Starting with the sentries on the frontier

After comforting Rosa for a while, Zag took her back to town, successfully completing his mission.

"I really don't know how to thank you!" Rosa's father, his back hunched, burst into tears of joy the moment he saw Rosa. "I thought I'd never see this child again!"

"Rosa...she's very lucky. Although she did encounter the Blackfang Hounds and was attacked, my friend happened to be there and treated her wounds immediately, so there's no need to worry. The wounds will probably heal on their own in about a year." Zag explained the situation simply, omitting the mention of the tree spirit, and advised, "Don't go deeper into that forest. If you want to pick red currants, it's best to only pick them on the outer edges."

The old man readily agreed, "No problem, no problem, thank you, sir, thank you very much."

Rosa then retrieved two tin-mouthed glass jars from the house at some point: "Sir Sentinel, I have some red currant jam here. Please don't refuse it; it really can't express even a fraction of my gratitude."

Zag readily accepted their gratitude, took the jam, and politely said goodbye: "Now that the matter is resolved, I'll return to my post. Good luck to you."

May Meredra bless you.

On the way back to the outpost, Snowball kept circling around Zag, expressing high praise and affirmation for the mission: "Look, foolish Modo got help, you got the money, nobody got hurt, it was a perfect job!"

Zag countered, "Strictly speaking, the association was harmed; they lost a significant portion of their revenue."

"Bullshit! Their treasury is overflowing with gold pounds! They don't need this little bit!" Snowball, fearing that Zag would quit after just one job, raised his voice considerably. "Besides, you didn't do a single thing! It was all thanks to me! All thanks to the great Lord Snowball and the tree spirits negotiating! So you have to give me at least half of this commission... no, most of it! Understand? Most of it!"

Who could refuse a hamster's request?

Zag casually replied, "No problem. 100 shillings of that will be your special fund for buying dried fish in the future."

"That's not enough... no, that's not right! You have to give me most of it! And you should have bought me dried fish in the first place!"

Zag didn't reply, not because he felt guilty about fooling Hakimi, but because he ran into the town's postman.

"Sentinel! You're finally back!"

Like the sentries, the town's postman was a one-man job, so Zag and the postman were very familiar with each other.

In fact, the two dealt with each other frequently. Whether it was a lord's edict from Golden Helmet Fortress or a decree from the Golden Palace or the Royal Court relayed by the Association, it was always delivered to him by this postman. After all, even though the Association's outpost in the town was only a few minutes away from the sentry post, the investigators there, all from official Association backgrounds, were unwilling to condescend to move an inch.

"The lord has issued a prohibition order on alcohol, so I slipped this letter under the door to let you know!"

Zag was startled: "Prohibition?!"

There was absolutely no prior indication of this!

And what about Felix's tavern business?

Before he knew it, Zag had begun to worry about his "friends".

As if knowing what Zag was thinking, the postman quickly explained, "Don't worry, not all alcohol is prohibited, only grain-based alcohol is banned from sale. Mead and wine are not included. You know, grain prices throughout the entire Eastern Territory have skyrocketed, and the lord is doing this to control them!"

Zag nodded somewhat awkwardly: "Ah, indeed, grain prices have risen too dramatically lately."

"You bet! Bread was 4 pence a pound the day before yesterday, and yesterday it was 5 pence! If it keeps going up, I'll be eating baked potatoes every day!" the postman complained casually, then patted his satchel full of letters. "I still have mail to deliver, so I'll be going now!"

"Good luck!"

"You too!"

No sooner had the postman left than Zag heard Snowball's familiar mocking voice: "Tsk tsk tsk, look at these wicked humans, these foolish Modo, what have they done for their own selfish desires! Hopefully, dried fish won't go up in price, after all, Golden Helmet Grain Store doesn't deal with buying and selling river delicacies!"

Zag sighed. "This is not something a lowly sentry like me can concern myself with."

Golden Helmet Grain Store—that's the property of Earl Golden Helmet, the lord of the Eastern Frontier Territory…

No, wait...

If the Golden Helmet Grain Company's actions were tacitly approved by the Earl of Golden Helmet, then he would never have issued the prohibition order!

This means that Earl Golden Helmet himself may have been completely unaware of the grain merchants' underhanded dealings!

Thinking of this, Zag quickly ran a few steps, slammed the door shut as soon as he entered the sentry post, and then picked up the crumpled letter that had been stuffed into his hand.

He opened the envelope and quickly scanned the contents of the letter.

It was indeed the edict of the Earl of the Golden Helmet, though not written by him personally, but it bore his signature and seal.

The letter, likely written by the steward or assistant, was very formulaic. It stated that the lord, concerned about soaring grain prices in the Eastern Territory, had decided to temporarily implement a prohibition on alcohol. The brewing and trade of all grain-based alcoholic beverages, including beer, were strictly prohibited within the Eastern Territory. However, mead, wine, and other fruit wines, as well as non-grain-based alcoholic beverages, would be exempt.

There's nothing particularly special about it, but what's certain is that the Earl himself was unaware of the grain merchants' hoarding and price gouging activities.

Unless Earl Goldhelm has some mead or wine he wants to sell, promoting these non-grain-based beverages in such a roundabout way is absurd. Would a powerful earl, the lord of the Eastern Frontier, need to earn such a small amount of money in this way? Raising taxes directly would probably be simpler and faster!

"It seems the grain merchant and the Earl himself are not in cahoots."

As he spoke, Zag walked to the table, unfolded the letter, spread it out on the table, took a new sheet of paper, laid it flat, and began to copy the decree.

"Looks like you're not completely stupid after all!"

Snowball stood with its hands on its hips, flapping its wings directly in front of Zhag's head, its tail swaying leisurely behind it, looking down at him.

Zag paused for a moment, as if casually asking, "So, do you want me to report them?"

"How could you have such an absurd idea!?" Snowball's eyes widened. "Not to mention that you're just a lowly sentry, it's hard to say whether the Earl would even be willing to see you. Even if he did, would he believe your nonsense?"

"Or, even if he believes it and sends people to investigate the grain store, so what? Do you have any evidence? They could simply dispose of the grain, burn it at will, or sacrifice it to some indiscriminate demon god, and then insist that they were attacked and suffered heavy losses. What can you do then? Let that guy who looks like he's about to die, who came out of the Tower of Solitude, defend you?"

"You're right."

For once, Zag did not refute Snowball's sarcasm, but instead continued to carefully transcribe the contents of the letter.

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【Merethra】: Merethra Syss Chthonia, the Earth Mother Goddess, is in charge of reproduction, childbirth, marriage and family, and has a wide range of followers. She is one of the nine Holy Spirits in the official faith of the High Kingdom.

The format of the ritual incantation is as follows:

I call upon you, Mother of the Earth, Ruler of Procreation and Marriage, Meredra Cesis Ktonia.

This section contains the prayer, which should begin with respectful language and include the person making the prayer, such as: "Please bless the newlyweds, David Anvil and Lily Anvil, so that they may welcome this new life into a wonderful marriage."

This part is an oath, which must be made sincerely in conjunction with the priesthood, such as: "If I turn away from you, may I be punished with stone and eternal desolation."