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 Chinese Net's sleeping month, but it seemed to be a faint herald of the first harvest in this 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 are now gathering in anticipation of the melting of the snow in the forest.

It's just that every adventurer who entered this inn, except for the snow-covered coat, after observing the whole hall, without exception took off his hat and saluted a girl sitting in the corner of the hall. The girl's forehead was high, smooth as jade, shining in the firelight, and her eyes were large, and she looked a little smart, 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 chest lining~ The skirt is cinched at the waist, which perfectly complements the slender figure of this sister, 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 a deer skin, the forest has been completely frozen, and it took us a lot of effort to track down a herd of deer. Harto also suffered a little frostbite, and the reward was not too stingy," several men in apparently hunter's costumes stood in front of her, led by a mountain man apparently from a nearby area, wearing a thick fur coat and carrying a longbow.

"Oh, is Hato frostbitten, and he's really bad" Roman blinked and asked curiously, "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 heard that the people of Xué stopped before it snowed."

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

"Shall I make a coat for Brando with these deerskins, and pay for two hundred silver coins?" Roman asked, poking his finger carefully at the deerskin, looking up.

"We are certainly happy to help the lord make a coat, so that the lord will definitely prefer the eldest sister's head" The man said with a look on his face that obviously did not believe that the eldest sister in front of him could make a coat, but he still complimented: "But this is also a little too little, eldest sister's head, Harto is frostbitten." ”

"But this is obviously last year's deerskin, and some of the places on it are moth-eaten." The merchant's eldest sister turned up the deerskin with an innocent face.

“？ "Big businessman, poke these guys speechless in one bite. The adventurers immediately looked embarrassed, and coughed: "The year is not that important, and if we have really been to the forest, Harto is really frostbitten." ”

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

The hunter honestly took the money and left. Although they didn't surprise the eldest sister, they didn't have a much dissatisfied look on their faces, as if they were used to such bargaining. But it was Roman who uneasily touched his round scalp shoes under the hanging hem of his long skirt, and a pair of big eyes rolled straight away, as if they had never stopped. She looked around, holding a steaming cup of barley beer, as if she was still waiting for someone, and the sister of the self-proclaimed businessman sat in this position all winter long, working here or buying people's hearts. However, it is not for nothing that she is revered here, not only because she is the fiancée of the lord, or because she is the god of wealth in charge of half of the wealth 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 disparity in status, and the life of adventurers is actually not rich, money is a very important tool, and they actually do not really 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 background, but Roman is instinctively fond of those shiny tools. Over the course of the winter, her dealings with many adventurers in Fir City had become part of them, and although the connection was not close, it was enough for Roman to inquire about a lot of information that he didn't know before.

At this time, the door of the bar was pushed open again, and there was silence there. The silver elf princess Metissa 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, the elves are reluctant to let so many people get together, and the elves attach more importance to a spiritual attachment to the world of friends, and because of the long time, this feeling is a little cold in the eyes of humans.

But it's not the first time she's been here, she's here to help the lord's Shi pass the word from the mage Charles. As soon as the other people in the bar saw the silver elf princess, they tacitly got out of the way. One way, I remember the first time someone ridiculed her twice, and it almost made this girl with pointed ears red-faced.

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 cup 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'll definitely continue the next day." But it was such a miserly fellow who "might be able to keep a single amount of expenditure income in her realm in order, and Matissa herself would have a headache at the sight of the piles of gold and silver coins that meant nothing to her."

The realm gradually got on the right 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 the result was that for the first time in nearly half a century, the fir domain had carved out a large amount of wasteland in the forests north of the Gries, and the seeds of winter wheat had been sown, sleeping under the snow, ready to break through the ground at any time as the snow melted.

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 actually small, and even if you count the inhabitants of Port Grissburg and Minsburg, it is far from enough. Don't the White Lion Legion have no source of troops, even the workers who built the city of the rune dwarf Oldum can't spare any money at all.

And food is the basis of this plan, but the maturity and composure shown by Sister Merchant in things surpasses everyone'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 place this qiē freely 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 collected the money that had been given out before that, and 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 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 move. 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 actually small, "but the food and necessities of life are being unloaded at the port of Gries." It doesn't matter, there will be more and more.

Gold attracted not only merchants, but also fugitives from other territories. The deliciousness of the freely circulating currency is "sweeter than cake, this is my aunt's life," and the merchant sister was very sure.

She put away the narrative that Medissa had handed over to Charles, and asked with wide eyes, "Where's Brando, Metisa?" ”

"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. ”

Roman let out a long-drawn, disappointed sigh, "Is there anything else going on with that charre?"

"Well, he just wanted to ask what he planned to spend so much money on hiring adventurers to complete some weird tasks." The Silver Elf Princess glanced at the stack of deerskins on the table, and couldn't help but wonder if this guy was just doing it for fun. However, such a thought is only a flash of the nature of this businessman's eldest sister, as the elf princess Metissa's concept of wealth is very thin, if Akane or Freya, who is more serious, is here, I am afraid that she will stare at this eldest sister with a suspicious look.

"Roman is about to get to this" The merchant sister Lu showed a surprised look: "There are no deer in the forest anymore, 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 turned stern as soon as she heard Roman's words.

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

This is only one problem, and the other side has already begun to make some moves. She couldn't help but look at Roman, only to understand 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, they're around here, right? ”

Madara... @