As I was approaching the city, Li Wei caught up to me. "Sage, what do you think of this whole situation?"

I continued walking, my steps in sync with my breathing, "I have a feeling there are more than just a few dozens of tribes following the herds south. The tribes likely span the whole peninsula, just like the animals likely did." I said, the words hanging in the cool morning air.

"How many do you think that would be?" He asked, his voice tinged with a subtle tension, fully aware of the implications.

"I would assume that each tribe numbers around a couple hundred people, give or take, depending on its size," I began, trying to calculate the total. But as the number grew in my mind, I realized they likely didn’t have a number large enough to express it. "Still, most of these people won’t even come near our city. We simply need to be cautious of those who do–because even a small fraction would rival our city in population, especially with our reduced number of people after the great exodus."

Li Wei nodded at my statement, and we continued walking in silence. Over the past week, since we introduced the option to give equipment for those who wanted to leave, several hundred refugees had taken the opportunity to leave the city. We didn't have an official census, but judging by the amount of food that was being taken out of the storage, I estimated we had roughly around twenty-eight thousand people remaining. The tribes might be scattered, and it was unlikely they would unite in an organized force, but it still posed a threat to the city. I could hope for the best, but it was wiser to prepare for the worst.

Once we made it to the hall, Wei likely went to see the Chieftain–who had been avoiding me lately–while I headed to the Priest. It amused me how, when I first got here, I would mostly consult with the Chieftain while avoiding the Priest. Now, it was the exact opposite. I stepped into the Priest's study and settled in as he finished his carving session. The room was filled with the scent of fresh wood shavings, and I took a moment to appreciate the calm atmosphere. When he was finally done, he looked up at me, his eyes holding a warm gaze. "What brings you to this humble room?" he asked with a gentle smile.

"We have spotted tribes from foreign lands." He raised his eyebrow, clearly not seeing the same issue I did. "The problem is that they are following the herd south, and they’re not the only ones. The tribe we spoke with mentioned several dozen others, but I suspect that's only the amount of tribes that will pass by the city. In reality, there are likely way more tribes walking along the whole peninsula, heading south; towards a dead end."

"That seems highly speculative," he said, skepticism coloring his tone, "What makes you sure there are that many people heading south?"

I replied, "If we take into account the amount of tribes passing by our city, and spread that over the whole length of the herd, it will lead to hundreds if not more than thousands of tribes. I do admit, this is highly speculative, and I would as sending some scouts to be sure, but the risk is too high. I suggest we forget about sending anyone out near the arrival of the plague, and simply hunker down in the city. This way we can protect our resources like the pen and food and protect the city itself. Sending anyone South would be a disaster waiting to happen, once everyone reaches the dead end, and a potential bloodbath ensues."

The priest drummed his fingers on his desk, deep in thought. "I'll ask the other elders what they think." He said after a moment of contemplation.

Thinking for a moment, I decided to throw out another idea. "We should also attempt to establish trade with the tribes that will be moving past our city. Since the tribe we encountered didn't even know of the title Sage, meaning they come from far away, they might have exotic products to trade for. Perhaps even rare materials or herbs that may be of use to me personally."

The Priest continued to drum his fingers on the table, "Why don't you ask the Chieftain about this? Isn't he the one responsible for the protection and commerce of the city?"

I frowned. "Ever since our…" I left the word hanging, looking for a polite way to phrase it, "Confrontation, he has been unwilling to see me. After a while, I came to the conclusion that it was easier to simply report to you about my activities and ideas."

He shook his head. "What would you be doing if you didn't catch my daughter's fancy? You have to create your own connections between the elders."

I ignored the jab and stood up to head out towards my study room. There, I contemplated the issue of the coming tribes. Going south seemed like an even worse idea now than it was before. The basis for my argument was that it would buy us some time before the plague would catch up to us. Now, it seemed like the people down south would be a bigger issue, and that they'd have to compete against each other for both resources and land. It would likely become a bloodbath; perhaps they would all kill themselves, or perhaps by some miracle, a leader would somehow rise up and unite them.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard the door to my study drift open, and Lian hesitantly walked in. "How have you been, Jie?"

"I have been well," I answered her. She hasn’t used my title since the execution, which I found slightly worrying. I didn’t bring it up however, in case it’d made things worse. I noticed that she had brought in what looked like shish kabobs, which is basically meat on a stick.

"Have you eaten today?" She asked me, and my stomach growled, betraying me before I could formulate an answer.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I have." I decided to lie, "But it was in the morning, so I wouldn't mind a snack."

She gave me a knowing look but decided not to push the subject further. I grabbed the offered stick and gnawed on it. "I've been thinking,"

I went for another bite, while she visibly perked up. "That I have taught you most of what I can about writing.”

Her face instantly morphed into a frown, "What do you mean you have nothing to teach me?"

I was surprised by the reaction. Why would she be upset that she learned the alphabet? It's clearly an accomplishment. "You have truly mastered the arts of writing, I wouldn't be surprised if you were better than even your father by now."

Her mood did not improve in the slightest at the praise. Instead, she repeated her question, "Are you saying that you have nothing to teach me?"

I paused, wondering what she was getting at. "Well, I could teach you math."

"Great, let's learn that then." She immediately said.

"Uh…" I said, catching up to my own thoughts.

"Where do we start?" she said as she pulled out some fresh clay tablets, not giving me time to gather my thoughts.

I resigned myself. Quickly scarfing down the rest of my meal, I pulled out my own writing apparatus. "Well, you should know the basics of addition, right?"

"What do you mean?" She asked me.

Right, these guys didn't have any formalized terms. I decided it was best to offer an example: "Well, if you have one handful of grain and add another handful of grain, you would get two handfuls of grain, right?"

She nodded at that. "That's called addition. It’s when you combine multiple numbers into a new number." She looked at me, clearly confused at my words. I realized this was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Why did we need to travel so far from the city? And why did we need to bring the goddess’ elixir?" I grumbled. I stood at the agreed upon trading spot with my guards and some assistants. The Chieftain had insisted on sending us out here with the elixir, and I wanted to play nice for once so I went along with it. We were waiting for any tribesmen passing by that would be willing to trade. Finally, after what seemed like hours, we had our first trading opportunity. In the distance we saw a small group of tribesmen make their way towards us.

"We were promised an opportunity to trade if we arrived at this spot." a tribesman declared as he approached.

"Indeed, if you have anything you would like to trade, tell me, and I will see what we can offer in exchange." He looked at me with skepticism, but pulled out some items anyway. It was exhausting dealing with people who didn’t see me as a Sage but as any other man.

Our exchange proceeded to go back and forth. The tribesman first brought out some hides and pelts, which we offered them grain for. The tribesman seemed to be getting more and more frustrated, as with every transaction I seemed to somehow manage to gain the upperhand. Eventually, we got to the more expensive goods. They presented us with some seashells and other forms of simplistic jewelry.

When offered to trade for these goods, I responded, "I'm sorry, but we have no interest in the shells."

"What? Why not?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

"We have no need for it. We cannot eat it or keep ourselves warm at night. It holds no value to us besides making us look better off than we actually are." I replied. He hesitated for a bit, contemplating something. Eventually, he reluctantly took out something from under his hide covers.

"I would like to trade this symbol of our local land deity," he explained. I zoned in on the symbol because I noticed it was unique. It was the only metal I had seen so far: bronze.

"Where did you get it?" I asked him, unintentionally interrupting his speech about the item's importance.

He glared at me but answered anyway. "This was passed down from my father and my father's father, but I have no idea who it originated from."

That was upsetting, but still meant great news. There was someone out there in this tribalistic world who knew how to handle metal, albeit crudely.. This land deity as he called it, though it could barely be called that, looked like a misshapen and brutalized form that vaguely resembled a cat.

"Why are you trying to trade away such a precious figure?" I asked out of curiosity.

He hesitated, clearly conflicted. My eyebrows raise as his face of conflict quickly turns into one of anger. "Our deity has abandoned us, running from the demon of pain and death in cowardice. So what does it matter if I trade its symbol for grain?"

I nodded and turned to the assistant who was here to keep track of everything being traded, the clay board in his hands. He still used whatever writing method the city previously used. Baby steps, James. Baby steps.

"Give the man a dou* of grain for the symbol."

"What? Only that much? This is clearly precious." The man asked.

"It is only precious to you. I do not hold it to the same value." I replied.

"I refuse to trade it then." He declared, pulling the artifact away from me.

Now, it was my turn to hesitate. I really wanted it. I couldn't do much with only that small amount of metal, but I would be able to tell traders and travelers what I wanted, and hopefully, metal would trickle into this city.

"How about five dou's of grain?" I tried establishing negotiations.

He shook his head, not satisfied with the amount.

"What would you want for it then?" I asked. I would outright refuse if he asked for a shi** of grain. The metal wasn't worth that much. Not when the plague was approaching and food actually mattered.

"How about the goddess’ elixir?" He asked.

I almost tripped over my thought process as I heard the words goddess’ elixir from a tribesman. "Where did you hear about that?" I asked the man.

His eyes opened wide, "I-I heard it in passing. Among the refugees!"

My eyes shut down to slits as I was trying to figure him out. I really wanted that metal, so I very cautiously answered the man, "I can give you a single jar of the elixir if you have more than just that to trade for it."

He smiled. A wicked smile that made me realize that was not the answer I was supposed to give him. He raised a wooden contraption to his lips and blew.

*(roughly two liters)

**(roughly 100 something pounds)