Before heading to this place, they had imagined being mobbed by a crowd—but only because they loved their products so much.
They were looking forward to being 'hot-pancakes' for a while.
They would never have imagined being mobbed because they washed poop with water…
Fortunately, Rowan and the others were very scary so everyone managed to get out unscatched.
Though not without stepping on a number of shit on the way there.
Ugh.
However, no matter how torturous, they valiantly trudged through, ending up in less populous places that didn't know who they were.
This time they were careful and went to the forests to wash up.
They settled in another slum with a new start, now very very careful at where they stepped on. Anyway, regardless of the horrible first impression, they still decided to start their movements with the 'poor population' first.
They had considered selling their goods near the village center as they would definitely buy for a much higher price at first, but decided not to in the end.
After all, the money-making was not the main goal of this trip. The pirating—err, rescue and recruitment—mission was. It also gave the most rewards, if done well.
This was why they were focusing on the slums, at least at the start, because they would be the easiest to convince by promising a better life.
This was in stark contrast with the people near the village center.
Basically, those who lived near the center already invested much of their wealth in the territory. No matter how dreamlike a territory they portrayed Altera to be, they might not be willing to leave. It was a natural thing.
After all, who would want to waste their wealth and just jump a leap of faith?
Besides, they weren't missionaries. Who was to say they would be able to 'convert' these people?
Of course, some of them who brought in the 'luxuries' like cloth and wooden products could sell them to these people with a huge mark-up.
These 'rich' people would be much more likely to be willing to spend money on comfort, as they had already met their basic needs.
In this way, they could earn a contribution for recruiting 'the unfortunate' and earn good money from the rich.
It was a great strategy and the team felt very proud of it.
With renewed energy, the group went past the dense crowd and continued walking, settling in the small buffer forest between the slum area and the built area where the horrendous stench was the least.
The trio couldn't help but look around as they did so, making a mental map of the territory in their minds.
The built area was located where the slums had been the last time they were here. At the very least, the construction of residential buildings had not been lax.
The team took out some sheets to sit comfortably in and set up some of the food items they planned on selling.
There were biscuits, breads, jerkies, dried fruits and others, and each one made the bystanders' eyes widen like saucers.
In fact the moment they wastefully took out cloth to sit on, people already took notice of them. Then they started displaying food items and people rushed in.
Although they couldn't really tell what were displayed—or rather, they couldn't believe it—they couldn't help but feel excited at the sight of new things.
Fortunately the Alteran guards were there to intimidate and the people dared not to rashly approach any further.
With the guards blocking, the crowd was frozen a meter or so away from where the team was setting up. Their sights were fixed on the shop being set up, eyes following every movement of the 'stall owners'.
Slowly, it dawned on them that they were indeed seeing what they were seeing.
"Is that… what I think it is?"
"Rice!?" A yell. "That is rice, right? Although it's blue?" He wasn't sure because he might just be colorblind due to excessive hunger.
"Biscuits?" A gasp beside him sounded.
"Bread!" came a scream.
It did not end there as a lot of others started taking out their stocks as well.
If the people's eyes were wide before, now they had turned as round as saucers.
"Noodles?"
"Jerky!"
"Strawberry jam!!!"
The exclamation in front attracted more and more people, very curious as to what the commotion was about.
One of these people was Okuri, a narrow-eyed girl with short hair. She looked at the commotion with raised eyebrows, turning her head to look at her boyfriend Ronny.
"What are they doing?" She asked, frowning, "Why are they chanting food?"
She asked the man beside her, continuing her mumbling, "Are they playing a game or something?
"Did that shitty gruel finally climb up their brains?" She continued to ask.
Ronny only shook his head as his eyes stayed on the crowd, also very very curious. Okuri naturally saw how her boyfriend's eyes stuck to a direction and she sighed.
"Shall we take a look?" She asked and Ronny's eyes brightened. He grabbed her hand and dragged her there, amusing Okuri.
If this man could speak, maybe he'd start chanting random foods himself soon.
Anyway, whether it was curiosity or fun, more and more people gathered, making the place a little more chaotic than usual.
"Line up properly!" A voice inside the crowd yelled, and surprisingly those upfront followed religiously, making those behind even more curious.
Their people were so obedient with people other than the Lord and his cronies?
In any case, because the crowd in front cleared up, the things displayed soon became visible to those behind.
Okuri's narrow eyes widened (as much as it physically could), and she was one among many others. They finally realized that the earlier crowd weren't chanting anything—they were yelling out what they saw!
The Vismont people watched in awe. Their brains couldn't believe it, but the drools dripping said their stomachs believed it.
This glorious array of food they never thought they'd see again was blinding their eyes!
How… how was this possible!?