Meet Again

Hmmm? There is something wrong with those people. The last time I came with my father here to celebrate the First Harvest, two or more noble lords came to us and spoke loudly about their harvest yielding a great result. They usually mock us by having a conversation with each other about their harvest and how they will not sell it to the barbarian, us.

However, when my companion and I walk inside the room, there is no one talking loudly about their great harvest and how they will not sell it to us or how they have too many goods that there is too much food that gets wasted because their harvest gives them too much food.

"There is something wrong."

I said it out loud while looking at the people around me.

"You are right. Something is going on here. I don't if it is a good or bad thing for us."

I nod at my grandfather before deciding to sit down on the chair in the corner of the room. As we sit down, I pour wine into the glass and take a good sniff. The aroma is not too strong and not as fragrant as the wine I bring with me, but there is something that I cannot describe from the smell of the wine.

I then take a sip of the wine and grimace a little. It was sour.

"What the hell is this?"

"The wine is sour. Urgh"

"Urgh. I never thought that I would spit back wine in my life."

Uncle Lomun, Lord Tobias, and my grandfather say it simultaneously while putting down the wine on the table in disgust. There is something wrong with the wine and making it sour. With a sigh, I take the food in front of me and put it inside my mouth.

Meh.

The food is not bad, but it is not good either. I will eat this when there is no other food, but I pick the other if there is another option.

I ignore the king saying something about the goddess blessing his kingdom and how it prospers under his rule. I completely ignore him when he begins to tell us about the history of his family.

Urgh. Why does every person that has a title or authority like hearing their own voice?

I ignore the king and decide to eat the food in silence. After what I feel like fifteen minutes, the king decides it is time to end his speech and asks us to enjoy the party. I can go back to my mansion after this because I already have someone willing to buy the goods I have, but I decided against it.

Tobias Ekdal agreed to be the one buying the food we sell at a lower price. While I only get a small profit from this trade, I still get a profit and do not need to prepare for anything else as Tobi will take care of it.

"Isaac"

"Hmmm?"

I snap from my thoughts when I hear Lucina call my name. When I look at Lucina, she points in the direction of her head. I look at where she is looking and see the Trouble Magnet come to our table.

I sigh a little, and when I hear the princess greet me, I place my polite smile.

"Good Evening, Lord Lionheart"

"Good Evening, Princess."

"Please call me Eli."

"Then you should call me Isaac."

"Then Isaac, how are you doing on this fine evening?"

"I'm doing fine. Let me introduce you to my companion. The one sitting opposite me is my grandfather, Michael Duchamp, and his lovely wife, my grandmother, Cecilia Duchamp."

The princess gives an elegant bow and says.

"It is my pleasure to meet you, my lord."

Both my grandparents smile at the princess and nod their heads.

"Next to them is Lord Tobias Ekdal and his lovely wife, Viktoria Ekdal. He is the Viscount of Laudron."

"Nice to meet you, Princess."

"It is our pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Hearing both Lord Tobias and Lady Viktoria greeting, the princess bow once again and says.

"It is an honor to meet you two."

"Next to me is my good father and a good mother. They are also a sworn uncle and sworn aunt of mine. Let me introduce you to Lord Lomun Macgrath and Lady Leslie Macgrath."

Uncle Lomun nodded at the princess while Aunt Leslie waved her hand at the princess. Seeing their informal greeting, the princess waves at her back instead of getting offended. Huh, I guess there is something good in this princess.

"Lastly, the beautiful woman sitting next to me is Lucina Lionheart, my wife."

"It is my pleasure to meet you, princess."

The princess nods her head and says.

"The pleasure is all mine."

"Please take a seat, Princess…"

When I was about to say princess, she glared at me a little.

"I mean, Eli."

"Thank you!"

Her face brightened when I called her with that nickname before sitting down next to me. However, after sitting down and looking at Lucina the second time, her eyes widened a little before she stared at Lucina.

What a weirdo.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

|Lucina Lionheart|

|Countess Rank|

|15 years old|

|Dwarf|

|STR: 100|

|VIT: 120|

|INT: 0|

|WIS: 50|

What the hell is this?!? Her stats are almost the same as the king guard. While she did not have magic inside her body, I know her physical aura, or as I called it qi, can increase her physical attack and defense by a good amount. Not only that, but I know it also can be used to create the same effect as magic but weaker.

I once saw it when the King Guard sparred with each other. That was scary and exciting at the same time.

"So, what can I do for you, Eli?"

I snap from my thoughts when I see Isaac look at me right in the eye. When he looked at me with that expression, it was as if I was a mouse in the presence of the lion. However, I swallow my fear and look at his eyes back because I know that even a rat can help the lion in his time in need.

"I come here to ask you for help."

I decided not to beat around the bush and immediately asked for his help. It is public knowledge that the northern region people are known to be direct when they talk with each other.

"Oh? Then please, what kind of help you need from this humble me?"

Humble my left ass. There is nothing humble about you, you damn protagonist!

"First thing first, there is something I must tell you."

"Please continue."

"Vulux Kingdom will experience a famine."

"Famine?"

"Famine is a…."

"I know what famine is, Eli. What I want to know is the cause of it. War? There is no war happening right now. Overpopulation? I don't think so. That only thing that can cause this famine is…."

"Crop Failure, yes."

When I say that, all of the northern people nod their heads as if they just realized something. Isaac then looked at me before saying.

"I see. That is the reason why there is something different in this party."

"Different?"

"Oh? You did not know about it, princess?"

"I… I don't know what you are talking about?"

"Look around, princess. Look around and see if something is missing in this party."

I look around the room and see nothing is missing in here. Inside the room is your usual noble and rich merchant…. Wait a minute. I look around once again and see there is indeed something different. There is no merchant inside the room! Usually, there are four merchant groups around one or two noblemen, but this time there is no one grouping other than the northern noble near me.

"There is no merchant in this room…"

"That is right."

I look at Isaac, who nods his head before continuing his explanation.

"Usually, the merchant will offer us their goods, but this time there is no one offering us their foods to sell. There must be a shortage of foods around the Western continent. Usually, the merchant already flocks to the Duke or the Marquis. However, this time, it is the Duke that searches for the merchant by the look of it."

I look at where Isaac looks and see Duke Frederick looking around the room as if he is searching for something or someone. Dammit, why didn't I see it?

"Looks like the famine came earlier than you predicted, Eli. By Duke Frederick's look, I can say that he lost more than half of his usual harvest. I guess it cannot be helped. After all, he focuses all his resources in military and mining rather than farming and husbandry even though it is peacetime in the kingdom."

That is what I'm trying to do! Converting those useless military bases that he did not use into farmland but Noooooo! No one wants to hurt their pride by doing the 'commoner' job.

I know the military is important but come on! You have many lands that ready to be cultivated, but you use them to build a military base? What the hell?!?

"So, what do you want to ask me?"

I take a deep breath and discard all the so-called pride of the princess and say.

"I want to buy as much grain you are willing to sell to me."