Kregi wasn’t really foolish; he had an epiphany before the story was even finished, "The Lord’s salary is like payment for horse bones. You treat these captives so generously and keep your word, let alone the regular hires. I understand what to do now. At that time, I will definitely have war drums at both the bow and stern to let all the residents along the Ashaba River know what we are doing. I will see to it that the ceremony is not taken lightly."
"You guys be careful too. There’s no guarantee that those Sambiyan Merchants won’t have some ulterior motives. Should you find yourselves in trouble with no means of escape, disembark on the northern bank, and I will have Andrew guard and assist you along the way," Gaven decided to add an extra layer of protection by having the Dog Demon lead his Wild Wolf Brigade to guard them along the way.
Although the Sambiyan Merchants hadn’t taken any major actions recently, their small moves never stopped. A mercenary group called the Silver Raven had been infiltrating the Three Rivers Region, both overtly and covertly.
Gaven gave this not-so-famous mercenary group the utmost attention.
He knew that the mastermind behind this organization would later hold an eminent position in Sambia and were likely to be his main adversaries from Sambia for the foreseeable future.
Gaven had no intention of uprooting them for the time being.
The ones showing up now were just small fries. Even if he took them down, it wouldn’t hurt them much, and it would just push them to become more secretive and harder to track.
Moreover, with the rainy season approaching in Comanso, the water levels of the Ashaba River would rise sharply. Flood disasters were very prone to happen in the middle reaches, particularly favoring the Sambiyan area.
First, it was a natural reason. Once past the Dun Hills of the Taser Valley and before reaching Scar Gorge, there’s a vast area with relatively low and unobstructed terrain which could become a flood discharge area if the rainfall is excessive and surpasses the capacity of Scar Gorge.
Second, it was a man-made disaster. The Sambiyan area was originally part of the Kosoman Great Forest, once covered by dense primeval forest. However, since those Humans, especially the greedy Merchants, took over, they had deforested all that remained within mere hundreds of years. Now they were reaping what they sowed as they faced increasing soil erosion and the wrath of nature.
Third, it was akin to a divine punishment. Some of the more radical Natural Deities would deliberately or inadvertently promote this matter.
In recent years, Sambia had suffered floods in eight out of ten years, with the worst being last year.
The devastating flood peak, said to be over ten meters high, submerged a large area of Sambiyan territory between Taser Valley and Scar Valley. The floodwaters reached the walls of Odulin City and were still over half a meter high there.
At that time, many thought the Ashaba River would take the opportunity to change its course. However, the Goddess of Spring and Peace, Edas, could not stand by and watch so many civilians suffer. With the body of a Saint, she personally intervened, forcibly redirecting the waters back to their course.
With last year’s disaster as a lesson, those Sambiyan Merchants were naturally on high alert this year, and for the first time, they proactively dipped into their pockets, hiring a large number of construction workers and Mages to reinforce the riverbanks on the Sambian side in advance.
But compared to the mighty forces of nature, human efforts sometimes fell short, so from top to bottom, they were all on guard, keeping a close watch on the Ashaba River, temporarily too preoccupied to bother with Gaven.
Gaven was pleased to take this opportunity to advance his own plans, without any intention of provoking them.
He returned to Anfield Village three days later, where the Horse Farm Owners had already drawn up a detailed purchase contract. Gaven and his team reviewed it thoroughly from start to finish, with a professional on his side in such matters—the Dog Demon.
Although the Dog Demon wasn’t specialized in Deception, he was a Devil after all. Many things came naturally to him, such as finding loopholes and exploiting them in contracts and agreements. They were always using this ability to trick others, making it almost impossible for anyone to trick them in this regard.
The little tricks of those Horse Farm Owners were quickly exposed, one by one, by him, and after some revisions, Gaven formally signed the contract with them.
With this matter settled, Gaven’s visit to Anfield Village was nearly perfect, with only one more thing left to do—slaughter the Swift Roc.
He had already begun to make arrangements for this matter after hearing from Mother Gao Ser that the Swift Roc had a significant number of Gnoll servants under its command.
"How do you manage things? I told you to lock the door at night, lock the door, lock the door. How many times have I stressed this? Are you incapable of remembering?"
"I did lock the door, but it seems someone among them learned how to pick locks and pried it open themselves..."
"You still dare to argue? Whether you left the door unlocked or they picked the lock to leave, this is a serious dereliction of your duty," an angry rebuke roared from the Stone Stallion Inn.
It caused the villagers of Anfield to stop in their tracks, whispering to one another.
"What’s going on? Mr. Gaven is fuming so early in the morning."
"I don’t know either, I’ve just arrived. I only heard Mr. Gaven scolding Miss Anna. Poor Miss Anna, she’s busy every day helping to repair the inn, purchasing food and lumber, serving those Gnolls, and even treating us for free when she has time. Now, for a small mistake, she’s getting scolded severely. If it were me, I would’ve quit by now. She’s a powerful Priest wherever she goes, an important person," they gossiped in hushed tones.