CH 29

Xia Zuoyi deliberately left the Traks a few days to adapt and rest.

First, they were defeated and captured by the Anas Empire. After experiencing the country’s destruction and losing their family and friends, they were all taken to the empire to suffer humiliation and were forced to be imprinted with shameful slave marks…

Most people must have been devastated physically and mentally and become numb.

After that, the people of Trak were sent to Gadaat.

Everything on their bodies was searched clean, except for the clothes they were wearing and the shackles on their hands and feet.

Therefore, during the period of adaptation, Xia Zuoyi sent soldiers to send some good clothes, food, and daily necessities for the Trak people free of charge.

Fernandi reported to Xia Zuoyi in detail what happened on the way after bringing back the Trak nationals.

It is mentioned that the wounds on the shoulders of some people in Trak have not healed up to now, which may cause them to become weak, lethargic, and feverish.

After Xia Zuoyi heard this, he ordered the soldiers to pay attention to this matter.

He prepared some of the existing plant medicine in the Thorns Chamber of Commerce, where soldiers could take seriously ill Trak people to the chamber of commerce to exchange medicine for treatment.

Fernandi talked about the use of the herbal ointment, and said, “The little boy who had a fever due to the brand wound and almost passed out in a coma should be a girl.”

“It was probably for the sake of safety that she was disguised and covered up. However, she will likely be doubted about her identity.”

“I have made people pay more attention to it. If an abnormal situation is found, it will be reported immediately.”

Xia Zuoyi nodded to show that he knows.

Plant medicine and ointment are completely used in two different ways, one for internal use and the other for external application.

People can also drink medicine when they have an injury in their body, but the effect of directly applying ointment to the wound may be more obvious.

However, herbal medicine can be packed in bottles, jars, or usual containers.

Plant ointments are more troublesome.

It’s about the paper wrapped around the ointment.

On the Western Continent, there are two types of paper that people can use so far.

One is the expensive, slow and complicated parchment paper.

This kind of paper is also called leather paper, which is made from animal skins.

The process from material selection to completion is not only complicated but also time-consuming.

Therefore, the price of a well-made and exquisite parchment paper is so high that manor owners without savings can’t even afford it.

But parchment paper is water-resistant, wear-resistant, soft and delicate, and easy to fold or roll up for storage, which is extremely popular among the nobles.

Naturally, civilians and slaves could not afford or touch parchment.

The second type of paper is papyrus.

Low cost, and is also suitable for ordinary writing.

But in Xia Zuoyi’s view, the manufacturing process of papyrus is not easy, but compared to parchment, the preparation steps of papyrus are easier.

In addition, the shortcomings of papyrus are obvious. The paper is fragile, the paper can easily be torn when turned, and its toughness is insufficient.

Xia Zuoyi has made herbal medicines that can treat cough and fever.

Soon after.

He slowly made a plant ointment with the same effect.

Xia Zuoyi  tried to put the ointment between two sheets of papyrus, but it didn’t work.

So he sandwiched the ointment in parchment and gave them as a gift to Udit, Gibran, Fernandi, and Walker.

Such ointment can be given as a gift, but it can’t be sold as a commodity in the Thorns Chamber of Commerce.

Otherwise, the loss is definitely greater than the profit.

He will lose a small amount of money.

In this regard, Xia Zuoyi felt that it’s time to show our magical Oriental paper-making technique.

Wait until the paper is made.

The Thorns Chamber of Commerce will be able to make extra income, and the herbal ointments can also be sold.

Xia Zuoyi clicked on the system interface to check his reputation value.

He is no longer the one poor and two white1 like before, his reputation value has increased rapidly. In order to avoid disturbing the “people”, he muted the reminder sound very early.

Now, the plot deviation is 3%.

Xia Zuoyi took his gaze back without paying too much attention, and then, he exchanged his reputation value for books related to papermaking.

098 at this time, a matchstick head appeared from the top left of the system interface, and then crawled down. When it fell on the bottom edge of the system interface, he accidentally fell on his stick butt.

098 stood up and patted indifferently:【Host, do you want to learn papermaking?】

Xia Zuoyi, “Yes, since I want to carry out all-round infrastructure construction, how can I become an all-round talent…”

The result of not working hard is death.

098’s two matchsticks hands clenched:【Host, come on.】

Xia Zuoyi, “You weren’t in the system interface just now. Where did you go?”

【098 entered the channel to play games with the sand sculpture system and the krypton gold2 system.】

“…Who won?”

The little stickman’s voice is calm:【Krypton gold system has never lost, 098 and the sand sculpture system have never won.】

Xia Zuoyi looks at the stickman in a rather complicated mood, “Don’t play games with the krypton system again next time.”

【Ok, host.】

Xia Zuoyi paused and added, “Spend less time with the sand sculpture system, um… you will be infected.”

Remember, you are a Buddhist system.

The stickman tilted his head and seemed a little puzzled.

But he nodded obediently and agreed:【Ok, host.】

Xia Zuoyi added another item to be read and learn.

In the afternoon, when he’s studying how to make papermaking smoothly in his study, Toby’s flustered voice sounded outside the door, accompanied by the shouts of the maid.

“Snowball, Briquette, you can’t run around anymore, stop quickly…”

“Oh, oh.”

Obviously, the two little tigers wouldn’t listen to Toby’s words at all. They dodge cleverly from left to right among the maids who tried to stop them, jumping fast.

Xia Zuoyi is a little puzzled.

Snowball and Briquette stick to him too much.

So after lunch, he asked Udit and Toby to take the two little tigers out and get some air.

Why are they back now?

Xia Zuoyi got up from his chair and walked to the door. As soon as the door was opened, two big, obviously dark balls suddenly rushed towards him.

Toby exclaimed, “My lord!” 

Xia Zuoyi rarely sat down on the ground sluggishly.

The clean white clothes he’s wearing were instantly rubbed dirty by two little tigers that had turned into mud dumplings, and even his face wasn’t spared. He’s left with two dusty marks on both sides of his mouth.

Snowball and Briquette seemed very excited, the fat little tail behind them kept shaking, and the mud spots on their fur that hadn’t completely dried up were thrown all over the ground.

Of course, it got thrown on him too.

“Don’t press Lord Earl.”

Toby and the maid tried to pull away Snowball and Briquette but were scared by their bared teeth.

Xia Zuoyi sighed helplessly after returning to his senses. Pulling one of the tiger’s ears away with one hand, he then stood up on the ground and asked, “What happened? Where’s Udit?”

Toby scratched his head, “Butler Udit left for a while when he had something to do, then Snowball and Briquette knocked over the buckets next to the vegetable plot… It’s my fault that I didn’t look after them.”

Xia Zuoyi, “The vegetables in the field weren’t crushed, right?”

Toby shook his head, “No, my lord, they’re all good.”

Xia Zuoyi sighed in relief.

In the vegetable plot, he had specially ordered beets to be planted.

On the Western Continent, there are areas where sugarcane is grown, but it’s in the farthest southwest.

The juice of sugarcane is rich and sweet, and it’s the raw material for making white sugar.

However, because it’s not suitable for planting in some other areas, the number is not much. The production process and steps are also cumbersome, which is divided into several links, such as pressing, mixing, and so on.

Before the emergence of effective sugar-making machinery, a large number of laborers were needed. Productivity was extremely low, so the amount of white sugar that could be produced was even less.

—”Sugar is more expensive than gold”.

—”Sugar is white gold”.

These two sentences are not groundless on the Western Continent.

For example.

There is no white sugar made from sugarcane in Xia Zuoyi’s territory.

Even in the entire Gadaat, it is estimated that only the old king can enjoy sugar.

Xia Zuoyi had done some research before.

White sugar is the most expensive commodity in the Nagabi Chamber of Commerce, and the country with the largest inflow of white sugar is the St. Airo Empire.

People on the Western Continent use very few seasonings, not to mention spices, dark dishes aren’t worth mentioning.

White sugar does not exist as a seasoning here, but an expensive and rare commodity.

Sweetness is essential.

But in the absence of sugar, or can not afford to use sugar, as a substitute for cooking, the main thing to make desserts is honey and grape water.

Honey, in particular, is very popular in places where sugar is scarce or even invisible.

Some nobles will pass on honey as a legacy.

As for civilians and slaves, even a taste of sweetness is an extravagant delusion.

Beet is a kind of vegetable that can be eaten in ordinary times. It has a sweet taste. It is mainly used to make sweet soup or boiled together in porridge.

The nobles believed that vegetables grown from the ground were very low-grade food.

And most vegetables are eaten raw or boiled.

Therefore, the nobles are very repulsed by it.

In order not to affect their appetite, they will order the chef to chop up the vegetables in advance, and the vegetables that are served afterward are basically beyond recognition.

Beet can produce sugar, and it is also the main source of sugar besides sugarcane.

But the people on the Western Continent haven’t discovered it yet.

The extraction process of beet is relatively simple. When sugarcane isn’t part of the consideration, sugarbeet is the best and only option.

Xia Zuoyi thought about it, then lowered his head and pulled the ears of Snowball and Briquette, and whispered, “The bigger, the more mischievous. If you make trouble again, you won’t get meat.” 

The two little tigers seemed to understand him, they squatted on the ground and hummed aggrievedly.

When Udit came back, he took them one by one into a large wooden bucket that had already boiled water to take a bath.

To live in a brand new place, the Traks will inevitably feel uncomfortable, even uneasy.

After all, everything around them is strange; strange environment, strange people…

They are outsiders, captives, and slaves.

Renault and Adai are concerned about whether they will be discriminated against, ostracized, and bullied here.

But it’s exactly like the soldier who sent them to the city said—you’ll naturally understand after living.

There are soldiers on patrol at any time near the place where the Traks live, responsible for monitoring and preventing them from escaping.

The leader is a knight named Daina Prince.

On the first night of their stay in Fort Comoy, the knight brought some soldiers to bring clothes, food, and necessities.

Renault remembered him saying that this was the arrangement of lord earl.

Nothing happened the next day.

The third day.

Renault found that the three of them seemed to have been targeted.

There will always be people sneaking around the house where they live, keeping an eye on them without any trace.

Renault recognized the identities of those people.

The person who followed them was originally the son of a duke of Trak.

The duke secretly supported the second prince who wanted to fight for the crown prince’s position. But in the end, it’s the second prince who brought the people of Anas Empire into the Trak Kingdom.

The second prince was killed on the spot, and the duke immediately sought refuge in the enemy.

Although the duke was not killed by a sword, he died of a painful illness while being taken to the Anas Empire.

Renault didn’t expect his son to be still alive, and it seems that there are many followers around him.

As mentioned earlier, the people of Trak Kingdom aren’t completely united.

There is still a clear distinction between classes.

Originally the civilians and slaves of Trak gathered together.

People who were originally manor owners and nobles spontaneously divided into two camps.

Most people who are hostile to the second prince and regard him and his vassals as sinners gather together, and the remaining small group of people can only cooperate with each other to save their lives.

Renault had foresight.

He disguised himself as a civilian with Adai and Sarah. The old nobles who could recognize him as the illegitimate son were dead.

In the past, Renault rarely went to the palace unless necessary.

He is very happy to be a viscount, he gets to research about his favorite equipment on weekdays.

Adai doesn’t need to pretend, he is a civilian.

It was through Adai’s teacher, the alchemist, that Renault got to know him. They had been friends since they were children.

As long as Sarah’s identity is not discovered…

But now, it seems that someone has noticed it.

The third day.

When the patrolling soldiers left the area, the duke’s son suddenly broke into their residence with several people.

After Renault and Adai didn’t react in time, they were quickly subdued. Then they carefully looked at Sarah.

The duke’s son burst out laughing with pride on his face, “It turns out that she is really Princess Sarah. No wonder I feel so familiar. You are willing to cut off your long hair and dress up as a dirty boy, I didn’t recognize her in the mountains before.”

At that time, Fernandi’s action of untying the shackles and throwing them ointment attracted many eyes.

Renault thought that there would be little chance of them being found behind so many people and trees, but he didn’t expect to be seen by the duke’s son.

Someone next to him said, “Cory, hand over the princess!”

“Since this place is so generous and liberal, we might as well take the opportunity to exchange the princess to get rid of our slave status.”

“Yes, Cory, Lautner is right. I don’t want to be a slave any more. Let’s go to see the little earl and ask him to restore our noble status.”

Renault roared, “You dare!”

He struggled hard, but was kicked violently, his knee slamming to the ground.

Adai looked at them angrily, “Cory Moya, your father is a sinner of Trak! Do you want to hurt the blood left by the royal family?!”

“The God of Creation will surely condemn you! And you guys!”

Cory Moya’s expression instantly turned cold when he heard his words. He walked to Adai’s side and slapped him, “Being a slave is already the greatest insult and punishment to me.”

“You’re just a cheap civilian, what’s your qualification to yell!”

Sarah was gagged and tied to the side, anxiously looking out of the house and asking for help.

Because they live close to each other, a single sound can attract people.

Now there are many Traks standing around the house, but they are temporarily blocked by Cory Moya’s followers.

Translator’s Notes:

I had wanted to update this ever since I learned that the amazing Heni bought me a coffee but unfortunately, I don’t have any more chapters in stock. But now that I can update, here are two chapters, everyone~~ Hope you like it, Heni!!

Wait for a little while for the second update, my grandma is making me do household chores right now hahahhaa