Chapter 4: The Mad Crown Prince

  Raymond muttered to himself, so that's how it was. That Reynard, from his appearance, really couldn't tell anything. However, the kind of complete disregard for human life and the madness that flashed in his eyes at that moment left a very deep impression on him.

  A thorough madman is not scary, what's scary is a madman who looks like a normal person, let alone one with brains and great power.

  Looks like getting involved with such a guy is indeed not a good thing after all.

  At this time, Akman said again: "However, your luck is really good, and you actually met the centaur of the Gordan Plains. Those guys will be reckless as soon as they see the Dirks."

  Raymond took the opportunity to ask his second question: "Why does the Gordana Prairie Alliance hate the Dir Kingdom so much, what kind of grudge do they have between them?"

  "You really don't know anything..." Akman said, then suddenly remembered that Raymond and others came from another continent, and could only say helplessly: "Well, consider these things as my gift, who made me earn a lot of money from you guys."

  He followed, "This is where the grudges between the two countries started, but to a large extent it's about Reynard, because many of the things that earned him the name 'Mad Prince' happened in the Gordan Plains Alliance."

  "For a long time, the Kingdom of Dirck has coveted the vastness and fertility of the Godan Grasslands, as well as its excellent war horses. Therefore, it has always wanted to annex it. However, the nomadic tribes that have lived here for generations, including the centaurs, are very stubborn and have never allowed Dirck to succeed. The two sides have been fighting and making peace for hundreds of years."

  "It's not like two countries fighting each other, although the relationship isn't good, but it didn't get to the point of being too out of hand. Which country hasn't been through this in recent years? However, things took a drastic turn over the past few decades. In order to strike and weaken the Gordana Plains Alliance, Dirk implemented many plots against them, some of which were truly evil, causing the relationship between the two countries to completely deteriorate."

  "What kind of plot is this?" Javier asked when he heard this.

  Akman said, "Let me tell you two famous things. One year, the price of cowhide in the Kingdom of Dir suddenly skyrocketed, and under the temptation of money, many cows were slaughtered, but still couldn't meet the demand. As a result, a large number of Dir businessmen rushed to the Godan grassland to purchase cowhide."

  "The grasslands certainly don't lack cattle, and the prices are really tempting, so many tribes have slaughtered the female cows from their own herds and sold them to merchants."

  Upon hearing this, Raymond furrowed his brow and said: "Mass slaughter of mother cows? Don't those tribes fear that the cow herd will be unable to reproduce in the future?"

  Akerman laughed: "You don't know that. The people on the grasslands aren't fools either, each tribe left enough mother cows to give birth. In short, every tribe on the Gordan Grassland made a fortune back then."

  "The second year was no exception, the price of cowhide continued to rise, but this time each tribe reserved fewer cows than last year."

  Then came the third year and prices remained high. So, driven by money, more cows were slaughtered and the number reserved by each tribe became less and less.

  "Is the Kingdom of Dirks planning to weaken its enemies with this method? How foolish, at this rate, their economy will collapse in a few years."

  Akman said, "That's right, so in the fourth year, the real killer move was made. That year, Dirke's merchants found each tribe and expressed that the demand for cowhide was too great, hoping that the grassland could provide more. At that time, the tribes on the grasslands still had a hint of vigilance, saying that they must leave some behind for the sake of the herd's prosperity."

  "So, the merchants said they had a good solution. They would provide female calves to each tribe in exchange for their mother cows. After all, once the tribes raised those little cows, wouldn't they be the same? And this time, the price of buying cowhide was even higher than before."

  "The Gordan Grasslands had always been extremely poor, and the various tribes were tempted by money. Since there hadn't been any problems in the past three years, almost all of them agreed to this agreement. So that year, seven or eight out of ten mother cows on the entire grassland were slaughtered, and they also received a large sum of money."

  However, the tragedy soon arrived. In the second year, when the calves were finally raised and ready for breeding, the various tribes discovered that almost none of these cows could become pregnant. It was only later that people found out that before being sent away, those calves had been given a drug that made them infertile. That year, the entire grassland suffered a heavy loss. Of course, by then, no one cared about the cowhide anymore.

  "Bloodless soldiers are a very effective means, I like it." Freddy admired.

  Akman smiled: "Then you will certainly like what comes next. After the Cowhide Incident, many years passed without the Kingdom of Dirks attacking the Steppes, so over time, relations between the two sides gradually eased. The simple herders also slowly forgot that terrible event."

  "One year, the Kingdom of Dirck bought a large quantity of pasture from the Gordan Plains at a high price. The various tribes on the plains would not let go of this opportunity to make money, so that year the Kingdom of Dirck almost purchased an endless amount of pasture."

  "Ah ha, I get it, those stupid herders. This is clearly a scheme, buying up large quantities of pasture grass, so that the Grassland Tribe's own won't be enough, and many livestock will definitely starve to death. What short-sighted guys." Halott couldn't wait to shout out when he heard halfway through.

  "Didn't they learn their lesson from last time?" Freddie asked.

  Akerman shook his head: "At that time, many people thought so. However, the pasture and cattle are different, those things can be seen everywhere on the prairie, and the growth cycle is very short, it can grow several batches a year, there is no problem of shortage at all."

  "So at that time, all the tribes on the prairie were laughing at King Dirke for being a fool, thinking that the same trick could be used again. But they didn't think that pasture isn't cattle, and people can't make plants not grow, right? In the end, it was just a waste of money to give them."

  However, when it came to late autumn, things went wrong. At that time, the pasture grass that should have grown again was largely missing, and instead, another plant rapidly spread across the entire prairie.

  "It was a poisonous grass that livestock couldn't eat at all. Therefore, by the winter of that year, facing this toxic plant, the various tribes on the prairie realized that the pasture forage for the winter was completely insufficient, and the original reserves were also bought out by the Dir Kingdom, resulting in the death of a large number of cattle, sheep, and horses that winter, greatly damaging the vitality of the entire Godan Prairie."

  "What in the world is that?" Hillnis exclaimed in astonishment.

  Akman said, "This is also a question for everyone. There was no such thing on the prairie before, how could it suddenly spread all over? Until later, people knew that everything was done by the Dir Kingdom. That year, taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase pasture, countless Dir merchants traveled across the entire prairie, and at the same time, the seeds of those poisonous grasses were secretly scattered throughout the prairie. Since the pasture was almost completely harvested, these strongly growing poisonous grasses occupied a lot of land for pasture growth, leading to the later tragedy."

  Although the tribes on the grassland later made great efforts to eradicate this poisonous weed, until now, there are still many poisonous weeds growing, killing a large number of livestock every year.

  "My goodness, it's too toxic." Harriet took a sharp breath in.

  Akman also showed a lingering fear: "That's right, this is indeed a very vicious move. To think that the Gordana Plains were once strong enough to rival the Diruku Kingdom, but after what happened, they were severely weakened and are no longer a match for Diruku."

  "These years, if not for the alliance with the Ravite Trade Federation and the Kingdom of Gasparde, relying on their weak strength, it's likely that even self-preservation would be a problem. Now you should understand why the people of the Gordana Plains hate the Dirku Kingdom so much? The two sides have long since formed an irreconcilable deep hatred."

  "What does this have to do with that crazy prince?" Harlot asked in confusion.

  Akerman sighed and said: "Did I waste half a day talking for nothing?"

  "Could it be that all those plots were Renard's..." Javier's face showed an expression of incredulity.

  Akman nodded: "That's right, those vicious plans were all made by Reynard. The first time it happened, he was only 13 years old, and the second time, it was just his masterpiece in his early 20s. Now you should know why he is called 'Crazy Prince'."

  He lowered his voice and said, "Actually, many people speculate that the king's death was done by Reynard, because only he would dare to do something so crazy without considering the consequences."

  It never occurred to him that the outwardly handsome Reinhard would have such a terrifying side, and now Raymond truly understood what kind of person he had offended.

  At this time, Freddy said: "So, what are you here for? Is it just to tell us these things?"

  Akerman's face was shocked, and he followed with a cry of laughter: "Brother, didn't you ask me, I just said..."

  As he spoke, his spirits lifted: "So, I came today just to recommend a way out for everyone."

  "What way?" Javier frowned and said: "Mr. Akerman, what do you mean?"

  "Good heavens, don't you understand? You've provoked the mad prince of Dirck! Now Orlat City is extremely dangerous for you. Who knows when you'll lose your lives? Haven't you thought about leaving a way out?"

  At this point, Raymond finally understood what he wanted to do. It's hard not to say that this guy is really omnipotent, and as soon as he knew that his side had a conflict with Raynard, he came to sell "Escape Route", which is really a clever way to make money.

  Javier also understood: "Does Mr. Akman have any suggestions?"

  Akerman said with a smile: "Consider yourselves lucky, I happen to have some friends in the city defense team. In case of danger, I can provide you with some unconventional ways to leave the city, guaranteed to be undetected. At least you won't have to worry about having nowhere to escape when something happens."

  He said in a low voice: "I'm also looking at the 20,000 gold coins you generously gave me, so I took the risk to tell everyone. How about it, is it enough?"

  "Hillnis snorted and bluntly exposed: 'Is that so? That's just a smuggling channel for the city defense team to collude with smugglers, isn't it?'"

  Akerman shifted uncomfortably and said, "Uh... well, yes, sometimes we do use these channels to transport some goods."

  "Hehe, thank you for your kindness." Javier said: "However, Renard and I just have some small misunderstandings. I believe that as long as we explain things clearly, there won't be any problems."

  "Alas, it seems you still don't understand..." Ahkman sighed and shook his head, but then said undeterred: "Anyway, whenever any of you need something, just come find me here. I'm always willing to serve you." He gave out an address.

  Seeing no money to be made, Akman naturally lost interest in staying any longer and bid farewell. As he was about to leave, he said with a tone full of implications: "By the way, are you all interested in getting to know Orlat City better? If you want to have some fun, I happen to know quite a few wonderful places for a night out."

  Javier couldn't help but laugh and said: "Don't bother, Mr. Ackman, we have an important dinner party to attend tonight, so we really don't have much time."

  "What?" But the astute Ackerman guessed it at once: "You mean, the dinner party at the Prime Minister's residence? Good heavens, you actually managed to get this from that scoundrel of an uncle of mine. I thought you'd be kicked out in a few minutes at most."

  "Perhaps you really have a way to deal with that crazy prince." With these words, Akman bid farewell and left.