There were many things Alex wanted to say; however, he kept them all to himself. It made no sense to say them now when he had no way to contribute something different or solve the problem.

"All opposition has been eliminated?" Alex asked with a somber expression.

"Every last one of them," Atarra affirmed with her still raspy voice.

"Well, you can find me in the communal house in case you need me," Alex replied.

The human left the place with a slow walk, feeling heavy, almost dragging each step. The recent events weighed on his conscience; he had become a butcher, and this was nothing more than his first slaughter.

Atarra's words, however, had a certain truth to them: better them than my people. That was the law of nature, the law of the strongest, the law of the forest.

Throughout this time, Alex had been accompanied by a young Gnoll, one who had been with him at all times in the last few days, especially during the recent battle, carrying his arrows and other useful materials.

"You must be tired, Kragash. Let's check our home," Alex told the young Gnoll.

"Yes, sir!" the young one responded enthusiastically.

Kragash had been the young Gnoll who, upon Alex's arrival, had shown an extreme vision of the Gnoll's future, where they completely disregarded Matriarch Atasha and followed only Alex. Needless to say, such ways of thinking hadn't won him much sympathy among the people and hadn't relaxed his stance over time. On the contrary, he had doubled down, preaching more and more until eventually, nobody wanted him for the way he insisted on Alex's leadership.

For the young one, every victory they had achieved had been because of Alex's leadership. Although he found the boy a bit extreme and had tried to control his insistence, Alex had no more problems with the little guy.

Once they entered the house of the former goblin chief, Alex found something very strange that he didn't expect to see in a goblin settlement: letters. The paper on which these were written was of good quality, very different from the lower-quality ones Alex used that didn't last long and needed great care.

"What the hell does this mean?" Alex said in a low voice, unable to understand a single letter of what was written.

At first glance, to the young human, what he had in his hands seemed more like orders than reports, as they were organized in concise points.

"Hmm, sir, although I'm not an expert, this doesn't look much like the Goblin language," the little Kragash said.

"Why do you say that?" Alex asked.

"The written language of many races like Goblins and Gnolls is really simple and basic, derived from common magical knowledge. Very few within those races use the language to write. However, this looks well-organized, similar to how you write your own information, so it's likely from another, more civilized race," the little one said.

"I understand. If that's the case, it's probably from the Kron. There is too much information indicating the collaboration of the Kron with some races in this area. The question is, what do they want from this settlement?" Alex replied, speaking rhetorically towards the end.

Little Kragash fell silent, not knowing more about the situation, leaving Alex to reflect for a few moments. The human had not found anything really important in this sector that warranted the intervention of the Kron. Although this area was particularly fertile and could supply more food than the surrounding sectors, it could hardly be the cause.

"Could some food have a special property?" Alex muttered to himself.

There was not enough information to draw any conclusions.

"Bah, I don't have enough information. Well, let's start sorting out this mess, Kragash," Alex said.

"Yes, sir," the little one replied.

Both organized the communal house, starting with the audience hall and then slowly moving to the other rooms.

While Alex worked on his base and began summoning some older Gnolls for interviews on how to organize their possessions, elsewhere, several parallel meetings were taking place.

"What do you think of the offer from the human chief Bromir?" one of the subordinates asked.

"It's quite strange. In some aspects, it's extremely lucrative. Being the sole provider of materials that can be obtained so deep into the forest could make us rich quickly," Bromir responded.

"And the downside?" asked with little curiosity.

"We've ventured into the forest once and were captured. We have to be aware that we would be getting involved in an ongoing war. I doubt that the next time we're captured, we'll be so lucky," Boromir replied.

The band fell silent for a long moment until finally, one of the veteran members burst into laughter.

"What's happening, Karl?" Bromir finally asked, confused by the other dwarf's reaction.

"Dangers and benefits have always gone hand in hand. What's there to think about? If the human can give us a good deal, it would be worth it. Besides, this could be the deal we've been waiting for so long to get ahead," Karl responded.

Bromir shared his laughter for a moment before responding.

"You're right, Karl. What do the rest think?" the leader asked, looking at the other members.

One by one, they raised their thumbs in approval towards the chief.

"Well, if that's what you want, you greedy bastards, we'll have to meet with this human and see the extent of what he offers and what he wants in return," Bromir responded.

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With this, Bromir, along with Karl and a few other dwarves, went to visit Alex at the communal house. On the way, they deviated to see the final result of the fight. What surprised them was that almost half of the settlement had been destroyed or ravaged by flames. Only now did the former prisoners realize how lucky they were that their sector was not involved in the conflict.

Upon reaching the communal house, they were stopped by a couple of Gnoll guards who demanded to know the reason for their presence. However, since none of them spoke the Gnoll language, the situation became quite tense.

Fortunately for them, the situation soon caught the attention of young Kragash, who recognized them as the guests Alex was expecting. He led them to the audience hall.

There they were invited to sit at a table by the young one while he searched for Alex.

"It's much more orderly than I thought. I expected total chaos," one of the dwarves said casually.

"Of course, the boy says you can't do business in a pigsty," another voice replied.

The sudden response bewildered and frightened the dwarves, and they jumped back, trying to create as much distance as possible without running away. However, when things calmed down, they saw an unarmed and jovial elf, which helped relax their nerves.

"Hello, sir. Nice to meet you. My name is Bromir. Can I know yours?" the dwarf asked respectfully.

"I'm Thorel. Don't worry about me; I've finished my business with the boy and am leaving. He'll meet you shortly," the elf responded as he walked away, waving his hand slightly in farewell.

The dwarves watched the elf retreat, and when he finally left, they were able to get more comfortable and breathe normally again. Although they were not expert warriors, they were knowledgeable enough to distinguish a powerful warrior.

"Will the elf be with the human?" one asked.

"Of course, stupid. Didn't you see where he came from and what he said?" another replied, hitting him on the back of the head.

"I didn't mean that, idiot," the first one retorted, returning the blow.

"It's safe to assume that they work together. I don't know if Thorel works for the boy or with him, but in either case, he's likely to side with him and help him," Bromir finally responded, trying to calm down his two companions' attitudes.

The back-and-forth of blows between them finally calmed down when young Kragash entered the hall, followed by Alex, still reviewing some written information on papers.

The dwarves remained silent not to distract the human. However, the young Gnoll caught Alex's attention to indicate the presence of the others.

"Oh, excuse me, gentlemen. I was engrossed in this information," Alex responded.

"Good information?" Bromir asked, seeing the optimism in the human.

"Very good, indeed," Alex responded with a smile, then took a seat and continued, "Have you thought about the possibility of an association?"

The dwarves looked at each other, and then Bromir began.

"Although we are predisposed to say yes, we first need to know what resources the lord has for trading and some estimate of the quantities. Without that, we don't know if we can make this route profitable," the dwarf said.

"Of course," Alex responded, rummaging through his papers with notes to answer. "At the moment, I have a large deposit of Aceglass that we started exploiting recently. Additionally, we have a couple of small plots with medicinal herbs. Finally, from this settlement, we have acquired Yobel wood. We have other resources in small quantities, but no exploitation of these, so it's not worth mentioning."

Upon hearing Alex's response to the end, the dwarves entered a small frenzy. Both Aceglass and Yobel wood were highly valued resources outside the forest and very scarce. The three herbs mentioned, although valuable, were not rare outside, and although they were intrigued by what else Alex had, they couldn't press to get that information.

"Both woods are tremendously appreciated outside, sir. The only thing left to know is how much the lord plans to sell and what he wants in return," Bromir replied.

"Initially, I plan to sell a large stock, approximately 20 tons of Aceglass and about 10 of Yobel wood," Alex replied, trying to impress the dwarves. However,

"Sir, if I may, we don't know what tons are or what they represent," one of the dwarves said. Tons were not the unit of measurement on this planet, of course.

During his stay in the city of Nyxhaven, Alex had learned many things about the different local cultures. Here, each race usually had its preferred way of measuring. However, there was one that could be used between species, and that was Yer. It had emerged from the mineral of the same name, which had the particularity of never being created under certain conditions in nature, never growing beyond a certain point, and always weighing the same. Many people had opted to use it as a reference point. Alex, for his part, had inferred that one Yer was almost a kilogram, maybe 0.8 or 0.9, he really had no way of knowing without more precise materials and methods.

"I can't be sure, but I estimate between 16,000 and 18,000 Yer," Alex replied.

This time, the dwarves were extremely impressed. Such quantities didn't circulate through any city, and even being so close, none of the free cities had been able to penetrate the forest and exploit its resources for a long time. With luck, they were able to enter the more distant sectors in small quantities and harvest some herbs or cut down a few trees before attracting too much attention from the forest.

"That's a lot, sir. We can make many trips with so many resources. The last thing we need to know is what the lord plans to buy with so many resources," Bromir asked.

"My friends, as you know, we are in the midst of a war, and as such, I need everything related to it. For the first trips, I'll need food, tools, weapons, and armor. Later, there will be many other things we can acquire," Alex replied and then looked at his papers with a annoyed voice, "I could also use a new method of making higher-quality paper; these scrolls spoil very easily."

When the dwarves heard the mention of war, a small smile escaped them. They all knew that war was tremendously profitable, especially if you weren't directly involved. They knew that Alex would need resources constantly from outside, so there was no end in sight to the trade.

"But what I need to ask you is about your fee. How much will you charge me?" Alex finally said when he stopped fighting with his papers.

Bromir asked for a few seconds and then retreated with his followers to a corner to talk quietly.

They quickly began to calculate different costs as well as the price of both elements in the market. They had to take into account fees to merchants, as well as some bribes to certain officials and merchant fees, licenses, etc. Finally, they concluded that at a minimum, they would need 3% of the sale per trip to start trading. Of course, this cost was only for one way; another 3% would have to be added for the return.

Finally, Bromir turned to face Alex.

"Since we assume that the lord does not have any currency to pay us, it is safe to admit that our expenses will be paid with a portion of the materials we sell," Bromir asked, and Alex nodded, "In that case, our fee will be 5% for the first trip, then 8% for the next 3, and so on until reaching 20%."

Alex meditated slightly on this fee, but as he really had no notion of how or why he was paying such a price or if it was fair or not, he decided to take another approach.

"Can I know why such a fee?" Alex asked.

"The first fee would put us at a loss, sir; it's merely a gesture of goodwill. With the second, we would only cover operational expenses and wouldn't be enough to pay my employees. By the third, we plan to expand to utilize the maximum capacity we have within the city and supply its needs more efficiently. We'll need a lot of transport carts to make this route worthwhile, and the challenging terrain is a significant hindrance. Finally, starting from the fourth fee, we can begin to make a profit."

Alex grasped the root of his problem – they would have to assemble a large caravan to bring everything he needed, incurring costs for the care of the animals, the individuals who led them, and their potential guards.

"Very well, it seems like a reasonable price," Alex said, extending his hand to seal the deal with a handshake. However, the Dwarves had witnessed a couple of situations where Alex extended his hand, and others touched the back of his hand with theirs. So, they decided to perform this particular salute.

The situation became awkward for Alex as he observed the satisfaction on the Dwarves' faces. Every time he attempted a regular handshake, it ended up in this peculiar situation where both parties exchanged backhand slaps. Slowly, it was turning into a tradition among those who followed Alex.