Chapter 552: Volume 13: Sea Rain and Sky Wind - 22: Race
When Komer and his party appeared at the Bahomon Port dock following the flow of the Catania River, the entire Bahomon was astounded. Whether it was the indigenous people from the Caucasus itself or the new immigrants from the three northern regions, whether it was the half-beastmen who had newly obtained citizenship after fleeing from the Funiu Mountain Range or the barbarians who had trekked from the Cordillera Wilderness to work in Bahomon, they were all shocked by the news—the Catania River route had truly officially opened!
While many common people were still immersed in this massive surprise, the sensitive traders had already begun to ponder what the opening of this "Golden Waterway" would bring to the Caucasus and what they should now do.
Food would no longer be the biggest constraint limiting the Caucasus. The middle and upper reaches of the Catania River are known for their grain production, with an output much larger than that of Homer and the Galle region. Each year, a considerable surplus of grain would rot in warehouses due to logistics issues, mainly because transport problems, especially the lack of cheap transport, could not be resolved. This led to the inability to export grain from countries like Luxembourg, keeping their grain prices fairly low.
And the Caucasus could potentially become a major buyer of grain from these regions. Essentials such as alcohol, cotton, woolen goods, and other life necessities could all be replenished through the various countries along this waterway, eliminating the need to obtain them through maritime or land routes. In other words, Homer’s blockade of the Caucasus would become meaningless with the opening of this waterway. Conversely, the Caucasus’s lumber, iron ore, iron products, and even precious stones could be shipped continuously to the middle and upper reaches of the Catania River via cheap water transport, bringing an unprecedented tremendous opportunity to the entire Caucasus.
Eve and Grace’s party was watching all this with a surprised gaze, too. The towering arch at the dock clearly marked the name of the place—Bahomon—also a town within Lord Komer’s territory. But the complex flow of people in this town made Eve’s party feel somewhat nervous and even a little uneasy.
The transportation workers bustling about on the dock were not like those they saw daily; it seemed mortals weren’t much in the majority, at least from what Eve’s party could see.
Some clearly elf-bloodline merchants and craftsmen were busy with their business in the street-side shops, while the fellow who looked like a master in the ironworks was unmistakably a dwarf—it gave Bayezid a somewhat familiar feeling. Even the tax collector passing by seemed to be a half-elf, but more were the grim-faced, oddly dressed half-beastmen and the tall, burly barbarians. These people were pulling carts, carrying sacks, lifting baskets, shouting in rhythm, and moving swiftly. This place did not resemble a mortal town they had imagined at all, but rather a settlement of tribes from the southern wilderness.