Fantasy Starting from the Stone Age - Chapter 119



Only Noblemtl

Episode 119. Those Who Sell Legends 2

This currency called Donum, which was created by Medakbo through hard work despite not wanting to work, was in fact something close to a miracle.

In other words, it is an object that can store and transport magical power. Of course, there were such objects even in the primitive era. The ‘Garut (shining stone)’ brought by the Bark tribe had such properties.

But that was out of control. Medakbo mixed the mineral called ‘Garut’, magic honey, and various metals and dirt here and there, and finally managed to stabilize it, so that it was almost semi-permanent, lost very little energy, and could maintain the magic pressure of a high magic zone for a moment even in a low magic zone. And that was when he wanted to.

The ‘gold’ of the Earth was of course useful as a mineral resource in its own right, but if we look at it from the perspective of being precious and beautiful, this Donum was made directly, so we focused on its functional aspect rather than its rarity.

Donum is a currency and military material.

Any mystic you use will lower the magical power pressure around you.

If your magic pressure is low, you won’t be able to use any mystic spells, and in some races, you’ll faint.

The ‘chi’, the power of life itself, is okay, but… … Even the Tocha tribe cannot live in the ultra-low magic power zone. They need a certain amount of magic power.

However, if you have a lot of Donum, you can use the Donum resource without hesitation to unleash an infinite amount of mysterious bombardment. The same goes for martial arts experts. In places where magical power pressure is high, the internal energy of the Danjeon builds up more quickly.

Even if you are a truly great master, if you haven’t reached the stage of shedding, if you attack with only regular soldiers, your magical power will be depleted and you won’t be able to fight anymore, but Donum overcomes that in a groundbreaking way.

This was basically a trivial matter in the world of high-powered magic zones. Magic power was an abundant resource anyway.

So, in Datang, Donum is something that restores magical power at a much faster rate than it would have been restored if left alone anyway.

It was an item that allowed you to continuously pour out powerful mystic energy that would have been impossible to use before, once you went outside the Datang.

Just looking at its utility, it was definitely more useful overseas than Datang.

In particular, the Baekkan tribe had reached a level where they could not simply remove magic from metal, but also use the power of minerals that could only be refined with magic and jewels that contained special magic to create even superior materials, so a donum that increased the surrounding magic pressure was practically an essential item.

Except that it’s really extremely difficult to get the Donumbaekkan.

“With this new method of manufacturing, we can create something much stronger than the existing gem weapons. Its strength is also incomparable to that of the past… … .”

“The problem is that this method of refining requires a high-power area. However, the high-power area in our territory is gradually being depleted because we are drawing too much power from it… … .”

“I never thought that the power of celestial bodies and geomantic veins could have the concept of exhaustion.”

“Don’t we have to cut down the forest and wait for it to grow again? Perhaps we have dug up a lot of what has accumulated over a long period of time. After all, we need a high-powered pressure.”

“how much?”

“… … If you run the blacksmith shop all day, taking into account material supply, etc., it would be over 300 degrees per day.”

“300… … .”

Based on the datang standard, it is enough to feed 300 meals, or in other words, 100 people for a day.

“Damn… … If it’s over 300 a day, shouldn’t it be over 100,000 to run it for at least a year?”

“yes.”

The council of the Baekkan was silent.

“Just looking for a high-powered area?”

“No. It just isn’t there.”

“It is impossible to give up the steelmaking method.”

“Then we have to import the donuts… … .”

Here are some ways for Baekkan to import Donum:

First, lead the upper class and trade across the isthmus in Dimanang or Daesurim. The Datang people want to eat seafood, but they can’t get it themselves, so they buy it at a high price. They also like to decorate their homes with evidence of pilgrimages they have obtained through pilgrimages or brought by others, so they can sell Baekkan’s sculptures and the like.

However, the fishing industry is dominated by the Zor people in the west of Datang. The carving trade requires a tremendous number of craftsmen and artisans. There are many artists among Datang people, so they do not accept works unless they are of the highest level in Baekkan. There is no guarantee that they will sell.

Second, trade with the Iyakans. Seiwamuyu is the only nation that trades directly with Datang. They have an abundance of donum and can import donum at a ‘reasonable’ price. However, they make a huge profit, often more than thirty times the Datang exchange rate.

Third, go west across the Mediterranean Sea and trade. The profits are the greatest, but the sea route is rough and there are many pirates. There are also frequent sinkings.

Everything is dangerous. There are monsters and dragons that are after you, robbers, disasters, and the risk of failed trade.

And this is the only way that is not a crime.

Criminal method first. War with the Iyakan who has the Donum.

Second, they are actually pirating.

Third, invade Dimanang and plunder Donum.

Fourth, expand your territory to the west as much as possible to shorten the sea route. It is no different from invading Erin.

The nation of the Bakan people mixed all these methods together. The so-called civilian Bakan pirates were the same.

The biggest advantage of a boat cabin is its navigation. Since you can breathe underwater, even in the worst case scenario of a ship sinking during a storm, there are fewer casualties.

The lords of Baekkan didn’t care what method they used to get the donum, and if they got the donum, they would pay with gold and silver treasures of the same weight. (The donum was quite light and there were many high-denomination bills.) The war with the Iyakans intensified, but without the donum, they couldn’t make weapons, and they were absolutely inferior in terms of mystical mobilization power.

“You got paid thousands for one funny story?!”

It was a real shock when it was reported that the Legendary Age had begun and that All Chaun was literally throwing away his stories.

“Gather the best storytellers in the country! Let’s put on a play that will satisfy all of you!”

“We’re busy training the military, so I wonder if it’s really right to train clowns… … .”

“I don’t know! Does pride feed you?”

The most tearful show in the world.

Baekhan decided to show something.

It’s Iyakandoyo.

Erin too. Many people have devoted themselves to the task of creating a story that can satisfy all the desires.

All Chaun had hoped for was right.

I just didn’t know they were this serious.

A clay tablet believed to have been written during this period was later unearthed. It is a remnant of the deserted Baekara region, where too much magical power was extracted, and contains the father’s admonitions to his son.

‘Why do you only enjoy going out and playing and wielding a sword, and not composing poetry, writing, and practicing oratory? Earning with your body is the most worthless work. Earning with your mouth and heart is the most excellent work.’

This is a passage that shows how highly literary talent was valued at the time. However, civil and military skills were not treated equally, and writing and speech were openly considered more important than strength.

However, from Baekkan’s perspective, this was inevitable. To put it simply, there are many animals that are strong, fast, and powerful, but there are far fewer animals that can create and communicate, right?

Anyone can train their physical abilities to a certain level of ‘good’ if they are well fed and trained appropriately. Mental abilities, or literary talent, are different.

Even if you teach, it’s not at the level of being ‘good’ at something, but at the level of being ‘not bad at it’. It’s the realm of talent.

A funny person who can make natural, non-offensive jokes. How rare is that?

And some say that writing can feed you, but in this day and age, it can feed you. Good poems, songs, performances, stories… … If you hit the jackpot at Datang, you can become a millionaire and return home in glory.

This trend continued in Dimanang and Daesurim. There was even a system where people were rewarded for introducing outstanding people, so all the famous talkers were driven to Datang.

And literary knowledge is more helpful than you might think in the fields of politics and administration, and it becomes the seed of sophisticated logic, philosophy, and discussion. It also goes well with Baekkan to some extent.

But… … . If you go too far, it can have negative effects.

“You idiot! If you can’t speak or tell a story, shouldn’t you at least exercise your body? Skills can be honed, so don’t sleep until you succeed today!”

The performances always included dancing, ball throwing, and swordsmanship, and since the trade profits from the performances were so great that they became a national project, they began to force talented children into the performances and abuse them harshly from an early age to make them successful.

Even if you work hard and change your body like that, you won’t succeed.

It’s like the tragedy of the modern entertainment industry. Only a few succeed. If you succeed, you hit the jackpot. If you fail, you’re left with nothing. You’ve invested more than half of your life, but you have nothing left.

And so many people jumped into this. So many people. As many as the Confucian students taking the civil service examination in the Joseon Dynasty on Earth, and as many as the students studying to enter prestigious universities in the Republic of Korea later on.

Many people risk their lives and challenge themselves to achieve the goal of becoming rich by satisfying Daton and All Chaun.

This in itself is a real comedy.

Even if you return home after getting a loan from Datang, if you meet bandits on the way, you could lose your life and all your property, so it is even more so.

Inevitably, the size of the play from Baekkan and Erin will gradually increase. As the stage gets bigger, more people will be there, more escorts will be used, and a bigger stage can be created to perform a splendid and grand play.

And when they grow that big, sometimes when they fail, they can attack the other extreme and make a killing. Or maybe they are more suited to this and become a group of bandits that only attack the extremes.

Furthermore, we can even attack the extremes of the Datang people… … .

“All right. There is an opinion that the bandits made up of foreigners are acting too violently. They pretend to be one extreme and rob and set up other extremes, and the Datang people have also suffered.”

“Then contact Gulmung and close the border.”

Medakbo is embarrassed by All Chaun’s immediate answer.

“… … Uh. Really?”

“Why don’t you just send down the ones who have been verified? A level 6, no. That’s too much. If it’s not a level 7 story, don’t even send them down.”

My standards have gotten higher. All this time, I still watch relatively boring plays made by Daton, but I still want to watch only high-quality plays.

In this way, the other races lost the way to obtain huge amounts of money from Datang.

It may be possible to perform in Daesurim and Dimanang, but it is a red ocean, so to speak. All Chaun thought that this would be enough to block the intrusion.

The policy that those who practiced hard for their performances in the North had no idea about completely destroyed their worldview that they could succeed if they just performed well.

“uh?”

We lost our main source of supply, trade was cut off, and tariffs were raised.

However, Datang did not stop trading with Seiwamuyu. Baekkan had to deal with the wealthy Seiwamuyu while struggling to obtain supplies.

Then, since trade and performance were impossible, the final choice was… … .

“If you don’t want us to make you happy, we have no choice but to make you suffer… …!”

As a side effect of the complete blockade, the northern Dimanang region and the western Jor were literally devastated by pirates and thieves. It was not even funny to hear that some of the forests were burned and hundreds of cattle from the ranches were stolen.

Naturally, the All-Chan is furious and sends in the army. If the border had not been closed, the money would not have been spent as much, and there would have been a huge loss of life.

“All right. How about easing the lockdown a little bit… …?”

“Damn it. I’ll follow that advice.”

You may wonder how they can come up with such a short-sighted policy, but that’s just how Datang is. They’re really terrible at diplomacy.

All of this has clearly come out of depression, but it’s still tied to the past.

To him, who is even more conservative than the best in the world, the world is ‘eternally fixed and repetitive’. All of this made him hate outsiders who only cause trouble in the tea house. He only wanted to accept the best and most outstanding people.

Considering that one of the later evaluations of Oh Cha-woon was that ‘it is questionable whether he understood the concept of diplomacy,’ this is not such a strange measure.

Anyway, now you can’t make a living at Datang unless you’re the best.

Unless it’s a literally ‘legendary’ story, it can’t be sold.

It may sound like a play on words, but the first to emerge were the ones who literally ‘digged up’ the legend.

The legend of the first relic hunters in the Dimanang region. Let’s check it out for yourself.