Chapter 433: Weier's Method, A Finely Crafted Dagger

So, what is the Swordsman Weier doing at this moment?

Inside a rather large farmhouse on the south side of Shichui Cunzi, the Swordsman Weier is walking around, searching through the empty house. He is, of course, not looting for wealth; well, actually, what Weier is doing right now is not much different from looting for wealth.

He is in this house, looking for metal items that the owners did not take with them when they evacuated Shichui Cunzi.

Speaking of metal items, how could such things help Weier transport the wild boar carcass?

In fact, when Knight Jier posed the difficult problem to him, he had already thought of a way to dismantle the wild boar and carry it away. But on one hand, that method was too simple, and on the other, since the wild boar had just died, gutting it and breaking it down into a portable state would inevitably result in him being splattered with blood and flesh.

Having been born into nobility and always preferring cleanliness and tidiness, he naturally would not choose such an undignified method, and he figured Knight Jier would not like such a crude solution either.

Therefore, he kept looking at the wild boar carcass, thinking and thinking, wanting to come up with a solution that was both convenient and dignified.

He thought about asking a driver in the team to borrow a horse to help transport the wild boar carcass. But he wondered, would this method count as cheating? Borrowing the team's horses requires the consent of the various drivers, so would the act of soliciting horses from these drivers count as relying on something other than one's own conditions to solve the problem?

It was a bit troublesome, so he abandoned this method.

But then he had a second thought: borrowing horses from the drivers in the team was bordering on the limits of the conditions, so what if it wasn't a Human?

Because when Knight Jier set the test for him, the vocabulary used was explicitly "one, Human"; if the object was not a Human, then it wouldn't be violating the restrictions!

He immediately thought of the long-haired lynx Beast-men in the caravan. These guys perfectly fit all the answers to solving his difficulty: they were not Humans, and they were numerous enough to move the wild boar carcass.

So the question then became, how to get those long-haired lynx Beast-men to help him?

This was easy to say, but also difficult to do.

These long-haired lynx Beast-men were not uncivilized beasts; they had language, organization, could speak Human Common Language, and even an average person couldn't beat them. But these little fur-balls were exceptionally fond of metal items.

Any metal item would do.

As long as there were metal items, one could use them as payment to hire the long-haired lynx Beast-men to do things. He knew this, and many people in the team also knew it. Knight Jier had made an agreement with these long-haired lynx Beast-men to give them metal items as hiring payment, and at the same time, in battles where the long-haired lynx Beast-men participated, any metal items they seized from enemies would belong to them.

With such conditions, these furry guys were hired to help everyone in the Refugee Team with night watch duties every day, greatly reducing the team's defensive and security pressure.

And in several incidents, they had played roles of varying importance; all in all, it was not a loss for their team.

Therefore, even though those long-haired lynx Beast-men were a mysterious and unknown alien race, the people in the Refugee Team did not have much rejection or criticism; after all, in dealing with these furry little guys, the Humans were the ones getting the better end of the deal.

At this moment, Weier only needed to produce some metal-made items, or even just metal itself, to temporarily hire these guys to help him transport that sturdy wild boar carcass.

But here came the problem.

On Weier's entire person, only the Steel Longsword he used for his livelihood had any weight; as for the rest, he wondered if the few buttons on his clothes would be enough?

"Heh~ how could that be."

With a bitter smile, Weier shook his head. The longsword was his livelihood; even if he died, he could not give it up. And the few metal buttons on his clothes, no matter how one looked at it, were unlikely to entice those small and greedy little fur-balls.

Don't ask him why there were no coins in his pockets. First, he was previously a captured Bandit; second, before setting off, old Mr. Fentijia had wanted to give him some coins for the road, but he had already received so much kindness from the other party that he really felt embarrassed to accept the meager coins that such an old gentleman had earned working for the Refugee Team.

Besides, this trip was heading into the more sparsely populated southern region of Sasi County to rescue the villagers of Changmai Cunzi who had been abducted by the defeated army last year; where would one need coins along the way?

So he had refused at the time.

Now that he thought about it, he should have just accepted them; then he wouldn't have to worry about money like this today.

There was no other way. After thinking it over, Weier could only try his luck at the surrounding farmhouses. He hoped to find some metal items in these houses that the farmers had left in a hurry—things they didn't have time to take or were inconvenient to carry, or even things the farmers themselves had forgotten.

From the search he had been conducting since just now, Weier was not without gains. He had dismantled an iron door bolt from the gate of one house, and for this, he had forcibly torn down the house's gate.

He also knocked off an iron marker representing a Nongshen Believer from the threshold stone of a farmhouse. This was a marker the farm family used to show they were Nongshen Believers, so naturally, it was difficult to knock it off and take it when evacuating.

At this moment, he was walking inside this farmhouse, calculating whether he should find a way to remove the iron nails fixing the wooden beams of the house and take them away?

He shook his head, feeling that he must have gone crazy.

He rummaged through boxes and cabinets in this farmhouse, though there wasn't much furniture left; the farmers had managed to take away the well-made furniture even when they evacuated, leaving behind mostly crudely made, pure wooden furniture.

But as he kicked and touched things here and there, he still made a discovery. Under the double wooden bed that the farmer could not take, he fished out a sheathed Dagger hidden beneath the bed. This Dagger was under the side of the bed where the male owner slept; if someone attacked in the middle of the night, the male owner could reach under the bed and draw the Dagger to fight.

This was a fine Steel Dagger, not like the trash hammered out by the crude blacksmiths in the village, but a fine self-defense Dagger mass-produced by professional blacksmiths in the town or city.

Weier drew it from its sheath and found that the Dagger was well-maintained. There was a blood groove in the middle of the blade, which could increase stabbing power and strengthen the Dagger's durability. At the same time, the thin and tough blade was oiled, so there wasn't a single spot of rust despite not being used for a long time. Moreover, its grip was made of a single piece of properly cut cowhide rolled up, then bound and fixed with leather cord on the outside, which was both secure and provided extra friction against the palm, making it difficult to lose one's grip during a fight.

If this thing were sold on the market, it could easily fetch one or two Silver Coins, but when dealing with the long-haired lynx Beast-men, they wouldn't recognize this method of value judgment!

They would only weigh the metal on the Dagger and wouldn't care about the Dagger's popular style, the sharpened edge, or its good balance. Not to mention that Dagger sheath made of fine cowhide—it probably had no value at all to the long-haired lynx Beast-men!

Weier couldn't be sure of the value of this thing. Logically speaking, a fine Dagger like this should be enough to hire someone to help him transport that sturdy wild boar to the center of the village.

But if he just let the long-haired lynx Beast-men judge the value of such a Dagger, what if they didn't accept it?

At this moment, the sunset was about to fall, and the fresh, savory scent of meat soup was already drifting over from the village center. Clearly, everyone was about to have dinner. Although Knight Jier had not set a time limit, it was clearly important to get things done before dark.

"Value..."

Weier muttered to himself, pondering where the value of the long-haired lynx Beast-men and their Humans was more consistent, where they could engage in similar trading behavior.

Suddenly, he realized that the answer to the riddle was in the riddle itself: value. The value of coins was roughly the same for both Humans and long-haired lynx Beast-men, because he knew that those little fur-balls had accepted Human coins as payment more than once, and clearly they also understood that in Human society, as long as one had those small, round metal pieces of different materials, one could exchange them for more other metals from Human merchants.

Except for Iron Coins.

"So, as long as I first exchange this Dagger for coins in the team, and then use the coins to hire those long-haired lynx Beast-men, it should be no problem, right?"

After he finished talking to himself, he turned his head and saw the sun about to set outside the farmhouse window. He hurried into action, running down the stairs with a clatter, not caring that he had left the house's gate wide open, and trotted hurriedly toward the team in the center of the village.

He did not run with long strides, because his upbringing told him that unless it was during a fight, running at full speed would affect one's overall demeanor. A trot was fine; his left hand pressed against the longsword swaying at his left waist, while his right arm swung in small, orderly motions with the movement of his body. The speed was not slow, and the image was not unsightly.

"Hey, look, Weier is actually running over all by himself? Where is the wild boar he was supposed to transport?"

A Warrior caught sight of Weier trotting over and immediately informed everyone.

Everyone in the team wanted to know which of the transport methods they had suggested Weier would choose, so upon hearing this, they all looked up at the approaching Weier. Everyone looked at each other in dismay; no one expected that after spending some time, Weier hadn't actually gone to transport the wild boar at all. Because he was clean, with neither pig hair nor pig blood or anything of the sort on him.

Jier raised an eyebrow. If this Weier treated his words and orders like air, then he would have to re-evaluate this young Swordsman.

However, although the running Weier was startled by everyone looking at him, the first sentence he spoke was something no one had expected.

He walked into the middle of the crowd, who were either busy or resting, held up the Dagger in his right hand, and said to everyone: "I found a fine self-defense Dagger while searching in a farmhouse. I intend to sell it to you all. Whoever wants it, please make an offer. I am in urgent need of some coins."

Weier quickly added: "This Dagger is really well-made, so the price cannot be lower than one Silver Coin. Whoever makes the highest bid, I will sell it to them."

Jier had no interest in an extra Dagger. He rubbed his chin with his fingers, looked at Weier, and after a moment of thought, he suddenly understood the other party's plan.

Jier didn't want it, but others in the team were interested in the fine Dagger Weier mentioned and one after another put down their work and gathered around. Someone teased Weier, asking why he wasn't finding a way to transport the male wild boar by himself, and why he had suddenly produced a Dagger from nowhere to hold an impromptu auction for money?

Others picked up the Dagger in Weier's hand, first inspecting the sheath and grip, nodding, and then drawing the Dagger to carefully examine the sharpness of the blade with the people around them.

"It is quite nice."

"It's even been oiled for maintenance. Heh, my Long Sword has never even been oiled."

"The blood groove in the middle is crafted very precisely, perfectly aligned with the lines of the entire Dagger, and the sharpness is also quite good."

The praise from everyone for this Dagger also made Weier feel happy; this showed that it could sell for a good price and would be easy to sell, and he needed to sell it at a high price as soon as possible right now.

But then, what everyone said next made Weier unhappy.

"But one Silver Coin, that's too expensive, Weier."

"Everyone's weapons were captured from the Bandit, we never spent money to buy them. If you want to sell this Dagger, I think it's difficult."

"Besides, there's no money in our pockets. The wages for everyone from Knight Jier haven't been settled yet, and we haven't received our first payment. Relying only on the little money we got from defeating the Bandit earlier, no one can bear to spend it on a Dagger right now."

"Sorry, Weier, this is a good Dagger, but my money is all with my wife. Look, I only have a few Iron Coins in my pocket."

Weier's expression could no longer hold up. He looked at everyone for help, but everyone expressed that the item was very good, but they had no spare money and couldn't help him.

Moreover, the Warrior in the team didn't actually have a very good relationship with Weier. Many people actually still remembered that Weier had killed their predecessor, a member of the Armed Squad of the Refugee Team, so they wouldn't provide any help at this time.

Weier held the Dagger in his hands, looked left and right anxiously, and then looked at Knight Jier sitting to the side.

Jier shrugged and pointed his finger at the Magic Dagger at his own waist, silently indicating that he had no use for this ordinary trinket at all.

But just as Weier's perfect plan was about to fail, Xueya Site walked out. He had just received a signal from Jier, and after understanding it, he walked out of the crowd and grabbed the fine Dagger from Weier's hands.

"Not bad, as good as everyone said. Cowhide sheath, soft cowhide grip, and it's even fixed with leather cord. The blade is straight, and the grip and blood groove are all in a straight line. The material is also made of good steel, though the edge is a bit thin, which is better for attacking than for parrying and defense."

Regarding Xueya Site's critique, Weier hurriedly explained as if grasping at a straw: "You are right, but generally, no one uses a Dagger for parrying, right? Only the superior substitute for a Dagger—the Short Sword—has some techniques and forms for dual-wielding and parrying. For a Dagger, close-quarters combat, cutting, and stabbing are more important."

Xueya Site smiled slightly: "You are right, and I happen to need a handy Dagger to use in combination with the Crossbow in my hand for combat. So, the price?"

Weier didn't bother with any temporary auction or bidding and stated the price in one breath: "Just one Silver Coin, one Silver Coin will do!"

"Good, at the price of one Silver Coin, then I've made a profit. To buy it in a town, a Dagger of this quality would cost at least this much." Xueya Site held up two fingers, and the people around generally agreed with this price; buying it now was indeed a bargain.

Xueya Site felt around in his pocket, accurately pulled out one Silver Coin from a bag of coins, and with one hand gave the money while taking the Dagger with the other.

With the money and goods exchanged, Xueya Site walked triumphantly to Jier's side, carefully examining his newly bought Dagger, and even asked Jier for the Magic Dagger 【Heart Fire】 to compare the pros and cons of the two.

This left Jier unable to laugh or cry.

On the other side, facing everyone's questioning about how he moved the wild boar carcass alone, Weier raised both hands with high spirits; in one hand he pinched that Silver Coin, and in the other, he pulled out some metal parts from who knows where.

He stated his method: "Knight Jier told me to move the male wild boar, which weighs at least three hundred kilograms, by myself. I thought of a few ways, but I noticed that Knight Jier said 'a person'! So if it wasn't a Human but other helpers who helped me move the wild boar, that wouldn't be breaking the rules, right?"

Jier made an 'oh' sound and clapped his hands: "Your method is interesting. Is it by hiring the Mao Mao with coins? But why didn't you just get a horse from the team to help you? That would be so easy, no need to rummage through the abandoned items of a Farmer, and no need to sell them here to hire the Mao Mao."

"If you were unlucky and didn't find that Dagger, wouldn't you have failed?"

Weier was full of confidence at this moment: "Thanks to you, my luck has been very good lately."

After speaking, he walked out of the crowd and came to the most remote carriage of the convoy. This carriage was piled high with boxes, but the carriage was not heavy because there were no heavy goods in the boxes, only a group of Beast that slept during the day and were active at night, as well as a large pile of metal 'trash' they had managed to accumulate.

"Ahem, could the leader of the Beast please come out? I have a trade I would like to discuss with you."

Weier said with full confidence.

One after another, furry heads poked out from the boxes, all looking at this Human they had seen before.

Upon seeing the silver-shining coin in Weier's hand and the metal parts in his hand, the Mao Mao knew that work had arrived!

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? (End of this chapter)