Imperial Crown.

Chapter 396 Water Ballet
While Dane was wailing on the top of the Peak Fort, Raven had already crossed the northwest corridor of the Mangtain Province and arrived in the territory of the Semprons Province.

Samprons is located in the central-western part of the continent. Its unique geographical location makes its climate quite dry, especially the part east of the central part, which can almost be said to be a barren land with the largest Gobi desert in the empire.

Just like when they came here, Raven and his team found a few local guides and began their journey across the desert.

It was midsummer and the scorching sun was making people thirsty to death.

In just two days, even Denise, who loved beauty the most, had to put on a headscarf again to fight the scorching sun - the carriage was too stuffy to stay in.

The men have already wrapped themselves up tightly.

At night, the temperature drops sharply.

The armor placed outside will condense dew, attracting lizards and insects unique to the desert to lick the moisture.

When sleeping, you should at least wrap yourself in a thick blanket to protect yourself from the intense cold.

Everyone gets up early and carefully checks their belongings to prevent "new neighbors" such as scorpions, spiders, and poisonous snakes from lurking inside.

Even so, there are still unlucky and careless people who fall into the trap and have to eat the snake-tongue fruit and lie dead in the carriage for the whole day.

"The desert does not follow the flow of the horse's hoof."

Raven was increasingly able to understand this proverb that was circulated in Semprons.

The power of nature is often beyond human control, and you can only adapt to it.

As the journey got longer, even if the companions were veterans, their energy was visibly declining - after all, waking up every morning licking cracked lips was not an easy thing to adapt to.

Fortunately, the desert has an end, and Samplons is not just a desert.

When we reach the western part of Samplon, the ground begins to be covered with green grass. After walking for two more days, we can see many low hills with dense vegetation.

Caves are the characteristic of this place, and where there are caves, there are often hot springs.

For the nobles who could take a hot bath at any time, hot springs were not rare. When they passed by here before, neither Raven nor Denise had a particularly deep impression of it.

But after more than a month of traveling in the desert, it seems particularly tempting.

So at Denise's strong request, Raven "went with the flow" and gave his soldiers a short vacation, and he took Denise to the best local hot spring estate "Dawn's Embrace".

The night was dark and everything was silent except for the chirping of insects in the grass.

Denise soaked leisurely in the pool water.

Moisturized by the smooth hot spring, Denise's skin showed a lovely and translucent red, and as she held her long hair and shook it gently, her fair skin trembled sexily.

Water drops drip from the ends of the hair, fall on the round shoulders, and fall into the water before they can cool down.

After tying her hair up, Denise relaxed her body in the water, and her smooth knees trembled and broke through the water under the action of buoyancy.

Like two water lilies blooming.

She closed her eyes and a comfortable hum came out of her nose, stirring up the water waves.

Squeak.

The door was gently opened, and footsteps were heard. Denise frowned slightly, and a smile rose at the corner of her mouth, but then she suppressed it: "Can't you let me have a good rest for a while?"

"I came here specially to give you a shoulder massage." Raven walked to the water's edge.

Denise had sat up straight by now, with one hand covering her chest and a slight gap behind her.

Sitting on the edge of the pool, her legs dropped into the water, Denise naturally leaned in.

Raven stretched out his hands, placed his fingers on both sides of Denise's temples, and began to massage them gently.

A layer of goose skin appeared on Denise's body. Her body became more and more relaxed. Her head leaned back on Raven's knees. Her red lips parted a gap and exhaled warm orchid-like liquid.

The delicate skin began to deform slightly under Raven's fingers.

Raven's fingers slowly moved down and landed on Denise's shoulders.
Denise opened her eyes in shock, but before she could say anything, Raven covered her lips.

Staring at Raven with anger and resentment:
"what are you doing?"

As he spoke, Raven covered Denise's lips again.

Denise leaned in Raven's arms, her skin became redder and softer, as if it would melt in the hot spring at any time.

Raven stroked Denise's smooth back and said softly, "I've always thought it's a pity that you have such a great figure but just sit behind a desk and deal with paperwork every day."

Denise responded casually: "Then what do you think I should do..."

"I think you are suitable for dancing." Raven leaned close to Denise's ear and said, "There is a kind of dance called 'water ballet'. Have you heard of it?"

"What……?"

……

She had completely lost all her strength.

Raven leaned against the edge of the pool, drinking quietly.

The exhaustion from traveling all this time, the pressure accumulated in the capital.
At this time, a black cat jumped from the wall to the edge of the pool, took a few steps, opened its mouth, and spit out a dark green crystal.

The weeds around suddenly began to grow wildly.

Snapped.

Raven grabbed it in his hand and looked at Sikoret: "When did you catch up?"

"During the water ballet." Sikoret licked his paws with disgust on his face.

Denise showed a trace of embarrassment on her face, but she also knew that Sikoret was Raven's familiar, so she quickly covered it up:

"Is this...a magic core?"

"Sir Dane's 7th-level magic core." Raven said as he put it into the ring.

Denise was stunned. She looked at Raven and then at Sikoret.
"How did you get it?"

Although she had never been to the secret room, she had heard a lot about it and knew that such a treasure could not be obtained easily.

"It's not that difficult for me." Sikoret said lightly, "After all, those traps and magic arrays are designed for humans and humanoids. They won't guard against a cat."

It would have been fine if there was no explanation, but this explanation made Denise even more confused.

Could a magical pet have such great abilities?
"Raven, what are you going to do with it?" asked Sikoret.

"Keep it for now." Raven said, "At my current level, it would be a waste no matter how I use it."

Sikoret looked at Raven again, swung his tail, jumped onto the wall, and disappeared.

With the black cat interfering, the ambiguous atmosphere disappeared. Denise climbed out of the sink, grabbed her bathrobe, dried her body, and prepared to go back to her room.

Looking at that graceful figure and those slender feet, Raven almost couldn't bear to let Denise go.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Raven accompanied Denise to the second floor of the main building of the manor for dinner.

Although the entire building is constructed of stone, many of the furniture and supports are made of wood. Due to years of moisture, it inevitably has a musty smell and looks a bit dilapidated.

The breakfast was not rich either, just two plates of potato soup with minced meat. Fortunately, the freshly baked bread was still fresh.

As it was still summer, there were not many guests. The owner of the manor also occupied a table and was chatting with his wife about family matters.

There is mostly complaints in the tone, with a bit of the feeling that poor couples have many sorrows.

Denise remained true to her merchant character. As she listened, she suddenly asked:
"Isn't this manor profitable?"

When the business owner heard Denise's question, he thought she had some hidden meaning, so he put down the bread in his hand and walked over:
"Madam, was there anything wrong with the service last night?" "No." Denise smiled and said, "It's just a little strange. The hot springs here are very good, the environment is good, and it's not far from the desert. You shouldn't worry about money, right?"

"If it's just to support our family, it's enough." The manager laughed bitterly, his expression became a little complicated, but perhaps because he had long lacked someone to vent his grievances to, he still pulled a stool and sat at the table:
"From your behavior and words, I think you two are nobles, right?"

"You said 'also'...?" Raven was a little confused.

"Yes, just as you thought, I am also a noble." The operator said: "Please allow me to introduce myself, Adi Ota Baihen, the Imperial Baron."

"Raven, Raven Shiva Griffith; this is my Aunt Denise."

Adi showed a look of astonishment on his face. Although he had heard that Earl Raven was nearby, he never expected that he would be such a young man. He quickly stood up:

"My Lord, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"Sit down." Raven said with a smile, "It's just a small talk, there's no need to be nervous."

Adi nodded and sat down awkwardly and respectfully.

Raven was really curious:
"You are obviously a noble, why do you run the business yourself? Can't you let your butler take care of it?"

"My Lord Earl, the butler has his own duties to do."

"I run it myself, mainly because we are so poor here." Adi said with a bitter face:

"Mrs. Denise said before that we are close to the desert. She meant that this is the nearest stop for travelers, so the economy shouldn't be bad."

“But there are two sides to this.”

“Although many travelers gather here and it does bring a lot of revenue, the expenses are also high.”

"My Lord Earl, you come here in numbers, and you may not understand how rampant the sand bandits are in the desert."

"In order to guard against them, the money spent on defense every year is at least 600 gold coins. Occasionally, if a capable leader emerges, it will cost even more to hire a mercenary guild."

Denise nodded and asked, "What about the hot springs? The quality of the hot springs here is quite good!"

"In Xishan Prons, the last thing we lack is hot springs." Adi sighed and said:

"You know, hot springs are enjoyed by either the rich or the nobles. However, there are so many options to choose from. Apart from those who come from the east, who would come to a place like mine?"

Raven said, "Business is not well developed, but what about agriculture? I don't think this place is as barren as the desert."

Speaking of this, Adi's face fell even more. He was silent for a while before continuing.

It turns out that although this place is not a desert, the soil quality is actually quite poor, half sand and half soil. Many common crops, such as rye and barley, have no yield. In addition to some fruits and vegetables, the only crop that can be grown is potatoes.

Fruit is difficult to store and transport, so it can only be used as a diversion and sold nearby, but no profit can be made.

Although the potato yield is not bad and is enough to provide food and clothing, it is not valuable in itself and cannot be sold.

It's not even suitable for feeding animals.

Although it is fine to eat a small amount after cooking, if a large amount is used to feed pigs or cows, these animals will get diarrhea or even die inexplicably. Therefore, it can only be used as a supplement and not as a staple food.

Moreover, it is not resistant to storage. Even if it is kept in a cellar in the winter, it will rot or sprout over time.

Within half a year after the harvest, 5% of the grain will rot, so if there are unexpected floods or droughts, we will have to buy grain from outside.

Raven's eyes lit up as he listened: "Is the potato yield high here?"

Adi answered casually, "It's not just here. Three counties to the west, this is the main crop."

"Three counties..." Raven tapped his fingers on the wooden table. "Well, send me an invitation and tell them that I want to buy a large amount of potatoes. Ask these nobles to come and discuss with me."

"My Lord Earl, are you telling the truth?" Adi was startled. Looking at Raven's serious eyes, he couldn't help rubbing his hands, his eyes became extremely eager:

"No need to ask them. This year, my territory can produce about 600 million pounds of potatoes, all of which can be sold to you!"

"Too little." Raven said with a smile:
"Go and help me deliver the letter. No matter whose letter you buy, I'll take all yours!"

"Yes, Lord Earl!"

A job that can make money always makes people motivated. This time, Adi went all out and even used the channels of the mercenary guild to send letters to various nobles.

The nobles who received the letter were all skeptical - if Adi's image wasn't generally positive and Raven wasn't really famous, they wouldn't have come at all.

Even if I came, I still had doubts in my heart.

Who would have the time to buy a large amount of potatoes that even pigs won’t eat?

Some people think that Earl Raven is gathering everyone together under the pretext of buying potatoes, but he actually wants to set up an organization like the Snow Maple County Chamber of Commerce.

Some people secretly said that they heard that Earl Raven had suffered a lot of grievances in the royal capital, and it is very likely that after coming here, he thought more and more that something was wrong, and was ready to raise his arms and lead everyone to rebel against the king.

However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Raven really just came to discuss buying potatoes.

The meeting lasted for 6 days.

A total of 41 nobles were present, and as a whole, they reached a purchase agreement with Raven. Raven will purchase an unlimited amount of potato output from the three counties in the next five years at a price of 0.37 per pound.

These nobles also had the obligation to guarantee each other. If any of the potatoes shipped had problems, the purchase price would be reduced by 1% within the next year, with no lower limit.

In terms of transportation, the manpower will be provided by people from these three counties, but the freight will be borne by Raven.

In order to reach this agreement, Raven left 30 gold coins as a down payment. If it was all spent within five years, he would continue to invest the next sum.

The nobles in these three counties were extremely happy - who would have thought that these garbage that usually could not be eaten and had to rot in the fields could actually be sold?

This even shocked Denise.

At first, she thought that Raven had gathered so many people in order to select the best and buy a batch of potatoes to take back as food.

But Raven bought too much.

Based on the size of these noble fiefs, Denise estimated that even if not all the land was used to grow potatoes, Raven would still be able to purchase no less than 3 million pounds of potatoes each year.

Not to mention the current population of the Griffith family, it is more than enough to feed the entire Xuefeng County!
Although she knew that Raven would never do meaningless things, and that his previous business operations had already proved his foresight, Denise still found Raven the night before she left:

"What on earth do you want to do with all those potatoes?"

"Making potato chips." Raven answered clearly. Seeing that Denise still didn't understand, he explained: "Just wash the potatoes, cut them into thin slices, fry them in oil, and then sprinkle a little salt on them..."

It would have been fine if she hadn't said it. Once she said it, Denise became even more confused: "What's the use of this...?"

Potatoes are the lowest of the low-end foods, and it is a waste to use precious oil on them, not to mention the salt.

From what she knew, doing so would only extend the shelf life of the potatoes, but the cost would not be enough to cover the cost - she could just buy rye nearby and bake it into dry black bread, which would be easier to preserve.

Denise asked, "Is there going to be another locust plague and food shortage in the Nord Province?"

"You shouldn't ask me this, you should ask Annuo for divination." Raven said.

"Then what's the point of making these 'potato chips'?"

"To make money, of course—a lot of money!"

Denise still couldn't understand it, but she had plenty of time to think about it later.

After the negotiations, Raven led his team on their journey, carrying a small batch of sample potatoes.

The next stop is Beihai Province.

Beyond the North Sea is Nord.

……

(End of this chapter)