“Of course not!” Irene happily took hold of her hands, “I’m just worried that the room is too small for you to live in. There are also a lot of things I also want to ask you!” Then she turned around to face the other four, “Let’s first put away the luggage, then you can come over to my room and we can sit and read the script together.”
May climbed up to the second floor and followed Irene and Ferlin into their new home.
Stepping in, her last hope was shattered.
Although she didn’t want to admit it, this small room gave off a comfortable and clean feeling. The tablecloths and curtains were obviously new; recently purchased and made of a red and white thin cotton. The floor had been swept spotless, they had a linen carpet in the living room. In it some strange cups had been placed on a low table, which attracted May at her first glance.
Stepping forward, she picked them up to take a closer look, but even after a moment she was still unable to identify its material or why it was so light. It was a bit like wood, but the surface of it was smooth and full of brilliant color; it was nothing like those cheap goods affordable by civilians. Depicted on top of the cup were also two people who were affectionately holding each other.
“It is a charming cup, right?” Irene, said as she leaned over, “They are too expensive. They were sold for five silver royals at the convenience market and the four of them made a set, containing all different postures of people. To celebrate our first payday, Ferlin insisted on buying them for me which in the end resulted in us spending our whole salary. That fool.”
“Convenience market?” May deliberately ignored the other part.
“Right!” Irene said, nodding, “The Lord has opened a market at the town’s square, where they are selling some very fine daily necessities, but their prices aren’t low either. If you want, I can take you there tomorrow and you can have a look.”
May had mixed feelings in her heart. The situation was completely different than she had expected it to be. She thought that, as a defeated captive, and a knight for whom no one had been willing to pay ransom, even if the Lord had released him, his life would still have been very difficult. And since Irene didn’t perform regularly, she wouldn’t have had any savings. Therefore, besides accompanying him during his hardship, she wouldn’t be able to help him in any other way.
At that time, Ferlin Eltek would have seen any assistance she gave as sending charcoal during snowy weather. Maybe even one step further, by relying on her influence, she could try to persuade the local Lord to allow to her redeem the First Knight. That way, she would have been able to completely reverse the knight’s heart.
But… she found that all her ideas had come to nothing, and not only didn’t he not need her help, furthermore he was also leading a good life in Border Town.
Should she go back? But, if she now chose to leave, Ferlin and Border Town would from now on be forgotten forever.
May fell into a swirl of confusion.
As the summer came around, Margaret’s river fleet arrived at Border Town.
Roland had intentionally received the female merchant at the pier so that he could incidentally examine the goods she had brought with her.
The most valuable goods were the three boats full of saltpeter. By now, Border Town’s gunpowder reserves had basically been exhausted— even the First Army firing exercises had come to a stop. Although they had already started to equip the army with revolver-rifles, they still had to stay in practice with reloading, gun maintenance, and replenishment of their ammunition. Now, with this batch of saltpeter, they could finally resume firing training.
In addition to saltpeter and in accordance with their agreement, she had also brought two ships with ore ingots— these were mainly iron and copper— as well as a portion of green vitriol ore. Just the unloading of these goods already needed two or three days time.
When Roland offered Margaret the opportunity to inspect the two steam engines, he had placed them in an eye-catching position in the yard. Furthermore, he followed his usual practice of covering them in red satin and wrapping them in a fancy pattern. In fact, during nearly the whole month, the West Industrial Company was only able to put one steam engine together while producing hundreds of scrap parts. Because of that, Roland had Anna process the defective parts that didn’t deviate too much from the desired product and had her fuse them together into a second steam engine to catch up with the delivery schedule.
To Roland’s surprise, Margaret had not come alone this time— she had also brought a group of merchants from King’s City with her.
When the delivery of the goods was organized, Margaret and her partner followed Roland back to the castle where they enjoyed a sumptuous lunch in the reception hall.
