Chapter 237: Zabuza and Haku, Who Yearn for Peace
Kurama Unkai stood with a gentle smile on his face, quietly watching as the crowd in front of him grew larger and larger.
The first step in the "Worker-Peasant Professional Skills Association Project Proposal" was for the "Robin Merchant Guild" to gain the trust of the working class.
However, for the Land of Waves, a country with severe class conflict, many nobles and merchants had bullied and killed civilians in the past, causing the majority of the common people here to be very hostile towards merchants and nobles.
If they were told from the start that by joining the "Worker-Peasant Professional Skills Association," they could receive free living supplies and improve their quality of life several times over, then surely no one would choose to believe the "Robin Merchant Guild."
Kurama Unkai had no solution, but he wasn't worried in the slightest.
Because the Lord had already anticipated this and had written down the solution in the proposal.
—Moving the pole to establish credibility.
The Blue Star civilization of his past life was vast and profound. Forebears had already walked many paths, and their experiences were all worth learning from.
And Menma's plan was to emulate the ancients, using "a promise worth a thousand gold" to win the hearts of the people.
Seeing that the time was right and the crowd was large enough, Unkai took a step forward, smiling as he surveyed the crowd, and said loudly, "Welcome, friends. We are posting a bounty mission here."
"Anyone present, no matter who, as long as you can lift this wooden pole and move it to the construction site behind me, our Robin Merchant Guild will grant you five thousand ryō!"
Upon hearing Kurama Unkai's words, the surrounding people immediately started discussing among themselves.
"Is that for real? This pole looks like it's only about 60 kilograms. Any reasonably strong young man could lift it."
"So simple, how could it be true! He must be toying with us. How could these stingy merchants be so kind?"
"The noble masters love to make fun of people. If we really go over there, we'll definitely be punished, maybe even beaten to death on the spot."
"Exactly, he must be trying to trick us."
The people present looked at each other, but no one dared to believe Kurama Unkai's words. Not a single person was willing to go and carry the pole.
Tazuna stood in the crowd, looking at the wooden pole beside Kurama Unkai, his mind racing. "If I could really get five thousand ryō, it would be enough for our family of four to live on for several years. We wouldn't have to risk our lives fishing at sea every day."
But, where in this world could one find such a good thing as a pie falling from the sky?
Kurama Unkai also understood in his heart that these commoners would not believe his words so easily.
"It seems this task is quite difficult. In that case, I'll raise the reward."
Unkai wasn't in a hurry. He said with an unchanging smile, "Whoever can lift this wooden pole, we will reward him with ten thousand ryō."
With that, he took out a bag of money from his robes and waved it in front of the crowd.
Clink! Clink!
The sound of the coins was crisp and pleasant, echoing around and reaching the ears of the crowd.
The originally noisy scene gradually became quiet.
"Ten… ten thousand ryō?"
Although they didn't know the "Robin Merchant Guild," they certainly recognized ten thousand ryō in banknotes.
Ten thousand ryō was enough for their whole family to live on for half a year or more.
Undeniably, the onlookers were already tempted by Kurama Unkai's reward.
However, their suspicion of Kurama Unkai also grew stronger, and still, no one dared to go and carry the pole.
Just by lifting a single wooden pole, one could receive such a generous reward. No one was willing to believe it was true.
Who knew if Kurama Unkai was playing a trick on them?
They didn't believe in pies falling from the sky.
As the commoners were discussing among themselves, someone in the crowd finally mustered the courage to stand up.
It was a "girl" with long black hair and a delicate face.
"...How is it a girl?"
The people present were slightly taken aback.
After coming to their senses, some tried to dissuade her.
But the "girl" shook her head, refusing the crowd's good intentions.
Turning around, she bowed slightly to Kurama Unkai, her attitude somewhat reserved. "Please let me try."
Kurama Unkai's gaze lingered for a moment on "her" throat with a strange look.
"Mm, what a handsome young man."
Moreover, there's a considerable chakra fluctuation within his body.
Since he's a male ninja, there shouldn't be a problem.
Kurama Unkai nodded with a strange expression, then made way for the beautiful, woman-like boy.
The boy walked to the front of the wooden pole. Chakra flowed within his body, and his hands quickly formed seals.
"Secret Technique: Ice Rail!"
CRACKLE!
A smooth, translucent ice rail appeared on the ground. The wooden pole slid along the smooth ice rail towards the area behind Unkai.
This magical scene drew exclamations of amazement and applause from the large number of workers.
Faced with the rising and falling voices around him, the boy couldn't help but blush.
"It feels strange to use ninjutsu to transport wood. If Lord Zabuza knew I was using ninjutsu for this kind of thing, he would definitely scold me for wasting chakra and time."
However, this was just his own wishful thinking. The gazes of the workers around him held no malice.
They were just a little surprised, seeing for the first time a ninja using ninjutsu to transport wood, and with such high efficiency.
The boy named "Haku" temporarily suppressed the shame in his heart, turned to look at Kurama Unkai, and said with an apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, I can't lift it. I can only transport the wood to the back. Is that alright?"
"Of course, no problem. In fact, it's even better."
Kurama Unkai smiled slightly and handed the money bag in his hand to Haku. "Here is the ten-thousand-ryō reward. Please take it."
Haku didn't expect to actually receive the reward. He stood there stunned for a few seconds before coming to his senses, then bowed to Kurama Unkai and said, "My name is Haku. Thank you, my lord."
Kurama Unkai smiled. "You've earned it."
The commoners below, seeing Kurama Unkai keep his word and really give the reward to that "girl," suddenly exploded.
They had lived for decades and had never seen such a good thing!
This was practically giving away money!
"My lord, I can lift it too! Is there still a reward?"
"My lord, I can lift ten wooden poles at once!"
"Yes, I can too!"
"Me too!"
The scene below instantly descended into chaos.
Seeing this, the corner of Kurama Unkai's mouth curled up. His goal had been achieved.
Since the desired effect had been reached, the bounty mission naturally wouldn't continue. After all, they weren't here to do charity.
"Everyone, I'm sorry."
Kurama Unkai said loudly, neither servile nor overbearing, "The bounty mission was only for one time, first come, first served. Since it has been completed, the mission is over."
Hearing this, the surrounding crowd showed expressions of regret.
Heavens, that was ten thousand ryō.
It was enough for them to eat for a year and a half!
But such a good opportunity had slipped away right under their noses.
Tazuna in the crowd also wanted to slap himself and looked at Haku, who had received the reward, with extreme envy.
However, before the crowd could disperse in disappointment, Unkai straightened up and announced loudly, "Everyone, don't be in a hurry to leave!"
"Although there are no more bounty missions, our Robin Merchant Guild is currently recruiting workers. Ninja and workers with construction experience are preferred."
"Three meals are free during work, and the daily wage is ten thousand ryō, first come, first served!"
Hearing Kurama Unkai's words, the surrounding crowd was first stunned, then broke out in loud cheers.
A daily wage of ten thousand ryō, and it includes three meals?
Those stingy merchants would never offer such treatment. It was a rare opportunity to find a job with a daily wage of a thousand ryō.
And it was easy to have your wages docked, or even be deliberately made things difficult for. Not to mention three free meals.
Therefore, in the eyes of the workers, Kurama Unkai, who offered such generous treatment, was practically a saint!
"Those who are interested can go to the side to sign up."
Looking at the cheering crowd in front of him, Kurama Unkai nodded in satisfaction.
Then, without another word, he turned and went back into the tent at the construction site behind him.
At the speed of these workers, it would probably take some time before the Robin Merchant Guild's storefront could be built.
"Secret Technique: Ice Rail."
"Secret Technique…"
As the chakra output increased, more wood and stone materials, under Haku's control, slid neatly onto the workers' four-wheeled transport carts, and were then pushed away by the workers responsible for transport.
It wasn't until dusk in the afternoon, when the sun was setting, that the person in charge of the construction site let everyone stop working and began to settle the day's wages.
Haku held the wages he received from the construction site in his hand, but found that it was not the thirty thousand ryō Kurama Unkai had mentioned, but a full ninety thousand ryō.
"Um, it seems to be too much…"
Haku was just about to return the extra money, but the person in charge of the construction site, who had been transferred from the Land of Snow, reached out and chuckled as he rubbed his head. "Kid, take it. We believe in more pay for more work, and less pay for less work here."
"You alone did the work that dozens of people might not be able to finish. The extra money is an additional reward."
Having been in the Land of Snow for a long time, he would have felt bad if he hadn't given this money.
After all, thanks to this young man, this week's work had been completed ahead of schedule.
"...Thank you."
Haku was not a person of many words, but his tragic experiences from childhood had made him very sensitive to people's kindness and malice.
He could feel the warmth and sincerity of the big uncle in front of him.
This was not charity or pity for him.
Holding the heavy hundred-thousand-ryō money bag, Haku felt his own heart was also heavy.
Lord Zabuza didn't let him go out to take on commissions.
So, this was the first time he had earned so much money on his own.
"Is this… the correct way to use power?"
Haku looked at his own hands and thought with emotion.
He had never known before that using ninjutsu in this way could earn money so easily.
Although he was willing to be Lord Zabuza's killing tool, although he hoped to protect Lord Zabuza from any harm…
But, Haku, in essence, did not like to kill, and even tried his best to avoid it.
In battle, he would only try to put the enemy in a state of suspended animation, making them lose their ability to resist.
And now, without having to flee everywhere, without having to be on edge, and without having to kill every day, he could earn money easily.
This was simply the life Haku had dreamed of.
"However, to recruit ninja to work on a construction site, the Robin Merchant Guild is really a strange organization."
In his past impression, ninja existed as tools of combat.
Whether it was himself or the ninja of the great nations, they all took on commissions related to combat and killing.
Wiping out bandits, dealing with rogue ninja…
These were the main commissions he and Lord Zabuza usually took.
But while working on this construction site, Haku had discovered no less than a dozen ninja.
Haku had learned a little about them from conversation.
Those ninja seemed to be a special type of worker specially trained by the Land of Snow, and their ninjutsu was also very suitable for the various complex tasks on the construction site.
Moreover, these people from the Land of Snow had full faces and optimistic attitudes, completely different from the commoners of the Land of Waves.
This made Haku feel both surprised and envious.
Unfortunately, he and Lord Zabuza had come to the Land of Waves with a very lofty ideal, and this stable job could not be done for long after all.
"Haku, where have you been? I've been waiting for you here for a long time."
At the entrance of an inn, looking at the late-arriving Haku, Zabuza complained in a hoarse voice.
"I'm sorry, I took a job and was delayed for some time," Haku bowed slightly, his tone apologetic.
"Honestly, you need to remember, we're not here on vacation!"
With that, Zabuza's low and serious tone softened slightly, as if asking casually, "How much money did you make?"
In a poor place like this, you don't even have to think about it. It's probably only a few hundred ryō.
But, since it's the first time Haku has earned money, I'll reluctantly encourage him.
But Haku's next words made Zabuza freeze.
"I earned a hundred thousand ryō, with my own ninjutsu. And I also bought some medicine from the Robin Merchant Guild." A satisfied smile appeared on Haku's face as he took out his money bag and medicine from a scroll.
Although using Ice Release ninjutsu continuously was a bit tiring, to be able to buy such advanced medicine and even have fifty thousand ryō left over, taking the Robin Merchant Guild's commission was indeed the right choice.
"Hiss, a hundred… a hundred thousand ryō?"
The corner of Zabuza's eye twitched as he almost snatched the money bag and medicine.
Haku didn't mind, a serene smile on his face.
Seeing Lord Zabuza's slightly cute reaction, he also felt very satisfied in his heart.
"...Ahem! Very good, well done."
Zabuza also came to his senses, realized his gaffe, and nodded with feigned calmness. "Our funds have always been tight. Now we can finally save a portion for a rainy day."
A D-rank mission's reward was only between five thousand and fifty thousand ryō.
And Haku's salary for one day was at least equal to completing two D-rank missions.
Hiss, are there such suckers among the merchants of the Land of Waves?
And, did Haku just say he completed the work with his own ninjutsu?
"Tell me about your experience today."
"Okay!"
Hearing this, a heartfelt smile appeared on Haku's face, like a child who had been recognized by their parents and given candy.
And looking at his innocent, child-like appearance, Zabuza's heart was slightly touched.
Tsk, this guy Haku… smiling like a child…
"Lord Zabuza?"
"What's wrong, Lord Zabuza?"
Hearing Haku call his name, Zabuza suddenly snapped back to his senses.
"N-nothing."
Zabuza awkwardly turned his head away, his tone calm. "I was just thinking, the Robin Merchant Guild is very rich, and very interesting. Compared to that stingy bastard Gato, I prefer the style of the Robin Merchant Guild."
"Perhaps we can ask them if they have any more commissions. After all, we need more funds and a backer."
"Lord Zabuza will definitely succeed!"
Haku's voice was soft, but his tone was firm. "Sooner or later, you will return to Kirigakure and bring true peace to the village."
Kirigakure rogue-nin, "Demon" Momochi Zabuza, had killed all the students of his graduating class in the graduation exam, single-handedly creating the "Demon Incident" and earning his name.
In the eyes of outsiders, Zabuza was an ambitious man who had failed in a coup d'état.
But Haku knew how firm the will in Lord Zabuza's heart was, and could also feel the conviction of his desire for peace.
What Lord Zabuza wanted to do was just to kill the tyrannical Fourth Mizukage, so that the terrifying childhood he had experienced would not be repeated, and so that Kirigakure would no longer be the "Village of the Bloody Mist" where tyranny reigned.
Therefore, Haku believed that he could get his wish.
"...You brat, isn't that a matter of course?"
Zabuza bared a mouthful of sharp teeth and nodded. "Stop talking nonsense and hurry back inside."
"Money, money, I need to earn enough money…"
Then return to Kirigakure, kill that bastard the Fourth Mizukage, and become the Fifth Mizukage!
And, that damned, short-sighted Daimyō of the Land of Water!
As far as Zabuza knew, the reason Kirigakure had become like that was inseparable from the Land of Water's Daimyō constantly cutting Kirigakure's funding.
(End of Chapter)
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