Perry watched Lucas pick up food using two small sticks. She looked down at her own place setting, which had a knife, a fork, and an identical pair of sticks. The knife and fork were understandable, but what were these? For picking up food?
"They're called chopsticks. You can use them to pick up food," Lucas explained lightly. "But you can also use the knife and fork."
"Mm." Perry picked up her fork, speared a slice of meat, and put it in her mouth. After chewing twice, her eyes widened. She stared at the dishes in disbelief.
"It's delicious... so good," Sally exclaimed. Her hands, however, didn't slow down, quickly spearing food and stuffing it into her mouth.
"It's... truly delicious." Perry shot Lucas a complicated look. She finally understood why he had no appetite last night. Compared to this, their feast was nothing.
Mina and Ayesha stared dumbly at Perry and Sally's ferocious eating. Perry, in particular, was half-lifting her veil with one hand while rapidly spearing food with the other.
It was no wonder they reacted this way. For over a decade, their only flavor had been salt. To suddenly have food this delicious... it would be strange not to eat like this.
For a full half-hour, no one spoke. The only sounds were chewing and sipping. Beastkin appetites were naturally large; eighty percent of the food on the table ended up in Perry and Sally's stomachs.
"Hic!" Sally let out a satisfied burp, her eyes blissfully closed. The sound made Perry freeze. She snapped back to reality and stared, mortified, at the wasteland of empty plates.
"..." Perry awkwardly put down her fork, her face burning. She glanced to the side, embarrassed, only to see Lucas watching her with an amused smile.
"Er..." Sally also snapped out of it, her blush spreading all the way to her neck. She looked at Mina and Ayesha, who had only a few small bones on their plates, then looked down at the veritable mountain of bones in front of herself. Her face burned.
"Are you full? Was the food to your liking?" Lucas took a sip of orange juice and asked gently. "If you'd like more, I can have the kitchen prepare something else."
"Master, I'll go have them bring a few steaks," Mina said, standing up. She left before Perry or Sally could say a word.
"This..." Perry was floored. They were both about eighty percent full, but to keep eating now would be utterly mortifying.
"It's no trouble. The most important thing is that you're full," Lucas said, signaling the attendants to clear the plates.
"Ahem." Perry composed herself, her expression turning serious. "Lord Lucas, you invited me here to discuss business. What business did you have in mind?"
"I want sheep. And wool." Lucas's smile slowly faded. The time for business had begun.
"Sheep? How many?" Perry raised an eyebrow. She had tens of thousands of sheep available to sell; supply was not an issue.
"I want three hundred sheep per day. Nine thousand sheep per month," Lucas stated calmly.
"What?" Perry's jaw dropped. She stared at him in disbelief. The number was beyond her imagination.
"What? You don't have that many?" Lucas frowned. Sedona City needed at least three hundred sheep a day at its current stage, especially since the sheep in this era weren't very large.
"No! We have them! We have that many!" Perry said quickly, her breathing a little ragged. Her current flock was only enough to cover two or three months of that demand. It seemed she would have to raise the new lambs in a hurry.
"Good. Next, let's discuss wool." Lucas said calmly. His reserves of military meat rations weren't full yet; he'd increase the number of sheep later.
"Wool? You can buy... wool?" Perry frowned. After spring, the sheep had to be sheared. To keep the pastures clear, they always just burned it.
"Ten pounds of wool for one copper coin. How does that sound?" Lucas's lips quirked into a knowing smile.
"Ah? Really? Ten pounds for one copper coin?" Perry's eyes lit up. This was literally free money. Her flocks produced thousands, even tens of thousands, of pounds of wool every month.
"Of course. I will send a ship to collect it every month." Lucas nodded. To others, wool was trash. To him, it was wool clothing that could sell for hundreds of coppers apiece.
"We will have a large batch of wool within a few days," Perry said, her voice heavy. The flocks were already due for shearing.
"I will send people to instruct you," Lucas said, tapping his fingers on the table. "Aside from wool, I also want to cooperate on... sheep's milk."
"Sheep's milk?" Perry hesitated. Most of her tribe drank sheep's milk; without it, they would lose a major source of nutrition. They couldn't just slaughter sheep for every meal, and they also needed large amounts of wheat.
"Rest assured, I will trade with your tribe. Linen, wheat, ceramics... and more," Lucas said, knowing exactly what her concern was.
"Sheep's milk is difficult to preserve. It spoils in less than two days," Perry said, confused. She didn't understand his angle.
"You don't need to trouble yourself with that. I will send people to your tribe to build a milk powder factory. I will only need your guarantee that no one will harass my people," Lucas said. Sheep's milk was good stuff, for milk powder, cheese... Of course, cow's milk would be even better.
"That is acceptable." Perry agreed. This was clearly beneficial for her.
"Next... the draft horse business." Lucas's eyes glanced at the silent Sally. "I want one thousand draft horses."
Hssss... Perry sucked in a sharp breath. This was a huge deal. One thousand draft horses was one-fifth of her entire current stock.
"The first batch is one thousand. We can add more later, depending on the situation," Lucas said. Sedona City was desperately short on draft horses. Transportation was a major bottleneck, and the current development phase required a lot of motive power.
"Done." Perry took a deep breath. She was truly stunned by the scale of his demands.
"And one more thing. I wish to purchase five hundred warhorses," Lucas said, dropping the real bombshell.
Screech!
Sally shot to her feet, shoving her chair back a meter. Her mouth flew open to protest, but Perry stopped her with a raised hand.
For the beastkin tribe, warhorses were a strategic resource. They never had enough, and their current number was just barely sufficient to meet their own needs.
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