Chapter 181

“You thought well. Really thought well. Here, take it. These are items that sell well in the Eastern Plains.”

After carefully checking the amount, the three of them counted it once each, divided it into three equal parts, and then the merchants handed over the magic pouches to us.

“We don’t have the courage to go deep into the plains to sell, so we couldn’t sell them, but you guys are strong. You’ll definitely be able to sell them at a high price.”

Of course, we bought those items not because we wanted to trade, but because we needed an excuse. According to them, if travelers like us wander around the Eastern Plains, we’ll immediately attract attention from all sides.

At least, being wandering merchants who came here to make a profit would draw less suspicion than being a traveler party.

Before even considering right or wrong, the Princess fell for their dazzling sales pitch. She opened her wallet and paid a large sum. Now, their attitude was much more courteous than before.

“Ordinary items like clothes are really popular there. And food sells well too.”

“There’s a salt mine, so salt surprisingly doesn’t sell well, but sugar or honey is worth its weight in gold. It’s that hard to get. If you take it there and sell it, you’ll make a huge profit.”

When we asked what they bring back from there, they explained.

“Since there’s not much food, they grow all sorts of things. Even so, the production isn’t high, so many people are starving. If it weren’t for the Fox Tree Fruit, they’d all have starved to death.”

“Rabbit fur, sheep wool… or Fox Tree Fruit. Handicrafts made by the Beastmen Race. Stuff like that. It doesn’t make much money though.”

“The profitable routes are already taken by other merchants, and they have connections with the higher-ups. People like us have to make do with small trades to earn a little.”

We doubted we’d ever sell these items, but we took them anyway.

“And about the road, there are several routes to get to the Eastern Plains. The security is tight there, so if you wander around without knowing the way, you’ll get shot.”

“Is the checkpoint strict?”

“Yeah. Originally, the soldiers are there to stop people from going out, but they’ll stop people coming in too. There’s a shortcut without checkpoints, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You’ll see things you don’t want to see.”

“What’s that?”

At the Princess’s question, the three of them looked at each other.

Then, they nodded almost simultaneously.

“The reason the soldiers don’t guard it is because other things do.”

“Monsters. The famous Hydra, Griffin, Cockatrice, and such roam there. Even the soldiers avoid it. To those monsters, they’d just be snacks.”

“Generally, yeah. Whether soldiers or generals, I’ve heard they get angry if you enter their territory. The monsters may look slow because they’re big, but they’re more sensitive than you’d think. Their eyes and ears are sharp.”

Indeed, just looking at the size of their eyes, noses, and ears, the monsters’ senses far surpass ours.

It’s hard to say that bigger always means better, but the monsters’ senses are definitely not something to underestimate. The thought of breaking through a place guarded so strictly by them isn’t something you’d normally consider.

“So, we’ll tell you about other smuggling routes we know.”

“We don’t know how to get to the core area, but you don’t need to go that far anyway, right? The checkpoints will be thorough.”

We received a hand-drawn map. They clearly intended to give us our money’s worth, as they unfolded the map and explained everything in detail. It took so long that we ended up spending the night with them.

Of course, that doesn’t mean we slept.

“The important thing is your purpose. If you stay in the Eastern Plains for long, no matter where you are, you’ll get caught in a checkpoint. It’s a strict surveillance society there.”

“My family was petrified by a Cockatrice. We’re on our way to undo that.”

“Petrification…? We don’t know much about petrification, but that doesn’t sound good.”

“Why? Can’t we just go, undo the petrification, and leave?”

At Lady Kisea’s question, the three of them made troubled expressions.

“It’s not that simple.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“If they’re your family, they’re probably wolves, right? Then they wouldn’t have left the statues there. They say it’s the wolves’ final fate, so they probably took them to the museum in the core area.”

Oh no.

Lady Kisea couldn’t even get angry, just stood there dazed like she’d lost her mind. It’s bad enough that her family turned to stone, but to be displayed as exhibits? That’s just cruel.

“Wait, what’s this about ‘Little Wolf’…?”

“Is the core area the city where Epirna’s palace is?”

I asked on behalf of Lady Kisea, who was too stunned to speak. They nodded.

The current Beast King, Epirna, prefers the term “leader” over “king,” so the Beastmen don’t call the capital the capital but refer to it as the “core area” instead.

“While promoting Beastmen consciousness.”

“Those two wolves might be fine with a disguise. I’ll give you some disguise tools as a bonus. Wolves don’t look much different from dog clans with a little makeup.”

“Don’t treat me like a dog. And disguising won’t help. The real dogs will sniff us out anyway.”

Lady Kisea groaned. Listening to the story, it seemed nearly impossible to sneak into the core area.

“Dogs aside, foxes have good noses too. They can tell us apart from dogs easily. Plus, there are so many of them, so trying to disguise would only raise more suspicion. It’d just cause trouble.”

“What does Epirna think of the Empire? If an imperial diplomat came, would she receive them?”

Since sneaking in seemed difficult, we considered more open methods.

The Princess’s question was answered immediately. The merchants didn’t even hesitate.

“She’d probably send them straight to prison.”

“Someone who strongly advocates for a Beastmen-only nation would engage in diplomacy? If she had even a little interest in diplomacy with humans, she wouldn’t run the country so closed-off.”

Even revealing the Princess’s identity outright wasn’t feasible. We didn’t have any prior diplomatic relations, so it was even more complicated.

Epirna seemed to have pointed to humans as a common enemy to boost Beastmen solidarity. And the wolves who fled the plains were included too.

Suddenly branded as traitors by the Beastmen Race, Roka and Lady Kisea found it awkward to return to the plains. So, that night, we didn’t sleep a wink. We kept discussing to find the best approach.

“There is a way to go straight to the core area. The security is the loosest there. But the problem is that you have to cross this zone… the monster-infested zone.”

“The monster appearance zone, huh?”

“If we secretly break through this zone and quickly infiltrate the core area, we could move like lightning before they can respond. But it’s too dangerous. I wouldn’t recommend it.”

“But if we’re not planning to engage in full-scale combat with Epirna, this might be the only way.”

Moving under the cover of night, as quickly as possible.

It’s a familiar experience. It’s easier to think of us as being in enemy territory. When we were in the Hero Party, our operational area was the Demon World, and they didn’t view us favorably.

Not all of the Demon World was like that, but especially when moving through Harmail’s exclusive territory, we had to assume that the enemy’s eyes were everywhere.

We couldn’t just kill civilians for being demons, so even though we knew they were the enemy’s eyes and ears, there was little we could do.

Presumably, the interior of the Eastern Plains is similar? In a place tightly controlled by Epirna, just wandering around for a day would make the locals notice something’s off and report it.

“Or, we could approach openly and negotiate…”

“Absolutely not. That would just let her know we’re after our parents’ statues. In the end, our whole clan would be taken hostage.”

What we thought would be simple has suddenly become complicated, but there’s no helping it.

Normally, negotiation should be the simpler and safer method, but we couldn’t be sure if such common sense would apply to the Eastern Plains and Epirna.

“That woman already sees wolves as a thorn in her side. If she finds out our goal, she’ll take the statues hostage, capture me and Roka, and then smash the statues.”

“Why me?”

“We’re both wolves. Your family is my family, and my family is yours. It’s fine! Our parents will think of you as their daughter too.”

Roka, who had been blinking in confusion, reluctantly nodded. She had no choice. Lady Kisea’s gaze demanded an answer.

“Our Roka. Let’s take care of our parents together. I’ll help a lot.”

“And this is just a rumor, but…”

One of the merchants hesitated before speaking.

“I didn’t want to warn you with something uncertain, but I don’t want our customers to be in danger, so I’ll tell you.”

“There’s a rumor that Epirna has close ties with that guy from the Arctic. There’s even talk of a gate connecting the Beastmen palace to the Arctic.”

We knew about the Demon King and Epirna being allies, but the gate story was completely new. We didn’t know if it was true, but it wasn’t impossible.

“So, we might not need to cross the Kalkanmir Mountain Range to reach the Arctic…”

“Wait, you’re targeting the Arctic too? What kind of people are you? Are you all terminally ill? Are you traveling the world to fulfill your last wishes?”

“Sorry, but we know nothing about the Arctic.”

A forbidden land where even merchants who come this far to trade don’t set foot.

Right. We were planning to go there anyway, so what’s the big deal about this core area? We called Lady Kisea and Roka and decided on the route.

We’ll pass through the monster-guarded zone to reach the core area.

But no fighting. We’ll use our Sense Energy to the fullest to avoid them.

I really didn’t want to cause a big scene in a place like this.

If we clashed with the monsters and stirred up Epirna’s vigilance, it would only make things worse without any real benefit.