Why Does Your Free Trade Need to Bring the Guard Army?

The ice and snow gradually thawed. Winter's snowmelt turned to water, leaving the Northern Border's land largely muddy like a swamp, difficult to traverse—not to mention the coming spring rains.

The ten-thousand-strong Werewolf Tribe had been utterly crippled. The remaining werewolves no longer dared to invade, and upon hearing the news, they packed up their things and returned to the grasslands when spring came.

Nomads were simply troublesome. It was not that they could not be defeated—it was that they could not be found.

Rumors that Lynn had killed several thousand orcs also began to spread. Some treated it as entertainment, while others pondered whether it could possibly be true.

The information all parties managed to gather spoke of countless Explosion Magic spells, more than a dozen massive explosions every second, blasting the werewolves to death.

It was far too outrageous. People believed there had to be some exaggeration in it, so they did not believe it.

Whether they believed it or not was irrelevant. In any case, Lynn was about to begin his "Free Trade."

Lynn organized an armed merchant caravan and began following the locations marked on the map, seeking out demi-human tribes and human powers one by one to conduct trade.

Thanks to Lynn's Slime imitation industrial system, which could give even five-year-old children work, he had more than enough cloth. That was also where Lynn found the confidence to conduct trade.

According to the map, the west had been ravaged rather badly by the orcs, so Lynn set his sights on the east first.

That was where the Rabbit Demi-humans, Cat demi-humans, and Fox Demi-humans lived.

"Lynn, you said we were trading with demi-humans, so why are you bringing your Guard Army?" Lilim sat on horseback, with Lynn behind her.

Lynn was the sort of person who came up with a new idea at the drop of a hat. He had suddenly declared that he did not intend to fight the demi-humans anymore, but would instead trade with them and engage in Free Trade. Lilim did not believe him in the slightest.

After adjustments and reinforcements, Lynn's Guard Army had reached three hundred men.

Processed werewolf hides were combined with cloth to make something akin to padded armor.

A group of armored Spearmen, each of them carrying grenades as well.

To ensure the grenades could be thrown far enough, Lynn had added a cord to the back, making them somewhat like Tailed Grenades.

An army like this already possessed enough overwhelming force in the Northern Border.

Having armor and having no armor were two entirely different matters. Having grenades was another matter altogether.

"This is called Free Trade. If they refuse to trade with me, then I'll use 'virtue' to make them trade with me."

Lilim immediately stopped wanting to talk. She could only shake her head helplessly.

Lynn took out the map. "Going by the route, we should be close to the Cat demi-humans' territory. Why haven't we seen any cats?"

With a casual glance, Lilim spotted one of her kind hiding in the distance.

When you looked for cats, they would only stay perfectly still, hiding somewhere and watching you.

How could Lilim not understand her own species?

Whenever Lynn looked for her, Lilim would sometimes hide motionlessly in a corner and watch him too.

"There, Lynn." Lilim pointed at the hidden Cat demi-human.

"Hey, friend over there, let's talk!" Lynn waved at the Cat demi-human. "Want some cloth? It's really cheap!"

The moment that Cat demi-human saw him, he immediately ran.

Lynn promptly gave chase. Lilim's eyes had already gone dead fish eyes. She did not even need to think to know what would happen next.

Just as Lilim had expected, humans and Cat demi-humans were locked in a standoff within the Cat demi-humans' tribe.

Several hundred Cat demi-humans stood ready for battle, clutching all manner of weapons as they glared fiercely at the humans.

A white-haired Cat demi-human, leaning on a cane, ignored his clansmen's attempts to stop him and came before the human formation. "Humans, war, leave."

Then he rattled off a string of incomprehensible words.

"We demi-humans have already behaved ourselves. We have not attacked you humans, so why have you come to attack us? Humans, leave. We do not want war with you."

Lynn was utterly baffled. He simply pulled down Lilim's hood. "Talk to them."

"Lilim, what are they saying? I can't understand them. You're a demi-human, so you should understand their language, right?"

"Lynn, you brought so many soldiers. They think you came to attack them."

"I didn't. This is Free Trade, okay?"

Lilim immediately spoke in the demi-human language. "We came to trade, to exchange goods."

The Cat demi-human chief raised his head and saw a Fold-eared Cat speaking to him.

The Folded Ear Tribe!

"Who are you? As a member of the Holy Tribe, why are you with humans? And why have you brought humans here?" The Cat demi-human chief looked at the group behind her that so obviously radiated killing intent, then at the Heavy Knights and Humanoid Gundams before him. He was practically about to explode with rage.

If a fight truly broke out, the Cat demi-humans could not possibly be their match.

Although he had already contacted other Cat demi-human tribes, whether they would come at all was another question.

And even if they came, how many people could they bring?

"Please do not be angry, sir. The army is merely a means of protecting the goods. We truly have come to trade." Lilim struggled to dismount, but in the end, Lynn was the one who lifted her down from the horse.