Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

With large quantities of silk and cotton textiles brought in by merchant groups from the human kingdom and shipped into the Stoneheart Horde, the members of the Stoneheart Horde finally started shifting from an age of wearing animal pelts to one of cotton and linen.

Even Delilah herself had purchased quite a few new outfits. At this moment, she was wearing a cool, silken gown from the human kingdom—both seductive and comfortable.

Of course, many nonhumans in the crowd still wore animal furs. For many of them, furs remained essential winter attire and offered protection against both enemies and beasts.

"Crops and cotton traded for minerals, grain swapped for animal pelts, crystal cores, and those low-grade weapons and armor… No matter how you look at it, the Stoneheart Horde always gets the short end of the deal!"

Clearly, in trade between the human kingdom and the Stoneheart Horde, the Horde usually found itself disadvantaged. This was unavoidable when one side lagged behind in economics, resources, and technology.

Still, even these unequal dealings had raised the living standards of the Stoneheart Horde. At least in terms of clothing and food, their quality of life had visibly improved.

Delilah, as the real power behind Stoneheart City, saw the changes within the Stoneheart Horde from a high vantage point, observing from many angles and perspectives. To her, these transformations were both a source of experience and a form of growth in her own understanding. Every word and action from the Horde's people, every advance the Stoneheart Horde made, and every war they fought all contributed to Delilah's development alongside the Horde.

"Your Majesty, half of those storefronts set aside in the outer city have sold. The buyers are those two humans you instructed us to look after," a maidservant succubus reported as she appeared behind Delilah with the latest information.

"Nico and Kadir, huh? They're certainly patient, only making their move now. What type of businesses did they file for?"

Delilah's voice was languid. As her administrative skills improved, she had embraced her own methods and perspectives for managing the Stoneheart Horde. Focusing on core issues, overseeing the leadership, addressing gaps, and learning new ideas and knowledge—through Delilah's delegation of powers, her style now leaned toward a "hands-off" approach.

"They're in daily commodities—mainly silk, cotton textiles, spices, jewelry, liquor, and food."

It was quite a miscellaneous mix, showing Nico and Kadir had big ambitions. But to Delilah, these items more likely meant something else.

"They're avoiding weapons, gear, minerals, magical plants, horses, slaves—these high-stakes categories. They really are shrewd," Delilah remarked.

Indeed, Nico and Kadir were clever. They wanted to make money without courting death.

Weapons, gear, minerals, and magical plants were under the domain of powerful merchants and major factions. Anyone without strong backing who tried to bite off a piece of that pie would be surrounded and devoured in no time.

"Keep watching them. I want to see just how far they can go," Delilah said, her voice trailing off with a low, velvety resonance.

…

Stoneheart City, at the Fatty's General Store.

That was the shop's name, chosen by Nico without regard for Kadir's teasing. As Nico put it, since he put up the money, he got to name the shop. Whether it sounded good or tacky was of no concern to him.

What mattered was that it felt down-to-earth, fitting for common folk, and easy to remember. Nico wanted every traveler who visited the outer city to remember Fatty's General Store.

"We have the storefront, and we have funds. What we're missing now are goods and supply channels. Kadir, any ideas?" Nico regarded himself as better at business than Kadir, but when it came to problem-solving, Kadir was undoubtedly the pro.

"Simple. I have three proposals," Kadir replied, glancing around the store before shifting his gaze to the travelers outside. Something in his eyes turned calm and steady.

"The first proposal is to buy the goods we want to sell directly from the mercenaries, at a price slightly above their bottom line. We'll need some capital, and early on, the profit will be small. But once we build a rapport with those mercenaries, we can start placing orders for exactly what we need, and then push the prices down. This is the safest and least demanding method. Personally, I like it best."

Kadir's voice was steady and had a slight, magnetic quality. Nico nodded repeatedly in agreement, finding this idea highly feasible. Those mercenaries wouldn't store their goods in Stoneheart City to sell off bit by bit. They'd rather offload it quickly at a lower price, head back to the human kingdom, and run another trip to earn even more.

"What's the second proposal?" Nico had already decided to adopt the first idea, but he was still curious about what came next.

"The second proposal is that we form our own merchant group to go back and forth among the human kingdom, the ogre territory, the blood elf territory, and the giant territory, carrying whatever goods we wish to sell. It's risky, though."

Kadir narrowed his eyes, sounding slightly subdued, as if he could feel the pressure.

Indeed, the plan came with a large degree of uncertainty. If it went wrong, they could lose both their investment and their lives.

"Giant territory has regular patrols that we can tag along with. But once we leave giant territory, all bets are off. The chance of being robbed or attacked by bandits is high. On the other hand, if the trip succeeds, profit could multiply several times—even dozens of times."

This approach had another advantage: the Stoneheart Horde had legions of powerful bloodline warriors for hire. But even that was no guarantee of safety once outside giant territory.

Greed and wealth can drive people to commit any crime, and this sort of person was all too common in the human kingdom. Nico and Kadir both hailed from there and had lived through plenty of hardships, giving them a deep understanding of human nature.

"The danger's too great, and we don't have enough capital to gamble. We don't have the manpower either, and I sure don't trust bloodline warriors I don't know." Nico's attitude was firm, and Kadir was in agreement—he had no interest in that route either.

"The third proposal is to cooperate with some of the major factions."

"Major factions?" Nico repeated.

"Yes. For example, human nobles, high-level blood elves, dwarf elders, senior leaders in the Stoneheart Horde's tribes, or at the very least a large mercenary corps."

Frowning, Nico mulled this over. The third proposal did seem workable.

"How exactly would we cooperate?"

"We'd provide the store and staff, then take a commission from sales."

"And how much would that earn us?"

"Not a fortune, but enough to ensure we never go hungry."