Ch.10The Road to Rascal (1)

Clop-clop-clop-clop…

Looking down at the marketplace from atop my horse was yet another new experience.

I grew up malnourished, and being young, my short stature had always been something of a complex for me. So having the chance to look down at people like this gave me a peculiar sense of satisfaction.

“First, I should buy some meat.”

I turned the reins toward where the smell of meat—or more precisely, the musky odor of livestock—was coming from.

Butcher shops always seemed to attract flies for some reason, yet the butchers were constantly shouting, “Fresh meat!”

“Fresh meat here! Just slaughtered today!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

My ears filled with the sounds of butchers promoting the quality of their meat and the chopping of animal bones.

I turned my head, searching for a shop selling smoked meat, and when I spotted the pungent smoke, I guided my horse toward it.

“Welcome! What are you looking for?”

“Smoked meat for three days.”

“How would you like the bones?”

“Remove them.”

Meat is always right.

Of course, once you go beyond smoked meat to salted meat, that’s a different story, but well-prepared smoked meat could easily last a month if stored properly.

“How much?”

“Sixty copper coins!”

I handed over one silver coin, and the clerk gave me forty copper coins in change.

I took the meat and placed it in my saddlebag, then headed elsewhere to buy the next items.

Clop-clop-clop-clop…

What I wanted to buy next was eggs.

Eggs spoil easily, but when coated with oil and wax, they can be preserved for over a year, which kept their market price consistently low.

I arrived at a stall selling various animal eggs and looked for oil-coated eggs.

Wax-coated eggs would be excessive for just a three-day journey.

After riding around for a few minutes, I managed to purchase a tray of thirty eggs coated in mineral oil for thirty copper coins.

“Now I need bread and vegetables.”

I decided to visit the vegetable stall before going to the bakery.

For a healthy journey, I needed to eat vegetables even if I didn’t like them.

I arrived at the largest vegetable stall in the market and bought a bag of tomatoes and three radishes.

Next, I stopped by the bakery, where the rich aroma of baking bread began to stimulate my appetite.

“Come to think of it, I didn’t eat breakfast. I should get something at the inn.”

Muttering to myself, I approached the baker who was baking bread in the oven.

“Are you here to buy bread?”

“Yes. I need bread for three days.”

“Will you eat it as is? Or toasted?”

“Toasted.”

“Butter? Margarine?”

“Butter.”

“Olive oil and cheese are on sale.”

“I’ll take those too, then.”

“We’re also selling skillets as part of a promotion…”

“Now that you mention it, I didn’t think about cooking utensils. Can I get a skillet and a mess tin as well?”

“Of course. That’ll be three silver coins in total.”

“Here you go.”

“Thank you for your business.”

In no time, I had completely filled my saddlebags.

But I had no regrets.

Spending money was simply too enjoyable.

Finally, I drew water from the well, returned to the inn, and ordered pork rizollo for my meal.

*

Munch… munch…

“Eat your fill now. For the next three days, you’ll be on a tight ration.”

A horse, under normal circumstances and with a full stomach, can last for about a month.

However, in reality, due to the intense movement, a week was the practical limit for traveling without eating anything.

I paid the stable boy to feed my pack horse plenty of fodder, and soon after, I mounted the well-fed horse and headed toward the meeting place, feeling the sway of its full belly beneath me.

Clop-clop-clop-clop…

When I arrived at the designated meeting point for the merchant caravan, there were ten massive cargo wagons waiting, each large enough to carry a small house on top.

The payment for escorting this caravan was ten silver coins.

It was a generous sum because we would be escorting precious medical supplies all the way to Rascal.

“You there.”

Just then, a woman appeared and called out to me.

“Hmm?”

“Are you the adventurer who accepted the request?”

I took out the request form from my chest and showed it to her.

“Hmm… Flint rank at that age?”

She looked at me suspiciously, but I showed no reaction.

What could this woman do when my certification clearly stated my rank?

“I’m just strong.”

“Well, fine… I see you’ve come well-prepared with supplies. I’ll give you credit for that preparedness.”

…

What’s with this woman?

Is she looking for trouble?

“That horse… is it yours?”

“What about it?”

“Could you follow me for a moment? There might be additional compensation.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

Additional compensation is always welcome.

Even if I didn’t like this sharp-tongued woman’s attitude, if I could get more money…

Clop-clop-clop-clop…

I rode my horse following her, and before long, I met the person in charge of this caravan.

“Pleased to meet you. I am Orca, the one responsible for this caravan.”

“Viktor.”

“I see you have a horse and have prepared ample water and food… is that right?”

“And if I have?”

I narrowed my eyes.

I couldn’t quite grasp what these people were getting at.

“Haha… don’t look at me like that. I’m just making a proposal.”

“Then speak. Don’t beat around the bush.”

As I snapped at him, the woman who had been listening nearby suddenly started shouting.

“Such an insolent bastard! You don’t even know how to speak respectfully to your eld—”

The woman couldn’t finish her sentence.

The reason was simple.

Because I had grabbed her by the throat.

“Gak… kugh!”

“Woman. Who told you that you could open your mouth so freely? You’ve been disrespectful from the start, and it seems you need some education.”

I grabbed her by the hair and pulverized her smooth face with my fist.

“Gurgle…”

Thud!

She no longer moved her mouth.

I looked at Orca, who stared back at me with an expressionless face.

“Impressive.”

That remark must have been sincere.

“The skill to do that to a person… is not easy to come by. I hope you use that skill wisely.”

“How I use my strength is for me to decide. I don’t think I need to hear that from a leader who can’t even control his subordinate’s behavior.”

“True… anyway, let’s continue our conversation.”

Orca briefly left his seat and returned carrying a basket in his arms.

Inside the basket was neither bread nor cheese, but a baby—not a newborn, but a child of about two or three years old.

“This child has just started walking and weaning. The child has parents in Rascal, and we’ve been entrusted with it.”

“I see. Human trafficking?”

The baby had plump flesh, and although the clothes were somewhat worn, they were made of high-quality fabric.

Probably a child of nobility or the upper class.

“The child’s parents are quite famous businesspeople in Rascal. The merchant group I belong to wishes to establish connections with them…”

“And you’re using this child as a means to that end. Truly a merchant’s mindset… I’m guessing what you want me to do is protect this baby, right?”

“You’re quick-witted.”

“And you want me to provide proper meals for this child with the ingredients I purchased, and in case of an emergency, escape on horseback to save at least the baby. Correct?”

“…If you already know that much, there’s no need for further explanation. I’ll pay you double the reward.”

“Triple.”

“That… triple the reward seems excessive…”

“Excessive? Looking at your convoy, I see even the passenger seats are loaded with cargo. You can’t put a child in such a wagon, can you?”

“…”

“And the adventurers you hastily recruited can barely read and have shoddy equipment… They don’t even have food supplies and will have to share rations at the cost of their payment. You have no one you can entrust with a child who needs to eat well.”

“…”

“From what I can see, I think I understand your situation… You’re transporting valuable medicine but have no regular guards, so you hired adventurers. Your wagons are so overloaded they’d definitely get fined if the police caught you…”

I scratched the table as I pressured Orca.

The baby in the center of the table was still sleeping soundly.

“Is your merchant group short on money? Whether a ship sank… or you were scammed… and then when an opportunity to make quick money came up, you jumped at it, but now you’re fretting over how to handle it, and conveniently, you have a caravan heading to Rascal.”

“…”

Orca was on the verge of tears.

But I pushed him even harder.

“And this is the result. Realizing something was wrong, you decided to pay extra to someone like me who’s in relatively good shape to protect the child. Am I right?”

After I said that, Orca wiped away cold sweat and barely managed to speak.

“Triple, you said? I’ll pay it.”

“Quadruple.”

“What…!”

“If you don’t like it, find another adventurer.”

Who was it that said?

Only the strong have choices.

I don’t remember who said it, but…

“Sign it.”

I really like those words.

“Urgh…”

I watched as Orca wrote a special clause on my request form stating that the reward would be quadrupled, and signed it.

I picked up the request form along with the cute baby, and Orca gave me a fierce look as he kicked the collapsed woman.

And ten minutes later.

We set off toward Rascal.