"Swish…"
As the boat glided through the waves, the splashes broke into tiny droplets, returning to the tranquil river.
"Yeah! I caught another one!" Catherine's excited voice rang out as she carefully pinched the fishing line, looking just like a little girl who had just gotten a piece of candy.
"Shh, Catherine, keep your voice down! You'll scare all the fish away." Dahlia scolded.
She had been fishing for ages without even catching a glimpse of a fish, while Catherine, Nicole, and Mina were pulling them up one after another. Of course, she wasn't the only unlucky one—Lord Lucas was in the same boat.
Dahlia turned to glance at Lucas, who was basking in the sun, rolled her eyes, and pouted as she occasionally lifted her hook to check if anything had taken the bait.
"Fishing requires patience. Keep your heart steady, and the fish will take the bait," Lucas half-opened his eyes and chuckled. "If you keep lifting the rod to check, how will the fish even get a chance to bite?"
"Ah! I got one!" Dahlia suddenly felt a weight on her fishing rod. She quickly lifted it, revealing a fish as thick as two fingers wiggling on the hook.
"… " Lucas's eyes twitched. Did she really have to prove him wrong that fast?
He turned to look at his own fishing rod, which had been still for what felt like forever. Lifting it up to check—yep, the bait was still there.
What the hell? Were the fish only biting the bait of beautiful women?
Lucas was starting to feel like fishing just wasn't meant for him. He used to at least catch something every now and then, but today? Nothing. Meanwhile, Cat-Eared Girl, Nicole, and the others were pulling them up one after another. It had to be fate messing with him.
"Huh? Lord Lucas, what did you just say?" Dahlia put down the fish and asked a little awkwardly. "I didn't quite catch that. Could you say it again?"
"Uh…" Lucas was momentarily speechless. Seeing the confusion on Dahlia's face, he smirked slightly and said in a soft voice, "Oh, nothing… I just said you look really beautiful."
"Ah?" Dahlia froze for a moment before realizing what he had just said. A faint blush crept up her cheeks, and she quickly turned her head away, staring blankly at the river.
W-What did Lord Lucas mean by that? Why did he suddenly call me beautiful? Could it be… he has feelings for me? No, no way… but then why would he say that?
Well, Lucas hadn't expected that his casual joke would send Dahlia spiraling into an internal dilemma. Maybe it was just… a difference in times.
If this had happened on Earth, any girl hearing such an obviously perfunctory remark would have rolled her eyes and dismissed it on the spot.
"Miss Dahlia, I have something to ask you." He suddenly said, seizing the chance to change the topic.
As expected, Dahlia paused in surprise before turning back to him, curiosity in her eyes. "Lord Lucas, what do you want to ask?"
"I want to know which place has the most meat—basically, where the most livestock are raised." Lucas said in a calm voice.
"Most livestock? Lord Lucas, do you mean horses? Or sheep?" Dahlia frowned slightly, tilting her head. "If you're talking about wild beasts, then the Forbidden Mountain Range has the most."
"Sheep." Lucas raised an eyebrow. It was only now that he remembered—sheep were the primary source of meat in this era. Pigs hadn't even been domesticated yet; they were still running wild in the forests. Even his own farm only had a bunch of wild boars.
"Sheep, huh?" Dahlia rested her chin in her hand, thinking for a moment before saying, "Currently, there are several large pastures within the Siacan Kingdom, all raising a significant number of sheep."
"Wait, large pastures?" Lucas was surprised and quickly asked, "How big are they? How many sheep do they have?"
If he wanted to produce meat cans as a strategic resource, he needed reliable suppliers first. Relying solely on Sedona City's farms wouldn't be nearly enough to stockpile a year's worth of canned meat.
It was only last night, during Annie's final report, that Lucas learned the price of meat in Sedona City had already quadrupled. Most of the available meat had been allocated to the military, while hunting in winter had become significantly more difficult.
And military rations couldn't be reduced—this was a crucial factor in building a strong army. Without meat, how could soldiers develop strength? Without strength, how could they fight? If they weren't strong enough, they wouldn't even be able to wear heavy armor properly.
But at the same time, Sedona City couldn't go without a meat supply. A short-term shortage might be manageable, but in the long run, it would become a problem. While he wasn't too worried about civilians outright rebelling, if someone with ulterior motives stirred up trouble, things could escalate quickly.
He couldn't just start slaughtering the young wild boars, chicks, and lambs in his farms for meat. And the cattle? Those were essential for next year's land expansion efforts—no way was he touching them.
"Big? Probably around one or two thousand sheep…" Dahlia said uncertainly. "But I'm not sure about now. In winter, most of them are probably gone, leaving only lambs. The number shouldn't be too high."
"This…" Lucas frowned. Lambs weren't what he needed. Sedona City had no pastures, only barren land, and he had no intention of building one.
"Lord Lucas, do you need a lot of sheep?" Dahlia asked curiously.
"Yeah!" Lucas nodded. If he calculated based on just the military's needs, the army alone consumed at least a hundred sheep a day—and that wasn't even an unrestricted amount.
Not to mention Drunken Night Restaurant, plus nearly ten thousand people in Sedona City who also needed meat. A mere one or two thousand sheep—would that even last ten days?
The people of Sedona City were gradually becoming wealthier, and now they were willing to spend money on meat. But if they had money yet couldn't buy meat, the market would become distorted and unbalanced. More importantly, if foreign meat merchants entered the market, the prices would certainly not be cheap.
"I know a place with a large number of sheep, but… it's a bit far." Dahlia hesitated.
"Oh? Where is it?" Lucas immediately asked.
"The Sahara Grassland—it's home to tribes that raise sheep and horses." Dahlia said slowly.
"A vast grassland?" Lucas's eyes lit up. "How far is it from here?"
"The Sahara Grassland is ten days' journey from Pentos City and seventeen days from Sedona City," Dahlia said, shaking her head. "That's quite far. If we were to buy sheep and bring them back, the cost of fodder alone would require a significant number of transport ships."
"Seventeen days by water?" Lucas frowned. "Is there no shorter water route?"
"Uh…" Dahlia blushed slightly and admitted, "I don't know. I only heard about this route from others. As for whether there's a shorter way by water… I'm not sure."
"I see." Lucas nodded. Looked like he'd have to ask around Pentos City for a better route.
In reality, aside from buying sheep, his main goal was to buy cattle. If he only relied on the few cows in Sedona City, large-scale land reclamation would take up way too much manpower.
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