It was clear that he was the Commander, yet his meal consisted only of a piece of roasted bread and meat, along with a dish of some unidentifiable vegetable. It reminded Zhao Guang of what they had mentioned earlier about the Commander having to attend to matters at the rear in the afternoon.
Clearly, the conditions in the military camp were far from good.
The nobles might have other places to go, but what about everyone else?
"You are right, we indeed lack supplies. What can you bring us?" Yars's eyes shone, as being constantly at war, how could they not lack supplies? Not just him, everyone else did as well.
"That depends on what you lack, after all I have to procure based on your needs."
"Are you a merchant, coming to do business even at the border camp? Do you have a business license?"
It was Ocoro again, always opposing him. Hadn't Zhao Guang done anything to offend this guy? Nevermind, when under someone's roof, it's better to just ignore him.
Yars glanced at Ocoro but didn't reply; instead, he looked at Zhao Guang and said, "We lack everything—weapons, equipment, food supplies, and more."
That was rather vague, but Zhao Guang didn't mind.
Or rather, he just wanted to get back quickly, not wanting to continue dealing with these hostile barbarians. As long as they allowed him to return, what was it that he had promised them?
"No problem, whatever it is, I can bring it to you," Zhao Guang said.
"Just you alone can bring so much stuff?" Ocoro said disdainfully.
"Haha, of course, I can't do it alone, though I'm the only one who can travel back and forth, but I have many people behind me. Besides, I can't possibly bring too much supply instantly, as they wouldn't trust it."
One of the rules of walking in the Otherworld: always craft a backstory for yourself; it's safer that way.
Sure enough, hearing this, Yars nodded knowingly, his gaze softening a lot.
Without a strong backing, how could one person just appear out of nowhere? This man's sudden appearance was mysterious, who knows what abilities he possessed. Pleased, Yars said, "Sit, join us for a bit. You must be tired from your journey."
With a wave of his hand, his secretary Klay immediately got up, instructing the attendants to bring another serving of food.
"Hmph, let that fool be deceived. I'm going to attend to my own matters now," Lord Ocoro scoffed as he stood up and walked out.
Yars gritted his teeth and said, "Be careful. If you dare mess around, I will twist your head off myself." As he spoke, an aura momentarily flared around him.
Zhao Guang, being closer, suddenly felt a suffocating sensation. What was this, too dangerous, wasn't it?
If he hadn't just sat down, he would have probably fallen flat on his seat.
Thinking about his bottom, ouch, it started to hurt again.
"Damn it, Yars, you actually used Combat Energy. That's against the rules, against the rules!" Ocoro shouted frantically before turning and running out, as he himself had not cultivated Combat Energy.
Combat Energy, truly mystical. No wonder it caused such a sensation of suffocation.
"Never mind that, eat first, and then I'll have them take you around the camp," Zhao Guang suggested, nodding without any hesitations and grabbing food to eat relentlessly, not worried about being poisoned. Besides, having run for such a long time, Zhao Guang was famished.
But as soon as Zhao Guang took a bite, he furrowed his brows.
There really were no seasonings at all, just roasted plain, not even a bit more salt. Was that necessary?
With one sip of the soup, there it was—just water boiled with leaves. Zhao Guang felt like his mouth was filled with the fragrance of grass. Then he picked up the roasted bread, and sure enough, it was just as he had expected.
Though it wasn't very hard, it indeed was quite chewy; the flour surely hadn't been leavened.
Suppressing his discomfort, he managed to eat it all, then stood up and said, "I'll have a look around and then have those two send me back. It's such a long way; I'm a bit unfamiliar with it."
It couldn't be helped; he really couldn't recognize it. In Zhao Guang's eyes, the scenes of Desolate Stone Ridge all looked pretty much the same.
Watching Zhao Guang leave, Yars said in a low voice, "Did you notice anything?"
Klay nodded, "I did. He must live a very good life. His expression when eating the food was almost uncontrollable."
"Yes, it was awful," Yars admitted.
As for who he was—a border army commander, an earl—it was expected to feel the food was bad. But to have meat and vegetables was something some wealthy merchants and lesser nobles ate regularly, and yet he found it distasteful.
"If even this didn't satisfy him, it shows he is really no ordinary person, nor likely a smuggler. Living that kind of life, he'd have no reason to engage in smuggling, a laborious and thankless task. And even if he did, he wouldn't need to do it personally."
"So, Commander, do you still want to eat?"
"Eat, there's nothing better back home anyway."
Their supplies were genuinely scarce; it wasn't a deceit. Constantly at war and without much output, even the rear wasn't much better than here, the only difference being more luxuries.
"But do we really want to do business with him?" Yars asked, frowning as he ate.
"Doing business with big shots doesn't usually break any taboos. What do we have to fear? Lord Ocoro wants to smuggle, but we're dealing with a Mage. Even if the emperor finds out, it won't be an issue," Klay assured.
Yars nodded slightly, as if persuaded, "You're right, but I'll still inform the emperor."
Right, whether what they did was correct or not, it was crucial to show where they stood.
Meanwhile, Zhao Guang followed two men, glancing around without much care. Doing business with them was just a casual mention, did they really think he would come back?
Jack was somewhat dissatisfied. Just a moment ago he was a spy, now all of a sudden a guest of honor.
Even to dine in the commander's room, a privilege even he didn't have.
"Are you done looking? If so, let's go. Rush back, and if you dare to deceive us, you wait for your death," Jack glared viciously at Zhao Guang.
"Haven't you guys eaten yet, go get something? Also, can I have a piece of clothing?"
Hans didn't know where he found a piece of cloth, "No clothes left, this piece of cloth was hard to come by, just make do with it."
It was unclear where they had gotten the rag from; it was hard to tell its original color. Zhao Guang sniffed it, fortunately, there was no odd smell other than a musty earthy scent.
"Better than a leaf, isn't it?" Zhao Guang muttered as he wrapped it around himself. With this wrapping cloth, this was sort of an equipment upgrade, wasn't it? Things were really tough for him.