56 Beyond the Mountains (1/2)

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”Oh…this is some good stuff you have Uncle! Where did these came from?”

Raven's eyes shone as he saw the crates that Marco was unloading earlier. One the said crates were full of marvelously marbled cut of meats which carries a faint sweet scent through his nose, there's also a wide variety of seafood, vegetables and fruits. In just one glance, he was able to tell that these aren't the normal goods that Marco usually had. This isn't to say that Marco's previous stock weren't of quality, in fact the reason why he comes here is precisely because of that. But the ones he had today are a bit special.

”Hahaha! They're better right? This old man sure knows where these stuff came from!” Marco boasted. ”Actually, it was the recent gossips that allowed me to secure this…”

”Gossips?” Raven was intrigued.

”Oh? I'm assuming you haven't hear huh? Very well…” Marco sat down and passed an apple to Raven, he also gestured him to sit down with him.

”Few days ago, my wife told me that she heard some bestial screech on a distant mountains, not too far from here, apparently she heard it when she was on the way to one of my suppliers. Of course you can't expect me to believe that now right? We might be in the Outer Area of the kingdom but there are knights literally garrisoned nearby! If there really are beasts here, then they should've dealt with it already!”

”But lo and behold, she wasn't the only one who heard those bestial screeches. Many people started talking about that and it spread like locust, specially here on the market since most of the talkative people go here. Of course, someone raised this to the knights and they investigated the area. And surprisingly, there really are some beasts in there!”

”Oh!?” Raven raised his brow in surprise, he never heard this story before.

”They said it was ants. I didn't believe it at first so I check it out with my wife, and holy shit they weren't lying. But these ants aren't the normal ones, they're big! Big I say! And mean too! Very mean!” Marco was really into his story telling at this point.

”I saw a knight fighting one of those. It had large maw, menacingly large fangs, can spew out acid that could erode steel. The common ones are like the size of a regular horse carriage, but they're fast as well. The knight who was fighting it can't even handle it and called for reinforcements. But of course that wasn't the only the reason why I was there. Of course, I have to see them goods you know? And this my friend, is product that I met by chance. I proposed a deal with them and they happily agreed.”

”Ants huh…” Raven pondered for a bit, there is a knowing smile in his face as his curiosity was piqued. He then whispered the words: ”New playground for me…”

”What did you say?” Marco heard Raven's mumbling but it was a bit inaudible so he had to ask.

”Nothing…” Raven smiled and stood up, he then started picking supplies for their daily consumption. ”I'll take these Uncle.”

Marco laughed as he saw the enormous amount of food that Raven picked, which was a good 50% of his entire stocks, he briefly remembered the first time that Raven did this and he remembered not being able to speak for quite sometime after that. Now he could just laugh it off since he was used to it. Marco also gave him a discount since he was buying in bulk, he didn't need to do it, but this was a sign of goodwill from a supplier to the consumer, Marco already saw Raven as his patron and thus he did this. Of course Raven won't say no towards it. After the calculations were over, Raven placed the supplies on his spatial ring and said goodbye to the old man.

***

”Holy shit bro!”

Back in the stone house, Raven and his crew are on the table, feasting on the recent acquisitions of Raven. Paul exclaimed and was almost move to tears.

”It'sh sho hood!” He exclaimed once more while his mouth was full.

The rest agreed to his claims but unlike him, they just silently devoured the food in front of them. The boys had long since ignored using utensils and stuffed their mouths using their bare hands. The girls were a bit more refined, they were using utensils to also continuously devour food. The person who probably has the smallest appetite here would be Anne. Since she could 'only' eat at least five servings of food and she does it slowly.

After eating, loud burps from the guys echoed across the room without causing the feel any remorse.