Chapter 128 Another Possibility They smiled at each other once again.
Who is this person?!
Andra jumped up from the grass and strode forward.
The local people immediately saw her. Not only Yang, but also the guards who were watching the show picked up their spears and rushed at her.
"Everyone, we mean no harm."
Eleanor quickly stepped between them, bent down to pick a wildflower from the ground, then took a silver coin from her sleeve and gestured with her hands to exchange the coin for the flower.
She repeated slowly, "We want to make a deal with you."
Little Fruit walked up to her, waving its hands and saying loudly, "I got my leg caught in a trap in the forest, and this sister helped me with magical herbs!"
The native guards gathered around, still not quite understanding what the stranger meant.
But this black-haired, fair-skinned girl made them feel very close to her. She had the physique and imposing presence of a warrior, yet her tone of voice and overall demeanor resembled that of a great shaman living in a mountain cave.
Yang guessed what the transaction meant. The boy in front of him was probably saying, "I want to exchange something with you." Perhaps he wanted to sell the magical herbs that Xiao Guo had mentioned, or perhaps he wanted to exchange metal for the right to collect herbs in the vicinity.
The blush on her face quickly faded; after all, her skin was naturally brownish, so it wasn't very noticeable.
Yang gestured, first pointing at Eleanor, then at Andra, his finger then shifting to the longsword at Andra's waist, and said, word by word, "Your companion is dangerous. Make her put down her weapon."
The action was very clear; anyone could see it.
Andra glanced at Eleanor's expression, then decisively unfastened his sword and handed it to the native guard who was reaching out beside him. Only after handing it over did he realize something was amiss.
As soon as she handed over her sword, the natives, led by the blond native, made way and welcomed Eleanor into their tribe.
Wait, why is it only targeting me?
Andra was both amused and exasperated. Although she herself always forgot, Eleanor's strength was actually on par with hers. Why was it that Eleanor didn't have to hand over her sword and could just bring it in so openly?
If these natives treated Eleanor as their master and her as their servant, Andra would at most laugh at the natives for being blind to her worth.
However, the natives clearly glanced at the sword at Eleanor's waist after she went inside, and their expressions showed hesitation.
In other words, they had just "forgot" to tell Eleanor to take off her sword, and only realized they hadn't told her properly after she went inside.
More importantly, this group of people really didn't insist on her disarming them anymore.
They believed that Eleanor deserved a certain level of their trust, while Andra did not.
Why? Perhaps it's because Eleanor saved that little native before, and thus owed them a favor.
But Andra inexplicably felt that it wasn't just for that reason.
As she watched Eleanor walk away with composure, a bittersweet, yet proud, feeling welled up inside her, an emotion she couldn't quite describe.
We are ultimately...different, aren't we?
......
Upon entering the settlement, Eleanor's first notice was not of the houses built of bark and mortar.
She looked towards the "courtyards" surrounding the houses of the indigenous people.
They seemed to have innately mastered a portion of private ownership within the settlement system, with each household building a fence to enclose a small piece of land.
The size of this courtyard is similar to the flower bed in my previous life, and it can only be used to grow some flowers, grass and small shrubs.
As she walked, she came across larger fields near the edge of the settlement and the house of what appeared to be the chieftain or high shaman. These fields were devoid of wildflowers and berry bushes, planted entirely with the same crop. It was reasonable to assume that these were the tribe's "common fields."
Eleanor looked further into the distance and saw that there were no farmlands beyond the settlement.
This is probably because the entire tribe mainly relies on gathering and hunting for a living, and there are not enough people to maintain the fields outside the living area.
"You saved Xiaoguo, please come to my house and have a seat..."
Yang was leading the way, heading straight for the tallest building. However, as she spoke, she realized that the guest couldn't understand the local dialect, so she turned her head to try and gesture.
Yang turned around and saw that the tall girl had deviated from her direction and was walking towards the clan field.
"You've taken the wrong turn." Yang chased after him, taking two steps at a time.
The guest squatted down and reached out to break a golden fruit off the pole.
“Corn…” Eleanor stroked the jade-like fruit, almost bursting into tears.
In her previous life, she collected real sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peppers from various places, not the similar species she arbitrarily named.
But we haven't received any real corn yet.
She once thought it was because there were many things in this world that were different from Earth, and that real corn might not exist.
It seems that it was just a coincidence that it didn't spread... or so it appears.
"Guest... Jade fruit is very precious."
Seeing the unfamiliar guest snap off a jade fruit with a snap, Yang felt a pang of heartache.
Wild jade fruit is extremely rare, and the fruit is also very small.
However, their people use jade fruit to worship the sun god Yang, and use gold to praise the glory of the god. Therefore, they specially save the seeds and select and cultivate them generation after generation to grow such abundant jade fruit.
Snap!
Yang's outstretched hand was brushed away by Andra, and their two pairs of golden-red eyes collided, one of them burning with a faint anger.
"Alright, alright." Eleanor quickly came over to break up the fight. She carefully put the corn into her first-aid kit, and then took out a small leather bag from a hidden compartment in the kit.
She opened the leather bag, inside were three things: a small gold nugget, a glass bead, and a small sugar cube.
These are all hard currencies that are accepted everywhere, specifically used to communicate with people who speak different languages.
Eleanor laid the three items flat on the edge of the field and gestured to Chaoyang.
She poked at the left and then the right, her meaning clear: If I want to take the corn, what do I need to exchange it for?
Yang lowered his head and glanced at the three items.
When she saw the gold, her expression softened considerably: at least this customer was polite and genuinely wanted to offer compensation or make a deal.
While Yang was examining the gold, Andra was also observing the group of natives.
She saw gold ornaments on the necks, ears, and even noses of many people—including the little native from the beginning. Especially the tall guards and Yang, who wore gold rings on their arms.
This means there must be gold mines on this island! And they must be high-grade and extremely suitable for mining.
Upon discovering this, she was excited but also had a vague suspicion: perhaps Eleanor already knew there was a gold mine here, which is why she insisted on leading the team herself.
Because if Eleanor weren't there, they would definitely wipe out the natives so they could bring more people over to focus on mining gold.
Andra didn't have any thoughts like "Eleanor can't do this" or "We must spread this message."
Eleanor's actions prove that there is something more precious on the island than gold—at least something she desires more.
I will help her get it.
Andra smiled faintly, but when she turned to look at Eleanor, who was gesturing with Yang, the smile vanished once more.
Yang picked up the glass bead and held it up to the sunlight. She stared wide-eyed, revealing a very childlike and innocent expression.
"Oh, this thing is very pretty. What else can it do?"
Eleanor was amused by her contrasting performance and smiled, saying softly, "Isn't it beautiful?"
They quickly realized they couldn't communicate in the same language, so the glass beads were set aside.
Eleanor guessed that Yang was a pragmatic leader, and since she couldn't explain the benefits of glass to him right now, she pushed the sugar cube forward a little.
"What's this?"
Yang asked curiously, and saw Eleanor raise her finger and point to her slightly open mouth.
Food... Yang picked up the sugar cube, looking at the transparent block with some hesitation.
Although according to the shaman, they were descendants of the gods and even the most poisonous mushrooms couldn't harm them, these unfamiliar guests—especially the one with the golden-red hair—always gave her an extremely dangerous feeling.
Yang could hardly believe her—uh?!
The young man's eyes widened suddenly as the girl with the lovely smile leaned forward and took a small bite of the sugar cube.
Crack.
The transparent edge chipped a small corner between her pearly white teeth and disappeared into her lips.
Eleanor swallowed half a sugar cube, licked her lips with the tip of her tongue, and gave a thumbs-up, making a "delicious!" gesture.
Glug.
Yang's mind was filled with the moment when the girl bent over, and the tip of her tongue licking away the sugar stains.
She inexplicably put the remaining candy into her mouth, and a fresh sweetness burst forth.
"!" So delicious!
Yang's eyes lit up instantly, and she mimicked Eleanor's gesture by giving a thumbs-up!
She believed that if guests could provide them with more of these delicious little cubes, the tribe would be willing to grow many more jade fruits!
"~"
They smiled at each other again.
......
Boom!
Flames rose as the indigenous people lit bonfires in their settlement.
On the left side of the fire sat Yang and several tribal warriors, while on the right side sat Eleanor, Andra, and their personal guards who arrived one after another.
Although they did not speak the same language, crates of goods from Norlana and Eleanor's superb painting skills quickly broke down the barriers between them, allowing them to establish preliminary trade relations with the natives within a few hours.
Yang sat in front of the fire, flipping through the sketches Eleanor had drawn.
She understood that they were exchanging a large bag of sugar cubes for a small pile of the "largest and most beautiful" jade fruits.
They traded fine iron swords for gold and silver, salt and cloth for furs and some of the fattest pigs... The remaining goods would be kept on a barter basis for the time being, or until they learned each other's languages.
The local people skewered the meat on tree branches and roasted it over a fire, letting drops of oil drip out.
Andra waited with a stern face for Eleanor to pull her aside or explain the day's events properly in Norlana.
But the princess didn't even glance at her, and continued drawing her little comic strip about "trading needs" while sitting cross-legged, drawing many plants she had never seen before.
The natives don't observe Nolana etiquette; they take the roasted meat off the leaves and chew it with a crunching sound.
After the warriors finished eating, they patted their animal skin skirts and began to wrestle.
This seemed to be a way for them to strengthen their friendship... Andra snapped out of her daze and noticed that the native named Yang had been glancing at Eleanor several times, probably waiting for Eleanor to notice so he could invite her to wrestle.
"..." Her face darkened, and she stood up and walked to Yang's side, patting him hard on the shoulder, then pointed to the local people laughing and joking by the fire.
"Okay," Yang readily agreed.
Two equally tall and strong warriors walked to the fire and collided violently amidst cheers from the crowd!
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Author's note: Eleanor: It's just a transaction.
Andra: What a ruthless tactic!
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