Chapter 146: Dumping and Changes

Are the currencies of the Karman United Republic still worth anything? The Karman noble lords don’t know;

But they know that the currency of Quever is genuinely valuable!

Especially virtual currencies at the Internet Bank are more valuable! Just leaving them there and not touching them, the interest grows daily.

Waving these virtual currencies around in Vis Els, you can buy almost anything you want.

Even Source Essence!

In such circumstances, almost no noble can resist the temptation of profit.

Nearly all of them secretly form teams to flood into the [Conquest Sub-Dimension].

Either to conquer Khazad-dûm and plunder wealth;

Or hunt green-skinned orcs to exchange for Source Essence.

Old Furn is one of the members of the gold-digging group organized by Count Boyce of the Grand Duchy of Gregor!

He was born a mercenary, but as he aged and grew weaker, he had to retire and return to farming.

It was at this time that people from Count Boyce secretly approached him, wanting to recruit him.

Faced with the choice between a bag of silver coins and the threat of death, the grief-stricken Old Furn had to choose the former, considering his family, especially his son who had become a knight’s servant.

When Old Furn stepped into Count Boyce’s secret mansion and received the Mithril Ring engraved with Internet Divine Magic, he was dumbfounded!

There was such incredible divine magic in this world?

It had no power, yet it was stronger than any power!

If he had obtained Internet Divine Magic when he was young, he was sure his achievements would not just be what they are now!

His life could definitely have been better!

But why didn’t he know?

He was not a farmer stuck in one place his whole life; he was an experienced mercenary who had traveled far and wide!

No need to think!

It must be those damned nobles who hid them away!

Exactly!

That must be it!

Old Furn thought secretly, filled with resentment.

In the following days, he helped Count Boyce hunt orcs to earn Merit Points while secretly pondering how to inform his son about Internet Divine Magic.

His life was settled.

But he didn’t want to see his son repeat his path.

Count Boyce was smart; he had signed contracts with everyone.

The contract stipulated that no one was allowed to disclose the secret of the Internet.

Under the contract’s power, Old Furn couldn’t reveal this secret.

Interestingly enough, during a trip to an orc tribe, he accidentally saw on the world channel someone mentioning a little trick to bypass the contract.

He was so excited that he quickly noted it down secretly.

“This is your salary, hurry back and report by tomorrow afternoon!”

It was time for his weekly visit home.

“Yes, Sir.”

After receiving his salary from the mansion’s butler, Old Furn nodded and bowed, then hurriedly left Count Boyce’s secret mansion.

Just after stepping out of the mansion, Old Furn suddenly stopped, feeling disoriented.

Although he had only been gone for a week, the city’s changes made him feel unfamiliar.

There were many bicycles and tricycles on the streets.

These novel items always attracted the attention of children.

The streets had become colorful.

Old Furn walked several steps before realizing—it was because many pedestrians wore more beautiful clothes.

In the past, the streets were always grayish.

Such vividly colored and luxurious clothing was only affordable for the noble lords.

What was going on?

Could it be that during his absence, the Internet had become popular and everyone had made money?

Does this mean he was fooled by Count Boyce?

Old Furn’s face darkened.

However, after careful observation, he denied this thought.

—Not a single pedestrian on the street accessed the Internet.

If the Internet truly became popular, this situation would be too strange.

Old Furn pondered while hurrying home. Passing by a cloth shop, the queue at its entrance caught his attention.

“What’s going on? Has the cloth price dropped?”

Old Furn grabbed someone at the end of the queue and asked, thinking, if the price dropped, he could buy some for his wife while he still had money.

She had been lamenting for years without new clothes.

“Price drop? It’s the same as before, 98 copper coins per piece!” said the person in the queue casually.

“What? What did you say? 98 copper coins? Isn’t… Wasn’t it over two hundred coins before?” Old Furn was shocked.

“Over two hundred? Are you not from around here? That was a week ago. Count Boyce was generous and dropped the cloth price last week!”

Old Furn was stunned. His instincts told him there was something fishy, but he didn’t know what it was.

He pondered for a long time and decided to go in and have a look.

Maybe the fabric was too poor.

When he entered the cloth shop and felt the fabric costing 98 per piece, he was amazed.

These fabrics weren’t top-notch.

However, they were not bad; they were much better than low-grade fabrics.

Most importantly, the weave pattern was very fine and regular, looking like the work of the most skilled weavers.

This fabric was at least mid-grade.

The problem was, why was this fabric sold so cheaply?

Old Furn couldn’t figure it out.

Nevertheless, he bought two pieces for his wife.

He lived outside the city, a bit far from home. Walking back would take too long.

He decided to take a freight ox cart, using the negotiating skills he honed during his mercenary days to reduce the fare from five copper coins to four.

Then, rocking on the cart, he made his way home.

Along the way, Old Furn casually chatted about the city’s changes.

The old man driving the cart knew what happened but not why.

He just repeated that Count Boyce had been very generous!

But as he said this, the old man sighed, “Count Boyce has been generous, but the weavers from all around are in trouble! Even before, cloth didn’t sell for a good price, and it was all hard-earned money. Now, no one can sell their cloth. Selling it at a discount means losing money! Many people’s spinning thread is on credit, tell me, isn’t this taking lives?”

Old Furn was stunned.

The old man sighed again, “Now, no one weaves cloth anymore. What can the weavers do but fight for other jobs? Now, even laundry work has fallen to one copper for two clothes, and still, everyone fights for it. If you’re slow, you won’t get the work.”

“The widow Marry from our village, known far and wide for her weaving, stopped weaving and went to clean night pots instead. But she never returned; they say someone in the city took a liking to her.”

“What liking? I bet she got ambushed. A local thug said he saw her by the kiln, but who knows if he’s mistaken.”

Amidst the old man’s rambling, the ox cart arrived at the village fork.

Time to get off.

After a moment of silence, Old Furn decided to count five copper coins from his purse and handed them over.

That extra copper was easy for him to earn, but not for the old man.

Returning home, the old house was unchanged.

When his wife saw him, she was both surprised and joyful, wiping her tears fearfully, saying she thought an enemy had come for revenge.

Had their son not become a knight’s retainer, making his roots here, she almost considered moving.

Old Furn didn’t know how to comfort his wife and could only pretend everything was fine.

As expected, she scolded him for wasting money on the cloth he brought.

However, seeing her constantly measure the new cloth and match it against some old clothes, Old Furn knew she was happy deep down.

The family spent the evening in his wife’s joyful planning of how to use the new cloth.

After dinner, Old Furn called his son, stared into his eyes, and solemnly asked, “If you had the chance to become a Mage Lord, would you take it?”

Young Furn was stunned.

[Tribute to Zhang Xiaoce’s short video ‘This dollar is easy for me to earn, but not for her.’]