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nChapter 357 – Sweet Plum Courtyard

nSmith was stunned. He knew about rations since the Calci Family would frequently come in contact with Beastmen. He knew that beastmen would get into wars very often, and while they do so they would also make rations; so Smith was very familiar with them.

nHe actually didn’t think that Zhao Hai would want to sell these rations in the continent. However, his idea was worth trying. Mercenary food was quite monotonous, so if they were served rations, they might take a liking to it.

nBut Smith still frowned and said, “Little Hai, these rations are made of argali and those are also very valuable in the continent. Making them into rations seems to be quite wasteful.”

nZhao Hai smiled and said, “Actually, my rations aren’t all made from Argali. Although I have some business inside the prairie, the amount of argali I have isn’t that much. Aside from argali, my rations are also made from Blue Eyed Rabbit meat. You should know that Blue Eyed Rabbit meat don’t sell very well in the continent, so I made them into rations.”

nSmith replied, “Blue Eyed Rabbit? This is new to me, aren’t Blue Eyed rabbits generally used to make canned food? Did you try doing that?”

nZhao Hai smiled, “I did, but the amount of blue eyed rabbits that I have is quite a lot. They wouldn’t be able to be made into canned food, so I made them into rations. Also, I don’t want to sell entire blue eyed rabbits since I need their skin for myself.”

nSmith smiled and said, “Let’s go along your plan. Selling thess rations can make those mercenaries remember us, whether it was you or my Calci Family.”

nZhao Hai nodded, “But this way, there is another problem. We need to deal with those rabbit skins and I also need to sell some wool products. What do you think about this Brother Smith?”

nSmith waved his hand and said, “You don’t need to worry about these things. I’ll take care of it. You still need to spend some time to get used to the statistics of your business and also see who you can sell your stuff to. If you have any problems, don’t hesitate to approach me.”

nZhao Hai smiled, “I will, but Brother Smith, I’m very curious, why are you treating me this well when we only had met for the first time?”

nSmith looked at Zhao Hai and sighed, “For you, it’s because you deserve it. We, the League of Dark Mages, have always been at a disadvantage in our confrontations with the Radiant Church. Especially in the recent years, we always had come with losses with our bouts with them. We think that it is because of our lack of information about the church. The intel you provided some time ago was very important to the league, it made us vent out and feel better.”

nNow Zhao Hai knew why. No wonder Smith was extremely polite to him. The reason was actually this.

nFrom what he understood from Smith’s words, the Calci Family considers the League of Dark Mage as their own family. They cherish the league, therefore they can feel this much gratitude to him.

nZhao Hai thought that there was nothing wrong with this. Calci Family could be said to be the strongest dark mage family in the entire continent. The rise and fall of their family was interlinked with the fate of Dark element magic. Therefore, they couldn’t bear see the profession of Dark Mage die down, for this reason they set-up the League of Dark Mages.

nHowever, since they were also Dark Mages, they knew that Dark Mages don’t like someone being their superiors. So they set the league up to be a loose alliance and gave it a very relaxed atmosphere. Sure enough, they managed to succeed with this model, they managed to have Dark Mages and other people join to help each other. As to dealing with the Radiant Church? There was no need for them to deliberately take action, after all, Dark Mages already consider the Radiant church as their number 1 enemy.

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nZhao Hai looked at Smith and showed a faint smile, “My enmity with the Radiant Church is very deep. This time, on the prairie, I managed to slay a 9th level expert of the church. The intel I got was from that 9th rank.”

nSmith stared blankly, he didn’t know that Zhao Hai had managed to kill a 9th rank expert of the Radiant Church. This information gave him a shock, he looked at Zhao Hai and said, “Did you really kill a church’s 9th rank expert?”

nZhao Hai nodded, “Yes, a 9th rank Fire element Mage, one of the successful products of their Ultimate Weapon program. This time, the church extended their hand towards the Cow-headed race and cooperated with the Fighting Bull clan to defeat the Herculean Bull clan. I gave the Herculean Bulls a helping hand, not only did we manage to extinguish the Fighting Bulls, we also killed the church’s 9th rank expert as well as a Herculean Bull spy working for the church. Now, I’m currently the Cow-headed race’s crown prince.”

nSmith was once again stunned, the Calci Family had already been doing business with the beastmen for many years. But being a prince of a beastman race? How could human get that status?

nSmith was initially hospitable to Zhao Hai since the latter helped the League of Dark Mages solve a few matters and also because of Bell’s letter. Bell praised Zhao Hai very much in his letter, so Smith decided to treat Zhao Hai well.

nBut Smith didn’t imagine that Zhao Hai would continually give him surprises. First was his business, his views and ideas were very good for business. This was especially true when he heard that there are only two other parties that supplied the milk wine. At this time, Smith felt his blood pumping and his body turning warm.

nSmith was very clear about the proportion of profits unique businesses could bring in, and it was very high. Moreover, he was also a person who looked at the bigger picture, therefore he accepted this business but asked if Zhao Hai had any other products. He want to see whether there was avenue for another good business, he wanted to see what other ideas Zhao Hai might have.

nSoon after, the business idea came about. When he heard the proposal, Smith felt puzzled because the business sounded very common and too ordinary that it looked like there was no special characteristics to it at all.

nHowever, after Zhao Hai talked about the mercenaries as customers, Smith knew what Zhao Hai’s business target was. The mercenaries in the continent, as a whole, represented a force that couldn’t be underestimated.

nAlthough the strength of mercenaries were commonly very small. Smith couldn’t just underestimate their capabilities. These great families have information networks among those mercenaries; they knew how terrifying mercenaries could be when they group up.

nBut although they are quite terrifying, they have low level of efficacy. So if they provide them with rations, which could be considered as a special type of food, it would be a great help to the mercenaries. No other business could provide this much help to the mercenaries.

nAnd lastly, Zhao Hai revealed that he was also a Crown Prince of the Herculean Bull clan. This was the information that hit Smith the hardest. A Beastman race’s Crown Prince held a very high status inside the Prairie. No matter what race you are, as long as you are a race’s crown prince, even a Warring Clan would accept you with courteous hospitality, this was what this status represented.

nBut not to even say being a prince, even being a clan member of a Beastman race was a very difficult thing to do. This was because beastmen generally didn’t trust humans, so it was close to impossible for a human to be a beastman’s clan member.

nAnd a Crown Prince, how difficult would it be for a human to become one? Smith almost didn’t want to think about it, he looked at Zhao Hai and didn’t know what to say.

nSeeing Smith’s appearance, Zhao Hai knew what the other was thinking. He just smiled and continued, “Brother Smith, to tell you the truth, I’m not only the Crown Prince of the Herculean Bull Clan, I also hold friendship flags from the Big-bellied Pig Clan as well as the Giant-horned Bull Clan. You see that magic beast pulling my carriage? That is the Giant-Horned Bull’s relative beast, I also have the Fighting Bull’s relative beast as well as the Herculean Bull’s. On the beastman prairie, I can confidently say that I won’t be attacked by other beastmen. Hehe.”

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nSmith stared blankly at Zhao Hai, this news was very big. They didn’t think that Zhao Hai had such capabilities and wouldn’t be attacked by the Beastmen at all. This was a dream for every Human merchant.

nSmith recovered after some time, then the turned to Zhao Hai and ask, “Brother, can I know what these friendship flags that you were talking about?”

nHearing Smith ask him, Zhao Hai knew that Smith didn’t have any idea what a friendship flag was. After all, Beastmen wouldn’t give humans their friendship flags. But he didn’t want to hide the truth from Smith, so he immediately explained to Smith what a friendship flag was.

nSmith understood that the flag that their clan acquired before was just an ordinary flag, it was no use at all.

nThe two chatted for a while, Smith got a new understanding of the matters between Beastmen. At this time, Phil came in and said to Smith and Zhao Hai, “Master, Mister Wales, the food is ready. Please take a seat at the dining hall.”

nSmith stood up hastily along with Zhao Hai, “Little Hai, let’s go, come taste the food of my mansion’s chefs. Uncle Phil, are Little Hai’s baggages taken care of?’

nPhil bowed and said, “It has been brought in and placed inside Sweet Plum Courtyard. Mister’s servants were also sent to the courtyard.”

nSmith nodded, then turned to Zhao Hai and said, “You’ll be staying inside Sweet Plum Courtyard from now on. Your people have also been sent there. That is an independent courtyard and is the farthest from the main house. That courtyard will be for your use and yours alone. If you need me for something go tell me or Uncle Phil. Uncle Phil watched me grow up, he has my utmost trust. If you need anything just tell him and he’ll help you.”

nZhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Good, I’ll remember it. Brother doesn’t need to worry about it anymore.” After talking, they headed towards the mansion’s dining hall. The dining hall of the City Lord’s mansion was placed in the middle of all the courtyards. The hall was very large, there was a place for ordinary people to eat, a place for the family to eat, a place for elders to eat, and lastly also a place for guests to eat.

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