Chương 134: Chapter 130 – Homecoming

Grainfields Region Day 7 of Grainworks Initiative Mark and Sarah rode into the village just before breakfast. The trip south and the hurried ride home had left both of them exhausted. Breakfast at the inn before heading home sounded perfect. A number of people waved and welcomed them back. The road was much busier than when they had left, with more traffic, more people working around the village, and several construction sites visible on the ride in.

Dale approached before they even had time to pick a table and sit down. Dale said, "So, Sarah, did you have any luck finding new food items for the task I gave you? There was a great bonus for anything after two items." Mark started to laugh, and Dale looked at him funny. But before he could say anything, Sarah started pulling items out of her inventory.

She handed Dale a tomato, a green pepper, a red pepper, a cucumber, an onion, garlic, some milk, cheese, butter, cream, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, turnips, beans, apples in three varieties, cherries in three varieties, plums, pears, dried fruit, cider, some honey, and beeswax. Dale sat there looking stunned as he tried to hold the pile before finally stacking it on the table. Sarah said, "Um, do you think that is enough for my task?" Dale said, "How many farms did you rob?"

Sarah started to smile and said, "I just leveled up and am almost level 8 now. I just got a ton of extra experience for overdoing your task. I was also awarded a recipe collection named Southern Fruit Recipes along with educational notes and a regional food production bonus, whatever that is." Dale said, "Oh, can I have the recipes? I need them for a little war I am having with Clara." Mark looked at him, puzzled, but decided he did not want to ask what he meant.

Mark told Dale he would have to wait for any more news until the council was ready to meet, and his breakfast was done as he was starving. Dale quickly gathered up his pile of items, making them vanish into his inventory, and ran into the kitchen, Mark assumed, to start cooking with all the new items. Dale finally came back and let them know the last member of the council would arrive in a few minutes, then told them to head to the meeting room. With breakfast done, the two of them went into the council room.

Once the full council was there, Mark went through their trip down south, including all the various fruits and vegetables that they grew and would be for trade. He talked about his meeting with the Riverbend Trading Post and their desire to trade for wheat and flour and other goods from the zones up here. He told them about the projects they had done, the Dairy Cooperative and Orchard Initiative, which was how they had gotten so many different items.

He also told them that the Riverbend Trading Post would also put out word for people that were interested in new work or new places to come up to fill their long-term and short-term labor needs. Mark then asked for help bringing in the rest of the items he had brought back and putting them on the table for everyone to examine. The group was amazed by how successful the trip had been and by all the new and unique items Mark and Sarah had brought back. As the group was going through all the items, Dale made a joke.

Dale said, "Mark, is that all you could get for us, four bags full of goods?" Sarah started to giggle and said, "You forgot to tell them about the barge." Dale said, "The what?" Mark then said, "I was getting around to it. When I was down talking to the Riverbend Trading Post, they told me about a barge crew in need of work. So I hired them, and they are on the way up here. They are hoping for regular work and are willing to help train us to build and crew more barges of our own."

Dale said, "So you got us a barge for future trade?" Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Sarah laughed again.

"He got you a full barge on its way here with a hundred times the foodstuffs that are sitting here on the table." Everyone just stared at Mark, and Mark said, "So I had a few spare credits, and I spent them buying stuff. No reason to send an empty barge upstream, was there?" Mark then went on to explain that he traded two oxen in exchange for bringing the first delivery up and that they would like to purchase a few more pairs of oxen.

Mark spent the next half hour describing the area and the route for both a road and a towpath along the river. After discussing it, the group agreed to make the route downriver their highest priority and redirect current teams to work on both the towpath and wagon road. Mark suggested that they send a team down to get trade contracts with all of the villages and outposts down south as well as signing the export agreements needed for the Grainworks project.

He was also interested in exchanging knowledge and skills with them and possibly gaining access to some of their cows, trees, and other goods. The council agreed to send someone to handle it. Mark said, "So did I miss anything while I was gone?" Elias said, "Did either of you join the guild yet?" Sarah said, "Join what?" Mark said, "Not sure what you're talking about." Then Mark started getting system messages.

[Guild Invitation Received] Sponsor: Dale ◈ ◈ ◈ [Guild Invitation Received] Sponsor: Garrick ◈ ◈ ◈ [Guild Invitation Received] Sponsor: Elias ◈ ◈ ◈ [Guild Invitation Received] Sponsor: David ◈ ◈ ◈ [Guild Invitation Received] Sponsor: Megan ◈ ◈ ◈ Mark said, "Why did I just get five guild invites?" Garrick said, "It's the referral bonus." Megan said, "Hey, don't take theirs. I'm behind on the rankings." Sarah and Mark both accepted one of the invitations, and they received system messages.

[System-Sanctioned Adventurer's Enclave] Registration Completed Benefits Available: Reputation Tracking Discovery Registry Profession Rankings Contract Access Party Registration Expedition Records ◈ ◈ ◈ Mark said, "This isn't just an adventurers' guild, is it?" They all started to laugh and share with him the things they had found with it. Dale shared that he was currently the top-ranked cook, while David was third on the animal handler list.

Megan was first on the trade list and held positions on three other lists. Garrick, of course, was first on the construction list, but who was counting? They also told Mark about the Timber Consortium in the Silvermere region and how they had already started to receive lumber in trade for some wheat. Sarah was looking through the system for teacher rankings when a new system message interrupted her. She shared it with the group.

[Educational Contributions Detected] Recorded Contributions Regional Food Production Educational Notes Knowledge Preservation Additional Educational Systems Available Requirements Available for Review ◈ ◈ ◈ Sarah said, "I completely forgot to tell everyone about the schools I found down south. I was told that back in the village it was pretty easy to unlock the System-Sanctioned Schools and I guess I somehow started that process." Garrick said, "I think you found our next project."

Mark said, "Why does every trip come back with another project?"