Chapter 453: Chapter 452: Companions on the Journey
If an ordinary person were invited to travel by a group of people, they would certainly be on guard. But for Richard, confident in his own abilities, he was not too worried—if their intentions were indeed malicious, it was hard to say who would be the unfortunate one.
Glancing at the group, Richard thought for a mont and then spoke, “The price you’re offering is not a problem. I can join you and head north together. However, I’m not sure when you plan to leave?”
“Tomorrow, tomorrow morning,” Bade, with a full beard, quickly replied.
“Is it because you want to invite more people to share the cost of hiring the rcenary team?”
“No,” Bade shook his head, “The main reason is that a ship will arrive at Muxu Port tomorrow, and it carries the other half of our rchant Group’s goods—I plan to set out with them.”
“Of course,” Bade added, “If we can invite more people like you before tomorrow morning, that would naturally be even better.”
“Alright then, shall we et here tomorrow morning?” Richard asked.
“That works. We’ll wait for you.”
“Fine.” Richard nodded, and as he spoke, with a flip of his hand, three silver coins appeared in his palm, which he handed to Bade.
Bade was taken aback, instinctively accepting them, then opened his mouth and said to Richard, “You… you trust just like that? Aren’t you afraid I’ll take the money and deceive you?”
“Would you?” Richard countered.
Bade beca serious, his expression stern, and he said gravely, “I swear on the reputation of the Blue Feather Trading Group, we will absolutely keep our promise!”
“I believe you. See you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
…
After finishing his chat with the people from the Blue Feather Trading Group, Richard ate the honey bread and drank so clear water, then left the inn and headed to the large marketplace, not far from the harbor.
Generally speaking, in the current world, every port has a similar large marketplace where one can buy a wide variety of goods; anything you can na can be found there.
The reason for this is that the rchant ships at the port bring in many goods from other places, and most shipowners do not have the ti to sell them individually. They sell to the market owners at the port. When returning to sea, they naturally would not go back empty but would try to purchase so locally profitable specialties.
This back and forth greatly promotes the circulation of goods, leading port markets to often have more items and cheaper prices than city markets.
When Richard went to the marketplace, he began purchasing a variety of items such as iron ingots, copper ingots, glass, and ceramic jars, to et the fundantal material needs of Eden for a considerable ti.
In this way, a day quickly passed by without notice.
…
The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.
Richard t Bade and the rest of the Blue Feather Trading Group at the “Fire Burning Wine” tavern. After a simple greeting, he left the tavern and walked toward the main road leading inland, not far from the harbor.
There, a convoy of horse-drawn wagons loaded with goods was parked, and a team of a dozen rcenaries clad in leather armor were on guard.
Seeing the rcenaries performing their duty diligently, Bade’s expression was sowhat gratified, then turned bitter.
Richard asked Bade out loud, did he find any other Lone Wanderers like himself?
Bade let out a wry chuckle and answered, “Fewer than expected. Besides you, Mr. Richard, there’s only another big fellow nad ‘Harvey.'”
“But co to think of it,” Bade continued to Richard, “this is actually good news for you. I had initially prepared a spacious four-wheeled wagon for lone travelers like you. There, that one. Now that nobody else has joined, you and Mr. Harvey can have it to yourselves, without feeling cramped.”
“Is that so?” Following the direction Bade pointed, Richard saw a four-wheeled wagon at the end of the wagon train. The carriage could be opened at the front and back—it was a cargo wagon temporarily modified, but the space was indeed ample and would not feel oppressive when seated inside.
“Thank you,” Richard said after a glance at the four-wheeled wagon to Bade.
“As it should be. Well then, Mr. Richard, you go ahead and sit in the wagon. That Mr. Harvey is already in there. As for … I have so remaining rchant Group matters to deal with; once done, we’ll set off.”
“Okay.” Richard nodded and stepped toward the four-wheeled wagon.
Arriving in front of the wagon, Richard opened the rear carriage door and walked inside, where he indeed found soone waiting.
Much like what Bade had described, the other person was quite large, around one hundred eighty centiters tall, weighing nearly two hundred pounds, with no excess fat—just solid muscle conveying a sense of strength. Plus, with a heavy Iron Sword resting by his side, he gave off an aura that said ‘strangers keep away.’
However, the man’s expression was not the least bit cold or stern; he looked quite approachable. Seeing Richard getting into the wagon, he took the initiative to speak, “You must be the other companion Captain Bade ntioned to , what’s the na… Ri… Ri…”
“Richard.”
“Right, right, Richard. Well, my na’s Harvey, from Morton Town. This ti, I’m planning to follow the rchant Group north to take a look and see the world. Also…” After learning Richard’s na, the man called Harvey began to introduce himself and poured out his entire past like spilling beans. After finishing his past, he looked forward with a hopeful expression, envisioning the future.
“You know, on this trip north, I’m hoping so Noble might hire as a Knight. If that really happens, I could settle down, marry a pretty girl, then have a son, have a daughter. The son I would call Harley, the daughter—the na would be Harley…”
Richard: “…” Honestly, he had seen people who were forward, but he had never encountered soone as intrusively forward as the person in front of him.
The large Harvey beca more excited as he spoke, gesturing animatedly about his whole life, even discussing how he wished to be buried after death. Only after finishing with his fantasies did he return to the present. Suddenly, sothing occurred to him, and he looked at Richard, asking, “Hey, your na’s Richard, right? That Captain Bade of Blue Feather Trading Group, how much did he charge you to take you north?”
“Three silver coins,” Richard answered truthfully.
“Three silver coins, huh.” Harvey mused, “That ans he didn’t overcharge since he only asked for one silver coin.”
“Hmm, wait, he only asked for one silver coin from ?” Harvey was startled, as if he’d uncovered sothing astonishing, and exclaid, “He only asked for one silver coin but asked you for three? Isn’t that cheating? Really, you wait here, I’m going to go and reason with him, get back the extra money he took from you.”
Saying this, Harvey, with his straightforward nature, prepared to get off the wagon, but Richard stopped him with his hand in the next mont.
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