Chapter 14

The sun arises from the east horizon as it gives warm golden lights on the grassy emerald field. The darkness of the night was driven away by the radiance of the light.

In the middle of the emerald field under the clear sky, a group of people and two wagons attached to four brown horses are being parked about 1 mile away from outside of the village.

The group is made of five guys. All of them seem rough and used to fighting.

"When will he arrive?"

The bald guy with the scar on his left eye says.

"Who knows? It is still early. Maybe he is still in the bed cuddling with some bitch."

"Fuck! We had to spend our night on the freezing grond and wait for him while he is taking his time leisurely."

"That fucking cocky bastard."

"That is enough, guys. Enough with the chats and get ready to depart the moment he arrives."

The guy who seems to be the boss of the group comes out of the wagon as he says.

He is a fat and short guy in his 50s. The black and clean mustache upon his lips are combed tidly and move as he speaks. The face is mostly made of his flabby cheeks which do not let the other facials features to stand out except for the thick eyebrows on his small eyes. The brown vast which he is wearing upon the striped shirt is swelling on the stomach area. The buttons of the vast on that area are barely hanging on from not breaking apart with all their might to contain the bloating stomach of him. The striped style pant is also in the same situation as the top and barely containing his fatty legs.

He is the man who believes that being stout is a sign of wealth and happiness and has absolute confidence in himself. The needless words and movements he does and the eyes which only seeks the profits makes him the perfect specimen as a merchant.

"But boss, why do you do what he said? He is just a kid. We can just get rid of him if he knows our secret. I don't think we need to actually follow his words."

"Haha, because I think it is interesting to do it this way. I smell money from him."

The boss replies to one of his surbordinates.

"Really, that kid?"

"If that is what boss want, we don't have any complaints. After all, boss's eyes never lie"

With the chatterings of them filling the environment, the sun continues to rise as the time pass. After an hour of waiting, they become impatient and irritated.

"Boss, that fucker is really not coming."

"Let's just depart without him"

As the complainings of the surbordinates continues persisitently, the boss can no longer sit still and listen to them.

"Okay, if he does not arrive within the next 30 minutes, we will depart without him."

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

However, at the end of his words, they suddenly notice the sounds of the footsteps heading toward them from the main road.

Their current location is a little off the main road to the capital where grasses which reach until their chests are growing. To reach to the place where they are hiding, it take about 5 or 6 minutes from the main road. So, coming toward them means that it is someone who knows their exact location.

"Finally, he fucking came."

"Don't let your guard down. It might be someone who came to arrest us."

As the footsteps becoming closer, they all stand up and get ready to engage a battle.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sounds of the footsteps are getting louder and louder mixed with the sounds of someone pushing into the grasses.

"Ready!!!"

The boss commands in a low voice.

"Agh!"

With the exclaim, a figure of a young and beautiful girl pushes out of the long grasses with its tiny body.

"!?"

As you guess, that figure is me.

"Hey~"

"Finally, that fucker came."

"You made us wait for two hours, you know."

The surbodianates told me furiously as soon as they saw my face.

The boss comes out of the wagon as he saw me.

"You finally arrive, huh?"

I nod.

"Then, let's depart right away. Ohh! Before that allow us to introduce ourselves properly"

"I am Winfielde, a merchant who supply food and other food related goods to the village you came from."

The boss introduces himseld as he rubs his stout body.

I take a look straight into his eyes calmly.

"And a black merchant who deals with illegal slave trades and lost-treasures"

"Haha, you're right."

"Let me introduce the escorts who are going to guard us throughout our way to the capital"

He continues.

"He is Chad, the leader of this group. He is pretty good at figting and trustworthy, so you don't need to worry about your safety or privacy throughout this journey"

Winfielde says as he points to a tall and bald guy who is standing in front of me.

He is about 190 cm tall and has a strongly trained body. Looking at his muscles and rough and sun burnt skin, there is no doubt that he went through a lot of rough trainings in the past. On the head there is not a single string of hair. The significant thing about his apperance is the vertical scar on the right cheek. The enromous scar is covering most of his right side of the face. He is covering his upper body with a light battle armor and on the waist, a shealthed broad sword can be seen hanging.

As Winfielde introduces him, he walks toward me and glares at me in the eye.

Because of the height difference, I look up to his face and glare back at him.

"What?"

Even though I asks him, he turns back and walks toward his surbodinates without giving me a reply.

"Haha, I am sorry for their rudeness. Even though they are escorts, they are just mercenaries I hired just for this trip."

Winfielde says.

Mercenaries, huh?

"The second one is Glasse"

"Yo."

The boy in glasses greets cheerfully as Winfielde introduced him.

He is a boy around 19 years old or at most 22 years old. I can't guess for sure but he seems young. The height is about 175 cm. The way he talk and his behaviour are full of cheerfulness and excitement. He talks so fast and loud unlike his leader. He has a messy hair on the head and a pair enormous cirlce-shaped glasses are being worn on his pale and tiny face. Unlike his leader, he is in a green robe which covers his upper body.

I greet him back with a smile.

"He is the second-in-command of this group. He seems young but he is a capable boy. And also he can use magic."

Winfielde continues.

Second-in-command and magic user.

"Haha, I do not amount that much. Compared to the leader, I am nowhere near as good enough to be praised."

Glasse says as he scartches his messy hair.

"Don't be modest. We could get this far because of you."

Someone who is also from the gang came near us and said.

"Ohh.. That is Garry."

Winfielde introduces him as he sees him.

Garry bows a little as a sigh to show respect. He is also as tall as Chad. But instead of being bald like Chad, he has long and dark hair being pony-tailed on the head. Other than that, he is completely ordinary. There is nothing which stands out on his apperance. With normal amount of fitness for a warrior and rough skin, we can say that he is not bad looking. Just like Chad, he is also in a light armor on the top.

I also bows a little in respect of his greeting.

"He is an impressive lancer. Even if he looks friendly now, he becomes a completely different person when he picks up a lance."

Winfielde adds.

Hmm.....

"The last one is him"

Winfielde says as he points his finger toward a man who is feeding the horses.

"He is Holden"

He is a fat guy who rivals Winfielde. On top of his head is an iron helment covering both of his ears and the head. Moreover, his ballon like swellen body is being wrapped around by iron armor which is in set with the helmet. He is talking to the horses with a cheeful smile while feeding them.

Without being able to suppress the curiousty, I ask a question to Winfielde.

"Does he has an ability to talk to the animals?"

"Hahahaha, no.., he is not a magician. He is just like that when he is with the animals"

Putting that aside, this is quite a combination.

He is telling me that I don't need to worry about my safety at all in this trip to the capital with this veteran warriors. And at the same time, he is threatening me that, if I try something funny, I will be fucked. There is no way I can win against all four of them.

What a cunning bastard, Winfielde.

You guys are probabaly wondering what I am doing here.

On the night of the crime after talking to Arthur, I made my way to the merchant house and chased him down who was escaping to the capital.

Then, I made a deal with him. In return for not arresting him, he will safely bring me to the capital and provide me supports in what I need.

This is also the reason why I couldn't let Sarah and Arthur tag along with me. They will never accept this kind of method.

Letting a black market merchant go is not good but there are a lot advantages I can gain from him if I use him right.

I will use him until he becomes useless.

He is probably thinking the same.

"I am Ranpo. I am also coming together with you guys to the capital. Please treat me well."

"..."

"You are Ranpo, huh?"

Glasse says and he gives a doubting look at me.

Chad does not say a thing and acts like he does not care.

"Hey, Holden..., his name is Ranpo."

Glasse then shouts to Holden who is still talking with the horses.

Hearing Glasse's voice, Holden turns his head and nods in agreement.

"How many days does it take to arrive the capital?"

"About a week with normal pace"

"Then, let's depart.."

With the command of Winfielde, the horses begin to move and we start our way to the capital.