The seasons change dramatically in the Black Forest, but in the fir barony, the harsh winter of the Year of the Sword has just passed, and the temperature shows no signs of warming. There were also two heavy snowfalls around the time of the Sleeping Moon, but they seemed to be a faint herald of the first harvest in the territory. The streets are still cold and windy, with few pedestrians, but the city's only bar is a different story, with a stove that warms the halls, where adventurers who have been swimming around the fir collar since late summer now gather to wait for the snow to melt in the forest.

It's just that every adventurer who enters this inn, in addition to taking off his cloak covered with snow, after observing the entire hall, without exception will take off his hat and pay tribute to the little girl sitting in the corner of the hall. The little girl's forehead was high, smooth as jade, shining in the firelight, and her eyes were large, and she looked a little intelligent, and her inner heart shone with curiosity about the people and things around her. She is wearing a beautiful dress and long skirt, although she is not very old, but she has begun to develop and bulge under the xiōng lining~ The skirt is cinched at the waist, which perfectly sets off the slender figure of this young lady, but the skirt full of aristocratic girlish temperament does not match her, but is a little smug, as if she is wearing clothes stolen from somewhere.

"Eldest sister, this is the deer skin you wanted, the forest is completely frozen, and it took us a lot of effort to track down a herd of deer. Harto also suffered a little frostbite, you can't be too stingy with the reward" Several men dressed as hunters stood in front of her, led by a mountain man apparently from the nearby region, wearing a thick fur coat and carrying a longbow.

"Oh, is Hato frostbitten, and he's really unlucky," Roman asked curiously, blinking, "Are there no deer in the forest anymore?" ”

"It's not because the hellish people in the world are scared of the animals and hide."

"Hey, I've heard that the people of Xué stopped before it snowed."

"That'...... Anyway, it's a little bit related. ”

"I'm going to make a coat for Brando, and I'll pay you two hundred silver coins for these deerskins, okay?" Roman asked, poking his finger carefully at the deerskin, looking up.

"Of course we are happy to help the lord make a coat, so that the lord will definitely like you more when you study" The man who spoke had a look on his face that obviously did not believe that the eldest lady in front of him could make a coat, but he still complimented: "But this is also a little too little, eldest sister, Hato is frostbitten." ”

"But this is obviously last year's deerskin, you see that some places on it are eaten by insects." The merchant's eldest lady turned over the deerskin with an innocent expression.

"Huh? "Big businessman, poke these guys speechless in one bite. The adventurers immediately let out an embarrassed look and coughed, "The year is not that important, besides, we have really been to the forest, and Harto is really frostbitten." ”

"So, you know, these deerskins aren't worth that much money. The rest of the money is the cost of Harto's wound medicine, don't turn around and lose to that gambler Mano, I'm going to send someone to visit Harto tomorrow. She glared at them, "If he doesn't receive the money, I'll send someone to eat you." ”

The hunter honestly took the money and left. Although they didn't deceive the eldest lady, they didn't have much dissatisfaction on their faces, as if they were used to such bargaining. Instead, Roman restlessly touched his round scalp shoes under the hanging hem of his long skirt, and his big eyes rolled as if they had never stopped. She looked around, holding a steaming cup of barley beer, as if she were waiting for someone, and for the whole winter, the young lady, who claimed to be a big businessman, sat in this position, working or buying people's hearts. But it's not for nothing that she's revered here, not just because she's the lord's fiancée, or because she's the god of wealth in charge of half of the territory. It's because she is kind and will never use her identity to oppress people, and she is even willing to worry about the difference in price of a few coppers with adventurers for an afternoon.

But it is precisely because of this that there is no sense of disparity in status, and the life of adventurers is not really rich, money is an important thing, and they actually do not look down on those who squander money at will. Of all Brando's friends and staff, only Roman and Freya understood this.

Freya is because of her origin, but Roman is instinctively fond of those shiny little things. After a winter, she had become part of her dealings with many adventurers in Fir City, and although the connection was not close, it was enough for Roman to find out a lot of news that he didn't know before.

At this time, the door of the bar was pushed open again, and there was silence there. The little princess of the silver elf, Medisha, stood in the snow, she was wearing a plain silver fur shawl, covering her mouth with her hands and breathing, her big eyes looked at the hall of so many people a little nervously. Humans seem strange to her, elves don't want so many people to get together, elves' definition of friends is more important to a kind of spiritual attachment, due to the long time, this kind of feeling is a little indifferent to humans.

But it's not the first time she's been here, she's here to help the lord's shì deliver a message from the mage Charles. As soon as the other people in the bar saw the little princess of the silver elf, they tacitly let go. One way, I remember the first time someone teased her, and it almost made this little girl with pointed ears red.

Later, rumors spread that the lord loved his shy second fiancée, and when she thought of it, Medisa couldn't help but stare at Roman.

"Métisa, do you want ale?"

"Don't!"

"Where's the wine?"

"Don't!"

"Shall I give me a hot glass of bee wine?"

"Don't!"

Métisa knew that Roman didn't drink alcohol herself, and that she was holding a cup of hot ale purely because it was warm.

And this guy is even so stingy that he never wants to change the glass, and when it's cold, he reheats it again, and if she can, "she will continue her reading the next day." But it was such a stingy fellow who "might be able to arrange a single qiē expenditure in her realm in a mere manner, and Metissa herself would have a headache at the sight of the piles of gold and silver currency that meant nothing to her."

The realm gradually got on track, and a steady stream of coins from the silver mines was sent to Roman, who in turn distributed the money to the refugees. Of course, this was not a charity event, but instead the result was that for the first time in nearly half a century, the fir domain had carved out a vast amount of wasteland in the forests north of the Gris River, where the seeds of winter wheat had been sown, sleeping under the snow, and waiting for the snow to melt and break through at any moment.

Charles and the master craftsmen discussed receiving more war refugees from the north, "The construction of roads into the Black Forest is slowly progressing, and the population of the fir Territory is not large, and even if you count the residents of Port Grissburg and Minsburg, it is far from sufficient. Not to mention that the White Lion Legion's troops are not available, even the workers who built the city of the rune dwarf Oldum can't spare half of it.

And food is the basis of this plan, but Miss Merchant's maturity and composure in the matter exceeded all people's best expectations~ As Charles said, she seems to have a natural talent to shine in the science of goods, which is an innate leadership style that makes her arrange this qiē calmly and orderly.

The grain from Ampesel had been shipped here, but Roman did not distribute it directly. Instead, it was given to the merchants, who recovered the money that had been distributed in this way, and so many years later "the grain bazaar was re-established in the fir city in the middle of winter of that year, since the short-sighted Grudin took it all for himself."

Roman has already begun to think about easing the pay for the next recruitment, and Brando needs more people, and she is going to make such a gesture. The question of food was not a problem to her at all, and as long as the gold of the fir collar was glittering, the merchants of Ampesel would swarm like sharks smelling blood. In fact, now that they have arrived, the first merchant fleet is not very large, "but the food and necessities are being unloaded at the port of Gries." It doesn't matter, there will be more and more.

Gold attracts not only merchants, but also fugitives from other realms. The delicacy of the currency in circulation is "sweeter than cake, as my aunt said," the merchant lady was very sure.

She put away the report that Médisha had handed over to Charles, and asked with wide eyes, "Where's Brando, Métisa?" ”

"Your Lord, he hasn't come back yet."

"Then I'm going to talk to him."

"Don't." Medissa immediately refused, and it was not the first time Roman had used her as a microphone, she immediately explained: "My lord, since he entered the Ring of the Trade Winds, my contact with him seems to be cut off. ”

"Ahh ”

"Well, he just wanted to ask you what your plans are for spending so much money on hiring adventurers to complete some weird tasks." The little princess of the silver elf glanced at the stack of deerskins on the table, and couldn't help but wonder if this guy was purely for fun. However, such a thought is only a flash of the merchant's eldest lady, as the elf princess Medisa's concept of wealth is very weak, if Akane or Freya, who is more serious, is here, I am afraid that she will stare at this eldest lady with a suspicious look.

"Ah, Roman was about to speak of this" Miss Merchant's surprise came to the god "There are no more deer in the forest, do you know why, Métisa?" ”

As an elven royal family from before the era of the Sage's War, cultivated as the commander of the silver elves and with rich experience in warfare, Metisa's face became stern as soon as she heard Roman's words.

Animals in the forest don't disappear for no reason.

This only shows one problem, and the other side has already begun to make some moves. She couldn't help but look at Roman, only to realize that the other party was listening to the news, "What else do you know, Roman." ”

"A number of adventurers have mentioned that there has been a lot of undead activity in the neighborhood lately, and I think the bad guys in Buchi have arrived. Brando said they were around here, right? ”

Madara...@.