The elves present here were not all of the elves, but those who held some decision-making power within this elven tribe.
After the elves here reached a consensus, the tribe quickly began preparations for the move.
The elves didn’t have many possessions. They were originally planning to relocate within the next couple of days anyway.
“Lacey, come with me,” the elf leader called out.
“Yes, Leader,” Lacey replied, following along.
The elf leader led Lacey deep into the dense forest. Beside the leader were two other elves, both elders of this tribe.
Lacey was curious to know what the leader intended to do but refrained from asking.
The elf leader continued to lead Lacey along a path covered in fallen leaves. Eventually, they reached their destination.
It was a low-lying area surrounded by a ring of trees, with a small clearing in the center.
On the other side of the clearing was a green boulder, from which droplets of water dripped steadily, slowly soaking into the ground.
At first glance, there didn’t seem to be anything remarkable.
“Leader, what’s here?” Lacey asked.
The elf leader replied, “The seed of the Life Tree.”
Hearing those words, Lacey’s eyes filled with surprise. “Leader, are you saying this is the seed of the Life Tree, the one that can grow to several hundred meters tall and nurture elves?”
The Leader nodded, “Yes, Lacey. Our tribe hasn’t seen the birth of a new elf in decades. Your birth was an exception. Unfortunately, this Life Tree seed has never sprouted. Otherwise, we’d have more of our kin.”
As she spoke, the elf leader moved forward with the two elders and began to dig up the soil.
Once the soil was removed, a bright green seed was revealed.
Lacey looked curiously at the seed, which was about the size of a pigeon’s egg. Despite being buried underground for so long, it still showed no signs of life.
The elf leader said to Lacey, “The Life Tree seed must not stay out of the ground for too long. Lacey, use your magic to freeze it.”
“Understood, Leader!”
Lacey began casting her magic and in an instant, ice rapidly formed over the Life Tree seed, encasing it in a small ice ball.
Only then did the elf leader carefully collect the Life Tree seed.
“Let’s go, Lacey!”
After securing the seed, the elf leader washed her hands in a nearby small pool and then led Lacey away from the area.
By the time they returned to the forest, the elves had finished packing and were ready to set off.
“Roar~”
From the sky above, the dragon’s roar occasionally echoed.
There were also sounds of it breathing fire and the fierce crackling of the forest burning.
“Let’s move out. Lacey, lead the way.”
“Alright!” Lacey nodded and took the lead, with a large group of elves following behind her.
This elven tribe was quite populous, with nearly two thousand members. For the elves, who typically had low populations, this was considered a rather large tribe.
Lacey led the elves along the forest trails, carefully avoiding the dragon as they made their way south.
After several hours of traveling, they were about to cross a mountain.
Once they crossed this mountain, they would no longer be able to see the forest where they had lived for decades.
The elves all turned back, looking at the forest they had called home for so many years, with a hint of reluctance on each of their faces.
However, the fire sparked by the dragon’s flames was rapidly spreading towards their location. If they didn’t leave now, they would soon have to fight that dragon.
In fact, many of the elves were already prepared to fight the dragon, determined to defend their home to the death.
But fighting a dragon wasn’t that simple.
The dragon could fly, breathe fire, and its skin was thick. Ordinary arrows couldn’t pierce it, and given the dragon’s size, even a couple of arrows wouldn’t be enough to kill it.
Even if the elves could defeat the dragon, they didn’t know how many of them would die in the process.
The elf leader couldn’t bear to see her people die.
Moreover, with no new elves being born, every death meant one fewer elf. So, they had no choice but to relocate.
As they watched the flames begin to spread toward their original forest, many of the elves showed signs of sadness.
“Let’s go, sisters. The Moonlight Forest that Lord Richard has prepared for us will be better!” Lacey said.
The elves controlled their emotions, putting aside their reluctance and sorrow, and crossed over the mountain.
“If we follow the path along the Monster Mountain Range, we’ll get there faster. If everything goes well, we should reach Lord Richard’s territory in at most a month.” Lacey told the elves.
The elves thought about the forest they saw on the tablet. Since they were forced to leave their original home, that place now held their new hopes.
…
“Master, what are these tracks for?”
In Florencia City, a new set of tracks was being laid.
These tracks were embedded directly into the ground, covering the main roads throughout Florencia City.
They were actually tram tracks.
Richard had spent a lot of time and finally found a shop online. After talking with the seller for half a day, seeing that Richard was willing to pay several thousand yuan more, the seller agreed to find a factory to make those old-style trams.
Although there were electric buses for sale online, Richard had already tried and found that they couldn’t be shipped over. Large electric buses are usually delivered directly by the factory’s personnel or need to be picked up, and sellers don’t offer shipping through postal or logistics services.
Richard wasn’t sure how the system transported items from another world, but generally, if something could be shipped via postal or logistics, it could be bought.
The old-style trams were from the Republican Era of another world, running on fixed tracks in the city. They weren’t fast, and their structure was quite simple, with just an electric motor and basic components like starters and brakes.
They didn’t even need a transmission.
Richard planned to have the seller disassemble them into parts for shipment. They would leave welding spots. This way, the trams could be shipped over.
As for assembly, it would be up to the dwarf Ouba and his team to weld them together.
The old-style trams were simple enough to handle this way, but modern electric buses were far more complex. Once disassembled, Richard wasn’t confident he could put them back together.
Besides, for this world, the old-style trams were already sufficient. With these trams, Florencia City’s traffic problems could be further resolved.
Currently, the area of Florencia City was still expanding. Satellite towns around it were also continuously being built.
Behind Richard’s castle, a huge garden was also under construction. This would be the castle’s back garden.
The back garden was vast, with both length and width exceeding a thousand meters, providing Richard with a place to stroll.
“Master, there are less than a hundred thousand pounds of potatoes left from the greenhouse harvest, and merchants are still coming continuously. Master, the food warehouse needs to be replenished.”
Mia reminded Richard on this day.
“Have over a million pounds of potatoes been sold already?”
The potatoes were selling quite fast now. Since Mia and Dorothy were overseeing these matters, Richard rarely managed them directly anymore.
Usually, when Mia reminded him, Richard would simply purchase more online to replenish the supply.
Mia nodded and said, “Yes, they’ve all been sold.”
Richard said, “Alright, control the stock for the next two days, and it will arrive the day after tomorrow.”
“Understood, Master!”
Potatoes online were not expensive and were available in large quantities.
Richard found some shops in areas where potatoes were reportedly unsellable, and by buying in bulk, he could keep the price under one yuan per pound.
Once purchased, taking advantage of the current food shortage, he could sell them for twenty copper coins per pound, with high profit margins.
After buying another large batch of potatoes, Richard continued studying the magic bow.
He planned to inscribe a magic pattern that would reduce the effort required when drawing the bow. With this heavy bow, it was still a bit too tough to pull.
Richard estimated that after drawing it ten to twenty times, his arms would start to ache.
The elves probably wouldn’t be able to draw it too many times either.
Moreover, the bow was too heavy, requiring a lot of time to draw, which also increased the intervals between shots. If he could engrave the energy-saving inscriptions on it, the bow would become significantly easier to use.
There was already one type of inscription on the bow, and adding a second one wasn’t something that could be done carelessly, because if not done correctly, it could affect the first inscription.
If the two inscriptions conflicted, at best, both would become ineffective, and at worst, the bow could explode.
Therefore, Richard wasn’t in a hurry; he spent about an hour each day researching it.
Three days later, a large quantity of the potatoes he had ordered arrived.
Richard stored the potatoes in a dedicated warehouse in the city.
Currently, merchants would pay at one location, receive a receipt, and then go to another location to pick up and load their goods.
This separation of payment and goods helped prevent any of his subordinates from engaging in foul play.
Of course, Richard’s oversight was very strict now.
Additionally, his subordinates were conscientious and generally wouldn’t try anything underhanded.
With Mia around, causing trouble wasn’t easy.
“Master, a large caravan has entered the city. It’s said to be a food purchasing team from the Quebec Province, and their leader wishes to meet you,” a fox girl reported on the day when the potatoes arrived in large quantities.
“A food purchasing team from Quebec Province? Let them wait at the town hall,” Richard said.
He then finished his work and headed to the town hall.
The town hall was quite spacious, with sections for ordinary residents, specialized service areas, and several meeting rooms.
When Richard arrived at the town hall, he saw a large number of horse-drawn carriages parked in the square.
There were quite a few carriages, each with uniform decorations on their bodies.
Each carriage was accompanied by several guards.
Since the war in the northeastern region had ended, Florencia City had relaxed its restrictions on the number of guards nobles and caravans could bring, as long as they didn’t cause trouble.
If anyone caused trouble, Richard wouldn’t care who they were.
As Richard reached the town hall, a well-dressed man approached him and said, “Count Richard, sir, I’m the food purchasing official sent by the Governor of Quebec. We’re here specifically to buy food.”
Richard looked at him and asked, “How much are you planning to purchase?”
The man replied, “This time, we plan to buy 200,000 jin.”
200,000 jin, or 100 tons of food, was a considerable amount.
Richard said, “That’s not a problem. Fred, make arrangements for him.”
The man then said, “Count Richard, the Governor hopes you could offer us some discounts. Additionally, he’s interested in buying large quantities of soap, porcelain, and tea. The Governor promises that if you give us a good enough price, his monthly purchases will not fall below a thousand gold coins.”
This was likely the real reason he sought out Richard—to ask for a discount.
【Come on, trying to get a discount for just a thousand gold coins? Keep dreaming.】
【No matter what, the anchor’s products sell themselves. Why offer a discount?】
【Yeah, don’t bother with him!】
The livestream had already started, and when viewers learned of the man’s intentions, they clamored in response.
Without blinking, Richard said, “I’m sorry, whether you’re a merchant or a noble, regardless of the quantity purchased, our prices are the same for everyone. There are no discounts.”
Hearing this, the man said, “Count, our Governor, Count Harry, has heard of your heroic deeds and would like to make friends with you.”
“Even if Count Harry comes himself, there would still be no discounts,” Richard replied flatly.
He thought it might be something significant. But hoping for a discount? Not a chance.
Even Count Zane would be too embarrassed to ask for one.
The man was at a loss for words.
Richard stood up and said, “For grain purchases, you can speak to Fred. For other goods, you can choose from the market. As long as there’s enough stock, they’ll arrange it for you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to.”
With that, Richard left the town hall without looking back.
【Haha, well done, anchor!】
【Absolutely ruthless!】
【…】
After leaving the town hall, Richard sought information on the Quebec Province.
Quebec Province was located southwest of the Northeastern Province, bordering it. It had a population several times larger and was much more prosperous.
In the kingdom, governors of ordinary provinces were generally Counts.
Marquises and Dukes typically did not take on specific local positions, although many governors were from Marquis or Duke families.
For instance, Count Zane ’s maternal grandfather was a Marquis who lived in the capital.
The market in Quebec Province was quite large.
However, no matter how big the market, Richard would not sell at lower prices because his goods sold themselves. Therefore, he had to ensure sufficient profits!