“…” Roland would have liked to say that he had also already seen this crop and that it was called sugar cane, but after thinking about it for a short moment he didn’t care any longer. They had already started to plant it in huge amounts, so by now it would already be too late to try and change its name. The other materials of the sugar cane, could also be used for many other things. For example, they could also be used to produce ethanol and this crop was able to raise the civilians’ happiness to a completely new level. After all, the bread made from normal flour was nearly tasteless, but after sprinkling some sugar on it, it taste would be enhanced by several times, even salt wasn’t as important as this, Roland thought.
“Were you able to find any other crops seeds?”
“This was all I could find in the Port of Clearwater,” after saying that, he took five to six small bags out and gave them to the Prince “But before I started my journey you explained to me, that in case I find any crop which we don’t already grow here in Border Town, I should bring them back with me. Within these packages are seeds of some plants I’ve gathered as I passed through the Fallen Dragon Ridge and Willow Town, they are grapes, soybeans, cotton, flax and olive tree seeds. But the farmer say that the grapes won’t grow out of seeds but you needed to stick the branches into the ground for it to grow. Although its seed can still be planted, but its germination process is very slow and the appearing grape has neither the highest amount nor is it very tasty.
Since I have Leaves here, this shouldn’t be a problem for me, Roland thought. Now that he had grape seeds, maybe he could have another try with his idea of a wheat tree. As for soybean, cotton, flax and olives they were also all very useful crops. After I let Leaves improve the soil in the West I will let some serfs cultivate them at a small-scale. So, that the Ministry of Agriculture who is responsible for summing up the planting process can add them to their manual.
“Your Highness, there is still some other news I have to report to you,” Shawn whispered, “it is about the situation in Clearwater.”
“Are they about my sister Garcia?”
Shawn nodded, “I spent nearly two weeks in the Port of Clearwater, and with the exception of the time I needed to buy seeds, I spent most of the rest of the time in pubs. There were rumors that your sister Garcia Wimbledon and the Sandpeople have reached an agreement. She has allowed them to live at the southern edge of her territory and the Sandpeople had instead decided to accept her as their Queen and to follow her recruitment orders. During my stay in the city, I also saw plenty of Sandpeople walking through the streets.
The Extreme South is the territory of the Sandpeople… Although the people of Border Town don’t ask others for their origin, but letting a large number of people from a foreign territory settle in your own territory is a completely different matter. It seems that in order to insure that she can conquer the throne for herself, Garcia is really willing do almost anything, Roland thought.
“The Sandpeople are divided into many smaller factions, so I cannot believe that all of them decided to listen to her instructions. Do you know which clans are the ones following her orders?
Shawn shook his head, “The Sandpeople are very wary of the people from our kingdom, even using some gold royals I still wasn’t able to buy any more information, but… there was one more strange thing that happened on the day prior to when I’d intended to leave the Port of Clearwater. On that day Garcia had returned after her victory at Eagle City and everywhere within the city they celebrate their Queen’s victory against the pseudo-king, King Timothy. But the next day, they detected four to five people murdered and one victim was even torn to pieces in the middle of the street.”
“In the following days the Port of Clearwater was closed down and so I had to stay continue to stay there for the next three days. During the time, all the pubs were closed, and everyone would gather in the inn’s lobby to talk about what information they had heard. Some people thought that it was the revenge of the pseudo King, but one of the fishermen said that he had witnessed one of the murders. The murderer wasn’t tall and also was clearly not a man of the Sandpeople, but his strength and speed wasn’t anything like what a normal man could reach. He was later killed by the guards, but even after being hit by a lot of knife slashes he still didn’t go down. In addition, his blood looked completely differently than that of a mortal and only after even more guards rushed to the crime scene, were they finally able to wear him down with their spears. When the closing order was lifted, I didn’t dare to stay for any longer, and immediately came back to bring you your seeds.”
“You have done a good job,” after thinking for a short moment Roland continued. “You don’t ne