Chapter 29

"Sigh. What should I do? The price of unpolished wheat rose again. It's now 5 copper coins per kg. On that of that, the price of polished rose to 7 copper coins per kg. Who can afford that?"

"Right!? We're going to starve before the wheat harvest comes."

"Damn! Those unscrupulous food merchants all raise their prices at this time of the year. We finally got Lord Lucas, who removed a lot of taxes, but those food merchants freaking increased their prices by 1 copper coin higher than last year…"

Max had a stern face. He could hear those kinds of words everywhere he walked, and he wanted nothing more than to slaughter those unscrupulous grain merchants.

He had been very busy the past few days. During the day, he was busy with completing the tasks the city lord had given him, and during the night, he would go to the military camp to teach those idiots.

Max suddenly thought of the academy that he had reopened. It had already been 3 days, and no one had registered. Max couldn't help but imagine things.

'Does the city lord not have any ideas either? The paper that they could use to write gave him a little bit of hope, although he didn't know why those yellowish papers were called white paper.'

Max imagined things the whole time that he was walking. He was going to see the city lord right now to report some urgent matters. Of course, if it was lunchtime, he would be ten times more willing to go.

Like, what if the city lord suddenly invited him to eat steak again? He was a bit conceited remembering the look of admiration from his spouse, son, daughter-in-law, and his grandchild.

But this matter was urgent. He needed to report this matter to the city lord as soon as possible, since it was related to the survival of Sedona City.

Max was invited to Lucas's study room. It was his first time being there.

"Huff, huff." Max panted, lowering his head. He didn't look at the things in the study room as he was afraid that he would faint.

Luxurious and gorgeous were the only words that Max could think of to describe the study room. In here, he saw many things that only existed in legends. Those transparent crystal glass cups, for example, were only owned by kings.

"Max, sit." Lucas put down the cup of water and pointed to the chair in front of the desk. "What made you come so early today?"

Max saluted respectfully and then sat down on the chair. He was extremely nervous. Meeting him in his study room was a sign of the city lord's trust in him.

"My lord, someone found traces of beastkins in the mountains in the west." Max glanced at the catgirl that was sitting on the desk.

Mina, who was eating a pastry, paused slightly, and her tail started to sweep uneasily.

"Beastkins? How many?" Lucas was interested. He had been in this world for more than a month and had only seen Mina.

"Sir, a hunter has seen about a dozen beastkin." Max's face was solemn. "I suspect that they are the beastkin's vanguards and they will come to rob us during the autumn harvest."

Lucas nodded lightly and rested his chin on one of his hands and tapped the table with his fingers. "You think that these beastkins will come and rob wheat like they had done in the previous years?"

"Hmm… In the previous years, there were only a few beastkins that came to steal from us, but I heard that several other cities had been robbed by large amounts of beastkins." Max said, scratching his cheek.

Lucas knew that Sedona City was relatively remote and that the land was relatively barren, which was why the beastkins seldom came to rob them as they knew they wouldn't really be able to get much.

Whether they were horse thieves consisting of humans or thieves consisting of beastkins, they were pests of the autumn harvest. In order to survive, they would rob people.

Many beastkins live in the Forbidden Mountains. They have to find enough food before the four month long winter comes, or else they would starve to death.

Mina had previously spent the winters in the Forbidden Mountains. Remembering Anri, she was a little lost in her thoughts, thinking, "They should have gone to the South. right?"

"I understand, I'll let people pay attention to the beastkins' paths." Lucas nodded his head and changed the topic. "Has anyone come to your night academy in the past days?"

"Night academy?" Max was a little confused about the new phrase, but after a little thinking he knew that it was referring to his academy. "Sir, no one came to my night academy to learn."

"Don't worry, people will go there tonight." That was within Lucas's expectations. He took out a piece of paper from the table's drawer beside him and gave it to Max. "Post this on the bulletin board."

Max knew what the bulletin board was. It was a small wooden wall that Lucas had put in the plaza. Lucas didn't like to go out to speak, so he would usually post his requests on the bulletin board.

He also felt that Lucas shouldn't go out to speak, as it would detriment his status as a noble. He was fascinated by the feeling of reading the words posted on the bulletin board.

Max took the paper, looked at the requirements on it, his eyes widened. "Sir, how could you do that?"

"Why can't I? There are still 20 days left before the autumn harvest, and most people have nothing to do. Right?" Lucas said.

"But this is really unfair to you. Everyone will be taking advantage of you." Max said anxiously.

"The entire Sedona City is mine. Who can take advantage of me? You need to let go of your thoughts," Lucas said. "Just do what I asked."