Chapter 43 - Weapons and Equipment Are No Longer Handicapped!

“Bring them to me,” Lynn told Buno.

Buno saluted, then turned away to get the merchants. After some time passed, several people were brought over. Each of the caravan’s members wore unique animal skins that set them off from the others, and had rough, darkened faces from being in the sun all year around. Yet, their eyes were bright with the shrewdness of a businessman.

“Lord Lynn, greetings,” the eldest merchant said. Lynn nodded to the man.

“Tell me about your business.”

“Recently, there was a war in Ramok City further up North. Several of the territories were destroyed, which allowed us to buy three hundred refugees. If you wished for it, we can sell them for ten silver coins per person. Do you wish to seal the deal?”

Lynn did not counter offer, but he had another problem.

“That is a fair price, but I do not have enough money on me currently. Would you like to purchase some of my items?”

“Of course!” The businessman’s eyes lit up. “What would you like to sell?”

Lynn took out the magic book from his stores and shocked several people in the caravan. Was it a magic book?!

“This is a Thunder and Lightning book. I plan on selling it for five hundred coins. If you are willing to buy it, then I suggest you avoid the Magician’s Association to avoid a surcharge.”

“Lord Lynn, I am extremely sorry. If we are involved in the trading of magic books, we would be targeted by the association. Hence, I am afraid we cannot buy this book.”

Lynn was not surprised. The Magician’s Association helped sell magic books and drew money from both sides, since a book that cost five hundred gold coins could earn them one hundred in return. So, they would have many restrictions on ordinary caravans to keep the profits within their grasp. Lynn had guessed this already.

“Well, I have some regular books. Would you consider purchasing those?” Lynn asked.

“Of course. Nobles tend to favor reading. Would I be able to see them to gauge their worth?”

Lynn brought the man to the carriages and took out a box of books. There were twenty of them that he found in the second floor bedroom, along with the single book from Ino’s study. The merchant studied all of them and stated his price.

“For these books, we can give you ten gold coins.”

This was a pretty fair price, as fifty silver coins for a book was a high price.

“You can pick whatever you wish, and browse the other items for the remaining twenty gold.”

Lynn said this because the important items, such as the magic crystal lamps, were already shipped away from this city to the village. Everything else was irrelevant to Lynn, so he allowed them to be sold without a care. The merchant picked four large pieces of furniture, random food, and other such things.

“Lord Lynn, I have chosen my wishes. Please check to see if this is amicable.”

Lynn waved his hand in approval.

“That is fine. Let me see your slaves.”

“Please follow me,” the merchant respectfully said.

Lynn followed the man to a local tavern and went to the second floor. There, he found a large crowd of people tightly packed together. The odor from the three hundred people was horrible, but Lynn did not pay any attention to the smell. The people were no longer able to wash themselves in their current situation. Right now, Lynn was observing them to see if they were sick. The old businessman noticed Lynn’s actions and reassured him.

“Please relax, Lord Lynn. Although they are a bit dirty, they are completely free of disease. If they were not, I would not be able to bring them here from the North.”@@novelbin@@

“They are mine now,” Lynn stated.

“Thank you for your generosity, Lord Lynn. In accordance to the transaction laws of… Maple Leaf City, we shall give you one twentieth of the payment.”

Since Lynn had spent thirty gold coins, he would receive one and a half gold coins in return for the purchase. Such were the ways of a transaction, since Lynn controlled the trade of the city. This would give him a steady stream of wealth, but the drawback was that other people would want to attack the city out of greed.

Sla City had been attacked three times in the past, but the attackers always failed to conquer the city. Now that Sla City had become Maple Leaf City, Lynn would have to protect it from greedy nobles who desired to declare war to obtain the land.

Once the transaction was completed, Lynn sent the caravan leader away and took the people out of the tavern. They went through a few streets and arrived at the front of the castle. There, he turned to face the people.

“From today onwards, you are citizens of Maple Leaf City. I will provide you all with a simple shelter and enough food for the winter. Accordingly, you shall work for me. Do all of you know how to farm?”

All three hundred people nodded repeatedly in acceptance. Since nobles often declared wars in the North and the territories were close to each other, the populations often exchanged languages so that they could communicate with each other. All of these people spoke a different first language, but they could understand Lynn’s words from the interactions they had with others in the past.

“Is there anyone who can build weapons and armor?”

The people started to shake their heads, but Lynn noted that there was someone nodding. Lynn asked him to step out of the crowd. The man was in his thirties, with a strong body and callused hands.

“Are you a blacksmith?” Lynn asked out of surprise.

The man nodded and spoke to him in a thick accent.

“Lord Lin Ang, I would call upon weapons and armor.”

The man responded in a way that could get the point across, even with his thick accent and wrong name. Lynn understood that the man was a blacksmith from his words.

”What is your name?” Lynn asked.

”I have no name.”

”From today, you shall be called Hammer.”

”Thanks Lin Ang for new name.”

Lynn nodded to the man and continued the conversation.

”You will follow the returning team and return to the territory first. I will have them buy some iron ore and set up a simple stove for you. Before I reach my territory, you should have a sword prepared for me.”

”I follow Lord’s orders.”

Lynn was excited to have the man follow the important goods back to the village, so much so that he wanted to rush it. Lynn had just casually asked if anyone knew their way around blacksmithing, and did not expect an affirmation. He had made a great purchase as hiring a blacksmith for even thirty gold coins was a difficult task which led Lynn to believe that the caravan had not expected some of the refugees to have experience in blacksmithing.

Lynn finally had a way to make tools of war, since few nobles wanted to sell equipment to Lynn because they were afraid he would declare war and eradicate them. They thought of Lynn as a powerful being, and wanted to limit his power. This restriction prevented him from getting enough equipment for his army but if Hammer could actually forge, Lynn would never have a shortage of equipment again.