To Rena, places where people gathered such as villages or towns were destinations reachable by simply walking a little along a path.
Her hometown had little land and was always bustling with people, so wherever she went, someone lived there.
Even small hills weren’t free from people!
Thus, the moment her intuition struck, she moved without hesitation.
What’s the point of waiting ten, twenty nights, or even a whole month?
Just keep going, you’ll come across a settlement and people eventually.
It was a naive thought that failed to consider the times they lived in.
In this era, lands were vast, and people were scarce.
Traveling between villages was a grand adventure in itself.
It often consumed weeks at a time, during which dangers lurked everywhere.
Let alone the fact that this area was near the Great Forest.
A place where a person could wander for ten days and not find any signs of human activity.
Rena, growing uneasy, kept glancing at Selene sidelong.
“There’s definitely someone around… I had the feeling.”
“Hm.”
“We’re almost there, just over this hill. People will surely be there!”
“Indeed.”
If only Selene would scold her or even glare at her coldly, anything to make this awkward silence stop.
Then I could laugh it off and maybe charm my way out of this.
But her constant affirmations only pierced through her heart.
If I’d just let things be and waited, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
And all because I listened to my intuition, which for once failed spectacularly.
I thought for sure we’d find people in a day or two, never imagining it’d take ten.
Even I didn’t think it’d come to this.
“It’s not something over which you need to worry so much.”
Selene said with a warm tone.
It was odd, how the girl who usually chattered ceaselessly, now sat quietly, casting furtive glances.
“How long were you alone in the Great Forest? You must be excited now that you’re out. Heck, I would have been thrilled myself to escape that hellhole. Losing control is only natural.”
Selene looked upon her with the same gentle regard one might give a delighted cousin visiting an amusement park.
“At any rate, sitting around near the Great Forest or wandering doesn’t make much difference. The patrol of a knight order covers the entire region around the forest. Even if we have strayed a bit, our traces remain; someone will follow them.”
Her thoughtful care oddly left Rena uneasy.
No, I wasn’t overly excited.
My intuition really said we’d find people.
But it was a useless excuse she couldn’t voice.
Saying that “your intuition told you so” wouldn’t help after days of wandering.
“Let’s make just one more stop, just beyond that next ridge.”
Rena recognized her mistake.
When stocks kept falling despite holding on, hoping they’d rise, it’s exactly like this situation. Holding on for ten days was stubborn enough.
If Selene hadn’t sympathetically and considerately handled her plight, Rena would’ve complained much earlier.
Now that her way had been tested, it felt fair to try others’ opinions next.
Intuition, I guess even you can be wrong.
Yes, people won’t always choose the right answer, will they?
Even if you’re mostly right, making one mistake means you’ve still done well.
Next time, I’ll trust you again.
Rena climbed the ridge with renewed vigor.
And then,
“There’s someone!”
She quietly regretted not fully trusting her intuition all along.
The head of Catherdin Trade Company, Mortun, held dreams of grandeur.
Specifically, he dreamt of monopolizing the distribution of all goods across the continent, becoming a millionaire.
A dream so lofty that even boasting to his childhood sweetheart—who was also his fiancée—earned him accusations of taking dubious substances.
Still, what did it take to lead a trade company known across the land?
The ability to flatter and align with the powerful—namely the nobility.
Because, after all, land ownership dictated commerce. If a piece of land was fertile enough, the owner held all the power.
“You may not do business here.”
A lord’s single word could close a merchant’s avenues of trade.
Thus, merchants often forgot the principle of providing society’s needs and instead focused on pleasing and cajoling these lords.
Worse yet, having invested heavily, these merchants, fearing others reaping the benefits of their efforts, regularly sabotaged and hindered new, up-and-coming merchants.
So where was the new businessman supposed to conduct his trade?
About one year ago, Mortun—a rookie trader—faced the same dilemmas as his seasoned predecessors.
No funds for bribes, no credit history to speak of, and the long and perilous routes made high-risk ventures for instant wealth almost unthinkable.
In most cases, the merchants eventually folded their trade companies and joined others as subordinates.
Not Mortun.
Where was the determination that drove him to leave his farming parents and set off as a runaway, gathering wages to establish this tiny trade company?
His bull-headed persistence only burned brighter with obstacles.
Mortun opted for the final strategy.
He aimed to penetrate the market of an unfruitful yet desperate territory—a place where supply deficits meant they’d buy everything—Carvalon Castle.
Carvalon, far both geographically and conceptually, was located on the borders, serving as the base of the Red Rose Knights Order.
An organization responsible for containing monster spillovers from the Great Forest and dealing with strange anomalies.
Naturally, they were a money-hungry lot.
After all, a knight order wasn’t exactly a productive unit, and they consumed supplies constantly from regional outposts.
Supplies were rarely delivered properly.
Consequently, Carvalon Castle didn’t turn away anyone and often captured goods from those who tried to leave.
For undercapitalized trading companies, it was a guaranteed opportunity to sell all their goods.
However, the main drawback was effort versus reward; the trip to the border regions rarely yielded profit.
For most, the best scenario was breaking even.
These were technically military contracts, which explained the minimal profits.
As such, this served as a final fallback for small trading companies.
Though profitable, it provided no significant returns for expansion.
For Mortun, however, even this modest prospect was a godsend.
He couldn’t go back home and abandon his business.
Surely a brighter day would dawn as long as he hung on.
And so, with all his savings—enough only for cheap mercenaries—he set off toward Carvalon Castle, guarding his trade convoy.
On their way, perched on a minor hill to their left, Mortun noticed something suspicious.
He had hired these mercenaries to scout and deal with incidents such as this, but he had to manage matters himself as they were a low-cost team.
Two small shapes and something big.
Are they humans? But that large one…
Shading his eyes against the sun, Mortun quickly identified the entities.
“Mo, MONSTER! It’s a monster!”
“What?! A monster?!”
“Emergency! Emergency!”
Asleep moments ago, the mercenaries were now up in a flash.
The few caravan workers scurried to halt the wagon and hastily set up a rudimentary defensive position.
When a monster attacked, the standard trade caravan tactic was to set up a defense and resist.
You can’t outpace a monster by running on foot.
Though some had horses, they were burdened with goods, making them too slow.
Thus, fleeing meant abandoning all trade goods.
Why would merchants discard something they paid for?
Rather, they’d hold onto the goods, even at the cost of their lives—a choice that didn’t exist for small trading companies.
“Shit!”
Mortun anxiously bit his lips.
Just three monsters.
Sure, they had hired the cheap mercenaries, but that wasn’t reason enough for such heightened tension.
This area was under the Great Forest’s influence.
Any appearance of monsters would indicate escapees from that forest.
And how strong those monsters would likely be was something Mortun had heard enough about to make his ears bleed.
Even a trio of them could potentially decimate an entire regular army squad.
Should he flee now?
But that meant abandoning all his goods.
Then I’d lose everything, which is basically dying economically.
While Mortun debated, the monsters began to move.
Racing down the slope like it was flat terrain.
They were impossibly fast, covering half the distance in the blink of an eye.
Alright, time to flee.
This size is beyond what our cheap mercenaries can handle.
Money, no matter how expensive, isn’t worth my life.
Just as Mortun screamed and lunged toward a horse,
“Taxi!”
Screeching brakes accompanied by a cloud of dust.
“Can we hitch a ride? Please and thank you!”
“… Hitch, what?”
They were not monsters but people.
And they were in ragged clothing.
There, riding on the back of an enormous wolf.
“Would you like to try this?”
“What is it?”
“It’s radish preserved in honey, a specialty of Santarin Village.”
“Oh, this is delicious. How much does it cost?”
“Ha, between us, why bring up the price? It’s a gift.”
“But this is stuff you’re going to sell, right?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. Watching you enjoy it makes me happy.”
“Thank you, elder.”
“… Everything’s fine, but please, could you stop calling me elder?”
Two days later.
Rena was luxuriating at the side of trade company owner Mortun.
