Jonavili's eyes widened after tasting a piece of roasted meat, and she took another bite as if to make sure.
That was it, the taste—the taste of salt!
She looked at Fanni in surprise.
"What is this flavor? Did you discover a salt vein?"
Fanni extended her hands, crossing her index fingers in front of her.
"Jonavili guessed wrong! We traded for this with a caravan."
Jonavili looked puzzled, but she was too hungry now. Plus, the roasted meat sprinkled with salt further stimulated her taste buds, forcing her to suppress her doubts and focus on eating.
Seeing Jonavili eating with such relish, Fanni smiled slightly and did not disturb her.
After eating for a while and feeling her hunger recede, Jonavili began to ask about the developments over the past few years.
Little Fanni sat on her shoulder, patiently answering her questions.
"Fanni, tell me, how did you develop things to this scale step by step over these years?"
Fanni swayed her little feet, her face brimming with a smile.
"Of course! After all, we're friends, tee-hee~"
"In the beginning, I just led these kobolds and goblins to slowly build the tribe. Once it was ready, I led them to explore the Sleeping Forest.
As you can see, we've recruited some other races."
As Fanni spoke, she pointed to the monsters following behind, including minotaurs, forest trolls, and serpentfolk.
Jonavili glanced at them and nodded, signaling for her to continue.
"After recruiting these races, I discovered they grew some fruits and raised livestock.
Furthermore, while we were exploring the Sleeping Forest, we encountered a companion of mine, another sprite. Her name is Anna."
With that, Fanni beckoned to the monsters following behind. Soon, a nature elemental sprite wearing clothes made of leaves flew out, looking quite nervous.
Jonavili glanced at her, and Anna offered a tentative greeting.
"Anna... greets the Lady White Dragon."
Fanni patted her on the shoulder.
"Why are you so nervous? Lady Jonavili won't eat you."
Anna stole a glance at Jonavili. Although this human girl looked cute, a terrifying dragon was hidden beneath that adorable exterior.
The battle from earlier was still fresh in her mind, and sprites were also on a dragon's menu. Thinking of this, she became even more frightened and hurried to lower her head.
Jonavili saw her nervousness but said nothing, signaling Fanni to continue.
Seeing how timid her friend was, Fanni shrugged.
"Well, even when given the chance, you're just not up to it."
Hearing Fanni's words, Jonavili felt like laughing. Should she say Fanni was a newborn calf unafraid of tigers, or just truly foolish?
Fanni continued speaking.
"It was thanks to Anna's help in stimulating the growth of the fruit that we were able to plant them so quickly.
But that's not the most important part. The most important thing is that a caravan from the eastern human kingdoms came to our city-state and traded with us.
We provided them with meat and fruit in exchange for crops like wheat, as well as seasonings like salt."
Hearing this, Jonavili was very satisfied.
Look at that, look at that—she was practically a genius, so gifted in the area of management.
"And then?"
"And then? Well, those human merchants felt that while the fruit was fresh, it wouldn't last long before rotting, and they would lose money. So they lowered the original price. I thought what they said made sense, so I agreed.
But then those humans said they could exchange supplies for the scales of these frost kobolds and white-scaled goblins. I thought there was no problem with that, so I agreed to that too."
At these words, Jonavili's movements paused, and the surrounding temperature suddenly dropped several degrees.
"What's wrong? Why did it suddenly get so cold?"
Fanni rubbed her shoulders and shivered.
Jonavili tilted her head, her pupils having already shifted from ice-blue to crystal-blue vertical slits, her voice carrying a hint of restrained anger.
"What did you say?"
Fanni hadn't realized anything was wrong yet and repeated herself.
"The humans used supplies to trade for the scales of these frost kobolds and white-scaled goblins."
As soon as she said this, the temperature dropped several more degrees.
Jonavili's eye twitched. White dragon horns grew from her head, a dragon tail sprouted behind her, and white dragon wings extended from her back.
Fanni also realized something was amiss.
"Is something... wrong?"
Jonavili looked at her, her gaze cold.
"Do you know that human nature is greedy? Have you figured out the true purpose of those so-called human caravans coming to the Jesup Continent?"
Fanni was completely bewildered.
"Isn't it just for trade?"
Jonavili stared at her intensely, wondering why this sprite seemed so stupid.
Given how humans operated, they had definitely already set their sights on these special monsters.
Rustle—
An abrupt sound broke the stiff atmosphere.
Jonavili and the other monsters looked over and saw a little black-haired boy only about a meter and forty centimeters tall.
Right now, this little thing was standing on the long table, picking up roasted meat and stuffing it into his mouth, looking extremely satisfied.
"Awesome! I've never eaten such delicious food!"
Facing the gazes of all the monsters, Gris paused. After swallowing the meat in his mouth, he spoke innocently.
"What? Why is everyone looking at me? I thought you guys weren't eating. If you aren't eating, you won't let me eat either? Seriously, this meat is delicious."
Seeing the monsters staring at him without speaking, he scratched his head with his greasy little hand, then picked up a large roasted leg and said with a grin.
"How about you eat first, big sis?"
Looking at this idiot, Jonavili sometimes really wondered if he was a white dragon in black skin. How could a black dragon, known for being treacherous and cunning, be so stupid?
Fortunately, the heavy atmosphere was broken by Gris. Jonavili let out a deep sigh, having lost most of her appetite.
"Sigh... the Jesup Continent is a place where orcs, half-orcs, demi-humans, and monsters live. Generally speaking, humans rarely come here for trade. After all, regular currency doesn't circulate well here. Most of them come under a pretense to capture slaves.
The scales of Xiao Shunzi, Erlingzi, and the others are good materials for making armor. Putting aside whether you were cheated on the price, given how humans are, they've definitely been targeting you for a long time.
Combined with your status as a sprite, it will only deepen their greed. I believe it won't be long before those so-called caravans hire adventurers and mercenaries to capture you all."
Hearing Jonavili's words, Fanni finally realized how big of a mistake she had made.
"I'm sorry... what should we do now? Should we run?"
Although Fanni was usually carefree, hearing Jonavili speak so seriously made the thought of escaping sprout in her mind.
"How long ago did those human caravans come? On average, when do they arrive?"
Facing Jonavili's sudden question, Fanni thought for a moment.
"Two years ago. The first caravan came two years ago, and even more came last year. They usually arrive at our city-state every August."
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