“...... The number of official members is limited to 100, and I think it's not too few. In the afternoon, in an "office" of the temple of Woking, the goddess of commerce in Askatra, Mike, accompanied by his newly recruited deputy general manager, Sweet Leonard, discussed the terms with church personnel. Mercenary organizations with a scale of 100 people abound in Yuehai, could it be that Brother Cheng, as an omnipotent traverser and high-end master, has to go to great lengths for the rights of this sesame mung bean point?

"It's already a lot, and you can hire helpers on a temporary basis if needed. You must know that as the largest armed merchant group on the Sword Coast, the armed members of the Flame Fist Chamber of Commerce, which is partly responsible for the defense of Baldur's Gate, are only about eight hundred. So said Skorn, the negotiator of the church and the golden-eyed messenger of the sixtieth year. The implication is that even though you are going to build an armed merchant group, you can make all these 100 official members militants, and all logistics and trade can be counted as temporary workers - this is why many armed merchant groups in Ascatra have only 20 establishments but are still sufficient.

The so-called "golden-eyed messenger", according to the Woking Church, is a priest specially favored by the goddess. However, according to Mike's opinion, he is a pastor who has achieved success in cultivating the "Golden Eye Miracle".

"That's right. Mike nodded, thinking about it carefully, many of the members of the mercenary organization in the moon sea were actually only peripheral members, and they were also named in more than one mercenary group. "Sweet, what do you think?"

"It should be enough. Sweet said. In the face of the dragon slayer's high-salary solicitation, he didn't spend much time thinking about it, although it was not all undoubted, but after all, it was just a trial, and it was completely possible to contact it for a period of time before considering staying. At present, the progress is good, and the Woking Church has more than three times more than the 30 people it expected, and it depends on whether the test mission can be won.

"In that case, I wonder what we can do for your religion?"

"A lot. For now, though, Trimi needs your help. The golden-eyed messenger Skorn took out a few rolls of parchment and began to explain, "In the past half a month, it has been frequently attacked by a large number of wild beasts, and it is no longer safe outside the town, farmers dare not go out to work, and caravans cannot trade, so that the local weapons and armor have been snapped up, and daily necessities such as vegetables and fires are in short supply, and the prices of other commodities remain high. Although the situation is manageable so far, the patience of the residents is reaching its limit. ”

"Let me take the liberty of asking. The Esmir Lake District, where the town of Tremi is located, should be administratively under the jurisdiction of Esmirtaran, nearly five hundred kilometers away from Askatra, I don't know?" asked Sweet, the Magic Catapult Shooter. The town was besieged, the neighboring provincial capital was indifferent, and the Woking church, which could not be beaten by eight poles, was in a hurry, and at a glance it knew that there must be something strange about it.

"The town of Tremi is the territory of my church. Skorn the Golden-Eyed Emissary was succinct in his words. The so-called territories directly under the Church are similar to the territories of the nobility, but with fewer obligations and more rights, and can be said to be a state within a state.

"I see. So, do you want us to settle the matter as soon as possible?" Mike nodded. After the disappearance of the pseudo-god Wojin, the church power has become a big fat meat that everyone wants to take a bite of, and this incident is probably the same, if you ask for help from the surrounding cities, most of them will be taken back some or even all of their self-control.

"It would be nice if it could be solved quickly, but I'm afraid that it will be difficult to deal with the nearby Druid Order, who are very powerful and don't like to deal with outsiders. Therefore, it is imperative to escort the caravan into the town and stabilize prices to ease the situation. Even if they are driven by people, it is impossible for the beast to leave its home for a long time, as long as it can buy enough time, the situation will naturally subside. Skorn the Golden-Eyed Emissary sighed in his heart that the Church had deteriorated in recent years, but the group of merchants who only knew how to pursue profit still had to focus on the routes of the New World with uncertain prospects. If not, why should this incident be faked. Okay, let's take this opportunity to say that this so-called dragon slayer is a little good, and it would be best if it could completely solve the problem, but if it is not good, it is also the eyes of the Tyre Church, and the hero who is touted is just a straw bag, we just misbelieve the rumors.

"I don't know how long you mean by enough time?" asked Sweet the Magic Catapult Shooter.

"Until the end of the year. ”

Mike has a toothache: "Although my brother is an omnipotent traverser and a high-end master, he must have a way to solve the problem, but who knows how painful those little animal protectors are, if they are full of food all year round and have nothing to do, they will go to find trouble, it is difficult for Brother Cheng to waste his extremely precious time with them every day." What my brother wants is a combat mission, a combat mission that can crush the opponent at one time with his super personal strength. That's it, there are too many businessmen in the Woking Church to make things happen, so let's go to the Storm Church of the Martial Arts Sect to take a look. ’

The golden-eyed envoy Skorn observed his words and looks, and found that the other party looked displeased and seemed to refuse, so he hurriedly spoke again, "Twenty kilometers along the river in the town of Cuimi River can enter Lake Esmeir, and the water transportation is convenient, although there is little rain this spring and it is not navigable, but now the rainy season is approaching, and the water level will rise, so it is only necessary to wait for the land transportation to be smooth for ten months, and the shortage of materials will no longer exist." "If nothing new happens.

"I see. In this case, why don't you consider shrinking the goods and transporting them by air?" "Even if this is the case, then after the water level drops in a few months, what kind of moth will come out? Brother how can I have that time to accompany you to toss around! In order to prevent the inability to quickly cut through the mess and the subordinates are not strong enough, we must use the shrinkage and empty operation as a backup, if the objective reasons cannot be realized, then this task cannot be accepted.

"This is true for valuables and commodities, but it would be too expensive to do even for cheap items like firewood. ”

It seems to be fast and convenient to use shrinkage technology to pack and compress the rapid airdrop, but since the mainstream method is still ordinary freight, it shows that there must be some problems that are difficult to overcome at present.

First of all, shrinkage is expensive. The mages had their heads hanging from the beams, and they had to spend a lot of gold coins to learn the third-order arcane arts, obviously not in order to be able to sell cheap labor. Therefore, it is easy to understand the high labor costs. At that time, Mike and his family airlifted grain from Sentia to Sanzang Town, and the average freight cost per ton was 30 gold coins, which increased the already high grain price by another 50%. Firewood is much cheaper than grain, and even if the quality is good, it usually does not exceed five gold coins per ton; at the same time, the volume of firewood is not regular, and it is more difficult to pack and shrink things, and it is estimated that forty or fifty gold coins a ton should be transported if it is really to be transported. Shipping costs alone will skyrocket tenfold.

Secondly, shrinkage is not a panacea. It is a well-known common knowledge that thermal expansion and contraction can cause cracks, and the reason is only a slight change in volume, so if it is reduced to 1/4000 and then returned to its original state, the severity can be imagined. Therefore, shrinkage is naturally extremely sharp for packing grain and meat without fixed shapes, and it is not impossible to compress stupid black and thick iron ingot masonry, but if it is a slightly more delicate thing......

Third, shrinkage has a limited duration. The shrinkage that can be bought on the market usually does not last more than a week, and it is not short but not long, so it is generally used in conjunction with special means of transportation.

The so-called special means of transportation, that is, teleportation and flight.

Transmission is convenient, fast and instantaneous, and it is the most ideal means of transportation. However, this method cannot be used by non-high-end masters, and if they want to work their master, how can it be possible without a little blood. Master Zewahid provides teleportation services for a certain force all year round, and the asking price is 1,000 gold coins per trip.

The flight is also quite good, but the requirements are not low. In terms of mounts, dragons are fast and stamina, but for obvious reasons they are difficult to popularize. "Common" flying mounts, such as the Pegasus Griffin, are only suitable for short and medium distances, and for long distances they must be relayed, which is only possible on the trade routes of large organizations. The one-off spell creature Phantom Pony is relatively the most viable, but the downside is that its resistance to blows is quite mediocre, and its attack ability is none. If it's just ordinary travel and freight in peacetime, but now this situation may require air penetration, then the rider must be able to take full advantage of the Phantom Pony's fast speed and good steering ability in maneuvering and avoiding tracks, and be able to use deterrent long-range attacks, while also being able to effectively defend himself and the Pony from attacks. Obviously, the "pilots" with this ability are by no means general, and the asking price is not much higher than that of high-end masters.

Therefore, although it is not impossible to fly supplies to the town of Tremi, it is costly and difficult, and it is obviously not the best option. The loss of guaranteed sales is serious, and the residents are dissatisfied with the sales at the price, and perhaps the other party is playing this idea.

Of course, it is much better for the Woking Church to be able to solve the problem with gold coins than not to solve the problem after all, so once these people in front of them cannot play the expected role, and the situation of the material cut off in Tremi Town is out of control, the church will carry out the final plan of teleportation.

"Well, in that case, I don't know if the goods can be carried by us?" If you can't choose it just because of cost considerations, then there's no problem, and you don't have to think about it yourself. It's just that Arthur's identity is a warlock, his knowledge is limited, he can't teleport, many methods can't be used in public, and there are a lot of constraints on joint transportation with the church, so it's better to act alone.

"Yes, if you think it's more convenient. The value of each single shipment is 1,000 freight and 500, two orders per month, the full deposit is paid in advance, and the loss is at your own expense. This is the list of goods, you can take it back and discuss it before making a decision. "This condition is still generous in peacetime, but it is very shabby at the moment when Cui Mi Town is under siege, but the assessment task is naturally squeezed if it can be squeezed.

"Then can we purchase it ourselves?" Naturally, it is more convenient to pick up the goods directly from the church for normal transportation, but if you want to shrink the goods, it is more appropriate to ask the Dragon Palace to stock up the goods, so as to facilitate the cooperation of the students to shrink the goods.

The golden-eyed emissary Skorn frowned slightly, "Yes, but if you pass the good as bad, it will affect your evaluation, and if the situation is serious, you will even fail to pass the assessment." ”

"You can rest assured in this regard. Mike patted his chest and assured that he could see these two jujubes, "Without further ado, why don't we start acting immediately?"

"Then there's work. ”

After saying goodbye to Skorn, the Golden-Eyed Emissary, Mike takes the newly recruited Trainee Magic Bullet Shooter Sweet Leonard back to the Five Pot Liquor Hotel, which he had set aside some time ago to find the Holy Sword, and discuss the plan of action with Gina Fey, who is disguised as Saber, and Lynn who cosplays. After Audrey's two ceremonies, the elite team representing the most advanced earth culture will finally usher in a second trump card with both form and spirit.

After taking his seat, Mike first asked, "If this task is given to you and your people, can it be completed?"

“...... I'm afraid it's unlikely. "Although Sweet has a plan, he obviously didn't expect to be asked, if I can complete it, do I need to do it with you?!

"Let me start with your opinion. ”

"The situation is unclear now, and it is impossible to talk about how to solve it for the time being. If you want to transport the goods, I estimated according to the list of goods, no matter how reasonable the use of space, the volume of a single cargo may not be less than 80 cubic meters. In this case, it must be transported by armed forces, and the logistics materials will be relatively large, and in total, I estimate that it will take about 20 vehicles and 70 people. I only have 10 of them now. It is not practical to immediately recruit people to fill the staff, and if you hire them temporarily, the employment fee for the team plus the guards will be about 1,000 each time. Considering that the loss is unavoidable, the total cost should not be less than 2500, and the other party only pays 1500, which means that 1000 gold coins will be lost for each trip. ”

"Hmm. Mike nodded. He didn't know the specific market, but he felt that the newly recruited deputy general manager was okay.

"This list, firewood and fruits and vegetables should account for seventy percent of the volume. Can we use charcoal powder and canned food instead?" said Gina Fie. Used to burn fire, charcoal has a lot more calorific value than firewood, and it is ground into powder, small in size, large in density, and easy to transport. The underground world is inconvenient to transport, the size of the volume is very important, honeycomb carbon is a very commonly used fuel, a kind of carbon powder and soil to make things. Canned food is an important seafaring food, as is Azcatrado.

"I have also considered this, the volume of a single cargo can be compressed to almost 50 cubic meters, and seven or eight cars can be used less than 20 people, although the purchase cost will be about 500 gold coins more, but considering that the size of the fleet is greatly reduced, the loss can also be greatly reduced, and it is generally more appropriate. The problem is that these things are not very affordable, and they are usually only in demand in large coastal ports, and the Esmeer Lake region is located inland, and there are many trees, so I am afraid that there is no stock. If the purchase and delivery from Ascatra is too long, it must be transported by water to the Esmir Lake area and then transferred to land, and the overall cost may be higher than that of reduced goods and air transportation. ”

"I've also calculated the air freight of shrinkage goods, and the cost of direct shipment of toner cans from Ascatra is quite high. Just counting the shrinkage spell performed by 150 mid-level mages, plus the rental fee of 1 phantom horse created by a high-level caster and 5 large space packs, it will cost almost 1,000 gold. It's okay to use it as a backup when necessary, but if you use it all the time, I'm afraid it's not appropriate, unless you ......" Sweet paused, "I can use up to 3 shrinkage techniques a day, and I can save 20% of the cost of spells by shipping goods twice a month; ”

"In that case, be prepared for both. "Brother has a lot of spell slots and dark elf students to help, and he is good at air combat and teleportation, shrinkage transportation is not a problem at all, but brother doesn't have so much time Arthur "can't teleport" "You take someone to Cuimi Town to understand ......the specific situation first, I will contact the shrinkage transportation matter first, and then meet at the Workinging Church in Cuimi Town." How?"

"Good. But do you want me to keep two people here to help and get acquainted with each other?"

"Well, that's fine. Narin also stayed, familiarize yourself with the environment here and then apply for a spell casting permit. If you have a suitable adventurer, you can do it first, well, forget it, and wait until we get back. Mike thought for a moment and said. The talents of Yin Soul City were taken away by the teacher, although it is not that they can't ask for some, but after all, other people's chickens are other people's, and it is only right to borrow chickens to lay eggs, so the previous plan of chaotic mineral flow still has to be continued. Therefore, it is necessary to recruit more people, and find out what kind of talents cannot be recruited and then apply for assistance, but there is no need to rush for a while, and it will be much less difficult to get a license and recruit people.

"Okay. "Compared to playing in a megacity, you don't need to run a business to transport goods or something.

"By the way, Sweet, if you bring someone over, will you be able to arrive the day after tomorrow?"

“...... No, no matter how hard you go, I'm afraid it will take a week. ”

"In that case, then it's better to bring only a few of your right-hand men over, and the rest of us will stay here and try to do a few small tasks, and talk about it when necessary. "Alas, it's no wonder that the mages don't like to bring miscellaneous soldiers, the difference in mobility is too far. It's only 500 kilometers, the teleportation technique is within reach, it takes a day to fly a phantom horse, it takes a week to summon an ordinary horse, and there is little hope in ten days if you don't use any spells. Alas, "Arthur can't teleport" is too troublesome, can it really be pretended for a long time?...... That's it, let's talk about the future later, take a step at a glance and get the things in front of you right.

"By the way, I haven't had time to ask before, how high is the level of your spellcaster, how many levels of spells do you have, and how many mid-level professionals do you have?"

“...... Mage Tactics Double 3 Tier 11. "There isn't a single mid-level subordinate!

"Well, Aya and I have to contact the next shrinkage to transport the goods as a backup means, and we will arrive at noon the day after tomorrow. In that case, you can only go over and see the situation by yourself, okay?"

“...... No problem. "There's always a feeling of being despised......

PS: I can't post a book review in the book review area, saying that there is no certification, Orz......