Chapter 21 The Difference Between Heaven and Hell
The night in Eldoria was quiet. The sky was covered in dark clouds, which obscuring the moonlight and providing convenience for those with bad intentions.
The streets were dark and silent, permeated with a sour stench that Mila, a cat orc, found repulsive. She longed for her soft bed in the castle and the exceptionally soft duvet.
Henry had mentioned that the duvet was made from the down of many ducks, which is called the eiderdown quilt. However, what she missed more was a bowl of porridge. After finishing the task, she decided to eat three bowls.
Mila moved swiftly and silently, her feline ears twitching, always alert, as she made her way through the shadows.
Her destination was the eastern part of Eldoria, where the wealthy resided. She had received information that several grain merchants would be gathering there.
As Mila approached the merchants' meeting place, she was struck by the stark contrast between their opulent lives and those of the common folk. It was like two different worlds.
From her vantage point in the shadows, she climbed up the beams of hell. Mila observed the servants busily preparing the food, which didn't appeal to her.
The sight of the large chunks of meat, the bread made from refined wheat, and the pitchers of oatmeal wine were all put on the table, which made Mila drooling and wanting to eat a few days before.
But now, she didn't have any appetite at all. The meat boiled in saltwater that emitted a foul odor, and the thick slices of bread could probably be used as clubs.
Compared to the carne asada Ruby made and the soft bread Willow baked, the food on the table below was like swill, as Henry had described.
Mila didn't have to wait long before the grain merchants entered. The servants were dismissed, and the guards stood at the door.
"My friend, the food tonight is truly sumptuous, and this meat is both palatable and flavorful," one of the merchants exclaimed excitedly as he stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth.
"It is delicious, even better than what my cook prepares. The aroma of this bread is intoxicating," another merchant, who seemed ravenous, said as he devoured the food.
"Enjoy yourselves. This is a noble feast, so please, eat to your heart's content," a portly merchant said, pouring oatmeal wine into his mouth.
Mila, perched in the rafters, watching in disgust as the men below gorged themselves.
The sight of their greasy fingers and unkempt beards made her want to retch. Compared to her life in the castle, just like heaven and hell.
Mila compared their behavior to that of other nobles. They also ate with their hands, at most using an exquisite knife.
'Could it be that Henry is the true noble?' Mila wondered.
In the castle, there were different ways to eat meat. Steaks were eaten with a knife and fork, while stir-fried meat was eaten with chopsticks made of two wooden sticks.
She remembered the first time she and Willow had steak and how bewildered they had looked at the cutlery. It was Henry who taught them how to use a knife fork and chopsticks.
'It means that my life now is better than a princess?' Mila pondered.
Meanwhile, the merchants below continued their meal and conversation, initially gossiping about various matters, such as which merchant family was making more money or who was selling inferior wheat at the price of polished wheat.
After the merchants had a full meal, they let out a few burps and burst into laughter. "Hahaha. So satisfying!"
"Now that everyone is full, let's discuss the issue," the portly merchant said seriously.
"Go ahead. You didn't call us here just to eat," one of the merchants responded.
The portly merchant nodded and looked at the others, lowering his voice slightly. "As you all know, the autumn harvest is just a few days away. When the wheat is harvested, the price of our wheat will plummet."
"That's true. Our wheat is old and stored, inferior to the newly harvested wheat," another merchant acknowledged.
"Are we going to raise the prices again? We just raised prices a few days ago. If we raise them again so soon, the people might cause a commotion," a merchant expressed concern about it.
"What's there to be afraid of? Do you think they won't buy our wheat? As long as we don't sell wheat for five or six days, many people will starve. Who dares to cause trouble?" the portly merchant said disdainfully.
"Yes, as long as we set a unified price, those people will have no choice but to buy."
"I have one concern. Will the lord suppress us? You know, the lord recruited over a hundred soldiers today," a merchant voiced his worries.
"Hmm... Are you afraid of those newly recruited militia? They're not knights."
"When the new lord has trained all the militia and the autumn harvest arrives, we will have made enough money, and we will all leave Eldoria. What is there to fear?"
The portly merchant stood, his hand raised in a passionate gesture. "And are you afraid? This new lord is not capable at all. He has even cut off so many taxes. Do you think we should sell the wheat to him, who will raise over one hundred and fifty people?"
"Hahaha. If he listens to us, we'll sell it to him. If he doesn't, we won't. Those militia will cause trouble if they have nothing to eat."
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