Chapter 31 - 31 28 On the Road_1

31: Chapter 28 On the Road_1 31: Chapter 28 On the Road_1 Once her decree was issued, not only did the young people move eastward, but many mercenaries, like sharks that had smelled blood, abandoned their original employment tasks and ran toward Darama. Compared to the fixed salary of escorting a merchant caravan, war was more attractive. Although the risks were higher, the rewards were likewise substantial. Some trade caravans went so far as to give up heading north, taking their goods eastward instead—their cargo naturally related to the war. As a result, the northbound trade caravans faced a significant shortage in terms of escorts and were forced to hire many newcomers, including Gaven, who had an unclear background and brought along a goblin servant. Gaven’s employer was an independent moon elf merchant named Adeli Levine, who owned three of her own carts. Sёarᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Besides Gaven, she also employed a female coachman named Veron Tohar. In other words, Gaven was hired as a coachman, not the guard he had originally envisaged, and the goblin sorcerer Vick was just an extra, not even included in the scope of employment. Gaven didn’t care much about this, as his main goal was to travel north with the group; he didn’t mind the significant pay gap between a guard and a coachman. Moreover, Vick was the one driving the carriage, and Gaven hadn’t driven the carriage for even half a minute. Not long after leaving Thacel Fort, they joined a large caravan made up of twenty-five large carts and eight independent merchants, majestically advancing along the trade route toward Baldur’s Gate. The trade route could be said to be Felen’s largest and busiest commerce path. Starting from Karin Port in Karinshan in the south and stretching as far north as Iluskan, it passed through Thacel, Amu, connecting famous large cities such as Baldur’s Gate, Waterdeep City, Winterhold, and more, essentially traversing the entire western coastline of Felen. On average, every two hours they would encounter a roadside inn, and every hour, they could encounter a mid-sized or larger merchant caravan. Even in remote and desolate places like the Star Spiral Mountain Range, Broken Tooth Mountain Range, and Mist Mountain Range, they didn’t run into much trouble—monsters and bandits were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they avoided showing up because they saw the size of their group was too large to easily attack. More likely, it was because this trade route was so important that the neighboring nations and cities placed great importance on it, conducting regular clean-ups, ensuring that no monsters and bandits would dare to make a move here. Even if Gaven and Vick ran alone, the danger coefficient on this trade route wasn’t high. Joining a caravan also had its benefits, at the very least preventing one from getting lost. It could also spare them some unnecessary trouble; at least when passing through the large cities, the merchants of the caravan would take the initiative to deal with the local powers or merchants, avoiding situations like the one outside Darama City. Another very important point was to get familiar with the merchant group; these merchants, who were known for constantly traveling, had a wide network. As long as Gaven made a good impression in this caravan, finding a new employer in the next city would not be difficult. The segment of the journey from Baldur’s Gate to the Rocklands was the most challenging, and Gaven was preparing for it. With this mindset, after joining the caravan, Gaven seemed busier than anyone else. Sometimes he would gallop ahead to scout the road in front. Other times, he disappeared into the wilderness, and when he returned, he would bring back either a deer or a heap of food and roots, virtually solving the meal situation for the entire caravan. Sometimes he would chat with other merchants for a long time, talking about everything from merchandise to local customs, and from the Northern Lands to the Vihong Sea. At other times, he would spar with the caravan’s guards, practicing combat skills. In the watch shifts, his figure was always present. After three days, from merchants to guards, everyone had high praise for Gaven, and relationships were extremely harmonious. Nobody disliked a hard-working person, especially one who was as diligent as Gaven while maintaining perfect propriety. His employer, Miss Adeli, was a reticent person who, as long as things didn’t get delayed, didn’t mind what Gaven did. To the people of the caravan, Gaven left another profound impression—that of a typical training maniac. If he could run fast, he definitely wouldn’t jog slowly. If he could jog, he absolutely wouldn’t walk. If he could walk, he definitely wouldn’t take a carriage or ride a horse. Even if he took a carriage or rode a horse, he would surely practice other skills as well, such as doing squats and pushups on the carriage, or practicing spearmanship, archery, and swordsmanship while riding a horse. He demonstrated with his actions what it meant to make every second count. Those were the things that outsiders could see. What they couldn’t see was that these training routines were combined with the Psychic Sorcerer’s autohypnosis. Gaven believed that this autohypnosis was absolutely the ace technique of Psychic Sorcerers in the early stages—at least it was for him. Most repetitive physical exercises didn’t conflict with his memory retrieval efforts; in fact, they complemented each other. Since his main consciousness was occupied with other things, he wasn’t very sensitive to the passage of time. By the time he finished one task, he would find that an hour or more had passed, during which he might have completed an hour-long jog or thousands of sets of pushups. As long as he made good use of this, Gaven could definitely manage both spell research and physical training without neglecting either, thereby further improving his physical fitness. After all, he hadn’t reached maturity yet, and his body wasn’t fully set. In his previous life, he was only five feet ten inches tall because he grew up as a slave during critical periods of physical development with insufficient food. With adequate nutrition in this life, he believed he could grow even taller. Gaven didn’t follow the caravan to Baldur’s Gate, but instead detoured at Nas City, north of the Mist Mountain Range. Introduced by his newly acquainted merchant friends, he joined a caravan departing from there as a traveler. They would travel along the Uld commerce route, through the Green Wilderness, to West Gate City on the north shore of Dragon Lake. The real reason Gaven chose this route was that he remembered a Priest friend from his past life whose hometown was in Green Nest Village in the Green Wilderness. At this point in time, she should still be practicing in her hometown church. Perhaps he could meet her earlier than scheduled and, ideally, get her to join his team. An adventuring party without a Priest was not a good adventuring party. Although this Priest friend had her own little problems, her character was absolutely reliable. Just based on that alone, everything else could be overlooked. … “Bang!” A crisp thumping sound. “Sir, Madam… What is it… what is it… I can… can help you with…” The slender figure lying on the altar sprang up with a start, stuttering quickly with her eyes not yet fully open and her mind still half-dazed, a trace of clear liquid not completely wiped from the corner of her mouth. The only response to the young girl was the piercingly cold wind outside the window. “Bang!” Another crisp thump came from the nearby large window. Outside the window, an oak tree extended a small branch that swayed gently in the wind, occasionally tapping the window as if playfully greeting the Maiden Priestess. “It’s… It’s you again… making a mess,” Anna huffed, rubbing her big eyes, “Be careful or one day I’ll saw you down and use you as firewood.” However, paired with her soft, mushy voice and chubby cheeks, the threat seemed considerably less intimidating.