I’ve Become a S*ave Bride - Chapter 37

“If it bothers you, I’ll only call the suppliers when you’re around. Is that still not acceptable?”

Could he really feel uneasy after saying this much?

“…Understood. Then I will prepare everything by tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

“If there’s nothing else you need, I’ll take my leave.”

“Alright.”

With that, Nazan left the room.

Left alone in the room, Lenette reopened the documents she had received moments ago. As she skimmed through the items with her fingertips, she thought,

‘Sarman… let’s see what your true intentions are.’

From now on, Lenette planned to check every item supplied by him.

* * *

For the past few days, Lenette had been checking each and every ingredient and item supplied by the suppliers listed by Nazan.

“…Nothing.”

Lenette muttered softly after checking the entire grain storage in the basement.

Since she spoke in Ecaron, neither Nazan, who was standing beside her, nor the elderly woman guiding her understood the meaning.

“Now that everything has been checked, where would you like to go next?”

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Lenette relaxed her expression and smiled.

“I think this is enough. There’s nothing more to check inside the palace.”

After looking around at the stored wheat, barley, and various spices, Lenette turned on her heels at the entrance and casually mentioned,

“I was thinking of going to the market.”

“Are you planning to go today?”

The question came back immediately.

She hadn’t thought that Kazen would allow her to go out without him, which was unexpected.

‘He’s surprisingly lenient with me.’

It was something to consider, but not right now.

‘Sarman… do you really not know anything about this?’

Her head was complicated because of Bunna and Hyungran.

‘It’s unsettling.’

Lenette had a strong feeling that he had intentionally paired the two.

However, among the items traded with Sarman over the past few days, there were no significant anomalies.

‘Could it really be a coincidence…?’

As Lenette emerged from the basement, she asked Nazan, who was following her,

“Can we leave right now?”

“Yes. Understood.”

* * *

Leading the way, Nazan took Lenette outside, accompanied by a few other warriors.

In fact, it was more accurate to say they came out “surrounded” rather than “taking them out,” but for now, Lenette decided to be satisfied with the fact that she could leave freely whenever she wanted.

“The regular market is definitely smaller compared to the special market.”

“Actually, it wasn’t this small.”

The response came not from Nazan, but from a talkative palace warrior named Hosanta. Despite his fearsome appearance, he was quite chatty.

“Really?”

“Yes. Up until five years ago, it was quite large. There were various goods for sale.”

“It doesn’t look like that at all.”

“Right? But it’s true.”

Hosanta nudged another warrior beside him for agreement, and the others nodded silently.

Perhaps feeling he received an appropriate response, he focused back on Lenette.

“That’s why it’s not as enjoyable to come out to the market.”

Although Hosanta often exaggerated, this time Lenette fully agreed with him.

Just looking at it confirmed that.

Despite walking quite a bit, the variety of goods sold in the market could be counted on one hand.

This was not only the case for ‘goods’ but also for food ingredients.

‘If this continues… it would be a disaster if crop diseases spread.’

“Indeed, there aren’t many varieties. It seems farming is difficult in the desert region?”

“There can’t be sand all around just because it’s a desert, can there? This area is actually much better for diverse farming than northern Ecaron.”

Lenette looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Better for farming than Ecaron?”

She understood that the Tazetra Empire was prosperous due to the absence of war.

But wasn’t that limited to a few plants suited to the desert climate?

At that moment, Nazan, who had been quietly leading the way, spoke up.

“Every summer, the Bukur River floods.”

The Bukur River was the name of the massive river that flowed across the Tazetra Empire.

“Floods?”

“Yes. After a month or two, the floodwaters recede, leaving behind fertile soil suitable for farming.”

“Ah.”

Hearing this, she finally understood.

‘So that’s where all the wheat and barley come from…’

She had vaguely thought that they were supplied in large quantities from regions with unique climates like Bunna, but that wasn’t the case.

‘I didn’t know that.’

“But why are there so few types of crops sold in the market?”

Hosanta’s answer to Lenette’s question was simple.

“Why? Because it doesn’t make money.”

“I wouldn’t think it wouldn’t make money. Wouldn’t people prefer it if other products were sold in this limited grain market?”

“That’s a fair point, but the reality is often different.”

Hosanta pointed to a man who seemed to be trimming stalks next to a shop.

“That man used to grow beans. You might not have seen them, Lenette, but there are these small yellow beans.”

“I haven’t seen any yellow beans among the ones I’ve eaten here.”

“Yes, that’s right. Originally, that man and a few other farmers grew them, but now they don’t. It doesn’t make money.”

“Why doesn’t it make money?”

“Over the past couple of years, an enormous amount of those beans has been imported from outside regions, so the prices have dropped drastically. They can’t even recover their costs after all the hard work of farming, so it’s better for them to work for wages at someone else’s place.”

“……”

Although Hosanta spoke lightly, Lenette’s expression was serious.

‘This is a serious issue.’

So much grain has flooded the local market that it could collapse?

“What is the local governor doing about this?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, if so much bean supply has come in over the past two years, why didn’t they stop it?”

Hosanta and the other warriors looked at Lenette, puzzled.

“Why would the governor stop that?”

At that counter-question, Lenette found herself at a loss for words.

‘What? Am I the only one who understands what’s happening right now?’

“Nazan.”

Lenette called him, hoping he would understand what she was trying to say.

However, he too just looked at her with a puzzled expression, like the other warriors.

“Selling goods is the merchant’s prerogative. Choosing to buy cheaper items is also a personal decision. It’s not something the governor should interfere with.”

It felt like someone had hit her on the back of the head with a hammer. Even Nazan, whom she had trusted, responded this way.

“……”

But saying anything more wouldn’t persuade them.

It wasn’t even a matter of persuasion in the first place.

“…Then let me ask something else. Are there many people who have given up their main occupations, like farming?”

“Rather than giving up, there are quite a few who have changed their means of making a living.”

“So, the reason there aren’t various grains sold in the market is ultimately because of the indiscriminate influx of grain from outside?”

At this, Hosanta blinked in surprise.

“Uh… I’m not sure.”

“You just said that the man stopped growing beans for that reason, right?”

“That’s true, but saying the smaller market is due to the grains brought in by the merchants is a bit…”

“Strange?”

“Well, yes. After all, we’re thankful for the cheap goods they bring and sell.”

“……”

From the looks on their faces, it seemed that Nazan and the other warriors thought the same way.

Lenette took a deep breath and brushed her hair back.

“Let me ask one more thing. Is the merchant who flooded the market with that enormous amount of grain—selling it at absurdly low prices—by any chance the Sarman merchant?”

* * *

At the same time, in a nearby physician’s house.

“Sir… that… the brown lump you gave me last time… it worked wonders… Can I get a little more of that?”

“Are you talking about ‘Tariak’?”

“Yes, yes…! Do you have more of that?”

“I do have a little more.”

At that, the physician, who had been speaking in a lazy manner, suddenly opened his eyes wide and grabbed Sarman’s hand.

“I’ll buy all of it!”

Seeing the suddenly enthusiastic physician, Sarman narrowed his eyes.

“From the looks of it, it seems like you want it for yourself, not your patients.”

The physician subtly turned his bloodshot eyes away and replied, “When you work as a physician, the pain of others can rub off on you…”

In other words, he needed to take care of himself by getting good medicine.

“Alright. I understand. I’ll bring it to you by tomorrow morning.”

As soon as Sarman made his promise, a broad smile spread across the physician’s face.

Seeing the physician’s lack of restraint, Sarman quietly shook his head and stood up.

“Foolish man. I specifically told you to give it only to the patients, yet here we are.”

But there was no real problem.

After all, that physician was just a disposable tool to be used a few times and then discarded.

“Faster than I expected, but I’ll need to find another physician.”

If he left the Tariak with that man, he would consume it all by himself before it could spread throughout the Ragan region.

“How troublesome.”