Chapter 166: The Salt Camel Caravan at Dawn
“Oh Oh — Oh –”
At dawn.
As the first ray of sunlight pierced through the solemn darkness, the sound of sand grouse sounded throughout the oasis.
This was the sign of the dawn.
The sleepiness of the entire Oasis Lookout was cleared. People opened the house and windows, stretched their bodies, greeted each other, and joked about their daily jokes, welcoming a brand new day.
The citizen responsible for the clock tower had also woken up.
After putting on his clothes and looking at the sun in the sky, he estimated the time in his heart.
It was about five in the morning.
Walking out of his room, he quickly walked toward the clock tower.
The citizens and peasant figures had also appeared on the street. They greeted each other with smiles on their faces. Although they had come from different places, since they had come to the Oasis Lookout, they were their own people now.
They were the residents of the Oasis Lookout, the close compatriots of Miracle Land, and the subjects of Lord Kant.
The peasant women carried buckets to the spring water.
They woke up early to prepare breakfast for the many civilians and soldiers.
This was not an easy job.
The citizens in charge of the bell tower sighed. After all, it was the food for more than a thousand people, three meals a day, and supper for the night guards. If it weren’t for these strong peasant women being busy in the morning and in the dark, then soldiers or civilians would definitely be starving.
After breakfast, there would be lunch, and after lunch break, there would be dinner.
After dinner, there would be supper prepared.
In addition, everyone’s wooden bowls, plates, knives, forks, and other cutlery needed to be washed.
For this, the 50 peasant women all applied to James, who oversaw the current trivial matters, and mobilized another 50 citizens to help. Otherwise, there would be too much work to be done, and there would be very little time for sleep and rest.
When he thought of the fact that his job only required him to ring the bell, the citizen was glad.
He arrived at the bell tower.
Next to it was the towering council hall made of stone.
The citizen subconsciously swallowed his saliva.
There were two Swadian sergeants standing at the entrance of the council hall. Under the linen robe, there was a bulging double-layer chain armor. Just the heavy heater s.h.i.+eld in their hands and the heavy b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword at their waists gave him an aura of elite fierceness.
This was the strongest elite footmen in Swadia.
Any man who wanted to make a name for himself was secretly envious of their existence.
But he did not forget his work.
He entered the top floor of the bell tower.
A bronze bell was hanging in the middle of the top floor. Next to it was a wooden ram. As he gently applied force with his hands, he swung the ram according to the rhythm that he had already memorized in his heart and hit the bronze bell with force.
“Dong — Dong — Dong — Dong — Dong — Dong –”
The gentle sound of the bell instantly appeared in the middle of the bell tower.
As the bell walls vibrated, the bell ring that represented time also entered the ears of everyone in the oasis.
It was five o’clock in the morning.
After the citizen finished ringing the bronze bell, there were chairs beside him. He sat down and looked at the busy figures that appeared on the streets below with a satisfied smile on his face. His next task was to ring the bell every half an hour, he just needed to hit the bell again and again. Although it was boring, it was extremely easy for him as he was in charge of the bell tower in the city before he emigrated.
He leaned against the wall in boredom.
He raised his head slightly.
At the top of the bell tower, on the first day he came to work here, he found a yellow disc embedded at the top. It seemed to be made of gold and was covered with strange and mysterious patterns.
The footman who was in charge of telling the time had warned him not to touch this golden disc.
Because this was the private property of Lord Kant.
Of course, he understood.
He also did not dare to touch it.
The private property of a n.o.ble was sacred.
If anything happened, he, a small citizen, would probably have to pay with his life.
There had always been many citizens who went bankrupt and died because they offended a n.o.ble in the Continent of Caradia.
But today, he could not help but frown.
He did not know why, but he found that the golden disc today seemed to be much brighter than when he first came to this bell tower. As the sun rose, the brightness golden disc embedded in the top floor and attic was getting denser and denser, as if it was absorbing the sun’s light and secretly storing it.
He was a little confused.
While he was thinking, there was a lively sound coming from the street outside.
Shaking his head, he did not pay too much attention to it. He just took note of it in his heart.
On the street under the clock tower.
Lord Kant was walking out of the council hall and standing in front of the door, giving some orders. At the same time, someone brought a warhorse and slowly walked towards the south gate under the protection of 40 Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n.
30 single-humped camels full of sacks followed behind under the urging of 10 peasant.
…………
At dawn, the temperature was still slightly cold, but it was a good time to set out in the desert.
Breakfast had been eaten half an hour ago.
Fresh baked bread, antelope meat, and a lump of mutton oil mixed with salt and spices were to ensure physical strength during the next trek. At the same time, it was also to not quickly go hungry because of easily digestible food.
After leaving “Drondheim”, there would not be much enjoyment.
“Please be careful.”
Firentis and James stood in front of the city gate to send them off.
“Okay.”, Kant waved his hand and led his troops and camel caravans towards the depths of the desert to the south.
He looked at the horizon in the distance.
He did not know if it was an illusion, but the endless hills of the Senwaya Range seemed to be vaguely visible. But to them, that was indeed their destination, the location of the Stone Pa.s.s.
The 40 Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n were scattered in all directions.
They held a refined military spear tightly in their hands and looked at their surroundings with a cold expression.
Occasionally, there would be skinny low-level Jackalans appearing. As if they had discovered a new world, they would lightly knock on the horse’s belly and rush over. As the mournful howls ended abruptly, their spear was stained with bright red blood and they returned to the formation.
These hors.e.m.e.n who wore Sarrandian armor were more powerful than the desert bandits.
After all, they were heavy cavalries.
Moreover, they were the more agile a.s.sault cavalries amongst the heavy cavalries.
If the low-level Jackalans encountered these hors.e.m.e.n, they would die.
Kant rode his horse forward and looked at these Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n. In his mind, he recalled the first time he went to the Stone Pa.s.s. There were only five of them, and the rest were desert bandits. Their fighting abilities were significantly different.
If they were in danger.
It was estimated that these 40 Sarrandian hors.e.m.e.n were enough to defeat most of the enemies head-on.
This was a display of strength.
It was also a guarantee of the safety of the trade caravan.
The caravan behind them was made up of 10 peasants and 30 single-humped camels.
The camels carried 120 bags of fine white salt as trade goods, equivalent to four bags for each camel, plus four additional bags of food and water for each camel, as well as food for the warhorse and camels.
The name “Boat of the desert” did not come for nothing.
Just like now, it was like a small boat carrying goods and sailing briskly in the sea of sand.
The march was neither fast nor slow.
The speed of the journey was very balanced.
A mere three days of desert trekking was enough for a warhorse, let alone these single-humped camels.
From the Oasis Lookout to the Stone Pa.s.s, it was very easy for these camels.
After all, these desert “Fairies” are better at trekking long distances, using their incredible endurance and strength to traverse entire deserts, than transporting goods over short distances. Compared to the single-humped camels that once lived in the Middle East and traveled to Eurasian continent, Kant’s “harsh” journey was a bit of a fuss, killing the chicken with a cow knife.
Kant couldn’t help it.
At the moment, the only trade target he had was the Stone Pa.s.s.
If he had a trade target in the north of the Nahrin desert and the Mannheim Coast, needless to say, a caravan of at least 50 single-humped camels would directly cross the desert easily.
According to the high-level Jackalan captives, the Mannheim coast, which was close to the Sea of Stars, was also one of the prosperous areas in maritime trade.
Every day, hundreds of merchant s.h.i.+ps docked at the port of the Kingdom of Grey Mane, unloading a large number of materials from overseas into warehouses. At the same time, various specialties of the Mannheim Coast were loaded onto the merchant s.h.i.+ps, forming a complete trade chain.
Just thinking about it made people excited.
Take the Dukedom of Leo, which Kant was most familiar with, as an example.
The 200 meters wide Resniston River originated from the Great Swamp of the east and it nourished the soil on both sides of the river. In the busiest month, only dozens of merchant s.h.i.+ps traveled every day.
As for the port of Lionheart City, which focused on river trade, there were no more than 30 merchant s.h.i.+ps docked every day.
This was also due to the fact that the South County, which was directly under the Dukedom of Leo, was a grain-producing area.
If this Reniston River, which had been used for grain transportation, appeared in the desolate North County, it was estimated that there would be no more than five merchant s.h.i.+ps every day. Most of them would be transporting materials to the North County, where the products were scarce. Instead of engaging in mutually beneficial trade, a large amount of important grain would be transported along the river to the borders of other dukedom or kingdoms to earn great silver coins.
“I really want to see the scenery of the Mannheim coast.”
Kant’s face was filled with antic.i.p.ation.
A region that mainly engaged in maritime trade that was dominated by humans.
It was really quite attractive to him.
However, this was only an idea, a simple idea. After all, the current “Drondheim” had just finished off the expedition army of the Kingdom of Grey Mane and was basically in a hostile status with the Mannheim Coast.
If they really went to the north of the Nahrin Desert rashly.
The end result would probably not be to harvest trading partners, but to be hunted down by the sensitive Jackalan troops.
For safety, Kant would not go to the Mannheim Coast for the time being.
After he completely built the Oasis Lookout like an iron wall, so that even the Dukedom of Leo had to acknowledge his existence, Kant would choose to send a few elites to the Mannheim coast to scout the situation.
What he needed now was to become stronger as soon as possible.
After absorbing the dividends of this battle.
First, he upgraded “Drondheim” into a castle. At the same time, he set up a new council hall in the hidden area of the Senwaya Range. This would allow his force to spread and grow at the same time!