Chapter 30: The Highlanders
Chu Feng rubbed his forehead in frustration. “Are we going to find the Highlanders now?” Maybe they could go another day—he needed time to mentally prepare.
“It’s already arranged. Weren’t you in a hurry to live in a castle?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng: “…” He wasn’t actually that desperate.
Illya opened a nearby cabinet and took out a few jars of salt.
“You re-packaged the salt?” Chu Feng asked.
Illya nodded. “Yeah, your packaging stood out too much.” The salt Chu Feng brought looked really strange, covered with writing no one could understand—probably writing from across the sea.
Chu Feng nodded. “Fair enough.”
Illya looked at him and said, “Let’s just say you’re a traveling merchant, alright?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sounds good.”
Traveling merchants dealt in goods—it was a fitting cover. Though honestly, he was way more impressive than a typical trader.
Chu Feng followed Illya to the Highlanders’ settlement. It took nearly half a day to get there from Crescent Village.
Chu Feng thought: Ever since I came to this world, I’ve had to walk everywhere. This is too much. I used to own a car! Why am I still walking everywhere? But then again, that shaman did tell him to exercise more. Maybe this counted as part of the training.
“We’re almost there,” Illya said.
Chu Feng saw towering mountains ahead. “The Highlanders live in the mountains?”
Illya nodded. “Yes.”
“But didn’t you say they’re great at building houses?”
Illya nodded again. “They are—but they like living in caves.”
Chu Feng: “…” So, people who are good at building houses prefer to live in caves? What kind of logic is that?
From a distance, Chu Feng spotted a few figures moving on the mountain. “Are those Highlanders?”
Illya nodded. “Yes.”
Chu Feng squinted at the figures and thought: These Highlanders all look like muscle-bound warriors.
“Illya.” A burly man wearing a fur skirt and carrying a spiked club appeared in front of them.
“Thresh, long time no see.”
The man smiled. “Yeah, it’s been a while.” Then he turned his gaze to Chu Feng. “So this is the merchant you met outside?”
Illya nodded. “That’s right.”
Thresh looked at Chu Feng’s clothes and said, “This guy dresses weird.”
Chu Feng: “…” What’s weird about his outfit? And if it’s so weird, then don’t stare at it so greedily!
Chu Feng thought: When Illya first met me, he also stripped me of my clothes.
Chu Feng had a strange feeling that this big guy might be thinking the same way Illya did back then. People in this world were really too shameless. Maybe he should be glad it was Illya who first met him—getting undressed by a handsome guy was still better than being stripped by a brute.
Illya turned to Thresh and said, “You already know the situation.”
“As long as he’s willing to pay in salt and food, building the house is no problem,” Thresh said proudly. “Everyone knows the Highlanders are the best builders. Whatever kind of house you want, we can make it.”
Chu Feng nodded. “As long as you can build the kind of house I want, salt and food won’t be an issue.”
He pulled out two bamboo canisters. “This is what the salt looks like.”
Thresh took one and tasted the salt. “This is excellent quality!”
Illya smiled. “It’s refined salt.”
Thresh nodded. “If you’ve got this, everything can be negotiated.” The Highlanders were good at mining, but in the past, they often had to trade iron ore for rock salt and food. The price offered by humans was very low, and the Highlanders suffered because of it.
Chu Feng then pulled out his blueprint. “This is the kind of castle I want to build.”
Thresh frowned slightly when he saw it. “That’s a really well-drawn castle. Was it drawn by a gnome?”
Chu Feng shook his head and said, “No, I didn’t draw it.”
Thresh tilted his head and said, “If you want it built like this, I’m afraid…”
“There’s a problem?” Chu Feng asked.
Thresh shook his head. “If you just want it tall and large, that’s no problem. But it might not turn out as beautiful as the drawing.”
Illya thought to himself: It really would be difficult to make it exactly like the drawing.
Chu Feng nodded. “Let’s start first. We’ll figure things out as we go.” After all, building a castle wasn’t something that could be done overnight.
Thresh nodded. “Alright.”
Chu Feng handed him two jars of salt and said, “Thanks. Consider this a deposit.”
Thresh looked at him with a bit of confusion. “You’re really giving this to me? Aren’t you worried I’ll back out?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Of course not. You seem like a man of great integrity—I trust you.”
Thresh patted his chest and said proudly, “Don’t worry. We Highlanders always keep our word. We’re not like your human folk.”
“I hope we can start digging the foundation as soon as possible,” Chu Feng said. The sooner they began, the sooner he could have his own castle!
Thresh nodded. “No problem. I’ll arrange it right away.”
After making the agreement with the Highlanders, Chu Feng and Illya left.
Chu Feng let out a sigh of relief. “Salt really is popular, huh!”
Illya nodded. “Yes. Without salt for a long time, people lose strength. Highlanders have great strength, but if you want them to work for you, you’ll need to prepare plenty of food.”
As long as they had enough food, Highlanders could handle heavy labor. But if there wasn’t enough to eat, they would retreat into their stone caves to preserve energy. Salt was important—but food was just as crucial.
Chu Feng nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”
He thought to himself: These people don’t seem picky about food—just being full is enough. That made things easier. There were plenty of filling options.
