Miss Witch doesn't want to be a diva!.

Chapter 654 Scattered Settlements on the Grassland
"Tilan, take me there." Ores hugged Tilan and said in a coquettish and pleading tone.

"Although I really want to take Orlais out, I can't do it this time." The girl patted Orlais on the back, feeling that she was like a large life-size doll. After letting Orlais hold her for a while, Tilan let go of her hand and told her the reason.

"You will have to carry out a lot of tasks this time. Also, Ores is so beautiful. If you go there, there will be bad people who will snatch you away." Tilan blinked and told the simple elf.

Because the food problem had to be solved as soon as possible, Tilan did not have enough energy to take care of Orles on the road. Another reason was that Orles was really needed in the camp. On the one hand, Orles was needed to activate and use the Rhythm Crystal. The extraordinary people here were generally not strong enough. The highest one in the Heshan Rescue Society was only Sequence 4, not to mention others. Only Orles could stably play the role of the Rhythm Crystal.

In addition, Ores is also a singer. Even if she has lost her memory, many of her instincts are still there. With her presence, conflicts in the camp can be well regulated. She is also a strong fighter. Except for Tilan and Loloria, no one in the camp is stronger than her. If Ores' memory is restored, according to Tilan's estimation, she will not be at a disadvantage against Loloria.

"Have you learned the method I taught you today?" Seeing that Ores's emotions had stabilized a little, Tilan took out the rhythmic crystal and placed it in Ores' palm.

"Yes, Orles has learned it." She answered proudly and happily at this moment. Even though she had lost her memory, such things were still extremely simple for her.

"That's good. Let me think about it. Mimi will tell you where to use it later. If you don't understand, just ask her. If there is someone in the camp that you find difficult to deal with or answer, then talk to Ori, the big kind moose, and he will help you solve it." The girl instructed again.

"Let me think, do you remember the songs I taught you last winter?"

"Remember, Tilan taught me, remember." Ores nodded.

"Well, you can sit by the campfire at night and sing a song or two for everyone. Everyone has been through a lot of sad things and we need you to comfort everyone. I believe Orlais can do it." After teaching Orlais a lot of common sense in life, Tilan was also ready to try to let her walk out of the small room and contact the world independently.

"Oles, I will."

After hearing what Tilan had told her, Ores felt a little more expectant and her mood improved a little. Perhaps she was happy to be recognized and needed.

"Come on, Orlais." Then Tilan hugged Orlais again, feeling her soft and slightly cool body, and did not let go for a while.

"I'm leaving first." Then Tilan waved and said goodbye to her.

A few minutes later, the prepared caravan set out from the small valley on the grassland. The brown-haired oxen pulling the carts shook their heads and began to move their hooves, dragging the carts loaded with supplies forward. The iron bell hung on the leading ox could be heard from a long distance away.

Just like that, the clear sound of bells accompanied the convoy as it gradually moved away on the grassland, and the figures of the group slowly disappeared into the distant horizon.

……

On the first day, Tilan and his companions' oxcart caravan did not encounter any settlements or passers-by. This area had just been ravaged by an insect plague, and many settlements were either destroyed or relocated. However, they did see several damaged carriages and corpses scattered on the grass along the way.

After giving the dead skeletons a simple burial, the group took out some usable supplies from the damaged carriage, loaded them on the carriage and continued on their way.

Due to the limited number of ox carts, the caravan only brought 16 people this time, including Loloria, Sura, Fran, Guy, and three technical members of the Heshan Rescue Society who were wearing black robes and turbans. The rest were new members in the camp. Many of them were members of the settlements rescued along the way when Heshia guided the Heshan Rescue Society to take refuge in the grassland.

Although they had not known each other for long, after spending a few days together, everyone had a good impression of each other. In addition, many people were grateful for Heshia's rescue. After all, in a world like this, kind-hearted people are a rare species.

"I remember you are also a Gray Feather species, why didn't you escape with the main force at that time?" On the carriage, Tilan asked the young man in front with a little interest. He had hair that was not too black and wore dyed black leather armor.

"I had a rather peculiar idea at the time. I thought that following the large group would make me too conspicuous. If I went alone, I might not attract the attention of those insects. In addition, we Gray Feathers have a strong ability to hide our own breath. So I was quite bold and escaped alone." The other party said, touching his nose with a little embarrassment.

"In the end, I still encountered a problem on the road. That is, the horse I rode could not conceal its aura as well as I could. But if I gave up the horse and relied entirely on my legs, even if I was a transcendent, I would eventually run out of energy after such a long distance."

"So I rode my horse for a long time, then gave up the horse and hurried on my own in the night. I thought I could escape this way, but I didn't expect that because I was not familiar with the terrain, I walked into a valley and wandered around for a long time before coming out. At this time, the insect happened to fly by." He felt helpless as he said this.

"From then on, we just had to fight the bugs and run for our lives."

"I had no way to rest or replenish my energy during this process, so I had to dig a hole in the ground and bury myself temporarily to hibernate."

"Fortunately, a few days later, I finally heard a vibration, and when I came out, I saw you and the members of the rescue society."

"Hahahaha." The other people in the car couldn't help but laugh, and then they talked about what happened during the escape.

Although there were many sad things in the middle, everyone still felt inexplicably fortunate to have survived this insect plague. This feeling of surviving a disaster even made people feel a little dreamy, because only one in ten of the settlements near the Stone Forest Fortress remained now, and too many familiar people disappeared in the insect attack that day.

There was no entertainment, and all we could do along the way was to chat. After these two days of getting along, everyone gradually got used to each other. Perhaps we had all experienced life and death, so the little things in our previous lives now seemed nothing special and were no longer important compared to being alive.

On the evening of the fourth day, the caravan that Heshia was in finally encountered the first settlement in the western part of the grassland.

"See those sheepskin tents and felts? This should be a small settlement where nomads live a life of ease." Guy told his companions while riding on a horse.

"I traveled to many places with caravans when I was young, and I am familiar with this form."

"Since these small settlements cannot occupy lush pastures, they can only find some marginal grasslands on the outer edges to feed their livestock."

"Looking at their tents, the total number of people in the settlement is estimated to be between 30 and 40, and there are perhaps only a dozen young and strong people among them."

"Want to go over and take a look? Heshia."

Sura turned around and asked the girl with black hair and black skirt and wearing a veil. Compared with other members, this girl was particularly special, especially her slender fingers without any calluses or signs of labor, her snow-white skin and beautiful figure. She did not look like someone who was born in this muddy and turbulent world.

"Let's go take a look. After all, this is the first settlement we've come across, and I have some questions I want to know."

So several people followed the girl and walked towards the settlement in the distance. Guy rode in front on a horse with a crisp iron bell hanging on the horse's neck.

When they got closer, the person on guard in the settlement came out and waved to them, asking them to stop where they were.

Soon, several members of the settlement on horseback ran out of the settlement. Judging from the figures moving around in the settlement, they should have known that a caravan had arrived outside.

"What... are you doing here?" The leading man had a short braid and frowned slightly. He looked at the few people with great vigilance and alertness.

"We are a passing caravan. Do you need to trade?" Guy stepped forward while the others stayed behind.

"Caravan?" The other party seemed a little unconvinced. Looking at the well-equipped people, almost all of them carried guns. Although they were wrapped in cloth and could not be seen clearly, they were definitely not something that a scimitar could deal with.

"Yes." Guy then explained to the other party, and the man finally believed it a little. "You want to buy food? This is impossible. If you come in the summer, I will definitely ask someone to treat you well, but not now."

"Because they are still cubs in early spring and haven't grown up yet, right?" Guy also understood the situation.

"If you know this, why do you come at this time?"

"If there wasn't a shortage, we wouldn't have come all the way here." Guy shook his head, mentioning the recent disaster near Stone Forest Fort.

"I've heard what you said." Hearing this, the other party nodded slightly.

"It seems that you are coming from the east as well."

"Okay, I can give you some of the food reserves in the settlement, but the quantity is not much, and you have to exchange it for three times the usual value." The other party was also very polite.

"So expensive?" Guy couldn't help but ask.

"Humph, this is the price now." The other party explained in a domineering manner.

Seeing that Guy was still hesitating, Heshia patted the gray pony under her and asked it to carry her forward.

"Hello, can you give us a little more discount? We also brought a lot of goods, maybe there is something you need among them." The girl's voice was particularly pleasant, attracting the attention of several people present.

This girl, whose eyebrows were slightly immature but still had a stunning beauty, stunned several people for a while with just a slight turn of her eyes. Since that day, Tilan, who had completely eliminated the obstacles in her heart, began to show her own temperament and charm.

Her figure is as gentle as an orchid in a valley, and her eyes are filled with incomparable clarity and agility. She is unrestrained and responds to the many changes in the world sincerely and freely.

The few people who were originally still somewhat angry, after seeing this stunning black-haired girl, not only did their ferocious expressions disappear, but their voices also became gentler.

"Miss, what are the goods you mentioned?" They may not really want to know what goods the other party brought, but just want to hear her say a few more words.

"Well, we brought prepared medicines, some firearms and weapons, tea leaves for brewing to relieve greasiness, dried flowers, and some cloth clothes..." Tilan bent her fingers and lightly touched her chin, recalling the goods she brought.

Seeing her serious answer, the few people who wanted to make things difficult for her and lower the price felt a little embarrassed to speak, so they had to just go along and say they wanted to see the goods.

"That's no problem. Come with me." After saying that, Tilan patted the gray pony under her again and let it carry her back to the caravan.

Then Tilan introduced the things loaded on the car one by one.

After the tour, the other party's original suspicion and vigilance dissipated a lot, because they could see that this team should be here to do business, not disguised as a caravan to rob.

"To be honest, we don't have much food to offer. If it's furs and the like, there's still a lot more. I wonder if you need any, young lady."

The man also realized that this gentle girl with black hair and black dress was the soul of the entire caravan. Didn't he see that no matter what she did, everyone else cooperated respectfully, and no one was impatient or objected?

"Fur..." The girl thought that summer was coming soon and the fur was indeed not very useful. But then she thought again that there were still many people sleeping on stone beds in the camp and it would be much more comfortable to cover them with fur.

"Let me see." She nodded in agreement.

So, these people took Tilan and four others back to the settlement.

Walking in the open space between the tents, Tilan saw the real living conditions of many members. There were very few elderly people in the camp. Some women were cooking milk soup. Due to the lack of seasoning, the cow's milk and goat's milk had a strong fishy smell. Their clothes were mostly yellow and dirty. It seemed that water resources nearby were extremely scarce, and even taking a bath frequently was an extremely luxurious thing.

Arriving at the tent where the furs were stored, Tilan watched several strong men take down the bundled and piled furs and place them on an old wooden table. The furs had a foul odor due to the rough kneading technique, probably because the fat was not processed cleanly and there was a lack of materials for nitre treatment.

Tilan had certain expectations about the quality of the fur, so she didn't show any surprise. She could only say that it was not as good as she expected.

"So what do you want to change?"

"We need medicine and tea to relieve greasy feeling. There are very few edible plants on the grassland. If we only eat meat, cheese and the like, we will feel greasy and nauseous after a while."

"As for the exchange ratio..." The other party was a little hesitant.

They certainly didn't want to suffer any loss, and the more they could get the better, but they did feel guilty about bullying the girl in front of them. Besides, this caravan was not a weakling, and if they offered an outrageous price, they would definitely offend the other party.

"20 furs for a jar of herbs, 40 furs for a bottle of high-grade medicinal powder, 10 furs for a tea cake."

This price... Tilan actually didn't quite understand the price exchange ratio in this land, so she turned to look at Guy who was following behind her.

"If it were somewhere else, this exchange ratio would be reasonable, but this is a grassland, and the value of your fur is not that high." Guy shook his head.

Whenever purchasing goods on the grassland, the price must be reduced by more than twice, which is in line with the common practice.

"You brat!" Although he was quite polite to the black-haired girl in front of him, it did not mean that the man's character had changed, especially Guy's expression and demeanor, which instantly reminded him of the profiteers he passed by every day.

The axe at hand was placed upright on the table, and the inverted axe hit the wooden table, splashing some sawdust. If the wooden table was not originally rough and heavy, it might have fallen apart on the spot.

Seeing this, Tilan also knew the general situation and the actual exchange ratio. She stretched out her hand, asked Guy to step back, and negotiate with the other party herself.

"Wait a moment, I can give you some preferential concessions, such as trying to follow the exchange ratio just reported. However, we have just come to the western grassland to trade, and we don't have much understanding of the local situation. You should tell me more intelligence information on the grassland, such as the location of various settlements, the general situation of various forces, etc." She was not worried that the other party would fabricate false information to deceive her. As a singer, it was easy for her to distinguish these.

Seeing her blocking the way, the leading man looked at Tilan, then slowly pulled the axe from the table and put it down.

"Okay, since you're willing to pay our price, I'll tell you some information about the grassland."

"Come with me." He then led a few people out of the tent where supplies were stored, returned to the exit of the settlement, sat down in an open space where both sides could see each other, and then began to talk about the situation of various forces in the western part of the grassland.

The breeze was rustling, and the air in early spring was still a little chilly. The personnel on both sides began to count the supplies, moving the things they wanted to exchange to the open space in the middle, and then sat aside and listened to the sturdy man talk about the ups and downs and various conflicts and fights on the grassland.

(End of this chapter)