Chapter 65: Research Funding and Road Construction

Iouli's mental exhaustion from this blessing ritual was not insignificant; after chatting with Mali for a while longer, she waved him off.

Mali felt a bit regretful. He was quite curious about the deities of this world and it was rare to have the chance to meet a priestess; he had wanted to learn more, but seeing her state, he would have to find another opportunity in the future.

By the time he descended the wooden stairs of the inn, York was already waiting there.

The merchant apprentice briefly explained the history and main members of the Rose Alliance to him, as well as the various rules and regulations, before leading him on a tour of the stronghold to introduce the various facilities and their purposes.

Places like the warehouse and the inn were self-explanatory; Mali's focus remained on the guild hall, the place where merchants conducted trade negotiations and gathered information.

The Leiwateleisi Continent did not possess the internet like modern society, where news appearing one second is known to the whole world the next.

Here, something happening in one city might take months to reach another, and information was vital to trade.

Therefore, basically every guild built its own intelligence network, and the Rose Alliance, being a leader among them, was naturally no exception.

They would collect news that might affect price fluctuations and share it with guild members irregularly.

It was just that the dissemination of information itself took time and had a certain lag; finding sources and transporting goods also took time, and the same piece of information would spread among different guilds and different merchants within the same guild, so others might also take action.

Furthermore, this was often mixed with false information released by competitors.

So, many times, news that seemed like it would make a fortune would turn out to yield only a slight profit or even a loss by the time the goods were hauled to the destination.

York concluded, "Ultimately, the guild only collects and passes on information to share with members, but whether you can make money still depends on everyone's own ability."

"Like the news of our war with the Northern Empire earlier, basically everyone knows it now, and sellers of iron ore and grain in the market have also taken action, causing prices to start rising."

"But it's hard to say exactly how long it will rise; after all, the royal family and the great nobles who support the royal family also hold a large number of mines and manors in their hands. Once they decide to intervene, the price might come down again."

"Sounds like the iron ore and grain business isn't easy to do right now," Mali said.

"It's not just those; many commodities will be affected by the war," York said. "You just joined the guild; have you considered what kind of business you want to do?"

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"If you have time, you might as well visit local suppliers more often; communicating with other merchants might bring unexpected surprises."

Mali looked around. "But they don't seem... very welcoming to me."

"Barta is a guild member after all, and he has quite a few friends in the chamber of commerce, though there are also many who dislike him. Those people might not have supported you before, after all, you were just an outsider, and your chances of winning in the Wealth Trial didn't look high."

"But now that you are a guild member and have proven your strength, people will definitely come to approach you later, but..."

York glanced around and lowered his voice. "Although everyone is a member of the same guild, there is also a competitive relationship between us. You can make more friends, but it's best to keep your guard up."

…………

Although Barta's compensation had not yet arrived, according to the rules, contestants could keep the profits earned during the Wealth Trial.

Added to the money earned from selling the lizardman tails, the cash in Mali's hands had now reached 77 Gold Eagles.

Although he might still be the poorest in the guild, in terms of starting out, it had already gone much smoother than he had initially imagined.

And with money, there were more things he could do.

Mali first headed to the largest magic item shop in the city and purchased two magic scrolls.

One of them was Flame Art, which he was currently learning.

In the end, his elemental affinity was too poor; practicing it himself would take a long time, and his main energy in the future would still be placed on Alchemy.

Through the magic scroll, he could fully experience the release process of Flame Art once, saving learning time.

The cost was the disappearance of ten Gold Eagles. One could only say that anything related to magic was shockingly expensive.

As for the second magic scroll, Mali chose Shield Spell. With a gun in hand, he didn't need to worry too much about firepower, and the power of Zero-ring spells was limited and couldn't compare to bullets.

On the contrary, in terms of defense, the anti-stab vest was light and convenient for movement, but its defensive effect against cold weapons might not be as good as the plate armor on Weier's body.

Multiple layers of protection were never a bad thing, and Mali paid another fifteen Gold Eagles for this.

Additionally, Liweier had already left the Guangyao Staff, and his funding had also been suspended by the academy. Now, restarting the research on Ancient Alchemy would require Mali, the partner, to shoulder all the research expenses.

Mali had no objections to this; the old alchemist had been willing to serve as a consultant for the caravan for free before, so he naturally had to reciprocate.

Then, Liweier spent thirty Gold Eagles in one go.

Even so, the old man was still complaining that what he bought were only basic materials.

Rare materials like Dragon Scales or Baba Yaga's Eye were, firstly, shockingly expensive, and secondly, hard to see in a small place like Yingzui City; even with money, one couldn't buy them.

And in the two days Mali was busy with massive purchases, a small episode occurred.

Barta did not want to honestly pay the three hundred and sixty Gold Eagles according to the gambling agreement and wanted to run away overnight with the money he had saved over the years, but he was intercepted by the guards of the Rose Alliance who had been prepared.

Afterward, merchants from other cities also learned one after another that Barta had lost the bet and demanded that he compensate for their losses according to his promise. However, with Barta's current assets, he clearly could not pay the more than six hundred Gold Eagles including the gambling debt.

According to the order of priority, the money he owed Mali was forcibly executed first, and afterward, the Rose Alliance would seal all his assets in the city to find ways to compensate other merchants.

As for Warren, he quietly left Yingzui City on the day the competition ended; no one, including Barta, knew his whereabouts.

After receiving the compensation, Mali found York again and asked the latter to help him hire three hundred laborers locally to build a road from Yingzui City to Baimu Cun.

The scale of this project was much larger than the road from Baimu Cun to Black Stone Canyon back then.

And this time, Mali could be considered to have some engineering experience. He planned to imitate the methods of the ancient Romans: first dig the road surface down to the hard soil layer, lay a layer of large stones, and then lay small stones and fine aggregate on top of the large stones.

Finally, cover the surface with gravel and clay, water it to soften, and compact it.

The road built this way would be very durable, and rain would not be much of a problem. ===== CHAPTER 66 =====