As long as the Demonic Month hadn't ended, the streets and alleys of the fortress were always deserted. Even the ubiquitous rats curled up, hiding in their respective dark corners, sharing the grain stored in autumn, waiting for new prey to appear after the weather warmed up.
That's how it should have been.
Damn it, why do I have to brave the wind and snow to listen to some policy speech? Sheya spat fiercely on the ground, those bigwigs' affairs have nothing to do with us.
"Pull up your collar," he looked at the shivering shorty Qiao beside him, "if you get infected with the cold plague, you're done for."
"He shouldn't have come with us in the first place," Kui frowned, "how many people do you need to inquire about a piece of news? This is Kanash targeting us."
"Save it, what can he do even if he's targeting us," Hu爪, the most burly one, said nonchalantly, "he holds our food source." Even so, he quickened his pace and stood in front of the three of them, and Sheya felt the cold wind lessened a lot.
"Tha...thank you," Qiao said in a low voice.
However, the mention of Kanash made everyone lose some energy.
There are also ranks among rats, from the top King to the bottom Tail, occupying different areas. Kanash is neither a King nor a Tail, he is the manager of Tail-less Alley in the west district of the outer city. To be precise, he should be considered a waist... or a belly. But no matter what the other party is, Sheya and others have to respectfully call him Boss when they see him.
There are a total of six managers like this in the west district, as for the boss above, that is, the King of the west district, Sheya has never seen him.
Kanash has several rat groups under him, and they are one of them. There is no doubt that the stronger you are, the more favor you will get from the manager. It's a pity that as stray children in the alley, they are not only small in number, but even their arms and legs are thinner than the other party when fighting, putting them at a natural disadvantage—of course, except for Hu爪, his figure doesn't look like he could grow up eating only half a piece of black bread a day.
As for what Kui, the brown-haired girl, said about targeting, it was just bad luck. A witch appeared in the alley, and Sheya wanted to use her ability to exchange for some coins, but he ran into a big shot from the Honeysuckle family as soon as he went out. As a result, he didn't earn much money, and even lost the witch.
Because of this mess, Kanash was particularly annoyed with them, believing that if they had handed over the witch to him earlier, it would have been a better choice to sell her to the nobles or the church.
"He's just talking," Sheya said disdainfully, "sell it to the church for twenty-five gold dragons? Where is he going to find those religious priests? The churches have all turned into ruins. The nobles won't honestly hand over the gold dragons to a rat either, he doesn't have the life to get that money."
"Sheya is... is right," Qiao said while shivering, "if... if it's really because of us that he lost... lost twenty-five gold dragons, he would have... have thrown our bodies into the Redwater River long ago."
"Kanash would at most dare to hand the witch over to the King of the west district, and also be wary of the witch's unpredictable abilities, he doesn't have the God's Punishment Stone," Sheya continued, "that guy just doesn't like us."
"What buying and selling, she's blank paper, she's one of us!" Kui pinched Sheya hard, "you still want to treat her as merchandise!" She paused here, "Hey, you didn't sell her back then, did you!"
"I didn't!" he shouted, "I was desperately protecting her at the time, but the other party was the city lord!"
"I wonder if she's doing well in Border Town," Hu爪 sighed.
"How good can it be," Kui snorted, "what's the difference between being played by a prince and being played by a noble?"
Is that so... easy to say, when you have seen the life of the nobles, you probably can't wait for a big noble to play with you, Sheya curled his lips.
Arriving at the fortress square, the four were surprised to find that a wooden platform had been set up and a bonfire had been lit. There were about two or three hundred people around the platform, which was a rare sight in the snowy days.
"Someone is actually giving a speech here," Hu爪 clicked his tongue, "what tricks do those noble lords want to play?"
"It's definitely not good news," Sheya shrugged, "I guess it's taxation? Or conscription—didn't they fight a battle before?"
"In short, it has nothing to do with us," Kui said, "let's finish listening quickly and go back earlier, Qiao, go to the bonfire to warm up."
"O...okay."
Sheya walked around the crowd to the stage. The man standing on it was wearing a thick cotton coat, a woolen cap, and a pair of deerskin gloves, which looked warm. Compared to his own dirty and old linen clothes, it was completely heaven and earth. If I could find a chance to grab it... but he also knew that this was his fantasy. The elk family crest cloak behind the speaker showed the other party's identity.
Servants of the four major families are definitely not someone a rat can afford to offend.
"Aren't you going to warm up by the fire with Qiao? I can listen here by myself," Sheya looked at the other two.
"Really?" Hu爪 raised his eyebrows.
"Of course, I have a very good memory," he pointed to his head, "whether it's remembering words, remembering people, or remembering grudges."
"Pfft," Kui chuckled, "look at how capable you are. Since you said so, I won't be polite... let's go, big guy."
"But you have to give me a bigger share of dinner."
"We'll see, we don't even know if we'll have any today!" she waved her hand.
After the two left, Sheya patted his cold cheeks and refocused his attention on the wooden platform. These news are meaningless to the bottom rat tails, but in the eyes of the bellies and kings, they may be an opportunity to profit. Of course, even if they can get something, there is almost nothing that leaks down.
"Citizens, this is a joint announcement from Roland Wimbledon, Guardian of the Western Region, Earl Sharrafi Hermon of the Elk Family, and Peiro Hermon, Executive Officer of Changge Fortress." The speaker took a sip of hot ale and said loudly while holding a piece of parchment, "The Fortress City Hall is now open for grain purchases. Citizens who have surplus grain at home can go to the market to sell it at any time. But please note that from next month, any private sale of grain will be regarded as a serious crime. Only the City Hall has the right to buy and sell grain! Once arrested for private sales, you will be severely punished! The City Hall also welcomes any reports from citizens. If the report is found to be valid, you will be rewarded with twenty-five silver wolves!"
Sheya opened his mouth in surprise. He didn't expect to hear such shocking news as soon as he arrived!
Those nobles actually want to ban the sale of grain!
Moreover, the purchase and sale prices given by the City Hall are very low. You must know that the early arrival of the Demonic Month has caused grain prices in the fortress to rise step by step, and now it is about three times the market price—obviously the grain price will not fall as long as the snow does not stop. According to the prices in the new policy, who would be willing to sell it to the City Hall cheaply? On the contrary, how much grain they pull out, the nobles and merchants will swallow. Have the prince and the city lord not considered this issue?
But... if they really banned private sales, what would happen? Sheya couldn't help but shudder. You must know that most of the grain in the hands of most civilians is bought from rats. Once this channel is cut off, and the grain in the market is swept away by the nobles and merchants, I'm afraid a big chaos is about to come! (。)