webnovelvip Chapter 39 Simple and Honest Folk Customs
Chapter 39 Simple and Honest Folk Customs
Chapter 39 Simple and Honest Folk Customs
In the western border of the empire, the people are simple and honest. Broly, Akame, Kurome, and the others had just left the watery area when a passing caravan took them in.
Although the caravan chose to ambush them the following night because of the package of pearls, they also brought them a lot of food, transportation, and other goods and supplies.
Later, on their way to the border town on the map, they encountered two slave-hunting teams. When the slave-hunting teams saw that the caravan was led by a group of children, they not only wanted the caravan's goods, but also wanted to capture Broly and the others to be enslaved.
As a result, the entire slave-catching team was wiped out, the slaves they had painstakingly captured were freed, those who could go home went home on their own, and the slaves who could not go home or had nowhere to go joined the caravan led by Broly as his assistants.
Later, as they approached the main road, perhaps because they were a caravan, they were attacked in succession by eight different groups of thieves.
Five groups of people attacked and injured the caravan members without warning, but the enraged Bro used an energy blast to vaporize the area where they were lying in ambush.
The remaining three groups were only interested in collecting tolls and were considered relatively law-abiding. Thanks to the friendly communication before the robbery, they successfully found a job as bodyguards in the caravan.
"My lord, spare our lives! We only became outlaws because the taxes were too heavy and we couldn't survive."
"Since we started out, we've only ever robbed people of their money, never their lives. We just want to survive. Please have mercy on us and spare us this time..."
The process of applying for caravan guard positions was roughly as described above. Fortunately, these emaciated gang members knelt down relatively quickly, otherwise they would have been directly killed by Broly.
Sitting in the carriage, munching on sweet purple thorn berries, Broly felt that the people of the western border of the empire were far too hospitable. Before even reaching the first city marked on the map, many people had already sent various supplies and manpower.
It would be wonderful if there were people like this on Planet Wampa who would send him all sorts of supplies. Unfortunately, there are no such kind people on Planet Wampa.
"Drive!"
The caravan suddenly stopped.
"What's going on? Have some kind people come knocking again?"
Broly leaned out of the car and asked.
"They're not robbers; we've reached the border crossing and are currently queuing to cross."
Nahashu explained, dressed in a well-tailored outfit of a former caravan leader, with a single-lensed eyeglass over his right eye. His skin was brownish, giving him the air of a young manager.
He looks at least four or five years older than his actual age.
"Isn't it supposed to be a good person coming to your door...?"
Broly was somewhat disappointed. Since it wasn't a friendly visitor, he climbed back into the car and continued eating the fruit inside.
The border crossing and entry checks into the city were not very strict because three years ago, the military pay of the western border guards was withheld by the imperial central government.
In order to prevent the border troops from mutinying, the military commanders on this side started to embezzle border crossing fees. As a result, nowadays, as long as enough fees are paid, the soldiers guarding the border will not even open the vehicles transporting supplies for inspection.
This situation also led to the prosperity of this border town. Some smugglers no longer took dangerous private trade routes to smuggle themselves across the border, but instead flocked to this border town where the checkpoints were not strict and as long as enough money was paid to cross the border, one could enter and leave the empire.
"However, this also makes the city's population very diverse, including all sorts of people, from bandits like me to Westerners and foreigners from the wilderness..."
The bandit leader, whose territory had been forcibly recaptured by Broly, described the border city as a large trading market where the Eastern Empire, various Western kingdoms, and some foreign ethnic groups came together.
Inside the city, the border troops maintained order, creating a peaceful atmosphere. But outside the city, everyone displayed their unique abilities, revealing the simple and unpretentious nature of the western border.
Everyone is a merchant, but everyone can also become a bandit. The main camps are roughly divided into three parties, with the Western Merchant Guild, composed of the Imperial Merchant Guild, being the most prominent. Then there are the foreign merchant guilds formed by various Western kingdoms to counter the Western Merchant Guild, and finally, there are the foreign tribes who are regarded as uncivilized savages.
The first two usually fight each other, but they will unite to suppress the caravans of other ethnic groups in order to obtain cheaper goods.
However, some powerful foreign tribes are not to be trifled with; they are the real border bandits, the kind who rob and kill.
Of course, when others rob or kill, the blame is usually shifted to other ethnic groups, since anything is possible for uncivilized barbarians.
Therefore, despite being the weaker group among the three, the foreign tribes had the worst reputation, and even in this border town, few people welcomed the foreign caravans.
"No wonder Chief Hongye can't do business here."
The lack of unity among different ethnic groups is one reason, while the tacit suppression of these groups by Eastern and Western chambers of commerce is another.
"Does this steward need any goods moved? We have some good laborers here, and their prices are cheap."
"No need, our caravan has its own laborers."
After dismissing the brokers who had come looking for business, Nahshu returned to his car.
"Brother Broly, you guys go eat first, I'll deal with the goods in the caravan."
"Why not just hand it over to someone else?"
"I don't trust anyone else with this, so I'll stay and keep an eye on it myself."
Others were either forced to join or joined halfway through, and who knows if someone would run off with the money? Nahashu felt it was necessary to keep an eye on these assets for his older brother.
"We'll bring you food."
Some people chose to stay and help, except for foodies.
"If any of you hurt them, I will kill you all."
Broly spoke earnestly to the bandits he had subdued.
"I wouldn't dare."
The group of people quickly waved their hands. Most of them had seen Broly use his energy blast to wipe out bandits who attacked without any opening remarks.
The terrifying scene that even altered the terrain instilled in them a sense of awe towards this seemingly harmless boy.
They felt fear because of the terrifying power, but also respect because the other party did not kill them, who were also there to rob, and even gave them a way out.
In the bustling border town, Broly smelled all sorts of aromas on the streets before finally leading a group of children into a noodle shop.
The noodle shop was bustling with noise. The rich broth, made with spices and simmered with bones from an unknown animal, smelled so good that it wafted down almost half the street.
"It smells so good, boss! Bring us a hundred bowls of noodles first!"
"Okay, wait a minute, a hundred bowls of noodles, can a bunch of kids eat that much?"
"The money's here. If you can't finish it, you can still pay the bill."
"Sorry, the noodles are coming right away."
Once the money is in hand, the noodle shop owner no longer cares whether the customers can finish their meal.
I'd even smash up his noodle shop if I could afford to pay the bill.
Besides noodles, the noodle shop also sells other food items.
It has to be said that, even though it's the same type of grilled meat, the difference between grilling with spices and grilling without them makes a world of difference.
"tasty."
Broly wolfed down his food, as did the other children; everyone at the table was enjoying the delicious meal.
. . . .
But for every satisfied child, there is a dissatisfied one—the homeless children in this border city.
They stood on street corners and in alleyways, casting envious glances at those who had the money to eat in restaurants.
There was a longing in his eyes, hoping that the guests sitting at the outside table would eat some of the leftovers.
That was one of the few places where these homeless children could get decent food.
As for the restaurant, they dared not go in, for fear of being beaten by the restaurant staff.
The leftovers inside were the food scraps that the children in the group fought over.
"Boss, the bill!"
As the customer sitting at the table outside the steamed bun shop said this, several pairs of hungry little eyes looked over. When they saw the leftover steamed bun dough on the customer's plate, the homeless children sitting on the street corner couldn't help but swallow their saliva.
But they didn't dare go over, like stray cats, afraid of upsetting the person and getting hurt.
Even if children like them are beaten to death, the person who beats them might only have to pay the local sheriff a street cleaning fee.
But even among stray cats, there are differences: some are just hungry but haven't starved to death yet, while others are about to starve to death.
"Excuse me, sir, could you please give me these leftover bun wrappers from the plate?"
The girl, wrapped in a dirty scarf, smiled sweetly as she approached the customers who were about to pay their bills and cautiously asked from a distance of two meters.
Her tummy was rumbling; Main hadn't eaten for two days.
(End of this chapter)