Jasmine spent more than half a day packing, rummaging through the entire adjacent warehouse, yet the items she could potentially take to sell could not even stuff half of her luggage suitcase; more than half of the contents were still items she had brought from the Royal Capital.
The voluminous, fluffy evening gowns occupied a large surface area but could not help her fill her stomach.
The old Butler looked at those ceremonial dresses, wanting to speak but stopping himself; his eyes revealed a look of deep regret as he gazed at the exquisite embroidery lines: "My Lord, these ceremonial dresses..."
Jasmine waved her hand, speaking with a lack of concern: "In any case, there won't be any opportunity to wear them in the future. It is better to sell them in exchange for money; here, I need bread more than beautiful dresses."
Ankera Town had a Merchant Association that specialized in purchasing goods and furniture. Some adventurers, in order to avoid trouble, would directly dispose of their items at such associations every time they returned from an adventure; although the price was squeezed down a bit, it had the advantage of being fast and efficient.
After she finished packing her things, Jasmine immediately went with impatience to select guards for herself.
The Minotaurs and Dwarves were, after all, foreign races; Jasmine also wanted to bring along a few Human slaves to accompany them to facilitate communication if necessary.
But compared to the Minotaurs and Dwarves, the Human slaves were truly too thin. Some adult men did not have clothes to cover their bodies, and one could see their ribs clearly and vividly; the entire body only had a thin layer of skin wrapping it, looking just like walking skeletons that could fall over if the wind blew a little strong.
Jasmine picked and chose again and again, carefully observing their eyes and gait; in the end, she could only select five Human slaves who had relatively tall statures, worked in a manner that could be considered agile, and appeared more quick-witted than the rest.
In addition, Jasmine also intended to bring along that sole Goblin; it was said that Goblins were very good at trading and possessed a nose that was sharp and sensitive to money.
It was rare for Jasmine to go out once, so naturally, it could not merely be for the simple purpose of buying food. If there was an opportunity, she still needed to conduct trade with the outside world; it was just that she temporarily did not know what things their territory had that could be brought out to sell, but bringing along a head that knew how to calculate was still better.
The goods and personnel were all prepared; what remained was the need for weapons and clothing for the Guard Squad.
Jasmine told the Dwarves to make a sharp wooden spear for each selected person; the spearhead was whittled to a point and held over a fire to increase its hardness. She also had them make shields woven from old vines soaked in water to make them tough and pliable. Although the damage output could not be counted as too strong compared to iron swords, at least when encountering danger, they could block a little bit, buying time for them to run away or hold back wild beasts.
The clothes on the bodies of the slaves—no one knew how many years they had been worn—had long since become tattered and torn, emitting a smell of mold. In the summer, they did not cover the body; in the winter, they did not keep one warm. As for the Minotaur, this type of adult male slave, he was even more decisive in staying bare-chested on his upper body, revealing crisscrossing scars, wearing nothing at all.
Now going outside, they were not merely slaves, but they also represented the face of the Black Dragon territory; naturally, she could not let them dress in a way that did not sufficiently cover their bodies while following her out. Doing so would make others look down on them and make them easy to bully.
Jasmine found a few pieces of dark red thick velvet curtain fabric in the warehouse. Although they were also old, worn, and faded in a few places, fortunately, the fabric was tough and thick enough. Added to that, the color could also be considered uniform, which just happened to be suitable for making into uniforms for this group of temporary guards to wear, looking somewhat imposing as well.
Jasmine let the female cook lead a few female slaves to sew the clothes together. They had not sewn new clothes for too long; their rough fingers holding the needles were a bit awkward, so they did not work very fast. Jasmine had no choice but to stay for two additional days waiting for the clothes to be finished.
Jasmine changed into a set of riding clothes that was quite neat and earth-brown in color; this was one of the few sets of clothes she owned that was not embellished with too many frilly lace borders, helping her to move easily.
After tidying herself up, she stuffed the Dragon Egg into a cloth bag. This cloth bag was sewn with the help of the old Butler; his workmanship was much better than that of the cook. The stitches were very thick and dense, and layers of fabric were sewn overlapping each other to create cushioning. No matter what movements Jasmine made, the Dragon Egg inside the bag would not be jostled or fall out. Inside, there was even a secret hidden pocket that could store Gold Coins.
No one could steal Gold Coins right under the eyelids of a dragon, even if that dragon was still an unhatched egg.
This was Jasmine's entire fortune, the capital for her to revitalize the territory; naturally, she had to find the safest place to keep it.
Jasmine strapped the cloth bag onto her back and adjusted the straps on her shoulders to be balanced. Only after putting it on did she discover that the Dragon Egg seemed lighter than its massive appearance suggested; except for bulging out a little bit, making her back look like it was hunched, it did not affect Jasmine's walking actions or bending over.
Perhaps the old Butler had specifically considered the fact that Jasmine had to carry the Dragon Egg on her person at all times, so he had prepared this sturdy cloth bag and designed these load-assisting straps for her.
Moreover, wearing it on her back, in special circumstances, she could even use the Dragon Egg in the cloth bag as a protective shield; after all, dragon scales were famous for being the hardest material in the world.
One had to know that compared to the hard and solid Dragon Egg, Jasmine's own defensive capability was not even equal to that of the slaves like the Minotaur; a single stray arrow could also take her life.
After cleaning up and packing neatly, Jasmine immediately went downstairs. The sound of leather boots tapping on the wooden floor rang out with crisp sounds. The slave guards she had selected were already waiting in the banquet room with expressions that were both nervous and expectant; after finishing breakfast, she would lead these people to set off for Ankera Town.
The old Butler was distributing food to them. For the past two days, Jasmine had shared a portion of bread with the guards. The black wheat bread, though a bit hard, staved off hunger much better than Tofu pudding. Going outside, they did not yet know what dangers they would encounter; Jasmine still relied on these people to protect her, so naturally, she had to take advantage of these few days to nourish their bodies really well so they had the strength to hold spears.