Lei Ming Worrel, chieftain of the Worrel Tribe, tilted his enormous wolf-like head and glanced at the three humans opposite him, his wolf eyes full of confusion.
He recognized President Reilsa. Every so often, the Rexton Merchant Guild run by this human brought large shipments of urgently needed goods-salt, iron tools, cloth, clothing, and other things only humans could make-to trade with the tribe.
Although this human exchanged those goods for large quantities of valuable pelts and rare medicinal herbs found only in the Black Rice Wasteland, both sides agreed to the terms, so it counted as fair trade. Most beastmen in the Black Rice Wasteland therefore treated President Reilsa with considerable courtesy.
This time, however, President Reilsa had not only come himself but brought two unfamiliar humans with him.
What astonished the Worrel Chieftain was that the visibly younger and frailer of the two had opened his mouth and immediately proposed a business partnership with the Worrel Tribe!
A business partnership?
Between humans and beastmen?
What a joke!
Every race on the continent had suffered firsthand from human cunning. Beastmen, being generally less intelligent, had been deceived more times than anyone could count.
In the beastmen's eyes, humans were practically synonymous with swindlers.
And human merchants were the worst swindlers of all.
The Rexton Merchant Guild and a few other merchant guilds had only managed to trade successfully with the beastmen of the Black Rice Wasteland because they brought actual goods to exchange, leaving little room for deception.
Even so, many beastmen had still been cheated several times, trading their tribes' treasured possessions to human merchants for shoddy goods.
Thus, the moment Xu Yi spoke, the Worrel Chieftain decided that he was a complete swindler.
Had he offered to trade with the Worrel Tribe, the chieftain might reluctantly have