8. Leaving, Heading North

On September 22, 996 of the God Emperor Calendar, Landen woke early.

The previous evening, just after they had settled in, several of his Knights had come to him. They believed there were too many Magic Beasts in the forest now, enough to threaten the entire camp's safety.

Staying here could very likely draw in mid- or high-level Magic Beasts, while returning to their previous camp might expose them to the Barbarians.

Landen was no longer traveling with Raul and Albert as before. He could not simply abandon their luggage and more than two hundred Territory Residents.

The only thing he could do was send out scouts: Greyhound would scout toward the forest, while Raul would scout outside it, so they could choose the campsite with the least danger.

But besides the forest, Landen was considering other possibilities. He found Albert and asked about the Territory's previous trading expeditions to the Gallop Plains.

Albert was quite candid about most of it. The so-called trade expeditions of Gallop Territory were actually smuggling operations with the Barbarians of the Gallop Plains.

The smuggling mainly involved buying Rune Tablets, cloth, and grain for daily use from within the Kingdom, then exchanging them for Barbarian livestock, meat products, leather goods, and wool products. Of course, trading local specialties alone did not count as smuggling. What they truly smuggled out of the Gallop Plains were three strategic resources: high-quality Warhorses, iron, and salt.

That was right. The Gallop Plains produced both iron and horses, yet the Barbarians who controlled those strategic resources had failed to advance their level of organization or break out of the Gallop Plains to invade the Human Race's heartland. It could only be said that on Alivia, magic was the most fundamental ability.

The Empire placed salt, iron, Copper, Tin, Gemstones, Gold and Silver, Magic Ore, and Mana-Conductive Metal under state monopoly. A specialized agency—the Empire's Salt and Iron Department—handled their exploration, mining, transport, refining, and distribution.

Naturally, as an Imperial department, it could not reach into every duchy and Kingdom. Therefore, outside the Empire's directly governed lands, the Salt and Iron Department used an agency system, selecting one or two agents connected to the royal family in each Kingdom to handle the relevant business.

For example, the Dragon Kingdom had three Legend National Pillars. The Salt and Iron Department's agent in the Dragon Kingdom was the Blue Dragon Family, one of those three National Pillars, which represented salt and iron trade throughout the Dragon Kingdom.

As the general agent, the Blue Dragon Family maintained a trading house in every Count Territory as a second-tier distributor, controlled by younger members of the Blue Dragon Family. Throughout the Kingdom, every market and general store dealing in strategic resources such as salt and iron served as their third-tier distributors.

In its cooperation with agents, the Empire's Salt and Iron Department stipulated key matters such as salt and iron prices, profits, and revenue shares, ensuring stable prices within each sales region. This protected both the agents' interests and those of the Salt and Iron Department while reducing the living costs of Territory Residents.

The sales profit at every level of the three-tier distributor system was fixed. Thus, on the Blue Dragon Family's books, after deducting the cost of transporting salt from the coastal regions, selling salt within the Kingdom was entirely a low-margin, high-volume business, relying on the Kingdom's vast population to remain profitable.

Because of this, when Hark and his people smuggled salt from the Gallop Plains, they did not need to share profits with the Blue Dragon Family or the Salt and Iron Department. As long as they sold illicit salt for slightly less than the official salt price, they could make more profit than the Salt and Iron Department, the Blue Dragon Family, or any tier of distributor. From the Blue Dragon Family's perspective, they were dividing up the family's profits.

Of course, this division was tolerated to some extent, because most of Hark's private salt was consumed within Gallop Barony. Strategic goods such as salt and iron had low unit prices and high transportation costs. To make serious money, one needed bulk trade by water. If goods were only carried by livestock, there was not much profit to be made. Therefore, Hark's smuggling had no impact on markets beyond the Barony.

And Hark occupied a certain strategic position. Maintaining stability within Gallop Territory benefited the entire northwestern region of the Dragon Kingdom. Thus, to the Blue Dragon Family, the profits lost through Hark's private salt were simply funding they provided him to stabilize the northwest.

In recent years, Hark's most profitable trade had actually been Warhorses. The Black-Scaled Horses of the Gallop Plains were of excellent quality, but that quality resulted from both Bloodline and magical environment. Once Black-Scaled Horses entered the interior, the quality of the second generation would be noticeably lower than that of the previous one. In a sense, Black-Scaled Horses were high-end equipment limited to their place of origin.

Thus, selling Black-Scaled Horses was a high-cost, high-return business for Hark. He also did not need to worry that his horses would stop selling simply because large horses gave birth to small ones. But the total volume of horse trade was limited. After all, he was doing business with Barbarians. If exposed, it would be considered collaboration with the enemy, so trade could only be conducted in secret.

As he listened to Albert's explanation, several things puzzled Landen. Why were the Barbarians able to mine? And if they could mine, why had they not established permanent cities?

Since they already had fixed mining areas, why did they not conduct large-scale trade with the Dragon Kingdom? Landen did not understand the details, but he caught one point: besides cooperating with Viscount Rothe's Territory, Hark's trading expeditions also operated privately.

Rothe Territory was considered the gatekeeper of the Gallop Plains. If they could slip through the gatekeeper's watch and enter unnoticed, then there had to be at least a window through which they could get in.

Landen's guess was not wrong. Albert confirmed that in the forest where they currently were, there was a small path leading to the Gallop Plains. It was the remnant of an Ancient Riverbed. Heading north through a short stretch of cave would lead them into the southwestern part of the Gallop Plains.

That night, Greyhound and Raul returned to camp one after another. According to Grey Dog, there were abnormally many Magic Beasts near the camp. He did not know the reason for this phenomenon, but he was certain that these Magic Beasts would not be any easier to deal with than the Barbarians.

Raul's scouting report was that the Barbarians had not left the Baron's castle. They had settled in there.

Landen was not sure whether Viscount Rothe had prepared in advance, causing the increase in Magic Beasts around the camp. After all, quite a few people in Rothe Territory knew about the Western Forest. Buying some animal entrails beforehand and placing them around the camp would have been enough to lure Magic Beasts back.

Once people and Magic Beasts came into conflict, the fresh scent of blood would only attract even more Magic Beasts.

But now, Landen had new hope. He ordered Raul to head north the next day and scout the small trading route, while Greyhound was to take Redsand deeper into the forest to stand watch.

On the 23rd, after a day of scouting, Raul returned to report that the plains beyond the northern trail were empty. There was no sign of Barbarians within more than ten kilometers.

Greyhound reported that some small Magic Beasts had already appeared west of the camp.

Landen knew he might have no choice. He gathered all the Territory Residents again. He had decided to use a speech to make everyone understand why they had to head north.

"Mana-Wielders, Territory Residents!" Having assembled the entire camp, Landen stood atop a wooden crate. Fortunately, as a Junior Knight, he was tall and broad. After eating Magic Beast Meat for two days, he had even grown a little taller, making him easy to spot in the crowd.

"We left in a hurry two days ago, and I did not tell you why we had hidden in the forest.

"Now I must tell you the truth: Gallop Territory has been betrayed! My father, Baron Hark Gallop, met with misfortune while traveling. My two brothers were taken away by the Barbarians with him!"

"Ah!" "Oh, heavens!" "How could this happen?" The ordinary people thought very highly of Hark. Everyone had been able to eat their fill these past years because of him. At first, they had assumed Hark had gone to Rothe Territory or Bristle-Wolf City in the Count Territory to join other Knights.

Now that they heard Hark and his two sons had been taken by the Barbarians, everyone was deeply worried.

"Yet this is not the worst of it. Worse still, someone is using magic to summon the Magic Beasts of the forest to attack us.

"Today, Knight Greyhound has already found some small Magic Beasts to our west. Tomorrow, there will be large Magic Beasts. Perhaps the day after tomorrow, we will have to choose between being taken by the Barbarians or being eaten by Magic Beasts." Landen attributed the arrival of the Magic Beasts to magic. In any case, the Mana-Less would not question it.

When Landen finished speaking, another wave of shock and panic swept through the crowd.

"To ensure that every one of us survives, I will lead you north to the Gallop Plains! On those vast plains, it will be difficult for the Barbarians to find us, and our livestock can continue to grow.

"I announce that we will break camp at dawn tomorrow. Within two days, the entire camp will relocate to the Gallop Plains!"

After Landen finished, he left Albert to speak with the Territory Residents while he gathered Greyhound, Raul, and the other two Junior Knights.

Early the next morning, Landen's camp had completed its preparations to break camp. Albert and several Reserve Knights led the Territory Residents away first. Raul, Landen, Greyhound, and several other Junior Knights remained behind temporarily, preparing to hunt.

After everyone from the Territory had moved at least a kilometer away, Grey Dog opened a beast-hide sack. Inside was the meat of Steel-Bristle Pigs they had hunted two nights earlier.

Using the time they had spent waiting, the Junior Knights had dug several large trap pits and placed Steel-Bristle Pig meat inside. Before long, small Magic Beasts such as Ground-Walking Yuan, Fire Iguanas, and Water Salamanders approached. Landen and the others were in no rush. They watched the small Magic Beasts enter the pits, then Raul leaped down and slaughtered them one by one while Grey Dog and his son filled in any gaps from the edge of the pits.

After more than a dozen small Magic Beasts had arrived, Redsand, who was standing watch in the distance, raced over. Something large was probably coming.

Sure enough, not long after, five Steel-Bristle Pigs followed the scent over. This time, Raul was accompanied by Landen, Grey Dog and his son, Walker, and Hammer, a Territory Knight. Five Junior Knights and six people against five pigs was not difficult. Raul and Grey Dog worked together to kill them one by one, while Landen and the others held off the remaining pigs. In less than twenty minutes, all the pigs were dead.

But Landen and the others knew they did not have much time. They had no idea when stronger Magic Beasts might arrive.

So they changed methods, leaving one pig on the ground as bait for other Magic Beasts.

Landen stood guard while the others dealt with the remaining pigs, mainly collecting the Magic Crystals from the Magic Beasts' heads, their meat, and their hides. Small Magic Beasts had neither Magic Crystals nor valuable hides, so they could only cut out the meat.

The difference between Magic Beasts and ordinary wild beasts was that Magic Beasts could sense and use magic. When a Magic Beast was capable of using magic, a core-like organ formed in its head to store magical power. That organ was called a Magic Core.

Specific crystallized magical power could sometimes precipitate within a Magic Core, forming Magic Crystals.

Magic Crystals could release a certain amount of magical power, disappearing once that power had been released. Therefore, they were widely used as power sources for magical items. For the same reason, Magic Crystals were also hard currency that could be used to purchase goods.

The entire Human Empire issued three denominations of currency: Gold Coins, Silver Coins, and Copper Coins. Their exchange ratio was 1:10:100. One Copper Coin could buy a fairly substantial wheat cake, three Copper Coins could buy half a kilogram of wheat, while half a kilogram of salt cost two Silver Coins.

Since Magic Cores from different Magic Beasts could produce Magic Crystals of varying sizes and attributes, even the smallest Magic Crystal fluctuated around ten Gold Coins in value.

In their recent hunts, one Shadow Leopard and eight Steel-Bristle Pigs had yielded only three Magic Crystals. To Landen, that was a great fortune. The Territory's annual income fluctuated between three hundred and five hundred Gold Coins.

The variation depended on how many Black-Scaled Horses could be transported out of the plains. Each Black-Scaled Horse could sell for the high price of sixty Gold Coins in Bristle-Wolf City, while in Dragon Tooth City, they could fetch the astronomical price of more than eighty Gold Coins. And those were untrained horses. An adult, trained warhorse cost at least one hundred Gold Coins.

But for the Territory, Gold Coins were merely a tool for calculation, not storage. No matter how many Gold Coins they earned in the city, within a day they had to be turned into goods needed by the Territory and its trading expeditions.

Just as they finished extracting the Magic Cores and sorting the Magic Beast Meat, another Magic Beast arrived: a Wind Wolf. This kind of Magic Beast could manipulate Wind School magical elements, using Wind Elements to accelerate itself or form Wind Blades.

The Wind Wolf that arrived seemed to be a lone old wolf, and Raul killed it quickly. But less than twenty minutes later, a black Flame Tiger appeared, causing every Magic Beast below medium size to flee.

The Flame Tiger stood over two meters at the shoulder, was more than six meters long, and had a long tail. At that point, forget the medium Magic Beasts in the forest—even Landen was thinking about how to slip away. Fortunately, Flame Tigers were not stupid. If there was meat to eat, there was no need to risk their lives fighting people.

The tiger ate the large pig, while Landen and the others safely withdrew with the meat of two prepared pigs and over twenty small Magic Beasts. They did not dare rejoin the group immediately, fearing the Magic Beast would follow their scent. Instead, they had Redsand continuously check the group's location.

The group kept moving while carrying the beast-hide sacks. Finally, at nightfall, they met the main force at the Ancient Riverbed heading north.

On the morning of September 25, Landen led his Knights and Territory Residents into the Gallop Plains. The instant he entered the plains, Landen strangely felt like a pawn that had crossed the river.

After entering the Gallop Plains, his strongest impression was that the chaotic magical elements he had felt in Gallop Territory days earlier were countless times more intense here.

Before, he could still barely gather some Battle Qi. Here, he could not gather even a trace of it.

Landen finally understood why only Barbarians could survive here. They merely needed strong bodies and had no intention of using magic, so whether there were turbulent currents or not made no difference to them.

Landen first led the camp to a place with slopes and a river. Then he sent Raul and Grey Dog out to scout, while he asked Albert to serve as an adviser and began arranging the camp.

Landen did not believe they would never encounter a nomadic tribe. To avoid endless Barbarians coming to cause trouble later, they first needed to make themselves look like Barbarians, including adding decorations to the tents and having the Territory Residents wear more white cloth and rough-lined furs.

Landen even adapted to local customs himself and made a Barbarian-style flag depicting a galloping steed.

He planned to call his tribe the "Gallop Tribe," which could also be considered an inheritance of ancestral tradition.

That afternoon, the Butler reported that after their continuous journey, the camp's food was being consumed faster than usual. If they could not determine when they would return, they needed to begin finding food. Fortunately, there was a river here, so they could fish.

But the camp had a large population, and the Knights and Mana-Wielders had enormous appetites.

They had only just escaped the pressure of safety, yet now they faced a food crisis. Landen felt helpless, but he could only organize the Territory Residents to begin fishing in the river.

However, during the rest period, Landen also discovered many problems.

Thanks to @RainyChenWuhenKingBlueberry for the recommendation ticket support.