Fantasy Lord: I Have a Moving Castle

"Sorry, I didn’t come from the direction of Deep Water City, I came through the edges of Florence Forest and reached the Pine Tree Hills."

As Char spoke, the surprise in the eyes of the dwarves and the elf quickly faded: they had thought that the situation outside had improved somewhat, and the trade route had finally been reopened. They didn’t expect Char to have come not from the direction of Deep Water City, but through Florence Forest.

Although Char had made it to Fireplace Town by passing through Florence Forest, it meant that other traveling merchants could also take the same route to reach Fireplace Town.

But to expect this to form a stable trade route was impossible. If it could have been done, it would have been established during peacetime.

If it couldn’t be formed during peacetime, how could it be expected during times of war?

Char’s arrival in Fireplace Town was merely a personal initiative; no more merchants would be coming here after him, and the situation outside hadn’t improved.

Although it was disappointing, the arrival of a traveling merchant in Fireplace Town, which had not seen outsiders for a long time, was still good news. It was just uncertain how much merchandise Char had on hand and how much of it was urgently needed by Fireplace Town.

The robust dwarf quickly got his emotions under control and, with the hearty manner typical of Hill Dwarves, said, "Welcome, to our two friends from afar."

The patrol team welcomed Char and his companion, and the elf riding the Cloud Leopard drew close to Freyja, starting a quiet conversation with her.

Soon, the group arrived at the city gates, which opened, and Char entered riding the Frost Deer. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Although he didn’t have many Magic Pets accompanying him this time, Char wasn’t afraid of any threat from Fireplace Town.

He now had considerable strength on his own, riding atop a powerful Demon Beast like the Frost Deer, and had the company of an Elf Ranger with abundant combat and adventuring experience. Honestly, with such a group, the likelihood of encountering danger while moving through society was very small.

If even with such strength there was a constant risk of danger, ordinary people might as well not be alive.

So, although he and Freyja had come to Fireplace Town alone, Char felt quite reassured. In fact, even when he first traversed to this world, as an ordinary person, he came to Fireplace Town, and the likelihood of getting embroiled in conflicts or dying from intrigue was very small.

The people of Fireplace Town weren’t mad dogs that bite at the sight of a person, right? Even if he was a foreigner, there was no reason for them to harbor ill intentions towards him without cause.

It was just that at that time, he didn’t feel secure enough inside to leave Florence Forest.

However, Char was always cautious, so even though the likelihood of Fireplace Town posing a threat was very small, he still had the Thunder Night Dragon closely follow him, currently hiding in the clouds, flying high above.

If any changes occurred, it could immediately swoop down to provide support.

In any case, being cautious never hurt anyone.

Entering Fireplace Town, however, he saw one after another pallid face, with expressions numb or even vacant.

This was the look of starvation. When people are starving, they lack the energy to make many facial expressions and appear dull-eyed and indifferent.

The dwarves and elves were doing somewhat better. As minority races, although their reproductive abilities weren’t as strong as humans, their individual physical constitutions were clearly stronger than that of humans.

Therefore, in times of crisis, their ability to survive was also stronger than that of humans.

As a result, the dwarves and elves looked to be of normal build and relatively lively, but the humans were all skinny as sticks, their hands shaking inside their sleeves.

The famine situation in Fireplace Town was worse than Char had anticipated.

"Mr. Char, what goods are you selling this time?" Bruno asked while peering behind the Frost Deer and Floral Blue Leopard.

Both Magic Pets had several bags tied to them, which seemed to be filled with goods.

"Some potatoes, mushrooms, and fruits and vegetables," Char replied.

These were harvested from the garden on the carriage, a trial run so to speak.

Bruno and the others felt both happy and disappointed.

What Fireplace Town was most short of was food. In recent months, they had to hunt frequently to supplement their food supply.

But even so, there had been starvation deaths in Fireplace Town because most of the game they caught needed to be fed to Transcendents and Demon Beasts like Iron-Backed Wolves and Cloud Leopards.

Above hunger, Fireplace Town faced an even greater threat.

That was the outsiders, whether it was the Undead roaming outside or hordes of goblins, gnolls or some powerful and bloodthirsty Demon Beasts, all required the town’s Extraordinary Power to resist.

So, ensuring that the Transcendents and Demon Beasts were fed first was essential, and their food consumption was indeed large. Each time they came back from hunting, only a small portion could be distributed to ordinary people.

Besides the insufficient amount, frequent hunting could easily lead to casualties.

If Fireplace Town wanted to continue surviving, it needed a large amount of food. Reliance solely on their own agriculture and frequent hunting would lead to the starvation of many.

The food Char brought indeed made them happy.

But such a small amount of food was meaningless to Fireplace Town.

Anytime they hunted a larger game, the quantity would exceed what was in the few bags of potatoes and vegetables present.

"However, these can only be considered samples. After some time, I’ll bring large quantities of wheat, potatoes, and corn to sell," Char added, which made Bruno and the others overjoyed.