Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

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[The Mysterious Pact Between Vampires and Werewolves: You have successfully resolved the feud between two ancient families and gained their favor. Your charm will increase until the pact between the two families is completed.]

"What is this?" Charles looked at the prompt on the panel, somewhat confused. "These two families don't have any hatred between them right now, and even if we were to eliminate their hatred, it would require either jealousy or killing those ratmen. How could it be me?"

He glanced at the two Earls Savoy, whose faces were filled with delight, and said, "I must say that I cannot do anything to those ratmen right now, as I have many things to attend to. However, I can assure you that I will fulfill our agreement once I have the time."

"I know," Earl Silver Wolf Gene nodded. "It's not something I'm asking you to do right now. Those ratmen have already dug their kingdom underground in the western part of Nightmare Forest. I think you're not strong enough to handle it right now. But compared to human adventurers, goblins have a natural advantage in surviving in Nightmare Forest. I can wait, and my child can wait too."

"Of course, we all hope that your influence in the forest will grow as much as possible," Herbert added. "Only when your influence is great enough will you have a better chance of finding those ears."

"Once I'm free here, I'll arrange for someone to contact you in Savoy," Charles said to Gene. Little John is still in Torch City and needs to wait until things there are settled before he can return. Once he comes back, he will need to escort the teleportation stone ring to the Kingdom of Savoy.

"Of course, if you have any other interesting goods from the forests, we can also allow you to open a few shops on our territory," Count Gene said with a smile. "And we can even offer you tax breaks."

"Interesting goods in the forest?" Charles thought for a moment, then got up and took out a glass bottle filled with powder from the leather bag beside him. "You probably haven't tried this before, but you can give it a try. I call it Dragon's Breath."

He placed the glass bottle containing powdered dragon claw leaves in front of the two of them and opened the lid.

Herbert reached for the bottle first, staring at the powder inside. "What's this for? To make a drink?"

"No, you need to do it this way," Charles demonstrated to the two of them, "Just inhale deeply. This stuff can refresh your mind, relieve stress, and alleviate physical fatigue."

"Is this how it is?" Herbert, somewhat skeptical, scratched off a small spot with his fingernail, glanced at it a few times, and then held out his hand to Gene. "Want some?"

"No, no need, old bat. We werewolves have very sensitive noses to pungent smells. I won't touch this stuff." Count Silver Wolf Gene quickly waved his hand, even shrinking back slightly.

Charles watched the two making a fool of themselves and a smirk appeared on his lips. He had thought about giving them something to try before. Red Bull might not be attractive enough to them, and besides, it was already being sold in Golden Flower City. It was foreseeable that there would be a huge volume of shipments in the future. At present, the tribe's planting volume was not enough to expand to such a large market.

Other items were mostly for the daily use of the tribe, and only "Dragon Breath" snuff was a new commodity that could be traded.

More importantly, he believed that only by making the two men realize that there were more interesting goods in the forest could the three parties truly sit down at the negotiating table. After all, for nobles, interests come first, and promises alone cannot forge a strong relationship between them.

"Hiss," Herbert said, seeing that Gene wasn't going to try, so he put his fingernail under his nose and inhaled hard. He immediately felt a stuffy nose and then sneezed twice in a row. "Oh, this thing, how should I put it?"

"What's wrong? Why are your eyes red?" Gene stared wide-eyed at Herbert opposite him. "Are you unable to control your transformation?"

"No, I'm not that fragile," the vampire count said with a smirk, glancing at Gene. "This thing, wow, it's really good. I can already feel my whole body starting to feel comfortable."

He shook his head, stretched his shoulders, and said with a smile, "Looks like I can fly all over Giesorn tonight without getting tired."

"You'd better watch out, or someone will find out," Gene said dismissively, curling his lip.

"Really, old man, you really don't want to try it? Let me tell you, this stuff is really powerful." Herbert held the glass bottle with two fingers and shook it slightly in front of Gene. He looked a little strange, as if he had become somewhat excited.

"You seem a little different," Gene sniffed slightly, then looked at the vampire opposite him. "It's rare to see you like this now, so childish, almost like when you were young."

Charles also noticed that Herbert had become noticeably more talkative, and it was clear that the Dragon Breath Snuff had affected him to some extent.

"Really, you should try it. It feels pretty good." Herbert placed the glass bottle in front of Gene and held out his palm, urging him to try it.

Gene glanced at the vampire, then at the goblin opposite him. With a hint of doubt, he reached out and picked up a small spot with his fingernail.

"So few, you kobold." Herbert chuckled, clearly mocking Gene.

"Shut up, you flying rat," Gene retorted. "I told you when I was young that I would never call me a dog-headed man again."

"Alright, alright." Herbert smiled, nudged Gene, and continued to urge him to try.

Count Silver Wolf frowned as he looked at the powder on his fingernails, then glanced at the smiling Charles again. Finally, he put the snuff under his nose and took a deep drag.

"Ugh, you bastard, I sneezed repeatedly, pulling a handkerchief from his white coat and rubbing his nose. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you, you damn flying mouse."

"Of course, you'll be slow to adjust at first, but gradually you'll feel very comfortable." Herbert chuckled and leaned back on the sofa. "It's a strange feeling; it's like the fatigue has left your body."

"What fatigue?" Gene rubbed his nose with a handkerchief after sneezing. "I feel like I can't smell anything anymore, my nose..."

But then he narrowed his eyes a few times and said, "Hmm, I can feel what you're saying. This thing does have a certain smell."

Count Gene slowly closed his eyes, savoring the sensation. "This feeling of relaxation is truly comfortable, ahhh—"

He involuntarily cried out, and although he immediately realized what he had done and covered his mouth with his hand, it still stunned Charles sitting opposite him.

"So werewolves really do howl," Charles thought to himself.

"How's it going? Getting the hang of it?" Herbert smiled and pointed to the glass bottle. "What do you think would happen if this thing..."

He didn't finish his sentence, instead using a smile in his eyes to convey his meaning. Count Gene immediately understood: "To give to those idiots in the capital?"

"The capital?" Charles raised an eyebrow. How did it get involved with the capital of Savoy?

"We're both border counts, not much of a figurehead in the capital's power center. Plus, we're always on the move, making us a laughingstock in the Savoy noble circles," Herbert said with a smile, explaining their situation to Charles. "But this thing of yours is quite interesting. I think it can help us stabilize our position in Savoy to some extent."

"Is that so?" Charles recalled Count Valentine's previous situation. Indeed, in this world, border nobles are far from the political center. Many of them are unable to participate in the kingdom's major affairs. Sometimes they are attacked by neighboring nobles without even knowing why, simply because the other party has obtained "revenge permission" from the king. As for what kind of revenge, that depends on the situation.

"It certainly makes us feel more presentable." Count Gene exhaled repeatedly through his nose, trying to make himself more comfortable, but his voice sounded muffled, as if he had a stuffy nose. "I can't try this anymore. I can't feel my nose anymore."

"So, how many of these do you have?" Herbert ignored Gene and grinned at Charles.

Looking at the somewhat excited vampire count opposite him, Charles couldn't help but have a thought: if I told him I had a lot of this stuff, would he immediately pounce on me and turn me into a vampire?

"Not many. It's winter now, and we've run out of this powder. This is the last bottle," Charles said calmly. "If you want to get more, you'll have to wait until spring."

The Dragon Claw Trees are currently all within the territory of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom. If you want to acquire them, you can only wait until you conquer the City of Ten Thousand Races, but by then it will definitely be close to spring.

"So, we'll have to wait." Herbert's symptoms began to gradually subside; his canines were no longer sharp, and the bloodshot in his eyes slowly faded. "Sorry, I may have startled you."

"It's alright, I didn't expect the dragon's breath to have such an effect." Xia Er waved his hand.

"Gene, what do you say?" Herbert asked, looking at Count Silver Wolf, who was still rubbing his nose.

“I have no objection. This thing can indeed make those arrogant idiots look at us with more respect,” Gene said, rubbing his nostrils with his fingers without regard for his image, a stark contrast to the old-fashioned aristocratic image he had deliberately maintained when he first arrived. “But I still need to ask about the price of this thing.”

"Price?" Seeing the two looking at him, Charles hesitated for a moment, then held up one finger.

"One gold coin per bottle?" Herbert raised an eyebrow. "That's fine, we can still make a profit."

Hmm? Charles glanced at the small glass bottle on the table. The bottle was only half the size of his palm, and the other party agreed to one gold coin per bottle. He had originally intended to say ten bottles for one gold coin.

"This thing is indeed very difficult to make. I'll contact you as soon as it's finished after spring." Charles glanced at Earl Silver Wolf somewhat guiltily, but the latter was still rubbing his nose and didn't seem to care about Charles at all.

It seems that the dragon's breath has temporarily rendered Count Silver Wolf's nose useless, preventing him from discerning whether Charles is lying based on smell.

"No problem, but this bottle?" Herbert reached out and picked up the bottle, frowning as he examined it. "Judging from its appearance, it's not really suitable for sending to the capital."

"It's just an ordinary medicine bottle," Charles quickly said. "I have some ideas about the bottle's appearance."

Then he described the interesting snuff bottles from his previous life to the two people opposite him, which made their eyes light up and they both nodded in agreement with Charles's suggestion.

"I'll go back and immediately gather the manpower to see if we can manufacture it according to your specifications," Herbert said with a smile. He then picked up a bottle of wine from the coffee table and filled all three of their glasses with wine. "Let's celebrate our business."

"Hmm, business." Count Gene reached for his wine glass, his other hand still rubbing the bottom of his nose.

Charles smiled, raised his glass, and clinked it with theirs. "This time, there's no blood in the wine."

…………

"What's mixed in here?" Sophia pulled off the cap of the potion bottle, then yawned and tried to smell it.

"It's nothing, just a regular potion," John stammered. "The boss told me to give it to you, to say..."

"For me?" Sophia didn't wait for John to finish speaking before tilting her head back and drinking it all.

"Wait," John exclaimed immediately, "It's not for drinking, no, it's not for you to drink."

Under Sophia's questioning gaze, he quickly said, "The boss made a potion that he said could strengthen the soul, but I don't know how effective it is. I want you to find a senior alchemist in the Church of Life to take a look."

"Oh." Sophia nodded. "A potion made by the Chosen One."

"What sir?" Little John smacked his eyes, not understanding what the other person was saying.

"None of your business, you idiot number one." Sophia waved her hand, then yawned. "Is this what you asked me to do this morning? I feel really sleepy right now, nothing else."

"You're always so sleepy," John muttered under his breath.

"If you want to test the medicine, you'll need to have him make a few more bottles. This one is no longer enough," Sophia said, looking down at her hands and the rest of her body. "I don't feel anything wrong, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

"However," she changed the subject, "you'll have to wait until I get back to find the alchemist."

"return?"

"Yes, His Holiness the Bishop needs me to go to the church headquarters to take care of some things. I'll have to leave Torch City for a while." Sophia shrugged and said somewhat helplessly, "I didn't want to either. Once I'm at headquarters, I won't be able to sleep in anymore. I really don't know why I have to go."

"What do you need to do?"

"It's nothing," Sophia said casually. "I need to go to the Cathedral of Holy Life to see the bishops there."

"I'll come back to Torch City as soon as I'm done," she said with a smile.