Chapter 76: Goatman and A Midsummer Night's Dream

Although the old-fashioned nobles of the Gudi Kingdom had always looked down on upstarts like the Ilunwood family, they had to admit that they were indeed capable in managing their territory.

Before they took over, Yongran Cheng was just an unknown small town, but now it had become one of the top economic hubs, transportation, and trade centers in the Gudi Kingdom.

After entering the city, Mali could also feel that there were significantly more alien races here than in the towns he had passed before. Besides the common Dwarves, Gnomes, Elves, and Halflings, he even saw a Goatman on the side of the street.

That was a man about twenty years old, with rugged goat-like horns on his head, oval goat ears, and two goat hooves on his lower body, driving a group of sheep to the market.

The children on the side of the road saw him and picked up stones to throw at him, but he didn't fight back, just lowered his head and quickened his pace.

"Yongran Cheng actually has Goatmen. I have heard their stories from my father," the half-elf girl said. "It is said that their ancestors lived with Orcs, and later, unable to bear the slavery of the Orcs, they escaped and came to the human world.

"Unfortunately, because of their appearance and past history, humans don't welcome them much, so they can only wander around. Goatmen are natural sheep-herding experts, and some Goatmen make a living by herding sheep for humans."

Weier thought of Huodun. Now he had become friends with the dog-headed man. Similarly, as an alien race that was not very welcome, Huodun had also been struggling to survive in the human world before.

He looked at the inferior hand-and-a-half sword he had replaced and originally planned to take it to the market to exchange for some money to recover his blood, but changed his mind at this time.

He quickly chased after him and stuffed the sword into the Goatman's hand.

"This is for you. If you are bullied, don't always run away. If you don't swing your sword, it will only make those evildoers more proud and arrogant."

The Goatman was caught off guard and stood frozen in place. A moment later, he twitched his lips and said, "Just, just some children's pranks... I don't need this."

"Because they are children, you need to scare them even more. Just take it. With this sword, others will be slightly more polite to you."

Weier patted his shoulder hard twice, and then turned and walked back.

Xia'er praised, "You are much more like a knight than that guy named Ke En."

Weier scratched his head. "Ah, I am just an ordinary commoner now, and I can't be associated with a knight."

"Sooner or later, you will become a knight again."

"I don't even have an object to pledge allegiance to. Who will confer me?"

"That's hard to say. In short, I have a good eye for people."

The group first went to the trade stronghold of the Rose Alliance in Yongran Cheng and learned that the Ilunwood family had a separate shop in the city selling tar.

Afterward, Mali came there, but when he explained his identity and purpose, the owner of the tar shop didn't give him any quote, but handed him a banquet invitation instead.

"Lord Lan En will hold a banquet at Huihuang Bao tonight to celebrate the birth of his seventh son. He has invited many guests, and you, as an alchemist and Rose Merchant, naturally have the qualifications to attend the banquet."

Mali took the invitation. "Oh, I will attend the banquet, but the tar..."

"The Northern Empire suddenly interrupted all foreign trade at the end of last month, and overnight, tar became very tight in the market, and our production is limited. Currently, there is no stock in the store," the owner shook his head.

"However," he paused and added, "If you are willing to wait another two days, there will be a new batch of goods, but..."

The owner didn't continue, but Mali already knew that this trade was not something he could decide. It seemed that Lan En would talk about this batch of goods at the banquet tonight.

He accepted the invitation, thanked him, and left the shop with Xia'er, heading to a tailor shop that served nobles and wealthy people.

To attend such a large banquet, one had to have formal wear. Custom-made was definitely too late, so he could only buy ready-made clothes and have them altered.

Mali picked a robe made of brocade material with trumpet sleeves as an outer garment. He didn't accept the high-collar, large-sleeve robe recommended by the shopkeeper, but just chose a velvet square cloak, paired with a pair of tight pants.

The half-elf girl on the side was already dazzled. Before meeting Mali, the furthest place she had been to was Yingzui City.

And she hadn't been to a tailor shop either. People in the village said that the clothes inside were terrifyingly expensive.

The girl's previous clothes were made by Aunt Milagelosi in the village. Her sewing skills were the best, and many people bought linen from Basu, and then only had to spend twenty Copper Keluns to ask Aunt Milagelosi to help make a piece.

Occasionally, some people would go directly to the market in Yingzui City to buy new clothes, but that was much more expensive, requiring two or three Silver Shields.

And these clothes in front of her were actually priced in Gold Eagles, and even the cheapest one cost one or two Gold Eagles, not to mention the expensive ones.

Xia'er saw a silk dress, which felt as smooth as water flowing through her palm, and it was embroidered with more than thirty small pearls, priced at a full twenty-four Gold Eagles.

The half-elf girl was so scared that she almost dropped it on the ground and hurriedly returned it to the tailor.

Although Mali said before entering the shop that he would pay for it this time, Xia'er still couldn't accept that a piece of clothing was so expensive, and she also wanted to save some money for Mali, so she couldn't make up her mind after picking for a long time.

The tailor was still very patient, flipping out a lot of goods from the warehouse and showing them to her one by one.

Finally, the half-elf girl felt embarrassed first, casually choosing a round-neck dress and a jujube-red sleeveless robe, totaling two Gold Eagles.

The tailor whispered a reminder, "Round neck was a trend ten years ago, and it is no longer popular in the kingdom now, and this color robe is not very suitable for your age."

Mali on the side said, "Do you have any suggestions?"

"If you don't like lines that are too complicated and decorations that are too exaggerated, I recommend this 'Midsummer Night's Dream'." The tailor flipped out a green dress from the innermost wardrobe.

"This is not my work, but comes from my Elf peer. They don't pursue a sense of gorgeousness, but are more accustomed to drawing inspiration from nature, and are good at highlighting the wearer's temperament with simple lines and patterns."

Xia'er fell in love with it at a glance, especially the water cedar leaves embroidered with gold thread on it, which gave her a sense of relaxation of returning to the forest, but she didn't forget to ask the price.

"I bought this dress for study, and I didn't intend to make money. The acquisition price at the time was seven Gold Eagles. You just add a storage fee of one Silver Shield," the tailor said.

The half-elf girl was still hesitant, but Mali had already taken out his money bag. "Then let's take this one." ===== CHAPTER 77 =====