mentioned his homeland.

Victor patted Jack on the shoulder and comforted him. "Rose Territory may cease to exist, but its Perfume Roses won't disappear, and neither will your hometown."

"Thank you, Lord Victor." Jack smiled.

"From here onward is Blackwater City's largest slave market. They sell Moors from the Southwestern Desert, Blackwater People from the Southern Border Great Forest, and Snowfield People from the depths of the northern grasslands, not to mention Barbarians and islanders from Vitro Island." Jack began introducing the place.

"I'm not very interested in slaves. I'd like to see whether there are any shops selling magical plants here," Victor said.

"Of course there are. Just south of the slave market is a large plant market. Not only can you find common plants like Perfume Roses, Bitter Bamboo, and Black Oil Pine, but even Iron Birch and Silver Maple. However, trees like Iron Birch and Silver Maple are controlled by Grand Duchy nobles. They're only sold sporadically, never in large quantities," Jack immediately replied.

Hearing that Silver Maple was for sale, Victor was instantly intrigued. Silver Maple had always belonged to the Ducal House of the Grand Duchy, and anyone was forbidden from cultivating it privately on a large scale. Once the number exceeded fifty trees, they would be stripped of their title. The reason for such strict control was that the Grand Duchy of Vera's legal currency was the Silver Maple Leaf. If one had to name the most magical plants in this world, Silver Maple would undoubtedly rank near the top. This tree had to be planted on a silver vein, and every other year, it would grow more than ten silver leaves—leaves of genuine pure silver, with a purity far beyond the capabilities of artificial smelting. Moreover, as long as they were not picked from the tree, they would never oxidize or turn black.

It could be said that Silver Maple was the foundation of the Grand Duchy's wealth and the basis for the Silver Maple Family's control over the Grand Duchy. All Silver Maple forests in the Grand Duchy were in the hands of the Ducal House.

Victor followed Jack to the market, but when he saw the Silver Maple trees for sale, he was greatly disappointed.

The Silver Maple trees sold here turned out to be inferior saplings selected from the Grand Duchy's Silver Maple forests. Not only were they short and crooked, but they were also extremely expensive, costing fifteen Silver Maple Leaves each.

According to the Grand Duchy's exchange rates, a ten-gram Raine Kingdom Standard Gold Coin could only be exchanged for five Silver Maple Leaves. Each Silver Maple Leaf weighed roughly the same, hovering between seventeen and eighteen grams. One Silver Maple Leaf could be exchanged for five Silver Coins, one Silver Coin for ten copper coins, and one copper coin for ten Copper Pieces. A kilogram loaf of Black Bread without sawdust mixed in was worth only one Copper Piece. A serf family of five or six spent only two Silver Maple Leaves a year, after all—they could not afford Black Bread without sawdust mixed in.

Though he felt he was getting the short end of the deal, Victor still bought two saplings. As he was paying, a Ball Person emerged from the back room of the shop, fat as a ball.

"Honored guest, I am Vitri Greenleaf, the head of the York County branch of the Gorn Trading Company in the Grand Duchy of Vera." The Ball Person introduced himself to Victor.

Victor frowned. This man who claimed to be the head of a Gorn Trading Company branch was a Court Noble of the Raine Kingdom. In this world, neither serfs nor Freemen had surnames; only nobles and their descendants did. According to the heraldry Victor had studied, Greenleaf was one of the surnames granted to Court Nobles by the Raine Kingdom.

For a Court Noble from the Raine Kingdom to serve as a branch head in a county of the Grand Duchy of Vera, it meant two things. First, the Gorn Trading Company was extremely powerful: its cross-border trade had reached deep into a county city of the Grand Duchy, and it had even obtained the distribution rights for Silver Maple. It was a formidable outsider. Second, although Vitri possessed the status of a Court Noble of the Raine Kingdom, being assigned to manage a county branch meant that he had either committed a grave mistake or been maliciously suppressed by others.

After finishing his analysis, Victor smiled and asked, "Chairman Vitri, greetings. I am Lord Victor from the Sunflower Baronage in eastern Boler County. Your company's goods are indeed rare, and I like them very much."

"So you are Lord Victor of the Golden Sunflower Territory. You are most welcome. Our trading company has only just expanded its business into the Grand Duchy of Vera, and at present, we have branches in only six central counties. We will expand into other regions next. The Sunflower Oil unique to the Golden Sunflower Territory is a rare treasure. We will certainly have opportunities to cooperate, and when that time comes, I hope for your kind support." Vitri's smile grew even brighter.

"Not at all. If your trading company wishes to cooperate with our Golden Sunflower Territory, we naturally welcome it wholeheartedly," Victor replied with a smile.

"Lord Victor, is there anything else you desire? I have a premium goods list here, available only to high-ranking clients." With that, Vitri handed over an exquisitely wrapped sheet of parchment.

Victor accepted the list and looked it over. It contained not only weapons and armor, but also specialty slaves and bulk goods such as grain and cloth. In the final section, he saw several magical plants as well.

"Chairman Vitri, what exactly is this Iron Bean listed here? I've always been interested in all sorts of magical plants. Could you introduce it to me?" Victor asked Vitri.

"So Your Lordship is interested in such things. Naturally, I will tell you everything I know. This Iron Bean is a commonly cultivated crop among the Steppe Barbarians of the north."

Victor could not help interrupting. "I've never heard that Barbarians farmed. Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Vitri smiled and continued, "You may not know this, but the northern grasslands are vast, and the Barbarians have many branches. The Skyline Grassland directly north of the Raine Kingdom has better conditions. The Barbarians there are relatively stronger and more civilized. The Barbarians of the East Wasteland Grassland north of Vera may not cultivate this crop, so it is perfectly normal that you are unfamiliar with it."

Victor looked slightly embarrassed.

"Not all Barbarians eat raw meat and drink blood. They need clothes, iron knives, and iron arrows as well. There is also a division of labor among the tribes. Some excel at farming, some at weaving, and some at smelting. It is simply that most Barbarian Tribes are better at fighting. This Iron Bean, for example, is specially cultivated by tribes responsible for smelting and used as a smelting material. Every year after the snow falls, its tubers are planted underground. After the first snowfall, they are dug up again, and some of the tubers turn into spherical lumps of iron, hence the name Iron Bean. However, the quality of this iron is poor. The swords and blades made from it are rather soft and unsuitable for chopping. After a few battles, they basically have to be melted down and recast. Its yield is also low—less than fifty jin of Iron Bean per mu each year. Its only advantage is that it does not rust easily. As for the ordinary tubers, they can be eaten, but eating too much causes diarrhea. Therefore, no one but Barbarians cultivates it."

Victor frowned. He had some guesses, so he asked, "That's quite interesting. Chairman Vitri, do you have any actual samples of this Iron Bean? I'd like to have a look. If it's interesting, I'll buy some to take back."

Vitri smiled. "Naturally. Please follow me."

With that, he led Victor and the others to a warehouse in the trading company's rear courtyard.

Vitri instructed a servant to open the warehouse doors.

"It's all here. Lord Victor, please look around as you please." Vitri pointed at the straw sacks piled like a small mountain.

Seeing the mountain of straw sacks before him, Victor's eye twitched slightly.

Vitri hurriedly explained, "Since our branch was only recently established, our market research was insufficient, so we shipped in some of every kind of good. This Iron Bean could have served as emergency food, and we thought it might sell. Who would have expected that no one was willing to try something new? On top of that, eating too much of it causes diarrhea, so no one bought it at all. If Your Lordship is interested, I can make the decision and sell it to you cheaply. How about one Copper Piece per kilogram? There are roughly twenty-five tons of Iron Bean here, valued at ten Gold Coins. Of that, around two hundred kilograms are iron lumps, and I'll give those to you as a bonus. You should know that iron has risen in price because of the war. A kilogram of iron now costs a Silver Coin, so these two hundred kilograms of iron lumps alone are worth four Gold Coins."

Victor did not respond. Instead, he opened a sack and took a look.

The contents resembled potatoes somewhat, and the roots had not been removed. Some of the roots were even connected to the spherical iron lumps Vitri had mentioned.

"How much cargo can our ship still carry?" Victor turned and asked Jack, giving him a wink.

Jack immediately understood and answered at once, "My lord, our ship is carrying wounded soldiers returning to the territory, damaged weapons and armor, and some provisions. Our capacity is very tight. At most, we can take one or two tons of cargo."

Victor nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Vitri. "You see, Chairman Vitri, my ship cannot carry much cargo. There is simply too much Iron Bean here for me to take it all. I'll offer two Silver Maple Leaves for one ton, just to try something new."

Chairman Vitri immediately wiped the oily sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "You jest. How could I do such a small deal with an esteemed guest like you? How about this: give me two Silver Maple Leaves, and I'll give you two tons. Just remember to support our trading company's business in the future."

"Then thank you very much, Chairman Vitri. If you ever have the chance to visit our Golden Sunflower Territory, I will certainly receive you properly," Victor said with a smile.