Aila arrived at a small town pulling a cart.
It was larger than the village occupied by the bandits of the snowy mountains.
There were quite a few small shops, creating a fairly lively atmosphere.
“Let’s stay here for the night before we go.”
“What about the cargo in the cart?”
Monster bones and claws.
It might not seem like much to others, but it was important loot to us.
Simply covering the cart with a cloth didn’t assure me much.
A regret surged over me that I should have learned some basic protection magic.
The place we chose for lodging was an old and shabby inn.
We hid the cart in a small corner at the back of the building where vehicles could be parked.
Although I said we hid it, it was just covered with a cloth.
“But where will we leave that?”
I recalled Aila’s words about making weapons from monster components.
I wondered if there were any blacksmiths who still made weapons by hand in this day and age.
“I’ll leave it at a factory run by the JS Group.”
“Factory?”
“I know someone who works there.”
In the past, blacksmiths built their own shops to create weapons or armor, but now larger companies were doing it.
The JS Group runs a business in that regard, but they said it was still not very large.
In the early dawn, concerned about the cart, I checked the parking lot.
Fortunately, there were no signs of anyone looking or stealing.
After finishing the breakfast provided by the inn, we set off immediately.
“By the way, how long are you going to stay in the cart?”
“Isn’t it okay to sit?”
“We’re not on a mountain. You can either walk or push from behind, your choice.”
I chose to get down from the cart and walk.
Because I was far too weak to push the cart right now.
“How long will it take to get to Sevya from here?”
“Since we have to pull the cart, about three days?”
It was a distance that could be covered in a day by car.
I thought it was highly inefficient to pull a cart along.
I discussed with Aila a way to get there a little quicker.
“If we see another village or a big city along the way, let’s stop and check it out.”
Our choice was to rent a horse to pull the cart, since we had no one to drive a vehicle.
I also planned to fix the cart to make it a bit sturdier if possible.
“The cost won’t be cheap…”
“I do have a bit of money.”
“But that’s Roran currency. Are you planning to get caught?”
Since we crossed into Latnia, I couldn’t use the money from Roran.
Aila had brought Latnia currency in advance.
“Just exchange it.”
“Who’s going to do that?”
While we weren’t at war, it was illegal to exchange Roran currency in Latnia.
On the other hand, Roran exchanges Latnia currency.
So the money I had now was just plain metal.
“Is there anywhere that could actually use money?”
“We’re in a hurry to get to Sevya.”
If we were in a hurry, we could just dump the cargo in the cart, but I didn’t think Aila would give up that easily.
We stopped by the next village we arrived at to look for a horse, but none were visible.
“Well, who rides horses these days?”
There were places that raised horses, but they were a bit far from the village or city.
“Let’s just go.”
I moved in a way that was somewhat comfortable, resting on the cart when I got tired while walking.
“Ririan, I’ll definitely bill you for transportation later.”
“Whose stubbornness is it that brought this along anyway?”
In fact, these were things we didn’t need to bring.
What Aila brought with her were things she claimed she needed.
“Ugh.”
She pulled the cart without being able to refute my words since it was her idea to bring it.
“Sigh… I’ve reached my limit. I need a break!”
In the middle of a road with no village or nearby city.
In the end, Aila became exhausted.
“Tonight, we camp out.”
“At least we saved on lodging fees.”
We roughly set up to camp around the cart.
In place of the exhausted Aila, I wandered around and gathered firewood to start a fire.
“Magic is convenient.”
“Well, technically, you don’t need firewood.”
This area of northern Roran and Latnia was quite cold.
The temperatures were tolerable during the day, but at night they dropped considerably, making camping out without any preparation dangerous.
“If I had known this would happen, I would have brought that hide.”
“I know, right?”
The hide we found in the cave in the snowy mountains was left behind in a village hut.
I thought it would just become extra weight, but it ended up being a bigger burden.
“Once we get to Sevya, let’s prioritize finding work.”
“What about the commission we received?”
“Since they didn’t give any activity fees, the delay is on their end. If it’s urgent, they’ll come to bring some activity fees later.”
A power struggle between the leaders of the knight orders.
Aila was also thinking that she wouldn’t be easily taken advantage of.
“But won’t it be hard to catch an assassin?”
“I heard they mostly operate in Sevya. I’ll have to go and find out more details.”
I thought it was indeed an annoying commission.
As I fell asleep, a question lingered in my mind: why was the Roran knight order dealing with assassins in the Latnia region?
Aila let out a deep sigh as she looked at the cart.
She also thought maybe if she persuaded a little more, we could leave it behind.
“Push.”
“That won’t help much, you know?”
“Better than nothing.”
Ultimately, I pushed from behind while Aila started pulling.
Aside from the occasional bump due to the imbalance of the wheels, the cart was doing its job well.
It wasn’t until midnight that we spotted the bright lights of a splendid city in the distance.
It felt like strength was returning to me, even joyfully.
We quickly approached the city while pulling the cart.
As soon as we entered the city, we began looking for the factory run by the JS Group.
Passing nearby shops and asking pedestrians, we discovered the factory’s location.
The factory was situated in a quiet area, a bit away from the city center.
“So this is the factory.”
“It’s not as big as I expected.”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of machines and metal being struck came from inside.
“Hold the cart for a sec. I’ll go inside and be right back.”
“Okay. Take care.”
Aila entered the noisy factory.
The sounds coming from inside abruptly stopped, and everyone began to come outside.
The workers all gathered and moved to the back of the building.
At last, Aila emerged from the factory with someone.
“Then let’s discuss the details in the office.”
Aila and I pulled the cart into a small office located in a corner of the factory premises.
The office was spacious enough to allow us to pull the cart inside.
“First, let’s take a look at the goods.”
I removed the cloth that had covered the cart.
He took out a small pair of glasses from his pocket, put them on, and carefully examined the monster claws and bones we had brought.
“This is my first time handling this material. The cost is one thing, but I can’t guarantee success.”
“Leave a couple behind and feel free to use the rest for practice. But let’s settle up with them.”
He pondered for a moment but nodded in agreement.
“Then I’ll let you know once the test products are ready. Where will you be staying?”
“I haven’t decided on a place yet. I’ll let you know when I do.”
“Understood.”
Once we managed the cart, our steps felt much lighter.
The city we were in was the harbor city Hecar.
Though it was a harbor city, the area we were in was an inner city where the sea was completely hidden.
To see the sea, we would have to go to the outer city, but we didn’t have time for that now.
“Let’s find some work here.”
Aila tilted her head at my suggestion.
“What kind of work?”
“We need to earn some travel expenses.”
Since it was a harbor city, surely there were plenty of jobs available everywhere.
“Are you suggesting we work here?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s do it. It’ll be quick to get to Sevya from here.”
To find work, Aila and I headed to the Mercenary Guild.
There were other guilds, but we chose this one primarily because of the better pay.
“What? Work? Just pick something from over there.”
The Mercenary Guild staff pointed rudely toward a bulletin board.
Photos of people were pinned to the board with the payment amounts written below.
“Hmm. I’d prefer to handle things within this city if possible.”
If we had to leave the city, it would be a waste of time returning.
We needed to choose jobs that could be solved as much as possible within the city.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t find the jobs we wanted at the Mercenary Guild.
Eventually, we left the Mercenary Guild and decided to look for work at another guild.
“I think we might find decent work here.”
The Commercial Guild.
It was the biggest obstacle for the JS Group operating in Latnia.
In the Latnia Empire, there was invariably a branch of the Commercial Guild in any modestly sized town.
They would exchange information with each other and sometimes band together when necessary.
From the perspective of the Latnia Empire, they served as a shield preventing outside forces from entering.
Because of this, the JS Group could only get limited permission for a portion of its hotel business.
Upon entering the grand building, an employee greeted us right at the entrance and politely guided us.
“What brings you here? Currency exchange, buying, selling, or requests?”
“We’re looking for work.”
The employee took us to the door of a room in the corner of the first floor.
After the employee knocked, a woman’s voice was heard from inside.
“Come in.”
When we entered, a woman was sitting at a desk, looking over some documents.
“Quite young, aren’t you?”
“Is there any work for us?”
As I asked, the woman put down the documents she was looking at and walked over to the bookshelf.
“There are certainly tasks suitable for children.”
“If possible, we prefer high-paying jobs.”
When Aila spoke up, the woman turned and sat down on a sofa in the middle of the room.
“Please take a seat.”
Once seated, the woman leaned slightly forward and looked at Aila and me.
“You seem confident in your skills, but I don’t assign important tasks to just anyone.”
“If it’s a high-paying job that can be assigned to just anyone, that’s fine.”
“There are plenty of those.”
The woman stood up from her seat and retrieved a stack of documents from her desk drawer.
“Since we have no established trust with you and you haven’t been referred, this is the best job available.”
Aila and I took the stack of documents and flipped through them one by one.
They were tasks involving bringing or retrieving specific items, commonly referred to as errands.
As we went through the stack, we noticed that the payment amount increased gradually, but most tasks required leaving the city.
There were only a few available jobs that could be handled within the city.
Among them, the two highest-paying were selected.
“Choose one, and let us know once you’ve made a decision.”
Aila and I briefly consulted and selected one.
