While Zhao was busy, an earthshaking situation unfolded in the Ica Plains. For the first time in the history of the Purcell clan, their pest control army wasn't able to stop the infestation, rather, they just realized that this plague was the worst among all the pest infestation recorded.
Since this was already the case, and having been sent all available forces from Fort Benniu, a clan elder from Casa City, Shirvan, was ordered to lead a team to go on the east side of the Ica plains.
Zhao and green cast the pest on over ten thousand acres of land, coincidentally, they were all in the eastern part of the Ica Plains. This was the reason why the elder was sent towards the eastern area hoping that they can exterminate the pests the shortest possible time.
When they arrived, they were surprised, what they saw was really beyond their imagination.
There was a large number of pests infesting the fields. They saw that the buffer zones formed weren't able to block the pests. They also observed that these pests reproduce really fast and easily broke through the buffer zones.
Due to this, the army's five magician were tasked to handle atleast a thousand hectare each, which was simply impossible. Even accounting the rest of the warriors and slaves, there's no way it can work. And upon the arrival of Shirvan, the pest control army from Fort Benniu was still forming another buffer zone, which would be quite useless now.
Truth is, they don't even know that these pests wouldn't be gone until their predetermined lifespan was over.
In reality, Zhao's space was an existence different from all the magic in the Ark Continent. The logic behind the laws it contained were different as compared to what this world has. Thus, everyone assumed that the pests dies after they stomped them down or attacked with their magic skills. They concluded that their reproductive ability was simply astonishing that even if they kill them, they still maintained their numbers. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Those bugs really die, but amazingly, they immediately revive after, and when they do, they turn into a young bug again and would move really fast to another wheat plant and start infesting. Due to their number, Purcell clan's army weren't able to notice this occurrence.
Aside from an elder from Casa City and the army that was previously sent by Fort Benniu, everyone in Fort Benniu, the clan members and their slaves, were were now mobilized. Remember, there's a total of five million people in the fort, and almost all were now in the Ica plains.
Only around five thousand were left in Fort Benniu, which includes the guards and old, weak people.
With a large movement like this, each and every merchant in the Purcell Duchy were alerted. They sent spies to monitor what the Purcell clan's been doing.
Earlier, when Fort Benniu sent a pest control army, merchants who has a relation to any member of the Purcell clan already sent letters asking about the situation. After inquiring, they were informed that there's a pest infestation occurring in the Eastern Ica plains.
These merchants really didn't mind it that much, after all, we're talking about the Purcell clan. They knew this issue would be resolved soon.
But then, when the news of the massive movement in Fort Benniu were known by them, they concluded that things weren't as simple as they though it was.
Unfortunately, now, they don't have anyone to ask about the situation, after all, most of their contacts were already deployed towards Eastern Ica plains.
However, these merchants knew, with the massive damage brought about by the pest infestation, there will surely be food shortage, which means, prices for food will go up significantly.
This is a big opportunity!
For merchants, the disastrous infestation was not within their priorities, they actually don't care. What they care about was the impact it will bring, thus, this news spread like wildfire among the merchants in the Purcell Duchy, Laura's Markey clan included.
The Markey clan's merchant firm in the City of Casa was controlled by Laura. They had been training wind falcons for relaying messages. Laura decided to give Nier the responsibility of raising them after she saw that Nier really loves beasts, and surprisingly, she was loved by the beasts as well.
Recently, Nier was very happy. Her life was simple. If Laura was happy, she was happy too.
Nier was feeding the wind falcon. Wind falcons were actually not picky about their food, but they prefer meat. Altogether, there's a total of two hundred wind falcons in Laura's shop, one hundred of which were still growing up. Everyday they need to provide a large amount of feeds for them to eat.
Usually, a dozen of people would be needed to take care of two hundred wind falcons. After all, these birds are to be taught, thus, they should also be fed carefully, otherwise, they'll be aggressive and even attack and injure their trainers.
In Laura's case, Nier was the only trainer taking care of all the wind falcons. As long as she delivered food, the birds would happily eat them. Sometimes, Nier brings live prey to let the falcons experience predating. This was the reason why their wind falcons really looked better than other falcons raised and trained by the other families and clans.
Suddenly, while Nier was feeding the falcons, she heard a falcon's cry. The falcon approached her and quickly landed on her shoulders. She froze for a moment, after looking at the falcon, she saw a letter tied to the legs.
Nier immediately took the letter and said: “Little Thirteen, good work, now go inside and eat, otherwise, your brothers will take your share.” Nier named the wind falcon using numbers. She can recognize them instantly, even though the birds didn't have any mark on them. This was her special ability.
The wind falcon rubbed its beak towards Nier's face a few times before flying towards it's nest to eat. Nier then took the letter to the study.
Laura was reading the accounting book in the study. Zhao's raddish sold easily and were really popular among the commoners. Even some mercenaries buy from them. The high magic content was the reason why, and was also the reason why Laura's chain of shops got the name "Higanbana".
Due to the popularity and high sales of Zhao's magic radishes in all Higanbana shops throughout the Purcell Duchy, Laura was happy.
Just then, Nier came and said: “Miss, Little Thirteen just brought back a letter, possibly related to the situation in Fort Benniu.”
Laura was startled for a moment before taking the letter. The letter was really related to Fort Benniu's situation. It was the report sent by the spy they placed in Fort Benniu. Laura's complexion changed after reading just a few words from the letter. She turned around and excitedly said: “Nier, immediately call Granpa Kun, quickly!”
Nier doesn't know why Laura was excited and immediately complied. Before long, Kun came, and saw how Laura's been acting. He had been with her ever since she was young, so he knew that something significant happened, causing her to act this way. He immediately said: “Laura, what's the matter?”
Laura turned around and said while handing out the letter to Kun: “Grandpa Kun, a massive pest infestation occurred in the Ica plains, grain production are sure to be reduced greatly.”
Kun's facial expression immediately went serious, then quickly read the content of the letter. The letter stated everything happening in the Ica plains, including the movement of the Purcell clan. Kun now knew, that the Ica plains has met a disastrous calamity.
After carefully reading the letter twice, Kun put the letter down and looked at laura saying: “Laura, what do you think?”
Laura responded: “This is a great opportunity. Since there's a problem in the Ica plains, surely, food prices will go up. Right now, we should start hoarding food and grains, this way we can earn a lot.”
Kun did not speak and nodded, when suddenly, a clear and cool voice said: “Laura, that is not good.”
NOTES:
-I removed several paragraphs as they were just rewording/rephrasing what was already been stated.
-Starting chapter 141, Markey clan's shops would be called Higanbana.
-Other changes includes: Purcell family to Purcell clan, Duchy of Versailles to Purcell Duchy (following the older translations).
-We'll soon have an editor, so i do hope you guys will bear with me for the meantime.
-This chapter was MTL'ed. Translation and editing was done solely by me. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thanks.
-Please don't copy this content without permission from the translator, author.
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