Chapter 332 (1/2)
Chapter 332 What one has seen and heard
In the days before they would set out to explore the ruins Tilly’s greatest interest was slowly strolling along the flat streets of Border Town, observing the remote territory which had already undergone such startling changes in the hands of Lord Roland.
This small town stands out from the masses, she thought, the more carefully she observed everything, the more she became aware of this. It was entirely different from any other place she had been to before… and what left her the most impressed was probably the gorgeous and unparalleled vitality which this small town radiated.
Even the up-and-coming Sleeping Island couldn’t compare with it.
“Aren’t these people afraid of the cold?” Andrea said, full of amazement at seeing the pedestrian coming and going on the street. “What did your brother do that they’d be willing to work during the winter?”
“It’s still autumn,” Ashes retorted, “You can’t even tell different season apart.”
“But there is no difference between the current weather and winter. This is analogous with the argument which frequently appears within ‘her dream, his country’,” Andrea elegantly raised her long hair and said, “Of course, a barbaric woman such as you would never understand something like this.”
“What’s ‘your dream, my dream’…”
“It is difficult to communicate with a vulgar person who hasn’t ever even enjoyed the drama, but Lady Tilly must surely have watched this famous drama from the Kingdom of Dawn.”
“There is no need for you to fight,” Sylvie sighed. “I think the reason behind this is quite simple. Usually the common folk do not want to be active during winter because it would increase food consumption greatly, in case they can’t eat their fill it would be very easy for them to catch a cold. However, this issue doesn’t exist in Border Town. The price of grain isn’t high, firewood is also quite abundant, and Miss Lily is easily able to cure a cold. It would therefore be better if they continued to work hard even within the cold and snow, and try to earn one more day’s salary.”
“I am able to understand that there would be enough firewood due to the Concealing Forest West of the town, but the reason for the price of grain not being high… how is that possible?” Andrea asked feeling puzzled, “My family has also been involved in the food business so I know that crop failures caused by natural disasters could lead to everyone raising the price of grain by a lot. With such a bad weather, how could he keep the nobles and merchants from selling food at a higher prices?”
“Nobles, merchants?” Sylvie asked laughingly, “Here in Border Town, there is only one person who is allowed to sell grain, that is His Royal Highness.”
“All those fields along the river belong to him?” Tilly frowned.
“No, that’s the land of the serfs,” she told her what she had seen and heard, as well as the scene occurring during the bumper harvest. “He made two food prices, one was the purchase price and one was the selling price. Those two prices are fixed, with the latter being higher than the former.”
“Isn’t he forcing them to sell low and buy high?” Ashes asked while showing an expression of disbelief, “If he can sell at a high price, why won’t he allow others to sell it at high prices as well?”
“No, it’s not the same,” Tilly said, “After the wheat is taken in, it also needs to be threshed, ground and stored in a warehouse. All this produces further cost, thus it’s normal for the price to rise.”
“What Lady Tilly said is right. I had the same question, so I later asked Teacher Scroll about it,” Sylvie smiled, “She said that the extra expenses were paid off, some were paid to those who deal with the farmers, it is also used to build new granaries so that the production can be expanded, which in turn will provide Border town with new…” she stopped for a moment, thinking about the right word to use, “Jobs, right, that’s what she called them. I heard that His Highness was very concerned about that.”