I Grow Crops with a System

Chapter 77: Mine

"Where else did a Fragment of Chaos appear?" Alaric asked.

"The Canine Beastmen in the central region hunted down a Wyrm a short time ago."

Hearing this, Alaric’s expression instantly became solemn, he pondered as he walked, then smiled bitterly and said, "My village is just a little further ahead! Ethan, don’t be too surprised!"

"Hmm? Why?" Ethan asked.

As they crested a hill, Ethan finally understood why Alaric had said that.

He saw a village surrounded by a crude wooden palisade, however, unlike other villages, this palisade was adorned with many monster bones, as well as the bones of other beastmen.

"Those are all the guys who attacked our village!!" Alaric explained.

"Very efficient, using corpses and bones to intimidate enemies and keep them away?" Walter praised from the driver’s seat.

Alaric secretly glanced at Ethan, Ethan was expressionless.

"I heard the Fox Beastmen are brutal. Is this why?" Ethan asked.

"Not just because of this, we also like to tear our enemies to shreds," Alaric said with a smile.

"I see." Ethan nodded, although the Fox Beastmen’s methods were barbaric, they could communicate, that was what mattered.

Alaric seemed to appreciate Ethan’s calm demeanor, he smiled. "Some races always say our methods are wrong."

"Meow! Although it is indeed brutal, it’s very effective, meow~" Pearl agreed.

Alaric became even happier, his steps noticeably lighter.

Under his lead, they arrived at the village entrance, the wooden palisade gate opened, and a group of Fox Beastmen holding iron spears walked out.

"Alaric! Who are they?!"

"An undead?! And... a human?! There’s actually still a human in the Northern Region?!"

Seeing Walter and Ethan, the Fox Beastmen immediately raised their guard and brandished their weapons.

Ethan hopped off the handcart and grabbed the burlap sack containing the Honey Sweet Potatoes. "My name is Ethan, I come from the central region, and I would like to trade with the Fox Beastmen."

"Trade? What trade?" a Fox Beastman asked.

"I can exchange Honey Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Beets for iron ore," Ethan answered.

"Honey Sweet Potatoes?!"

"And Sweet Beets?!"

Ethan opened the sack, the Fox Beastmen’s wariness dissipated significantly, they swarmed around him, looking at the Honey Sweet Potatoes with curiosity.

"I’ve never seen such a large Honey Sweet Potato?!"

"The golden color is beautiful, and the shape is perfect too!!"

"The Sweet Beets look good as well! Human! Did you grow all of these?!"

"Yes, if you can provide a stable supply of iron ore, I can provide other crops as well," Ethan said.

The Fox Beastmen seemed to really like the Honey Sweet Potatoes and Sweet Beets, they crowded around Ethan, refusing to leave, but no one said they could trade.

Alaric sighed and said to Lyra, "Lyra! Go home first!"

"Got it! Ethan! Walter! Pearl! Goodbye!!" Lyra waved and ran into the village.

Alaric watched her go, then gestured. "Let’s go, we will see the chieftain first."

As they walked into the village, the curious and wary gazes intensified, this was different from the central and southern regions, the eyes were filled with fear and vigilance.

"It seems the war between humans and Fox Beastmen in the past was extremely tragic." Walter could feel the emotions in those gazes too.

Lying on Ethan’s shoulder, Pearl wagged its tail. "It’s a good thing they aren’t showing hostility, meow."

It was true, although they were on high alert, they hadn’t displayed any hostility. Ethan felt the Scythe of Gaia at his waist and smiled wryly, shaking his head.

"Over there!!" They reached the center of the village and saw a massive earthen house, a white fox with nine tails sat in front of it.

"Welcome to the Fox Beastman village," the Nine-Tailed Fox said.

’Nine-Tailed Fox...?’ Ethan looked at him in surprise.

"You seem very interested in my tails, that’s right — a Fox Beastman’s tails increase as their spirituality rises." The Nine-Tailed Fox smiled and leisurely wagged his tails as he stood.

"It’s been a long time, Walter," he said.

"It has, Ash," Walter replied.

’Walter knows the Fox Beastman chieftain?’ Ethan looked at Walter in surprise.

Walter said awkwardly, "The last time I was here, you weren’t the chieftain yet..."

"How many years ago was that?" Ash, the Fox Beastman chieftain, waved his hand impatiently.

Then he stared at Ethan, his gaze seemed capable of seeing through everything, seeing that Ethan’s expression didn’t waver, Ash smiled in satisfaction.

"Welcome to the Fox Beastman village, I haven’t seen a human in a very long time... By the way, what business do you have with me?"

"I would like to trade with you for iron ore," Ethan replied.

"Iron ore... I’m sorry, but I’m afraid that’s impossible." Ash shook his head.

"Why?" Ethan asked.

Ash pointed in a direction, Ethan saw a dilapidated stone building outside the village.

"That is a mine formerly used by humans, it belongs to us now," Ash said.

"I see." Ethan nodded.

"We Fox Beastmen love digging holes, so it’s very easy for us to dig iron ore out of the mine," Ash explained.

"Then why can’t we trade?"

"Because the mine is currently unusable," Ash said.

Ethan tilted his head, the mine looked fine.

"There is an extremely foul odor inside, we beastmen simply cannot go near it." Ash pinched his nose and frowned, the smell was truly unbearable.

Ethan looked at Pearl, who explained, "Beastmen have very sharp senses of smell, meow, although the sensitivity varies between races, most beastmen are very sensitive to foul odors, meow, races hostile to beastmen often use odor weapons against them, meow."

Ethan hadn’t expected such a weakness, he looked at Ash in surprise.

Ash smiled. "Although we possess strong physiques and adaptability to mana bestowed by the gods, we also have weaknesses, of course, we have ways to resist foul odors, but... the stench inside that mine is truly unbearable for us."

"I don’t know what it could be, can I go take a look?" Ethan asked.

"You? Hmm... a human might be able to, humans have duller senses than other races," Ash said.

"Just to be safe, Mr. Walter should come along too, Vampires also have dull senses," Ethan said.

"Alright." Walter nodded.

"I want to go too, meow!" Pearl said.

"Hmm? You too?" Ethan touched Pearl’s nose, though not on par with beastmen, Pearl was an animal, its sense of smell should be sharp.

"I can just cover my nose, meow~"