A Journey Begins with a Single Step

When Roland was told the cargo from Willow Town had come, he was both excited and nervous.

Calculating the distance between the two towns, it should already arrive the day before. Of course, there were various variables that might push the date further. One common example to account for was wind, and an unfavourable one could potentially delay the sail for an additional one to two days.

Fortunately, it didn't come down to the worst. A delay of only one day was nothing to speak of.

Accompanied by Barov and some of his assistants, Roland impatiently walked to the cargo ship after getting out of the carriage.

The thing the ship carried was not just the necessary food and gold royals, together with it was also his hope. To put it bluntly, it was another important point that would decide the course of his action, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration they would also decide the life of the small Border Town.

The lousy port was far from being suitable to carry the hope of a prince, but even the agonising smell of rotten wood that was permeated through the area couldn't wrinkle his brows that were full of anticipation. When he looked at the sail with a large banner bearing green leaf and scimitar hanging over it that was brimming with materials, got the detailed report about it, the stone on his heart was finally lifted.

But Roland realised something as he read through the things listed. He hurriedly looked at the cargo boat and only now he caught the glimpse. There was another one behind it!

"There are two!" Roland nearly shout.

Not only he got what he wanted, but the people Barov sent was also more capable than he thought. A lot of things sold more than what he expected, and so was what they carried back. Roland's happiness went through the roof at the moment.

It was not as if he didn't order them to buy as many as possible with the money, but what could two cargos indicate? It meant they got a handsome sum of money!

Apparently, the reason it came later than the scheduled date was because they got even more than what he requested originally. The discussion took longer than usual and the ships were also being slowed down by heavy cargo even when the good wind was helping their sail.

Roland relaxed after hearing that. His last bit of anxiety about the trade had dispersed to the breeze.

He had gambled it all with this trade, and it didn't disappoint him. The payoff was enough for the food to last all the way till next summer, nevermind just the winter.

Besides the obvious ores and precious gems, he had nearly emptied the castle of its luxurious goods. What painting, what vases, even his wardrobe that was filled with the best clothes had been reduced by two third. Roland didn't care despite the weak protest from Barov and bundled it together, slapped the label 'for sale,' and shipped them together with the ores.

But Roland didn't stop there. He also made the servants in the castle and knights to scramble and gathered things unique to Border Town or at least rare in Willow Town to sell.

For a while, the knights seemed to change class to hunters as they went to Misty Forest with the intention to bring back a lot of sellable goods. Though the proud knights didn't feel good at first, Roland had managed to convince their leader, Carter, with an hour of lecture. The chief knight in turn swiftly handled his unruly subordinates.

Roland knew how valuable a forest could be. Since a lot of times, some faunas and floras would be unique to a place. He had specifically asked the locals about it and went as far as forming several teams composed of a knight, Barov's assistant, hunter, and some local gatherers to comb the forest.

A small batch of food unique to the forest could be exchanged for a big batch of ordinary food multiple its size when it was traded properly. Of course, the merit for hard-working chefs that was sent to demonstrate the best value of the materials couldn't be dismissed.

He also hurriedly ordered a bunch of clay pots, dumped the local soil after it was heated up, and buried plants that Barov and other people from cities didn't recognise to sell. To make it looked more valuable, he had made them look like strange looking pots popular in the modern world.

In regards to animals in the forest, he also had the craftsmen to make huge bird cages and hosted nice sounding birds to ship that the knights caught with great difficulty. He felt like a bad smuggler, but he convinced himself that he had many mouths to feed.

The concept of having pet and pot planting wasn't exactly popular in the world with medieval flavour, but nobles always kept an eye for interesting things. So long they flattered them, boasted the goods to heaven, and set the price, so they were neither too low nor too high, most nobles would gladly take it for their collection.

The idea seemed absurd at first glance, but Barov that had knowledge regarding these kinds of things gave his approval. He even made a cough worthy example of a certain prince that acted like that in King's city.

All in all, he had gathered nearly 600 gold royals, with half of it exchanged for loads of food that needed two cargo ships to carry. Barov's assistants faithfully heeded Roland instruction, the extra bits of fortune they got, was spent for food.

The production of ores and gemstones gathered a bit less than 200 gold royals, while the rest mainly came from the luxurious goods sold out of the castle. Though individually they were not much in value, the sheer numbers of decorative goods made up for it. Not to mention, Roland shameless strategy to clean them thoroughly before advertising his highest quality clothes as brand new seemed to get a positive reaction.

The hard works of the knights and hunter that gathered all kinds of things also earned him about 100 gold royals. The calculated amount would later prove unexpected even to Barov.

Even if he had to give bonuses to everyone working hard, he would still be left with plenty of money. In the first place, he still had a sum of personal money saved up. He kept it in case the trade didn't bore a good result and intended to use it for payment to the workers in various projects, particularly the wall building.

But now he had more money, he got even more willing to spend.

He didn't believe that he couldn't move the people of Border Town to cooperate with him now he had a lot of food and money to give.

In the cottage, the two witches that were ditched by the prince sudden business didn't feel angry. Even the usually indifferent Anna showed a faint smile instead when she looked at Ronald that had a face as if he didn't know what kind of expression he had to put.

"His Highness seemed very happy," Nana said with a smile as while she was trying to properly hold two narrow and long sticks on her hand, the chopsticks, with great difficulty after being demonstrated by Roland prior to his departure. Not being able to after a while, her face crumbled like eating something sour as she complained, "I hope this punishment would be relieved after he comes back."

"What punishment." Anna let out a chuckle, "This pair of chopsticks have an interesting use to hold food without touching it with our hands."

"What's the use for that? Nevermind there were plenty of spoons and forks in the castle, it's not a big deal even when we eat with our bare hands." Nana pouted, her dissatisfaction partially stemmed from how Anna seemed to easily mastered the use of it while she still couldn't even get how to hold it right. What she didn't know was that Anna had observed Roland using it for some days already.

"I will help you, so don't sulk." Anna felt this little sister was adorable, but quite a handful to care. After guiding Nana by hand, she narrated what Roland had told her softly. "We touch a lot of things, and apparently some bad stuff we can't see could stick to our hands and nails even after washing, and if we eat our food with those hands that take in much filth, it would be bad for our stomach and might make us ill. Not to mention, sometimes we might forget to wash in the first place. Using these clean sticks elevated the problem."

"I don't get it." Nana who finally had firm control of the chopsticks, though temporarily, took a bite of steamed minced meat and vegetables filled dough Roland introduced as dumplings. Her eyes narrowed like crescents; happiness leaked from her face. Only after she gulped down, Nana then continued, "If we can't see them, how can we tell whether it was good or bad?"

"Perhaps His Highness can indeed see them." Anna turned around and looked at a wall, but beyond that was the direction the prince headed. She muttered, "A lot of people had been ingrained only to accept that witches are bad, but the prince could see beyond that."

"My father too!" Nana raised her objection adorably.

"Yes, your father too," Anna replied with a smile, at the same time she reached out to fix Nana's chopsticks that became crook from her reaction.

"It might be a difficult process, but it's not impossible." Anna said gently to Nana, in a moment her faint smile seemed to grow wider as she added, "One at a time."