"I'll start from the beginning—if you follow the Raging Waves River downstream, it eventually flows into a saltwater lake. We call it Bayleaf Lake." Annie dipped a finger into the water and drew a rough diagram on the tabletop. A winding line connected to a circle, making it look like a tadpole.
"The lake is filled with undrinkable brine. People can float in it without exerting any effort. A long time ago, someone tried making salt by evaporating the lake water, but they discovered it was poisonous. After that, no one paid much attention to it."
Annie tried to use her fingernail dipped in water to draw a skull, but it looked more like a pig's head. She quickly pretended not to care and casually wiped it away.
Lord Li saw it all. He covered his chin with one hand to hide his expression and secretly curled his lips.
"But six years ago, by a stroke of luck, our Voya Merchant Guild discovered that the lakebed of Bayleaf Lake contained vast deposits of iron ore. So we contacted some dwarf tribes we knew and secretly mined the ore to smelt ironware."
Richard suddenly understood. "No wonder you've been transporting so much coal into the Wildlands. It's for smelting iron."
He had thought it strange for a while. The caravans from the Voya Merchant Guild had carried quite a lot of coal the last two times they passed through. Such cargo should have been unpopular, since fuel was hardly scarce in the Wildlands.
But now it made sense. Ordinary fuel could not burn hot enough to smelt ore, so coal had to be transported from Pompeii.
"That's right. We smelt iron in the Wildlands and sell it to the natives, accepting furs and medicinal herbs as payment before transporting them back to Pompeii for sale. This trade route has made us quite a bit of money in recent years."
The barren Wildlands produced almost no iron, while the high taxes on exporting ironware from Pompeii were practically robbery. As a result, ironware was extremely valuable among the native tribes. Meanwhile, furs and blades of grass that were nearly worthless in the Wildlands had a ready market once they reached Pompeii.
They earned money twice on every shipment, and the costs were extremely low. Anyone could imagine how enormous the profits were without even using their brains.
"That's a pretty good business." A feeling called jealousy gnawed mercilessly at Richard's heart. The sourness in his tone could have corroded steel into scrap.
"Otherwise, how could our Voya Merchant Guild have grown so quickly over the past few years? The timber business is a joke. How many gold coins can that possibly make?"
Annie's smugness lasted only an instant before her expression collapsed into misery. "But not long ago, a Bearfolk tribe called Waning Moon discovered this secret. Richard, you might find it hard to imagine how tempting an iron mine is to the Wildlanders. It's the kind of thing they'd go mad for and gamble everything to obtain."
"They squeezed every last bit of their tribe's war potential dry—abandoning all the elders who couldn't fight, having their warriors blind one eye to show their resolve, slaughtering young beasts and female livestock to store up military provisions, and mobilizing every warrior to attack the dwarf tribe."
"That doesn't sound right." Richard tapped the pine table, interrupting Annie's impassioned speech. He did not miss a chance to pick holes in the story while listening, and he was practically one handful of melon seeds away from settling in to watch.
"The dwarves mine and forge their own weapons. Given their temperament, their warriors must be armed to the teeth. They're no pushovers either. Wouldn't they beat those beggar-like Bearfolk into the ground?"
He had experienced it firsthand recently: no matter how much one exaggerated the impact of equipment on combat ability, it would still not be enough. The dwarves and Bearfolk were both powerful warrior races. The more evenly matched the experts, the harder it was to cross the gulf created by a difference in equipment.
"Could you stop interrupting? I'm not done yet—the Waning Moon tribe is a member of a tribal alliance called Crescent Moon, and their unusual behavior drew the attention of the other members."
"The situation deteriorated very quickly. Besides the dwarves and Waning Moon, five other tribes from the Crescent Moon Alliance have now been dragged in. By conservative estimates, seven or eight thousand warriors are involved in this war. Sigh..." Half-Elves cared deeply about their appearance, and this was the first time Richard had seen Annie sprawled in her chair and rolling her eyes.
"The ten tribes still haven't dealt with the dwarves? This ally of yours is a little too impressive." Lord Li continued picking holes in her story.
If Annie had even half—or even a quarter—of her usual sharpness, she would have noticed that Richard was deliberately leading her on with his words. But her head was already bursting with troubles, and her desire to vent had long since overwhelmed her reason.
"Richard, you're giving the natives too much credit." Annie leaned against the back of her chair and laughed helplessly. "How could such a loose alliance among the Wildlanders possibly hold together in the face of a deadly temptation?"
"It's now a massive brawl involving more than a dozen tribes. The alliance ceased to exist long ago. Everyone is attacking the other tribes indiscriminately, and some tribes have even split into several factions internally!"
"Good grief!" Richard quickly took a large gulp of tea to calm himself. "Isn't this just a contest to see who can withstand the bloodletting the longest? I estimate that by the time the fighting ends, at least a third of these tribes will be wiped off the map."
As a military commander, his experience was still pitifully limited. He had never even commanded a hundred men, so it was difficult for him to imagine what a massive melee involving tens of thousands across more than a dozen factions would look like.
Even the scattered remnants of defeated armies could easily gather into bands of several hundred bandits and wreak havoc across the region. No wonder the other Pioneering Nobles had obediently retreated to Koren. In a situation like this, even the elite Three Lions Legion of the Northeastern Province might not want to get involved.
Of course, that did not mean a regular legion could not deal with several thousand tribal warriors. It simply was not worth the effort to stop a fight between dogs.
"That's right. We originally planned to reinforce our dwarf allies, but we had no choice but to withdraw first. The situation has long since exceeded what a merchant guild can influence." Annie held her tea and gazed at the tabletop, sighing endlessly. "When fate comes crashing down like a torrential rainstorm, how can a traveler crossing the wilderness possibly avoid it?"
"What about the dwarves? Why didn't they leave with you?" Richard wanted to see if he could conveniently recruit a few dwarf smiths. High Mountain Keep's military industry had the support of several centaur Busmi, but its production speed was still insufficient.
"They're stubbornly defending the iron mine and refuse to leave." Annie sighed. The expression on her face perfectly embodied the meaning of having lost all hope. "I urged them to leave as soon as possible, but you know how dwarves are. They're more stubborn than stone. They said they would defend the mineral deposits granted to them by the gods even if it cost them their lives."
"As expected of those little dwarves. Now that's what I call backbone!" Richard put on an exaggerated expression and raised his thumb, making it impossible to tell whether he was praising or mocking them.
"Years of effort, all gone." Annie helplessly slumped over the table, her index finger tracing circles across its surface. "We'll rest for one night and set out for Koren first thing tomorrow morning. If you find it inconvenient, we'll keep as far away from High Mountain Keep as possible."
"That won't be inconvenient. Do as you please."
"Richard, now you know how tense the situation is." Annie raised her head. "So, are you planning to withdraw to Koren with us?"
She had her own selfish reasons for advising Richard. The Lord Li's guards at High Mountain Keep were undoubtedly powerful. If they could travel together through the final few days of the journey, their safety would undoubtedly improve considerably.
"We'll see." Richard smiled, his meaning profound.
Before you continue