'What do you know about skip village?'

This question was addressed primarily to the skarpans and the elven royal guards.

That's because for Leo and Willow, all of this means nothing.

Well, they may glean something, but the one's who will truly desire this knowledge will be the Skarpans and the two elven guards.

They undoubtedly know something, but first, I have to ascertain how much they know, so I can fill in their gaps of knowledge.

And for the Skarpans, the importance lies less int heh knowledge itself, but the nature of the knowledge.

As I thought, Servante and Lenore knew something about a skip village, given both of their hands jump up.

I guess my repeated scoldings has made them eager to volunteer.

Goodness, it gives me flashbacks to that old bastard teaching me.

My hand stings even now...

'You may speak Servante'

I say, and Servante pushes his glasses up, before speaking.

"A skip village is part of a 3 city passage system, which are scattered throughout the Romana empire. It's said that by going through the three transitionary villages of Hop, Skip, and Jump, that one may get to the capital of the empire, and is hailed as one of the most impressive systems in the world! This is done by portals stationed at each village-"

'That is correct, but what I actually refer to is the history of Skip village, and more importantly, the history of the skip village that we are heading to currently.'

Servante's face scrunched up as he admitted awkwardly. "I-I-I don't."

'Hmm. That's fair, but as a foreign person of great importance, it's important for someone of your status to be aware of certain things like these, especially when you choose to pass through it. And for you-' I say as I point to the three goblins, '-as merchants, it is important to be aware of the history of the place you plan to settle in and practice in, so that you may know how to orient yourself and the way you approach selling. Do you understand ?'

Seeing them nod, I continue.

'The skip village we are heading to is the original skip village. Did you know Servante, that the original Hop, Skip, and Jump villages were part of a joke?'

Hearing my question, Servante's eyes widened in disbelief, and even a surprised gasp from Lenore popped out.

"Oh, like hop, skip and a jump!" She said, slamming her fist in her palm with the realization.

'Yes! It is, in fact that pun!'

"... That's stupid!" says Servante.

The skarpans merely tilt their heads in confusion, with Leon laughing and Willow giving a precious smile.

I'm sure she's smiling only because of the atmosphere.

'It is. It was done by a particularly powerful duke of the north who was considered a great power in his time, perhaps even surpassing the emperor. It just happened he also seemed to be a bit of an eccentric going by historic records.'

Well, eccentric describes it mildly.

He was downright insane, going by my old master's descriptions.

Yes, even my old master knew of the man.

He's left quite the footprint in history, though I'd be remiss to say any of its bad.

In fact, most of it was good in the long run, making him quite the controversial figure.

Servante frowned. "But we're in the south..." he pointed out quizzically and I can't help but laugh dryly.

'I told you, he was quite the influential figure in his time. The duke of the south happened to be good friends with him, to the point that he was willing to humor his friends' joke. The emperor saw an opportunity to do something with it and created the hop, skip, jump village station system to allow people easier, more regulated movement to the capital. '

"He does sound quite strong." commented Lenore after hearing my statement, and well, I can't say she's wrong.

The ability to strongarm an emperor into following his whims, and to have a strong enough friendship with a fellow duke to be allowed to play on his land was not a statement to be underestimated, and this alone fails to convey the strength of this duke alone.

'Yes, well there's more to the story.' I comment. 'The land on which hop, skip, and jump village were once vast expanses of wilderness, home to SS rank monsters. It's said that when the duke and his men set out to excavate the land, they encountered great resistance in the form of entire flocks of wyverns, armies of undead headed by undead kings and even tribes of dragons! It is said even monsters once unheard of prowled the lands before he crushed them all with the giant's knife!'

"WWWWHHHHOOOOOOAAAHH!" The kids say as they lean in, clearly more interested in this than the political intrigue.

Even Lenore and Servante seem more interested, though Servante seemed to have realized something.

"You're talking about Ymir Bergstrom!" he exclaimed, less than questioning, and I nod, unsurprised to see he knows the man.

'I'm surprised you guessed the man's name based off how little I've mentioned.'

"Well, I didn't know, until you mentioned clearing out vast spaces of wilderness and then the giant's knife. It wasn't mentioned in the books what he did afterwards." he sheepishly admitted. "Perhaps that was due to the fact that the villages were treated as a joke and ignored. The three-village system is only mentioned a century later in the books I read."

Sigh

'That is the problem with being long lived. Things pass by so fleetingly, that it becomes harder to notice the connections. Though I'm amused to note that the knowledge about the giant's knife has made it there.' I say a hint sarcastically.

I mean, they know about the Hop, Skip, Jump village system, but don't know about the infamous story behind it, but they do know about Ymir being the greatest wielder of the Giant's knife.

It could be a coincidence, but on the same note, that sounds very war oriented.

Servante rolled his eyes. "Come on now, Ymir is the most famous wielder of the giant's knife; and once you mentioned the clearing out of vast expanses, I could think of no other duke besides Ymir Bergstrom. I mean, as a nation, of course the elven kingdom has to consider the threat of such a man!"

I mean, that's not wrong I suppose.

Whatever.

'The reason I mention this is that the skip village we're heading to is the original skip village, being one of the three made by the duke himself before being promptly returned to the duke of the south. Can anyone tell me why that is important?'

"Is the duke still there?" Redgar asked. 'No'

"Did he hide a secret magic spell!?" asked Borsch. 'Nope'

Fenil shrugged, clearly uninterested, with Willow merely smiling, waiting to see what others say.

"Treasure!" shouted Damil, while Leon gasped. "A secret weapon!" he said, and I sadly had to tell them both no.

Redgar seemed to be thinking hard about it, before finally responding.

"A legacy?" he asked, and I found that response interesting and close enough.

' What could you mean by that?" I asked proddingly, for I could tell he was unsure.

He even admitted as much.

"I'm not sure, but you emphasized that he was important to the creation of these three villages." he said as he attempted to deduce something. "It doesn't seem to be anything physical, based off what the others said, but rather something intangible. I just don't know what."

The kid's got a good head on for a kid who's never ventured out.

Alright then.

'To that, the answer is simple child. He did leave a legacy of sorts I suppose. Think about it. He made those villages, but who populated them?'

And with this, the young skarpan's eyes opened, wide.

"Northerners?" he asked and I nodded.

'Do you know what that means?'

"I suppose that means the village is filled with northerners, who would stand out amongst the people of the south?"

'Exactly. Despite a few centuries having passed since the duke passed away, a great deal of people who live in these first three villages clearly remember their legacy, and culturally, are now a blend of both northern and southern culture. This is context, something important to consider within the wider vision of knowing your customer'

That's why this was all so important.

These three villages also happen to be great tourist attractions yes, but that's not something they can so easily capitalize on. They may get some shallow benefits, such as selling food for tourists or trinkets and more nonsense like that, but it would miss an important question.

To whom are you selling? What will the people of these villages appreciate most? What will they dislike most? Is there something that offends them as a culture?

' I am no merchant, but what I can tell you is that as merchants, knowing your targets is the most important thing, especially when you aim to make profit int he long term. It's nice to make money, but it's vital to maintain good relations with them, and to sell them what they want. '

I pause for a moment.

' You are not merely there to sell merchandise, but to sell a reputation.'

Well, that's what I've gathered after talking to merchants at least.

As a noble, I didn't deal with the ones who made the most money, but the ones who knew how to appeal to their consumer base and knew how to play the field.

Redgar nodded thoughtfully, as did the others, but he seemed to be the only one who really understood my point.

Makes me wonder if the others had other goals that happened to line up with heading out, but that's irrelevant.

'In line with that point, you must consider that as northern aligned people, many of their tastes happen to align with northern tastes. The food, preferred weapons, and even values. All of it is related to context.'

I glance at Servante. 'Do you understand what I'm saying?' Though that statement is also directed at all of the kids meant to be learning.

The kids nod.

Servante asked with a thoughtful expression. "Are you suggesting I study up a bit on northern culture?" he asked, trying to probe my intention.

'It doesn't hurt to make sure you understand the people you're going to be interacting with over the next few days.'

"Well if that's the case, then I don't suppose you could help me?" he said, extending the metaphorical hand.

Unfortunately,

'Sorry, I don't know that much about the northerners.'

Servante had an awkward look on his face as he remembered.

"Oh, right, because you're a-"

'I'm a turtle, yes. I don't know that much and frankly don't need to know that much, since I'll just be a dumb turtle.'

Sorry Servante, I was the marquis of Gamecas, not the local lord of Skip village.

Good luck studying Northern culture laced with southern culture.

From what I can remember, the people of Skip village were certainly... interesting.