"What?" asked Tobias, surprised.
"Westwind is a big city, even bigger than Rachdale. It would be difficult for you to offer cooperation on the name of Leafvile, which is just a village," Leon said.
Leon sat on a single sofa, looking at Tobias, who sat on the other sofa. If Leon had to be honest, Rachdale had many times proposed a partnership with Westwind, but it always failed.
Even if it succeeded, Rachdale would only get a small profit, all based on necessity. However, Leon saw great potential in the partnership offered by Tobias.
"Undoubtedly, all places have been affected by the food crisis, Westwind being one of them," Leon replied.
"They are in desperate need of a large supply of food. Rachdale and Edinburgh can provide it, but not as much as Leafvile can," Leon said.
"If the House of Ingfried can even come to Leafvile to cooperate, then there is no reason for the lords of the western territories to refuse this partnership," Leon added
***The next day."I'm sure I've heard that name before," Leon said, walking through the corridors of the municipal building, toward the second floor where the administrative offices were located.Tobias kept Leon company, walking right behind the young man. He could delay his departure for Westwind, but he could not wait for news of Akihiko's whereabouts.After all this time of searching through the village visitors, Tobias did not expect he would find Akihiko from Leon. The two arrived at the administrative office door, Leon reached out, opened the doorknob and walked in with Tobias.A female staff working behind the desk was surprised to see Leon's arrival, as he was leaving today along with the Mayor of Rachdale for Valestria."Are you not leaving yet, Mr. Leon?" asked the female staff, Leon shook his head."The mayor is getting ready. I brought my friend here, he needs the data of a person named Akihiko," Leon said.The st
***Three days later.Tobias arrived in front of a modest inn in a village along a road connecting cities. They called this village Eldergate. The name was given because the village had a giant gate on top of a hill.According to Tobias, the villagers were friendly enough, not as nice as the villages in the east, but he didn't face any significant threats. In short, Tobias only got a few glares from some villagers, but nothing terrible.This village was the first one Tobias met after leaving Rachdale. There were a total of three more villages he had to pass through to get to Westwind.Yesterday, Tobias felt a different temperature, hotter and drier than the east. The land on either side looked barren, not to the point of forming a desert, but few trees were growing.That's why Eldergate Village was not wealthy compared to other villages. Besides lacking commodities, they only traded on crafts and favors from the main city, Westwind.That was why the villagers were sarcastic toward Tob
Tobias' eyes were intense and sharp, staring at the two thugs who looked trembling in fear, realizing one of them had fallen with his right hand severed.Tobias raised his sword, preparing to slash with force. The injured thug tried to crawl, getting closer to his friends. However, Tobias walked up to the man and thrust the tip of his blade into his other hand."AAAKH!"The blade tip pierced through the back of the hand into the palm of the hand, causing the man to suffer a massive groan of pain with both eyes glazed over, crying out. Now, it was no longer a sight of admiration but rather horror."Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?" asked Tobias, staring firmly at the two thugs.In the end, the two men decided to leave, taking away Tobias's three silver coins while leaving behind his one dying friend. Tobias pulled out his sword, sending blood rushing from the hole in the thug's hand.He told the man to go after the thugs, which he did without arguing, as he still wanted
***The galloping of Tobias's black horse could be heard from the direction of Eldergate, considering there was no one passing by on the main road connecting the city. One of the villagers came out of a house, raised both hands, and waved them, signaling that the man had been moved.Although the journey from Chestervile to Eldergate was rough, surprising, and frightening for Hera. However, the woman did not show her displeasure. In her heart, she must not show any expression that might hurt Tobias' heart, especially since she had gotten more than enough money for the treatment this time.Hera thought of the money as the cost of the 'difficult' journey she had to take to get here. Tobias' eyes clearly saw the villagers standing beside the main road connecting the cities. It took Tobias an hour to get back and forth to Chestervile.Tobias stopped his horse right beside the villager man, "I brought her."The man looked nervous, hurriedly dismounting Hera from Tobias' mount. The middle-ag
***Three weeks later.From Tobias' current direction, he could see a city with many towering factories. Each factory spouted black smoke, the result of burning raw materials into ready-made materials. The price given for refined materials was much more expensive than raw ones.The Westwind region is barren, with no single farm in sight around the city. Tobias remembers it well, the last farmland he saw was in Chestervile, and even then, it wasn't big enough to feed a whole city.On horseback, Tobias went through the city's main street to arrive in front of Westwind's west gate. There was no significant queue, unlike the conditions at Valestria's gates that required inspection.Every now and then, Tobias saw a group of carriages leaving the gate, heading east. The man was sure the goods were being taken to Valestria, not Rachdale or Edinburgh.Tobias, still on horseback, arrived in Westwind. He saw the activities of the townspeople, who most
Robert Ludwig invited Tobias to talk about it in his study, which was located on the fourth floor, just one floor below the upper floor, where Robert used to host rooftop parties.The burly middle-aged man appeared to be walking with his wife while his two children didn't follow their parents. When Tobias was walking with them, he was surprised by the arrival of another man, five years older than him, and Tobias was sure Giselle was still young compared to him.He was a handsome, dark-haired man dressed in simple clothes, a tight white long-sleeved T-shirt, and black trousers. Even more surprising to Tobias was Robert's gesture to the man, seemingly bowing, saluting."I see you have an important guest, Sir Robert," the man said, giving Tobias a sharp, arrogant look."That's right, Your Highness the Prince. He is Tobias Archibald, third son of Thompson Archibald," Robert said, introducing Tobias to the man who was none other than the Royal Prince of Equest
Together with Robert's wife, Tobias walked in with limping steps. The wound on his shoulder had yet to heal, as well as the injury from the hard kick from Thomas. Several servants began to help carry Tobias to the nearest room."Get the medical kit," Robert's wife ordered, the maid nodding obediently.The room door opened, and the servant used this room to rest, but she didn't mind Tobias being treated in the room. The man sat on a chair, clutching the cloth covering the wound on his shoulder."You need to undress first," Robert's wife said, appearing to wash her hands from Tobias' blood.Tobias complied and began to unbutton his shirt and remove it slowly with his right hand, while his left was quite painful to move due to the wound he had received.Tobias' athletic body was exposed to Robert's wife's eyes, occasionally stealing glances at Tobias' abs and chest muscles. However, she looked away as soon as Tobias noticed.The servant came in. She carried a white box filled with a medi
Once the deal was agreed upon, Robert took Tobias out for lunch. Selena had instructed her servants to serve the best food, not only for Tobias but also for Thomas.Tobias didn't refuse Robert's offerings. In fact, he was enthusiastic about coming along to find out what Western food was like. The banquet hall itself was on the second floor, which meant Tobias and Robert had to take the stairs to get there.A banquet hall was clearly displayed before Tobias. Great food was served on the table, with six plates served. Robert's two children came down from the third floor to join the lunch.Robert sat in a separate chair, in the center, between the right and left rows of chairs at the table. Tobias took the chair on the right while Robert's two children were seated on the left."Is Edgar not here?" Robert asked, confirming with his two children.They shook heads, unaware of Edgar's whereabouts since he had left earlier. Robert simply nodded with a sigh, lamenting his firstborn's brat-like