Chapter 256: Carrying the Knockoff Through to the End

“Three portions of Lembas!” Such shouts rose and fell one after another in the temporary Adventurer camp set up outside the military camp.

Outside a Wagon, tables and tarpaulins were pieced together to form a simple shop.

Boxes upon boxes of Bolerum Territory Portable Rations were piled up behind the table.

Two sturdy, dark-skinned men, glistening with sweat, were using the holy sword of physics—the crowbar—to pry open the wooden boxes one by one.

The rations, wrapped neatly in cloth pieces, were taken out and stacked neatly on the table.

Although their movements were fast, they were far outpaced by the enthusiasm of the Adventurers rushing to buy.

The young man behind the table responsible for collecting money was truly extremely busy.

However, while money and goods changed hands, his partner seemed to have unspeakable bitterness!

Before the sun was high in the sky, the young man responsible for selling knocked on the copper bell beside him and shouted: “Today’s quota is already sold out. Those who still need it should come early tomorrow.”

“What? Sold out so quickly? Is there no stock left?” From the long line outside the tarpaulin, people kept shouting similar questions.

The young salesman behind the table answered with a smiling face: “Our Wagon only carries this much cargo every day, and there is no workshop here. Even if we wanted stock, there’s no place to put it, right?”

The big Adventurer at the front of the line had an uncertain expression on his face for a while.

He turned his head to look at the barracks not far away, sighed with a gloomy face, and then turned around and left.

“Disperse! Disperse!” Someone in the line shouted this, and then, amidst the agreement of the crowd, the long dragon scattered like birds and beasts.

The young man, who finally saw no dispute arise, loosened his hands that were tightly clenched under the table.

The clothes on his back were also wet and sticking to his spine.

When the people had mostly scattered, he pulled the tarpaulin closed, leaned on the table, and panted: “That really scared me to death. Just now, I thought a fight was about to break out!”

“I say, you kid are too spineless! To be scared facing guys like that, you really don’t look like a person from our Bolerum Territory at all.” The sturdy man next to him moved the empty boxes back onto the vehicle one by one, patted the young man’s shoulder, and teased.

“I only moved to this Territory not long ago! Besides, if I had Talbot’s muscles, of course I wouldn’t be afraid of guys like that.” The young man looked at his partner stuffing all the coins into a deerskin bag. He spoke to the sturdy man with a face full of envy. In this world, admiring the strong could be said to be a quite common phenomenon.

After that sturdy man bent his arm and pressed it with his fingers to show off his muscles, he stretched out a finger and shook it, saying: “Little guy, if you want to get this kind of thing, you have to work hard for it! If you are willing to exercise, go learn to move goods at the dock! Although it’s a bit tiring, the effect is obvious, and it can also subsidize your family. And the fish at the port are quite cheap. Although it’s just white meat, with it, your body basically won’t be worn out.”

Although no one in this world has conducted in-depth research on nutrition, the knowledge accumulated over years, after being passed down from generation to generation, has formed some relatively systematic experience.

However, after the other sturdy man finished the work at hand, he started to interrupt: “Little guy, don’t think that having brute strength like him is enough. That’s just dead strength! This guy wasn’t selected during conscription back then because his reaction speed was too slow.”

Talbot, whose scar was uncovered, pointed at the other’s nose and retorted: “You are just an ordinary phalanx infantryman. You are not much better than me in this regard.”

“But I was selected in the end. Unlike some people who can only cry silently under a big tree alone.” The person being pointed at did not get angry, but instead smiled and exposed the other’s past. His seemingly harmless smile looked so punchable in Talbot’s eyes.

In the Duchy of Nohan, which pursued a military-first policy, everyone took pride in serving in the army. Although the officials did not specifically distinguish between these ordinary people, comparing with each other was human nature. As a result, whether or not one served in the army became an important standard for distinguishing success among ordinary people. When these active or retired soldiers were with their fellow villagers who were not selected, a sense of superiority inevitably arose in their hearts.

“If I wasn’t selected, then I wasn’t selected! Who told me to be young and confused back then, and listen to the stupid words of those Adventurers. It’s my own fault that my movements became stiff.” Unexpectedly, Talbot gave in just like that. The two young men next to them who were preparing to watch the show immediately lost their enthusiastic look.

However, before those two turned back to pack their things, Talbot changed the subject and started to provoke: “But just because I can’t do it doesn’t mean my son can’t. I’m working my life off making money now, just hoping he can build a good foundation before reaching conscription age. Do you want to compare which of our two boys will do better in the army in the future?”

“Fine! If you want to compare, let’s compare. But this time, don’t go getting some Secret Art from who knows where and end up harming your son. If it happened the first time, it could be called an accident, but if it happens again, it just shows that you are stupid.” The latter was less provoking and more reminding someone not to make the same mistake again.

The fire in their eyes burned brightly, and their gazes almost collided with electric sparks.

“By the way, two uncles, can we also join the army?” The young man who had packed the money bag and confirmed the amount looked up and asked. At the same time, another young man also showed a look of hope. It seemed that although he hadn’t settled in Bolerum Territory for long, he had already been influenced by the strong pro-military atmosphere here.

“Carmel, of course you have no problem, but you have to start training hard now, otherwise with your thin arms and legs, you definitely won’t be selected.” Talbot put down the confrontation with the person just now and said with some embarrassment, “But Dempsey, it won’t be that easy for you. If you were just a Freeman settling from outside, it would be fine. But your family was actually outside the Duchy of Nohan before, that’s troublesome. Generally, conscription doesn’t accept people with such status. When you have a son in the future, he shouldn’t have this restriction. But if you really want to learn a few moves, the regular Militia training has slightly looser restrictions in this regard, and I can be your guarantor. But you must not embarrass me too much with your performance inside, otherwise, when I get angry, I might hit people.”

“Is that really so?” This young man, who was very gifted in dealing with people, suddenly lost his spirit.

“Although Talbot is right, it’s not entirely impossible.” That man hooked Talbot’s shoulder and said.

“Karnes, don’t brag here! You don’t have the ability to get little Dempsey into the army.” Talbot turned his head and glared at Karnes, as if saying, is it fun to deceive a child?

Karnes patted the other’s shoulder, shook his head and said: “I certainly don’t have that ability, but the Lord does. So Talbot, don’t bury your head in deadly work all day long. Go ask around for news, maybe you can earn more. Don’t you know that the Lord has lowered the requirements for personnel background in the navy? Although staying at sea all year round without seeing land is a painful thing, it’s still being a soldier! I guess regular training is probably indispensable, I just don’t know if little Dempsey gets seasick.”

“Get on the boat!” It seemed he thought of some bad memories, this young man named Dempsey turned pale.

“In that case! Then it seems there is no way.” Karnes shrugged at the few people.

However, before going back, they had to go to the camp entrance and report today’s rations sales to George. Normally, George wouldn’t need to handle such a small matter personally, but since this was the first retail sale of this new type of ration under his name, he naturally paid extra attention.

“Are you saying that from early morning to noon, the full cart of rations brought here has already been sold out?” George asked in disbelief.

The middle-aged man with a face full of wrinkles replied: “Yes, my Lord, these full sixty boxes of rations were all sold out in less than three hours. Oh! It wasn’t even that long. Because today was the first day of opening, business was very cold for the first nearly two hours. Most of it was sold in the latter two hours. And with today’s warm-up, the same cart of goods tomorrow will last at most about two hours.”

“In that case, we should be able to increase sales volume tomorrow. This is really good news.” But then George thought of something and asked with some concern, “But can the workshop’s production keep up?”

“If it’s just the rations, I heard from the foreman that the speed can be increased a bit. But there might be some problems with the wooden boxes and Linen. The production of those things was already tight before, so it might be difficult to increase it further.” The supervisor who came with the team said with a difficult look on his face.

At this time, perhaps bureaucratic Lords had the habit of working at night, and Mages would also study hard and experiment all night by lamplight. But among Craftsmen, except for the Blacksmith by the furnace, few worked at night.

This was caused not only by the habit of working at sunrise and resting at sunset, but more by the lack of effective lighting tools. The former could be solved by administrative orders, but for the latter, George couldn’t find a cheap alternative for a while.

George lowered his head and thought for a moment, then immediately made a decision: ‘Since we are going to make a knockoff, let’s go all the way with the knockoff!’

“Since it’s retail, there’s no point in loading these items in sealed boxes. Can’t the boxes collected today still be used? Just keep using these boxes!” George paused and then continued, “As for the Linen problem, these Adventurers probably don’t plan to store them for a long time after buying them! So just wrap them with clean, large leaves. No more using Linen. And it can also well distinguish between retail and bulk purchase.”

The middle-aged man immediately gave his assurance: “Understood, my Lord, I will solve this problem immediately when I go back.”

Suddenly a bit worried, George specifically reminded: “Although those Adventurers are not very particular about rations, the outer packaging can change, but the quality of the rations inside cannot change. I don’t want to lose the big picture for the small and ruin the reputation of our Bolerum Territory.”

“Understood, my Lord! I will pay more attention to this aspect.” The middle-aged man nodded in reply and left with George’s permission.

“I say, George, I’ve never understood why you named this ration Lembas? Is there any special meaning in it?” Hiren, who had been standing behind George without speaking, suddenly asked this question.

George answered quite naturally: “I just suddenly felt that it should be called this name, there is no special meaning in it.”

‘I won’t say it’s because the impression of The Lord of the Rings is too deep!’ George thought with a wicked sense of humor.

The “Lembas” in The Lord of the Rings was originally made by Yavanna in the Undying Lands from a certain grain. During the Great Migration, it was given to the Elves of Middle-earth through the hands of Oromë as food for long journeys, so it was also called “Waybread”.

Although the Elves learned the method of making it, they were ordered not to share it with other mortal races of Middle-earth unless in an emergency. Because according to legend, if those races ate it frequently, they would develop a desire to live with the Elves and gain immortality, and long to enter the Undying Lands of Aman.

Even among the Elves, it was only allowed for those who had to travel long distances in the wild or whose lives were in danger, because its seeds contained the vigorous vitality of Aman, and passed this ability to the legal eaters, so it was also called “Life Bread”.

Each cake was a full circle like the flower of Telperion in full bloom, wrapped in silver leaves, and the knot tied on it had the Queen’s seal; according to the custom of the Eldar, only the Queen had the power to keep and give Lembas.

Nothing could show the love of Melian, who was a Maia, for the Elf King Turin more than this gift; for the Eldar never allowed Humans to eat this kind of ration in the past, and rarely did so in the future.

It is said that the crops that produced it grew in sunny glades, and the Elves specially sent people to guard them. They collected the golden, large, and full ears grain by grain with their hands instead of metal blades. The remaining white stems were pulled from the ground in the same way and woven into grain baskets for collecting the grains. No worm or beast accustomed to gnawing could touch those glowing stems; they would not rot nor mold, and no other evil thing in Middle-earth could corrupt them.

From the ears to the thin cakes, no one could touch those grains except the Elf maidens called “Maidens of Yavanna”; the craft of making Lembas they learned from the Valar was also never passed on, a secret skill passed down from generation to generation.

It was this magical food produced under such conditions. Although it looked like a thick biscuit, legend had it that eating just one piece could keep a person energetic for a day. A certain short, hairy-footed guy was able to send a certain heavily polluted non-recyclable trash into a dedicated incinerator thanks to this ration.

The ration under George’s name certainly did not have such magical effects, but this did not stop Adventurers from liking this novel food. Especially the tiny bits of fish meat mixed in the flatbread, which was the topic they discussed most. Although this could only slightly improve the taste. But the appearance of meat itself gave them a hint that this thing must taste good.

In fact, most Adventurers appearing in teams did not fail to prepare rations in advance. Although they couldn’t fully replenish them due to hasty actions, such a large purchase volume now couldn’t be explained by just filling the gaps.

Even with simplified packaging and increased shipments, the rations on the second day were still swept away within three hours. After three consecutive days of hot sales, such rations seemed to experience a saturation period, but with the return of the first batch of Adventurers who entered the Underground, the hot sales of rations seemed to be intensifying.

In that gloomy and cold Underground, there was nothing more enjoyable than adding some water, picking non-toxic mushrooms identified by magic, and boiling this ration into a pot of hot porridge. The only benefit was probably being able to lie directly on the thick layer of moss mushrooms! It was said that thing was softer than a velvet mattress.

In fact, just the Underground of the Duchy was a three-dimensional underground space of over 300 square kilometers, plus the dense and intricate layered tunnels, the search volume was immense.

A mere few hundred Adventurers could not search it clearly in a short time. Whether for them or for the Duchy of Nohan, this was a long process.

Moreover, these Adventurers had to rest for a few hours every day, or even rest for a whole night. They couldn’t make themselves extremely tired during focused searching; that would be seeking death in the dangerous Underdark!

Even the most powerful warriors could not go without rest continuously; they would also get tired—there are thieves for a thousand days, but no one guards against thieves for a thousand days. And in this region full of unknowns, they had to be vigilant at all times.

Therefore, fatigue often came faster, rest became more frequent, and rest time became longer. This made the entire exploration process extremely long.

However, the only good news for the Duchy of Nohan was that such dragnet exploration still hadn’t found traces of the main force of the Dark Elves nearby. Except for the lizard mounts of the Dark Elves vanguard that were found dying at the beginning, there was really no clue at all.

Such hot sales made George start to worry about the grain inventory in his Territory.