Berserk: The Prophet

Chapter 313 Etienne of Wyndam

After obtaining their stall permits, Green and his companions drove their horse-drawn carriage to the market. Their stall was located on the edge of the market, right next to the spice section.

As Jacob sorted through the goods and wheat, he lowered his voice and said, "I heard that the person assassinated last night was a member of the royal family, apparently the wife of General Yuris, the White Dragon Regiment Commander. This matter is definitely not that simple."

Green placed a bag of bread on the ground and glanced at the guards coming and going around him: "Kadi has always been meticulous. This assassination must have a deeper plan. We must act discreetly and carefully now, so as not to get involved in his affairs. It's really bad luck."

His current identity is that of the son of a poor merchant, responsible for helping to sell and look after the goods, which is to say, setting up a stall.

Jacob and he are now playing the role of father and son. After all, Jacob was the first knight to be summoned and has been with him for a long time. Jacob has lost much of his aristocratic air and looks like a commoner.

But Corribo and his griffin riders were different. For the members of the knightly order, the dignity and honor of a warrior were practically ingrained in their bones. So they played the role of guards and helpers. The burly men looked formidable and saved Green a lot of trouble.

Jacob had already inquired about the price of whole wheat bread that morning. Since copper coins were being used extensively to develop new artillery, Midland quickly changed its monetary system to keep up with the times.

Silver coins that were originally worth 160 copper coins are now only worth 120 copper coins. The Kingdom of Midland even spent more than 5000 gold coins to pay the ransom to General Yuris and others. Domestic tax rates have been rising again and again, and with the years of war, even the price of grain in the capital has increased significantly.

A bag of bread can be sold for about 800 copper coins, and a whole wheat bread is about 16 copper coins. Of course, this whole wheat bread is big and filling, and it's not as unpalatable as rye bread. If you convert it to the system's item weight, one loaf weighs about 800g.

It was almost the same price as Barkley's, and a 50-kilogram bag of wheat cost 48 copper coins. It was a large quantity and filling, and some wheat porridge was more sustenance than bread.

"Bread, freshly baked whole wheat bread from yesterday. 16 coppers each, 30 coppers for two, buy more and save more, delicious and inexpensive."

Although it was late autumn, the midday sun was still quite strong in Wyndam. Green fanned himself with a fan as he sat at his stall, calling out his wares.

Greene remembered that the girl would pass by here at dusk to look out at the castle.

"What kind of bread is so expensive?" A burly man approached Green's stall.

Green looked up and saw that the newcomer was burly, with dark red stains on his leather armor, a chipped battle axe hanging at his waist, and twisted animal patterns engraved on his bronze bracers—clearly the attire of a mercenary who had spent years licking blood from the edge of a knife.

Behind the man were two henchmen wearing headscarves, their eyes frequently glancing at the sacks of wheat piled up beside the stall.

With a beaming smile, Green handed over a plate of pre-cut sample bread. "Try this wheat flavor. It's freshly milled wheat, without a trace of rye bran."

The man took a bite, his cheeks puffed out a few times, and suddenly slammed the bread in his hand to the ground: "Pah! You dare to sell this for 16 coppers? You can buy three loaves of bread from Old Tom's in the west of the city for 12 coppers!" His henchmen immediately scattered and surrounded the stall, attracting the attention of the surrounding merchants.

Out of the corner of his eye, Green saw that Koriribo's hand was already on the hilt of his sword, and quickly raised his hand to signal him not to move.

"You don't know this." He bent down to pick up the bread scattered on the ground, dusted it off, and put it back on the plate to feed the horses.

“Old Tom’s family uses last year’s wheat. Judging from the color, it’s mixed with at least 2% pea flour. Feel this bread of mine,” he said, grabbing one and stuffing it into the man’s hand. “It’s a genuine product made from pure wheat, heavy enough to weigh two pounds each. It’s enough for two meals for you.”

The man scoffed and threw the bread back at the stall: "Stop talking nonsense! I think you're just trying to rip people off! If you don't give me justice today, don't even think about setting up a stall in this market!" His henchmen behind him joined in the commotion, creating a tense atmosphere; they were clearly there to cause trouble.

“You get what you pay for. If you’re here to cause trouble, our guards aren’t pushovers. Even if we’re poor, we used to be true Wyndamians.” Green said in a Wyndamian accent. People in the capital don’t care if you have money or not; it’s all about take it or leave it.

Meanwhile, the burly Koriribo and his men had also stepped forward. The nine tall men, each over 1.8 meters tall, were enough to intimidate anyone just by looking at them. Moreover, their eyes carried a murderous aura that had been on the battlefield. They were clearly elite soldiers. How could a man who had also killed several people on the battlefield not recognize them?

He simply took advantage of the fact that he had spent some time on the battlefield and then, having no more battles to fight, he stayed in Windam and became a hooligan.

"you...!"

Just then, a cool voice came from the crowd: "Hey, what's going on here? Blocking a bread stall in the middle of the day, don't you want others to do business?"

The crowd looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man in a long robe decorated with dark brown fur slowly walking over. He had delicate features, an outstanding temperament, and an air of nobility in every gesture. He was followed by two guards.

Green was overjoyed. This was just in time! Wasn't this the guild master of the Wyndam Guild? He'd also heard he was the mayor of Wyndam. The mercenary, seeing that a person in charge had arrived, toned down his tone slightly: "Sir, this stall owner's bread is too expensive, and he's cheating people. I just want to get justice."

The young man chuckled: "Fair? I've noticed you've been hanging out with Old Tom a lot lately. You've been harassing the bakeries around here quite a bit. Are you just jealous of their good business and deliberately trying to cause trouble?" As he spoke, he picked up a loaf of bread, took a bite, and praised: "This bread is full of wheat flavor, tastes great, and is quite substantial. 16 coppers a piece is very fair. If you can't afford it, don't cause trouble here."

The mercenary was rendered speechless, his face flushed red, and he slunk away with his henchmen.

Green looked at the young man gratefully and said softly, "Thank you for your help, sir."

The young man smiled and waved his hand: "It's nothing. I can't stand this kind of bullying behavior either. If he messes up our business, it will really affect the reputation of our guild."

After saying that, he picked out a few more loaves of bread, paid for them, and prepared to leave.

Green moved quickly and grabbed two more large loaves of bread, stuffing them into the man's hands.

“Sir, this is a small token of my appreciation; please accept it,” Green said sincerely.

The young man looked at Green with a hint of admiration in his eyes. This kid was clever and had the makings of a businessman.

"You're a grateful person." He didn't refuse and accepted the bread without any qualms.

“My name is Etienne. I usually spend my days on this shopping street. You can come to me if you need anything.”

Green was overjoyed and quickly thanked him, saying, "President Etienne, my name is Green. I will definitely repay you handsomely if there is an opportunity in the future."

Etienne smiled and nodded. "If you don't want to set up a stall long-term, you can ask Allen at the general store if he'd be willing to buy these breads, or you can ask the bakeries that have been here for a long time. With such a large population in Wyndam, even if you dump bread of this quality in large quantities at this price, there will be plenty of people who want it."