A Single Person's Infinite Wonderful Life

Everything was destroyed by the waves.

Raphtalia made up her mind to fight against the tide. Originally, she couldn't even see any hope for life. After all, as a slave, it was not easy for her to just survive. The slave owner would not treat his slave well.

However, Li Wei gave her hope for survival, not only restoring her freedom but also teaching her a lot of valuable knowledge and empowering her to fight against the tide.

During the last wave, she killed many of the monsters brought by the wave, which gave her a sense of revenge. Although her parents could not come back, killing those monsters could comfort their spirits in heaven.

Looking at Levi's handsome profile, Raphtalia made a decision in her heart: she would follow Levi forever, no matter where he went. As long as Levi didn't abandon her, she would never leave the team.

Li Wei laughed and said, "Why are you looking at me? Is there something dirty on my face?"

“No, I just feel that it’s my good fortune to have met you, sir,” Raphtalia said.

The past cannot be changed, only the future holds promise and can be altered. Therefore, she must strive to protect more people from the threat of the tide.

Li Wei ruffled Raphtalia's hair, flattening her fluffy round ears, and said with a smile, "Let's not think about that now. Let's help set up the merchandise. The people here need these things."

"Okay!" Raphtalia replied energetically.

Raphtalia and Lisia unloaded the items from the carriage and placed them on the soft cloth that had been laid out beforehand. Levi, on the other hand, rubbed a wooden plaque with the words "Support Barter" written in large characters in the Kingdom script.

The finished signs were placed next to the goods. Li Wei took out a few small stools, sat down, and loudly called out: "Don't miss out! Grand opening special! Buy three get one free, the more you buy, the more you get! You can also barter! Everyone come and take a look!"

Hearing Li Wei's down-to-earth shouts, Li Xia was dumbfounded. She hadn't expected that Li Wei, one of the Four Holy Warriors, who usually focused on important matters, would have such a relatable side.

She had already prepared herself to shout out her wares, but she was surprised that Li Wei would actually shout them out himself. To the natives of this world, heroes were inherently superior beings. Heroes only needed to focus on fighting the waves; other problems would be solved for them. Therefore, among the heroes throughout history, only a minority were willing to stoop down and do things that ordinary people would do.

Li Wei doesn't care about other people's opinions. When he's not in his own world, he doesn't care about the so-called impact. He does things as he pleases, and naturally, he doesn't care about things like his image.

In the real world, he is a top student at Tokyo University of the Arts, and also the behind-the-scenes boss of a yakuza organization and a large corporation. He needs to be careful about the impact of his words and actions.

But here, he doesn't have those image-related burdens anymore, and he can do whatever he wants.

Lisia said, "My lady, we should handle this kind of thing. It would be rather undignified for you to do it!"

As a hero's companion, one must not only follow the hero on adventures and fight against the waves, but also take care of the hero's time-wasting trivial matters.

This is an unspoken rule that must be followed after becoming a hero's companion, because a hero's energy is limited, and everyone hopes that the hero can fight the waves well, rather than wasting time recklessly.

However, to some extent, this unspoken rule exists because everyone regards the hero as the strongest tool to fight against the tide. In many people's eyes, the hero should just fight the tide, and doing anything else is not doing his job.

Li Wei laughed and said, "What's so undignified about this? As a hero, isn't it reasonable for me to learn about the people I've saved? Prepare your change later, and I'll handle the barter."

Lisia was quick-witted and immediately guessed what Levi meant. Instantly, her heart warmed. Compared to those legendary heroes, Levi felt more real and relatable.

Li Wei laughed and said, "What is the purpose of fighting the wave? Isn't it to prevent everyone from suffering what Raphtalia went through? But, providing help within our means is also very important for those in need. It's good to look ahead, but we also need to look behind us."

Lisia nodded and said, "I was being presumptuous. The meaning of a hero's existence is to bring hope to others. Big things are important, but small things are important too!"

The reason Li Wei did this, besides considering Raphtalia's feelings, was also because the sight of so many animal-eared lolis on the streets made him feel healed. Although he had experienced several worlds, this was the first time he had seen so many animal-eared girls. As someone with complete control, Li Wei found animal-eared girls quite appealing.

A petite girl with animal ears, who looked only three or four years old, wearing a dirt-resistant cotton coat over a smock, squatted down and looked at the toys on the stall with a longing expression.

Li Wei smiled and said, "Little friend, would you like a toy?"

To Licia and Raphtalia, Livi seemed like a strange uncle who did odd things, but they could sense that he meant no harm.

The little girl with animal ears nodded heavily, took out several worn-out copper coins from her blouse pocket, her face showing reluctance, and her fluffy tail was trembling slightly. At this moment, she was having a fierce internal struggle.

Seeing this, Li Wei couldn't help but laugh. Indeed, fluffy little cuties are truly heartwarming.

Li Wei picked up the plush doll that the little girl with animal ears was staring at, placed it in her arms, and said, "This is a gift from your big brother."

Raphtalia squatted down in front of the little girl with animal ears, placed her hand on the top of the girl's head, and gently rubbed it.

The animal-eared loli used a "head pat" on the animal-eared little girl, and the effect was amazing! Mr. Li suffered 4 points of true damage!

Chapter 1. The Hero's General Store

The little girl with animal ears, who seemed to be a canine subhuman, was still a bit dazed while hugging the plush doll. When she realized that what she was holding was not an illusion, her tail started to wag rapidly, swinging like a small windmill.

The little girl with animal ears excitedly said, "Thank you, big brother!"

Li Wei crouched down and gently stroked the head of the little girl with animal ears, just like Raphtalia did, and said, "Go tell your friends that big brother has free toys for you. Oh, and tell your parents too, there are lots of good things for sale here. It's a grand opening sale with great discounts."

Li Wei also gave Zhang Xiancuo, a little girl with animal ears, a colorful flyer that was quite attractive.

The little girl with animal ears nodded, said goodbye to Li Wei and the others, and then ran away with the doll and the flyer in her arms.

"What a lovely child." Li Wei stood up, his smile exceptionally bright.

After seeing off the beast-eared girl, Li Wei continued to hawk his wares. His shouts quickly attracted the attention of many people, especially the large wooden sign next to him that supported bartering. Many of the demi-humans glanced at it and then hurriedly went home to get their things.

Before long, the flow of people outside Li Wei's general store gradually became denser. Some demi-humans came to buy items with metal currency, while others brought various valuable things they had made to barter with Li Wei.

As a result, Li Wei's small stall, which had only been set up for a short time, ushered in its peak season.

"Boss, do you buy salted fish here?" asked a demi-human with a human form but obvious fish-like features. Although he had fish-like physical characteristics, he was handsome and tall, but the sorrowful look on his face gave him a sense of dejection.

“Of course I’ll accept it!” Li Wei said with a smile.

The male demi-human with fish-like features put down the bamboo basket behind him and poured out the salted fish onto the gray cloth that was used to place goods for exchange.

A large pile of dried salted fish, of all kinds. Dried salted fish like this is the most abundant thing at the seaside. The demi-humans with fish-like features are known as "sea people" in this world. They can communicate with the sea and use various magical powers to find prey in the sea.

However, the sea people, who strictly adhere to the precepts, dare not use their power to search for treasure in the sea, so their lives are not prosperous. In the oceans of this world, all kinds of powerful sea beasts exist beneath the surface. Even the Dunkleosteus and Azure Dragon from ancient Earth are at the bottom of the food chain in the oceans of this world.

Most of the treasures on the seabed are guarded by sea beasts. Even the sea people who can live in the sea dare not act recklessly in the ocean. Therefore, the biggest source of income for the sea people is all kinds of fish.

However, the fishermen who could not leave the seaside could not sell their dried fish for a good price locally, and this demi-human was already mentally prepared to be pressured by Levi to lower the price.

"This is dried deep-sea fish? Hmm, this is dried female fish, which is quite rare." Li Wei quickly inspected the dried fish and found some good stuff inside.

“You can exchange them for silver coins, or you can barter with me and choose goods worth silver coins,” Li Wei said with a smile.

Li Wei's words surprised everyone in line; such a small pile of dried fish could yield such a profit.

The fish-like demi-human selected a pile of goods from Li Wei's side, took the few silver coins he still had left, and left happily.

After the first person took the plunge, everyone else's enthusiasm was ignited, and they started exchanging all sorts of local products for other goods.

Making money wasn't Li Wei's primary concern, so the purchase prices he offered were quite fair. Li Wei spent the entire day dealing with all sorts of customers, and only after seeing off the last customer did he and his team pack up and find a nearby inn to stay at.

Li Wei and his companions had become quite famous in the area. The locals all knew about a merchant with spatial abilities who carried a large quantity of goods with him. These goods were not only of high quality and low price, but could also be used for barter. The people of the town exchanged their homemade local products for many much-needed items.

Inside the hotel lobby, a passerby found a table in a corner and ordered a sumptuous dinner.

Although Li Wei didn't deliberately pursue profits and set the prices of his goods quite affordable, he was still able to occasionally exchange for some good items after making a lot of transactions. Although these items were not very useful to him, they were still quite good by the standards of this world. If Li Wei were really just an ordinary merchant, he would have made quite a bit of money on this trip alone.

Looking at Lisia sitting opposite him, Li Wei said, "Hmm, thank you all for your hard work today, helping to move the goods and give me my change."

Lisia said, "What's so hard about it? It's just helping with some chores. I originally thought that demi-humans were all dangerous beings, but after interacting with them today, I feel that they are actually quite simple and honest, without as many ulterior motives as outsiders."

Li Wei said, "Because the environment here is relatively closed off compared to the outside world, it is a typical close-knit community. In such an environment, everyone has to take care of their reputation. After all, the place is only so big. If someone does something bad, it will soon become known to everyone, and at that time, the person who did the bad thing will be socially dead."

This is true in most places. The more closed a group is, the more concerned the individuals within it are with how others perceive them. This situation has both advantages and disadvantages, but for autonomous groups that need to unite, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Li Wei continued, "The demi-humans here in the autonomous territory are indeed more simple and honest, but the people in Sidwellut are different."

Lisia asked curiously, "My lady, you've never been to Sidwellut, so how can you be so sure that's the case?"

Li Wei chuckled, "It's just some basic social psychology. But speaking of which, you can tell from what they brought out to exchange today that their economic conditions aren't very good; it's mostly various roughly processed local products. Any other merchant would definitely be pressured to lower the price for various reasons, and if they didn't actively take them out, they wouldn't make much money at all."

Chapter 4. Dinner Table Talk

Raphtalia also had experience traveling with caravans, so she had a good grasp of the buying and selling prices of various items.

Raphtalia said, "If it were a foreign merchant from the kingdom or other places, they would have driven down the price of that salted fish from the fish-like demi-human today. Generally speaking, if the price of that basket of salted fish could reach a silver coin, it would be considered pretty good."

Lisia looked surprised. She had bought dried sea fish in the capital before. Dried sea fish was much more expensive than dried freshwater fish. Dried freshwater fish usually cost one copper coin per pound, while dried sea fish started at one silver coin per pound. If it was dried jellyfish skin or dried mother fish, it would be even more expensive.

However, the kingdom's merchants came here to buy all kinds of dried seafood at such incredibly low prices. In other words, the kingdom's merchants used this channel to make unimaginable profits.

Salted dried fish, a type of dried food that can be stored for a long time, would have its flavor affected if it were made from freshwater fish. Ordinary people wouldn't care about this, but the wealthy and powerful disliked the fishy smell.

In addition, since the capital is located inland, the prices of goods transported from the coast to the capital would increase to a certain extent. As a result, salted fish, which is a daily staple for ordinary people on the coast, would become a luxury item that could only be afforded by those with substantial wealth once it reached the inland areas.

Moreover, to some extent, this practice of deliberately lowering the purchase price is also a microcosm of the attitude of ordinary people in the kingdom towards demi-humans.

Lisia asked, "My lord, when we bought that fish-like demi-human's salted fish today, did you think the purchase price was too high or too low?"

Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "I just offered the normal purchase price. After all, there are quite a lot of mother fish in that pile of dried salted fish. The reason I offered such a high purchase price is because the mother fish make up the majority of the pile."

Sea bream are inherently difficult to catch, and the vast majority are poisonous; even approaching them is extremely dangerous. Furthermore, while they appear enormous in the sea, after removing their internal organs, only a fraction of their weight remains. It is precisely because of this difficulty in production that this special type of salted dried fish commands a very high price.

However, the fishermen who made dried fish didn't earn much money; most of their profits were taken by the merchants. This is why ancient states always valued agriculture and suppressed commerce—they recognized the inherent flaws of merchants. Those merchants who pursued profit as if it were their life could even trample on the law, so there was no need to be polite to them.

Raphtalia said, "Based on what I've learned from books, the reason why the autonomous territory is struggling to develop is because it lacks various key production technologies. At the same time, it has not been able to control its own trade channels, so it can only be exploited by foreign merchants."

Li Wei laughed and said, "Isn't this a normal thing? It was only from this generation of queens that the kingdom began to reverse its discrimination and oppression against demi-humans. The previous queens were ruthless in suppressing demi-humans. After all, the existence of the demi-human autonomous territories was like a thorn in the throat for the kingdom, and no one wanted to make that thorn harder."

Both Lysia and Raphtalia showed surprise upon hearing Levi's words, because Queen Mileria had not previously shown any goodwill towards demi-humans, and they found it somewhat unbelievable to hear such news from Levi.

Li Wei said, "The Queen not only intends to abolish slavery, but also to forcibly liberate all demi-human slaves and punish those who enslave them accordingly. In addition, the Kingdom will provide escort, travel expenses, and resettlement allowances for those from the autonomous territory who are willing to go to Sidwellut."

Li Wei's words left the two of them stunned, because this was the complete opposite of the kingdom's previous policies and attitudes toward demi-humans.

Lisia noticed the problem with Levi's words and said, "But if the Queen does this, she will offend those who have vested interests! Those are nobles. If those nobles unite, even the Queen will have to compromise."

Li Wei laughed and said, "The kingdom is about to change. The queen has decided to industrialize, and industrialization requires a large population. Now, the nobles are using all sorts of methods to keep people in their own territories for their own benefit, which is a complete waste of manpower. Conflicts already exist and will soon intensify, and may even escalate into a civil war."

Both Lysia and Raphtalia looked bewildered. Neither of them had expected that the war between the Kingdom and Hobra had just ended so soon, and now they were about to face another civil war.

Li Wei laughed and said, "There will always be growing pains in development, and there will always be people who can't keep up with the pace of progress. For ordinary people who can't keep up, the kingdom's upper echelons naturally have a mechanism to deal with them. But for those nobles who act arrogantly, such a mechanism is not suitable. What will follow is a war between the new nobles and the old nobles, the kind that is fought to the death."

Mirelia revealed her thoughts and plans to Levi, and also sought his opinion. However, her ideas and plans were already very mature and quite in line with the times, so that she wouldn't take too big a step and end up making a mess of things.

Mirelia's plan was quite simple: to turn the nobility against each other. Industrialization would inevitably bring profits, and she planned to learn from Hobray's shareholding system and divide the industrial enterprises operated by the kingdom into shares. The royal family would retain a certain percentage of the shares, and the remaining shares would be used to win over various new nobles, using benefits to bind them to the royal family's cause.