Change In The Air
The increase in traffic and resultant danger along the road caused the towns to send out their guards to patrol the main road that day. They were patrolling in groups of three, all heavily armed and armoured, but compared to what the average merchant caravan had with them, it wasn't much security.
For one, most of the merchants had strong Commanders on guard, and for two, this was a nation full of monster species. Even the average farmer was Ascended Rank.
The threat of bandit groups wasn't the only danger along the road. The merchants fought with the farmers, the farmers fought the merchants, the guards extorted the weak, and everyone was on edge from the moment that Thor pulled the wagon out of town after breakfast.
"Compared to yesterday, this is a mess." Ophelia muttered as they moved to avoid a fight between farmers who were both hauling the same root vegetables.