Trade with the Woodland Realm

As harvest season approached, the villagers of Wilderness Village were extremely busy. They not only had to watch over the fields frequently, but also went out in groups to hunt and gather wild fruit along the forest's edge.

The villagers working on the town wall began at daybreak every day, and often worked until evening before heading home.

To Allen, those hours seemed downright exploitative, but the villagers did not think they were much of a problem.

Allen heard remarks such as, "What's the big deal? When I used to hunt, I'd stay awake all night chasing prey. That was even more tiring than this."

And, "It's fine. As long as I get enough good food to eat, I can handle this much work," leaving him at a loss.

Allen sought out Artimenner and told him to arrange regular breaks for the villagers. They could not work continuously for too long, as that could easily lead to accidents.

Looking puzzled, Artimenner told Allen that he already had them rest for ten minutes after every two hours of work.

Having received his answer, Allen left the construction site looking embarrassed. He really ought to trust the professionals.

As for the five dwarf smiths, Allen assigned them to Frey. After all, the young man had been the village's first blacksmith.

Allen also spent Denars on a considerable amount of pig iron and handed it over to the smiths, asking them to forge enough spears to equip the thousand-plus troops he could muster.

There was no helping it. Spears were the best weapons for building a fighting force in a short time.

Especially against the Half-orcs of the Misty Mountains, whose discipline was abysmal.

As long as Allen's troops could form battle lines, and the Half-orcs did not outnumber them too greatly, he felt a head-on clash on open ground would pose no major problem.

As for armor, which was extremely scarce, Allen had no way to equip them with it yet.

He could only wait until he had more money and consider buying it from the simulator, but that would be expensive.

The simulator offered no discounts. Even buying a thousand sets of the cheapest leather armor would cost hundreds of thousands of Denars.

That was why Allen urgently needed trade. Buying from the Iron Hills was impractical; it was too far away.

Thranduil might not agree to let dwarf goods pass through his territory, either.

Once I'm strong enough, I'll open up the Old Forest Road and collect tolls there. Heavy tolls, Allen thought.

He thought bitterly, but he knew himself. When the time came, things might turn out quite differently.

For now, Allen's most important task was to establish a trade route with the Woodland Realm.

He had plenty of workers now, and building a simple road was not particularly difficult.

It all came back to the same point: food mattered. Allen did not want to halt construction of the wall, and he did not have many Denars left to buy food.

Allen set his sights on Deshavi. He needed her to accompany him to the Woodland Realm to discuss the details of their trade.

Deshavi was very surprised when she heard Allen's arrangements.

Looking uncertain, the young woman said, "My lord, have you thought this through? I don't have any experience at all. I think Ymira would be better suited to this work. I'm quite happy handling patrols."

Allen waved a hand, his face full of encouraging smiles.

"Deshavi, it's fine. You don't need experience, and you don't need to worry so much about being unable to do this. Your scouting skills will come in handy. What I need is a leader, not a merchant. Trust me, you'll be very, very well suited to this task."

After hearing Allen's words, Deshavi said, "As long as you believe I can do it, I'll do my best to carry out whatever you entrust to me."

The day after his discussion with Deshavi, under Klethi's thoroughly displeased gaze,

Allen announced that he would take a group back to the Woodland Realm, but Klethi's name was not on the list.

Allen also told Ymira to keep an eye on Klethi and prevent her from sneaking out alone again.

Klethi was furious about this. She did not forgive Allen until he returned from the Woodland Realm, though that came later.

To keep up appearances, Allen spent several thousand Denars buying wine from the Pendor Continent and the Calradia Continent.

He loaded it onto several flatbed carts and set out with Deshavi and some woodland residents.

Allen also brought Artimenner along so that he could arrange the construction of a road leading to the Elves-path.

At last, after roughly ten days, the party arrived at the entrance to the Elves-path once again.

At this point, Artimenner returned to Wilderness Village with some of the others. Soon, he would arrange for workers to build this trail, which stretched for over a hundred kilometers.

Fortunately, Allen's requirements were modest. It only needed to be a meter wide, just enough for a flatbed cart to pass.

Once the road was finished, they would be able to transport goods by horse-drawn cart.

On the way back, Artimenner made some rough calculations. The road would take until next spring to finish, no matter what, but it should not interfere with spring planting.

Construction of the wall might be delayed a little, though. Allen had assigned far too many tasks.

He rather missed the days when everyone else went off to war and he had nothing to do.

The Elves-path was unsuitable for flatbed carts, as much of it consisted of steps.

Allen's party left the carts behind and entered the Elves-path, leading horses laden with wine barrels.

They had traveled less than two kilometers when they encountered guards from the Woodland Realm. To their surprise, Galion was leading them.

Galion was not an elf responsible for scouting. Even among the Elves, he was considered an elder.

His position was that of the steward responsible for supplying Thranduil with red wine.

In the original story, it was precisely because he had drunk too much wine that Bilbo found an opportunity to escape. He had also personally sent the members of the Quest of Erebor out of the Woodland Realm.

One could easily imagine that the old elf must have spent a long time in the king's dungeon afterward before Thranduil's anger subsided.

For now, Galion was doing perfectly well, enjoying the king's trust and waiting here for Allen's wine.

Galion was an old wine lover every bit Thranduil's equal, and his taste in wine was exceptionally refined.

After learning that Allen had become a new wine supplier, he had come here specifically to wait for him.

His reasoning was perfectly sound. If the wine did not even suit his palate, there was no need to bring it to the Woodland Realm and waste the king's time.

Allen saw no problem with that. As the steward responsible for supplying Thranduil with red wine, Galion had that right.

So Allen did not mind. He poured a small cup of each wine and handed them to Galion.

The moment the first cup, a wine from the Calradia Continent, touched his lips, Galion knew it was good.

This is no worse than Dorwinion wine, Galion thought, nodding inwardly. This trip was worth it.

When he tasted the second cup, which came from the Pendor Continent, Galion noticed something unusual.

Not only did the wine have an excellent texture and a distinctive flavor,

but after he swallowed it, a faint power actually emanated from it, filling his body.

Galion felt as though his existence in this world had become more tangible.

He was astonished. He had never expected a village of merely a few thousand people to provide such exceptional wine.

He had only heard that the Elves of Rivendell could brew a cordial called Miruvor, which lifted the spirits and restored vitality. He had never expected to taste a wine today that gave him another such sensation.

"Could... could I have another cup? Of this one."

Galion handed the second cup to Allen. Allen could tell that he was very pleased, especially with the wine from the Pendor Continent.

As long as he's pleased, Allen thought, refilling the cup and handing it back to Galion.

After drinking it again, the old elf confirmed that it had not been his imagination.

He said excitedly to Allen, "This wine is simply marvelous! Better than anything Dorwinion produces. No, Dorwinion's wine cannot compare with this at all. Let's hurry. I can hardly wait for His Majesty to try it!"

Allen was very surprised by Galion's praise. He had tried both wines himself and had not noticed any difference.

Allen's first tentative explanation was that Elves had a special constitution, allowing them to sense something unusual in products from a magical world.

The second possibility was that the wine from the Pendor Continent was special. After all, that world's environment contained magical energy. Who knew whether the wine contained some of it?

Neither of Allen's guesses was wrong. What he had not considered was that his own constitution was also unusual, leaving him unable to sense that energy.

When it came to magical energy, the first thing Allen thought of was, surprisingly, the magic addiction in World of Warcraft.

But on second thought, alcohol itself was easily addictive. He would have to see how Thranduil reacted.

If Thranduil disliked it, he would simply supply wine from Calradia instead. He did not want this to damage the friendship between their two factions.

Under Galion's guidance, the party made swift progress along the Elves-path toward the Woodland Realm.

Unlike last time, when they had walked the entire way, they arrived at a small river several days later to find a few Elves already waiting for them in boats.

Galion told Allen that the boats were there because he had sent word to His Majesty through the birds. The king had then worked out their arrival time and arranged for people to meet them.

After unloading the wine from the horses onto the boats, they left a few people and several Elves behind to watch the horses.

The rest boarded the boats and traveled along the river toward Thranduil's halls.

Standing in the boat, Allen felt as though the Elves' vessels were magical. The Elves steering them barely seemed to exert themselves, yet the boats traveled far with each stroke, swiftly and steadily.

Galion thought Allen was interested in the river. Thanks to the fine wine, he was quite willing to chat with him.

He told Allen that this was the Enchanted River. Apart from the Elves who lived in Mirkwood, anyone who approached it would become drowsy. In severe cases, they could even fall into a deep sleep and take a long time to wake.

Allen knew all this, but he could not show it.

He could only pretend to be very interested and ask about things he did not know, such as where the river's magic came from.

Galion answered that it was King Thranduil's magic. Allen was not sure whether that was true; none of the information he knew had mentioned it.

Time slipped by as the two chatted. Allen felt that the boat had traveled for only half a day before they reached their destination.

Thranduil was already waiting for Allen in his halls.

A faint smile appeared on Thranduil's face when he saw Allen again.

The birds had told him that Allen had brought some extraordinary wine, and he was eager to taste it.

He rose from the banquet table and came forward to welcome Allen.

"Allen, welcome once again to my halls. Unless the birds' message was mistaken, you seem to have brought some excellent wine. I truly wish to know what sort of fine wine could earn such praise from Galion."

"I believe you will find it satisfactory, Your Majesty."

With that, Allen handed the wine he held to the attending Elves, then sat down with Thranduil at the long banquet table.

Soon, the Elves returned with crystal goblets filled with wine.

With the elegance befitting a king, Thranduil lifted the crystal goblet from the table and drank the wine from the Pendor Continent.

As soon as he tasted it, Thranduil knew that this wine deserved Galion's praise.

Thranduil felt that the wine did indeed have some unusual effects, making the energy within his body more active.

It was certainly no ordinary wine. Most importantly, Thranduil detected nothing harmful in it, such as dark power.

Thranduil was intensely curious about where Allen had obtained this wine.

But his reserve as a king kept him from voicing his questions.

Thranduil knew that this must be a secret Allen's people could not reveal. Prying into such a secret could well sever the friendship between their peoples.

Although he could not pry into their secrets, he could still discuss the price. Without betraying his thoughts, Thranduil discussed the details of their trade with Allen.

From Thranduil's behavior, Allen knew that the king was satisfied with the wine, though he could not tell just how satisfied.

They discussed matters for a long time. Allen felt he had gained the upper hand in the negotiations and secured a very favorable price.

He would receive grain worth ten times the wine's original value. A barrel of wine cost 120 Denars, and now it could be exchanged for grain that would cost 1,200 Denars to purchase. Trading at that rate, Allen would no longer face food shortages.

Thranduil also promised that he would not only provide grain, but would order the Elves to keep repairing the forest path.

He would have the grain shipped by boat to the point where the Enchanted River met the path, where Allen's people would collect it.

For the sake of their friendship, Thranduil would not only give Allen a large number of packhorses, but also assign Elves to ensure the safety of Allen's caravans in Mirkwood.

Allen calculated that trading a dozen or so barrels of wine to Thranduil each month would bring in enough grain to meet his needs.

The only difficulty was transport, and the Elves would resolve that problem later as well. Thinking of this, Allen could not help wondering whether Thranduil had gotten the worse end of the bargain.

Thranduil thought much the same thing. He, too, felt that he had gained a tremendous bargain.

This special wine could not be valued at ordinary wine prices. He had a persistent feeling that it would bring beneficial changes to the Elves' bodies.

Although the Woodland Realm did not produce grain, there were plenty of large farms on the plains east of Mirkwood.

Thranduil only needed to divert some of his wine trade toward grain, and there would be no shortage of merchants bringing grain to his door.

And so, the two men, each convinced he had gotten the better deal, happily agreed on the details of their future trade.

Once the negotiations were settled, Allen wasted no time leaving the Woodland Realm and set off for the Iron Hills with Deshavi.

Allen had no intention of doing business with Dáin Ironfoot, but since he was already away from home and it was on the way, he naturally wanted to visit his friend.

Dáin welcomed Allen warmly and lavishly praised the ale he had brought, jokingly complaining that he had not brought enough.

After staying for two days, Allen set out on the return journey with ten dwarf swords Dáin had given him.

In short, by the time Allen returned to Wilderness Village, another month had passed.