Exiled Merchant – Chapter 31

Chapter 31 – Earth Ruins

The second day after leaving the town of Mort.

Our caravan was approaching the Earth Ruins.

So, what exactly is Earth Road that connects the town of Mort and the fortified city of Kilket?

It is part of the Earth Ruins and runs through the middle of the ruins.

Although some modifications have been made to the road, it is still a road that runs through the middle of the ruins.

Basically, the stone paths were laid out thousands of years ago and are still in use.

The Earth Site Complex is a vast group of ruins whose full extent is still unknown.

Not only the ruins visible above ground. Underneath the ruins lie even more extensive underground ruins that extend over several levels.

Originally, it was believed that the ruins were up to two levels underground. There was a time when it was thought to have been completely explored.

However, a few years ago, a party of Hero named Ryan.

A crack in the rock leading to the third underground level was discovered. From the depths of the fissure, an even larger group of underground ruins was discovered.

And then, Ryan’s party. They returned after discovering a number of ancient relics, including “Samiras, the Blue Crest Sword,” a sword said to have been used by the ancients in the god-summoning ceremony.

Since then. The ruins were once again filled with treasure hunters seeking wealth and fame.

However.

A place that is irrelevant to me right now.

Winning a fortune in a treasure hunter type of job is the way of the cheat hero.

A merchant with zero combat power like me can, at best, find something of value among the relics dug up by treasure hunters, buy it cheap, and sell it for a high price.

Ruins are just too shady.

The area, with its countless ruins that could easily become the strongholds of thieves or subhuman monsters, was a danger zone that I just wanted to get through as quickly as possible.

→→→→→

In fact, our party was attacked by a bunch of monsters on more than one occasion.

The monsters that inhabit this place.

Ulfes, a small quadruped with a unicorn horn and gray fur. and a small subhuman goblin with dark green skin.

Together, they often act in packs.

Sometimes the higher species, such as the Urlfes and Boss Goblins, are mixed in with them.

The streets are reasonably busy, including parties of treasure hunters…

They hide in the shadows and suddenly attack from there.

Each time, Burgess, Ark, and Amaranthia. They formed a formation around me and Liora and kicked the monsters away.

They are seriously dependable escorts.

Beginner to intermediate adventurer parties, etc., who are not strong enough. It is not uncommon to hear that a party was wiped out by a monster’s surprise attack here.

In particular, goblins and other subracial monsters are the greatest enemies of female adventurers.

They are taken alive and brought into their dens. They are said to sometimes suffer worse than being killed.

I won’t go into details because I think everyone knows this. That’s just how it is.

→→→→→

It was getting dark, so we decided to stop moving and camp out.

Because we could not get through the earth ruins during the daytime. We are in the middle of the ruins.

The support magician Liora’s technique has created a triple wall of protection around the perimeter.

In addition, it is said that a sensing trap magic sense trap is activated at the same time, so that Liora will know as soon as an outside enemy touches the barrier protection.

Thanks to that.

We can safely knock down the wood.

We could have dinner.

They are really dependable escorts.

I, for one, am an employer.

I feel bad for doing so little, so I decided to at least cook and serve dinner.

The meat was taken from the Galado Mountains, which stretch to the west of the village of Yak.

The meat of the moo moo, a medium-sized herbivorous quadruped with black-and-white gnats, was sliced and stewed in a pot with wild vegetables.

The dish was quite popular among the members.

“Caravan of Albus the Great Merchant is going… ♫ From the ends of the west to the ends of the east ♫ Wherever ♫”

After dinner.

Amaranthia, the bard, sang such a poem.

She sang a song about a great merchant of ancient times, but changed only the name to me to keep me in a good mood.

“I’m sorry, but you won’t get paid more for your quest.”

I said.

Amaranthia stopped her poetry. She laughed, sticking out her tongue like a mischievous child.

Oh, man. She’s so cute.

But instead…

I placed a sealing stone with 100 mana in it in front of Amaranthia.

“Oh my… I thought you said I weren’t getting paid more?”

“This is not compensation for my current good mood, but for your work as a bard. Your voice is crystal clear and very pleasant to listen to.”

One day.

Ryan the Hero was seducing on the bard for saying such a thing.

I used the same line from that time.

I didn’t mean to seduce on you, though.

As a bard, she would not feel bad about being complimented on her voice.

By the way, 100 mana is.

That’s ten times the price of what a minstrel sings for in the city.

“Thank you very much. I’ll take it.”

“By the way. My main product is medicinal herbs from the village of Yak.”

She immediately understood what I meant.

Amaranthia nodded.

“Once I got to Kilket. I’ll promote you when I get a chance. …I’m a minstrel who sings the poems the audience wants to hear.”

This is a pattern I’m not really willing to follow.

“That’s good to hear.”

However, there is no coercion.

Since ancient times, bards and merchants have had an “mutually-beneficial” relationship.

It was a common practice in the merchant community to ask the bards to advertise the contents of their business by offering them gold mana.

Some merchants would have them do it outright, though. But that would require a level of money that would take care of the bard’s life in general.

As Amaranthia said.

A bard sings poems that the audience wants to hear. In return, the bard receives money from the audience.

If they are told endless stories about the business of merchants they have little interest in. Rarely does anyone pay a penny for that.

So, it goes without saying that if all you do is advertise, you’re out of business as a bard.

So Amaranthia’s stance is correct.

And she was getting 100 mana for putting me in a good mood. There was no doubt that she was also a very good minstrel who sang the poems that the customers wanted to hear.

“Albus, bastard! What the hell do you think with a wife named Arcana?”

For some reason, Burgess was upset.

“Oh, I see, you already have a wife.”

“Ah, yes. My herbs are grown by my wife.”

Thanks to him, the topic was broadened.

An annoyed Burgess places 200 mana in front of Amaranthia.

“Your voice is crystal clear and very pleasant to listen to.”

The bearded middle-aged guy. With a nice look while showing his teeth… he imitated my words.

Then she sang “A Poem in Praise of Burgess the Magical Swordsman” to his delight.

He paid an additional 100 mana.

That’s a little too much, dude.

“She’s in love with me after all. She sang a poem for me while looking at me.”

No, you’re wrong.

That’s what bards are for, I said.

I told Burgess, but it seemed useless.

I decided to let it go for now.

Tomorrow we will probably go through the Earth Ruins an we will probably reach the fortified city of Kilket before noon.

This is not business in a small town like the town of Mort.

It is a business in a big city with hundreds of times more customers.

If I hit it big enough, I should be able to make a huge profit.

A promise to Arcana.

And to fulfill my own childhood dream.

I will definitely do it.

I could feel my heart pounding.

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