Witch Troupe and the Undead

The big cat potato, or purple-red bulb potato, is a crop with a bulbous root that resembles a daffodil. It is edible and tastes better than the golden vine potato, less bitter, but the yield is just as bad and...slightly poisonous.

Therefore, even on the tables of wealthy farmers and small landowners in the Dead Tears Swamp, this porridge made from boiled tubers with salt and tender swamp thorn leaves was a staple food. Only on celebratory days would bread or other foods made from wheat or other grains purchased from other places be seen.

However, compared to the poor staple food, the locals are not so poor in terms of side dishes. What does the Dead Tears Swamp produce? Insects. The insects here are exceptionally powerful, but because of this, they are generally non-toxic. The most commonly consumed insect is the one that appears in swarms in front of the man wearing a purple top hat.

The shovel beetle looks just like a shovel. If Rhodes were to look at it, he would think it resembles a trilobite with a wide tail. They burrow in groups through the swamp, and upon discovering an intruder, they wriggle and attack the enemy in front of them.

The shovel beetle is generally non-toxic, but its two large mandibles are an exception. If bitten, it will be extremely painful, and the wound will become red and swollen. Other small creatures in the swamp would be enough to be bitten or poisoned to death by it, but it is unlikely to have any effect on a creature the size of a human.

“Really~” Gregory straightened his purple tuxedo and green bow tie, wearing a brown leather vest and striped shirt underneath, adorned with gleaming brass buttons, looking both strange and flamboyant. “I don’t like bugs; they always treat me like some kind of one of their own.”

Gregory raised his cane, and the silver cat-head cane opened its mouth, spitting out a ball of flame that burned all the iron shovel worms even blacker, cracking their shells to reveal the steaming, tender white flesh inside.

"Uh, what a surprise~" Gregor took off his hat and put the roasted insects inside. He was keen on making people make wishes and fulfilling their wishes, but he didn't like to use his own power to help people realize their wishes. Most of the time, he would use the least effort or even make a profit to realize the wish process.

For example, if some unlucky soul wishes for food from him at this time, he will receive a large pile of roasted iron shovel worms. Whether that unlucky soul is willing to eat this "swamp area specialty" is not something Glicoley needs to consider.

"I never expected this, I never expected this..." The purple monster seemed to be a phantom as it trudged through the mud that could swallow humans or other creatures at any moment. The beings in the mud completely ignored its presence, letting it walk to the entrance of an ancient, abandoned temple in the swamp.

Two stone sculptures crouch on either side of the main entrance, with cat-shaped animal heads, four tails, and wolf-like claws, their bodies covered with rings of patterns that make one dizzy just looking at them. Deep inside the temple, there is a statue that has long been cracked and even weathered.

“Ah~~~~” Gregory made an affected sound, took out a few insects from his hat and threw them onto the altar, then took out two small trumpets and an accordion that he had smuggled from some rural circus, as well as a gaudy handkerchief that belonged to some noblewoman.

Gregory composed himself, lest he burst out laughing. His honest-looking eyebrows drooped, and he placed the handkerchief in front of him, beginning his performance with absolutely no trace of sadness. "It hasn't been that long, how could you be dead already? What will I do without you? Waaaaah!"

Without looking at his expressions and actions, he resembled a filial son mourning at a funeral; but if you did look at his expressions and actions, everyone could feel the joy and happiness emanating from him.

A small trumpet and accordion, manipulated by a mysterious force, played off-key funeral music nearby, occasionally veering into the tunes of a circus clown performance.

"I, your loyal and honest servant, will carry on your wishes and create an era where everyone has aspirations! Every day is filled with joy... no, I mean, every day is like a festival!"

[PS] Imperial Joke:

One day, an alchemist in the empire held a press conference to announce that he had invented a machine so intelligent that it could judge and score a person's moral character.

He first brought in a universally acknowledged saint, and after the machine ran for a few seconds, it gave the answer: 90 points.

Then he called over an ordinary person, and the machine gave them a score of 70.

Finally, he had a murderer brought in, and the machine gave him 30 points.

At this point, another alchemist, unconvinced, placed a stone in front of the machine to prove that it wasn't that smart.

After a quarter of an hour of silence, the machine raised its arms and shouted: Long live the Empress!

Chapter 187 The Scent of Knowledge

Mud Pit, a small village on the edge of the Dead Tears Swamp, has only twenty or thirty households. They rely on growing golden yams and big cat yams. Even these crops cannot be grown everywhere around the swamp. In many villages, even the golden yams are hard to guarantee a harvest.

The wooden rake turned over the muddy ground, turning the sweet potatoes one by one to the surface, and then putting them into the bamboo baskets by the field ridge. "This year's harvest is still not very good." The yellowish-white tubers did not look as swollen, and there were about 10% fewer of them than before. "Sigh, this year's taxes seem to be a little higher than last year's. It's all because of those damned traitors."

They occupied the border area between the provinces of Emerald and Hot Sands. In order to resist these rebels, the local nobles had to raise tax rates to ensure they had enough funds to deal with the rebels.

A mu (approximately 0.16 acres) of golden yam normally yields about 600 jin (approximately 300 catties), but the edible portion is less than 450 jin (approximately 225 catties) because its skin is highly toxic. The skin must be peeled before it can be ground into a paste or dried to make edible starch.

"Do we have enough money at home?" the youngest son asked. The nobles around the Dead Tears Swamp did not collect the golden vine potatoes as a tax in kind; they only collected money or other valuable products.

For example, the shell of the swamp giant worm, and a kind of turbid brown crystal that occasionally appears in the swamp. The former is almost impossible for farmers to obtain, while the latter depends purely on luck; perhaps a few pieces can be found when turning over the soil.

More often than not, they could only sell the golden yams to merchants from places further away from the swamp, since the plant could be used to make a mild insecticide, but the price was... After working for most of the day, the two of them finally carried baskets of the harvested golden yams on their backs and headed towards the village.

"There seems to be someone ahead?" A figure appeared to be leaning against the roadside in the pervasive yellowish-green mist. "Never mind him, let's hurry up."

"Oh dear~ Oh dear~ Isn't anyone going to help poor Gregory?" The man let out an exaggerated wail, sounding much like those noble lords. This made the two farmers look helpless. If the nobles were in trouble and they turned a blind eye, the consequences would be dire.

Those who help are not necessarily rewarded, since most nobles believe that it is their duty to serve these commoners, especially since this is the Jade Province, rather than the more industrialized areas in the north. The nobles in those areas are relatively more enlightened, and the rise of the urban class has forced them to compromise on some matters that do not involve their actual interests.

"Sir, what's wrong?" The older farmer approached the man sitting on the ground. The man was wearing an expensive purple robe and holding a silver-tipped cane, which made the farmer even more nervous.

The difference between this world and Earth is that most nobles possess the most basic extraordinary abilities. Even "extraordinary physique," an ability with no entry barrier, means that in battles of 1 against 3 or less, they have an overwhelming advantage over commoners without extraordinary abilities—unless they fall into a trap or are unarmed.

The good news is that this level of extraordinary ability is not enough to create a significant gap, and the warrior-type power system of extraordinary physique has no entry barrier.

This means that farmers or bandits could also master it through a well-nourished diet and long-term training, but the probability was relatively small. It almost entirely depended on talent, and the lack of systematic training often resulted in less effective results.

"I think I have an upset stomach," Gregory groaned on the ground, causing the two farmers to exchange a glance. Clearly, a nobleman with an upset stomach was not someone who could easily gain an advantage.

The youngest son tiptoed behind the other man, while the old farmer, with a smirk, prepared to reach out and grab the man's cane to help him up. He didn't touch him directly because touching a nobleman's body was a serious crime—at least in the Jade Province.

"Ah, you are all so kind people! By the way, where did the other person go?"

"it's here!"

"Thump!" The youngest son's hands and feet went weak and he dropped the wooden stick in his hand. The nobleman in front of him had already collapsed to the ground.

"Quickly check his belongings." The old farmer quickly searched the man's body, but found nothing. In the end, he had to bite and pull off the silver beast head from his hand, along with the silk shirt underneath, the metal buckle on the belt, and so on. As for the rest, he threw it into the swamp along with the man.

It's not that the clothes are worthless, but they might have emblems or something similar that would reveal their origin. On the other hand, there's no risk in throwing these precious metal buckles and silver canes into the fire until they're completely burned.

"What bad luck today... This guy didn't even have a single copper coin on him." The old farmer spat.

"We have to hurry, he's definitely not alone!" The youngest son swallowed hard as he watched the body sink into the swamp, then pulled the old farmer away quickly.

"Really... my clothes are very expensive~" The mist reformed into a body, and Gregory shook his head. But, are people so morally bankrupt these days? He had originally planned to grant the other party a wish in the name of repaying a debt of gratitude.

However, low morality also has its advantages, namely that their desires are often simpler and stronger. However, this level of desire, or rather, these desires, are like this yam for them... able to fill their stomachs, but terribly bitter and unpalatable.

He prefers wishes made by people who were once loyal, brave, or wise, or even by treacherous and cunning villains. In short, the higher the individual's morality, ability, or status, the more desirable the wish.

Especially for those noble and pure people, the despair, struggle, resentment, and fear they experience as they are gradually distorted by desires and fall into the snare of lust are his favorite seasonings.

What can such a farmer have?

However, now is not the time to be picky about food. Although the quality of these farmers is not high, there is enough of them. Since they have nothing, they want everything. Their desires are strong and abundant, and they can eat for a long time. For him, who had nearly half of his previous physical body was cut off by that brat, the key is to get the most food as quickly as possible.

His strength has declined drastically. The reason he doesn't go to those big cities and other villages is because he's afraid of being captured by other gods, especially by that vile woman, Sangia's, subordinates. He finally managed to find a few places without Sangia's shrine.

The one from the fishing village was still being cultivated and hadn't reached its most delicious and nutritious stage yet, but these two don't need to be cultivated in such detail.

Inside the village of Lanni Pit, the two men stuffed the unfortunate nobleman's belongings at the bottom of their baskets and carried them home. The farmer's wife watched in astonishment as they casually dumped the golden yams by the door and then tossed the silver beast head into the burning brazier.

"Ah, it's so warm~" the beast head suddenly spoke, "Thank you for rescuing me, where is this!?" The beast head sucked the flames from the brazier into its belly, its ruby-like eyes shining brightly as it looked at the farmer and his son, whose expressions were distorted and who had almost lost the ability to speak.

"As a token of my gratitude, I should give you something in return. So, what would you like?"

"Money!" The youngest son reacted the fastest. "I need money. It's almost tax time."

"Hmm...no problem," the beast head said, spitting out a few silver coins.

"Is that all?" the younger son asked, somewhat disappointed.

“After all, you didn’t say how much money you needed,” the beast-headed creature said matter-of-factly. “However, I need to rest now. Once I’ve regained my strength, I might be able to give you some more.”

"Then, how long will it take?"

“About a hundred years,” the beast-headed creature saw a look of disappointment on the family’s faces. “However, with some extra help, you might be able to regain your strength faster, and then you will have countless riches.”

"Then, what should we do?"

“First of all…” a gentle smile appeared on the beast-headed face, “I need more flames~”

"Oh, no problem~" The farmer's wife hurriedly fetched dry grass and dry shrub branches from outside and threw them into the brazier. "Ah, how warm, more~ more flames~" The beast head quickly absorbed the flames until the last piece of firewood was burned, then reluctantly spat out a gold coin.

Ah, gold coins! The glittering coins made the farmer's eyes widen. Not to mention a farmer like him, even the richest man in the village had never seen what gold coins looked like.

Just as they were celebrating, a few people, drawn by the unusual smoke coming from the chimney, looked at the beast head in the fire and circled around the beast head, which was turned away from the farmer's family, revealing subtle expressions, especially when the glittering gold coins appeared.

“Betrayal, murder, that’s starting to taste a little better,” Gregory sniffed, as if sensing some kind of sinful scent.

Soon the village will be drawn into a vortex of desire, with a series of open and covert struggles unfolding around the beast head that can be used to obtain money. Human desires will also become more inflated and distorted under constant temptation, just to make it possible to barely have a full meal.

Gregory looked to the west, where the delicious aroma wafting from was almost unbearable. However, he knew that this was not a place he could easily go and cause trouble for. The power of the Holy Lord of Light enveloped that land, as did the Goddess of the Earth, and even the church of that girl from before was secretly developing.

In other words, in a place where multiple sects, forces, and individuals from all walks of life are intertwined, in an area where someone in his current state cannot operate, the consequences would be dire if he were to expose any wrongdoing.

Cabel City. Roach and his group were forced to stay here for a few more days to replenish their supplies and also to take a look around this most developed city in the empire. Even though the previous mine collapse had taken away a corner of the city, it had recovered to the state it had when they first arrived in just a few days.

Horse-drawn carriages passed through the steam rising from the streets, and the glow of magic crystal lamps illuminated the entire area, making the shops on both sides appear even more dazzling.

Roach pushed open the black-lacquered wooden door of "The Web of Knowledge," and a distinctive smell of books and ink wafted out, mixed with the scent of insect repellent pills. An aura of "knowledge" enveloped the shop located at the intersection of Cabel Spinel Street.

Six enormous bookshelves were crammed with books, some exquisite, some plain, and some tattered. The space between the bookshelves was so small that a person could only pass sideways. Around the bookshelves, even more books and scrolls sealed in metal cylinders were piled up. The lights, powered by magic crystals, were not very bright, maintaining a brightness that was enough to see the text but not too glaring.

Livia's eyes lit up as soon as she entered. Bookstores weren't unique to Cabel City, but bookstores elsewhere wouldn't have such a rich collection. Moreover, places like Tallinn City didn't really have dedicated bookstores; they were usually just placed inside magic item shops or alchemy shops, or some caravans would sell bestsellers at the market.

After all, books are not cheap. Without a sufficient and stable customer base, bookstores cannot even guarantee their supply, let alone make a profit.

The shop owner, with grayish-brown hair, tapped on the sign on the counter that read "Don't browse if you're not buying." Although the shop mainly deals in buying and selling used books, its location and the many magical books inside set it apart from other bookstores.

Moreover, according to Roach's understanding, magic books are indeed not meant to be flipped through randomly, especially if you don't have Livia's level of skill. It's not impossible for you to blow up the entire shop if you flip through them randomly.

Of course, such dangerous magic books wouldn't be sold here. Livia tiptoed to reach for a book she didn't recognize, located at the top of the shelf. After several attempts, she looked at Roach with her emerald green eyes.

"Hey~" Luo Qi reached out and grabbed her waist, lifting the little witch up. "Hmm~" The witch smiled with satisfaction, then reached out and took down the book she had her eye on. But after flipping through a few pages, her expression turned very unhappy. She stuffed the book back in. If it weren't someone else's collection, she would have thrown it into the fire and burned it.

"How much is this?" Vilandella found a tattered copy of a book written in dragon language and looked at the shopkeeper. "100 gold coins," the shopkeeper said after glancing at it.

“Can I…” “No, no bargaining.” The shopkeeper interrupted Vilandella without hesitation. Everything he sold was of the highest quality, or at least of the highest quality in his eyes, and he did not allow bargaining.

“100 gold coins is really not worth it,” Vivi argued. “This is just a children’s textbook written in dragon language, and it doesn’t even record many dragon spells.”

“I know,” the other person rolled their eyes. “A real spellbook that records dragon magic spells wouldn’t be this price.” That kind of spellbook is “priceless” and can’t be bought with money. It needs to be exchanged for a spellbook of the same level. Of course, various magical materials, rare spell data and configurations are also acceptable.

"..." In the end, Vivi reluctantly took out 100 gold coins and threw them heavily on the counter. After all, she was a dragon who didn't even know basic magic. The books in Dragon Castle were too difficult for her. Moreover, the other dragons were even more greedy than this guy in front of her. A poor dragon like her had no way of borrowing them.

This incomplete book records only two dragon spells. Since it is a children's textbook, it is naturally a spell commonly used by young dragons. One is "buffering and shock absorption spell". Young dragons are not good at flying. If they fall, they can use this spell to avoid breaking their bones. It will create a soft cushion made of air to absorb the impact.

One is the "Digestion Spell". Young dragons often eat a lot and are never satisfied, so they often choke on their own. This spell can quickly soften the food in their throat and stomach, accelerating digestion and swallowing.

Of course, it can also be used on solid targets, especially against skeletal undead creatures, as it can soften their bones, but this is limited to low-level skeletal monsters.

"Thump~" The shopkeeper had just swept the gold coins into the drawer when he saw Livia swaying as she carried a large stack of books over and slammed them onto the counter. "This..." This was the first time he had ever seen someone buy books like this. The cheapest books here were no less than 5 gold coins, and the most expensive were high-level magic books that cost two or three hundred gold coins each.

"Picture books?" He glanced at the contents of the books, then at Livia, and said, "These few are 10 gold coins each, these few are 5 gold coins each, and this one... well, this one isn't suitable for children." Among a pile of story picture books was an incredibly old book, which almost made him lose his composure.

It's not a magic book, but an ancient document, the contents of someone's diary, recording a place called "Nightlight Village" and the stories of its peculiar customs and beliefs. It's not the kind of content that would attract children or even the average person.

The language used was not modern Lustian, but Old Lustian, and the wording and sentence structure seemed to be exceptionally obscure and difficult to understand because the recorder was a nobleman. Without spending several days carefully studying various reference books, it was difficult to even determine what was being said.

The shopkeeper thought for a moment and offered this price of "60 gold coins". He had spent 15 gold coins to buy the book. Although there might be some secrets contained in it, it hadn't sold for so long, so there was no point in keeping it any longer.

The books here are more than twice as expensive as those elsewhere for this reason. He doesn't accept old books that are simply damaged due to lack of maintenance. The books here come from the pawned possessions of adventurers and nobles. The content of the books themselves is secondary; the value of the secrets and notes they may contain is the main focus.

"Hmm~" Livia took out several high-quality rubies worth 100 gold coins from her handbag and placed them on the counter. These rubies were a thank-you gift from Earl Warren. After carefully examining the quality of the rubies, the shopkeeper nodded to indicate that they were about right.

Livia called the two men outside in and had them move the pile of books to the carriage. Leslie and Alessina wouldn't go into the shop because the smell of "knowledge" inside was a bit too much for them.

Chapter 188 Not Knowing What Name to Give

The dim light illuminated the old and tattered pages of the book on the table. A child's delicate fingertips gently traced the words on it. On the surface, it was an obscure travelogue, recording the story of a town with an uncertain geographical location and affiliation, filled with what seemed like the ramblings of a madman and ornate and exaggerated language.

This is definitely not a suitable book for those who want to enjoy reading; the text is disjointed and contains a lot of neologisms.

"Ugh~" Livia rested her chin on one hand and slowly turned the pages of the book with the other. The words didn't seem to bother her at all. In contrast, the noise from Lulua, who was sprawled out on the chair next to her, was what bothered her.

"Delicious~~ One more, please~~~" The black-haired girl had traces of drool at the corner of her mouth, as if she was dreaming about something. Of course, it could also be because she had lunch at a famous restaurant in Cabel City today. For Lulua, who lived in a secluded village in the mountains, let alone the dishes, even the ingredients were things she had never heard of before.

"Sigh~" Livia sighed, and gently tapped the blanket that had fallen to the ground with her wand. The thick blanket flew up automatically, wrapping Luluya up like a caterpillar.

"Would you like hot coffee?" Roach walked in carrying a pot of coffee. "Yes!" Roach nodded heavily with his light golden head.

"The coffee here is pretty good, much better than what's sold in Tallinn."

Roach was referring to the large bag of coffee powder that cost one silver coin at the general store in Tallinn. He was somewhat surprised that this world had developed something similar to instant coffee powder, but he wasn't surprised when he learned that it was a product of alchemy.

Besides regular coffee powder, there's also the "ultimate energy drink" made by alchemists who extract coffee beans and various magical potion ingredients. However, the taste is something only hardcore researchers could stomach.

"It's so bitter~" The witch's little face scrunched up. "It's supposed to be bitter, otherwise it'll be hard to stay awake~"

“Hmm…” Livia put her coffee cup aside and continued to peruse the seemingly worthless manuscript, which was worth a few dozen gold coins.

She discovered the manuscript was problematic from the beginning, but she didn't know exactly what the problem was, so she had to spend a considerable amount of time and effort carefully studying the book.

After pouring her a cup of coffee, Roach left. He still needed to go with Alessina to purchase supplies and materials for their journey, and also to find a workshop to borrow her tools to manufacture their own ammunition. In the previous battle, Leslie's barrage had wiped out all of his ammunition.

Machine guns are fun for a while, but loading them is a nightmare, especially when you have to manually make the bullets yourself. That's the ultimate prison experience. However, as a developed city famous for its magic industry, Cabel City has plenty of drudges or laborers to do repetitive, low-skilled work.

Therefore, Roach only needed to find a suitable workshop and borrow its manpower, tools, and facilities to start production. After all, apart from a few special munitions, these munitions did not involve much technology.

In addition, he needed to have a buckle custom-made to secure his "luminous fragments," while Alessina needed to purchase ingredients, dry rations, and so on.

At the same time, you should also buy some travel intelligence and information from the local adventurers' guild—this information is not about monster hunting guides, but rather information such as roads being washed away by floods, so that you can plan your route in advance or prepare new plans.

Of course, you can ask around or rely on scouts to explore, or... consider official information sources, but don't regret not spending a few copper coins to buy information if things go wrong.