Chapter 213 – Return Trip
“It makes sense. How much do you estimate the total weight?”
“I’d say… about 180kg.”
His answer pleased me because that was roughly my estimate, too. At least he wasn’t trying to scam me.
“How about this? Let’s say half of this is the fish I requested, so 90 kg, and I’ll pay three times the market price for them. I’ll also buy the other half, but at the normal rate.”
He put his hand on his chin, caressing it for a few moments.
“Deal.”
I paid him 72 silvers, and even though he clearly wasn’t certain if it was right, the sheer amount of money brightened his expression.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a hoax or not until the end. A pleasure to be doing business with you.”
“Same here. Let’s transfer everything to my carriage.”
He gave me a large landing net, used another one for himself, and we scooped the fish from his fishing net to my carriage and trailer.
“You put some water at the bottom. It won’t be enough for all the fish.”
“Yes, but then it’ll be too heavy. We might need to optimize the whole process for next time, though. Both the fishing method and what I’m doing in the carriage.”
He hesitated before opening his mouth again.
“You know, I hope your idea will go well, but… don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t.”
“I understand. I’m ready to take the risk.”
“Then, it’s fine.”
We finished our work and he said farewell to me.
“I’m always at the same tavern in the evening after a day at sea, in case you need to find me. Good luck with the transportation.”
“Thanks. I’ll come to you again if it goes according to plan.”
As I climbed into my carriage, I noticed a group of canines looking at me from afar on the streets. Some were even directly pointing at me, and I didn’t like the feeling their glances gave me. I decided to leave in short order to avoid any trouble. I turned into many small streets until I was certain no one was watching me and teleported to the road leading to Alfiro, with enough distance, it didn’t appear strange. There, I urged the horses to move forward, and we were in the city soon after.
The sun was already setting when we arrived, and I headed directly to the ducal castle. Strange events happened as I was crossing the streets. Any feline that was close enough to me would suddenly stop what they were doing, their tails stiff behind their buttocks, and their eyes widened toward my carriage. They would then follow me with their eyes until I wasn’t visible anymore, some licking their lips unconsciously. There were even a few who simply marched behind the trailer, not being aggressive but looking as if they had been starving for a long time.
When I reached the castle, I was stopped by two rank 6 guards in front of the doors.
“Halt! What’s your business here?”
“Good afternoon, great warriors. I’m a trader and I have business with Zhuri, the chief of internal affairs. She told me to come meet her directly as soon as I was back in the city.”
They stared at my carriage, their noses moving a little. After taking a brief look at each other, one of them left while the other nodded.
“Wait for a moment.”
Several minutes later, the guard came back with another feline. That one halted in front of my carriage, only to rush toward it. Her mouth was wide open in wonder as she saw what was inside.
“Oh, my sel! I’ll be right back!”
She ran toward the castle at full speed, and another couple of minutes later, Zhuri was the one to come out, together with a large number of felines. They all dashed toward my goods and exclaimed in wonder.
“Wow! Fresh sea fish!”
“I can’t believe this!”
“Look, chief, that one in the water just twitched! It’s still alive!”
“How’s that possible?”
“This is a miracle!”
“I’ve only seen sea fish that fresh when I visited Laut!”
Their reaction wasn’t too surprising. Felines were barred access to Taifau, meaning they had nowhere to get fresh fish from. Laut was also far and hard to reach since one had to cross the mountain range to the south, meaning most people never visited the place.
After admiring the sight together with the group of excited people, Zhuri finally turned toward me.
“I didn’t expect you to succeed. How did you do that?”
“Trade secret.”
“Hmm. Anyway, that’s great.”
She turned toward the contents of the carriage again with eyes full of greed.
“That fish, I’ll buy it all.”
Her declaration was followed by an immediate wave of protest from everyone else, including the ones who had followed me from the city.
“Ah! You can’t do that, chief! How gluttonous!”
“That’s totally unfair!”
“You’re abusing your authority!”
“We won't allow that!”
“Who cares if you’re the chief? You can have that fish over my dead body.”
The grey-furred woman covered her ears with her hands under the flood of complaints.
“You’re noisy! Be quiet, you silly women! I’ll share some with you!”
Her remark had zero effect, though.
“Liar! Do you think we don’t know about your secret stash of sweets in your office?”
“Not just one stash but three of them!”
“You always eat when no one else is around!”
“You never share anything with us!”
This made her wince.
“Darn you all! Can’t I have a bit of privacy?”
“There’s no such thing as privacy in this castle!”
“You chose the wrong job! Everyone knows what you’re doing!”
“We also know you spy on the duchess when she takes a bath!”
“Ack! Who said that? I won’t let that pass!”
I watched them fight for a long time until Zhuri finally raised the white flag.
“How annoying! Fine, fine, I’ll just buy a little for myself.”
“Now we’re talking.”
“You should have said that from the start.”
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