Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

He explained seriously.

Shibern wanted to go there in person, but the sage had specifically mentioned him in the letter to deal with the dragon matter, so he couldn't leave his post without permission.

……

Elsa strolled through the streets of the fortress, watching the people coming and going.

A lot of things have happened in the fortress recently. The fortress was attacked and the outbreak of zombies caused many casualties. Although the streets and damaged houses have been cleaned and rebuilt, the fortress in front of her is no longer as prosperous and bustling as when she first came here. Elsa saw that most of the people coming towards her had no smiles on their faces. Their sunken and withered eye sockets showed that their lives recently were not easy.

Even today, Elsa can still vaguely smell the smell of blood floating in the air - with a hint of rottenness.

Naturally, others can't smell it.

But Elsa can.

The ground was paved with bluestone slabs, with old and new slabs clearly visible. Puddles had not yet dried up, and water would occasionally splash when stepped on - perhaps because it had rained, the smell of rotting blood that had seeped into the ground was re-emanating into the air.

Aisha sighed slightly and continued walking forward.

She came here to buy some souvenirs for Alice and the nuns to take back. Of course, if there were suitable gifts, Elsa would also bring one for Charlie. In addition, Elsa also planned to pack some necessities such as food, clothes, tents, and medicines for the refugees who were now taking refuge in Weilin Town.

The shops in Weilin Town had long been emptied by Elsa. Weilin Town was just a small town on the border of the empire. The food in the town was managed by the church and the town hall, while other necessities, especially medicines, were basically all transported from outside by traveling merchants. After the town was closed, it was naturally impossible to be self-sufficient soon. Even if you have money, you can't buy what you need.

In comparison, the Dammas Fortress is currently undergoing post-disaster reconstruction and is in great need of money. Elsa's own money is naturally nothing for a fortress, but for ordinary people, the disaster relief funds from the Lord's Mansion will not fall on them. Elsa's money comes at the right time.

Anyway, Elsa doesn't need much money, so she might as well contribute here.

In short, just buy, buy, buy.

As Elsa was thinking this, she passed by a carriage loaded with many wine barrels.

Huge wine barrels were neatly placed in a horse-drawn carriage, with people dressed as merchants and several strong porters standing next to them. It seemed that this carriage was a merchant's stall - it was easy to see these foreign merchants entering from the city gate, and they directly took out the things on the carriage to sell.

At this time, the wine dealer was arguing with the porters. The wine dealer had a bruised face and looked like he had been hit several times, while the porters also had red faces and thick necks and were very emotional.

"You agreed to give us fifty coppers each! Now you're trying to renege on your debt? My daughter still hasn't had a single bite to eat. I've been busy for you all morning, and you're telling me you're out of money?"

"I'm not refusing to pay... Really... I really was robbed... Those bastards might not even be far away now... Wine, can I give you some wine? A, a barrel of wine! Just consider it as payment, okay? I really have no money..."

The merchant begged bitterly, but the porter was obviously unwilling to accept this result.

"I need cash! You can't even sell this crappy wine yourself, how am I supposed to get money for it?"

The good wines in the church cellar naturally had no trouble selling, but the wines in the hands of merchants were just the most ordinary wines sold in small taverns.

But not many people have this need at this time.

Naturally, it became a hot commodity.

……

------------

144. Now You Owe Me Money (4K)

Alcohol is the most popular drink in the world.

People here don't have the habit of drinking hot water. Raw water is not hygienic and healthy enough, but wine can naturally avoid this to a certain extent. For working people, wine is also an energy drink. In winter, wine is also used to warm the body. Even when marching and fighting, wine is a must-have in the camp.

Alcohol was so important that vendors even needed to obtain a license to sell the product openly.

But now the situation seems a little complicated.

The porter became more and more agitated and grabbed the merchant by the collar and lifted him up. He was indeed strong, but the merchant looked as weak as a chick in front of him.

He was indeed furious, and suddenly raised his hand to swing at the merchant, but Elsa suddenly appeared and held his arm steadily.

Elsa's sudden reaction made the merchant and the porter look surprised - there were other porters behind her who were also stunned by this scene.

She was dressed in a nun's uniform, with a hooded robe for rainy days draped over it, obscuring her features. People on the street had never seen Elsa in person, so they naturally couldn't recognize that the person passing by was the "hero" who was currently enjoying such a surge in popularity.

They were the same. They only saw the nun's uniform under Elsa's robe, but didn't know who Elsa was.

"Don't do anything. Please calm down. If you hit someone in the city and the guards see you, you'll be in trouble."

Aisha said, then glanced between the porter and the merchant, and several other porters also gathered around.

"What happened between you? Tell me about it."

"Miss, you..."

The porter ultimately hesitated and lowered his hand. He knew there were no guards to care about such a small matter, otherwise he and his daughter wouldn't be starving. But he couldn't ignore Elsa. After all, she was a member of the church. And just now, he had really intended to attack her, but was easily stopped, even though Elsa looked so weak.

It was obvious that Elsa was not as weak as she looked.

"Sister, he owes us wages, otherwise I wouldn't force him to do anything."

The porter suppressed his anger and spoke sullenly.

"Fifty copper coins each."

He added another sentence.

The merchant was still held by the porter's strong hands, with his feet off the ground. He danced around, trying to seek help from Elsa.

"Sister... please help me, Sister. I, I didn't intentionally withhold his wages... I was robbed, so I have no money... I can make it up to him in other ways, really!"

These merchants mostly traveled between towns, earning a profit by exchanging goods from different places. Experienced merchants knew exactly which goods to purchase and where to buy in which seasons to earn the most profit, and they could pocket a significant profit over time. This was the norm for most merchants, and any differences were merely formalities.

"You guys speak one by one."

Aisha said.

So the two of them talked to each other for a while before Elsa finally understood.

The merchant's name is Valk. He arrived at the fortress yesterday with a cart of wine. In the past, this cart of wine would be easily sold out. He also has a cooperation with the tavern. He purchases wine of suitable price and quality from the winery and ships it to sell it, so that he can earn a little difference and commission.

But unfortunately, he didn't know that the fortress had been attacked before he came here yesterday. What's even more unfortunate is that the tavern owner ran away, and few of the remaining taverns were able to operate normally. Either business was slow or they were closed directly.

So all the wine was wasted.

But Valk happened to do a stupid thing. In order to sell the wine successfully, he lobbied everywhere to find a customer to take over. However, he didn't find any customers. When he went to West Street, he was robbed in an alley. So now he has no money except a carriage of wine and a carriage.

Due to the impact of the attack on the fortress, the security in the fortress has not been good recently. Aisha knows it, especially in West Street, where the security is already very poor and similar incidents are more likely to occur. Coincidentally, a lot of soldiers who maintain security have been withdrawn recently, making the situation even more chaotic.

The lead porter, Dobbin, had his own troubles. When the fortress was attacked, he and his daughter followed the soldiers for protection, only to return home to find it ransacked—a common occurrence. He earned a living as a porter, but yesterday a businessman evaded him by fare.

This is a bit dramatic - Aisha thinks.

Perhaps this was normal. The Dammas Fortress now gave Elsa the impression of being... rather chaotic. In the past, a quarrel between merchants and porters would have been quickly followed by patrolling soldiers, but now there were no soldiers, and other passersby simply walked by with indifference.

There weren't even a few onlookers.

In people's eyes, this is nothing exciting - because it is no longer new.

It is hard to say who is responsible for this matter. If you want to ask who is right and who is wrong, it must be the remnants of the Demon King's army and the appearance of those vampires that led to this series of problems, and these people are just victims.

Elsa sighed slightly and looked at Dobbin. He and his daughter had no money to eat all day, so his emotions were a little difficult to control. Elsa could completely understand his feelings.

"Put him down first, Mr. Dobbin—don't worry, he won't run away while I'm here."

"I won't run away..." the merchant said quickly. After all, his goods were still here.

Perhaps because Aisha was a nun—for most people, the church had great credibility. So, with Aisha's guarantee, Dobbin slowly loosened the merchant's collar, and the merchant quickly ran behind Aisha.

Aisha continued to ask: "How many of you are there?"

"Seven," Dobbin said, glancing at the other porters standing by. "They were hired just like me, and none of us got paid."

"Is your daughter okay? Is she not sick or anything?"

"No……"

Dobbin didn't know why Aisha asked this.

"That's good."

Elsa looked at the merchant Valk.

"I'll advance their wages for you."

"what?"

Elsa ignored him and took out the money directly - she had settled a lot of silver and copper coins with the money she had spent before, which came in handy now. Elsa gave each of Dobin and the others fifty copper coins. If there was not enough, Elsa would go to a roadside shop to exchange some of them.

When giving it to Dobbin, Aisha stuffed a few extra silver coins into it.

"Buy your daughter some more delicious food."

Elsa said in a voice that only they could hear.

Dobin looked at Aisha a few more times - he and his daughter were very hungry, and now he only wanted money. He didn't care who would pay for it. He originally thought so, but now he couldn't help but feel a little touched.

"Thank you..."

He whispered and Elsa just smiled.

The porters thanked Elsa and left one after another. Elsa then turned around and looked deeply at the merchant Valk.

Valk excitedly said to Elsa, "Thank you, dear and beautiful Sister. My name is Valk. I will always remember your help..."

"Now you owe me money, three silver coins and fifty copper coins."

Aisha poured a basin of cold water on him, and his face immediately turned bitter.

Originally, Elsa had no intention of standing up for Valk. After all, what Valk and Dobin said were just their one-sided statements, and Elsa only believed half of it. She stopped Dobin just because she didn't want the conflict to escalate.

And Elsa wasn't without doubts.

"Valker, what would you have done with all this wine if I hadn't advanced the money for you? You can't just find someone to sell all this stuff one by one, right?"

"I... I'm going to try my luck in Worthrens in the north... The farmers there will like my wine..."

Valk said weakly.

Although the idea was good, he had no money. Without money, he could not hire guards and it would be difficult for him to reach Voslens safely.

Elsa could see his embarrassment and shook her head.

"Give me some wine, I need some—how about paying off my debt?"

"Ah? Of course!"

Valk was overjoyed - he was worried about where to sell the goods, so Aisha's suggestion was naturally good, or rather, what he had been waiting for.

Elsa came to the carriage and looked at the wine barrels.

"Sister, please allow me to introduce this wine—it's shipped from the southeastern countries. It's rich in fruity aroma, sweet and not astringent... If you've been to the Yugoslav Republic of Korea, you'll have seen the beautiful vineyards there and will be familiar with its taste. This one is shipped from the southern port... I have a long-standing friendship with the owner of the vineyard there..."

Valk boasted about his products vigorously and talked endlessly about his stories with these wines, as if they had really happened.

Elsa didn't listen to his nonsense. She walked to the wine barrel, bent down and sniffed.

Most of these wines are purchased from wineries and sold in the city. They are packed in large wooden barrels with a small hole on the side of the barrel, which is tightly plugged with a wooden cork. Magic runes are engraved on the hole, and there is also a magic circle inside that can be affected from the outside. This can be regarded as an ingenious preservation technology.

However, even with the convenience of magic, the quality of wine in this world is still uneven. Some are indeed good, sweet and delicious, while others are hard to describe and as tasteless as slop. Even the wine in different barrels from the same vendor may vary greatly.

Of course, this couldn't stop Elsa.

Elsa could judge the quality of the wine in the barrel directly from the faint smell of wine on the cork. The faint aroma of wine filled her nose, and Elsa walked from one side to the other.

"I want it."

Elsa turned around and pointed at a large barrel. It was a barrel of wine of average quality in this batch. Elsa didn't intend to take advantage of it, nor did she intend to suffer any loss.

Soon, Valk watched Elsa put the wine barrel into the space ring and was secretly surprised - after all, he was a businessman and knowledgeable, so he naturally knew that the space equipment in Elsa's hand was of great value.

"Sister, you are truly kind and generous," he said to Elsa with a forced smile, and asked tentatively, "But speaking of which, I thought the monks didn't drink alcohol... I wonder if they've relaxed their rules recently?"

He wanted to test the waters. Some monasteries did not allow drinking. He originally thought that those monks had too many rules and were difficult to get along with, so he did not do business with them. However, after seeing Aisha's space equipment, he suddenly changed his mind - maybe it was not impossible to do business with these wealthy monks.

In this case, he had to learn more, so he regarded Elsa as an intelligence window - after all, Elsa seemed easy to talk to.

"Although I don't drink alcohol, there is no such prohibition."

Aisha said.

Both the monastery in the town of Willin and the monastery of the Cardinal Church of Dammas produce their own wine. Some of this wine is sold to supplement income, while some is consumed internally. The church advocates drinking less and drinking in moderation, so priests who have been influenced by this rarely drink. However, the church does not have any precepts prohibiting drinking, but it does have a rule of "no excessive drinking", which is not a conflict.

"Besides, this isn't for drinking, it's for other uses."

Actually, Elsa doesn't need wine.

She seldom drinks, and there aren't many places where she can use it. Most of the wine can only be used to cook some dishes. Some dishes will be more mellow with a little wine. Beer can remove the fishy smell, and fruit wine can enhance the flavor. The effects are pretty good.

For example, using wine as cooking wine can make the dishes have a unique flavor, but this kind of dish does not seem to be popular in this world, so Elsa did not explain much.