607 Chapter 607:- Changes
"We are about to reach Lionrock City. We guys better get excited because we are about to earn a ton of profits." A famous merchant named Elden Bramblewood and a few of his loyal men were heading toward Lionrock City on a commercial desert ship. Elden Bramblewood business majorly operated in the nearby Golden Dune City. But the size of the Golden Dune was small. The Golden Dune City was half the city of the Lionrock City. In terms of population, the City had only 1/4th of the Lionrock City's entire population. Seeing the size and population of the two cities, one might ask Elden why not run his business in Lionrock City instead of Golden Dunes City. After all, a bigger population meant more potential customers which meant more profits for him. However, things are more complicated than that. There was a time when Elder operated his business in Lionrock City. This place used to be his home. But all of that had changed the day when the City Lord had abandoned them with his army. Without an army, everyone was robbed by the invaders. That day Elder suffered a huge loss. Since that incident, Elden did not hesitate to relocate his business to the Golden Dunes City. Despite paying higher taxes in that city, Elden was guaranteed a security that the Lionrock City did not have. What made Lionrock City even worse for doing business was the frequent number of invasions from the War clans of the central region. However as a merchant there always has been a deep longing in his heart to return to Lionrock City one day and restart this business there. And that opportunity finally came to his doorstep when he heard the news of the mighty Istarin Empire taking over the Lionrock City. Since the City wasn't claimed by anyone, no one should have any problem with the Istarin Empire claiming its ownership. Even if anyone had any problem with the Istarin Empire taking over the city what can they do? There was no way for them to challenge the authority of the Istarin Empire and The Dragon Monarch. Even if someone was dissatisfied by this change they had to shut their mouth and keep their dissatisfaction in their hearts. After all, it was well known that anyone who dared to mess with that empire became a graveyard. This is the reason why the Istarin Empire is the Graveyard of Empires. The number of Empires, Kingdoms, and Dynasties that have fallen because of the mighty Istarin Empire is too many to count. The rise of the Istarin Empire and the Dragon Monarch is a very popular story throughout the entire beast continent. There isn't a single person on the Beast Continent who hasn't heard of the rise of the Istarin Empire. However, the news that reached Elden's ears also brought doubts in his heart. After all, how could the mighty Istarin Empire have time to claim such a pathetic City? The Istarin Empire was in the Dying Isle Continent. Even if the Empire wanted to expand to the Beast Continent, there were thousands of other cities to choose from. After all with the military power of the Empire, who could resist them? Elden doubted that this might be a cheap trick. Whoever is behind this may be spreading such rumors and using these rumors to create fear in the hearts of the war clans and make them stop invading Lionrock CIty. However, the news of mass changes taking place around the whole city also reached his ears. Elden felt that there might be some truth in this. After all, there wouldn't be smoke in the sky without a fire. So Elden and his men personally decided to make a quick trip to Lionrock and verify this information with their own eyes.
If the news was indeed true, then Elden wouldn't hesitate to use all of his Capitals to open his business in Lionrock. If it wasn't true, then he would simply sell his Mansion that was collecting dust and sand and get some gold coins out of it. Once they got out of the desert ship, Elden and his men walked to the city. The first thing that they noticed was the huge change in the City's air quality. Before the air quality of the city was so worse that it made him feel sick. But now this had changed. 'It seems there have really been some changes in the City.' This also made him wonder who was behind this change. Obviously, he had heard of the death of all four big gang members. The only big player that was left was Helen. But the real question was, who was behind Helen? Who was giving Helen so many resources and powers to make such changes? 'It seems the streets also have been cleaned. That's good to know.' Elden really appreciated this change. 'Since when did the dirty streets of this city have such large and green trees?' Elden asked himself seeing large trees growing on both sides of the main street. While walking around the city, Elden noticed that many large-scale construction works were going on. There was a group that was rebuilding the main street. There was a group that was breaking the old houses. They were doing this to open more spaces which would result in better air flow. As for the owners of the old houses, Helen had promised to give them new houses just outside of the city. So the owners were really happy with getting new houses. They did not complain about this change. Why would anyone complain about such a good change? The whole City was disorganized. Helen's first step was to organize everything around the city. Breaking down the old houses was one such way. This would open more spaces in the denser parts of the city and the people would finally be able to breathe better. The city was rapidly changing. Elden was sure that within 2 to 3 months this whole city would be unrecognizable. On the street, he also spotted the troops of the Istarin Empire patrolling.
After seeing all these changes in this city he had made up his mind to start his business here. He had done business here a long time ago. He still had some old connections that he could use to set up his shop. The whole city was changing rapidly. Elden wanted to be a part of this change. As they walked to the market, what he saw blew his mind. The market of Lionrock used to be really big but now the size of the market has decreased by more than half. Many of the old vendors that he knew had closed their shops. "Just what is happening?" Elden soon got his answer while observing the market.
There was a long line of people. There were more than a few hundred people standing in lines. He saw all of these people waiting for their turn to buy vegetables. And from the looks of it, the vegetables were really fresh. Almost as if these vegetables have been harvested today. "Excuse me, why are you all waiting in lines to buy vegetables?" Elden politely asked one of the normal beast-kin. It was a Lion-kin who was waiting in the line patiently. "Since you're asking such questions, this means you are a local, are you?" Elden nodded his head. He did not pretend to be a local. There was no need for that "Well, The Lord of our city has introduced a new rule. Now, sellers can't charge more than a set price for their items. This price limit ensures that things don't get too expensive. Our City Lord did this to keep everything affordable for everyone. The idea is to stop sellers from controlling the market and charging too much." Hearing this Elden was shocked. Now he felt that he wouldn't make that much profit from opening his business in this city. "With this rule, there's a top limit to what can be charged, kind of like putting a ceiling on prices. This helps make sure that the cost of important items like food and clothes doesn't skyrocket. It's like setting a maximum height for prices – they can't go above this level." "But there's more to it." "There is more.....?" Elden did not stop the beastkin and kept listening.
"Just like there's a ceiling, there could also be a 'floor' – a minimum price. This isn't in place yet, but it would mean sellers have to charge at least a certain amount. This could help make sure they still make enough money to keep their businesses going."
"By doing this, our City Lord is trying to balance things out. It's not just about making items cheaper; it's about fair pricing. This way, people can afford what they need, and sellers can still run their businesses without losing out."
"In simple terms, the city is making sure prices don't go too high or too low. It's all about keeping the market fair and stable, so everyone gets a fair deal. Our City is really amazing."
In fact, it wasn't Helen who came up with such a method. It was Aditya. This method was already successfully implemented in the Istarin Empire. Many other Empires also have copied this concept to control inflation in their territories. Not only that but also Helen was preparing to pressure all other neighboring Cities into adopting this policy so that inflation could be controlled. 10:24
"What about these vegetables? Do you know where these fresh vegetables came from?" If Elden could find the source then he could buy in bulk and sell it at a high profit in other cities. "All the vegetables have been provided by the City Lord." Hearing this Elden knew that there was no way that he could make a profit now. Helen must have secured all these fresh vegetables from the Istarin Empire. This also explains why the price of the vegetables is so cheap. -
Scene change_____
In the middle of the 100 acres outside Lionrock City, something miraculous was happening. Riya stood in the middle of the 100 acres of green land. Her body was surrounded by a glowing green aura. As she spread her arms wide, the green light spread all over the land. The green light touched every corner of the once-barren soil.
Tiny watermelon seedlings were in the ground. Under Riya's glowing aura, they began to change. First, the seedlings got taller and stronger. They grew rapidly, almost as if someone had pressed a fast-forward button on them.
Soon, little green shoots emerged from the seedlings. These shoots turned into vines that spread across the ground quickly. The veins covered the land with their lively green leaves. It was like watching a blanket of green being spread over the earth.
Then, tiny flowers bloomed on these vines. The flowers were small and delicate, but they didn't stay like that for long. They quickly changed to small green balls. These were the baby watermelons. In just a few minutes, these baby watermelons got bigger and bigger. They grew at a speed that no one would believe if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes. The watermelons turned into large and plump fruits. The watermelons were finally ready. They were big and round and were lying on the vines. The Watermelons were ready to be picked.
Riya had used the same technique to over other kinds of vegetables for the population of Lionrock City. Since she had nothing else to do, she was exercising her powers to grow watermelons. In the last few days, the Goddess of Nature has been helping around the whole city using her powers. She healed the people who had been affected by the curse. She rescued many homeless children and opened an orphanage in the middle of the city. And finally, she used her powers to solve the food shortage problem of this city. The Goddess was kind as ever. "Are you alright?" Aditya had decided to take a break from working.
These last few days, he and Percy have been working day and night to make flying ships. Now that Aditya was on a break, he also gave Percy a break. The old dwarf is probably going to drink wine while he is on a break.
While others became drunk after drinking wine, it seems dwarves became rather energetic after drinking wine. Or Maybe Percy was just a special case. He wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Yeah, I am fine. I am just out of Mana right now."
"You have worked hard. Let's take some rest. I will ask Helen to send some men to harvest the watermelons later." However, it seems fate had no plans to let them get some rest as Dragonian came running to Aditya. "Your Majesty....?" "What happened?" Aditya frowned and asked. "We have spotted an army of 11 thousand approaching our City. What should we do?" The Dragonian asked. "Then you should have reported this to Helen first." Aditya scolded the Dragonian. After all, Helen was the City Lord. This whole city was her responsibility. Why would Aditya take action in her place?
"Forget it!!! I will take care of the matter. Go back to your duty." This was nothing but a very small matter to Aditya. There was no need to give Helen another headache. She was already too busy. ----------------
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