Chapter 315 - A New Commission for Demi-Humans

The Demi-Human Leader hesitated for a moment, then pondered seriously for a few seconds, "Lord, such an invitation from you should not be refused by me.But we have adapted to, and really enjoy the nomadic life by Lake Seber to avoid winter, by Yewen Pond for summer habitat, upstream of the Ashaba River in spring, and in Feather Wing Valley during the busy fall.

Even if we settle down physically, we cannot settle our hearts. This preference for wandering and change is in our nature as Demi-Humans; it’s difficult to change.

If your lordship’s invitation is without a time limit, then one day, should I grow tired of this nomadic life, or find it unsuitable, and decide to settle down,

I would definitely choose Weizemay Manor, choose Three Rivers Region, choose you, my Lord. I believe the others from Anbao Boat Village harbor the same thoughts."

Gaven had asked the question partly in jest, for he understood very well the Demi-Humans’ penchant for wandering, as deep-set as the Fae Race’s penchant for avoiding the world.

He had never in his life seen a Demi-Human who would permanently live in a village or town his entire life.

But after hearing Avery’s words, Gaven turned serious and said, "My invitation is not only permanently valid for you of Anbao Boat Village, but for all kind Demi-Humans as well.

As long as they are willing to come to Weizemay Manor, to Three Rivers Region, regardless of gender or age, I will ensure they have their own land and homes, ensure their safety, guarantee they have clothes to wear, and food to fill their stomachs.

You can spread this news throughout the Ashaba River basin, throughout the entire valley."

Gaven had a great fondness for this small-statured race; they were shrewd but not annoying, inherently optimistic, industrious, and simple. Although legends said they were prone to thieving, most instances were out of necessity, taking only what was essential for survival.

Other intelligent creatures, in similar straits, were not necessarily cleaner in their dealings.

"We will certainly do that," Avery promised solemnly, "I believe that when we come back to Yewen Pond for summer habitat next time, there will certainly be Demi-Human settlers in your lordship’s territory. I just hope that by then, we can still find a job to make ends meet here."

Gaven laughed heartily, "Rest assured, when that time comes, I’ll be short on everything except for work opportunities. You have to believe that my development speed will outpace our population growth. Speaking of work, I actually have a new job for you."

"What job?" Avery perked up immediately upon hearing about work.

"I’ve heard that the early cotton from Feather Wing Valley has already started being harvested. Could you run an errand for me to Feather Wing Valley, and purchase two boatloads of early cotton to bring back?" Gaven had not been idle for the past ten days.

Most of the time, he had been soaking in the manor’s weaving workshop with Nicole.

With Nicole’s analytical abilities, they made improvements to weaving tools.

Later, with the addition of Dwarves Soulsnare Daphne, the process improved significantly.

The Dwarves were also rich in weaving experts. The Dwarves silk they wove from spiders’ silk, not only renowned in the Underworld, even on the surface, was well-known and expensive.

The spinning tools were sorted out, but we still didn’t have a source for raw materials; the bit of cotton and hemp thread that Lord Virginia sent was like a drop of water on a hot stone.

They had all been used up in the experimentation process.

Finding a large quantity of stable raw material sources was key.

"That’s not really a difficult issue. I have many familiar farm owners over in Feather Wing Valley. It’s not a problem to fill not just two, but ten ships with early cotton," Avery kindly reminded, "But the early cotton from Feather Wing Valley is coarse cotton with not only low yield but also short and coarse fibers, not quite suitable for spinning. At least the people of Feather Wing Valley never use early cotton for spinning, mostly using it for cotton padding.

The real advantage of Feather Wing Valley is in the autumn cotton, which is a fine cotton. It is adaptable, high-yielding, has longer fibers, and better quality, making it an excellent choice for weaving various types of cloth, especially for sailcloth which is woven from this kind of cotton.

However, it is difficult to buy autumn cotton in Feather Wing Valley. The big plantation owners all have their own weaving workshops, and small farm owners or ordinary farmers usually sign purchasing agreements with them early on and will not sell to outsiders easily."

The life of a demi-human leader traveling and working all over the south and north had widened his horizons, giving him varied and extensive knowledge.

"Thanks for the heads-up, Chief, but we’re still at the experimental stage right now, and the difference between coarse and fine cotton isn’t that big," Gaven considered for a moment and said, "If we could purchase a portion of both kinds of cotton, that would be even better. They don’t want to sell because the temptation isn’t big enough. When the time comes, I’ll load a ship with Ghost Grape Wine, and you see if you can exchange it for cotton?"

Avery’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with a smile, "If you gave me a pile of gold coins, I really couldn’t guarantee I could buy you autumn cotton, but if we’re talking about a unique product like Ghost Grape Wine, then it’s doable.

I actually know a few plantation owners who are devoted to wine and like to collect various kinds, and I believe they would definitely be interested in a unique item like Ghost Grape Wine.

Let alone fine cotton, even the more precious and rare long-staple cotton, I’m confident I could exchange several ships of it for you, Lord.

Just the issue of setting a price for this Ghost Grape Wine..."

"That’s easy," Gaven hinted lightly, "In a month, I’m going to hold a Ghost Grape Wine auction at Weizemay Manor, with a starting bid of fifty gold coins per bottle. You can use the starting bid for the exchange."

In Felen, grape wine was never intended for ordinary people; even the most common vintage cost ten gold coins per bottle. Even relatively well-off individuals would drink it by the glass.

Beer was the most affordable alcoholic drink, costing only two silver coins per gallon. Even the most common farmers could afford to order a full stein in a tavern.

The Ghost Grape Wine, which had been advertised wildly all over the world, was not too high with a starting bid price of fifty gold coins per bottle; that was the going rate in the market already.

At the time of the auction, it’s very likely to surge, and how much it will go up depends on Regina’s influence and operational capabilities.

"Isn’t that a bit too much of a loss?" The demi-human Chief immediately sensed the potential trade deficit in this deal, the auction deficit.

"Not at all," Gaven shook his head, "Your trip is not only about buying cotton, but the main thing is to establish relationships, to ensure that in the future, we will be able to use Weizemay Manor’s wine to exchange for more cotton from them. As long as you can secure this promise, it will be worth it."

"Alright, I’ll give it a try," Avery was somewhat excited; he’d run business up and down the Ashaba River for so many years and had been involved in many deals, but never on the scale of tens of thousands of gold coins like the one Gaven was entrusting to him.

His heart raced with calculations—if he really brought a ship full of Ghost Grape Wine over, how much cotton could he exchange for it, and how many ships would be appropriate to take.

"Once the Leader is ready, send someone to inform me, and I will bring over the wine to load your ships," Gaven shifted the conversation to Anbao Boat Village after concluding the matter, "How are the gnolls I assigned to you faring, Leader? How is the progress of the boat inspections and repairs?"

After seeing the ship graveyard, Gaven had fulfilled his promise, dispatching a group of Dragon Blood Kobolds to Anbao Boat Village to assist with the boat repairs.

The mention of this topic excited the Demi-Human Chief; he eagerly replied, "I haven’t even had the chance to thank Lord yet. To say it’s convenient is an understatement! I never imagined that ship inspection and repair could be this simple.

Most of the damage can be directly mended from inside, without the need for the ships to be out of water.

Now, the most difficult part is not how to repair, but to locate the damaged areas.

In another ten days, the internal inspections should be almost complete.

What remains is to send people into the water to carefully check and see if there are any external damages that are hard to detect from the inside."

In the past, when they summered at Yewen Pond, boat inspections and repairs were their most important and laborious task.

To hoist a houseboat was not a job for one or two Demi-Humans; it required the cooperation of more than a dozen, constructing specialized lifting equipment, and spending several days to accomplish it.

Every year, they would spend at least one to two months on this, exhausting all the village’s efforts.

Even though they guarded the Three Rivers Region, a fertile area, they still couldn’t afford to expend much energy on extensive cultivation and planting here.

But this year was different.

What used to be incredibly laborious work, those Dragon Blood Kobolds who were about the same size as them could nearly complete the task with one Complete Repair Technique; those requiring two were few and far between.

If the damage was too severe, the ships couldn’t be brought here anyway.

Their ability to frequently hold feasts this year was also thanks to Gaven and these gnolls.

In the past, the daytime boat repairs would exhaust them like dogs, leaving them with neither the mood nor the energy for singing and dancing.

"What do you think about me opening a ship recycling and repair factory at Yewen Pond?" Gaven had a sudden inspiration. Follow current novels on ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt

But it wasn’t really a sudden idea.

He had thought about it before, setting up a gnoll carriage recycling and repair factory on the High Road.

However, the Dragon Blood Kobolds were too conspicuous over there, so he never put that idea into practice.

Now it was just a matter of changing from carriages to ships.

"If Lord does so, it would certainly be a blessing for all the ships on the Ashaba River," the Demi-Human Chief said excitedly, "I can’t guarantee others, but our boats from Anbao Boat Village will surely come here for repairs. The only condition is that, Lord, you allow us to pay with labor or trade with goods."

"That’s easy to handle; I’m so short on manpower that it’s driving me crazy. There are plenty of jobs to be done," Gaven was full of ideas for making money, but he was limited by the lack of hands to put them into action.

"Speaking of ship recycling, I have helped Lord contact five human junk ships at Lake Seber at a very cheap price. The problem is that the damage is severe, and they cannot be sailed here; we’ll have to send people there to repair them," Avery had not forgotten another of Gaven’s commissions.

All in all, at least ten fast ships were dispatched to the surrounding areas to investigate all kinds of junk and old ships, and now the first batch of feedback had arrived.

"Let’s put that on hold for now and wait until I recruit some sailors," Gaven was a bit impatient about this matter.

As the Leader had said, having ships without sailors was useless.

As for the sailors, he had some leads.

His hopes rested on an agreement ten days from now with Regina—refugees from Thacel.

Thacel is a coastal country with many rivers, where water transportation and sailing are highly developed.

Especially these refugees, eighty percent of whom must have come over by sea.

If they had a way with the sea, they were likely connected to it, and many could be sailors, if not, fishermen would do as well.

After all, the Ashaba River is not too turbulent, and big storms are rare; the demands on sailors aren’t too high.

"Good, we will follow the arrangements of Lord. Lord..."

Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!

The successive wolf howls interrupted the exchange between Gaven and the Demi-Human Chief.

There were no stray wolves around Weizemay Manor.

All of them had been recruited by the Dog Demons, becoming their guardians.

Even those who didn’t understand wolf language could hear the urgency; it was the warning sound of an enemy spotted.

Gaven dared not delay, he exchanged quick words with Avery and ran towards the direction where the wolf howling was most concentrated.