Gavin smiled bitterly and said: "I have already felt this pressure. Look outside the manor. In just one night, all kinds of game have piled up." They had a party and carnival in the manor last night. The wild wolf subordinates led by the dog demon were not idle. Under the command of the dog demon, dozens of wild wolves began to chase and intercept the wild animals in the vineyard. Overnight, the harvest was astonishing. There were more than a dozen wild boars, hundreds of hares, and no less than three hundred voles. They were all fat and round, and the voles weighed a pound, not to mention wild boars and hares. And that’s just the wildlife that lives here. When the grapes mature, this place will definitely become a wild animal carnival paradise. They will have a special war to fight, and before that, Gavin needs to be fully prepared. "This is not entirely a bad thing." Elder Dennis said with a smile, "There is a large traveling tribe of halflings on the Asaba River. They arrive here every year before the grapes mature and rest here for nearly two months. The previous owner of the manor had a picking employment agreement with them, and they helped pick a large part of the grapes here.”
"Halfling Traveling Tribe? Ha... This is a good thing. I will try to sign a new employment agreement with them." When Gavin heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up. Just when Gavin wanted to learn more about the situation of this halfling traveling tribe. The dog demon hurriedly rushed in again and reported: "Lord, a large fleet has appeared on the river and is preparing to dock." "This person is most afraid of talking about it. We just mentioned them here. Unexpectedly, they came. Calculating the time, it was just right. After all, it was too short for the lord to obtain ownership of the manor. They probably don't know it yet and thought that there was still no owner here. Land, prepare in advance," Elder Dennis said from the side. "Elder, do you want to go and see it together?" Gavin took the initiative to invite. "Forget it." Dennis shook his head and said with a smile, "The lord should know our habits. We prefer to watch from the sidelines rather than contact directly. We know them, but they may not know us." "Okay, then I won't greet you. I'll go over there and have a look. You can just treat this place as your own home." "We have been bothering you here for a while, so we won't bother you any more. In terms of manpower, we also need to adjust the deployment." Dennis suggested, "If the lord can really hire these halflings, it is best to be responsible for regional planning. one time. It is best to separate the areas that halflings and elves are responsible for. After all, many of us are too shy and not good at dealing with other intelligent races. If you don't grasp the joke scale well, it can easily cause unnecessary conflicts. " "Okay, I'll pay attention." Gavin nodded and agreed. Although he has the intention to create a country with many races and harmonious development. But some things are deeply ingrained and are not so easy to break. If the integration is forced, it will only create more problems. Even Chunya and Dragon Oak have such a close relationship. Fey and kobolds still run their own agendas, and only come together when cooperation is necessary. Many things need to be done step by step. This time Gavin did not call Virginia, but rode the dog demon himself and headed straight to the Asaba River. Standing on the third floor of Vizeme Manor, you can overlook the Asaba River from the back window.
In fact, the distance between the two sides is not close, at least two kilometers to the river. These two kilometers are fertile low-lying river floodplains, which also belong to the Vizeme Manor. In its heyday, various crops were grown here for self-sufficiency. This place is not completely deserted. There is a lot of land that is still full of crops, but it is like the hair on the head of a leper, sparse and patchy here and there. At first glance, you can tell that it is not intensive farming, but the kind of extensive farming, where the seeds are scattered on the ground and ignored. At this time, barley and wheat have begun to sprout, and when the grapes are picked, they can be harvested here. These halflings came at the right time, and it is very likely that they cultivated the land here. The Gramri River, the Sambo River and the Asaba River meet here and merge into the Asaba River. As a result, the amount of water increased significantly, forming a large-scale body of water that stretched as far as the eye could see. Although it was incomparable to Lake Sebo in the deep forest valley, it was considered one of the best in a valley with few lakes. The name of this lake is very interesting, it is Yewen Pond. It is called this because it was once surrounded by Jevon Forest and looked like a large pond in the forest. Even though the area has expanded dozens of times compared to the original area, the name is still used. From a distance, you can see colorful flags waving on the lake and countless ships gathering towards the shore. The size and specifications of these ships are very uniform. It is a flat house boat. The boat is not very small, but the houses on the boat are so small and exquisite that if an adult gets on it, even if he is hunched over, it will be difficult to pass through and he must climb. Small figures were running around on the flat house boats, calling each other to the familiar boats around them, moving closer to each other, and then tying the boats together with ropes. It won't be long before a floating boat village will take shape here. Halflings, as the name suggests, are half the height of humans. This statement is not an exaggeration at all. Halflings are generally between 80 centimeters and one meter tall, and those over one meter are very rare, just like the two-meter height of humans. Halflings are an independent race, and anyone who has seen them will not confuse them with dwarves. Dwarves are somewhat like the deformed tall race of humans, with a relatively large body, but short and wide arms and legs, which is also the origin of their name. Halflings are smaller in overall proportion and very symmetrical. From a distance, they may be mistaken for human children. Halflings are an important part of the intelligent races in Faerun. Except for a halfling kingdom established by a strong-hearted halfling in Lulun in the south, halflings in other regions rarely have their own cities, and even rarely have fixed societies. Most halflings have wanderlust, especially those in the north, where this habit is particularly serious. They don't like to live in one place permanently, but live in caravans, wandering from one city to the next, and then to the next city. Their easy-going nature, small stature and legendary luck make them highly adaptable and not easy to attract the attention and hostility of those tall people. They are very happy to be employed by tall races, earning commissions from them or using real estate to compensate for their labor. When there are no more suitable jobs for them in this village or city in a short period of time, it will be the moment for them to pack up their caravans and set foot on the next city. This unique lifestyle makes them perfectly fit in with the human society of Faerun, especially in Tethyr, where halflings account for a large proportion, and one in ten intelligent beings is a halfling. Gavin, riding on a barghest, did not intend to hide his whereabouts.
When he was observing the halfling fleet on the shore, the halflings had already discovered him. It was difficult not to discover it, after all, the size of the barghest was there, not much smaller than their flat-land houseboats. There was an obvious commotion on the halfling fleet side. And they responded quickly. A dozen small kayaks were put into the water, one for each person, and a dozen halflings dressed as warriors rushed to the shore at a high speed. However, only half of them went ashore, and the other half were still in the water, guarding next to the kayaks. There were six halflings, trotting all the way, running towards Gavin's position. As soon as he heard about their wandering habits, Gavin had already concluded that this group of halflings were light-footed halflings. Seeing their light and agile steps after they came ashore, he was more certain of this. The six light-footed halflings stopped in the distance, and the halfling in the lead said loudly: "We are halflings from Anbaochuan Village. Yewen Pond has been our summer resting place for many years. I don’t know what your name is? What can I do for you?" They are both small-sized races, but their racial abilities determine their completely different attitudes towards things. The Grizzlies are born with the ability to be invisible, which allows them to avoid most dangers. They will only show up in front of creatures they want to befriend, so even when facing powerful barghests, they still don't say a word. Because they have enough confidence, at worst they can just leave. Halflings are different. They can survive in this world full of powerful races, relying not only on caution, but also on a gentle attitude and compromise. Gavin jumped off the barghest, waved his hand, and drove it away, then replied: "Please rest assured, I have no ill intentions. If it is convenient, please come closer to talk, or I can go over." The six halflings discussed with each other, and finally chose to slowly approach. The other party had released a signal of goodwill, and they had to respond. These six halflings are all standard halflings, just over 90 centimeters, less than one meter. From a distance, they look like human children, but when they get close, they can be recognized at a glance. Because normal human children will not have such a well-proportioned muscle contour, and will not grow beards, although they are only very sparse. Their skin is darker, and their bare feet and hands are larger than those of ordinary halflings, which is caused by living on the water for many years. When the two sides were more than ten meters apart, Gavin introduced himself: "I am the new owner of the Vizeme Manor and the new owner of this place. I have heard about the employment agreement between you and the previous owner of the manor. I want to re-sign the corresponding agreement with you for win-win cooperation and mutual benefit." The six halflings looked at each other, and they seemed to see the helplessness in each other's eyes. A piece of unowned land suddenly became an owned land, which was the most troublesome thing for these uninvited guests. Not to mention that their original plan was completely disrupted. They didn't know the nature of the new owner. If he was kind, it would be easier to say, it would be nothing more than paying more labor in exchange for corresponding rewards, which is what they often do. If he was evil, it would not only be a problem of working in vain, but also there would be no great guarantee of safety. The halfling in the lead spoke up again, "So you are the new owner of Vizeme Manor. I am so sorry for the disrespect. We have lived on the water for many years and have been isolated from the news. We don't know what is going on here. We were unable to prepare gifts in advance and are visiting your territory. Please forgive us, Lord." "Ignorance is not a crime. Besides, we have been redeveloping the Vizeme Manor for less than ten days. Not only you don't know, but few people in the entire Battle Valley know about it." Gavin suddenly missed Daniel. If a paladin came forward to deal with this matter, I'm afraid there would be no need to waste more words. Although the other party looked like he believed everything he said, he was probably still wondering in his heart.
In Faerun, the most important issue for establishing diplomacy between strangers is trust. This is true for the elves and the halflings. When he found that these halflings were still very wary, he swallowed back the series of agreements that were originally in his mouth and changed them into invitations. "The problem at the manor has been solved. Ms. Estel and Miss Amanda have been resurrected. As the owner of the manor, I invite your leader to come to visit and discuss employment. The winemaking industry in our manor has reopened, and we really need your assistance."