Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
The commotion in Pine City made Platyr flinch. He was already as jumpy as a startled horse, seeing enemies in everyone. Now, with screams echoing through the city, tears and wails, he thought it was a mutiny or that the matter his Lord was handling had been exposed, had it not been for the absence of soldiers rushing out.
Arriving at the gates of Pine City, the merchant caravan was temporarily blocked. Most of the city guards had gone into Pine City to investigate the situation. Pine City was temporarily forbidden to enter.
Platyr stood still, his heart in his mouth. About ten minutes later, the city guard knights returning to Pine City reappeared.
“Apologies, everyone, for the delay.” The city guard knight spoke very politely. Although his face was hidden by the helmet, his voice sounded very young. He explained with a smile, “Lately, many powerful professionals have come to Pine City. They are quite lively and were just having an event. The noise was a bit loud… Anyway, you can enter the city normally now.”
Was it that band of strange adventurers? Platyr’s expression was uncertain. His left eye twitched uncontrollably, and he had a feeling something unpleasant was about to happen today. If any more similar screams came from Pine City, he swore he would turn his horse around and leave. Fortunately, by the time their caravan entered the city, Pine City had remained quiet. It seemed the active adventurers had finished their celebrations.
The city guard knight walked up to them, holding a parchment filled with registration information and a quill pen. “Name?”
“Blas,” Platyr pursed his dry lips.
“Gender?”
“…Male.”
The knight: “What brings you to Pine City?”
“As you can see, I am a down-on-his-luck merchant caravan. Our goods were stolen by a group of brutal mountain trolls during transport. I handed over all the gold coins I had on me to escape with my life.” Platyr put on a sorrowful expression. He slightly turned aside, showing the tattered carriage behind him, the old nag, and a group of dejected companions. It was a truly miserable sight.
The knight raised an eyebrow. He had occasionally encountered such desperate merchant caravans robbed halfway. However, the one he encountered today was clearly on a larger scale. He ordered his soldiers to inspect the cargo carriages. They were indeed empty. Those mountain trolls were cruel enough to take everything they could, even forcibly tearing off the cushions from the carriages.
The only thing that was somewhat puzzling was that mountain trolls typically also abducted women from the caravan when looting, and even the men would be captured for forced labor. Yet, during the inspection, he had seen a woman wearing a tattered cloak.
“This is the female mage of our team,” Platyr quickly added, noticing the knight’s suspicious gaze. “It was precisely because we had decent combat strength that these mountain trolls only stole our goods. They felt it wasn’t worth a mutual destruction and left after getting enough benefits.”
This explanation was plausible. The city guard knight nodded. Mountain trolls often mingled with goblins and were the weakest of the troll species. Given their green skin, they were sometimes referred to as “big goblins.” Their temperament was similar to goblins: they bullied the weak, feared the strong, were lazy, and cherished their own lives. When they discovered that the caravan possessed the strength to fight to the death, they might not engage in a fierce conflict, focusing instead on harassment and looting.
After carefully inspecting the cargo carriages again and collecting a silver coin as an entrance fee, he let the pitiful merchant caravan into the city. A silver coin was the minimum standard for merchant caravans. Different taxes were levied based on the caravan’s size during the inspection, with a maximum of ten gold coins. Ordinary civilians entered the city for free, a rule established by the King of Winter.
“Thank you for your generosity, Sir Knight.” Platyr feigned overwhelming gratitude. “If I can find a good business in Pine City to recover half of the caravan’s losses, I will invite you for a drink at Pine City’s largest tavern.” The city guard knight was unfazed by such politeness. He simply waved his hand and went on to inspect other incoming teams.
***
Upon entering Pine City, Platyr did not act rashly. He settled his caravan members in a regular inn and then went to Pine City’s main market to sell all the carriages and nag horses, presenting himself as a desperate merchant who had lost a fortune. Afterwards, he returned to the inn.
“Now, all we have to do is wait for the evening.” Lying on the wooden bed, Platyr wiped his face, feeling utterly exhausted. When he entered the city just now, at least a hundred people were staring at him. Their expressions were strange; they were all adventurers with ostentatious equipment. Those with magic lamps embedded on their shields were nothing. He even saw a priest whose entire armor was inscribed with the illumination spell. The priest had a rough face, not ugly, but fierce, like a bandit. He carried a hammer at his waist, a gospel book under his arm, was completely bald, and glowed with a golden aura, like a walking light bulb. “Too terrifying!” Every time he thought of that image, Platyr shuddered.
*Knock, knock, knock.*
A knock sounded at the door. Platyr frowned and roared gruffly, “Didn’t I tell you? Don’t disturb me if there’s nothing important, you damn scoundrels!”
There was a moment of silence at the door. Then, the voice of (Player Name) (M) rang out, “Sir, it’s me. I have something urgent to discuss with you.”
Hearing it was (Player Name) (M), Platyr forcefully suppressed his anger. The leader of the Candy Super Sweet Mercenary Group was a formidable warrior not to be offended. His subordinates were all talented individuals. On the road, he had seen him and the female mage beside him take action once, wiping out a pack of dozens of mountain wolves. That female mage was particularly fierce, likely possessing high affinity with fire elements. Her Flame Burst was powerful, accurate, and extremely fast. The wolf king in the pack was reduced to ashes before it could even react.
Platyr rubbed his stiff face, put on his outer coat, got out of bed, and opened the door. At the doorway stood (Player Name) (M), his young face beaming with a smile. Beside him stood a mysterious person hidden in a cloak. Platyr’s gaze turned cold, and his right hand lightning-fast grasp the hilt of his sword.
“Sir, don’t panic.” (Player Name) (M) took two steps back and, smiling, brought Nobody Does Human Things (M) forward. He explained, “This is one of us. Let me introduce you, this is my cousin, Nobody Does Human Things (M), a powerful spearman. I found him today to discuss recent events. He expressed that his team is also willing to join our merchant caravan and contribute to our great cause.”
