r18novel Chapter 63 Rubber Tree Village and the Slave Collection Team
Chapter 63 Rubber Tree Village and the Slave Collection Team
Chapter 63 Rubber Tree Village and the Slave Collection Team
Unfortunately, this happy occasion did not last long for the children who came to ask for water. The next day, Broly's group spent several times more money than outside to replenish their water and other food in this small town before setting off again.
In the group were four children whose homes were in this area, specifically in central Kathi.
"Boss, aren't we going to make a move?"
On the hilltop, watching the small convoy gradually pass by, one of the men who had come to the hotel yesterday intending to rob Broly and his group asked the burly man beside him.
"Did your child not drink the water, eat the bread, or nibble on the jerky they gave him yesterday?"
We've encountered all sorts of people, but these guys who feed even the children who used to beg for water are the kind of people we can't rob anyone of.
A group of people who were both townspeople and dabbling bandits lay on the hilltop, doing nothing but watching Broly's convoy drive away.
Driven by poverty, some people turned to banditry, becoming both civilians and bandits—a common characteristic of people in the harsh western regions.
"Another day without any good people coming to the door."
In the convoy, Broly reminisced about the days when he would randomly encounter highway robbers.
I just sensed some very faint presence on the mountaintop, and I thought it meant that some new good people were finally coming to visit.
As a result, nothing happened when we walked past that hill, which was quite disappointing.
. . .
The further you go into the central part of the Kathi region, the more expensive the water and goods become.
By the time they reached the central region, a liter of water was worth 21 Imperial Coins.
Along the way, Broly and his companions encountered some merchants transporting juicy fruit, but no one offered them any supplies.
Broly and others did some business with these merchants, buying some fruit from them. One type of fruit was very juicy, but tasted rather astringent, and eating too much of it could cause diarrhea. However, its low price and easy storage made it the first choice for most of the poor people in the Katish region to replenish their water.
As for the taste, Broly could only say it was slightly better than the rainwater from Wampa Star that had been left out for a long time. On the other hand, without the Crystal Palace, he might be living worse than the lower classes here.
Upon arriving in the central region of Kathi, among the four children who wanted to go home, the village of Dam Boys was quickly located. It was a village that cultivated natural rubber trees and made a living by collecting the rubber, also known as the Rubber Tree Village.
. . . .
Have the rubber plantations to the south withered?
The village elder asked.
"There's too little rainfall during the rainy season, and the trees there are only a few years old, so they can't draw water from deeper in the ground."
The middle-aged clan leader answered.
How much money does the village have left?
"There's not much left. The rubber produced in the village this year isn't good, and the caravans that come here are offering very low prices."
"So what do you plan to do?"
"Village elder, can't we leave Katish and live somewhere else?"
"You want to relocate the village?"
"If we don't relocate the village, it will die."
"Have you considered the costs of relocating the village?"
"We can cut down the old rubber trees and sell them for money. We can use the money to hire guards to escort us to other places, and use the rest of the money as start-up capital to rebuild the village."
"Can we find trustworthy guards? What if they turn into bandits and rob us along the way? And even if we can find trustworthy ones, how will we make a living when the village moves to a new place?"
The villagers of our rubber tree village have been planting rubber trees and harvesting rubber for generations. Leaving our original, accustomed living environment is too risky; if we're not careful, the village could fall apart.
People are considered less valuable away from home, and the young people who are willing to leave their villages to make their way in the world have already left a few years ago.
Those who remained were people who found it difficult to leave their hometown.
They are like rubber trees; they easily die once they are removed from the soil.
But if they don't leave, the cost of living will continue to rise as water prices increase year by year.
It's like a noose that gradually tightens around the neck; once it tightens to a certain extent, the person will be strangled to death.
This is also the reason why the middle-aged clan leader sought change.
"But we can't just stay here and wait to die, can we?"
"Just wait until the Oasis God's anger subsides."
"When should we wait?"
"I don't know either."
"How are we going to get through this year?"
"Notify the slave traders to come to the village and choose children."
"Selling children again. If we keep selling our children like this, what future does our village have?"
"If I don't sell my child, what else can I sell? Should I sell you or me? I'd like to sell my old bones, but nobody wants me."
"So, selling children is the only option?"
"The children who are sold aren't dead. Although they may be sold to others as servants, they've still left this hellish place and have a chance to survive."
The village elders and clan chief of Rubber Tree Village had a quarrel, which ended with the middle-aged clan chief giving in. Soon after, some clan members contacted the slave traders in the city.
. . . .
"Children with rubber harvesting skills like these can fetch the highest prices in the Western kingdoms, where there are sizable rubber plantations and a great need for enough rubber harvesting slaves."
"Master, should we offer a higher price for this shipment? I heard the water price has gone up again this year..."
"Why offer a high price? Just keep it the same as before. The more difficult it is to survive, the more the people of Rubber Tree Village will pass on their rubber-harvesting skills to the children, hoping to fetch a higher price when selling the children. And if the quality of the goods improves, we can earn more in the Western Kingdom."
This is a conversation between a slave trader and his men. He was in the business of human trafficking, not charity.
"Sigh, I never thought the well water business in Katish would be so lucrative. If I had bribed the lord to secure the right to draw water from a deep well, I could be making money without lifting a finger now."
"Then, Master, why don't we secretly dig a deep well?"
"Digging deep water isn't difficult, but extracting the water and selling it is too risky. I'll stick to my human trafficking business."
In the Great Western Territory, the most lucrative businesses are always controlled by powerful individuals. Take the Katish region, for example; who would have thought that digging a well deeper might yield water?
But those who dare to dig, are capable of digging, and even sell the water they find, are doomed if they don't bribe their superiors with a large sum of money.
The slave traders had no intention of challenging the rules of the Kathi region; they simply wanted to take advantage of the region's impoverished conditions to make a living transporting high-quality people.
"Iron Slave, you collect some goods here. I'll go to Bosier City first to present the precious goods I brought from this trip to the West to Marquis Bosier. I'll catch up with you once you've collected most of the goods here."
The slave traders went ahead to a well-known transit city for the human transport industry in the western border, but left behind loyal servants to recruit people in the village of Glue Tree.
The slave traders left that day, and their servants, known as Iron Slaves, led a slave-collecting team to Rubber Tree Village. On the way, the team encountered a caravan of children.
The children in that caravan were of exceptionally high quality, almost as if they had been carefully selected by another experienced slave caravan, making the Iron Slaves exclaim how lucky they were.
(End of this chapter)