A short yet dashing tan-skinned woman flicked back her long, coca-colored hair. She was currently inside the Public Trade Hall, located inside the Salvation Provinces, west of the border.
The interior of the building was lavish, especially for a public place. It was split into two floors, and at the bottom receptionist desks were manned mostly by women. Plant vases split up the monogamous brick wall and concrete floor combo.
Upstairs, at one of the tables positioned to the side of the hallway, the cocoa-haired girl was working out a deal.
"Ms. Moto, you must give me a discount, I'm a loyal customer. I'm always the first to buy your wheat stock," A fellow merchant bargained. He leaned in closer to raise tension.
"Hmph, loyal until the local monopolies have a sale" Yu Moto responded.
She crossed her legs and leaned on her clasped hands which rested on the table. "Final offer, 100 Penn per pound or a bulk discount of 50 Penn per pound when you buy 100 pounds," she said firmly.
The bargainer clenched his jaw slightly.
"Your customers will go elsewhere if you don't ensure their satisfaction!" The cheapskate threatened. For a moment, She thought he had called her bluff.
He then pulled out ten-hundred-dollar Penn notes, as though it hurt his soul, and slid it across the table.
Ms. Moto quickly deposited the Penn into her leather pouch with a smile, her head tilted slightly to the side.
"Nice doing business with you," she said sarcastically, ignoring the responding scoff.
"The goods will be in your warehouse within the next two to three business days."
She stood up and made her way downstairs, then through the exit.
As a businesswoman, Ms. Yu Moto was extremely busy, however for whatever reason today specifically was even more action-packed.
To be more specific, the number of requests for foodstuffs she had received in a single day far exceeded what was normal even in a month, and her merchant senses were tingling.
Although she knew not why, more demand than supply meant less resistance from buyers to price increases.She monopolized this fact and increased her normal prices from 50 Penn per pound to 100.
Currently, she was on her way to another exchange.
She took a carriage along the main street en route to a noble's house, But when she exited, her path was obstructed by a large gathering of individuals.
"Dissolve the treaty! The Thucians have gone too far!" One roared in anger.
"How can they destroy our livelihood over dried blood?! Send in the Army!"
"Only Thucians are capable of making plaque bugs, their cultivators specialize in it!
The shouts of an angry mob echoed in the main street surrounded by lofty two-story houses.
Yu Moto took a second, then realized why there had been such a meteoric rise in the demand for foodstuffs.
Listening intently, she raised her eyebrow in suspicion.
'Lucians capable of making plaque-bugs? I'm not too sure they can even raise a proper cultivator…' She thought to herself.
Walking over to the crowd, she tapped the one who made the claim on the shoulder.
"From where have you heard Lucians are capable of plaque-bugs?" She asked, earnestly. He turned around and looked moderately surprised.
"Young lady, don't you know? The Lucians have already accomplished non-perishable food, a sorcery without precious salt or smoking! Only people with that kind of knowledge could engineer such a fast-acting plaque bug!" He said in confidence.
Ms. Moto pretended to nod in agreement as she began to leave.
Quickly, she exited the crowd by gently pushing past protesters.
She continued along her path but started thinking.
'that logic is as sound as a donkey's ass' She thought bluntly.
'But I wonder… a protest of this size would be immediately noticed by the town's guard, and yet nobody is here breaking it up. Considering all protesting is illegal, that's extremely odd' She deduced.
"I'm not sure this plaque bug is actually of Thucian descent.'
Later, at an unnamed dark market for information, she found that the Thucian empire quietly closed off all imports & exports from The Salvation Provinces.
Ms. Moto was initially skeptical, but this act wavered her confidence.
One week later.
In the span of a short time, the food situation had grown desperate.
The number of beggars on the streets had increased threefold, and food suddenly became almost as valuable as gold.
Crime ran rampant as an effect of the remaining food supply dwindling dangerously low.
Ms. Moto—The Female merchant's stock had run to less than one-quarth of its original size. She had sold it due to the prospect of insane profits.
While her pockets were full and then some, her stomach was not. She had been forced to ration every meal of her remaining stock. She had made the mistake of selling to much food, and not leaving enough behind for herself.
If she spent her Penn on food, all the profit would suddenly become chump change. She wouldn't even be able to get a large sum of it.
All these problems culminated in a decision to immigrate to a different country, one where foodstuffs were still readily available.
The only logical decision was the Kingdom of Thucia
All the other countries would cost too much money to venture, as she was at the edge of the country, making travel unnecessarily drawn out. That would cost Penn, and currently, her wealth was directly tied to her survival.
Other's had also came to this decision, lining up in droves to exit the country.
Except there was only one issue.
Guards at the border had suddenly stopped the free movement between the two countries, making passing the border without giving a substantial bribe almost impossible. The bribe was so high, it would've made Ms. Moto into a beggar.
Like that, the poor's fate had been sealed.
But for the wealthy, such as herself, she could buy knowledge. Through this, she learned of a secret passage through the Dragon Mountains. Yet this came with a caveat.
The Dragon Mountains were some of the harshest environments on the planet, and if the wild animals didn't take your life, a high-level cultivator would. The Dragon Mountains were an excellent place for extremely rare treasures and materials, as well as ambitious & greedy characters willing to do anything to get them.
Hiring a True Qi Master, who was both a cultivator & bodyguard from one of her many connections, she began her journey.