Karsipempas was not comforting the other party; it was a heartfelt sentint. The Aldean tribe did have carriages, but not many, as they were primarily used for transporting iron ore and salt. Tribe mbers often had to carry goods on their backs by hand to catch the markets in Snowdonia, which was not too far, yet not too close to the southern territory of the Aldean tribe. It was very tiring to make a round trip.
The coachman’s eyes lit up: "Leader Karsipempas, that’s a great idea. I’ll have to speak to the captain about this. To thank you, I’ll do my best to get you to Ophelia today!"
"You don’t need to rush too much; I’m not in a great hurry. Tomorrow will do just fine," Karsipempas advised, noticing the wrinkles on the coachman’s face and fearing he might tire out the old coachman.
"Just sit back and relax, and watch ," the coachman laughed, snapping the whip in the air with a crisp sound.
The four draft horses, upon hearing the sound, quickened their pace once more.
As the sun began to tilt westward in the sky, the carriage arrived at Todleduo.
Three years ago, this town was a "large prison" holding captives, and even Official Tribe mbers of Nix were not allowed in. But now, it was no different from other Nix towns. The Segestica citizens who had surrendered were made Official Tribe mbers and the defeated Pannonian captives, softened in spirit after arduous and lengthy labor, eventually chose to join the Nix Tribe as Reserve Tribe mbers. They were allocated houses and land. Those stubborn captives who remained were no longer a threat to the tribe, so Todleduo opened to the outside last year.
However, passersby still habitually stayed at the "Nix’s House" inn outside the village.
The coachman parked the carriage outside the inn, temporarily unloaded it, and had the inn’s attendants provide feed and water for the horses. He ate so simple dry food and used a homade wooden rake to groom the horses’ manes, relieving their muscle fatigue.
Karsipempas and his party entered the inn’s dining room to eat.
There were already many custors in the dining room, sitting around the tables, eating, chatting, and even toasting and drinking. Smiles of satisfaction and happiness filled their faces.
The waiter guided Karsipempas and his party to an empty table in the corner. Having been here several tis, Karsipempas skillfully began to order.
After he finished ordering, the waiter smiled and reminded him, "Honored guests, the weather is hot. Would you like so beer to quench your thirst?"
Karsipempas was sowhat surprised, "You have beer now?!"
"Of course, we do! See, they’re drinking beer," the waiter said, pointing to the table next to them. "But the beer only started being available last month. You’re lucky to catch it! I heard that last year, Leader Maximus suggested making beer from so of the wheat because the tribe had too much grain, and so of the old wheat was starting to mold. It was to enrich the tribe mbers’ diet. The Public Works Departnt even posted notices in all the towns, recruiting tribesn who could brew beer. But the notice was taken down within days, with no further news—"
"No, it wasn’t that there was no news; the slots for the brewery recruitnt filled up quickly!" interrupted a middle-aged custor at the next table, his face flushed. "Do you know who the head of the tribe’s brewery is?"
"Who?" the others at the table asked curiously.
"Mait Galis!"
"Ah, that old fellow! He always seed just a passive observer, yet he can brew beer!"
"Don’t underestimate him! Let tell you, Mait Galis was once a slave of a Sarabian noble, exclusively in charge of brewing beer on the estate. The beer he brewed was quite popular among Sarabian sailors and civilians," the middle-aged custor said with a sigh. "Now, he finally has a place to showcase his talents as the brewery head. It’s great!"
"How co you know so much about Mait Galis’ past?"
"Nonsense, I used to work with him, later joined the forces with him when Leader Maximus ca to Sarabia. I beca a soldier because I was young and strong, while he entered the Supply Camp..."
"Since you know how to brew, why didn’t you sign up?"
"I’m a centurion now. Why would I go play second fiddle in brewing, like a fool! Besides, staying in the tribe to brew doesn’t offer the sa rewards and promotions as leading soldiers out to fight enemies. Am I right?"
"Right!!" everyone at the sa table responded in unison.
Hearing this, Karsipempas said to the waiter, "Bring us each a glass of beer!"
"Sure." The waiter noted on the paper while calculating in his mind, then smiled and said, "You need to pay a total of one mark, two nickels, five ophi, and seven snos."
When Maximus designed the paper money for the Nix Tribe, he used a decimal system.
On one hand, it was because he initially taught children arithtic based on the decimal system, which continues today in tribal schools, so the young new tribe mbers find it familiar and can do buying and selling calculations more quickly and conveniently.
On the other hand, it was influenced by mories of a past life. Not only did he use the decimal system for the paper money, but he also divided the denominations into yuan, jiao, and fen, creating four different paper notes.
The smallest denomination, the one-fen note, also has the smallest area. Its face shows sketches of Snowdonia town and the Kupa River, handcrafted and printed with woodblock engravings. It symbolizes the initial establishnt of the Nix Tribe, with its value roughly equivalent to a Roman as.
The next is the ten-jiao note, depicting Ophelia City and the Sava River, symbolizing the growth of the Nix Tribe.
The one-yuan note features the emblem on the Nix Tribe flag—a dragon riding clouds and mist, representing the entire Nix Tribe.
There’s also the ten-yuan note, featuring a portrait of Maximus, who is not only the leader of the Nix Tribe but also the core of its existence.
Maximus even designed a hundred-yuan note with a depiction of the Danu Goddess. However, given the current Nix Tribe’s small population (only two hundred thousand) and not-so-abundant resources, the overall trade of the tribe is far from prosperous, resulting in little demand for large denominations, so it hasn’t been issued yet.
Papernotes of different denominations have different sizes and designs, so even for tribe mbers who cannot read, they are not likely to be confused during use. However, most tribe mbers can’t fluently pronounce the words "yuan, jiao, fen, including dragon." So even think it’s a language brought from the Danu Divine Country by the Divine Son Maximus. Later, based on the designs on the paper money, people naturally gave them common nicknas: one fen is a "sno," ten jiao is an "ophi," the dragon on the one yuan, representing the Nix Tribe, is called a "nick," and the ten yuan is called a "mark."
Normally, a pound of wheat costs about six snos, and an egg about three snos, so the Nix Tribe’s paper money is still quite strong. The cost of the al Karsipempas ordered is relatively expensive, mainly because he’s always been generous, wanting to treat his subordinates and friends well, knowing they all have big appetites. He ordered plenty of good dishes, and the newly released beer, due to its limited production, naturally has a higher price.
This al requires quite a lot of money, but Karsipempas, not being a Nix tribesman, doesn’t have a single note of paper money. However, he calmly took out two docunts from his arms and handed them to the waiter: "I am Elder Karsipempas of the Aldean Tribe, here by invitation from Leader Maximus to lead my subordinates to participate in this sumr festival. These are the invitation letter and the certification docunt issued by Administrator Xie Pangbo."
The waiter took them, imdiately noticing the unique pale gold seal of Leader Maximus on the invitation letter.
Karsipempas had visited this inn nurous tis, but this young waiter, having just finished his studies at the tribal school this year, was recruited by the inn three months ago and did not recognize this good friend of the Nix Tribe.
However, given that there are also tribesn of Aldean origin in the Nix Tribe, and the Aldean tribe mbers residing by the Sava River occasionally co to dine when going to the Murenica River—Aldean Territory, the waiter wasn’t surprised to learn their identities. After several Aldean envoys passed through here recently, he said professionally, "Elder Karsipempas, please follow !"
"Nix’s House" is under the Comrce Departnt, with the responsibility of entertaining officials on diplomatic missions and envoys from other tribes.
The young waiter led Karsipempas to et the inn manager. Manas had been transferred last year, and the new manager recognized Karsipempas, warmly welcoming him upon his arrival. After reviewing his invitation letter and certification docunt and understanding that he was not staying but rely had a al, this manager made notes on the order sheet and asked him to stamp it with his handprint.
Karsipempas knew this was the proper procedure, so he complied and returned to the dining room. Shortly after, the beer was served.
Karsipempas picked up a glass, but didn’t drink imdiately; instead, he curiously examined the liquid inside. It wasn’t the usual black-yellow color but exhibited a pale yellow.
He gently shook the glass, not seeing any floating dregs, and the foam on top appeared pure white...
This beer looked distinctly different from what he had drunk before.
He tasted a small sip, finding it bittersweet with a fragrant sweetness, coupled with a slight tartness. The fine foam provided a silky texture. Drinking it in the hot season brought about a unique refreshing sensation...
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